Can You Find the UFOs in These Newly Released Pentagon Videos? - PART I

A UFO whistleblower pointed to a declassified intelligence assessment that he said contains evidence of a decades-long government effort to conceal the truth.

Air Force veteran David Grusch stood on the steps of Capitol Hill on Tuesday and called on the White House to release what he described as the 'smoking gun' proving UFOs are real.

During his speech, Grusch was asked which documents people should study to better understand what he calls the American Legacy UFO Program.

He pointed to a 1971 Australian intelligence review, which argued that US officials believed some UFOs may have been extraterrestrial craft and secretly sought to understand their propulsion systems.

'I encourage people to read pages seven through 16, and that was the nuclear branch chief of the Australian government discussing the US cover-up and involvement of the CIA back in the 70s,' he said.

The report states that between 1948 and 1952, a government agency staffed by rocket, nuclear and intelligence specialists studied UFO reports in an effort to gather information about the design and propulsion of what investigators believed could be 'interplanetary spaceships.'

The document repeatedly suggests that the agency was 'almost certainly the CIA.'

The report argues that the government's interest in UFO propulsion systems reflected a belief among some intelligence officials that the objects were not Soviet technology, but vehicles of possible extraterrestrial origin. 

Air Force veteran David Grusch stood on the steps of Capitol Hill on Tuesday and called on the White House to release what he described as the 'smoking gun' proving UFOs are real

Grusch spent 14 years in the Air Force before working as an intelligence officer for the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), which builds and launches surveillance satellites for the Pentagon.

From 2019 to 2021, he represented NRO on the UAP Task Force, but eventually became a whistleblower after allegedly learning that elements of the US government had prevented Congressional oversight on matters related to extraterrestrials.

In 2023, he testified before Congress, claiming that secret government departments had been running UFO retrieval and reverse-engineering programs for decades.

On Tuesday, Grusch stood in Washington DC to pressure officials to tell the American people the truth about UFOs, and used the Australian document to argue that intelligence agencies had long believed some sightings could be extraterrestrial in origin. 

The report was prepared by O H Turner, Head of the Nuclear Branch in Australia's Joint Intelligence Organization.

An early Air Force intelligence analysis concluded that some UFO sightings involved real objects displaying flight characteristics far beyond known US aircraft, leading investigators to consider an extraterrestrial origin. 

The document further alleged that the CIA's Office of Scientific Intelligence studied the reports in an effort to understand the propulsion methods behind the unexplained craft. 

The Australian intelligence review traced the US government's involvement with UFO investigations back to 1947, when the Air Technical Intelligence Center near Dayton, Ohio, began examining the first wave of 'flying saucer' sightings.

He pointed to a 1971 Australian intelligence review, which argued that US officials believed some UFOs may have been extraterrestrial craft and secretly sought to understand their propulsion systems

Investigators initially suspected the objects could be advanced Soviet technology. But by the end of that year, many working under Project Sign had shifted toward a far more extraordinary possibility that the craft originated beyond Earth.

Project Sign was the first official U.S. government study of UFOs, initiated by the Air Force in late 1947 and active primarily in 1948. 

Their conclusions were compiled into a formal estimate and sent to the Pentagon in September 1948. 

According to the review, senior officials rejected the extraterrestrial explanation because there was insufficient evidence, triggering a retreat from attempts to solve the mystery.

In February 1949, Project Sign was replaced by Project Grudge, which the review described as an effort to discredit UFO reports and dampen public acceptance of the phenomenon. 

The Air Force may have been motivated by fears of public panic or embarrassment over its inability to explain the sightings, Turner suggested.

Meanwhile, another agency staffed by rocket, nuclear and intelligence specialists continued examining UFO reports. 

The review identified that organization as 'almost certainly the CIA' and claimed its objective was to collect design and propulsion data from what some investigators believed were 'interplanetary spaceships.'

Despite efforts to dismiss the phenomenon, sightings continued to rise. By 1952, the Air Force had launched Project Blue Book, restoring funding and personnel to analyze thousands of reports.

That summer brought a dramatic surge in sightings, including the famous incidents over Washington DC. 

Some intelligence officials reportedly concluded the objects could be extraterrestrial craft, prompting the release of 41 previously classified cases that contradicted earlier explanations dismissing UFOs as simple misidentifications.

'I encourage people to read pages seven through 16, and that was the nuclear branch chief of the Australian government discussing the US cover-up and involvement of the CIA back in the 70s,' Grusch said

The CIA viewed the situation differently, as rather than focusing on the origin of the objects, officials were said to be concerned that the flood of reports was overwhelming military communications networks and distracting defense forces from monitoring potential Soviet threats.

In January 1953, the CIA's Office of Scientific Intelligence convened the Robertson Panel to determine how the government should respond. 

While the panel recommended continued investigation, the review argued that the agency ultimately favored publicly downplaying UFOs while quietly expanding intelligence collection behind the scenes.

Under that approach, Project Blue Book was gradually transformed from a significant investigative effort into a small public-facing office whose primary purpose was supplying explanations for sightings. 

More sensitive intelligence work, according to the review, was moved elsewhere within the military structure.

Turner further argued that studies conducted under Blue Book showed the most credible sightings were often the hardest to explain, and that officials privately regarded the unexplained cases as fundamentally different from known aircraft, astronomical objects or conventional phenomena.

The review also linked intelligence interest in UFO performance characteristics to government support for advanced aerospace projects, including the Avrocar flying-saucer prototype and anti-gravity research programs. 

It suggested that some officials believed the technology behind UFOs was real and feared the Soviet Union might master it first.

Turner ultimately criticized Australia's own handling of UFO reports, arguing that the country had largely adopted the Air Force's public position while neglecting serious scientific analysis of the phenomenon.

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

{ PETER2011 }

I’ve spent five decades researching UFOs and speaking to highly confidential sources. This is what I’ve discovered about the CIA, China and aliens, writes top barrister JONATHAN CAPLAN KC. You may scoff, but the evidence is undeniable

By JONATHAN CAPLAN KC

To most people, the idea that the US, China and other countries are in possession of crashed alien spacecraft is preposterous. Any suggestion that these craft have been recovered with non-human intelligences inside, dead or alive, stretches credulity to breaking point. But the evidence is overwhelming.

I have been pursuing the truth about this phenomenon since I was a teenager, when I first saw a television report about a ‘flying saucer following a passenger plane’.

For five decades, I have conducted intensive research, combing through a vast body of material and interviewing many of the key people in this twilight area, some highly confidential sources.

I have applied the same rigorous analysis that I would as a lawyer to the evidence. I use in my new book Not For Disclosure only material that I have determined to be both honest and reliable, and which I can credibly and confidently present. I have discarded a great deal. I have also received very sensitive information from many whom I trust and who have placed their trust in me.

My concern about these extraordinary objects – once termed UFOs but now known as UAPs or Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena – has been shared by many influential figures.

When I was on the editorial board of the leading international journal, Flying Saucer Review, Buckingham Palace requested that a copy of every edition was delivered to the Duke of Edinburgh’s equerry. Prince Philip, of course, was a highly experienced pilot who quietly followed this subject, even having some witnesses interviewed at the Palace.

My professional life has been spent as a barrister, a King’s Counsel, evaluating evidence in very complex cases. I have done my best to bring that experience into this more anomalous arena, and my legal reputation has sometimes meant that I have been able to open doors that were closed to other researchers.

The shocking evidence that I have amassed proves beyond any doubt that not only are UAPs real, but they are undeniably evidence of alien technology. The sources of these non-human intelligences is still not known even by the intelligence services of the world.

My concern about these extraordinary objects – once termed UFOs but now known as UAPs or Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena – has been shared by many influential figures

The shocking evidence that I have amassed proves beyond any doubt that not only are UAPs real, but they are undeniably evidence of alien technology, writes Jonathan Caplan

More than that, the United States, China and Russia have been competing to reverse engineer and replicate these technologies, including anti-gravity, free energy and the real relationship between space and time.

I am fully aware how extraordinary this sounds. The principal motive for writing my book was to enable a wider and informed debate to take place without stigma or embarrassment. This subject is not on any educational syllabus and it is difficult to know where to access reliable material.

The ridicule surrounding the subject has not arisen by accident. A deliberate policy of denial and fabrication has been implemented by the US government and others, which has ended the reputations and even the lives of many people who have tried to lift the veil.

That is changing. In July 2023, a former Air Force intelligence officer named David Grusch went public under oath on live television before the US Congress, declaring that the United States was in possession of crashed NHI (non-human intelligence) craft.

Senator Marco Rubio, the US secretary of state and a probable contender to be the next president, told political website The Hill in July 2024: ‘Either what they are saying is partially true, or entirely true – or we have some really smart educated people with very high clearances and very important positions in our government who are crazy and are leading us on a wild goose chase. 

‘What incentive would so many serious people have to make something up?’

Grusch did not say how many crashed NHI craft had been recovered, only that it was ‘in double digits’. One was seen by Lance Corporal Jonathan Weygandt. He was a US Marine posted to Peru in 1997, when he was sent with his unit one night to secure the site of a crashed aircraft, close to a radar tracking station.

‘We found the area real easy,’ he said, ‘because there was a huge gash in the land. It was like something had almost cut warm butter with a knife. It was a huge ship, buried in the side of a cliff. And when I first saw it I was scared.

David Grusch did not say how many crashed non-human intelligence craft had been recovered, only that it was ‘in double digits’

One was seen by Lance Corporal Jonathan Weygandt. He was a US Marine posted to Peru in 1997 when he was sent with his unit one night to secure the site of a crashed aircraft close to a radar tracking station

‘It was dripping a syrup-like liquid – about 10 metres in width, 20 metres in length, like something between an egg and a teardrop.’

Whatever it was, this craft was not manmade. As far as Weygandt could work out, it had not crashed but was shot down, apparently by a Hawk surface-to-air missile. And something was still inside it, something alive.

‘I think,’ he said, ‘the creatures inside were trying to communicate with me telepathically.’

A US military unit in plain black fatigues arrived with a Nuclear Energy Support Team from the Department of Energy to recover the entities and the craft. Weygandt was arrested and taken by helicopter to a US Navy Medical Research Unit nearby.

Here, anonymous officers told him he was witness to something that he was not supposed to have seen. ‘I thought they were going to kill me. They threatened to take me up in a helicopter and kick me out into the jungle.’

His story might seem a hallucination, if it did not tally so closely with what we know about other crash retrieval operations. Unidentified craft are tracked in the United States through various agencies, including North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), the National Reconnaissance Office, the National Security Agency and the Defense Intelligence Agency.

Read More

•  UFO and alien 'evidence' to take center stage on Capitol Hill in just DAYS 

If a UAP is detected to have crashed, then special paramilitary units are sent to the scene together with the Office of Nuclear Energy in order to secure the area – just as Weygandt describes.

The CIA is also closely involved, and has recovered craft within US borders and from foreign territory both on land and under the sea. They have also engaged in operations to bring down craft.

When craft have been too large to recover, they have allegedly been left in place, buried under a building or structure while a facility is constructed underground to study it: This is said to have happened in the 1970s in the mountains outside Seoul, South Korea.

In January 1996, NORAD warned Brazilian authorities that a UAP was in their airspace. A cigar-shaped craft was seen by residents to be flying erratically and low before it crashed.

Multiple reports were made of strange beings with dark oily skin, large red eyes and three bony protuberances on their heads in the vicinity of the town of Varginha. Witnesses included three young women as well as military personnel and firefighters. A US plane arrived at the army base in Campinas to collect the wreckage and entities. Two of these creatures were captured. A military officer, Marco Chereze, who came into physical contact with one died soon after.

We do not know what happened to one of the beings but the other was taken to the regional hospital. The head of neurosurgery, Dr Italo Venturelli, attested last year that he went to consult with one of the beings for several minutes.

He said: ‘He was magnificent and very tranquil. I wondered if he was suffering but he was not. It was like he understood everything I was thinking entirely.’

Many suppose the history of crashed spacecraft begins with the 1947 Roswell incident in New Mexico, when a ranch foreman named Mac Brazel discovered wreckage scattered across a wide area. This included metal beams covered in hieroglyphic symbols.

A police officer in Roswell holds debris of an alleged flying saucer found by ranch foreman Mac Brazel

At a second crash site, the main part of the craft was found with five small, non-human bodies inside. The official explanation was that the debris came from a ‘weather balloon’.

But a crash in Magenta in northern Italy pre-dates that by more than a decade. In 1933, a bell-shaped object was recovered from a site near Milan, though no bodies were found inside. A secret group known as Cabinet RS/33 was established to safeguard the craft and it reported directly to dictator Benito Mussolini.

Telegrams and notes from June 1933 have been discovered, ordering a Press blackout and establishing a detailed protocol for dealing with the object’s recovery. 

At the end of the Second World War, the Office for Strategic Services (the OSS, which was the first US intelligence agency), with the assistance of the Vatican, arranged for the US government to take possession of the craft and to transport it back to an American facility.

Beyond any dispute, the international operations carried out across almost a century to keep this technology away from public sight amount to the world’s greatest ever cover-up. But the technology is only part of it. Even more disturbing is the non-human intelligence behind it.

Five alien species are commonly described in the literature but there are many more that have been reported. Paul Hellyer, the former defence minister of Canada, told me that he had been officially notified that more than 40 different species have been recorded visiting Earth. 

The five main observed types include ‘greys’ which are most commonly depicted in popular culture, described as about 4 ft tall with large, teardrop-shaped heads, wraparound black eyes, no nose or ear protuberances and a straight line for the mouth.

The four other most commonly observed body types include small humanoids; larger, well-built reptilian-like beings; tall, fair Nordic types; and those with a mantid or insectoid appearance.

Dr Eric Davis, an astrophysicist who has worked for the US Department of Defense, confirmed his knowledge of these species at a Congressional event held by the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability on May 1, 2025.

Many researchers suspect the ‘greys’ are actually androids, arguing they are synthetic beings built to carry out tasks for the real NHIs.

There is a strong argument that today’s UAP encounters echo the content of our fairy tales and folklore, and even of some religious visions. Instead of coming across goblins and fairies, today it is aliens and spaceships.

Witnesses are often deeply affected by what they have seen, but prefer to say little, either for fear of being mocked or in many cases because they have been directly threatened. Sometimes though such events cannot be contained and become breaking news. 

On July 1, 1965, a French lavender farmer named Maurice Masse, in Valensole in the French Basses Alpes, was smoking a cigarette just before starting his tractor for the day’s work when he heard a whistling noise. On the other side of his field, he saw an egg-shaped object resting on four legs.

On July 1, 1965, a French lavender farmer named Maurice Masse, in Valensole in the French Basses Alpes, was smoking a cigarette just before starting his tractor for the day’s work when he heard a whistling noise

Two small boys were squatting nearby in grey-green overalls, looking at the ground. They stood up when he approached. They were about 4 ft tall with bald heads and large slanted eyes. Their mouths had no lips and resembled a small hole.

He claims there was a telepathic exchange, then they pointed a ‘pencil’ at him causing temporary paralysis.

The craft took off at speed and, once he was free to move, he inspected the place where it had stood. The legs of the craft had left indentations in the ground. The local gendarmerie from Digne came to investigate and alerted government agents who concluded that Masse was not lying.

From then on the landing site, damaged and charred, would only grow weeds. Madame Masse told investigators that her husband thought about these beings every day and that it was a profound experience, something that should not be discussed with anyone. He shied away from media attention but his story quickly spread and was reported in the Washington Post four days later.

A UAP investigator named Jacques Vallee who interviewed Masse wrote: ‘The Valensole case is the best authenticated close encounter incident in continental Europe. It involved hard traces, botanical data, physiological data, and detailed descriptions of beings associated with the object.’

There are also claims of official contact, the most common being that arrangements were made for US president Dwight D Eisenhower to meet a group of extraterrestrials in 1954 at Edwards/Muroc Air Force Base in the Mojave Desert in California.

On another occasion president George HW Bush was informed, when he became director of the CIA, that a craft had landed at Holloman Air Force Base and a tall humanoid of Nordic appearance emerged and met with several uniformed and CIA officers. The Holloman contact was filmed but Bush was not allowed to view it.

The astronaut Gordon Cooper (who flew on the 1963 Mercury-Atlas 9 mission and 1965’s Gemini 5) was present on another occasion when a saucer allegedly landed at Edwards base in May 1957.

He and a crew had set up a Cinetheodolite precision-landing system on a dry lakebed – a system that could take pictures at the rate of 30 frames per second – for an exercise that had nothing to do with UAPs.

Later in the morning they saw a saucer hovering above them. It landed 160 ft away using three extended landing gears. As they approached to get a better view, the landing gears were retracted and the craft took off. Cooper, who was very familiar with experimental aircraft, had never seen technology like this.

When Cooper held the negative print up to the light, he observed that the quality of the photography was excellent. The film was speedily collected by an agent who arrived by special plane. Cooper never heard any more about the matter.

As Marco Rubio has said, why should a highly trained man like that, or his colleagues, lie about such an incident?

But perhaps the accounts that are hardest to dismiss are the mass sightings. On September 16, 1994, more than 60 children at a private elementary school in Ruwa, 12 miles outside Harare in Zimbabwe, were taking a mid-morning break while their teachers were in a staff meeting.

Suddenly, several silver spheres came out of the sky and seemed to vanish and reappear. The largest object came down, hovered and landed on a hill by some gum trees just outside their schoolyard.

The children, aged six to 12, saw one or two small men, about 3 ft tall, dark grey with long black hair, large black almond eyes and tight black suits, atop the craft.

Next day, the headmaster Colin Mackie asked them to draw what they had seen. He received 35 drawings, all very similar.

The BBC’s Zimbabwe correspondent, Tim Leach, was the first to arrive to film interviews. Leach later said: ‘I could handle war zones, but I could not handle this.’

He edited his report and sent the tape to London for BBC News but the tape went missing and he had to prepare a further one – but not before, he said, he had received veiled threats to ‘be very careful’ from a source whom he suspected was working with the CIA.

Several children said they had received telepathic information from the visitors. Lisel, 11, said: ‘I received through the being’s eyes the message that we are not taking care of the planet.’

That message could not be more benign. But the implications for humankind may not be. These craft are present in our skies and oceans in increasing numbers and no government today has any real idea of their agenda.

A race is underway between the superpowers to unlock their scientific secrets which may alter our worldview and our concepts of consciousness and reality.

China is known to have advanced UAP programmes with fewer restrictions on funding and better co-operation between scientists dealing with different projects.

In December 2012, former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev was recorded off-air telling a journalist that Vladimir Putin receives a regular report prepared by the special service ‘devoted to the strangers who visit our planet’.

This secret government agency concerns ‘the control of aliens in our country’. He said he could not talk about how many were among us because ‘panic will begin’.

He did not appear to be joking.

• Adapted from Not For Disclosure by Jonathan Caplan (Century, £22), to be published June 11. © Jonathan Caplan 2026. To order a copy for £19.80 (offer valid to 13/06/26; UK P&P free on orders over £25) go to www.mailshop.co.uk/books or call 020 3176 2937.

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

NASA has named the four astronauts selected for a mission that will bring humans one step closer to returning to the moon. 

Artemis III, scheduled for 2027, will test rendezvous and docking operations between the Orion spacecraft and commercial human landers in low-Earth orbit as part of preparations for future lunar exploration.

But the reveal of the crew quickly drew criticism on social media, where users pointed out that none of the astronauts selected for the historic mission are women.

NASA's Randy Bresnik, Frank Rubio and Andrew Douglas will join European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Luca Parmitano in orbital tests ahead of the lunar landing.

The announcement, made in a press conference, sparked outrage on X, where many users deemed the lack of women was a 'real shame.'

One user posted: 'Not a single woman flying on Artemis III is an insane choice.'

'What a huge blow to those who were inspired by Christina on Artemis II,' another shared, referring to Christina Koch, who was the first woman to fly to the moon earlier this year when she and three men soared around the dark side of the lunar surface. 

While the announcement has sparked frustration, it takes Americans one step closer to returning to the moon in 2028.

NASA astronauts Randy Bresnik (left), Frank Rubio (second from right) and Andrew Douglas (right) will join European Space Agency astronaut Luca Parmitano for Artemis III

NASA administrator Jared Isaacman said: 'To the Artemis III crew, we wish you Godspeed on the journey ahead.'

The Artemis III mission is expected to last about two weeks, roughly four days longer than the Artemis II mission around the moon earlier this year. 

This is the Artemis program's final testing mission, and if it's successful, NASA then plans to land a crew on the moon with Artemis IV.

What was intended as a moment of celebration quickly sparked criticism, with many pointing out that no women were selected for the mission. 

One X user shared: 'I’m kinda mind-blown that there’s no woman on the Artemis III crew, bro. You, as NASA, saw so many people hyping up Christina going to the moon because it means a lot to people that a woman is doing things that are inspiring and cool.'

Another posted: 'Artemis II was so big on point with Christina being a capable woman, showing others we can do whatever we put our minds to. Disappointed, NASA.'

Isaacman addressed the concerns following the announcement: 'I don’t think anyone should be reading into this.'

He added that NASA 'put forth the best astronauts to undertake and complete the mission’s objectives,' but did not provide details on how the astronauts were chosen.

'We are certainly humbled as a crew to be able to be your crew that executes this Artemis III mission in space,' said Bresnik, Artemis III commander.

Douglas, mission specialist, added: 'My brain... it is going a mile a minute right now. But my heart, it is so warm. It is so full.' 

Many of the critics pointed to how Artemis II's Christina Koch showed women are more than capable of going on such missions

The Artemis III mission is expected to last about two weeks, roughly four days longer than the Artemis II mission around the moon earlier this year

The crew brings a wealth of experience to the mission.

Bresnik has flown on both the Space Shuttle and International Space Station, while Rubio holds the record for the longest single spaceflight by an American after spending 371 consecutive days in orbit.

Parmitano, one of Europe's most experienced astronauts, has completed two missions and multiple spacewalks. 

Douglas, a former US Coast Guard officer selected by NASA in 2021, will be making his first trip to space. 

NASA's Artemis III mission will see the agency's Space Launch System (SLS) rocket launch the Orion spacecraft and its crew from Kennedy Space Center in Florida into low-Earth orbit.

Once there, Orion will perform a series of tests never attempted before, including rendezvous and docking maneuvers with experimental lunar landers being developed by Blue Origin and SpaceX.

The mission will unfold as a carefully choreographed sequence involving multiple launches of some of the world's most powerful rockets. NASA will test how Orion interacts with the commercial landers, including communications, software, propulsion systems and docking interfaces.

Blue Origin's lander pathfinder will launch first and remain in orbit awaiting the crew. Orion will then carry the astronauts into space, where they will rendezvous and dock with the vehicle for roughly two days of testing and technology demonstrations, including entering the lander itself.

After separating from Blue Origin's spacecraft, Orion will remain in orbit while SpaceX launches its Starship pathfinder. 

The two vehicles will then dock for about a day of additional evaluations before Orion begins its journey home. 

The mission will conclude with the crew splashing down in the Pacific Ocean, where they will be recovered by teams from NASA and the US Navy.

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

Paracas Skulls: Alien Mystery or Human Ingenuity?

mariusalbertsen

The desolate, wind-swept desert of the Paracas Peninsula on the southern coast of Peru holds one of the most enduring mysteries of the ancient world. In 1928, the renowned Peruvian archaeologist Julio Tello made a staggering discovery beneath the harsh sands. He unearthed a massive and complex graveyard, a sprawling necropolis containing hundreds of elaborate mummy bundles. While the intricate textiles wrapping the dead were marvels of ancient craftsmanship, it was the skeletal remains hidden within that would capture the world's imagination.

Tello had discovered the remains of the Paracas culture, a civilization that flourished from approximately 800 BC to 100 BC. But the skulls of these individuals were profoundly unusual. Over three hundred crania were unearthed, displaying extreme, sweeping elongation that radically altered the natural shape of the human head. For nearly a century, these enigmatic remains have sparked fierce debates, inspiring fantastical theories of extraterrestrial visitation and unknown hominid species.

•  Initial DNA analysis of Paracas elongated skull released
•  How DNA Testing Revealed European Ancestry in Elongated Skulls

Anatomy of an Anomaly: Beyond Human Limits?

A slightly wider shot showing three actual Paracas elongated skulls lined up in the Museo Regional de Ica. It provides a great sense of scale and proves this wasn't an isolated anomaly. (Jonski/CC BY-SA 4.0)

The sheer physical presence of the Paracas Skulls is startling. When compared to a standard human cranium, the morphological differences are immediately apparent and deeply perplexing. Proponents of alternative history often point out that some of these skulls possess a cranial capacity up to 25 percent larger than a conventional human head. Furthermore, the bone density and overall weight of certain specimens are reported to be significantly heavier than average.

These startling volumetric anomalies are the primary reason the Paracas Skulls have become central to "ancient alien" hypotheses. Critics of the mainstream archaeological narrative argue that while you can alter the shape of a skull through mechanical pressure, you cannot fundamentally change its total volume or mass. Additionally, some researchers have noted the apparent absence of a sagittal suture, the connective tissue joint that runs down the center of the skull, in some of the most extreme Paracas specimens.

These anatomical quirks have led to bold declarations that the beings buried on the Peruvian coast were not entirely human. The position of the foramen magnum, the opening at the base of the skull where the spinal cord attaches, has also been cited as anomalous. In some Paracas skulls, this opening appears to be positioned further back than in typical humans, suggesting a completely different center of gravity and, consequently, a unique method of bipedal locomotion.

The Science of Artificial Cranial Deformation

Another angle of the elongated skulls at the Regional Museum of Ica, showing the distinct shape of the cranial vault.

(CC BY-SA 4.0/Marcin Tlustochowicz)

Despite the sensational claims of extraterrestrial origins, the broader scientific community provides a thoroughly terrestrial, culturally rooted explanation. The extreme shapes seen in the Ica Museum specimens are widely recognized by bioarchaeologists as the result of artificial cranial deformation. This intentional body modification practice was astonishingly common across various ancient global cultures, from the Huns in Eurasia to the Maya in Mesoamerica.

In the ancient Andes, artificial cranial deformation was a highly formalized practice. According to foundational studies in geometric morphometrics, the process began shortly after birth. An infant's skull is highly pliable, as the cranial plates have not yet fused. The Paracas people would bind a newborn’s head between wooden boards, using tight woolen textiles to direct the growth of the bone upward and backward.

This extreme and arguably painful process was not a random act of cruelty, but a deeply significant cultural tradition. Intentional cranial modification served as a potent, visible marker of identity and social status. In the highly stratified Paracas society, an elongated head was a permanent crown, instantly identifying the individual as a member of the ruling elite or a specific noble lineage. It was a physical manifestation of power and divine connection, literally separating the nobility from the common populace.

Controversial DNA Claims: "Not Human"

An intricate, ancient Paracas textile. Since the skulls were found inside elaborate mummy bundles wrapped in these exact textiles by Julio Tello, this provides crucial archaeological context.

(Metropolitan Museum of Art/Public Domain)

The debate surrounding the Paracas Skulls reached a fever pitch in 2014 when preliminary DNA testing results were announced to the public. Independent researchers and authors, notably Brien Foerster, commissioned genetic analysis on samples of hair, bone, and teeth taken from several skulls. The initial findings broadcast across alternative media were nothing short of explosive.

The geneticists involved reportedly stated that the mitochondrial DNA, inherited solely through the maternal line, featured mutations that were entirely unknown in any human, primate, or animal species known to science. The narrative quickly shifted from cultural body modification to the sensational idea of a new, unknown hominid. Some reports even suggested the DNA indicated the beings were "not human, Neanderthal, or Denisovan," fueling wild speculation that a separate, perhaps unearthly, race had governed ancient Peru.

These claims generated a whirlwind of media attention and cemented the Paracas Skulls as a cornerstone of modern fringe mythology. For believers, the DNA results were the ultimate vindication, definitive proof that mainstream history was concealing a massive secret about human origins. However, the academic community met these dramatic announcements with intense skepticism, demanding peer-reviewed data, transparent methodologies, and rigorous contamination controls.

Paleogenomics and the Terrestrial Truth

A sweeping aerial photograph of the dramatic golden cliffs and Pacific Ocean coastline at the Paracas National Reserve in Ica, Peru, the exact coastal desert region where Julio Tello excavated the Paracas Necropolis in 1928 and unearthed the elongated skulls.

(masT3rOD/CC BY 2.0 )

To understand the truth hidden within the ancient bones, one must look to the rigorous field of modern paleogenomics. Extracting ancient DNA (aDNA) is an incredibly delicate process. Remains that have been handled by archaeologists, museum curators, and independent researchers for decades are highly susceptible to modern genetic contamination. Without highly sterilized clean-room environments, the DNA sequenced is often that of the people who recently touched the artifact, leading to confused or "anomalous" data sets.

Recent advancements in population genetics have painted a much clearer, albeit entirely human, picture of pre-Columbian Peruvian populations. Modern, peer-reviewed sequencing has consistently shown that the individuals buried on the Paracas Peninsula were of distinct Native American ancestry. However, as noted in recent articles detailing the DNA analysis, there are fascinating, complex genetic markers that hint at vast, ancient migration patterns, possibly including distant European or Eurasian admixture that challenges our standard timeline of global exploration.

While the DNA does not point to the stars, it does point to a human history that is far more dynamic and interconnected than previously imagined. The Paracas people were master weavers, sophisticated engineers, and survivors in a harsh, unforgiving coastal desert. They developed complex societal structures and religious beliefs that drove them to literally reshape the bodies of their children in pursuit of the divine.

A Legacy Written in Bone

One of the most extraordinary surviving Andean textiles in the world, this Nasca/Paracas-era mantle (100–300 AD) features ninety intricately needle-knitted figures along its border.

(Brooklyn Museum/Public Domain)

Ultimately, stripping away the extraterrestrial mythos does not diminish the profound wonder of the Paracas Skulls; rather, it elevates the ingenuity and resilience of ancient humanity. These elongated craniums are a testament to the lengths to which a culture will go to define itself, to assert its power, and to connect with the spiritual realm. They are a permanent, physical record of an ancient society's deeply held beliefs.

The necropolis discovered by Julio Tello continues to yield secrets, offering vital insights into the health, genetics, and daily lives of a lost civilization. The textiles that wrapped these modified elites remain some of the most complex and beautiful woven artworks ever created in the ancient world. The true magic of Paracas lies not in an alien intervention, but in the astonishing capabilities of the human hands that carved out a civilization on the edge of the Pacific.

As paleogenomics continues to evolve, we will undoubtedly learn even more about the intricate lineage of the Paracas people. For now, their elongated skulls remain safely housed in museums, silent sentinels of a bygone era. They serve as a powerful reminder that human history is wildly diverse, infinitely complex, and deeply fascinating all on its own.

• Top image: A dramatic, atmospheric close-up of a single elongated Paracas child skull resting on a museum display block. AI-generated image created to illustrate the mysterious and striking appearance of the Paracas elongated skulls.

By Marius Albertsen 

FAQs

1. Why did the Paracas people elongate their skulls? The Paracas culture practiced artificial cranial deformation as a visible, permanent marker of high social status, elite lineage, and group identity. It visually separated the ruling class from the common people.
2. How did they achieve the elongated skull shape? The process began during infancy when the cranial bones were still soft and pliable. The baby's head was tightly bound using wooden boards and heavy textiles to force the skull to grow upward and backward over several months.
3. Did DNA testing prove the Paracas Skulls are alien? No. While early, unverified claims suggested unknown mutations, rigorous scientific ancient DNA (aDNA) testing has confirmed that the skulls belong to human beings of Native American descent, with some tests indicating complex ancient migration patterns.

References

• Blom, D.E. 2006. Artificial Cranial Deformation in South America: A Geometric Morphometrics Study. Journal of Archaeological Science. Available at: https://www.sciencedirect.com
• Fehren-Schmitz, L. et al. 2025. Paleogenomics of Ancient Peru: North Coast Population History. Nature Scientific Reports. Available at: https://www.nature.com/srep/

RELATED VIDEOS

Scientists Just Tested DNA From Peru's 'Alien' Skulls — The Results Shocked Everyone

Researchers Examined The Paracas Skulls And Found Something Impossible

I Tested Paracas Skull DNA, and It Changed Everything | Brien Foerster

{ https://www.ancient-origins.net/news-history-archaeology }

This Man Says the Fifth Dimension Is a Place Where You Can Fly, Heal, Teleport, and Even Meet “Astral Police”

{ https://howandwhys.com/ }

[VIDEO] “Leaked Over Area 51?” — Suspected Boeing F-47 NGAD Sixth-Generation Fighter Captured in Thermal Footage Near Groom Lake

Thermal footage filmed near Groom Lake and the Nevada Test and Training Range is fuelling speculation that the U.S. Air Force may already be flying a classified Boeing F-47 NGAD technology demonstrator years before operational deployment.

The sudden emergence of thermal footage allegedly showing a classified sixth-generation combat aircraft over Nevada’s heavily restricted Nevada Test and Training Range has injected unprecedented public visibility into the U.S. Air Force’s secretive Next Generation Air Dominance ecosystem at a moment of accelerating strategic competition with China.

(DEFENCE SECURITY ASIA) — The sudden emergence of thermal footage allegedly showing a classified sixth-generation combat aircraft over Nevada’s heavily restricted Nevada Test and Training Range has injected unprecedented public visibility into the U.S. Air Force’s secretive Next Generation Air Dominance ecosystem at a moment of accelerating strategic competition with China.

The aircraft captured near Groom Lake appears to display an advanced tailless-canard blended-wing configuration consistent with speculative Boeing F-47 renderings, potentially marking the clearest publicly accessible imagery yet associated with America’s future air-superiority architecture.

If authentic, the footage suggests that risk-reduction demonstrators connected to the NGAD programme are already conducting operationally representative flight profiles years before the projected first flight window publicly associated with the production-standard Boeing F-47.

The implications extend far beyond aviation enthusiasts because any confirmation that a mature NGAD demonstrator is already flying would indicate the United States has progressed deeper into sixth-generation tactical aviation integration than previously understood by foreign intelligence services.

Unlike the F-22 Raptor generation, which emerged during an era of overwhelming U.S. post-Cold War aerospace superiority, the F-47 programme is being engineered specifically to survive highly networked kill chains integrating advanced radar systems, infrared search-and-track arrays, hypersonic weapons, and satellite-enabled targeting architectures.

The thermal capture was uploaded on June 5, 2026 by the YouTube channel PROJECT FEAR, whose operators conducted repeated observation trips overlooking the Nevada Test and Training Range from public terrain near Rachel, Nevada.

The footage reportedly involved collaboration with Anders Otteson of Uncanny Expeditions, whose earlier thermal observations of unidentified triangular aircraft in the same region had already intensified speculation surrounding classified aerospace activity over Area 51.

According to Otteson, the aircraft passed approximately 300 to 400 yards overhead, allowing its unusual aerodynamic planform and forward canards to resolve with greater clarity than previous civilian thermal captures associated with Groom Lake operations.

The aircraft’s apparent tailless configuration, cranked-kite wing geometry, and stealth-oriented edge alignment collectively mirror multiple publicly circulated conceptual depictions linked to Boeing’s NGAD design studies and historical tailless demonstrator programmes.

The timing of the footage is strategically significant because Boeing secured the Engineering and Manufacturing Development contract for the F-47 programme in March 2025 under a deal initially valued at approximately US$20 billion, equivalent to roughly RM76 billion.

That contract represented not merely a fighter procurement decision but a strategic industrial verdict on which aerospace architecture Washington believes can dominate contested airspace against peer competitors throughout the 2030s and potentially into the 2050s.

Area 51’s Strategic Role in America’s Black Aerospace Pipeline

Groom Lake has historically functioned as the operational bridge between classified aerospace experimentation and deployable combat capability, making any unusual aircraft activity there strategically consequential rather than merely speculative.

The same restricted complex hosted developmental testing associated with programmes such as the F-117 Nighthawk, early stealth demonstrators, and advanced reconnaissance platforms before their eventual public acknowledgment reshaped modern military aviation doctrine.

The Nevada Test and Training Range offers uniquely valuable operational conditions because its immense restricted airspace enables low-observable flight testing beyond the persistent surveillance envelope normally imposed by civilian radar and commercial aviation activity.

The suspected F-47-related aircraft reportedly conducted a relatively low-altitude and comparatively slow overhead pass, an unusual profile suggesting either deliberate observational exposure or operational testing emphasizing low-speed handling and sensor management characteristics.

Such low-profile flight behaviour diverges from traditional high-altitude classified test patterns and instead resembles historical “show-of-presence” flights sometimes associated with confidence validation or strategic signalling within black programme communities.

The platform’s blended-wing-body characteristics align with broader U.S. Air Force efforts to reduce radar cross-section while simultaneously increasing internal fuel volume necessary for Pacific-theatre combat operations exceeding 1,000 nautical miles in combat radius.

That range requirement reflects growing Pentagon concern that future wars against China would involve sustained long-distance air operations across the Western Pacific without reliable access to vulnerable forward operating bases.

A sixth-generation aircraft emphasizing range, thermal suppression, stealth shaping, and manned-unmanned teaming would fundamentally alter force-posture calculations surrounding Taiwan contingency planning and broader Indo-Pacific deterrence strategies.

The NTTR’s role in validating these technologies also suggests the aircraft may represent a technology demonstrator rather than a finalized operational platform, particularly given continuing uncertainty regarding NGAD’s ultimate procurement scale and cost structure.

The strategic importance of the programme intensified after earlier Pentagon concerns that projected NGAD fleet costs could exceed sustainable procurement thresholds, temporarily slowing programme momentum before Boeing’s selection revived development confidence.

Thermal Signature Anomalies and Next-Generation Stealth Engineering

One of the most analytically significant aspects of the footage involves the apparent absence of a conventional exhaust plume despite the aircraft reportedly generating substantial acoustic signatures during flight operations.

Conventional fighter aircraft typically produce highly visible infrared exhaust patterns detectable even by consumer-grade thermal optics, particularly during low-altitude nighttime operations involving significant engine thrust output.

The lack of a clearly identifiable exhaust bloom has therefore become central both to scepticism surrounding the footage and to arguments supporting the possibility of advanced thermal-management technologies integrated into sixth-generation propulsion systems.

Analysts have increasingly linked the anomaly to adaptive-cycle engine concepts associated with the Next Generation Adaptive Propulsion programme, particularly Pratt & Whitney’s XA-103 architecture emphasizing thermal suppression and fuel efficiency.

Adaptive-cycle propulsion enables dynamic airflow modulation between fuel-efficient cruise performance and high-thrust combat operations, potentially reducing infrared detectability while extending operational range across Indo-Pacific combat distances.

Infrared suppression has become strategically critical because modern air warfare increasingly relies on passive detection systems designed specifically to counter low-observable radar signatures through advanced heat-tracking methodologies.

China’s rapid deployment of infrared search-and-track capabilities aboard advanced platforms such as the J-20 has intensified U.S. emphasis on reducing not merely radar visibility but also thermal and electronic signatures across the electromagnetic spectrum.

The footage reportedly displayed a strong overall airframe thermal return without distinct engine plume definition, a phenomenon potentially consistent with distributed heat-management systems dispersing exhaust temperatures across broader structural surfaces.

Such engineering approaches would significantly complicate enemy missile lock-on processes during beyond-visual-range engagements, particularly against increasingly sophisticated dual-mode seekers combining radar and infrared guidance technologies.

Even if partially influenced by sensor-processing limitations inherent to consumer-grade thermal equipment, the footage nevertheless highlights how sixth-generation survivability may depend increasingly on multispectral stealth rather than radar reduction alone.

Boeing F-47 and the Emerging Sixth-Generation Battlespace

The Boeing F-47 programme represents far more than a successor to the F-22 because it forms the central manned component within a broader distributed combat ecosystem integrating autonomous collaborative combat aircraft and AI-enabled battlespace management.

The United States Air Force has repeatedly emphasized that NGAD should be understood as a “family of systems” rather than a standalone fighter platform operating independently of networked unmanned assets.

Under this operational doctrine, the manned F-47 would likely function as an airborne command-and-control node directing loyal-wingman drones, electronic warfare systems, and distributed sensor networks deep inside contested airspace.

This architecture reflects lessons emerging from modern conflicts demonstrating that survivability increasingly depends upon distributed kill chains rather than concentration of capability within single exquisite platforms vulnerable to mass missile saturation.

The suspected aircraft’s tailless-canard geometry is strategically important because such designs prioritize aerodynamic efficiency and stealth edge alignment while potentially enabling high-energy maneuverability during long-range engagements.

Scenarios Indicate Accelerated Development Cycles in Stealth Aviation
©Photo By Usaf/Getty Images. 403339 02: An F-117 Nighthawk Flies Over The Sierra Nevada Mountain Range March 27, 2002 Near Edwards Air Force Base, Ca. The Demonstration Project Is Designed To Provide The F-117 And Its Pilots With The Ability To Receive And Transmit Mission And Target Data In Real-Time From The Air.

(Photo By Usaf/Getty Images)

Both proposed scenarios suggest that stealth aircraft development cycles are progressing at an accelerated pace. This acceleration could lead to more sightings of advanced aircraft before any official announcements are made.

Historically, canard configurations created radar-reflection penalties incompatible with earlier stealth requirements, yet sixth-generation computational design techniques may now permit canard integration without unacceptable low-observable compromises.

The aircraft’s apparent cranked-kite wing structure also aligns with aerodynamic concepts associated with sustained supersonic cruise efficiency and optimized lift distribution during long-duration penetration missions.

These characteristics are particularly relevant for Indo-Pacific operational scenarios where U.S. aircraft may need to transit enormous distances while retaining sufficient fuel and weapons capacity for high-intensity combat operations.

Boeing’s victory over rival industry competitors in securing the F-47 contract additionally carried enormous industrial consequences because the programme could determine American tactical aviation leadership for several decades.

The approximately US$20 billion initial EMD contract, equivalent to RM76 billion, therefore represents both a military investment and a strategic industrial commitment intended to preserve U.S. aerospace dominance amid rising Chinese aviation capability.

Thermal footage near Area 51 fuels F‑47 stealth jet speculation

Public Exposure, Strategic Signalling, and Intelligence Implications

The apparent visibility of the aircraft to civilian observers raises complex questions regarding whether the flight represented accidental exposure, operational complacency, or intentional strategic ambiguity directed toward foreign intelligence audiences.

Historically, selective visibility surrounding classified aerospace projects has occasionally functioned as a controlled signalling mechanism intended to shape adversary perceptions without revealing programme specifics or validated operational capabilities.

Allowing glimpses of advanced platforms can influence enemy procurement decisions, force-posture planning, and deterrence calculations by introducing uncertainty regarding the maturity of hidden technologies.

The timing of the footage coincides with growing global attention surrounding sixth-generation fighter competition involving the United States, China’s J-36 and J-50-related speculation, and multinational European GCAP and FCAS programmes.

Within this context, even ambiguous footage potentially contributes to psychological deterrence by reinforcing perceptions that Washington remains technologically ahead in stealth aviation and advanced propulsion integration.

The strategic signalling effect becomes particularly relevant as Beijing accelerates military modernization efforts emphasizing anti-access missile systems, advanced fighters, and long-range sensor networks across the Indo-Pacific region.

At the same time, intelligence analysts remain cautious because low-resolution thermal imagery inherently creates interpretive ambiguity capable of generating exaggerated conclusions unsupported by verifiable evidence.

The footage does not conclusively prove the operational existence of a production-standard F-47 platform, nor does it confirm the aircraft’s exact configuration, propulsion architecture, or programme affiliation.

Nevertheless, the consistency between the captured planform and previously circulated NGAD-related renderings significantly narrows the range of plausible alternative explanations compared with earlier unidentified aerospace sightings.

That convergence between speculative concept art and observable aerodynamic geometry explains why multiple aerospace analysts now regard the footage as potentially the most credible civilian glimpse yet into America’s next-generation air-dominance ecosystem.

Why the Alleged NGAD Sighting Matters for Future Air Warfare

If the aircraft genuinely represents an NGAD technology demonstrator, the footage indicates the United States may already be transitioning from conceptual sixth-generation research toward practical operational validation under realistic flight conditions.

Such progress would reshape assessments of future airpower balance because China and Russia have both invested heavily in counter-stealth technologies specifically intended to neutralize earlier-generation U.S. low-observable advantages.

A functioning sixth-generation demonstrator integrating multispectral stealth, adaptive propulsion, AI-enabled networking, and long-range persistence would therefore restore uncertainty into adversary strategic planning calculations.

The emphasis on tailless stealth shaping and thermal management additionally suggests future fighter survivability will increasingly depend on defeating integrated sensor fusion rather than relying exclusively upon radar invisibility.

This evolution reflects broader changes in military technology where passive infrared tracking, space-based surveillance, and distributed radar architectures collectively threaten traditional assumptions regarding stealth survivability.

Potential role as manned NGAD component

©Photo by Carsten Koall/picture alliance via Getty Images. 08 June 2026, Berlin: A woman walks past the autonomous CA-1 Europe fighter jet at the Helsing company stand. Exhibitors of weapons technology at the industry conference of the "New Age Defense" initiative.

Photo: Carsten Koall/dpa (Photo by Carsten Koall/picture alliance via Getty Images)

If confirmed authentic, the observed aircraft could serve as the manned platform within the U.S. Air Force's Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) 'family of systems.' This role would involve coordinating with autonomous drones and penetrating advanced air defense networks.

The aircraft’s reported low-speed overhead transit may also indicate testing related to sensor calibration, autonomous coordination, or variable-cycle propulsion management rather than pure high-speed performance evaluation.

Such operational experimentation would align with the Pentagon’s broader doctrinal shift toward adaptive combat ecosystems emphasizing persistence, survivability, and data integration over legacy dogfighting paradigms.

For Indo-Pacific military planners, confirmation that NGAD demonstrators are already flying would significantly influence calculations regarding force structure, aerial refueling requirements, forward basing vulnerability, and coalition interoperability strategies.

It would also intensify pressure on allied air forces participating in parallel sixth-generation efforts to accelerate timelines amid fears of widening capability divergence within Western aerospace ecosystems.

Although uncertainty remains unavoidable without official confirmation from the U.S. Air Force or Boeing, the Groom Lake thermal footage has nevertheless transformed NGAD from abstract procurement language into a visible symbol of the coming sixth-generation airpower era.

{ https://defencesecurityasia.com/en/home/ }

This episode, reported now for the first time, was just one of a series of discoveries the Pentagon team made as it investigated decades of claims that Washington was hiding what it knew about extraterrestrial life. That effort culminated in a report, released last year by the Defense Department , that found allegations of a government coverup to be baseless.

In fact, a Wall Street Journal investigation reveals, the report itself amounted to a coverup—but not in the way the UFO conspiracy industry would have people believe. The public disclosure left out the truth behind some of the foundational myths about UFOs: The Pentagon itself sometimes deliberately fanned the flames, in what amounted to the U.S. government targeting its own citizens with disinformation.

At the same time, the very nature of Pentagon operations—an opaque bureaucracy that kept secret programs embedded within secret programs, cloaked in cover stories—created fertile ground for the myths to spread.

 { https://www.tovima.com/}

21 celebrities who believe aliens are real — including those who claim to have seen a UFO

"Disclosure Day" director Steven Spielberg thinks we're not alone in the universe. He's not the only one.

Steven Spielberg; Whoopi Goldberg; Kacey Musgraves
Credit: Getty(3)

If you think we're not alone in the universe, you're not the only one.

And neither is Steven Spielberg. The legendary director has now made four films about aliens, including the new sci-fi drama Disclosure Day, so he's something of an expert on whether the truth is out there. But he's just one of dozens of celebrities who have openly discussed their belief in extraterrestrial life and unidentified aerial phenomena. Some of them, like Goldie Hawn, even claim to have had a firsthand encounter with aliens.

Here's a rundown of 21 celebrities who believe aliens are real, and what they've said about our extraterrestrial neighbors.

1. Steven Spielberg 

Steven Spielberg promoting 'Disclosure Day'
Credit: Kate Green/Getty

Of course we have to start with Spielberg, the director of Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977), E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982), War of the Worlds (2005), and this year's Disclosure Day.

"It's my first film that will be considered science fiction that I do not consider to be science fiction," the director told the Associated Press about his latest film. "It's much more reflective of the world as it is evolving and discoveries that are being made as we speak."

Not only does Spielberg believe in aliens, he also told Stephen Colbert that he wants to be the first to greet them if and when they arrive — even though Barack Obama already called dibs.

2. Whoopi Goldberg 

Whoopi Goldberg at the Tribeca Festival in 2026
Credit: Slaven Vlasic/Getty

It's one of the precious few certainties in life that Whoopi Goldberg will always give us something to talk about on The View, from taking set-cleaning duties into her own hands to getting candid about her career. One subject that's come up a few times: Goldberg's belief in aliens.

During a 2024 episode, guest Kumail Nanjiani said he believes aliens are out there, prompting Goldberg to chime in with her own take. "They're already here," she said. "They're already... They've been here for quite some time."

"And what are they doing?" Nanjiani asked. "They're watching us," replied Goldberg, as if it were a matter of fact.

3. Tom DeLonge

Tom DeLonge performing on stage in 2023
Credit: Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty

No list of celebrities who believe in aliens would be complete without Blink-182's Tom DeLonge, who has dedicated much of his adult life to proving it. He even founded a company, To the Stars, which promotes UAPs (i.e., UFOs) and fringe science.

In 2023, after the House Oversight subcommittee on national security hosted hearings on UAPs with testimony from witnesses and whistleblowers, DeLonge took to Instagram to celebrate. "The UFO Hearings today made history," he wrote. "I am so proud of the three witnesses today that blew the lid off the UFO secrecy that has been intact for decades."

4. Woody Harrelson

Woody Harrelson at the Cannes Film Festival in 2026
Credit: Andreas Rentz/Getty

Woody Harrelson doesn't just think aliens exist — he might've seen them in real life. During a 2025 appearance on The Late Show, Harrelson opened up to Stephen Colbert about a close encounter he had in 1974.

The event happened when Harrelson was a teenager living in Ohio. "Suddenly I noticed, like everybody's out in the street, and so I went out, and we look up. It was nighttime and there were these lights that were just kind of blinking, and then it would just shoot all the way across the sky," he recalled. "And then there'd be one over there, shoot over here, and there were several. They just kept going across the sky."

He continued, "Everybody, we watched it for a while. It took a few minutes and then finally just, whoosh, went somewhere else. Some other world."

5. Goldie Hawn, Kurt Russell, and Wyatt Russell

Kurt Russell, Goldie Hawn, and Wyatt Russell in 2015
Credit: Michael Buckner/Getty

Goldie Hawn also had a close encounter in her younger days. As she recalled in 2023, it happened while she was sleeping in a friend's car after a dance rehearsal in California. "I saw these two or three triangular-shaped heads. They were silver in color, slash for a mouth, tiny little nose, no ears," she said. "They were pointing at me, pointing at me in the car as if they were discussing me, like I was a subject."

Hawn's longtime partner Kurt Russell had his own sighting, which he recounted to Jimmy Kimmel in 2018. Russell, who has a pilot's license, was flying his son Oliver to Phoenix when he saw what he believed to be a UAP.

"There's this bank of lights, six lights in the shape of a triangle... right over the airport," said Russell, who ultimately decided not to report the sighting. "Years later, I come home and Goldie's watching this show on UFOs, and the most reported one of all time was in Phoenix, and I said, 'Wait a minute, that's the night Ollie and I were landing in Phoenix.'"

Hawn and Russell's son, fellow actor Wyatt Russell, is also a firm believer. During his own Jimmy Kimmel Live appearance in 2023, the younger Russell backed up his mom's claims. "It's true!" he said before sharing his own story of seeing a UAP in Canada.

We're still waiting for Hawn's other famous offspring, Kate Hudson, to weigh in.

6. Ana Gasteyer

Ana Gasteyer posing at the Groundlings' 50th anniversary event in 2024
Credit: Michael Tullberg/Getty

"I do believe in extra-terrestrial life, I think it's sort of absurd to think that there wouldn't be any," former Saturday Night Live star Ana Gasteyer told Entertainment Weekly in 2016 while promoting the short-lived sci-fi sitcom People of Earth.

"I mean, it's kind of a big universe, right?" she continued. "I'm not sure that there are like, green people that want to take over the world or anything like that. But there's definitely something, like a vibrating cube or something on another planet. It seems naïve to think that we're the only intelligent life in the universe."

7. Demi Lovato

Demi Lovato at 92NY in 2026
Credit: Jamie McCarthy/Getty

Demi Lovato has many titles: singer, actor, activist, and UFO believer. Lovato even leveraged her stardom to produce a four-part series on the subject, Unidentified.

Speaking with EW in 2021, Lovato explained the genesis of her interest in extraterrestrial life. "I had a pretty profound experience on my 28th birthday," Lovato said. "I made [alien] contact, and it was a pretty mind-blowing experience."

As for what the aliens are up to, Lovato explained, "I think they're very caring, very intelligent beings that are just looking out for the best interest of our planet, because we need some help."

8. Dave Foley

Dave Foley in New York City in 2025
Credit: Jamie McCarthy/Getty

Kids in the Hall comedian Dave Foley has long been fascinated by aliens and UFOs, but he didn't have an encounter of his own until 2022. "After years of interest in the UFOs without ever seeing anything, I saw something," Foley wrote on social media, accompanied by a drawing of what he saw.

"It moved silently, at great speed, hovered and pulsated with light," Foley continued. "I should point out, the white lights were on the front of the craft, assuming that it was moving forward and those lights pulsated separately from the body of the craft, which also pulsated."

When asked if he was fooling around, Foley said, "Absolutely not a bit," and explained that "Many people who have encountered the phenomenon are afraid to discuss it because of the thoughtless and uninformed derision it inspires. Many who do discuss it have had their lives ruined by that derision."

9. Jordan Peele

Jordan Peele at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2025
Credit: Mat Hayward/Getty

Jordan Peele looked to the skies for his third film, the 2022 sci-fi thriller Nope. Though based on an original idea, the California desert setting and sense of awe and spectacle recall Spielberg's Close Encounters of the Third Kind. When asked if he's similarly adopted Spielberg's perspective on aliens, Peele unequivocally told EW, "I believe there are aliens out there."

Peele expanded on his take during an appearance on Late Night with Seth Meyers, telling the host that he likes to think he'd be the one human spared in a takeover of Earth. "Sometimes I think if aliens came down, I would turn on all of y'all, like, in a heartbeat," said Peele. "I feel like there might be room for one prime human." He'll have to jockey for that position with Spielberg and Obama.

10. Megan Fox

Megan Fox in Las Vegas in 2024
Credit: Jerod Harris/Getty

Megan Fox doesn't just believe in aliens — she believes in "everything." As the Jennifer's Body star told MTV News' Josh Horowitz in 2014, that includes Bigfoot, ghosts, and extraterrestrials. When pressed about the lack of concrete evidence of alien encounters, Fox asked, "If they are a more advanced species, why would we be able to find them if they don't want to be found?"

"It just seems like a convenient excuse," said a skeptical Horowitz, to which Fox made a fair point: "But until we find things, they had been previously unfound, yet they still exist." Much to consider.

11. Tom Cruise

Tom Cruise at the Saturn Awards in 2026
Credit: JC Olivera/Getty

The alien discussion in Hollywood always comes back to Spielberg. In 2005, while promoting the director's adaptation of War of the Worlds, Tom Cruise said that "of course" he believes in aliens.

"Are you really so arrogant as to believe we are alone in this universe?" Cruise responded when posed the question by a German publication. "Millions of stars, and we're supposed to be the only living creatures? No, there are many things out there, we just don't know."

12. Keanu Reeves

Keanu Reeves in Los Angeles in 2026
Credit: Rebecca Sapp/Getty

Just a few years later, Keanu Reeves was promoting his own modern remake of a sci-fi classic, The Day the Earth Stood Still (2008), prompting multiple interviewers to ask the actor for his take on intelligent life in the universe. "We can't be alone," Reeves told NBC. "The cosmos is too vast."

"There's so much unexplained and unexplainable phenomena that's presented to us," Reeves said in an interview with Parade, adding, "We can't be the only sentient entity. It might not look like us, but it's going to be out there."

13. Jaden Smith

Jaden Smith at Paris Fashion Week in 2026
Credit: Arnold Jerocki/Getty

When it comes to aliens, Jaden Smith agrees with his Day the Earth Stood Still costar. He even asked a former president about them. "I talked to President Obama about extraterrestrials," Smith told Wonderland magazine. "He said he could neither confirm nor deny the existence of aliens, which means they're real. If people think we're the only people that live in this universe, then something is wrong with them."

14. Miley Cyrus

Miley Cyrus at the Palm Springs International Film Festival in 2026
Credit: Taylor Hill/FilmMagic

Speaking with fashion designer Rick Owens for Interview Magazine, Miley Cyrus detailed a strange experience that was hard to explain. "I was driving through San Bernardino with my friend, and I got chased down by some sort of UFO," the "Flowers" singer said.

"But the best way to describe it is a flying snowplow," she continued. "It had this big plow in the front of it and was glowing yellow. I did see it flying, and my friend saw it, too. There were a couple of other cars on the road and they also stopped to look, so I think what I saw was real."

However, Cyrus admitted she'd "bought weed wax from a guy in a van in front of a taco shop, so it could have been the weed wax." Still, the experience profoundly affected her. "I was shaken for, like, five days. It f---ed me up," she said. "I couldn't really look at the sky the same. I thought they might come back."

15. Halle Berry

Halle Berry during a SiriusXM interview in 2026
Credit: Jamie McCarthy/Getty

Halle Berry starred in two seasons of the CBS sci-fi drama Extant, produced by Spielberg and his Amblin Television team. The short-lived series follows Berry's astronaut Molly Woods, who returns to Earth after a 13-month solo mission to discover that she has somehow gotten pregnant.

At a premiere screening for the show in June 2014, Berry told the Los Angeles Times that she does believe there's something else out there. "I'm not so egotistical to think that we're the only ones living in this vast, vast universe," Berry said candidly. "I do think there's other life out there."

16. Dwayne Johnson

Dwayne Johnson at a Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremony in 2026
Credit: Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty

Roughly 10 years ago, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson admitted that he believes in the existence of extraterrestrials.

In a 2016 Vice interview with Johnson and costar Kevin Hart for their movie Central Intelligence, Johnson was asked if he believes in any conspiracy theories. He answered first by wondering "how we would qualify aliens."

Probed on whether he does believe in aliens, Johnson responded plainly, "Yeah, of course. I believe that we're not the only ones; it'd be arrogant to think that."

17. Kacey Musgraves

Kacey Musgraves at the Academy of Country Music Awards in 2026
Credit: Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic

In April, country singer Kacey Musgraves went on record as having seen not one, not two, but three UFOs during a flight to Fort Worth.

The "Follow Your Arrow" singer shared in an Instagram video that she and her manager witnessed three spherical aircrafts during their flight.

"We just had the craziest f---ing orb UFO experience," the singer said. "We just watched these orbs, there was three of 'em. I noticed them — I'm a noticer, I'm always noticing things. I was about to lay down and take a nap, and I saw these lights that caught my eye and just didn't look normal. And I watched them for a minute, and they definitely were trailing each other."

She first noticed them while flying over Little Rock, Ark., and she watched them for about 45 minutes.

However, this wasn't the first time that the singer encountered UFOs. In 2015, she told Us Weekly that she's seen "several."

18. Dan Aykroyd

Dan Aykroyd in Toronto in 2025
Credit: Mathew Tsang/Getty

We also can't possibly ignore Dan Aykroyd, who's transitioned from ghostbusting to alien-spotting.

The SNL alum has had a long-standing fascination with ghosts and aliens, once claiming to Larry King that he's seen four UFOs. In 2005, he hosted the documentary Dan Aykroyd Unplugged on UFOs, and for three seasons, he's served as the host of the History Channel show The UnBelievable With Dan Aykroyd.

In 2024, Aykroyd told the New York Post that a love affair with nature's oddities runs in his family: "My great-grandfather was a spiritualist, a paranormal researcher. And so, I just grew up with that stuff. And my mother saw a UFO in the late '40s in Ottawa, Canada… And she was always interested in it."

19. January Jones

January Jones at the Academy Museum in 2026
Credit: Kevin Winter/Getty

In a 2020 interview on Jimmy Kimmel Live, January Jones revealed that she believes the truth is out there — because she's seen it for herself.

The Mad Men star told Kimmel that when she was in her 20s in Iowa, she was in a field when she saw a strange light in the sky zoom around and then disappear. Jones was alone when she spotted the strange phenomenon, but she claimed her companion believed her when she told him about it. "But people say things all the time," she admitted to Kimmel.

When Kimmel asked Jones if she believes in paranormal things in general, she responded, laughing, "I'm into everything. Unsolved things… I don't care if anyone else knows, I just need to know."

{ https://profiles.yahoo.com/brands/entertainment-weekly/ }

Vanaf woensdag kunt u in de cinema gaan kijken naar Disclosure Day, van Steven Spielberg. 

© RV / VTM NIEUWS

 Sandie Stroobants - Showbizzjournalist

KIJK. Nieuwe film van Steven Spielberg gaat over over buitenaards leven

Steven Spielberg talks "Disclosure Day" and says aliens "have been here and they are here"

Voor Spielberg zelf is het al zijn vierde film over buitenaardse wezens. Eerder maakte hij namelijk ook al ‘Close Encounters’, ‘E.T.’ en ‘War of the Worlds’. “Voor sommige mensen is het wetenschappelijke fictie en voor anderen is het wetenschappelijke realiteit”, legt de regisseur uit. “Sinds ik ‘Close Encounters’ maakte 50 jaar geleden geloof ik er al in, maar ik heb altijd gezegd: zolang ik met mijn eigen ogen geen UFO gezien heb, ga ik niet categoriek beweren dat er leven van daar naar hier gekomen is. Maar ik ben van gedachten veranderd omdat de indirecte bewijzen overweldigend zijn.”

Spielberg gelooft dat buitenaards leven al bewezen is

Aagje zelf was alvast onder de indruk van de film. “Dit is geen gewone sciencefictionfilm. Als Steven Spielberg achter de camera kruipt, krijg je iets veel beters. Want spanning, actie en mysterie combineren met kinderlijke verwondering: dat kan alleen hij.”

LEES OOK.

• Steven Spielberg wil nooit met pensioen gaan
• Steven Spielberg wilde niet dat filmstudio een sequel van ‘E.T.’ maakte: “Een felbevochten overwinning”
• Steven Spielberg doneerde al 1,5 miljoen dollar om stakers in Hollywood te steunen

BEKIJK OOK DE VOLGENDE VIDEO'S

Disclosure Day Review

Steven Spielberg on "Disclosure Day" and alien visitations

{ https://www.hln.be/nieuws/ }

Disclosure Day Review: Steven Spielberg’s Coda to a Lifetime of Alien Movies

Almost half a century after Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Steven Spielberg seeks to get us all up on that starship with the big-hearted Disclosure Day.

 By David Crow

{ https://www.denofgeek.com/ }

IAA's new guidelines focus on verification, transparency and misinformation in an age of deepfakes and instant panic.

A photograph of the 1976 Canary Island UFO sightings GreyMan12345, CC BY-SA 4.0 , via Wikimedia Commons/Wikimedia Commons

The International Academy of Astronautics has updated its post detection rules in 2026, telling scientists to verify any possible alien signal first and, crucially, to send no reply to extraterrestrial intelligence until there has been international consultation.

The guidance lands amid renewed attention on UFO material released under Donald Trump's administration and was published on 1 June 2026, with the IAA saying it is meant to steer scientists, institutions and the public through any future contact scenario.

'No Reply Should Be Sent' Until The World Has Had Its Say

At the heart of the refreshed rules is a blunt instruction. If astronomers receive a signal or other credible sign of alien intelligence, 'no reply should be sent' until there has been an international discussion on what, if anything, humanity should say back.

The document urges scientists to 'cooperate' on 'whether a potential response to a confirmed detection of extraterrestrial intelligence should be made, and if so, what its contents should be', adding that any talks 'should be conducted through the United Nations and other broadly representative international bodies.'

'Pending the outcome of such consultations, no reply should be sent,' the declaration states.

The guidance also hints that a separate agreement will spell out the mechanics of those talks 'to ensure a coordinated and responsible approach.'

A new Post‑Detection Sub‑Committee of the IAA SETI is due to pull in lawyers, ethicists and social scientists to advise on how to brief the public if contact is ever confirmed.

Updated 'Alien Protocols' For An Age Of Deepfakes And Panic

The news came after the IAA acknowledged that the information landscape has changed radically since 2010. Social media, deepfake technology and what one committee member politely called 'automated misinformation' mean any hint of an alien signal could go viral long before it is properly checked.

'The information environment we operate in today is vastly more complex than it was in 2010,' Professor Michael Garrett, chair of the IAA SETI Committee and professor of astrophysics at the University of Manchester, said in a statement.

'In an era of deepfakes, automated misinformation, and instant global connectivity, unverified claims could trigger confusion or panic. These new protocols guide SETI scientists in maintaining the highest standards of evidence before making announcements to the world.'

The declaration leans heavily on Carl Sagan's old line that 'extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.'

The first step, as before, is to verify any candidate technosignature and seek independent checks by other organisations using other instruments.

'We do not shout "alien" the moment we see a strange blip,' Garrett added. 'The scientific method demands we check, check again, and then ask others to check. Only when we have reached a consensus that a signal is credible do we bring it to the world.'

The guidelines also call for safeguards for researchers who find themselves at the centre of an alleged detection, warning they may face harassment or doxxing. They urge teams to monitor 'viral' rumours and hoaxes and to distinguish clearly between firm analysis and speculation.

Carefully Tell The World – But Keep The Evidence Safe

While the new protocols stress caution, they also insist that the global public should not be cut out of the loop if something real is found.

'Institutions and organisations should be responsive to reasonable requests from news organisations, social media platforms, and other public communications media,' the report reads. 'Responses to inquiries should be prompt, accurate, and honest.'

The guidance adds that communication about ongoing work 'may be necessary to dispel rumours and provide accurate and reliable information.'

If a suspected alien signal is later shown not to be extraterrestrial in origin, that conclusion 'should be promptly disclosed and clearly communicated.'

Once a detection is properly verified, scientists are obliged to report it 'in a full, complete and open manner to the public, the scientific community, and the Secretary General of the United Nations.'

They are also advised to protect the evidence itself, potentially by shielding particular radio frequencies if the signal arrives as an electromagnetic transmission.

At the same time, the update quietly concedes that scientists are under no duty to disclose every step of their verification efforts in real time, including to the media or on social platforms. They are, however, encouraged to use those channels responsibly, and to label unconfirmed conclusions as such.

Trump's UFO Files And The FBI's Old Warnings

The IAA's more sober, process‑driven playbook lands just as Trump‑era UFO disclosures drag some frankly wild Cold War claims back into the spotlight.

A tranche of declassified FBI material, released in what supporters have billed as a Trump‑ordered 'UFO data dump', includes memos, testimony and film of reported sightings. One memo dated 12 January 1955 recounts an interview with members of the Detroit Flying Saucer Club.

According to the file, club member Randall Cox told agents that aliens were sending messages to Earth claiming every other planet in the galaxy had already 'conquered outer space', and that humans were the 'lowest form of universal existence.'

Cox is quoted as saying the purpose of contact was to prepare people to 'receive landings from outer space.'

The Bureau took the reports seriously enough to investigate whether they posed any security risk, though the saucers were ultimately described as 'friendly to the US.'

Another note describes Cox repeating a claim that John Fry, a technician at Sandia Air Force Base, had allegedly piloted a flying saucer from New Mexico to New York in 30 minutes, a feat that would shred known physics.

Agents, it must be said, were sceptical. They warned that Cox's associate John Hoffman had been 'carried beyond the realm of scientific fact into that of possible scientific fiction', and highlighted similarities with Dorothy Martin, a 1950s cult leader who wrongly predicted a world‑ending flood in December 1954, later insisting the Earth had been spared because of her followers' 'light and faith.'

The latest declassification push was driven by Secretary of War Pete Hegseth under Trump's direction, according to US reports.

Congressman Tim Burchett hailed the first release on X, taking aim at the 'Deep State' and promising that what is still to come will make people say 'Holy Crap.'

The new guidance comes from the International Academy of Astronautics (IAA), a research body whose SETI committee brings together more than 1,000 experts from 97 countries.

First drafted in 1989 and last updated in 2010, its 'post‑detection protocols' set out how scientists should behave if instruments ever pick up a credible signal or other sign of extraterrestrial intelligence, and how those findings should be communicated beyond the lab.

{ https://www.ibtimes.co.uk/trending }

Although the initial studies were confined to lab animals, the team hopes their magnetically controlled microrobot approach to the precision delivery of pluripotent stem cells could eventually be adapted for humans with spinal cord injuries.

Spinal Cord Repair Microrobots Treat Nerve Cells That Resist Regeneration

Unlike some cells in the human body, nerve cells within the spinal cord rarely regenerate on their own. If the spinal cord is injured, scarring can further reduce the ability of the nerve fibers within the cord to regrow. For people living with spinal cord injuries, this scenario can offer a bleak prognosis for recovery.

In recent decades, scientists have turned to the natural regenerative properties of pluripotent stem cells. Although the use of stem cells was initially controversial due to the need to extract neonatal stem cells, scientists ultimately learned to convert ordinary stem cells into pluripotent stem cells capable of becoming any cell type in the human body.

NPCbots Combine Stem Cells and Magnetically Controlled Nanoparticles

To construct their magnetically guided spinal cord repairing robot, the team built what they termed a “biohybrid microrobot.”

First, the team creates pluripotent stem cells from adult cells by genetically manipulating them in the lab. The result is what researchers call an “induced” pluripotent stem cell (iPS). According to the study authors, these newly pluripotent iPS cells are used to derive living neural progenitor cells (NPCs), meaning “they have the potential to differentiate into various types of nervous system cells.”

Next, the team creates customized magnetic nanoparticles consisting of two layers. The inner layer responds to the “commands” from the magnetic fields used to control them, and an outer layer that converts this response into an electrical signal.

According to Professor Salvador Pané i Vidal of the Multi-Scale Robotics Lab at ETH Zurich, each tiny robot has a reservoir near the center “where we trap the cells.” The professor said the best way to accomplish this is to inject the nanoparticles into a solution with the NPC, “and wait for the two components to bind.”

After 30 minutes, the process is complete, and the team is left with a batch of nanobots, each around 6 micrometers in size. Since the new robots combine a magnetic bot and a reservoir of NPCs, the team named them ‘NPCbots.’

In preparatory cellular experiments, the researchers used hundreds of thousands of NPCbots. However, several million were required for animal trials.

Zebrafish and Mice Regain Movement After Injections

To test the efficacy of their new NPCbots, the ETH team injected millions of them into the spinal cord of zebrafish larvae with spinal cord injuries. To improve the chances of nerve regeneration, the NPCbots were injected directly into the site of the injury.

After injecting the microrobots, the injury site was subjected to electromagnetic fields. Although the repair was not immediately evident, the team noted that after three days, the zebrafish with the injured spinal cords “exhibited nearly normal swimming and exploratory behaviour.”

Next, the team injected millions of NPCbots into mice with completely separated spinal cords. According to the team, the results were “very promising.”

“After 28 days, the animals’ nerve cells had reconnected at the site of the injury,” they explained.

The team said further observation of the treated mice revealed “increasingly normal movement patterns,” including improvements in gait, stride length, and coordination. The ETH team also noted that the mice’s exploratory behavior “improved significantly.”

Schematic illustration of nerve cell recovery in zebrafish and mice.

Image Credit: ETH Zurich.

When discussing the mouse experiments, the team described the result as “particularly significant” because zebrafish spinal cords regenerate, whereas mouse spinal cords do not. They also noted that the treatment was “well tolerated by the animals,” with no reported immune reactions or adverse effects.

Minimally Invasive and More Precise Treatments with Microbots

Unlike science fiction movies, where tiny robots repair tissue mechanically, the research team said that the stem cells carried by the NPCbots are exposed to electrical stimulation, “greatly enhancing their differentiation after transplantation.” This means the nanoparticles convert the electric signals from the EM field into electrical impulses, stimulating healing.

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

The Catholic Church Fired an In-House Exorcist for Saying UFOs Are Actually Demons. I Can Explain.

Photo illustration by Slate. Photos by Getty Images Plus.

Yes, the church still employs exorcists. No, they aren’t allowed to call UFOs demons.

Last year, the mysterious interstellar object 3I/ATLAS made a fascinating journey through the inner reaches of our Solar System. After passing by several planets, it vanished forever into the depths of space, leaving no chance of a second encounter.  However, it left behind a vast amount of data collected by ground-based and space-based observatories. For scientists, this is an invaluable and extremely rare opportunity to study a “visitor” that originated far beyond the boundaries of our star system.

Illustration of the interstellar object 3I/ATLAS. Source: ibtimes.com

Researchers recently made a stunning discovery by analyzing data from the MIRI instrument aboard NASA’s advanced James Webb Space Telescope.

According to the European Space Agency, in December the telescope detected traces of methane emanating from 3I/ATLAS. This occurred approximately two months after the interstellar comet passed its perihelion—the point of closest approach to the Sun. Jokingly, one could say that the comet “let off some gas” as it flew through our cosmic neighborhood.

Secrets beneath the ice

The significance of this discovery cannot be overstated. This is the first time in history that astronomers have managed to obtain a chemical fingerprint of an interstellar object and detect methane in it. According to a study published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters, the MIRI instrument revealed not only the presence of methane but also the distribution of water and carbon dioxide.

The image above shows the interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS, photographed using the MIRI instrument on NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, along with outlines illustrating the distribution of various gases at the time the comet was observed. Water vapor extends far beyond the nucleus, as much of it is released from ice grains in the coma, while carbon dioxide and methane are most concentrated near the comet’s nucleus. The image below shows a spectrum, and the markers indicate the signatures of various gases that the telescope has detected escaping from the comet. Source: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI

Since the intense gas outburst occurred after perihelion—when comets typically heat up the most and lose the most material—scientists have reached an interesting conclusion. They speculate that the methane was hidden very deep beneath the comet’s thick icy shell. According to NASA, methane is an extremely volatile substance that sublimates very easily—that is, it transforms from ice into gas.

A completely different chemistry

The chemical composition of 3I/ATLAS has greatly surprised astronomers. The ratio of methane to water detected was found to be abnormally high compared to the typical comets we are used to seeing. In addition, the latest observations have confirmed that the object is exceptionally rich in carbon dioxide, making it even more unique.

Representatives of the European Space Agency emphasize that these findings unequivocally point to one thing: the chemical composition and formation environment of 3I/ATLAS differ significantly from the conditions under which the vast majority of comets in our solar system formed.

We previously reported on how the interstellar object 3I/ATLAS contained traces of extraterrestrial fuel.

• According to NASA 
• Posted in News, Science

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

The discovery was recently detailed in a study featured in Nature Geoscience.

A Massive Fan-Shaped Structure

Composed of several gigantic basins located beneath more than three kilometers of the southern continent’s icy exterior, the unusual structure has been dubbed the “East Antarctic Fan-shaped Basin Province.”

The massive feature is large enough to be considered continental in scale all by itself and incorporates some of the best-known subglacial features in the region, which include the famous Wilkes and Aurora basins.

The fan-shaped geological megas-structure also features the basin, which comprises Antarctica’s Lake Vostok, which is recognized as the largest subglacial lacustrine feature anywhere on the planet.

“We propose that the fan-like landscape is the product of distributed intraplate rotational extension before the breakup of Gondwana, with three continental-scale consequences,” the team writes in their study.

While the individual basins have all been characterized in past work, the international team reports that the new research marks the first time they have been studied in connection to a singular structure, which they believe was formed through the geological process of distributed rotational extension.

Fault-controlled basins and interpreted structural frame in the newly identified EAFBP.

Credit: Nature Geosci

Origins of a Giant Subglacial Structure

At some point in Antarctica’s deep geological history, the continent’s subglacial crust spread out from a central point, resulting in the distinctive fan-shaped appearance it possesses today.

Likening the feature to an open hand, with each of the basins representing gaps between fingers, the research team says it is possible that the newly-characterized East Antarctic Fan-shaped Basin Province “could be one of the largest examples of rotational extension ever seen in continental crust.”

The question of how it formed remains a mystery, although there are several possible explanations.

One involves its formation over the course of several tectonic phases, which researchers believe may be linked to the formation of the ancient supercontinent of Gondwana. According to this theory, the present-day Antarctic land mass’s eventual separation from modern Australia may have played a key role in the breakup that formed the structure in question.

However, remaining questions about the age of the unusual feature also raise possibilities about other geological processes that could have led to its creation.

Today, the structure plays a crucial role in the movement of ice, whereby the distribution of subglacial lakes and basins is primarily governed by its shape. Researchers think this could be important because it would mean the fan-shaped feature may significantly impact the stability of regions of Antarctica that are susceptible to the effects of climate change.

Investigating a Subglacial Mega-Structure

By combining subglacial topographical studies with examinations of geological data, the researchers have tentatively concluded that deep tectonic processes within the continent’s lithosphere, comprising the Earth’s crust and upper mantle, likely played a major role in shaping the structure.

The team combined these data with observations of seismic data, gravity measurements, and magnetic readings as well to help shape the crustal and lithospheric models used as the basis for their study.

According to Durham University researchers, the orientation and elevation of the subglacial topography was calculated based on what the researchers characterize as “rebounded topography,” in which the elevation of land surfaces in East Antarctica were calculated based on how the terrain would respond if none of the ice that currently weights it down were present.

“Laterally, to the west, it caused compression and the consequent uplift of the Gamburtsev Mountains,” the team reports, while to the east, “the northernmost Transantarctic Mountains segment was rotated clockwise by ~20°, overriding the West Antarctic Rift System’s hot lithosphere,” which segmented the mountains into three distinct blocks.

Meanwhile, to the north, the team says the “transcurrent edge of the fan formed the lithospheric weakness that controlled the breakup of Gondwana by driving the propagation of Antarctica–Australia separation and shaping the resulting semi-circular passive continental margins.”

“These processes have influenced the present-day East Antarctica sub-ice landscape and the evolution of the overlying ice sheet,” the researchers say, which includes “the development of glacial troughs and outlet glaciers.”

The team’s recent study, “A fan-shaped subglacial basin province in East Antarctica formed by rotational extension,” was published in Nature Geoscience on June 3, 2026.

• Micah Hanks is the Editor-in-Chief and Co-Founder of The Debrief. A longtime reporter on science, defense, and technology with a focus on space and astronomy, he can be reached at micah@thedebrief.org. Follow him on X @MicahHanks, and at micahhanks.com.

Distributed rotational extension

Analysis suggests the structure was formed by a process known as distributed rotational extension.

This is where the continental crust has spread out from a central point. The pattern is similar to a hand, with the base of the thumb as the fixed point, and fingers spread out, showing the stretching. The gaps between the fingers are like the triangular basins that form as they open.

Understanding Antarctica's geological history

The East Antarctic Fan-shaped Basin Province could be one of the largest examples of rotational extension ever seen in continental crust.

It may have developed through multiple tectonic phases linked to the evolution of the Gondwana supercontinent and the later separation between Antarctica and Australia and could even have influenced this break-up.

The discovery also raises fresh questions—particularly around the precise age of the structure and the geodynamic mechanisms that generated it.

However, the significance of the discovery extends beyond historical insight.

The shape of the bedrock hidden beneath the ice sheet continues to influence ice flow today, controlling the distribution of subglacial basins and lakes. This could potentially affect the stability of parts of the Antarctic Ice Sheet that are particularly sensitive to climate change.

Rebounded topography

To investigate the structure, researchers combined subglacial topography with geological observations, gravity, magnetic and seismic data, and crustal and lithospheric models.

They found that the observed structure is a result of a deep tectonic process within the Antarctic lithosphere.

Dr. Guy Paxman from our Department of Geography was part of the research team.

He led on calculating what the elevation of the land surface of East Antarctica would be if all the ice were removed (which would cause the land to rebound upwards by as much as one kilometer).

This "rebounded topography" was used in analysis of the orientation and elevation of the topography of the newly discovered structure.

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