Alien Bases Beneath the Ocean? Examining Tim Burchett's Underwater UAP Claims

Rep. Tim Burchett has publicly stated his belief that alien entities may operate from underwater bases. He connects that belief to accounts he attributes to Navy and military personnel: unusual submerged objects, recurring deep-water activity and reported speeds that far exceed known U.S. capabilities. His position is his own — not a media invention. But it remains an interpretation of secondhand accounts, and the physical evidence required to establish permanent underwater installations has not been publicly released.

Rep. Tim Burchett (R-TN)

Since joining the House Oversight Committee's UAP investigation in 2023, Rep. Tim Burchett has been one of Congress's most persistent voices for UAP disclosure. He has attended classified briefings, spoken with military pilots, and pressed the Pentagon and intelligence community to release records on unidentified aerial and transmedium phenomena.

In multiple public interviews, Burchett has gone beyond relaying attributed accounts to expressing a personal conclusion: that alien entities may be living and operating from deep-water areas on Earth. This article examines the sources he cites, the figures he has reported and what independent evidence would be required to substantiate those claims. See also: Tim Burchett — Voices of Disclosure.

Rep. Tim Burchett

Republican, Tennessee's 2nd District
House Oversight Committee

U.S. House of Representatives / Public Domain
Source: Wikimedia Commons · Portrait retained at native 201×251

What Burchett Actually Said

Burchett's public statements on underwater UAPs span several years and multiple interview formats, and they distinguish him from members of Congress who have simply demanded more disclosure. He has expressed a personal conclusion. In a September 2025 interview with UAP researcher and documentary filmmaker Red Panda Koala — reported by Newsmax — Burchett said he believes alien civilizations may have been present in the ocean for generations. He connected that belief directly to what he said he has heard from Navy personnel.

Burchett told Newsmax in September 2025 that Navy personnel had described underwater craft "they're chasing that go hundreds of miles an hour," adding that the best U.S. naval vessels can achieve is "maybe a little under 40 miles an hour." He described those accounts as the basis for his belief that alien entities may be living in deep-water areas on Earth.Source: Newsmax, "Rep. Burchett: UFOs Could Be Hiding Underwater," September 29, 2025 — newsmax.com

Four distinct claims run through Burchett's public statements and should be kept separate throughout any responsible analysis of them:

A. Secondhand reports attributed to military personnel. Burchett says he has spoken with Navy pilots who described unusual objects entering and exiting water, and who were reportedly directed away from specific ocean areas. He presents these as accounts relayed to him, not as information he personally observed.

B. Several deep-water areas associated with repeated activity. Burchett has described multiple ocean locations where activity has allegedly been concentrated. The precise number has varied in reporting — "five or six" is frequently cited — but no specific coordinates, ocean basin designations or declassified documentation has been released to substantiate these locations.

C. Burchett's personal interpretation. Beyond relaying attributed accounts, Burchett has stated his own conclusion: that the activity described to him indicates alien entities operating from underwater installations. This is his interpretation, not a finding drawn from authenticated records.

D. The evidentiary gap. No publicly released coordinates, authenticated sonar data, vessel records, physical evidence or independently verified imagery establishes permanent extraterrestrial installations beneath the ocean. Classified information may exist that would change this assessment, but the burden of confirmation has not been met in any public disclosure.

Three Layers of Burchett's Underwater UAP Position

1. Burchett's expressed personal belief (documented)Burchett has publicly stated that he believes alien entities may operate from underwater bases on Earth. This is his own stated conclusion — expressed across multiple recorded interviews — not a characterization imposed by others.
2. The secondhand accounts he cites (attributed)He grounds that belief in accounts from Navy pilots and unnamed officials who allegedly described unusual submerged objects, specific deep-water activity areas and extraordinary reported performance. These are attributed accounts; the underlying witnesses and records have not been independently made available.
3. Secondary amplification (caution)Media and social coverage of Burchett's statements may strip his uncertainty language and present his personal interpretation of secondhand reports as established or confirmed fact. The distinction between what Burchett believes and what has been verified is frequently lost at this stage.

The Speed and Scale Claims

Among the most striking figures Burchett has discussed are the reported speeds and dimensions of the alleged objects. In his September 2025 Newsmax interview, he cited Navy personnel describing underwater craft travelling at "hundreds of miles an hour." In a March 2026 interview for The Resilient Show, he reportedly discussed accounts of submerged objects described as roughly football-field-sized and moving at approximately 200 miles per hour. Both figures were attributed to other personnel; no corresponding sonar record, vessel log or raw sensor data has been released for independent analysis.

Several factors complicate the interpretation of such figures even if the underlying accounts are accurate. Underwater speed estimates derived from visual or acoustic tracking depend critically on sensor geometry, tracking duration, environmental conditions, calibration accuracy and positive target identification. An apparent speed of 200 mph could reflect genuine object velocity, a tracking error, a sensor artefact or a misidentification of the object being tracked. None of these can be resolved without access to the original sensor data and methodology — neither of which has been publicly provided.

In a March 2026 interview for The Resilient Show, Burchett reportedly discussed accounts of submerged objects described as roughly football-field-sized and moving at approximately 200 mph. The claim was attributed to other personnel; no raw sonar record, measurement methodology or authenticated documentation supporting the reported dimensions or speed has been publicly released.Source: The Resilient Show — "UFOs in the Ocean? Rep. Tim Burchett on Underwater Craft, Disclosure & Epstein," March 9, 2026 — resilienttimes.substack.com.

Scale Reference — Reported Object Size vs. Known Reference Point

NFL FOOTBALL FIELDALLEGED OBJECT91 m × 49 m (100 yds × 53 yds)≈as described in attributed accounts — not confirmed sensor data

Scale illustration based on a secondhand account discussed by Burchett — not confirmed sensor data. No raw sonar record, measurement methodology or authenticated documentation supporting the reported dimensions has been released publicly. The actual size — if any such object exists — is unknown.

The "Five or Six Locations" — What Is and Isn't Known

The specific number "five or six" gained traction in coverage of Burchett's statements, implying a precise, enumerated intelligence picture. Whether that level of specificity reflects what Burchett was told or accumulated through media paraphrasing across multiple interview cycles is not established in any public record. Burchett himself has at times spoken of "several" locations rather than a precise number.

No geographic coordinates, ocean basin designations or documented sonar surveys have been publicly released to substantiate any of these locations. They have not appeared in NOAA public mapping releases, in declassified naval survey data, or in the documents released under the AARO Historical Record Report. Their existence is asserted, not documented.

This is consistent with a pattern of assertion seen in related congressional UAP claims. Rep. Eric Burlison's claim about a UAP "too large to move", examined separately by this publication, presents a structurally similar evidentiary situation: attributed congressional testimony, no authenticated physical record and a significant gap between what was claimed and what is publicly verifiable.

Key Events — Underwater UAP Claims: A ChronologyAttributed/secondary

Apr 2013AguadillaIR incident2019USS Omahafootage recordedMay 2021Pentagon confirmsOmaha authenticMar 2025AARO resolvesAguadilla — sky lanternsNov 2024Gallaudettestifies on USOsSep 2025Burchett Newsmax:"hundreds of mph"Mar 2026Burchett:~200 mph claimVerified/resolvedAttributed/secondaryHistorical incident

Timeline constructed from public sources cited in this article. Dates reflect interview and report publication dates, not dates of the underlying alleged events. Colour coding follows this article's evidence-status scheme.

USS Pinckney and USS Omaha transit the Pacific Ocean during a July 2019 U.S. Navy exercise. This official photograph provides maritime context; it does not depict the object discussed in the separate USS Omaha UAP recording.Credit: U.S. Navy / Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Alex Corona / Released / Public domain. Source: DVIDS image 5601572

Transmedium UAPs: What the Pentagon Has Confirmed

The factual core beneath Burchett's position is real and significant. Pentagon spokesperson Susan Gough confirmed to news organizations that the 2019 USS Omaha footage was recorded by Navy personnel and was under review by the UAP Task Force — as reported by The War Zone in May 2021. That confirmation establishes the authenticity of the recording as a genuine Navy document. It does not establish that the object entered the ocean, originated underwater or represented non-human technology, and it was not a published analytic conclusion about the object's identity or behavior. AARO has not issued a case resolution for the Omaha footage. This secondary reporting is cited here as the specific basis for the authentication claim; the original DOD spokesperson statement was not issued as a standalone published release.

The 2004 USS Nimitz "Tic Tac" footage — examined in detail in our USS Nimitz investigation — provides the most extensively documented transmedium UAP record. Navy pilots including Cmdr. David Fravor described an object with flight characteristics inconsistent with known aircraft that was observed near the ocean surface. Neither footage establishes a permanent underwater installation; both establish that anomalous aerial objects have been observed near the ocean by credible military witnesses using calibrated instruments.

The logical distance between "anomalous objects observed near the ocean surface" and "permanent alien bases on the ocean floor" is substantial. That distance has not been closed by any publicly released documentation.

What a Resolved "Transmedium" Case Shows

In March 2025, AARO issued a case resolution report for one of the most widely circulated "transmedium UAP" examples in the public record — the 2013 Aguadilla infrared video from Puerto Rico. The case is instructive precisely because it illustrates how apparent transmedium behavior can arise from sensor geometry and atmospheric conditions, not anomalous object performance.

AARO Case Resolution — "The Puerto Rico Object," March 20, 2025

High confidenceThe objects did not exhibit anomalous speeds or other behavior exceeding known state-of-the-art performance characteristics.

High confidenceThe objects remained over land throughout the encounter. STK reconstruction of the sensor's line-of-sight demonstrates they did not enter the Atlantic Ocean.

High confidenceThe recording depicts two objects travelling near each other rather than a single object splitting or replicating.

Moderate confidenceThe objects were a pair of sky lanterns drifting at approximately 8 mph — consistent with recorded wind speed. Their apparent high speed was attributable to motion parallax caused by the aircraft's flight speed, sensor zoom and changing relative positions.

Their apparent disappearance into the ocean was attributable to thermal crossover — a natural IR sensor phenomenon in which an object's thermal signature becomes indistinguishable from the ocean background, not actual submersion. AARO employed Systems Toolkit (STK) reconstruction and pixel analysis. The original 2013 video was recorded by U.S. Customs and Border Protection aboard a De Havilland Canada 8 aircraft near Rafael Hernández Airport, Aguadilla, Puerto Rico.

Source:

•  AARO Case Resolution Report — "The Puerto Rico Object" (PDF, March 20, 2025)

This resolution does not address Burchett's separate allegations, which involve different alleged locations, different witnesses and different time periods. What it does demonstrate is that apparent transmedium behavior — including apparent entry into water and apparent anomalous speed — can be fully explained by sensor geometry, motion parallax and atmospheric conditions. Establishing genuine transmedium performance requires reconstruction of the sensor's geometry and the object's actual flight path, not visual interpretation of the footage alone. That methodology has not been applied to any of the alleged locations Burchett describes, because no corresponding sensor records have been released.

The Physics: Could Existing Technology Detect Underwater Structures?

If permanent large-scale structures existed on the ocean floor in areas frequented by U.S. naval vessels, would they be detectable? Modern naval sonar systems are capable of detecting anomalous structures on the ocean floor. The United States has maintained ocean surveillance networks — including the Sound Surveillance System (SOSUS) and its successors — with broad coverage of strategically important ocean regions. NOAA's mapping programs have charted substantial portions of the seafloor using multibeam sonar.

NOAA's remotely operated vehicle Deep Discoverer can descend to approximately 6,000 meters while collecting imagery, samples and environmental measurements. Investigating extraordinary underwater claims requires this kind of documented, recoverable data.Credit: NOAA Ocean Exploration, 2026 ROV Shakedown / Public domain. Source: NOAA Ocean Exploration — ROV Deep Discoverer

A structure large enough to shelter vehicles of the kind described by Burchett — approximately football-field-sized — would in principle produce sonar returns inconsistent with natural seafloor formations. No publicly reported anomaly consistent with such a structure has appeared in NOAA mapping releases, peer-reviewed oceanographic research or any declassified naval survey data.

This absence is not conclusive proof. Coverage is not total, classified sonar data is not publicly available, and the ocean floor in many areas remains inadequately mapped at the resolution required to identify structures at the scale described. But the absence of any corroborating signature in the substantial body of publicly available oceanographic data is a meaningful evidentiary gap.

Rear Admiral Tim Gallaudet's Independent Position

Retired Rear Admiral Tim Gallaudet — former NOAA Acting Administrator and Navy oceanographer with expertise in ocean acoustics — has made independent public statements that lend institutional weight to the broader question of underwater UAPs, while stopping short of confirming Burchett's specific accounts.

In written testimony to the House Oversight Committee on November 13, 2024, Gallaudet stated: "I add the term 'water space' because UAP have been observed in the ocean and are known to exhibit transmedium travel through the air-sea interface. These are often referred to as unidentified submerged objects (USOs)." He called for integration of NOAA and naval oceanographic assets into UAP investigation, and described a 2015 incident in which he received an urgent Navy communication about UAP encounters during a pre-deployment exercise, after which the communication disappeared from the network without explanation.

Rear Admiral Tim Gallaudet, USN (Ret.), has called for systematic scientific investigation of transmedium and submerged UAP reports. His position does not independently verify Burchett's specific claims or alleged locations. Credit: U.S. Navy / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Who Is Tim Gallaudet?

RoleRetired Rear Admiral, U.S. Navy. Former NOAA Acting Administrator (2018–2019). Oceanographer with expertise in ocean acoustics, underwater sound propagation and maritime environmental science. Currently CEO of Ocean STL Consulting.

Position on USOsAdvocates systematic scientific investigation of transmedium UAP and unidentified submerged object (USO) reports using existing NOAA and naval oceanographic assets. Has not confirmed specific claims made by Burchett about locations, speeds or permanent installations.

Key testimonyHouse Oversight Committee, November 13, 2024: "I add the term 'water space' because UAP have been observed in the ocean and are known to exhibit transmedium travel through the air-sea interface."

Gallaudet's institutional credibility supports taking underwater UAP reports seriously as a research priority. It does not corroborate the specific accounts Burchett has attributed to Navy personnel.

Gallaudet has also written on this subject independently. His March 2024 Sol Foundation paper, "Beneath the Surface: We May Learn More about UAP by Looking in the Ocean," argues that transmedium UAP and USO reports represent a systematically underexplored domain. In it, he makes the case for systematic scientific investigation — not for the existence of permanent alien installations.

Gallaudet has not publicly confirmed Burchett's specific "five or six locations," the reported speed or size figures, or the existence of permanent underwater installations. His testimony represents an expert advocacy position — that underwater UAP phenomena deserve rigorous investigation — not independent corroboration of Burchett's attributed accounts. The distinction is important: Gallaudet's credibility strengthens the case for taking these reports seriously as an investigative priority; it does not confirm what Burchett was told.

Sources: 

• House Oversight Committee hearing, November 13, 2024 · Gallaudet written testimony (PDF) · Sol Foundation paper, March 2024

What Would Confirm a Permanent Underwater Base?

The evidentiary standard for confirming a permanent underwater installation is demanding — appropriately so, given the magnitude of the claim. Understanding that standard identifies precisely what is missing.

Evidence Assessment — Burchett's Underwater UAP Claims

Claim element	What would confirm it	Current status
Burchett publicly expressed belief in underwater alien bases	Multiple recorded interviews; the belief is his own stated position	Documented Confirmed across multiple 2024–2026 interviews including Newsmax, September 29, 2025
Navy and military personnel reportedly described unusual submerged objects to Burchett	Declassified incident reports, witness testimony before Congress under oath, or authenticated sensor logs from the reported encounters	Attributed Attributed to Burchett's conversations; underlying witnesses and records not publicly available
Several deep-water activity areas exist at specific locations	Geographic coordinates, ocean basin designations, or sonar surveys cross-referenced across independent platforms	Alleged No locations publicly established; not referenced in AARO Historical Record Report
Objects reportedly travelling at hundreds of miles per hour and approximately football-field in size	Original sensor data with documented methodology, tracking geometry and calibration records; independent reconstruction confirming speed and dimensions	Secondhand Attributed figures from Burchett interviews; no sonar record, vessel log or authenticated sensor data released
Objects are of non-human origin	Physical samples with composition inconsistent with known human engineering; authenticated structural imagery; independent peer-reviewed analysis	Not established No physical samples or authenticated material analysis publicly available
Permanent underwater bases exist	Sonar imaging of anomalous structures inconsistent with natural formations; verifiable coordinates; physical evidence from the site	Not established No sonar data, coordinates or structural evidence publicly released

The UFO Times Assessment

Burchett has publicly said that he believes extraterrestrial entities may operate from underwater bases. He has connected that belief to accounts he attributes to Navy and military personnel concerning unusual submerged objects and recurring activity in several deep-water areas. His position is therefore more than a media invention — but it remains an interpretation of secondhand reports.

No publicly released coordinates, authenticated sonar data, vessel records, physical evidence or independently verified imagery establishes permanent extraterrestrial installations beneath the ocean. The speed and scale figures Burchett has discussed — however striking — rest on attributed accounts without the sensor data required to assess their accuracy. The AARO resolution of the Aguadilla case illustrates why such assessment matters: an object that appeared to enter the ocean at high speed was found to have drifted over land at 8 miles per hour.

Burchett's willingness to speak plainly about what he has been told, and to stake his own interpretation on it publicly, is itself notable in the context of congressional UAP oversight. It means the claims can be examined, sourced and assessed — which is exactly what responsible disclosure requires. The evidentiary gap between his interpretation and what is publicly verifiable remains wide. Closing it would require the release of authenticated records that have not been provided.

Frequently Asked Questions

Did Tim Burchett say there are five or six underwater alien bases?

Burchett has publicly expressed his personal belief that alien entities may operate from underwater bases, connecting it to accounts he attributes to Navy and military personnel about unusual submerged objects and deep-water activity areas. The number "five or six" was widely reported in media coverage; Burchett has at times spoken of "several" locations. He has not released authenticated documentation, sonar data or coordinates to support the existence of permanent installations.

What did Burchett actually claim about underwater UAP activity?

Burchett has said in multiple public settings that Navy personnel described to him underwater craft travelling at hundreds of miles per hour, and that several deep-water areas have been associated with unusual activity. He has stated his personal belief that alien entities may be living in deep-water areas on Earth. This is his own stated conclusion based on attributed secondhand accounts — not a finding derived from publicly released physical or documentary evidence.

Has the Pentagon released authenticated footage of UAPs entering water?

The Department of Defense confirmed that Navy personnel recorded the 2019 USS Omaha footage. Authentication of the recording does not establish that the object entered the ocean, originated underwater or represented non-human technology. AARO has not issued an analytical case resolution for the Omaha footage.

What did AARO conclude about the Aguadilla "transmedium" UAP case?

In its March 2025 case resolution, AARO assessed with high confidence that the objects in the 2013 Aguadilla infrared video did not exhibit anomalous speed or transmedium behavior. Reconstruction showed the objects drifted at approximately 8 mph over land; apparent high speed was attributable to motion parallax. Apparent disappearance into the ocean was attributable to thermal crossover, not actual submersion. AARO assessed with moderate confidence that the objects were sky lanterns.

What did Rear Admiral Tim Gallaudet say about underwater UAPs?

In written testimony to the House Oversight Committee on November 13, 2024, Gallaudet stated that UAPs have been observed in the ocean and are known to exhibit transmedium travel through the air-sea interface, which he called unidentified submerged objects (USOs). He advocated for systematic investigation. He did not publicly confirm Burchett's specific accounts, alleged locations or speed and size figures.

What evidence would be needed to confirm a permanent underwater UAP base?

Confirming a permanent underwater installation would require: authenticated sonar imaging showing anomalous structures inconsistent with natural formations; verifiable geographic coordinates cross-referenced across independent surveys; physical evidence recovered from the site; and documentation establishing the structure is non-natural and inconsistent with known human engineering. None of these have been publicly provided.

Related Reporting

• Tim Burchett — Voices of DisclosureBurchett's broader congressional UAP record, key statements and oversight work.
• Eric Burlison: A UAP "Too Large to Move"A structurally parallel case — attributed congressional testimony, no authenticated physical record.
• The USS Nimitz "Tic Tac" EncounterThe most extensively documented transmedium UAP case in the public record.

Sources and References

• Newsmax — "Rep. Burchett: UFOs Could Be Hiding Underwater," September 29, 2025. Includes direct quote from Burchett about Navy personnel describing underwater craft "that go hundreds of miles an hour." newsmax.com/newsfront/tim-burchett-ufos-aliens/2025/09/29/id/1228280/
• NewsNation — "Aliens may have underwater bases on Earth: Burchett." Documents Burchett's publicly expressed belief. youtube.com/watch?v=ZCEbJwRgBPQ
• The Resilient Show — "UFOs in the Ocean? Rep. Tim Burchett on Underwater Craft, Disclosure & Epstein," March 9, 2026. Reported source for football-field size and approximately 200 mph figures. resilienttimes.substack.com
• AARO — "Case Resolution: The Puerto Rico Object," March 20, 2025. Full technical reconstruction of 2013 Aguadilla infrared footage. AARO Puerto Rico Case Resolution (PDF)
• AARO — Historical Record Report Vol. 1, 2024. AARO Historical Record Report (PDF)
• Dr. Tim Gallaudet — Written testimony, House Oversight Committee, November 13, 2024. Gallaudet testimony (PDF)
• House Oversight Committee — "Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena: Exposing the Truth," November 13, 2024. oversight.house.gov hearing page
• RADM Tim Gallaudet — "Beneath the Surface: We May Learn More about UAP by Looking in the Ocean," Sol Foundation, March 2024. thesolfoundation.org
• The War Zone (Tyler Rogoway) — Pentagon spokesperson Susan Gough confirmed to reporters that the USS Omaha footage was recorded by Navy personnel and was under review by the UAP Task Force, May 2021. thedrive.com/the-war-zone/41220 (secondary reporting; original DOD spokesperson statement not published as standalone release)
• Rep. Tim Burchett — official congressional biography and portrait. U.S. House of Representatives / Public Domain. burchett.house.gov
• NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research. oceanexplorer.noaa.gov

Editorial note: 

• This article distinguishes among four separate layers in Burchett's public statements: (A) secondhand reports he attributes to Navy and military personnel; (B) reports of unusual objects or activity in several deep-water areas; (C) Burchett's personal interpretation that such activity may indicate underwater alien bases; and (D) publicly verified evidence — which currently does not establish alien origin or permanent underwater installations. No public coordinates, authenticated sonar records, vessel logs, raw sensor files or physical evidence currently establishes permanent underwater structures associated with UAPs. The UFO Times evaluates UAP claims against available evidence without sensationalism.

{ https://theufotimes.com/ }

The Allagash Abductions: This State Park’s Most Famous Visitors … Are Aliens?

In 1976, four men saw a UFO while visiting the Allagash Wilderness Waterway. A decade later they started remembering more details.

Dylan Thuras: It was 1988, and all year, Jim Weiner had been having a terrible time sleeping. He was having nightmares, but these were not normal nightmares, because Jim said he felt like he was awake, almost like it was some kind of sleep paralysis.

He’d wake up to the overwhelming sense that there was someone in the room with him. He’d hear a flurry of voices, but he couldn’t understand them. He couldn’t move anything but his eyes. And often, his twin brother Jack was there, along with two college friends, Chuck and Charlie.

Jim would be lying on this table in a bright white room. At first, Jim thought he knew what was causing this strange, awful sensation. Years earlier, he’d been in a bad accident. He’d injured his spine and his brainstem. He told his psychiatrist, it seems like things were under control.

They were going to get better. But then Jim got on the phone with his brother Jack, and they made a very unnerving discovery.

This was happening to Jack too. The bright white room, the table, Charlie and Chuck, the paralysis. Jack said he was seeing the same things. And as they dug deeper, the brothers would trace this strange sensation to an incident that happened more than a decade earlier, in the north woods of Maine, in the Allagash Wilderness Waterway.

I’m Dylan Thuras, and this is Atlas Obscura. And today, we are talking UFOs. We are talking alien abductions. And we’re doing it National Parks style.

This is an edited transcript of the Atlas Obscura Podcast: a celebration of the world’s strange, incredible, and wondrous places. Find the show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and all major podcast apps.

Dylan: National Parks are pretty much universally beloved. You have to be, like, a pretty unpleasant person to really dislike National Parks. But there’s also this other side to these enormous wild places. People die or disappear in National Parks actually pretty frequently. I don’t say this to discourage anyone from visiting the parks. Millions and millions of people go there. They are wonderful. They are safe. They are amazing. But they are big and they are wild. And there’s a hidden side to everything, including these places that we revere. So I am here today with two people who know more about the dark and sinister side of National Parks than I would guess almost anyone else. Danielle LaRock and Cassie Yahnian are hosts of the podcast National Park After Dark, a podcast for the morbid outdoor enthusiast, which is not a thing that I knew I was until I heard your work. So, Danielle, Cassie, thanks for coming on the show.

Danielle LaRock: Thank you so much for the lovely introduction.

Cassie Yahnian: Yes. We’re excited to be here.

Dylan: It’s great. Meeting of the morbid outdoor enthusiasts. Yeah, so where are you two right now in the world? You look like you are in nice places.

Danielle: I’m in Maine.

Dylan: Oh, great.

Cassie: Yeah, and I’m in Vermont.

Dylan: Oh, nice. Yeah, this is great. I went to college in Bennington.

Cassie: Oh, very cool. Bennington’s a very cool area.

Dylan: Yeah. It’s also actually a place where there’s like all these weird, mysterious disappearances. The like, little Bennington Triangle. It’s like a whole—we could do a whole other thing.

Danielle: There’s some vibes happening.

Dylan: There’s some vibes. There are some vibes in that Bennington Triangle. And we’re going to get back to Jack and Jim’s story in just a second. But to further set the mood, why don’t you give me a quick lightning round of a few of your favorite morbid stories that have taken place in national parks. Danielle, go.

Danielle: Okay. Everglades National Park. In the 1800s, bird populations were being decimated for fashion and one of the first men who tried to save them was killed for it.

Cassie: Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Park. A backcountry ranger went missing while out on patrol and then the largest search operation ever recorded in those parks uncovered a complicated marriage, a mistress, and reasons he may have wanted to disappear.

Danielle: Joshua Tree National Park. Graham Parsons’ friends wanted him to go out like he lived: as a rock star. After his untimely end, they stole his body from a plane, loaded it into a friend’s hearse, drove it into Joshua Tree, and attempted a makeshift cremation.

Dylan: It makes me think the cremation went poorly.

Cassie: It did.

Dylan: That’s a lot of, like, death, murder, mayhem in national parks. It just makes me feel like people, I don’t know, maybe there’s just something about national parks where people feel like they can get away with things. So, okay, let’s talk about one of these cases. Let’s get back to our brothers, Jim and Jack. And this story takes place in the Allagash Wilderness, which is technically not a national park, but an enormous state park in Maine. More than a decade before the brothers are having these strange visions, back in 1976, Jack and Jim are in their 20s. And what’s going on with them? What sort of precipitates all of this stuff that happens later?

Danielle: Yeah, so you set the scene so brilliantly, so let’s pick up from there. In August of 1976, the twins, Jim and Jack, along with Charlie Foltz and Chuck Rak, were in the midst of a two-week camping trip and fishing trip along the Allagash Waterway. The area, like you said, is part of the National Wild and Scenic River System. For anyone who has not been to Maine or Northern Maine, it’s absolutely beautiful. It’s super remote, and this area in particular is about 93 miles long worth of ribbons of lakes and streams, and it’s just so beautiful. And the four of them had prepared for this trip for nearly a year beforehand, prepping, researching, getting ready to go. So at this point in time, they’re dropped off in the wilderness by a bush plane, and they began their journey.

Dylan: And you said they got dropped off by a plane. So, I mean, they’re, like, totally alone out there. It’s, like, not the place you would bump into a random stranger. They seem quite far out in the wilderness.

Danielle: You can’t just drive or walk up to a place like this. You need to intentionally seek it out. There’s a few other campers around, moreso people that are doing a similar thing, right? So, canoers and paddlers—actually, this day, they run into another group of campers on a lake that they are also planning to camp on. And they had lost—one of the teenagers in their group had gotten separated and hadn’t come back to their campsite yet. So, they actually offered to search for him. And this is when kind of the prelude happens to the encounter. And they’re picking up binoculars, they’re scanning this lake for the teenager. That’s when the entire group all initially spot something strange that they, at first, just kind of write off as, ah, that’s a weird, strange light in the sky.

Dylan: What do they see?

Danielle: So, when they’re scanning the tree line, they’re looking through binoculars. All of these people see this bright light, and it was in the eastern part of the sky, and it was moving slightly. And at first, they collectively thought they were maybe looking at Mars because it had this reddish tint to it. But suddenly, they all kind of look at each other like, this is weird. Because not only did everyone notice it, it was astoundingly bright. It seemed to be hovering about 200 feet from the top of the tree line. And then it all of a sudden, as they describe it, inverted on itself. So, it closed in kind of like an eyelid shutting, and then it blinked out from sight.

Dylan: That’s not—that’s slightly unnerving. Did they ever find the people they were looking for?

Danielle: Yes. The kid came back, and it was fine. And then they all went their separate ways and never saw each other again.

Dylan: Right. So, this sort of strange thing happens as they’re looking for this lost camper, and they find the camper. Seems like that was not the end of things. What do they do after they have that first experience?

Cassie: So, later that evening, after settling into camp and making a large fire on the lake shore, the men decided that they wanted to go back onto the lake and do a night paddle. And that night was pretty eerie and quiet. They actually kind of noticed how dark it was and how quiet things were. And while Chuck was paddling, he suddenly felt like something was off, and he really felt like he could feel someone watching him. So, he threw his gaze over his shoulder, and he saw this ball of light rising from the trees about 200 yards away. Jim, Jack, and Charlie, they all turned around at this point to look, and a large round bright light was rising more above this tree line. It ascended roughly 300 feet, and then it hovered. It fluctuated between red, green, and yellow, and it wasn’t solid, but rather had an almost liquid appearance to it.

Dylan: I would be pretty highly alarmed here if this is what was going on.

Danielle: So, after they all noticed this light rising up, they noticed a couple of things. First of all, it’s way closer than whatever they saw hours prior. It is illuminating the entire forest, and it’s dead silent. Chuck decides to lean down, grab his flashlight, points it at this source of light, and clicks the flashlight on and off in the universal, at least earthly, signal for SOS. And suddenly, this light source emits a light source of its own, kind of like a searchlight, and starts scanning the water, and it’s moving in their direction. So, now, collectively, all the men are having this oh crap moment.

Dylan: Yeah, at this point.

Danielle: And start paddling like crazy back to their camp. So, they get back to the shoreline, but interestingly, there’s a chunk of time that they can’t recall, at least at first. So, they all remember seeing this light and turning to paddle back to shore, and then the next thing they remember is skidding up onto the shoreline to their campsite, where just 20 minutes prior, they had set a huge fire. And their fire is now smoldering, just smoldering coals. So, they clocked that as strange, and they kind of talked amongst each other for a brief minute about, huh, that was kind of weird, right? And then they all remember feeling like they were in this daze, and kind of equated it to after you come out of anesthesia, you’re awake and you’re conscious, but you’re loopy and kind of scatterbrained. And they just went to sleep. The next day, they get up, they ran into a ranger, actually, and inquired if, you know, did you see anything like that? What was that?

Dylan: Yeah, what could that have been?

Danielle: Yeah. And he actually said, well, you know, there’s a new hardware store out in Millinocket that had those, you know, those big Hollywood floodlights. And, you know, that is dozens of miles away. It does not match the description of what they encountered. So, they kind of said, oh, okay. Like, sure, that sounds like it. Thanks.

Dylan: Yeah, the local hardware store opening, you know, yeah, right.

Danielle: That must be it, right. But, yeah, so anyways, after that, they kind of dropped it, surprisingly. They continued their trip. They went on with their entire lives. They went back to school. They graduated. They had families. And like you said at the beginning, you know, decades go by. We’re now in 1988 where this is starting to surface again.

Dylan: Okay, so we are back to where we started. Jim is having these crazy night visions. He talks to his brother, Jack. They realize that they’re maybe experiencing the same thing. How does this all sort of start to connect for them? How do they start to realize that maybe there’s something more to this past experience than what they initially thought?

Cassie: Well, then they ended up contacting Chuck and Charlie to speak about that night again, to be like, hey, are you experiencing any of this? Like, we’re both having these weird dreams. Are you? And then it turned out that all of them were experiencing the same thing, and it was kind of that moment where they’re like, wait, we forgot about this. We kind of pushed it to the side, but maybe there’s something more here that we didn’t realize.

Dylan: Yeah.

Danielle: And surprisingly, you know, you mentioned that Jim’s physicians initially said, hey, we’re going to recommend you for further help. And of all people, they recommend him to a ufologist. And that ufologist is the one that recommended they start doing some regression hypnotherapy. All four of the men agreed to do that. And separately, they start to uncover eerily similar experiences of lost memories from that evening.

Dylan: To quickly recap, Jim, Jack, Chuck, Charlie, they go on this trip in the 70s, they’ve got this crazy experience with these floating lights, they kind of lose time, which is like classic UFO stuff, you know, you’re like, I was only gone for five minutes, what do you mean? And then a decade later, they end up talking to this alien researcher, they do this hypnotic regression therapy. And over the course of that two years, they all end up with this sort of picture, or they converge on this understanding, of what happened. So what do they end up saying happened during that key, like missing period?

Danielle: Yeah. So long story short: They all—after two years—they come to realize that under hypnosis, they were finding out the same things. Essentially, they all recalled being aboard a spacecraft, where they were all subjected to different medical examinations by some of these humanoid entities. They all described them as having large heads, dark eyes, slender bodies, they don’t speak with words, but rather telepathically send messages to them. And that was what was coming up also in their dreams and starting to kind of surface that way.

Dylan: Right. Yeah, what you’re describing sounds a lot like the visions that Jim described having 10 years later.

Danielle: Yeah. Now they’re all under the impression of, wow, we were gone for hours. We thought it was minutes. And we were abducted by aliens and experimented on and placed back into our canoe and sent on our way.

Dylan: And they like, they ended up, you know, sort of becoming a little bit famous, right?

Danielle: Yeah. And to be clear, you know, there, at first they were very scared. They were—this was traumatic memories for them. This was not something they looked back on fondly. After this collective understanding of this is a shared experience, or at least that’s what they were under the impression of, they come to this sort of solace that, you know, this happened and let’s own it and let’s start talking about it. And that’s what they did. And for years, they went on different speaking circuits. They talk a lot at different UFO conferences.

Dylan: Yeah, right. They became known as the Allagash Four, this kind of like, you know, group of abductees who could just talk about this experience and kind of shared it. But then later, later, I think it’s Charlie, was it Chuck or Charlie? Who came forward?

Danielle: Chuck. Chuck was the one.

Dylan: Okay. Yeah. Chuck came forward and said, basically, yeah, some of this is bullshit, or like, we made some of this up. Like, did he actually say it was a hoax or was he sort of just like walking back some of it?

Danielle: He walked back some of it. So, his stance was that the incident with the other campers and seeing that strange light was true.

Dylan: Yeah.

Danielle: And also their experience on the lake, just the four of them, was true. Where he started to go off on his own was saying that the abduction part was fabricated. But the other guys point to, yeah, well, the only reason he’s saying that now after years of us going on Joan Rivers and doing different television programs and all of this and wanting to write books, and the only reason he’s saying that is because we had a big falling out in our friendship.

Dylan: I mean, I have to ask the question, what do you two think? You guys spend a lot of time out, way out in the wilderness, you know, under the night sky. I mean, are you believers?

Cassie: It would be very unbelievable for me to think that we are the only planet with life on it. You know? I think that it is way more unrealistic to think that we are the only people or life forms that exist in the entire universe.

Dylan: What about you, Danielle?

Danielle: I co-sign all of that.

Dylan: Have you two ever seen anything truly weird and unexplainable on any of your adventures?

Danielle: I saw Starlink and thought it was UFOs.

Dylan: I know so many people who were convinced they were seeing an alien invasion, but were just 100 percent seeing Starlink. Like, what is that? That’s funny. Yes. It’s super interesting. I don’t know what I think. Maybe I’m more of a skeptic than you two. I have some mixed feelings. It’s clear that, like, for some of these kind of abductee cases, like, something is going on. People are having very intense and genuinely traumatic experiences. They are experiencing something real for them. And I can’t help but note that when all this is happening, like the late 80s and the early 90s, this is an absolute alien craze, right? The X-Files has just started. All of this stuff is happening on TV about, like, Area 51. There’s, like, nothing hotter than kind of, like, weird aliens. I think it’s possible, you know, they’re doing this hypnotic regression therapy. And one of the big critiques of this is that it can, like, implant memories. And the person who did this to them also, like, wrote a book about it, and I think probably did pretty well on that book. I honestly don’t know. It seems likely that they saw something very strange, to which I have no explanation of.

Danielle: So now that we’re all kind of coming around to the government being like, yeah, aliens are real, you know, that’s not new.

Dylan: Or at least we don’t know what any of this stuff is. Like, we can’t tell you or we don’t know.

Danielle: Right. We can’t confirm nor deny. But you know, now, as time goes on, we’re starting to accept that aliens might be real. Whether or not they’re the gray aliens that we think of when we imagine an alien, or if they’re something completely different, we’re coming around to the thought that we aren’t alone in the universe.

Dylan: Interesting. Yeah, I think one of the things I like about this story is just that, especially when you’re out there in the wilderness at night on your own, whatever—sometimes I do these bike rides, these, like, late night bike rides that go, it’s like a full moon ride, and we all go look at the full moon, it’s really nice—and I’m riding through a really familiar trail, but I’m riding at night, my little flashlight is shining. And the whole thing just starts to take on this other terrifying kind of aspect. And I can’t really explain it. It’s not rational. But I just, I do think that sometimes we just have experiences that we cannot explain. And there’s something about being in the woods at night that just evokes those kinds of experiences. And I almost don’t feel like I need an explanation to understand that feeling of: something is happening that I can’t quite explain. How has covering all this affected your relationship with national parks and wilderness areas? Does it ever freak you out? Do you, you know, at night, camping out somewhere far away, are you, like, flashing back to these stories? Or are you kind of like, this is what we live for?

Cassie: Sometimes. I mean, yeah, for sure. There are, I think, on the brighter side, sometimes these stories, I like to feel like I am more prepared and more knowledgeable. But on the other side, when I have extensively researched a grizzly bear mauling, I cannot help but worry when I’m sleeping outdoors in grizzly territory.

Dylan: Also, a grizzly is not—that’s a reasonable thing to be afraid of in a national park. That’s quite a practical, real thing to be like, yeah, don’t attract the grizzly to the tent. Danielle, how about you?

Danielle: I definitely am way more aware of my surroundings, but I’m trying to adopt her mantra of whatever’s happening outside of the tent is none of my business.

Dylan: Yeah, good. Whatever that weird sound was, don’t worry about it.

Danielle: Right.

Dylan: That was Danielle LaRock and Cassie Yahnian. They are the hosts of a really delightful, sometimes terrifying podcast called National Park After Dark. It’s basically kind of true crime survival adventure in national parks. And you can find it wherever you get your podcast. It is really delightful. Give it a listen.

Listen and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and all major podcast apps.

This episode was produced by Johanna Mayer. Our podcast is a co-production of Atlas Obscura and Stitcher Studios. The people who make our show include Doug Baldinger, Chris Naka, Kameel Stanley, Manolo Morales, Amanda McGowan, Alexa Lim, Casey Holford, and Luz Fleming.

Our theme music is by Sam Tindall. If you like our show, please give us a review and a rating whenever you get a chance and wherever you get your podcast. And of course, obviously, you know, follow, subscribe, never miss an episode.

I’m Dylan Thuras, wishing you all the wonder in the world. I’ll see you next time.

{ https://www.atlasobscura.com/ }

Galaxies are often compared to cosmic jewels. They are enormous collections of stars, gas, dust, and dark matter, with each system having its own unique structure and history. NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory, together with the James Webb, Hubble, NuSTAR, and IXPE telescopes, has presented a new gallery of 16 processed images revealing hidden energetic processes in the Universe.

The gallery features a collection of 16 images of galaxies obtained with the Chandra telescope and other telescopes. Source: NASA/CXC/SAO

While most observatories detect only visible light, Chandra operates in the X-ray range. This makes it possible to see extreme phenomena: gas heated to millions of degrees by stellar winds and supernova explosions, as well as gigantic outflows of matter. These processes disperse heavy elements throughout space that are necessary for the formation of new planets and life.

From Classical Spirals to Stellar Factories

Astronomical classification divides galaxies into spiral, elliptical, and irregular types. The new images emphasize this diversity. For example, in the face-on spiral galaxies Messier 33 and NGC 3938, X-rays highlight bright stellar pairs and remnants of explosions in their arms. In barred galaxies NGC 1672 and NGC 1385, central structures channel gas toward the nucleus, triggering bursts of star formation.

Edge-on spiral galaxies such as NGC 4631 and Messier 82 demonstrate so-called superwinds. These are enormous clouds of gas with temperatures of millions of degrees that are pushed thousands of light-years into space by the pressure of stellar explosions, enriching the intergalactic medium.

The Hearts of Central Monsters

At the centers of many galaxies are active nuclei — supermassive black holes consuming surrounding matter. In Centaurus A, combined data from Chandra and IXPE captured a powerful jet of particles extending for tens of thousands of light-years.

In the Messier 106 system, the black hole heats the surrounding gas, forming anomalous spiral arms unlike ordinary stellar structures. And in the Sombrero Galaxy (Messier 104), the supermassive object is surrounded by a diffuse gas halo with a temperature of about one million degrees, enveloping its famous dust lanes.

Cosmic Collisions and Rare Transformations

The barred spiral galaxy NGC 4725, surrounded by a prominent ring of star formation. Galaxies with unusual single spiral arms can provide insight into how the gravity of a passing galaxy can trigger bursts of star formation. Source: NASA/CXC/SAO The spiral galaxy NGC 4631, with a giant halo of hot gas erupting from its stellar disk. Viewing galaxies edge-on allows astronomers to study how flat their stellar disks are and provides the clearest view of matter located above or below the disk. Source: NASA/CXC/SAO The spiral galaxy NGC 4258, known for having two additional “anomalous” spiral arms composed of hot gas. M106 helps demonstrate how supermassive black holes can create structural features that mimic stellar spiral arms, influencing the evolution of a galaxy. Source: NASA/CXC/SAO/L. Frattare The face-on spiral galaxy NGC 3938, allowing an unobstructed view of its disk. A face-on orientation is important for galactic research because it provides the clearest possible view of a galaxy’s stars and gas. Source: NASA/CXC/SAO A pair of colliding, gas-rich spiral galaxies merging into a single massive system, NGC 3256. Source: NASA/CXC/SAO The barred spiral galaxy NGC 1672, characterized by a prominent central bar, or bridge of stars, that channels gas toward its nucleus. Studying barred spiral galaxies in action may help clarify how gas in our Milky Way, which is also a barred spiral galaxy, feeds its central black hole and forms new stars. Source: NASA/CXC/SAO The compact dwarf irregular galaxy NGC 1569, which is undergoing intense star formation. Source: NASA/CXC/SAO The barred spiral galaxy NGC 1385, filled with regions of active star formation. Comparing multiwavelength data on barred spiral galaxies undergoing active star formation helps scientists map how local bursts of star formation increase galactic mass over time. Source: NASA/CXC/SAO The “polarn-rig” galaxy NGC 660, in which an inclined outer ring of stars and dust rotates around the galaxy’s poles — an unusual structure likely caused by a collision with another galaxy about a billion years ago. Source: NASA/CXC/SAO The galaxy M104, known for its broad central bulge and dark outer dust ring, is oriented almost edge-on to Earth. Studying M104 may help bridge the gap between spiral and elliptical galaxies, allowing astronomers to better understand how a galaxy’s enormous outer cloud of stars grows and ages together with its inner disk. Source: NASA/CXC/SAO The large spiral galaxy M90, which is losing its gas as it rapidly moves through the hot gas of the Virgo galaxy cluster. Source: NASA/CXC/SAO The galaxy M82, where intense star formation is occurring as a result of gravitational interaction with a neighboring galaxy hundreds of millions of years ago. M82 earned the nickname “Cigar Galaxy” mainly because of its orientation relative to Earth, which makes its central disk appear as an elongated cigar-shaped oval when viewed through small optical telescopes. This galaxy illustrates how powerful galactic “exhaust systems” can regulate galaxy growth by pushing gas outward. Source: NASA/CXC/SAO The proximity of M33 allows astronomers to study individual high-energy objects and map how stellar feedback affects the galaxy’s ecosystem. Source: NASA/CXC/SAO/L. Frattare X-ray data from Chandra (purple) indicate powerful black-hole activity and the presence of hot gas, while optical data from Hubble (blue and white) and infrared data from JWST (red and gray) reveal enormous stellar nurseries hidden behind interstellar dust. Systems such as II Zw 096 show us how powerful galaxy collisions shaped the early Universe. Source: NASA/CXC/SAO One of the closest active galaxies to Earth, Centaurus A, gives astronomers an opportunity to study the effects of supermassive black-hole jets in extraordinary detail. Source: NASA/CXC/SAO The Arp 143 ring-galaxy system formed when a smaller satellite galaxy punched directly through its center like a target, creating a powerful cosmic shock wave. Source: NASA/CXC/SAO

Part of the galactic gallery is devoted to violent collisions. Arp 143 resembles a cosmic target: a head-on collision formed a ring galaxy with waves of star formation. The NGC 3256 and II Zw 096 systems show chaotic mergers hidden behind dense clouds of dust. Such events were common in the early Universe and mirror the future merger of the Milky Way with the Andromeda Galaxy.

• Posted in News, Science

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

It is believed that molten magma disappeared from the depths of Mars hundreds of millions of years ago. However, scientists have recently detected a thermal anomaly that may indicate that processes deep inside the Red Planet have not completely stopped.

A thermal anomaly has been found on Mars. Source: phys.org

Studying the Planet’s Gravitational Signatures

Researchers have detected a thermal asymmetry deep beneath the surface in the southern hemisphere of Mars. Based on gravitational measurements that provide clues about the internal structure of the Red Planet, its southern part is approximately 200–400°C warmer than its northern half and is partially molten. This unexpected discovery, described by phys.org, adds context to the history of Mars and to the periods when conditions favorable for life may have existed there. The study was conducted by California Institute of Technology graduate Alexander Byrne, who is now a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Arizona.

During his graduate studies at the California Institute of Technology, Byrne developed a model that uses variations in gravitational data to determine the structure of a planet’s interior. Byrne and his colleagues then set out to apply this model to study the internal structure of Mars. Using data collected over decades by three different Mars missions — Mars Global Surveyor, Mars Odyssey, and Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter — the team measured tiny changes in spacecraft velocities and used them to reconstruct the gravitational field around Mars.

The gravitational forces exerted by the Sun on Mars vary with the seasons because of Mars’s slightly elliptical orbit and tilted rotational axis. A technique called tidal tomography measures how these gravitational signatures change over time and creates a model of the planet’s internal structure.

Byrne says that if we obtain more gravitational data, we can determine three-dimensional details of the planet’s internal structure. These findings, in turn, provide a blueprint for designing future missions and scientific studies of these worlds. Understanding the internal structure of planetary bodies helps us uncover the processes that shaped their formation and evolution.

Mars’s Hotter Southern Hemisphere

At the surface, Mars is a geologically asymmetric planet: its southern hemisphere has enormous mountains and deep craters, while the northern hemisphere consists of low-lying plains. In the new study, the team was surprised to discover that the interior of Mars is also thermally asymmetric — the southern hemisphere is hundreds of degrees hotter than the northern one.

The new observation also offers an explanation for other phenomena observed on Mars, such as magnetic anomalies found in iron-bearing minerals in the south. The thermal anomaly in the southern mantle may indicate that a magnetic field once existed that was strong enough to create magnetic differences between the north and south. In addition, NASA’s InSight mission previously found that seismic waves scatter more rapidly in the south, which could be explained if this region were hotter.

“The dichotomy we see between the north and south is important to understand because it provides information about processes that may have influenced the hydrology of Mars, including the formation of basins that may have contained water,” says Amirhossein Bagheri, a postdoctoral researcher at the California Institute of Technology and a co-author of the paper. Bagheri was also previously a member of the InSight team.

It is still unknown what caused the thermal anomaly. Several hypotheses have been proposed regarding its origin, including a giant impact that released heat from the north, past spontaneous convection in Mars’s southern mantle, and thick geological structures that trap excess heat and prevent it from escaping.

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

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.)

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{ 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.'

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

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.

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

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

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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.

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• 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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