De opwarming 56 miljoen jaar geleden laat zien hoe het onze bossen kan vergaan

Artikel door Jeannette Kras

56 miljoen jaar geleden kwam er plots een enorme berg koolstof in de atmosfeer terecht. Dat had grote gevolgen voor de bossen in die tijd, blijkt uit fossiele bladcellen in het Amerikaanse Wyoming. De parallellen met de huidige opwarming zijn weinig geruststellend.

Het PETM, voluit het Paleoceen-Eoceen Thermisch Maximum (PETM) geldt als de meest recente periode waarin de aarde een vergelijkbare sterke opwarming doormaakte. Voor het eerst is met versteende bladcellen het bladerdak uit die periode gereconstrueerd.

“We brengen CO2 sneller in de atmosfeer dan welk bekend natuurlijk proces dan ook”, legt paleobotanicus Regan Dunn uit. “De aarde heeft nog nooit een koolstofuitstoot meegemaakt in een dusdanig tempo. Het PETM biedt ons het beste venster op hoe het klimaat en de ecosystemen van de aarde reageren op een enorme koolstofinjectie voordat mensen de planeet begonnen te hervormen.”

Bruine aarde

Tijdens het PETM werd het landschap op grote schaal bruiner. Door de CO2 in de lucht, veroorzaakt door vulkanen, werd het warmer en droger. Plantensoorten trokken noordwaarts en het bladerdak werd minder dicht. Daardoor versnelde erosie en raakte de waterkringloop op het land verstoord. De vergelijking met nu is opvallend: door menselijke activiteit komt CO2 nog sneller in de atmosfeer terecht dan tijdens het PETM.

“Er vinden momenteel overal op aarde aanzienlijke sterftegolven onder bomen plaats”, zegt Dunn. “Bossen gaan achteruit door stijgende temperaturen, droogtestress, ziekteverwekkers, insectenplagen en bosbranden. En als je de bomen begint te verliezen, onze kanaries in de kolenmijn, zit je in de problemen.”

Bladcellen als tijdmachine

Maar hoe meet je de dichtheid van een bos dat 56 miljoen jaar geleden verdween? Daarvoor zijn minuscule fossiele fragmenten van de beschermende buitenlaag van bladeren gebruikt. Daarmee kon voor het eerst de zogeheten leaf area index (LAI) worden berekend. Die maat beschrijft hoeveel van de lucht door bladeren wordt bedekt en geeft daarmee een cijfer voor de dichtheid van het bladerdak.

Om de methode te ontwikkelen, werd de LAI van moderne bossen in Zuid- en Midden-Amerika gemeten. De onderzoekers richtten een camera met fisheye-lens omhoog en verzamelden direct daaronder bladfragmenten uit de bodem. De sleutel zit in de vorm van de opperhuidcellen. Bladeren die in dichte, schaduwrijke bossen groeien, hebben langgerektere en smallere cellen dan bladeren die veel zon krijgen.

“Dit is de schaduwreactie van planten: ze verlengen het blad door elke cel langer te maken”, legt Dunn uit. “Zodra de bladeren van de boom vallen en in de bodem afbreken, kan de celvorm die in de fragmenten bewaard blijft ons vertellen hoe dicht het bladerdak was waar het blad oorspronkelijk groeide.”

Duizenden cellen uit moderne bossen werden gemeten en gekoppeld aan de LAI. Vervolgens kon dit worden toegepast op fossiele bladfragmenten uit Wyoming.

Minder grote bomen

Het Wyoming van 56 miljoen jaar geleden zag er totaal anders uit dan tegenwoordig. Reusachtige Metasequoia-bomen torenden uit boven platanen, elzen, palmen en andere subtropische en tropische planten.

Gedurende meer dan tien jaar werden honderden monsters uit het Hanna Basin verzameld. Daaruit blijkt dat de bossen tijdens het PETM opener werden en minder grote bomen hadden. Dat had gevolgen voor onder meer het klimaat, de voedingsstoffenkringloop, verwering en dieren die in de bossen leefden.

Het laat een verontrustende parallel zien met het heden. Volgens satellietmetingen sinds de jaren tachtig vergroende de aarde aanvankelijk doordat extra CO2 plantengroei stimuleerde. Inmiddels is dat veranderd: onze planeet verdort. “Nu de aarde door de extra uitstoot is opgewarmd, draait deze vergroeningstrend om en worden veel delen van de aarde bruiner”, zegt Dunn. “Dit laat zien dat we een kritieke drempel zijn gepasseerd waarbij hogere temperaturen bossen nu nadelig beïnvloeden.”

Daarmee dreigt tevens een belangrijke natuurlijke buffer tegen klimaatverandering te verzwakken. “Als je bossen begint te verliezen, raak je cruciale koolstofputten kwijt”, zegt Dunn. “Het PETM herinnert ons eraan dat wanneer bossen achteruitgaan, de gevolgen in het hele klimaatsysteem merkbaar zijn.”

{https://scientias.nl/ }

More Americans believe the government is withholding information about UFOs

By Adam Kovac edited by Claire Cameron

The truth may be out there, but Americans are split on what the truth is: just under half of people believe all sightings of unidentified flying object (UFO), also known as unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP), can be explained by human activity or natural phenomena, a new Gallup poll finds.

The proportion of skeptics has been dropping, however: In 2019, 60 percent of Americans said they believed UAP were either human-caused or natural phenomena. But that proportion shrank to 50 percent in 2021 and now sits at 49 percent.

That’s not to say that all those with shifting opinions are sure our planet has been visited by intelligent life from other planets: 37 percent of the poll’s respondents said some UAP were likely alien spacecraft, down from 41 percent in 2021. Rather the number of people who aren’t sure has grown, from 7 percent in 2019 to 13 percent in 2026.

There is one thing most Americans seem to agree on, though: more of them now believe the government is withholding information about UFOs, or UAP, than they did 30 years ago. In the new poll, some 78 percent said they believe officials know more than they tell the public compared with 71 percent in 1996.

{https://www.scientificamerican.com/ }

UFOs and Crop Circles: Believe It — or Don’t

_{Alleged evidence of extraterrestrial visits often evolves from local news headlines into a game, an art, and an industry}

Gary Smith

Magical things have been seen in the skies for thousands of years, often interpreted by Earthlings as visitors from other planets. In modern times, unidentified flying object (UFO) sightings have become a popular hobby. Established in 1974, the National UFO Reporting Center has compiled a list of nearly 100,000 UFO sightings, an average of more than five a day.

There have been more UFO sightings in California than in any other state, indeed more than in New York, Texas, and Massachusetts put together. Perhaps aliens prefer California, or maybe California really is la-la land. There have also been more reported UFO sightings in the U.S. on the week of July 4 than during any other week of the year, which shows that aliens like to watch fireworks as much as Americans do (joke).

Australia’s “Tully nests”

On a foggy January morning in 1966, an Australian farmer named George Pedley heard a hissing sound. When he looked for the source, he saw a flying saucer ascend “in a puff of blue vapor” from a nearby swamp known locally as Horseshoe Lagoon. On closer inspection, he found a 30-foot circle of weeds that had been pressed flat in a clockwise direction, as if the weeds had been flattened by spinning air from a flying saucer.

Figure 1: A Tully nest/UFO Insight.

The local newspaper ran a story about Pedley’s saucer sighting and soon his neighbors discovered five more “saucer nests.” These were all near the town of Tully in Queensland and they became known as the Tully nests.

Local residents told the Royal Australian Air Force that circular weed patterns were common that time of year. An investigation by a local police officer and professors at the University of Queensland concluded that that the circles were most likely caused by short-lived whirlwinds called willy-willies in Australia.

Nonetheless, the idea that extraterrestrials were touring Tully resonated with UFO fans — and locals were happy to offer lodging and stories to tourists who came to see the Horseshoe Lagoon and squint at faded photographs of saucer nests.

Crop circles hit the news in England

A dozen or so years after the Tully nests were reported, designs created by flattened crops of canola, barley, wheat, or other grains began showing up in farmers’ fields in southern England. Some suggested that sexually active hedgehogs may have created these crop circles. (No, this time I am not joking!) Even less plausibly, a molecular biologist named Horace Drew proposed that time travelers from the future were leaving markers to help them navigate our planet (or, at least, England). Never mind that the crop circles disappear when the crops are harvested.

Dust devils and bizarre wind patterns might explain simple circles like the Tully nests, but cannot explain the increasingly precise, complex patterns found in England. Aliens and time travelers were popular explanations. Many of the crop circles were in the county of Wiltshire, the home of the Stonehenge and Avebury prehistoric monuments, and a fertile area for tales of haunted houses, demonic dogs, and sacred geometries. Crop-circle enthusiasts (“croppies”) began compiling detailed records of crop-circle sightings and traveling thousands of miles to absorb spiritual experiences by hugging the canola or lying down inside a crop circle.

Some people, who clearly had too much time on their hands, claimed to have decoded secret messages, such as “believe,” “there is good out there,” and “we oppose deception.” They did not explain why extra-terrestrials would waste their time traveling to earth to create vapid coded messages. Another theory was that the circles were some sort of secret code related to the pre-Columbian Mayan calendar’s Long Count and first Great Cycle, a 5,125-year period that would culminate in the end of the world on December 21, 2012. (Spoiler alert: nothing special happened on that day.)

Questions arose… and so did answers

There were doubters and a few obvious questions. Why are crop circles created at night in remote areas near roads? Why are aliens so fond of farms in southern England? Why would extraterrestrials use secret codes if they had something to tell us?

In 1991, two Brits, Doug Bower and Dave Chorley, confessed that they had made hundreds of crop circles using boards with rope handles to smoosh the crops.

One night in 1978, they had been sitting in a pub, drinking warm English beer and talking about the Tully nests. They decided it would be a hoot to create flattened crop circles to make it seem that flying saucers had landed in English fields. The croppies bought their decades-long prank hook, line, and sinker.

A game, an art form, and an industry

Figure 2: The Julia Set Crop Circle/Ancient Pages.

Crop circles have evolved into an elaborate game. Pranksters and locals both appear eager to keep the story going. Pranksters like messing with the croppies and enjoy creating competitive crop-circle art, enhanced by the thrill of avoiding being caught. There are implicit rules: the circles should be created at night, anonymously, with no incriminating evidence of human involvement. Crop-circle creators now think of themselves as artists and often use sophisticated tools to aid their increasing complicated designs. Photos of the best designs are published in books, catalogues, and calendars.

Local farmers are annoyed that parts of their crops are damaged, first by the pranksters and then by trespassing tourists. But many locals are more than happy to sell lodging, tours, and souvenirs to the thousands of New Age visitors who arrive during each crop circle season. Some towns have pilots flying over their fields daily in order to take pictures of fresh designs that can be downloaded to the internet and lure more tourists.

Many croppies acknowledge the pranksters but insist that some patterns are too complex to be made by humans working for a few hours in the dark. One croppie insisted that,

I can tell a real one, by the energy I feel once inside it. Different crop circles seem to resonate different energies, which I usually feel within my chakras . . . . Each one is different, some seem to energize me, giving me a real buzz, others make me want to lay down in them, and be very still.

The spectacular crop circle shown in Figure 2 above appeared in July 1996 near Stonehenge. The design is a fractal pattern called the Julia Set and was said to have appeared in less than an hour during the daytime — seemingly ruling out human pranksters. The owner of the field that provided the canvas for this pattern reportedly made about £30,000 charging admission to his field.

Figure 3 A 2001 Crop Circle in Wiltshire, England Containing 409
Circles/Live Science.

Three pranksters later confessed that they had created the pattern in about three hours in the early morning the day before and they were noticed by an airplane. An even more elaborate double-triple Julia Set pattern is shown in Figure 3 (pranksters unknown).

In a bizarre full-circle take on the crop-circle saga, a 2009 BBC article titled “Stoned wallabies make crop circles” stated that a government official in the Australian island state of Tasmania had reported that “we have a problem with wallabies entering poppy fields, getting as high as a kite and going around in circles.” (available at Reuters)

• (This article is excerpted from Smith, Gary (2023), Distrust: Big Data, Data-Torturing, and the Assault on Science, Oxford University Press. Links and headings have been added.)

RELATED

{ https://mindmatters.ai/ }

If confirmed, the new research may set the pace for unraveling how these cosmic curiosities, first detected in 2023, first came to be in the early stages of the universe’s development. Not only that, it could hint at the possibility that these “little” cosmic curiosities may also be keeping a big secret.

Did Little Red Dot like the one on the left evolve into globular clusters like 47 Tucanae (right)? 

(Image credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Dale Kocevski/Colby College, ESO)

What Are Little Red Dots?

One of the reasons little red dots remained unknown until recent years has to do with their great distances from Earth. With the help of the Webb telescope’s powerful eye, these tiny objects were initially detected three years ago and detailed in a formal scientific paper in 2024.

The nature of these objects remains unknown, and astronomers still aren’t certain about what the exact source of the light they produce might be. In past research, some clues have pointed to the possibility of material around these objects at ultraviolet wavelengths—this would potentially offer a strong hint that these faint, distant objects are galaxies, or are at least related to them in some way.

One of the challenges astronomers have encountered is the lack of optical light measurements indicating the presence of galactic material. Because of this, questionsremain about the mass that could be present in stellar bodies associated with the little red dots.

Globular cluster NGC 6638, as seen by the Hubble Space Telescope. 

(Image credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, R. Cohen)

Capturing Optical Emissions from Enigmatic Objects

Now, in new research by Xuheng Ding, Lilan Yang, and colleagues, imagery captured by the James Webb Space Telescope of 217 examples of little red dots has produced new clues about their mysterious origin.

A key component of the new imagery includes the detection of optical emissions, albeit faint ones, observed beyond the primary central objects themselves. The detections are strong enough to be clearly observed, and based on the team’s models, these emission lines are indeed most likely linked to the presence of stellar mass, meaning that the little red dots are good candidates for star-forming galaxies, as many astronomers have suspected.

If correct, this would help confirm a potentially big secret about these objects, since it would also mean the little red dots reside at the centers of these galaxies—as supermassive black holes.

Just some of the "little red dot" galaxies discovered by the JWST. 

(Image credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Dale Kocevski (Colby College))

Anatomy of a Little Red Dot

Additional clues about these objects include new estimates for their size, clocking in with a radius of about 210 parsecs—roughly 685 light-years—on average. This means that the little red dots are far more compact than the kinds of star-generating galaxies expected to possess comparable mass, which date to around the same time in our universe’s development that the dots are believed to originate.

Based on the new research, little red dots are more than just unusual light sources in the distant universe, and their likely association with star-forming galaxies offers a significant clue toward revealing their exact nature.

Still, a few questions remain, and the team cautions that their analysis deals with the average properties based on the recent collection of Webb imagery of these cosmic features, since many of the individual characteristics of the little red dots remain too faint to characterize on an individual basis.

Going forward, the team believes additional observations that include spectrographic analysis of the light produced by little red dots will offer more clues about not only their origins, but will also help astronomers determine clearer estimates for their distances.

The recent study, “Extended components of little red dots in the rest-frame optical,” appeared in Nature on August 24, 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.

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

Researchers at the University of Science and Technology of China have developed a new photoresponsive hydrogel whose 3D shape can effectively expand, change, or even be rewritten into an entirely different configuration depending on where light strikes it.

In experiments reported in Nature Communications, the material expanded more than 80,000% within 40 seconds and could be repeatedly programmed into helices, twists, and hybrid structures.

Researchers also used its light-controlled motion to lift objects and drive a miniature rotary system, pointing toward possible applications in smart materials and soft robotics.

“Reconfiguring handedness in synthetic systems with spatiotemporal control and reversible behavior remains a fundamental challenge in bioinspired robotics and materials science,” researchers write. “Here, we demonstrate homogeneous photoactive hydrogels capable of ultrafast, programmable handed shape-morphing, including helices and twists, through spatially controlled light illumination.”

The ability to program the material after it has already been formed makes the breakthrough especially unusual.

Many shape-changing materials are manufactured with their future behavior already built into them. Different layers, directional fibers, compositional gradients, and pre-patterned structures determine how they will eventually bend, curl, or twist. Once fabricated, those instructions can be difficult, if not impossible, to change.

The new hydrogel begins as a structurally uniform material, with the asymmetry required for complex motion instead created temporarily by the pattern of incoming light. The key to making that possible is an unusually powerful swelling response.

The researchers incorporated a light-sensitive molecule known as spiropyran into a polymer network. When illuminated, the molecule experiences a chemical change that alters the electrical interactions between portions of the polymer. Attractions that normally help keep the network compact weaken or become repulsive, allowing the chains to spread apart and absorb large amounts of water.

The resulting expansion is dramatic. The researchers measured more than 80,000% volume growth after only 40 seconds of irradiation, a combination of speed and magnitude they say exceeds previously reported photoresponsive hydrogels.

Yet, simply making the hydrogel swell was only part of the experiment.

By controlling where the light hits, the team could make some portions of the material expand faster than others. Illuminating one side of a narrow strip creates a swelling gradient through its thickness. The resulting strain mismatch causes the strip to bend first, then curl into a helix.

Illuminating both sides produces a different internal swelling distribution. Rather than curling in the same manner, the strip buckles and rotates along its length, creating a twisted structure. Those shapes are not locked in place. Once the light is removed, the hydrogel relaxes and can later be programmed again.

The direction of the illumination can even determine the material’s “handedness.” Light arriving from one angle can produce a left-handed helix, while lighting the same strip from the opposite direction produces a right-handed one after the material has relaxed in darkness. Researchers repeatedly switched samples back and forth and found that the material retained its reconfigurability after more than 20 consecutive cycles.

More complicated lighting designs produced even stranger results.

By illuminating separate regions of a longer strip independently, researchers created structures containing multiple forms at once. One section could form a helix while another became a twist. Other patterns produced neighboring helices with opposite handedness or helix-twist-helix combinations, creating shapes reminiscent of the spiraling tendrils plants use to wrap around supports.

That ability to rewrite a material’s geometry also translated into mechanical output.

In one demonstration, a 6 mg strip curled into a spring capable of lifting a 50 mg payload or more than eight times its own weight. Researchers also created a light-controlled underwater switch in which the hydrogel moved two conductors into contact, as well as a tendril-like actuator that encircled another object.

The most elaborate demonstration turned the hydrogel’s twisting motion into locomotion.

Researchers connected a floating propeller to a hydrogel strip that served as a rotating shaft, with a paddle attached below the water. When light caused the hydrogel to twist, the paddle rotated, and the propeller began both spinning and traveling around a circular path. Programming the hydrogel’s handedness allowed the system to produce clockwise or counterclockwise motion.

Potentially, the hydrogel breakthrough could lead to soft robots that change shape or movement depending on the task, light-controlled grippers that wrap around delicate objects, or adaptive components that reconfigure themselves without conventional motors and mechanical parts.

Similar hydrogel materials might eventually serve as tiny switches, valves, pumps, or rotating actuators in conditions where running wires or fitting traditional machinery is difficult. Because the same configuration can be reprogrammed rather than permanently locked into one behavior, it could also open the door to devices that perform several different mechanical functions at different times.

However, for now, the experiments remain laboratory demonstrations. Researchers say the material will need faster response times to compete with some other classes of soft actuators.

Further research might improve the efficiency of its molecular photoswitches and redesign the polymer network so water can move through it more quickly.

Still, the wider concept suggests a different way of thinking about programmable matter. Instead of manufacturing a material with one predetermined set of movements, its instructions could arrive afterward as a pattern of light, then disappear and be replaced whenever a different behavior is needed.

“The core innovation of this work lies in the achievement of precise, reversible regulation of structural handedness in homogeneous hydrogels purely via external optical modulation,” researchers write. “The design principle presented here—reversibly encoding spatiotemporally programmable handedness within a homogeneous network through simple light patterns—establishes a method for creating intelligent, adaptive materials with embedded logic and function.”

The study, “Reconfiguring handed shape-morphing and actuation in hydrogels via light-encoded rapid expansion,” appeared in Nature Communications. 

• Tim McMillan is a retired law enforcement executive, investigative reporter and co-founder of The Debrief. His writing typically focuses on defense, national security, the Intelligence Community and topics related to psychology. You can follow Tim on Twitter: @LtTimMcMillan.  Tim can be reached by email: tim@thedebrief.org or through encrypted email: LtTimMcMillan@protonmail.com 

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

Across the world’s oceans lie countless tales of lost continents—sunken civilizations said to have vanished beneath the waves long before human history began. Among these, two of the most enduring and mysterious are Lemuria and Mu—mythical lands that have captivated scientists, mystics, and storytellers for more than a century.

Origins of the Lemuria Legend

The idea of Lemuria first appeared in the mid-19th century, not in ancient myth, but in scientific speculation. In 1864, zoologist Philip Sclater proposed the existence of a now-lost landmass in the Indian Ocean to explain why fossils of lemurs and related species were found in both Madagascar and India, but nowhere in between. He called this hypothetical continent “Lemuria.” At the time, continental drift was not yet understood, so scientists often explained puzzling fossil distributions through vanished land bridges. Sclater’s “Lemuria” was one such land bridge—an attempt to account for the strange patterns of species distribution. Although Sclater’s hypothesis was later rendered obsolete by plate tectonics, the name “Lemuria” took on a second life in the world of occultism and esoteric thought.

Lemuria in Theosophy and Esoteric Tradition

In the late 1800s, Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, co-founder of the Theosophical Society, transformed Lemuria from a scientific idea into a spiritual legend. In her books The Secret Doctrine and Isis Unveiled, Blavatsky described Lemuria as the home of a now-vanished “Third Root Race” of humanity—ancient, wise beings said to have existed millions of years ago, long before Atlantis.

According to Theosophical teachings Lemuria was a vast continent that once stretched across the Indian and Pacific Oceans. The Lemurians were said to be taller, more ethereal beings, perhaps not fully physical in form. They possessed great spiritual power and lived in harmony with nature. Their civilization was destroyed by volcanic cataclysms and earthquakes, sinking their land beneath the seas. This mystical vision of Lemuria influenced later occult writers, psychics, and mystics, who placed the lost continent in various locations—sometimes under the Indian Ocean, sometimes under the Pacific.:

The Myth of Mu

Closely related—but distinct—is the legend of Mu, a supposed sunken continent in the Pacific Ocean. The idea of Mu originated with Augustus Le Plongeon, a 19th-century archaeologist and adventurer who studied the Maya ruins in Yucatán. Misinterpreting Mayan inscriptions, he claimed they referred to a lost land called Mu, the “Motherland of Civilization,” which he believed had once existed in the Pacific and had been destroyed by cataclysm.

Le Plongeon proposed that survivors from Mu had migrated to Central America and Egypt, seeding both ancient civilizations. His ideas were later popularized and expanded by James Churchward, a British-born occult writer, in his 1926 book The Lost Continent of Mu: The Motherland of Man. Churchward’s version of Mu was massive—stretching across the Pacific, encompassing much of what is now Polynesia, Micronesia, and Melanesia. Churchward claimed Mu was destroyed in a cataclysm 12,000 years ago. He claimed Mu’s people were technologically advanced, had a high moral and spiritual culture, and communicated through a universal symbol language. Churchward claimed to have read ancient “Naacal tablets” in India—texts that no one else has ever seen or verified.

The Fate of the Lost Continents

Both Lemuria and Mu were said to have vanished in tremendous cataclysms—earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and tsunamis that sent the continents plunging into the ocean depths. These apocalyptic tales often mirror the more famous story of Atlantis, as if the world’s myths preserve a shared memory of great civilizations lost to disaster.

Modern geology, of course, has found no evidence for such continents. The concept of “sunken continents” is incompatible with our understanding of plate tectonics, which shows that continents float on the Earth’s mantle and cannot simply sink. Islands and ocean ridges can rise and fall, but entire continents disappearing beneath the sea is geologically impossible.

Lemuria and Mu in Modern Culture

Despite their scientific dismissal, Lemuria and Mu remain powerful symbols in spiritual, literary, and popular culture. Esoteric and New Age traditions often link Lemuria to concepts of ancient wisdom, spiritual awakening, and human evolution. Some modern channellers claim to receive messages from Lemurian beings who exist on a higher vibrational plane. In H.P. Lovecraft’s Cthulhu Mythos, references to Mu appear as part of his vast fictional prehistory. Lemuria has appeared in comic books, fantasy novels, and video games, often portrayed as a mystical or technologically advanced civilization that predated humanity. In Hawaiian and Californian spiritual circles, Lemuria (sometimes called “Telos”) is said to survive in hidden underground cities, such as beneath Mount Shasta, California.

Echoes of Memory or Myth?

Some researchers have speculated that these myths may preserve folk memories of real events—perhaps rising sea levels at the end of the Ice Age, which did submerge large coastal areas and islands. Others see in Lemuria and Mu expressions of humanity’s nostalgia for a golden age, a paradise lost, or a yearning for origins beyond recorded history. Whether taken as metaphor, myth, or mystic revelation, the stories of Lemuria and Mu continue to fascinate, blurring the lines between science, spirituality, and imagination.

Scientific Skepticism on Lemuria and Mu: Myths, Misinterpretations, and the Search for Lost Continents

For more than a century, the legendary lost continents of Lemuria and Mu have fascinated writers, mystics, and believers in ancient civilizations. Often described as vanished lands that once bridged continents or hosted advanced pre-human cultures, these mythical places continue to capture the imagination of alternative historians and New Age thinkers. Yet, from a scientific perspective, the existence of Lemuria and Mu has been thoroughly debunked. Modern geology, plate tectonics, and oceanography have revealed a very different picture of Earth’s history—one that leaves no room for these sunken continents.

Geological Reality: Why Lemuria and Mu Cannot Exist

The development of plate tectonic theory in the 20th century decisively refuted the possibility of lost continents like Lemuria or Mu. Earth’s crust is made of tectonic plates that move slowly over time, colliding and spreading apart. Oceanic crust is much younger and denser than continental crust, and it cannot “sink” in the way mythical continents are described to have done.

Modern mapping of the seafloor has revealed no trace of any sunken landmass large enough to fit the descriptions of Lemuria or Mu. The ocean basins are composed of basaltic crust, while continents are made of granitic crust; the two have entirely different geological signatures. Seismic and satellite data have shown no hidden continental remnants beneath the Pacific or Indian Oceans.

Misinterpretations and Pseudoscience

Despite clear scientific evidence, the myths of Lemuria and Mu persisted in Theosophy, occult writings, and New Age beliefs. Helena Blavatsky, founder of the Theosophical Society, incorporated Lemuria into her cosmology as the home of a “third root race” of early humans. Later authors connected the lost continents with Atlantis, UFOs, or even spiritual ascension narratives.

Scientists regard these reinterpretations as pseudoscientific—stories built on myth rather than evidence. Archaeologists have found no artifacts, fossils, or cultural remains that indicate any such global civilization predating recorded history. Moreover, genetic and anthropological studies show clear, traceable patterns of human migration that align with known geography, not with vanished continents.

Modern Understanding of Continental Movement

Today, phenomena that once inspired Lemuria and Mu theories are well explained by plate tectonics, continental drift, and land bridges formed during ice ages. For example: The presence of similar species across continents results from continental connections in the past, not from sunken landmasses. India and Madagascar’s shared biological heritage stems from their once being part of the ancient supercontinent Gondwana. In the Pacific, volcanic island chains and submerged microcontinents (like Zealandia, mostly underwater near New Zealand) demonstrate real geological processes—none of which resemble the mythical Mu.

Conclusion: Myth Meets Science

While Lemuria and Mu make for captivating legends and esoteric symbolism, science leaves little doubt about their nonexistence. They remain fascinating cultural myths—products of humanity’s desire to explain ancient mysteries and lost connections—but not lost chapters of geological history. Modern earth science offers something even more wondrous than these myths: a dynamic, ever-changing planet whose continents drift, collide, and reshape the face of Earth over millions of years. In the end, the true story of Earth’s shifting crust is more extraordinary—and more scientifically grounded—than any legend of sunken lands. The legends of Lemuria and Mu remind us how myth and science can intertwine—how a discarded scientific hypothesis can give birth to enduring spiritual mythology. Though no trace of these continents has ever been found on the ocean floor, their legacy lives on in the human imagination: symbols of a forgotten wisdom, sunken beneath the tides of time.

{ https://mysticsciences.com/ }

Author Adam Kirsch Reveals Why the Most Dangerous Part of UFO Disclosure Isn't Actually the Aliens

Adam Kirsch's new book delves into the societal impact of UFO disclosure and the erosion of trust in institutions

Adam Kirsch’s new book examines why UFO disclosure became mainstream and why distrust in authority may be more dangerous than aliens. 

PHOTO AI Generated Image

Adam Kirsch's new book, We Want to Believe: How Aliens Went Mainstream and Why It Matters, published on Tuesday, 25 August, argues that the real danger of UFO disclosure is not extraterrestrials but the collapse of trust in authority.

The 128-page book, published by Columbia Global Reports, examines why unidentified flying objects, now more commonly called unidentified anomalous phenomena or UAP, have moved from the fringes of public life into mainstream debate. Kirsch, a senior editor at The Atlantic, is less interested in proving that aliens exist than in understanding why so many people want them to.

'Like the messiah, too, disclosure is constantly running behind schedule,' Kirsch writes, describing the long-awaited moment when governments are expected to reveal what they supposedly know about alien visitors.

How UFO Disclosure Went Mainstream

'The real start of my interest in the subject was in 2017 when there was this sudden reporting in the mainstream media about the Pentagon UFO videos and the so-called secret program to collect UFO reports,' he said. 'For the first time, it seemed like maybe there was some legitimate news or evidence.'

UFO reports were no longer discussed only through sensational television programmes, conspiracy forums or stories about alleged abductees. Military pilots, Pentagon officials and intelligence figures began speaking publicly about encounters they could not identify.

The question consequently shifted. Instead of asking whether UFOs existed, many people began asking whether the US government knew more than it was admitting.

That suspicion is central to Kirsch's argument. He sees belief in alien disclosure as part of a wider distrust of institutions, one that can reach far beyond the skies. 'The idea that the authorities know more than they're telling us, they're not letting on the real truth, is an idea that appeals to a lot of people,' he said in the source material.

The consequences, he suggests, can become serious when the same instinct is applied to medicine, public health or other areas where evidence carries real consequences. Believing a strange object is an alien spacecraft may not, by itself, place anyone in immediate danger. Rejecting medical advice because officials are assumed to be hiding the truth is different.

That does not mean every interpretation is correct. It means the experience and the explanation should be separated, a distinction often lost in the mad rush towards disclosure.

For Kirsch, science is powerful but not exhaustive. He told reports that some aspects of reality may be approached through religious, spiritual or esoteric insight rather than scientific testing. Yet when the claim concerns a physical craft moving through the atmosphere, the standard of proof remains physical evidence.

'They're not supernatural or miraculous,' Kirsch told reports. 'If they really existed they'd exist in time and space and three dimensions like everything else.'

This is where the argument becomes uncomfortable for believers. The absence of proof does not prove that extraterrestrial life is impossible. But after decades of observation, it does make certainty difficult to defend.

Kirsch points to an enduring problem, the Fermi paradox, named after physicist Enrico Fermi's famous question, 'Where is everybody?' Humanity has searched the skies for signs of intelligent life, yet no conclusive evidence has emerged.

Even the cameras seem to complicate the story. Kirsch noted that in some reported encounters, 'When the camera sees something, the person doesn't see it. And when the person sees something, the camera doesn't see it.'

His explanation is blunt. 'The obvious and logical explanation is that there's nothing to take a picture of.'

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FBI Files Detail 'Bronze Metallic Object' Materialising in Sky as Pentagon Releases UFO Data

For the first time, complete UFO case files drawn from multiple federal agencies have been made directly accessible online

The Pentagon has started putting decades of declassified UFO files online via a new public website, officials in Washington confirmed on Friday.

PHOTO Wayne Thornton/Pinterest

The Pentagon has begun publishing decades of declassified UFO files on a new public website, officials confirmed on Friday in Washington, bringing previously secret reports from the late 1940s to 2025 into the open for the first time.

The move follows President Donald Trump's directive earlier this year ordering US agencies to release government records on UFOs, now formally labelled unidentified anomalous phenomena, or UAPs, along with any files touching on 'extraterrestrial life.'

The All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office, known as AARO, has spent recent years sifting through historic reports and producing public summaries, but this is the first time complete case files, drawn from multiple federal agencies, have been made directly accessible online.

Pentagon UFO Website Puts 'Never-Before-Seen' Files in One Place

The Pentagon said the new site will host 'never-before-seen' UFO material, including videos, photos and original documents pulled from across the US government.

In a statement, the Department of Defence stressed that anyone can now search the database without security clearance, and promised further releases on a 'rolling basis' as more files are reviewed.

It can be recalled that interest in UFOs has surged in recent years, fuelled by leaked cockpit footage, congressional hearings and an increasingly vocal community of former officials urging transparency.

The Pentagon appears keen to show it has heard that noise. Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth hailed Friday's drop of documents as 'unprecedented transparency,' even as some files arrive heavily redacted, with full pages blacked out.

Many of the UFO sightings cluster around sensitive military activity and major deployments. In the 1950s and 1960s, that meant Cold War flashpoints in Germany and the Soviet Union.

In more recent years, alleged encounters concentrate in the Middle East, particularly near the Strait of Hormuz, Iraq and Syria, where the US has maintained a sustained footprint and some of its most advanced surveillance kit.

Officials suggest that it is no coincidence. The lion's share of reports in the cache come from military pilots and personnel, often using sophisticated sensors that far outstrip civilian technology. If you go looking with the best gear, in other words, you see more weird stuff.

Crucially, in all of the incidents described in the newly released records, the Pentagon says the aerial phenomena posed no apparent threat to US forces. Most of the unknown objects either broke contact abruptly or vanished from view just as quickly as they had appeared.

Orbs, a 'Super-Hot' Object and a Bronze UFO in the Sky

Among the more recent entries, one 2023 case in the western United States stands out inside the document trove. Over two days, federal law enforcement officers independently reported strange orbs in the sky, with one account describing 'orbs launching other orbs.'

The Pentagon itself labels that episode 'among the most compelling' in its holdings, although the files stop short of any firm conclusion about what was actually seen.

In a separate 2024 encounter in Iraq, an unidentified craft was reported zipping across the surveillance systems of a US aircraft at high speed while the crew was engaged in an unrelated strike. The object cut across their sensors but, again, did not interfere with the mission and disappeared as quickly as it arrived.

A 2025 account relayed by a senior intelligence officer to the FBI pushes things further into science-fiction territory. According to the government's own description, US personnel were dispatched in a helicopter to search an area where orbs had previously been reported.

They allegedly located a 'super-hot' orb hovering above the ground, which then travelled roughly 20 miles at a speed too fast for the helicopter to keep up. That is the sort of detail that will send online forums into overdrive.

The historic files are hardly less surreal. NASA transcripts from 1969 in the release record Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin telling officials he saw what he described as a 'possible laser' in space, noting a 'fairly bright light source' that the crew tentatively ascribed to that explanation.

Then there is the FBI's own artwork. One composite sketch, based on witness reporting, shows what the bureau calls an 'apparent ellipsoid bronze metallic object materialising out of a bright light in the sky, 130-195 feet in length, and disappearing instantaneously.'

The image reads like classic UFO lore, except this time it is filed in a government record rather than a tabloid or late-night talk show.

Trump Claims Credit as Experts Warn of New Speculation

Trump teasing a major disclosure of UFO and UAP material. On his social media platform, the president took a victory lap on Friday, saying it was his push for 'Complete and Maximum Transparency' that forced the release.

'It was my Honor to direct my Administration to identify and provide Government files related to Alien and Extraterrestrial Life, Unidentified Aerial Phenomena, and Unidentified Flying Objects,' Trump wrote, claiming the publication will allow Americans to 'decide for themselves' what is happening in the skies.

Last month, while welcoming the Artemis II astronauts to the Oval Office, Trump told reporters that his administration would be 'releasing as much as we can in the near future.' UFOs, he said, had been 'in the minds of people for a long time', hinting that the government needed to catch up with public curiosity.

Not everyone inside the Pentagon ecosystem is thrilled about how the data drop is being presented.

Sean Kirkpatrick, the former head of AARO, issued a pointed warning against reading too much into raw files without expert context.

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Donald Trump Reportedly Told Inner Circle Aliens Are Living in Earth's Oceans

An outlandish presidential revelation forces us to look beneath the waves for visitors from the stars

By   Welbert Bauyaban

Jack Osbourne claims US President Donald Trump told a close friend that extraterrestrials live in Earth's oceans 

PHOTO Gage Skidmore / Wikimedia Commons

TV host Jack Osbourne claimed on Sunday that an unnamed friend told him Donald Trump said extraterrestrials are hiding in Earth's oceans. Osbourne stated that this friend, who speaks with the president weekly, confided this news to him.

Recently, Donald Trump directed US agencies to identify and release government files related to UFOs, UAPs, and extraterrestrial life. This move sparked debate among extraterrestrial enthusiasts worldwide. However, the US government's release of UAP-related records does not establish that extraterrestrial beings have been found, and NASA says it has not found credible evidence of extraterrestrial life.

Jack Osbourne, son of rock music icon Ozzy Osbourne, recently discussed this alleged claim while promoting his paranormal channel Spark.TV.

Osbourne said the unnamed friend speaks with Trump regularly. They apparently share a private phone call every Saturday. During one chat, the friend allegedly asked about the latest governmental UAP disclosures. IBTimes UK cannot independently verify that this conversation occurred.

US President Donald Trump said of aliens, ‘We have no idea what they are, but they're in the ocean.’

(Image: Alex Wong/Getty Images)

An Alleged Conversation

The friend reportedly asked the president about the situation. According to Osbourne, the US leader answered that they do not know what the entities actually are. However, Osbourne claimed that Trump said these unknown beings reside beneath the waves. Quoting the alleged conversation in his recent television interview, Osbourne claimed Trump said, 'We have no idea what they are, but they're in the ocean.' There is no independent evidence confirming Trump made this statement.

Osbourne finds this perspective interesting and plausible, noting that vast sections of the deep sea remain completely unexplored and could hide secrets from the general public. He suggested these hypothetical visitors might simply be observing humanity.

Osbourne compared the hypothetical aliens' behaviour to the Sentinelese, suggesting they could be observing humanity from a distance. Just as modern society watches the isolated indigenous people of Sentinel Island without interfering, Osbourne believes a similar dynamic could occur between humans and these visitors. He theorised that they observe us from the oceans, and suggested that they occasionally abduct people.

Despite sharing these theories, Osbourne states he does not consider himself a fanatic and claims he keeps one foot firmly planted in reality. The investigator says he carefully rides the sceptic line when hearing stories. Owning Spark.TV gives him access to the world of the unexplained, and he says his constant review of supposed evidence forces him to question everything he sees.

Examining Abduction Claims

Osbourne also opened up about his feelings regarding individuals who claim to have experienced alien abductions. He once tried to produce a support group television show where people shared their experiences. Many individuals recounted memories of a room filled with bright light and claimed they were suddenly hovered out of a nearby window, while other accounts defied basic human logic.

Osbourne has also discussed an alleged foreign object examined during a documentary project titled Patient 17, although there is no established evidence that it was extraterrestrial in origin. He described the extracted object in basic medical terms, stating it looked like a large kidney stone.

According to Osbourne, there may be various types of alien visitors, and he theorised that some are friendly while others are hostile.

He also offered a psychological theory regarding typical abduction memories, suggesting that deep emotional trauma plays a role and might trigger vivid hallucinations in certain people. Noting that many individuals vividly recall large creatures with giant heads staring downward and describe waking up in a white, sterile room, Osbourne suspects they might actually be remembering their own human births. He believes such psychological echoes might explain the medical nature of these accounts.

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Conspiracy Theorists Think a 'Lost Continent' Linked to Aliens Was Destroyed by Ancient 'Nuclear War'

Exploring the enduring myths and scientific investigations surrounding Lemuria and its alleged connections to extraterrestrial life

(AI Generated) Conspiracy theorists say a lost continent tied to aliens and ancient nuclear war may be located, but scientists stress new Indian Ocean findings show only geological fragments, not Lemuria AI Generated image )

Conspiracy theorists have latched onto fresh claims that a 'lost continent' linked to aliens and ancient nuclear war may finally have a location, after scientists mapped fragments of a sunken landmass beneath the Indian Ocean.

Conspiracy theorists think a 'lost continent' linked to aliens was destroyed by ancient 'nuclear war,' and the latest geological work has given them a new hook, even though researchers say there is no evidence of Lemuria, alien descendants or a prehistoric civilisation.

Interest in Lemuria has ebbed and flowed for more than a century, but it surged again after reports that zircon crystals on Mauritius date back billions of years, far older than the island's surface rocks.

That finding fits with a genuine geological story about Mauritia, a microcontinent left behind when Gondwanaland broke apart, yet it has been reinterpreted by believers as proof that the mythic Lemuria was real.

The Science Behind the Lost Continent Claims

Lemuria began life as a serious scientific hypothesis. In 1864, British zoologist Philip Sclater proposed a sunken land bridge to explain why lemur fossils appeared in both Madagascar and India but not in Africa, which sits closer to Madagascar. He named it Lemuria after the animals, writing that Madagascar and the Mascarene Islands held 'existing relics of this great continent.'

The idea lost favour once plate tectonics showed India and Madagascar had once been joined, removing the need for a separate continent. Outside mainstream science, though, Lemuria took on a second life, blending with occult beliefs and later with UFO lore.

Mauritia is the real piece of the puzzle. Described in a 2013 paper and bolstered by a 2017 study in Nature Communications, researchers found zircon grains in volcanic rock on Mauritius that are roughly 2.5 to 3 billion years old, even though the island's exposed rocks are no older than about nine million years.

Scientists are now using gravity inversion to estimate the thickness of the oceanic crust and trace where chunks of Mauritia might still lie intact. The work could clarify the size and shape of the ancient landmass, but it has not uncovered ruins, artefacts or any sign of an intelligent civilisation beneath the waves.

From Lemuria to Aliens and Ancient Nuclear War

The jump from geology to aliens is where things get wild. In the late 19th century, Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, founder of Theosophy, described Lemurians as egg‑laying, spiritually advanced beings in her 1888 book The Secret Doctrine. She claimed the discovery of sex led to Lemuria's destruction and that the continent sank, leaving only Australia and Easter Island behind.

Later, the legend migrated to Mount Shasta in Northern California, where believers say Lemurian survivors built an underground city called Telos. Local mythology holds that catastrophic earthquakes destroyed the continent, but some inhabitants escaped and continued living beneath the mountain.

Visitors have claimed to see seven‑foot‑tall Lemurians in flowing robes near the peak, though no physical evidence supports the existence of Telos or its alleged residents.

The story grew stranger as Lemuria merged with tales of Mu, another lost continent promoted by British author James Churchward, who claimed it hosted a technologically advanced civilisation 50,000 years ago. Over time, these narratives fed into 'starseed' beliefs, with some people saying they carry alien DNA or souls from extraterrestrial beings.

More extreme versions allege that Lemuria sheltered refugees from a planet called Maldek, supposedly once orbiting between Mars and Jupiter. The Aetherius Society claimed Maldek's population destroyed their world with a hydrogen bomb, creating the asteroid belt, and that Lemuria later suffered its own nuclear war.

Nigel Watson, author of Portraits of Alien Encounters Revisited, noted that writers promoting ancient astronauts point to passages such as Genesis's description of 'brimstone and fire' raining on Sodom and Gomorrah as accounts of nuclear explosions. Fragments of melted glass in Libya's deserts are also cited as evidence of nuclear warfare or accidents 28 million years ago, though mainstream science does not accept these interpretations.

Watson said the claims largely come from automatic writing, alleged psychic messages and speculative readings of ancient texts rather than physical evidence. He added that the stories were also intended as a warning that advanced civilisations can destroy themselves.

Nothing is confirmed yet so everything should be taken with a grain of salt. IBTimes UK cannot independently verify these claims, so take everything lightly.

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Noah's Ark Found? Radar Scans Reveal 3 Underground Decks and 13-Foot Hidden Tunnel in Turkey

Independent scientists have yet to verify the claims, and the team behind the scans plan deeper drilling and testing before drawing firm conclusions.

Archaeologists in Turkey say they have made a remarkable find, using ground‑penetrating radar to pinpoint what they believe may be the remains of Noah’s Ark, with scans reportedly revealing a ‘chemical imprint’, fragments of wood in the soil and the clear outline of a hall‑like structure. 

Zorka Sojka, CC BY-SA 4.0 , via Wikimedia Commons/Wikimedia Commons

Archaeologists in eastern Turkey say new radar scans have revealed a three‑decked, ship‑shaped structure and a 13‑foot tunnel buried beneath a remote mountainside, renewing claims that the legendary Noah's Ark may lie at the Durupinar Formation near Mount Ararat.

The fresh evidence, gathered by an American team working under the banner Noah's Ark Scans over several years, centres on ground‑penetrating radar images that researchers argue align strikingly with the Biblical description of Noah's Ark.

Noah's Ark Searches Focus On Turkish Mountain

According to Scripture, Noah's Ark was the vast wooden vessel that carried humanity and animal species through a catastrophic flood more than 4,300 years ago.

Genesis 8 in The Bible says the ark came to rest on the 'mountains of Ararat' after 150 days of deluge, a passage that has fuelled centuries of speculation and expeditions across this rugged corner of eastern Turkey.

The Durupinar site, only recognised by modern researchers for less than a century, appears at first glance to match that story rather neatly.

Its dimensions echo the Biblical blueprint for the ark, given in Genesis 6 as 300 cubits long, 50 cubits wide and 30 cubits high, which translates to about 515 feet by 86 feet by 52 feet. The mound lies near a summit whose outline, from the air, bears a notable resemblance to a hull.

That visual similarity alone has never been enough to convince mainstream science. Many academics still regard the entire formation as the product of natural geological processes. The team behind the latest work, however, argue that their data now point beyond coincidence.

Radar Scans Hint At Three Decks And Inner Corridors

Independent researcher Andrew Jones, who fronts the Noah's Ark Scans project, has led multiple survey seasons at Durupinar using ground‑penetrating radar, a technique that sends radio waves into the earth to map buried structures.

Speaking to the Christian Broadcasting Network, he said the new scans detected what looked like a 13‑foot passage running through the centre of the formation, along with angular shapes that could represent internal compartments.

A fresh analysis of the radar data, shared with outlets including Express UK, suggests a pattern of central and lateral corridors or hallways, rather than a single homogenous block. Crucially for the ark hypothesis, the scans also show three distinct layers below the surface.

Supporters say that aligns with Genesis 6:16, which instructs: 'Make it with lower, second, and third decks.'

Jones is careful not to promise a perfectly preserved ship. 'We're not expecting something that's fully preserved,' he told CBN. 'What's left is the chemical imprint, pieces of wood and in the ground, the shape of a hall.'

He later added that the radar returns were 'not what you'd expect to see if the site were simply a solid block of rock or the result of random mudflow debris.'

He argued instead that the pattern is 'exactly what you'd expect to find if this were a man‑made boat, consistent with the biblical specifications of Noah's Ark.'

Soil Clues And A Possible Hidden Tunnel

The radar work is being paired with basic soil science. William Crabtree, a soil scientist who also works with Noah's Ark Scans, said his team collected 22 samples from inside and outside the boat‑shaped outline.

He told CBN that organic matter levels were roughly double inside the formation compared with the surrounding ground, while potassium levels were about 40 per cent higher and the pH noticeably different.

'If you know soil science – as I'm a soil scientist – you'll understand that potassium levels, organic matter, and pH can all be influenced by decaying organic material,' Crabtree said. 'If this was a wooden boat and the wood had rotted over time, we would expect to see elevated levels of potassium, changes in pH, and higher organic content – and that's exactly what we're finding.'

Jones also pointed to a change in vegetation, saying grass growing within the boat‑shaped perimeter appeared a different colour from that just outside, which he believes may hint at human construction beneath.

Alongside the three radar‑defined layers and compartment‑like shapes, the team say they have identified a tunnel‑like feature. Jones described what seems to be a 13‑foot passage extending from the tip of the formation towards its centre, with sufficient space for a person to walk through.

To date, this remains an interpretation of the scans; the structure has not been physically entered or excavated.

Debate Over Noah's Ark Discovery Far From Settled

The Durupinar Formation has split opinion for decades. Some geologists argue the mound's outline and internal patterns can be explained by erosion and natural faulting, with no need to invoke a vast timber hull. Others, often working from a faith background, continue to see it as one of the most promising candidates for Noah's Ark.

Jones presents his project as scientific rather than devotional, though he readily acknowledges the religious significance. Noah's Ark sits at the heart of Judaism, Christianity and Islam, and the flood narrative speaks to broader questions of survival, judgement and the power of nature.

The Noah's Ark Scans team say they are only at the start of their investigation. They plan to extend soil sampling beyond the initial 22 tests, carry out core drilling to bring up physical material from deeper layers, and run further ground‑penetrating radar surveys to refine their picture of what lies under the surface. Any excavation or drilling would require Turkish permits and close oversight.

Jones himself has framed the next steps simply: 'We want to compare what's inside the formation to what's outside. That could give us a much clearer picture of whether this is truly something man‑made.'

The Durupinar Formation sits about 18 miles south of Mount Ararat, Turkey's highest peak, and has intrigued explorers and believers since it was exposed by storms and seismic activity in 1948.

The boat‑shaped mound, roughly 538 feet long, has long been touted by some as the resting place of the ark described in Genesis, while many geologists maintain it is simply a natural rock feature. The latest radar work is the most detailed attempt yet by this particular group to test those rival theories.

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Americans Still Skeptical That UFOs Are Aliens

49% attribute UFOs to human activity or natural phenomena; 37% say at least some are alien spacecraft

by Megan Brenan

{ https://www.gallup.com/home.aspx }

A hilarious video has revealed the moment a robot fell down the stairs after getting distracted by a crowd of cheerleaders. 

The clip was filmed at the 2026 World Humanoid Robot Games, which are taking place in Beijing, China.  

At the start of the video, five humanoid robots can be seen performing a cheerleading routine – complete with colourful wigs, short skirts and pom–poms. 

A silver robot then climbs up to a podium at the side of the stage, before glancing over at the dancers. 

Unfortunately, the distraction becomes too much, and as the bot tries to climb down the other side, it falls head–first off the stairs. 

The hilarious clip was posted to X by @Gman_EAI, and has been viewed more than 1.2 million times.

'It is now proven that us men are very simple creatures,' one user replied. 

Another added: 'Because of the rainbow hair one with that mini skirt! Bro had to stare!' 

At the start of the video, five humanoid robots can be seen performing a cheerleading routine – complete with colourful wigs, short skirts and pom–poms

A silver robot then climbs up to a podium at the side of the stage, before glancing over at the dancers

Unfortunately, the distraction becomes too much, and as the bot tries to climb down the other side, it falls head–first off the stairs

This is just one of many falls at the 2026 World Humanoid Robot Games. 

Earlier this week, a weightlifting robot collapsed onto a judges' table, before being rushed away on a stretcher.

The fall took place during the weightlifting final at the second edition of the competition, which is hosted at the Beijing National Speed Skating Oval. 

Footage of the event showed the humanoid robot – who was initially poised – quiver as it attempted to grip and lift a weight with both hands over its head.

As the bot brought the weight above its head, it began to shake and ultimately drop the weight to the floor.

It then began malfunctioning, before stumbling toward a table of judges and ultimately collapsing. 

In the moments following the fall, a group of staff clad in red vests can be seen quickly attending to the robot and piling it onto a stretcher where it is carefully escorted from the event's main floor. 

Officials then immediately halted the competition and declared the attempt over. 

The bot pictured before it took a tumble. It is among hundreds of droids to participate in the second edition of the Chinese competition

In the moments following the fall, a group of staff clad in red vests can be seen quickly attending to the robot

The competition – which began on Sunday and will run for five days – also saw a robot surpass legend Usain Bolt's 100m sprint world record. 

The bot ran 100m in 9.39 seconds – beating the human world record set by the Jamaican sprinting great who ran it in 9.58 seconds. 

Elsewhere at the competition, another robot performed Cristiano Ronaldo's iconic 'Siuuu' celebration on the football pitch, while a group of droids participated in a synchronised march at its opening ceremony. 

It is estimated more than 2,000 robots gathered for the event at its opening day.

And although 96 per cent of the teams entering the games are Chinese, 16 countries from six continents will take part in the 1,301 matches.

The games include competitions modelled on human sports as well as task–based events some of which require fully autonomous robots.

World Humanoid Robot Games officials will award independent robots full points but semi–autonomous bots will only receive half points. 

Out of the 50 events scheduled, 30 are sports competitions while the remaining 20 are work scenario tasks.

Three humanoid robots running in the the 100m race during the events opening ceremony

robots perform during the opening ceremony of the World Humanoid Robot Games in Beijing

A humanoid robot falls next to another humanoid robot that caught fire after completing a 100m prelim race

Sports–based events include weightlifting, gymnastics, football and even a tug of war. There are also 11 Olympic–style track and field events. 

The 20 work–based tasks involve dextrous hand challenges such as bricklaying, power tool assembling and package handling.

It is understood that the work competitions act as an opportunity to show where humanoid robots will first be commercially used.

However, no events in the 2026 edition of the games will include stairs, ladders, uneven terrain or human–robot collaborations.

READ MORE 

• Moment humanoid robot smashes Usain Bolt's 100m world record... before it is stretchered off the track at the World Humanoid Robot Games in Beijing

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Robot Gets Distracted by Cheerleaders and Falls Down Stairs at 2026 Humanoid Robot Games!

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UFO Beliefs Explored: Author Warns It Is 'Always Going to Be More Likely That Someone Is Wrong'

UFO reports may feel convincing, but Adam Kirsch says witnesses are more likely to be mistaken than to have seen alien technology

Adam Kirsch explores why UFO beliefs endure, arguing that testimony and unexplained sightings should not be confused with evidence of extraterrestrial spacecraft AI Generated image

Adam Kirsch, author of the forthcoming We Want to Believe, has argued that UFO claims should be approached with scientific caution, warning in an interview that it is 'always going to be more likely that someone is wrong about what they saw' than that an extraterrestrial craft has appeared in the sky.

Kirsch's book, We Want to Believe: How Aliens Went Mainstream and Why It Matters, is due to be published by Columbia Global Reports on 25 August.

The Atlantic senior editor examines why unidentified flying objects, now often called unidentified anomalous phenomena, or UAP, retain such a powerful hold over the public imagination even when conclusive physical evidence remains elusive.

Whistleblowers claims, military footage and declassified Pentagon material have brought renewed official and public attention to a subject once largely associated with flying-saucer lore, while films and social media have kept the alien question in wider public discussion.

Columbia Global Reports describes the book as an examination of how UAP moved from 'dismissed error to unresolved problem' and why questions about them continue to endure.

UFO Beliefs and the Search for Meaning

Kirsch told reporters that his interest in UFOs began in 2017, when mainstream reporting focused on Pentagon videos and a previously undisclosed programme that collected reports of unexplained aerial sightings.

'The real start of my interest in the subject was in 2017 when there was this sudden reporting in the mainstream media about the Pentagon UFO videos and the so-called secret program to collect UFO reports,' he said. 'For the first time, it seemed like maybe there was some legitimate news or evidence.'

What had long been dismissed as fringe material could now be discussed through military testimony, congressional interest and surveillance technology. The terminology changed, too. UFO became UAP, a more formal term increasingly used by the US government when discussing unexplained observations.

Yet Kirsch's book is not simply a rebuttal of every strange report. He sees the attraction of UFO beliefs as tied to older questions about religion, philosophy and human significance. The publisher similarly describes his approach as drawing on both belief and scepticism rather than treating UAP simply as fantasy or threat.

'For me, humanity's way into the subject is that UFOs are a way of thinking about a lot of the same questions we might also think about in religious or philosophical terms,' Kirsch said. 'Questions like what is unique about humanity, are we alone in the universe, are there other minds, what's our destiny as a species?'

The possibility that humanity is not alone is not merely a scientific proposition. It carries an emotional charge, one that can make every blurry video, unexplained radar reading and pilot account feel potentially significant. Confirmation of intelligent extraterrestrial life would carry profound scientific and philosophical implications.

Kirsch said he had been drawn deeper into the history and lore partly because the discovery of other intelligence in the universe would indeed be extraordinary. 'It would be amazing if we could find proof of that,' he said.

The problem, he added, is that UFO history has repeatedly followed a familiar pattern. Public excitement rises, apparent clues gather momentum and the story eventually 'peters out because there is no evidence and there isn't anything concrete to point to.'

UFO Beliefs Meet the Evidence Test

Kirsch's central distinction is between testimony and evidence. People can report an experience honestly while being mistaken about what caused it, particularly when they are observing something unfamiliar, distant or fleeting.

He pointed to testimony from former military aviators David Fravor and Ryan Graves, arguing that what appears to be corroborating evidence may be less definitive than it initially seems.

'When the camera sees something, the person doesn't see it. And when the person sees something, the camera doesn't see it,' Kirsch said. 'It's always one or the other, it's never both at the same time.'

That is Kirsch's assessment of the cases rather than a definitive finding about all available evidence surrounding the encounters.

He noted that complaints about UFOs being difficult to photograph are hardly new. Witnesses in the 1950s were already saying such objects were strangely unphotogenic, despite the expectation that a physical craft in the atmosphere might produce clearer photographic evidence.

'The obvious and logical explanation is that there's nothing to take a picture of,' Kirsch said.

That is a blunt assessment, but it illustrates the distinction at the centre of Kirsch's argument. A vivid sighting can feel conclusive to the person who experienced it. The leap from 'I saw something I cannot explain' to 'I know what it was' is where he argues greater scientific scrutiny is required.

Kirsch invokes the 18th-century philosopher David Hume's approach to reported miracles. Hume's argument asks whether it is more probable that testimony is mistaken than that an extraordinary event has occurred.

'The same is true of UFOs,' Kirsch said. 'They're not supernatural or miraculous. If they really existed they'd exist in time and space and three dimensions like everything else.'

Kirsch went on to argue that, given current scientific understanding of the universe and interstellar travel, mistaken observation remains more probable than an extraterrestrial spacecraft as the explanation for a UFO report.

He added that modern scientific education requires people to question instinctive explanations, not simply trust them because they are dramatic or satisfying. Released UAP footage may not reveal every available detail, Kirsch said, but an incomplete public record does not automatically point to 'some cosmic secret.'

That distinction also reflects the broader premise of We Want to Believe: unexplained observations may warrant investigation without, by themselves, establishing that extraterrestrial spacecraft are visiting Earth.

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With the arrival of an eagerly awaited preliminary assessment on unidentified aerial phenomena by the Navy’s UAP Task Force in June, opinions on its findings were mixed and varied.

Of greater significance than the contents of the report, perhaps, had been what it left out. Nowhere in the nine-page document delivered to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) did words like “extraterrestrial” or “alien” make an appearance, a reality that was no doubt received with much frustration by longtime proponents of the existence of unusual aerial phenomena.

This, despite hopeful pre-reporting by the New York Times, who promised that officials who had been briefed on a classified version of the report prior to its debut “conceded that the very ambiguity of the findings” meant that more exotic potentials couldn’t be ruled out. This seemingly left open for the possibility “that the phenomena observed by military pilots might be alien spacecraft.”

To date, there remains nothing conclusive that links observations of unidentified aerial phenomena—or what until recent years were commonly referred to simply as UFOs—with extraterrestrial technologies. While many hopeful proponents of such speculations on the origin of UAP were likely irritated by the report’s ambiguous tone, the document did reveal a few notable surprises.

“The UAPTF is currently working to acquire additional reporting,” one portion of the report reads, “including from the U.S. Air Force (USAF), and has begun receiving data from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).”

The inclusion of the FAA as a source for information about UAP within the document was notable, especially because in years past, the agency tasked with regulating all civil aviation in the United States has seemed to want no involvement of any sort with unidentified flying objects.

FAA Order JO 7110.65Z – Air Traffic Control, a publication that “prescribes air traffic control procedures and phraseology for use by personnel providing air traffic control services” took effect on June 17, 2021—just days prior to the delivery of the UAP Task Force’s preliminary report. In chapter nine of the order, dealing with “Special Flights”, section eight is titled “Unidentified Flying Object (UFO) Reports”, and outlines the following procedure for UFO sightings made by air traffic control personnel:

9-8-1. GENERAL

1. Persons wanting to report UFO/unexplained phenomena activity should contact a UFO/ unexplained phenomena reporting data collection center, such as the National UFO Reporting Center, etc.
2. If concern is expressed that life or property might be endangered, report the activity to the local law enforcement department.

Identical wording with regard to UFO observations by FAA Air Traffic Organization personnel appears in other publications by the agency, which includes Section 7 of FAA Order JO 7210.3CC – Facility Operation and Administration.

The UAP Task Force and the FAA

It therefore came as a surprise for many who read the recent ODNI report, with its inclusion of the following statement: “The FAA captures data related to UAP during the normal course of managing air traffic operations. The FAA generally ingests this data when pilots and other airspace users report unusual or unexpected events to the FAA’s Air Traffic Organization.”

According to its own procedural publications cited above, the FAA appears to direct air traffic operators to report instances involving UAP (or UFOs, as the agency’s documentation still calls them) to civilian organizations like the Washington-based National UFO Reporting Center. These publications appear to provide no procedural details related to an internal system for collecting such data within the agency.

The fact that the FAA “captures data related to UAP” had not been the only pertinent information about the agency’s involvement with UAP studies included in the June report. Additionally, its authors state that “the FAA continuously monitors its systems for anomalies, generating additional information that may be of use to the UAPTF. The FAA is able to isolate data of interest to the UAPTF and make it available.”

“The FAA has a robust and effective outreach program that can help the UAPTF reach members of the aviation community to highlight the importance of reporting UAP,” the report also states.

“That may be news to the FAA,” Suzanne Rowan Kelleher reported in a Forbes article in June, adding that she was told the “agency that operates air traffic control and navigation for both civil and military aircraft insists it does not deal directly with UAP sightings from commercial pilots.”

“The FAA doesn’t track these reports,” Kelleher quoted an FAA spokesperson as having said, who told her that “The National UFO Reporting Center is your best source.”

Similarly, David Axe writing for The Daily Beast noted that “The FAA did not respond to a request for comment” regarding his inquiries about the agency’s UAP data collection described in the June ODNI report.

The FAA Finally Goes on the Record About UAP

In light of the specific references to the FAA and its apparent role in supporting the Navy’s UAP Task Force outlined in the ODNI report, The Debrief reached out to the agency for clarification, asking if it could confirm its role in the collection of UAP data. After several weeks of inquiries, the FAA finally responded to requests for clarification from The Debrief.

“The Federal Aviation Administration documents Unidentified Aerial Phenomenon (UAP) sightings whenever a pilot reports one to an air traffic control facility,” an FAA spokesperson told The Debrief in an email.

“If the pilot report can be corroborated with supporting information such as radar data, it is shared with the UAP Task Force,” the spokesperson added. The statement marks a notable shift from the FAA’s previous positions regarding UAP, and its insistence even in days following the release of the ODNI report that it has limited involvement with the collection of such data.

Earlier versions of the FAA’s JO 7110.65 order included the additional recommendation that UFO reports should be sent to agencies “such as Bigelow Aerospace Advanced Space Studies (BAASS),” with the inclusion of a phone number and email for contacting the organization.

According to an FAA briefing guide issued in February 2010, “Bigelow Aerospace Advanced Space Studies (BAASS) is a new organization that is devoted to exploration of extremely advanced aerospace technology, including the so-called unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP) or unidentified flying object (UFO) topics.”

The guide added that “In 2001, another of Mr. Bigelow’s organizations, the National Institute for Discovery Sciences (NIDS), succeeded in becoming the ‘go-to’ organization for the reporting by pilots and air traffic control of UFOs in the United States.”

“NIDS is now defunct and has been replaced by the larger, more capable BAASS,” the 2010 guide reads. “Therefore, pilot and air traffic control reporting of UFOs in the United States should now go to BAASS, vice NIDS. So we are deleting the NIDS acronym and adding the BAASS acronym.”

Robert Bigelow, the FAA, and UFOs

The story of how Bigelow Aerospace Advanced Space Studies (BAASS) and its predecessor, the National Institute for Discovery Science (NIDS), became recipients of UFO reports from the FAA–thereby freeing the FAA from having any direct involvement with UFOs for several years–can be traced back to retired United States Army colonel John B. Alexander, Ph.D. A longtime advocate for development of nonlethal weapons while in government, Alexander also worked for Robert Bigelow’s NIDS organization for a time. Speaking with Alexander, The Debrief asked about his role in arranging for the FAA to forward UFO reports it received to Bigelow’s organization.

“That is correct,” Alexander said. “This is one of those serendipitous events when I was first assigned to the Pentagon and living in northern Virginia.”

As Alexander explained, shortly after his assignment he had taken residence in an apartment building where “they had a Friday night happy hour kinda thing, and one of the other occupants happened to be the Deputy Director of Security for the FAA. So I knew him personally.”

“After 911,” Alexander told The Debrief, “[the FAA] became sacrificial lambs. I might mention the FAA had been screaming about security for years before that. The airlines had been resisting mightily.”

“So I went to Washington and had an initial conversation, and said look, we’re interested in [UAP],” Alexander says. Following this meeting, the FAA Deputy Director “was able to set up a secondary meeting where we had Bob [Bigelow] and Colm [Kelleher] with us. And we came in and met with some senior FAA officials.”

“Interestingly, the guys who had experience as air traffic controllers were pretty supportive,” Alexander said. “Many of them had experiences of reports coming in while they were on duty. Organizationally, they were just happy to have an outlet to make this go away.”

“Which, by the way, is the way this has happened across the board in many governmental agencies,” says Alexander.

In the mid 1980s, Alexander founded an informal group of government insiders interested in finding out whether there might be a black program within government that dealt with UFOs. Called the Advanced Theoretical Physics Project (ATPP), Alexander’s group included members from all three military branches and others from the aerospace and intelligence communities. A requirement for membership had been a Top Secret-SCI security clearance at SI-TK, so that all members “had appropriate clearances and could help disseminate information.”

Despite receiving a limited amount of support from many high-level officials during their search, the ATPP found no evidence of any existing black programs within government that were involved with UFOs. To the contrary, Alexander came away from the experience with the feeling that most agencies within government want as little to do with the subject as possible.

In March, Politico reported that several government agencies had allegedly been “blocking or simply ignoring the effort to catalog what they have on [UAP],” based on testimony from several past and present government officials with knowledge on the matter. Despite the aversion to releasing information on UAP shown by the intelligence community, it did not result in a postponement of the report’s delivery to the ODNI by its June 25 deadline, as some had suspected might occur.

“From what I understand,” Alexander says, “all those agencies listed [in the ODNI report] technically participated, but several were certainly dragging their feet, and this was not voluntary at all.”

“Most of them just don’t want anything to do with the topic,” Alexander says.

The FAA Flip Flops on UAP

Also in March, The Debrief reported on its investigation into UAP incidents found within the Aviation Safety Reporting System (ASRS), an online database maintained by NASA which collects anonymous reports on behalf of the FAA from pilots, air traffic control personnel, and others who observe potential aviation hazards.

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

EXCLUSIVE - True tomb of Jesus discovered after 2,000 years as hidden location that aligns with Bible account is found

By STACY LIBERATORE, US SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY EDITOR

The Bible describes Jesus' burial place as a tomb carved into rock, set inside a garden near where he was crucified.

For nearly 1,700 years, Christians have believed that tomb lies within Jerusalem's Church of the Holy Sepulchre.

The first church was built over the site by Roman Emperor Constantine in the fourth century, and generations of pilgrims have since traveled there to pray where Christ is believed to have been crucified, buried and resurrected.

Now, with excavations beneath the church complete, archaeologists have pieced together a fuller picture of an ancient landscape that bears a striking resemblance to the one described in the Gospel of John.

Lead archaeologist Francesca Romana Stasolla told the Daily Mail: 'We have found evidence of a funerary landscape, alongside small areas planted with vines and olive trees, as well as a pastoral landscape characterized by sporadic human activity.'

The excavations show that the church stands over an abandoned quarry outside ancient Jerusalem where cultivated plots and multiple rock-cut tombs existed side by side.

That combination closely mirrors John's description of a garden containing a tomb near the place where Jesus was crucified.

Although no physical evidence identifies the tomb's occupant, the parallels keep alive the possibility that early Christians preserved the true location of Jesus' burial.

Archaeologists have found evidence beneath  the Church of the Holy Sepulchre that aligns with what the Bible says about where Jesus was buried

The Church of the Holy Sepulchre attracts an estimated four million visitors each year.

The original church was dedicated in AD 335 after Roman buildings at the site, traditionally described as a temple to the goddess Venus, were demolished.

During the work, builders uncovered a rock-cut chamber that was identified as the burial place of Jesus, who had died nearly 300 years earlier.

Emperor Constantine's workers focused on one particular tomb that was already being venerated as Christ's burial place, excavating around it to separate it from the surrounding graves. 

The second church at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, which stands today, was built and restored starting around 614 to 626 AD, following the destruction and fire caused by the Persian Sassanid invasion.

The discoveries add to the ongoing debate over the location of Jesus' burial.

Many scholars support the Church of the Holy Sepulchre as the site, citing the presence of rock-cut tombs from the first century.

Others argue that the Garden Tomb, another ancient burial site in Jerusalem, better matches biblical descriptions.

There is a long-held debate over where Jesus was laid to rest. Some say the church while others believe he was put inside an ancient rock-cut tomb, known as the Garden Tomb (pictured), which aligns with Biblical text

Archeologists were excavating the floor of the church (pictured) when they uncovered signs of an ancient garden that is mentioned in the Bible as where Jesus was laid to rest

The latest findings are detailed in a new 98-page preliminary report published in Liber Annuus, the archaeological journal of Jerusalem's Studium Biblicum Franciscanum. 

The report brings together results from the final 2025 excavation campaign, completing a project that began during a major restoration of the church's floor in March 2022.

Evidence of the ancient garden was first announced in 2025, but completed excavations have now allowed researchers to reconstruct how the cultivated land, abandoned quarry and burial chambers fitted together across the wider site.

The report revealed that the landscape began as a vast stone quarry cut into the side of a hill outside Jerusalem's ancient walls, with some sections reaching nearly 20 feet beneath the church's present floor.

As stone extraction gradually ended, the deepest areas were filled with soil and divided by low dry-stone walls, creating small plots that could be cultivated.

'Evidence of cultivation is provided by archaeobotanical and pollen remains, which have enabled us to reconstruct a landscape suitable for pastoralism, with natural vegetation used for grazing,' Stasolla said.

The first church was built over the site by Roman Emperor Constantine in the fourth century. Pictured on the right is part of the foundation wall of Constantine's church

Above are Christians touching the Unction Stone at the entrance to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, which they believe marks the sacred spot where the body of Jesus was washed, anointed with spices, and wrapped in linen for burial

'This type of Mediterranean landscape was widespread throughout the region and coexisted with the abandoned quarry area and the presence of rock-cut tombs.'

Researchers dated the cultivated landscape through its position within the archaeological layers and pottery recovered from the quarry fills.

The evidence places it after the quarry was abandoned but before Emperor Hadrian rebuilt the area in the second century AD, a broad period encompassing the lifetime of Jesus.

However, the plant remains have not been given an absolute laboratory date, meaning archaeologists cannot prove the garden was being cultivated at the precise time of Christ's crucifixion.

Archaeologists also recovered traces of fruits, legumes and wild vegetation, revealing an open Mediterranean landscape that was cultivated, visited and used for grazing but not permanently inhabited.

At the same time, exposed rock faces left behind by the quarry provided ideal locations for burial chambers to be carved directly into the stone.

The Church of the Holy Sepulchre attracts an estimated four million visitors each year

The inside of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre features stunning mosaics throughout

Researchers found multiple tombs opening into the same former quarry at different heights, connected by narrow paths winding between the graves and cultivated plots.

The result was a complex landscape where gardens, grazing land and rock-cut tombs existed together, just as the Gospel of John places a garden and burial chamber beside the site of Jesus' crucifixion.

John 19:41 reads: 'Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden; and in the garden a new sepulchre, wherein was never man yet laid.'

The garden reference is one of several clues contained in the Bible.

John 19:20 places the crucifixion close to Jerusalem, while Hebrews 13:12 says Jesus suffered outside the city gate. Archaeologists found that the quarry stood outside Jerusalem's walls at the time of Jesus but remained close to the city, matching both descriptions.

Matthew, Mark and Luke each describe Jesus' grave as having been carved from rock. The excavations confirmed that the gardenlike landscape was also a genuine ancient burial ground containing multiple chambers cut directly into the quarry's exposed stone.

John also states that the tomb was close to the crucifixion site, allowing Jesus to be buried quickly before the Jewish Sabbath began. 

A Roman structure erected during Emperor Hadrian's reign in the second century stood directly against the tomb. Pictured are foundation walls constructed during his reign

Many Christians come to see the Stone of Anointing in Holy Sepulchre Church. Above are two nuns praying before the stone

At the Holy Sepulchre, the chamber traditionally identified as his tomb and the rock of Calvary exist within the same compact area.

None of those features was unique in ancient Jerusalem, as abandoned quarries were commonly reused for cultivation and burials. 

What makes the Holy Sepulchre compelling is the convergence of all the clues in one place: outside the ancient walls but close to the city, with cultivated land, a rocky crucifixion site and a cemetery containing rock-cut tombs.

Within that burial ground, one particular chamber would eventually become the focus of centuries of Christian veneration.

A Roman structure erected during Emperor Hadrian's reign in the second century stood directly against the tomb, making it inaccessible, while also cutting into the nearby rock of Calvary, the traditional site of Jesus' crucifixion.

The report suggested the surviving Roman walls may have belonged to a smaller cult site rather than the massive pagan temple described in traditional accounts.

Roughly two centuries later, Constantine's workers demolished the Roman structure and excavated the same location to expose the venerated tomb.

They removed the surrounding rock, separated the chamber from the other graves and constructed the first Christian shrine around it.

Its position was considered so important that architects allowed different sections of the enormous church complex to fall out of alignment rather than move the tomb.

The first monument was probably open to the sky and consisted of a small circular shrine surrounded by 12 columns, allowing early pilgrims to gather around the burial chamber.

Although none of this proves Jesus was buried inside, the decision to return to and preserve one specific tomb centuries later raises the possibility that knowledge of its location survived through generations of early Christians.

The second church at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, which stands today, was built and restored starting around 614 to 626 AD, following the destruction and fire caused by the Persian Sassanid invasion

Stasolla said: 'The archaeological area beneath the Church of the Holy Sepulchre reveals the long history of a part of Jerusalem that, in the early fourth century AD, underwent the monumentalization of Christological memory.

'In this case, I believe that the archaeological evidence should be used primarily to understand the places and contexts in which Christian memory took shape and became firmly established.'

The evidence shows that Christians were commemorating this particular location by the fourth century, but it cannot confirm that Jesus had been buried there three centuries earlier.

Important gaps remain, as no inscription identifies Jesus, and it cannot be definitively proven that the chamber was new, nor that it had been used or belonged to Joseph of Arimathea, as the Gospels state.

The Bible says that Joseph of Arimathea, a wealthy member of the Jewish council, asked Pontius Pilate for the body of Jesus after the crucifixion, wrapping it in clean linen and placing it in his own unused rock-hewn tomb.

The discoveries therefore do not confirm the biblical account, but they demonstrate that the traditional site contains the principal geographical and physical features described in the New Testament.

'The Church of the Holy Sepulchre gives monumental form to the sites where, since very early times, tradition has located the memory of Christ's death and resurrection,' Stasolla said.

'Archaeology undoubtedly attests to the enduring nature of this commemorative tradition.'

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

Mystery statue unearthed at Sardis archaeological dig

by Sy Boles, Harvard Gazette

Researchers with the long-running Harvard–Cornell Archaeological Exploration of Sardis have unearthed a larger-than-life statue estimated to be nearly 2,500 years old.

The discovery is remarkable for several reasons, said Nicholas Cahill, the field director of the AES team and a professor of Greek and Roman art and archaeology at the University of Wisconsin–Madison.

"It is very rare to find such monumental sculptures of this period anywhere in the Mediterranean, and this exceptionally well-preserved, unique monument casts important new light on the major arts of Lydia and on the Lydians' ties to their own past," he said.

The excavation is sponsored by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the Republic of Türkiye and by Harvard Art Museums. The Turkish site was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site last year, cementing its position as a critical site for understanding the ancient world.

Researchers made the discovery in late May while examining a major Roman colonnaded avenue. The statue had been broken into two main pieces and reused, face down, as paving stones in the ancient thoroughfare.

A buried monument emerges

"You sort of see these whole worlds opening up in front of you," Cahill said of the moment he realized the team had found something extraordinary.

A team of conservators carefully excavated around the statue to gradually reveal its full shape and size in the ground.

"Then the guesswork started," said Susanne Ebbinghaus, the George M.A. Hanfmann Curator of Ancient Art at Harvard Art Museums, who was in Sardis for part of the excavation. "'Is this archaic? Maybe not, it looks a little later. Is it a guy? Is it a girl?' When they started cleaning the soil around the head, we saw he had sideburns, so that question was settled."

The people of the Lydian Empire, which controlled what is now western Türkiye from about the middle of the 7th century to the middle of the 6th century B.C., left little written record of their civilization. Much of what was known came from what Greeks and Romans wrote about it—and from their point of view, the Lydians were eastern barbarians. But archaeological evidence has revealed that Sardis, the capital of the Lydian Empire, was a center for luxury and culture, particularly perfumes and fine clothing.

James McCurley '27, a Classics and Physics concentrator who worked on the dig over the summer, said the excavation of the mammoth statue was the highlight of his experience.

"After all the anticipation, I was worried the statue might be underwhelming, that we'd dig it up and find its front weathered beyond recognition. Discovering that the statue was not only well-preserved but almost intact and 2,500 years old was a wonderful surprise."

Conservators lifted the pieces from the ground on July 13 and transported them to an AES conservation lab to begin a thorough, ongoing analysis.

Many details have been revealed since that early, excited guesswork.

An old style with new clues

At well over 7 feet (2.1 meters) tall, the figure would have towered over onlookers. He wears a tunic of thinner material (called a chiton in Greek), a diagonally wrapped mantle and a distinctive, perhaps local garment with fine horizontal folds. The design has few parallels in ancient sculpture, said Harvard Art Museums' Bahadir Yildirim, who is the Sardis expedition administrator and assistant director of fieldwork and who participated in the cleaning and analysis.

"The surprising thing about this piece is that it has some features that haven't been seen on sculpture like that ... the drapery underneath, the distinctive horizontal patterning," he said.

The statue's bolt-upright stance, long coiffed hair and manner of dress resemble archaic Greek sculptures from the 6th century B.C. But the prominent veins and other anatomical details betray a much later date, likely in the 470s to 450s B.C., the early Classical period in Greece. During this era, Sardis was no longer an independent capital but had been conquered by the Achaemenid Persians and had become a major provincial center.

But the figure shows no Persian influence. The statue, therefore, comes across at first as a very traditional sculpture, adhering to age-old hairstyles and dress codes while also hinting at familiarity with the current styles in Greece, where such a sculpture might have been depicted as a nude youth. But the Lydians and other Anatolian peoples did not exercise naked and did not depict their young men without clothes.

The references to multiple cultural traditions and time periods reflect an artist with a complex understanding of his or her place in the world, Cahill said.

"This sculptor knows about contemporary styles in Mediterranean and Anatolian sculpture, the interest in hands and the structure of the face and so forth, and yet [the statue is] wearing clothes from 100 years earlier," Cahill said. "I think they're very clearly looking back to their own past."

A likely sacred setting

The original placement and purpose of the monumental statue is unknown. But one possibility is that it stood at the sanctuary of Cybele, the native mother goddess, which has never been found but has been described in literary sources as one of the most important sanctuaries in Sardis. It was common for wealthy citizens or political leaders to ensconce their likeness in the presence of a deity so they could effectively worship in perpetuity, Ebbinghaus explained.

"You put yourself in a prominent place where your fellow citizens or subjects can see you, but also you are indeed worshiping the god—and if you're a ruler, drawing legitimization from the relationship to that deity. So it might well have been an important person being represented," she said.

Most ancient marble statues were painted, and this one was likely no exception. The Sardis conservation team is now working to clean the statue while preserving any remaining flecks of paint for color analysis.

When conservation is complete, the fragments will be joined, and the statue will be displayed in a Turkish archaeological museum, along with other finds from Sardis. The first Harvard excavation of Sardis, a joint project with Cornell University, began in 1958 and was led by George M.A. Hanfmann (1911–1986), a professor of fine arts at Harvard and curator of ancient art at the Fogg Art Museum.

{ https://phys.org/science-news/ }

More Files, More Questions: What the Pentagon’s Latest UAP Release Really Changes

Forty-one records. Gulf of Oman footage. FBI triangle interviews. Eight decades of files entered the public record on August 7. This edition examines what the evidence actually shows—and applies the standard that must hold regardless of how compelling the headlines are.

Artistic Reconstruction — Not a Photograph

This image is an artist’s reconstruction based on witness descriptions in FBI records. It is not a photograph, sensor image, or documentary record of any specific event. The UFO Times applies this label to all reconstructed imagery involving unidentified phenomena.

2. The FBI Triangle Records: Documented Accounts, Unresolved Observations

The released FBI documents describe interviews with multiple witnesses who reported observing large, silent, triangular aircraft—often at low altitude, often with no visible propulsion exhaust. Some estimates placed the objects at more than 300 feet across.

Those accounts are striking. The accounts are detailed and were formally documented by the FBI. The released interview summaries, however, contain no bureau conclusion verifying the witnesses’ physical estimates or identifying what they observed.

But the documents are interview summaries, not technical analyses. The FBI did not conclude that the objects represented exotic technology. The records establish that witnesses described observations they could not explain and that the FBI documented those descriptions. They do not establish the physical nature of the reported objects.

The documents do not establish the origin or nature of the objects. They preserve multiple witness descriptions of apparently triangular objects with unusual reported characteristics. Whether the separate observations shared a common cause remains unknown.

One critical caution: the triangular image circulating online and attributed to these records is an artist’s reconstruction, not a photograph or sensor image. We have applied the label “ARTISTIC RECONSTRUCTION—NOT A PHOTOGRAPH” to every use of that image in our coverage. This distinction matters more than most headlines have acknowledged.

1953 Naval Photographic Interpretation Center film analysis. The analysts examined footage from the Montana (1950) and Utah (1952) film cases. Their calculations were limited partly because object distance was assumed rather than measured. Their final determination was inconclusive. This document has been mischaracterized in some coverage as definitive evidence of a concealed programme.

Project Sign, established in 1947, was the first formal U.S. Air Force UFO investigation programme. Several later participants claimed that an internal “Estimate of the Situation” favored an interplanetary interpretation and was rejected or destroyed. No authenticated copy has entered the public record.

3. The 1953 Film Analysis and Project Sign: History That Cuts Both Ways

The 1953 Naval Photographic Interpretation Center film analysis and the Project Sign documents add historical depth without resolving the central question.

The analysis examined footage from the Montana (1950) and Utah (1952) film cases—two of the most-discussed UAP films of the early Cold War era. The analysts noted that object distance was assumed rather than measured, which limited the reliability of any speed or size calculations. Camera position, focal length, and the absence of a firm reference object further constrained their conclusions. Their final determination was inconclusive.

Project Sign—established in 1947 as the Air Force’s first official UFO investigation—underwent a significant internal debate. Several later participants claimed that Project Sign produced an “Estimate of the Situation” favouring an interplanetary interpretation and that senior Air Force leadership rejected or destroyed it. No authenticated copy has entered the public record, so the account remains historically important but not independently verifiable. The programme was reorganized as Project Grudge and later Project Blue Book. The investigative priorities, methods and institutional attitudes changed substantially under each successor programme. Historians continue to debate how seriously each pursued unresolved cases.

What these documents show is not quite what some have claimed: the historical record shows recurring institutional tension over how much personnel, funding and scientific attention UFO investigations should receive—not necessarily an agency that had answers it concealed.

If the later accounts are accurate, the rejection or destruction of that assessment would be historically significant. The surviving Release 05 records do not independently prove that episode. The records do not, however, prove what was in the sky. They show that the institutional response changed substantially and remains the subject of historical debate.

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{ https://theufotimes.com/ }