Radio signals detected from a planet beyond our Solar System. Landmark discovery could help us search for habitable worlds

Radio signals detected at a planet beyond our Solar System

BY Iain Todd

Researchers have captured direct radio wave emissions originating from a planet outside our Solar System.

Using South Africa’s MeerKAT radio telescope array, an international team of astronomers successfully detected variable radio bursts coming directly from Beta Pictoris b, a massive gas giant exoplanet located about 63 lightyears away.

But while many of us may hear of radio signals detected at a distant planet in our Galaxy and instinctively imagine a detection of alien life, in this case the discovery is not a sign that E.T. has been detected.

The discovery is, however, a landmark find that will help astronomers learn more about the types of planet that exist beyond our Solar System – and where we might find life.

More signals in deep space

• Scientists detected a signal from deep space lasting seven hours
• The story of the strange Wow! signal and what it could be
• Three signals we thought were aliens – and two that still could be

Credit: honglouwawa / Getty

Chasing signals across the cosmos

For decades, scientists have hunted for radio emissions in deep space.

When it comes to exoplanets – planets beyond our Solar System – astronomers are interested in detecting radio waves similar to those produced by the large gas giants Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune.

Scientists say Jupiter is the strongest auroral radio source in our Solar System.

So, learning more about radio waves emitted by other Jupiter-like planets across the Galaxy could reveal more about what those planets are like, what their magnetic fields are like and whether they produce visual displays of aurora like the Northern and Southern Lights on Earth.

It could also tell us whether those planets have protective magnetic fields that could protect emerging life from the ferocious power of their host stars.

However, separating an individual planet's faint signal from the radio signal of its host star is difficult.

Targeting a distant system

The team behind this study targeted planet Beta Pictoris b, which orbits star Beta Pictoris, 63 lightyears from Earth. That's just a stone's throw in cosmic terms.

Beta Pictoris made headlines in July 2026 when astronomers photographed one of its other orbiting planets, Beta Pictoris d, making it the faintest exoplanet ever directly imaged from Earth.

The subject of this study, however, is Beta Pictoris b, which is about 10–12 times the mass of Jupiter.

Crucially, the star it orbits is magnetically quiet, say the researchers, which enabled them to isolate a particular radio signal to Beta Pictoris b.

It's the first time a radio signal has been confirmed as coming from a single planet, rather than from the whole star system in general.

Magnetism and aurorae across the Galaxy

The team say the physics behind the signals is the same as the mechanisms that power aurora displays on the planets in our Solar System.

As energetic, charged particles from the Sun spiral down along magnetic field lines toward a planet's polar regions, they excite particles in the atmosphere, creating the colourful aurora displays we see on Earth.

And because the aurora correlates with the planet's magnetic field strength, the detection has allowed the team to calculate the strength of Beta Pictoris b's magnetic field. It's thousands of times stronger than our planet's.

A new era for exoplanet science?

The discovery is a milestone in the study of distant planets and the search for life beyond our Solar System.

Because magnetic fields play a vital role in protecting planetary atmospheres from being stripped by stellar winds – just as Earth's magnetic field protects us from the power of the Sun – understanding them is crucial in the search for habitable worlds beyond our Solar System.

And with more powerful radio observatories on the horizon, astronomers may be able to use the lessons learned from this study to target other gas giant planets.

That could give us a new, unique way of learning more about the types of planets orbiting stars scattered across our Galaxy and whether they might be able to host life.

• Read the full paper via arxiv

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

Scientists have detected radio signals from a planet beyond our Solar System

First time a radio signal has been confirmed as coming from a single planet rather than an entire system

BY  Iain Todd

• Giant exoplanet: The targeted planet is a massive gas giant located about 63 lightyears away from Earth.
• Magnetic fields: Studying these radio waves could reveal details about the magnetic fields of other Jupiter-like planets across the Galaxy.
• Quiet star: Because the star it orbits is magnetically quiet, the researchers were able to isolate the particular radio signal.
• First confirmation: This marks the first time a radio signal has been confirmed as coming from a single planet rather than an entire system.
• Habitable worlds: Understanding planetary magnetic fields is crucial in the search for habitable worlds because they protect atmospheres from stellar winds.

Credit: Rytis Bernotas / Getty Images

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

Milky Way may have begun as thousands of galaxies, new simulations suggest

by Louise Lerner, University of Chicago

In the early days of the universe, our home looked very different from how it does today. Back then, the region in our universe that would eventually become our Milky Way neighborhood was a collection of thousands of smaller galaxies—some pumping out tons of new stars, others filled only with gas or littered with dead stars and black holes.

You can watch how these galaxies coalesced over time and formed the familiar spiral disk we see today, thanks to a new set of simulations by a group of scientists led by Harley Katz, assistant professor of astronomy and astrophysics at the University of Chicago.

The simulations, which took three years to run even on high-powered supercomputers, are the most detailed model to date of how a galaxy like the Milky Way might have evolved over the first several billion years of its existence.

"What does the Milky Way look like at what we call cosmic dawn?" said Katz. "For the first time, we can directly predict what the early Milky Way would have looked like to telescopes like Hubble or the James Webb Space Telescope."

The six papers from the project, which is named MEGATRON, provide new insight into the makeup of early galaxies and how the elements formed over time. The papers are published in The Open Journal of Astrophysics.

How the Milky Way evolves over time

Since we cannot travel to the dawn of the universe to study it, one of the only ways we have to understand how space evolved over time is to build detailed computer models based on what we know about the laws of nature.

"Essentially, we put in all of the physics we think is relevant—gravity, hydrodynamics, radiation, chemistry, etc.—and then let it evolve and see if it reproduces what we actually see when we look around us today," said Katz.

New data coming in from the powerful James Webb Space Telescope has added a new dimension to our understanding of the universe. So three years ago, a team of scientists undertook a project to incorporate this newfound knowledge into a model of what our galaxy might have looked like back in the first billion years of its existence. Now they can compare it to the readings Webb gets today to see what matches and what's missing.

If you run the clock back, the scientists said, you see a web of large and small galaxies of all different types, which will eventually merge into the modern Milky Way.

"We follow thousands of subsystems in the model and directly compute what they all would have looked like with our most powerful space telescopes, which is many orders of magnitude more than what had been simulated before," said Katz. "Within those you see an incredible diversity. Some of them are bursting out in star formation, others are dead, others are in the process of dying."

One unique finding was that the model predicts the existence of "galaxies" that don't have any stars at all but still shine. Some of these might have once had stars that exploded or collapsed directly into black holes; others might have only ever contained gas.

Another discovery addresses a long-standing puzzle in stellar astrophysics. In our Milky Way, we typically see that smaller and fainter galaxies have less iron. However, this trend breaks down in extremely faint systems where the amount of iron appears constant, independent of mass. Thus far, simulations have been unable to reproduce this behavior.

The culprit, the simulation suggests, is explosions from an exotic type of star left over from right after the Big Bang. These stars, known as Population III stars, are so old that they are made of only the first elements that existed in the universe—hydrogen and helium—and when they explode, they can produce more iron than other supernovae do. If a galaxy is large enough, it will have enough gravity to hold on to this iron; but if it's too small, the iron will be lost to space.

These Population III stars, in fact, are so old that none have ever been directly seen by telescopes. Another paper in the set is the first to show how these stars form in an environment like the Milky Way and predicts where these stars would be most likely to exist if any still do—which may help astronomers search for them.

The physics of stars and elements

A hallmark of these simulations is that they are much more complex than anything attempted before.

"What's unique about our simulation is that it's the first time we have modeled the enrichment of individual chemical elements from individual stars after the Big Bang, coupled to detailed models for gravity, chemistry, radiation and stellar processes," said Katz.

This model, for example, was the first large-scale simulation to include a detailed computation of "non-equilibrium physics." Most physics models assume, for the sake of simplicity, that a system's chemistry is more or less in equilibrium. But of course, in the real universe, galaxies are constantly evolving, which often breaks this key assumption.

Scientists weren't sure how much this would affect the end result—and including it in a simulation slows down the computation significantly.

However, two of the papers that are part of the study show that adding non-equilibrium physics made a real difference—especially when dealing with flows of gases around galaxies, known as the circumgalactic medium.

Adding this complexity allows scientists to more accurately interpret observations and to put limits on the number of possible answers to many questions about the formation of the universe.

"Looking at these results, it's very clear that the physics happening right after the Big Bang has a direct impact on what we see today in the local universe," said Katz.

"But there are also things we're not getting right, which is interesting too—what are the parts we're still missing? That can lead you into new directions and new questions."

{ https://phys.org/space-news/ }

NASA chief Jared Isaacman wants to stay 'open-minded' about UFOs: 'If it's aliens, I think NASA should have a seat at the table'

NASA Administrator  Jared Isaacman delivers remarks at the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) ASCEND 2026 Conference on May 19, 2026 in Washington, DC.

(Image credit: Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

Could unidentified anomalous phenomena — a new catch-all term for unidentified objects in the sky, oceans or space — be pushing the United States towards another "Sputnik Moment"?

That's the belief of NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman, who compared the uptick in reported unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP) sightings in recent years to the Cold War paranoia stirred up when the former Soviet Union launched Sputnik 1, the first artificial satellite to circle Earth in 1957.

Isaacman made the comments in a recent interview with Blake Burman, host of NewsNation's "The Hill" broadcast on Sept. 25 that touched upon a range of space-related issues. And one of those was probing the space agency chief about he thinks UAP might be.

Flight characteristics

Burman made note of pilot reports and videos released of objects with flight characteristics unlike anything previously seen.

"When you watch these videos," Burman asked Isaacman, "do you believe that anything that we've seen in any of this is potentially extraterrestrial. Is it military? What is it?"

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Isaacman said that NASA has had "a seat at the table" since U.S. President Donald Trump earlier this year called for releasing Unidentified Flying Object (UFO) and UAP files. That call is now officially known as the Presidential Unsealing and Reporting System for UAP Encounters (PURSUE).

"My position going into every one of these: one, be open-minded. I mean, it is kind of our job to go out and try to answer the question 'are we alone?' And I said look, if it's aliens, I think NASA should have a seat at the table in this for sure," Isaacman said.

The NASA Administrator also said that, "if it's a Sputnik moment, we did really well the last time that happened. Which means, is this potentially red technology? Is this an adversary that's testing some next generation propulsion? It's certainly in the realm of the possible." (In military exercises, adversary forces are generally referred to as "red.")

TV host Burman then asked Isaacman, "but what does your gut tell you?"

"I would say I would lean toward it's either some phenomenon that can happen," Isaacman responded. "There are things that can happen just like natural phenomena that can be observed. I also think there's a good chance that there could be a Sputnik Moment that's happening and people are testing new stealthy or next generation type technologies," he said.

'We Want to Believe' book explores the reality of UFOs: 'It's always going to be more likely that someone is wrong about what they saw' (interview)

'That's going to come back and bite us': Former NASA chief questions Artemis moon lander plans

Trump is proposing a US Space Academy — if created, it could blur the lines between NASA and the military (op-ed)

Our own backyard

Isaacman continued by noting that space missions have barely explored our own backyard.

"Do you know there are moons out there […] Saturn's moon Enceladus has an ocean. Europa has an ocean. It has complex chemistry. We couldn't tell you conclusively that there isn't life in our own backyard let alone the billions of other stars in the Milky Way galaxy, or the two trillion other galaxies out there. It's why NASA's mission is so important," Isaacman concluded.

Whistleblower woes

In a related UAP side saga, in early September, the U.S. Department of War issued a "legal waiver" for those wishing to disclose information regarding UAP, a hybrid term also linked to Unidentified Flying Objects (UFOs).

Military service members, civilian personnel, and contractors are purportedly green-lighted to disclose once protected information, such as under a non-disclosure agreement (NDA).

What's old news is that this waiver is not really new, said Robert Powell, an executive board member for the Scientific Coalition for UAP Studies in Austin, Texas. This same protection was provided to whistleblowers if they reported UAP information to the U.S. government's All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO).

"This was established via the 2023 National Defense Authorization Act, which stated that, 'Individuals with current or previous access to UAP-related information subject to a U.S. government NDA are authorized to provide that information to AARO representatives.' This waiver simply adds a second agency that can collect information," Powell told Space.

PURSUE and release

It is important to note that this is not permission for a whistleblower to talk to the press, a researcher, or the public," said Powell. "The same is true of this latest whistleblower waiver."

The new waiver states, "This waiver removes those barriers by explicitly authorizing covered disclosures to PURSUE representatives without triggering breach-of-agreement penalties or standard NDA violations."

"The NDA relaxation is only if the whistleblower reports their information to PURSUE representatives," said Powell.

"However, the waiver does not state how a whistleblower can identify the PURSUE representatives or how to reach them. So will anything change? It will take a year or two to determine if any whistleblower stories are made public or if a whistleblower realizes that an individual's story will go no farther than the PURSUE representative," Powell said.

He said/she said

Furthermore, Powell points out, this new waiver does not clearly waive criminal statutes, for example Espionage Act/unauthorized disclosure of classified information.

"How does a whistleblower know if their information violates criminal statutes versus civil statutes? The new waiver does not protect a whistleblower from an NDA with a civilian corporation," said Powell.

Let's assume someone comes forth and says that they know that there is an alien spacecraft being held at Edwards Air Force Base in California, said Powell. How is that claim verified?

"If it is not verified then there is little value in the efforts put forth by the whistleblower. To date, Congress has not seemed willing to use its subpoena powers to force a military branch to provide information, concluded Powell, and until Congress is willing to push the point and investigate claims, "it just remains 'he said, she said.'"

{ https://www.space.com/space-exploration }

Strange lights over Cyprus: what are people seeing?

From a 1985 sighting off Chlorakas to reports involving Starlink and military activity, specialists say most unusual sightings over Cyprus have ordinary explanations

Most things people see in the skies above Cyprus have perfectly ordinary explanations. Every night, satellites pass overhead, meteors streak across the night sky, and aircraft fly back and forth over one of the busiest regions in the world. Yet from time to time, something catches someone’s attention that they can’t immediately explain. For decades, those moments have given rise to reports of unusual aerial phenomena across the island.

One of the most well-known cases occurred in September 1985, when fishermen off the coast of Chlorakas reported seeing a bright white glow on the horizon that gradually expanded into a rainbow like arc. According to Dr Georgios Florides co-founder of the Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP) Cyprus Centre, the phenomenon lasted around 35 minutes and coincided with a power cut in nearby Kissonerga. At around the same time, commercial pilots flying between Cyprus and the Aegean also reported an unusual luminous object. The incident was covered by local press and attracted the attention of aviation authorities, but no definitive explanation was established.

Nearly four decades later, reports of unexplained aerial phenomena continue to capture public attention. International interest has grown following US government disclosures and a renewed willingness among scientists to discuss the subject openly. But behind the headlines there’s a more intriguing question. What do those who dedicate their lives to studying the skies over Cyprus really think about the island’s reports of unexplained phenomena?

What people are seeing in Cyprus skies

For Chief Operating Officer of the Troodos Observatory Agapios Elia reports of unusual lights are a familiar part of the job.

“This happens very frequently,” he says. “Often people write or call in to report strange sightings or they mention things they have seen at one time or another during our public sessions. Nowadays a lot of people just post online about unusual lights they see and they are frequently directed to us for clarifications”.

More often than not, those sightings have ordinary explanations. Many recent reports have involved SpaceX’s Starlink satellites or military activity in the Middle East, Elia says. Other common explanations include missile plume cones, high altitude aircraft reflecting the setting sun, unusual cloud formations and meteors.

“I have to say no,” he says when asked if he’s ever found a phenomenon that ultimately defied explanation. “Any strange looking phenomenon ultimately turns out to be one of two things: man-made and nature-made.”

This is not to say that people are imagining what they see. Instead, Elia says, many unusual sightings come down to perspective. “From a practical standpoint, the biggest misconception is a lack of understanding regarding scale and distance,” he says. “People often struggle to judge how large, how fast, or how far away a light in the dark sky truly is.”

How UAP reports are investigated

But explaining what people see is only part of the story. Just as important is what happens after someone reports an unexplained sighting.

For Florides, every report begins the same way: with an investigation. Established in 2022, the centre investigates unexplained aerial phenomena in Cyprus and the Eastern Mediterranean from a scientific perspective. When a report is received, investigators visit the location where possible, interview the witnesses, measure distances and viewing angles, analyse photographs and compare the location and time of the sighting with flight paths, satellite movements and astronomical data.

The centre receives numerous reports each year, but Florides says all those investigated so far have had conventional explanations. “Most submissions consist of either a photograph of a distant, undefined speck of light or a written account describing such a light,” he says. In some instances where higher quality images or more detailed observations were available, they ultimately ended up being Venus, military drones, distant aircraft, Starlink satellites or meteors.

For Florides, the biggest misconception isn’t witnessing something unusual; it’s the assumption that “unidentified” means “unexplainable”.

“Based on the received reports and the work the centre is doing, we believe the single biggest misconception people have about UAP is that any unidentified light in the sky is inherently extraordinary or ‘otherworldly’,” he says. “In reality, the vast majority of reports have mundane explanations”.

Why scientists are still interested

Nonetheless, conventional explanations doesn’t mean that the subject lacks scientific value. For president of the Cyprus Space Exploration Organisation (CSEO) George A Danos, unexplained aerial phenomena are worth investigating precisely because science is driven by curiosity and evidence.

Cyprus’ location may also make it particularly interesting for UAP reporting. Danos points to UAP reporting maps published by the US Department of Defense’s All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO), which show concentrations of reports in the broader Middle East and eastern Mediterranean region.

“Science ultimately requires empirical evidence to reach results,” he says. “Right now, that conclusive evidence regarding UAPs as non-human technology isn’t yet readily available or conclusive, but the scientific community is now establishing the rigorous, objective frameworks necessary to properly investigate these anomalies.”

Danos believes that, regardless of where the evidence ultimately leads, asking questions is fundamental to scientific progress. “Scientists constantly seek to expand the frontiers of knowledge,” he says. “If there are objects in our skies performing maneuvers we don’t understand, we need to investigate and learn rather than being afraid to study the data due to the professional stigma that historically surrounded the topic.”

For Danos, curiosity remains one of science’s greatest strengths. “The cosmos is limited only by our capacity to wonder.”

Find out more

• Troodos Observatory: https://www.troodosobservatory.com/,
• UAP Cyprus Centre: https://www.uapcy.org/,
• Cyprus Space Exploration Organisation (CSEO): https://www.spaceexploration.org.cy/#!/Home,
• All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO): https://www.aaro.mil/

 { https://cyprus-mail.com/category/cyprus }

Pastor who sparked doomsday panic claims the Rapture is just DAYS away

• MORE: Noah's Ark resting place '100% confirmed' after 4,300 years as astonishing 'man-made' structure is detected buried deep underground

By CHRIS MELORE, US DEPUTY SCIENCE EDITOR

The Christian pastor who sparked panic with a failed prediction of the Rapture has made a new claim that the end-times belief is near.

Pastor Joshua Mhlakela, a South African preacher, recently said he has calculated the exact time of the biblical event in which believers are lifted into the clouds to meet Jesus Christ, claiming that it will happen between October 12 and 13.

The Rapture is a belief held by some Christians called 'eschatology,' which is the study of end-times events, marking the Second Coming of Jesus and Judgment Day for non-believers.

Mhlakela has claimed in multiple interviews and his own videos online that both God and Jesus have appeared to him in visions, revealing when the Rapture would take place and what the fallout on Earth would look like.

The controversial pastor declared: 'God told me because there's no other date coming out, 12 to 13 October, which is the true feast of trumpets, which is when I will be meeting my savior face to face in the rapture.' 

Mhlakela has drawn widespread skepticism and criticism for his wild predictions, including incorrectly marking the date of the Rapture multiple times in 2025.

He sent social media into a frenzy when he alleged the biblical event would take place on September 23, 2025, convincing scores of believers who watched his predictions online to sell their homes and cars and even quit their jobs.

'There's no other final. I mean, there's no other rapture date. This is the final date for me,' Mhlakela claimed in an interview on September 17.

Pastor Joshua Mhlakela (Pictured) has falsely predicted the biblical event known as the Rapture. He recently said it will now start on October 12, 2026

The Rapture is considered a kind of rescue, where believers are instantly taken away from Earth to avoid a coming period of intense suffering called the Tribulation

(Stock Image)

The pastor claimed his previous false predictions were not errors, but the work of God, who was delaying the final judgement to give humanity more time to repent.

He said the delay was actually fulfilling Scripture, which says the Tribulation days will be shortened for the sake of the 'elect' - meaning the people God has chosen before Jesus returns.

This event is thought to be a kind of rescue, where believers are instantly taken up from Earth into Heaven to avoid a coming period of intense suffering called the Tribulation.

Biblical texts describe the Tribulation as a seven-year period of chaos and disasters, where evil rules on Earth before Jesus returns again to set up a peaceful kingdom.

Mhlakela has said that his first visions of Jesus came to him in 2018, when he warned that the Rapture would come on September 23, 2025, during the Jewish Feast of Trumpets, also known as Rosh Hashanah.

Some Christians have tied the annual holiday to the prophecy that Jesus will return to Earth 'with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God.'

However, Mhlakela now says the date of the Feast of Trumpets has been off by one month, pushing the actual time of the Rapture roughly 30 days past the annual celebration of Rosh Hashanah.

'Many are saying Feast of Trumpets is September when you Google [it's] September 11. [This] is not Feast of Trumpets. The true Feast of Trumpets is actually in October,' Mhlakela claimed during his interview with CettwinzTV.

Many Christians have pushed back on claims the Rapture's date has been revealed, saying that date-setting goes against the teachings of Jesus (Stock Image) 

The pastor explained that his new calculation for the Rapture was based on additional visions from Jesus which pointed him toward later days.

According to Mhlakela, a vision involving two full moons convinced him the calendar itself was off by about a month because the current celebration of Passover was taking place under the astrological sign of Pisces.

He tied that gap to the Exodus story of Israel’s departure from Egypt, saying the 'true' Passover must fall when the sun is in Aries, just as it is said to have taken place during the biblical Exodus.

The pastor then applied that same one-month shift to his new Feast of Trumpets date in mid-October.

However, the Bible did not document the sun being in Aries during the Exodus. It only said Passover falls in the first month of spring, with the Aries link coming from later writers such as Josephus, a first-century Jewish historian - not from the Exodus account itself.

Moreover, Mhlakela's end times predictions continue to receive pushback from many Christians who believe setting a definitive date for the Second Coming of Jesus goes against the teachings of the Bible.

Vladimir Savchuk, a pastor, author, and YouTube preacher, said last September: 'If someone sets the date, they are directly contradicting Jesus's word.'

He further debunked the Rapture claims by noting that Scripture says the son of perdition must be revealed first, referring to a figure often interpreted as the Antichrist.

'2 Thessalonians 2:3, it says clearly that Jesus is not returning until the Antichrist is revealed, and that has not happened yet,' Savchuk explained.

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

The dark secret of Egypt’s ancient kings: 5,000-year-old skulls suggest royal servants were bludgeoned to death so they could follow their ruler into the afterlife

By XANTHA LEATHAM, EXECUTIVE SCIENCE EDITOR

When Egypt's earliest kings died, they may not have gone to the afterlife alone.

Archaeologists examining the remains of people buried around royal tombs have discovered many had suffered devastating blows to the head.

This suggests trusted servants were killed and entombed alongside their rulers in a brutal ritual dating back 5,000 years.

And these sacrifices would have been made to ensure kings had attendants in the afterlife, experts said.

‘Retainer sacrifice is a type of human sacrifice where those close to a ruler are killed when the ruler dies,’ lead author Dr Roselyn Campbell, from Purdue University, said.

‘In many cultures, retainer sacrifice is practised because of beliefs that the sacrificed individuals will continue to serve the ruler in some kind of afterlife, but retainer sacrifice can also be a visceral display of the ruler's power.

‘Some retainers might have volunteered to die to achieve eternal life or honour; others may have been chosen or even forced.’

Researchers re-examined 46 skulls belonging to servants and officials buried around the funerary enclosures of three First Dynasty rulers at Abydos in southern Egypt

A fresco depicting a funeral procession in ancient Egypt. The study suggests trusted servants were killed and entombed alongside their rulers in a brutal ritual dating back 5,000 years

Plan of the royal tombs (left) and funerary enclosures (right) at Umm el-Qaab in Abydos, southern Egypt. The diagrams show the tombs of First Dynasty rulers surrounded by rows of subsidiary burials, where researchers believe some royal retainers may have been sacrificed to accompany their rulers into the afterlife

For their investigation, researchers re-examined 46 skulls belonging to servants and officials buried around the funerary enclosures of three First Dynasty rulers at Abydos in southern Egypt.

The remains, originally excavated in the 1920s by British archaeologist Sir Flinders Petrie, are now housed in the University of Cambridge's Duckworth Collections.

When they were first discovered, experts believed they may have been an example of human sacrifice – but the remains showed no signs of trauma.

Now, using modern forensic techniques unavailable to earlier archaeologists, the team looked for hints of injuries that occurred around the time of death.

They found evidence of potentially fatal cranial trauma in 18 of the skulls, including fractures and, in one case, a chopping wound near the eye.

The researchers concluded that at least 39 per cent of the individuals examined may have been deliberately killed by blows to the head, providing fresh evidence that some royal retainers were sacrificed when their ruler died.

These linear fractures may have initially been mistaken for naturally caused damage, the team said.

A detail from a wooden label discovered in the tomb of an official at the Saqqara cemetery, which appears to depict a bound individual being stabbed in the chest while another figure collects the blood in a vessel... the findings add to previous evidence that ancient Egyptians carried out sacrificial practices

An ancient Egyptian tomb painting showing a funerary or offering scene. The new study showed 39 per cent of servants and officials buried near the funerary enclosures of kings had potentially fatal head wounds

‘The injuries on the preserved crania are generally linear fractures, which would likely cause rapid unconsciousness, internal bleeding and death,’ Dr Campbell said.

The research, published in the journal Frontiers in Environmental Archaeology, states it remains unclear exactly how the individuals were killed.

Ancient Egyptian rulers are frequently depicted striking enemies with maces, but the injuries seen on the retainers' skulls do not match the type of damage such weapons would typically cause.

Instead, the fractures suggest they were struck with a broad, flat object, although the possibility of accidental falls cannot be ruled out entirely.

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

EXCLUSIVE - I was an atheist until Satan appeared and tried to convince me that Christianity is a cult. Now I'm a pastor... there are signs everywhere that we are living in the final days

By CHRIS MELORE, US DEPUTY SCIENCE EDITOR

A Christian pastor who believed there was no God and was desperately trying to stay out of jail as a teenager has described how a terrifying encounter with Satan changed his life forever.

Bishop Alan DiDio of Revival Nation Church in North Carolina told the Daily Mail that he was 17 years old in 1998 when a demonic presence started speaking to him while he was attending a gathering for his friend's Christian youth group.

He said the voice had lingered in the back of his mind for days, but at the gathering it became as clear as someone speaking aloud, telling him not to believe in God or go near Christians.

As the voice overwhelmed him, DiDio said he instinctively responded to Satan's voice by claiming his soul belonged to Jesus, an act which he claimed miraculously filled his mind with the teachings of Christianity, despite having barely read the Bible.

'I just said, "Satan, you can't have me anymore. Jesus, I'm all yours." And it immediately stopped, and it never came back again,' he recalled, believing that he had received a 'download' of knowledge from Heaven which made it clear he was supposed to share his experience with other Christians.

DiDio said: 'If you hear the voice of Satan, all of a sudden the supernatural becomes very, very real to you. And if Satan is real, then Jesus is real.'

The shocking incident not only caused DiDio to embrace Christianity, but inspired him to take up ministry work, where he found others had experienced what they believed to be demonic encounters – something he believes is part of a spiritual battle taking place across Earth.

DiDio claimed that the demon he confronted as a teen had likely been stalking him for years as he faced arrests for petty crimes, and now theorizes that demons are 'assigned' to mortals on Earth to steer them away from the word of God in this ongoing war between good and evil.

    

Left: Alan DiDio around the time of his demonic encounter as a teen. Right: Today, Alan DiDio is the lead pastor at Revival Nation Church in North Carolina

The pastor warned that he believes even more of these dark encounters are taking place today, with signs and symbols of the biblical end times supposedly becoming more apparent in recent years.

He pointed to the dramatic scene in the last book of the Christian Bible, Revelation, which is said to depict the final showdown between good and evil.

'There's an interesting verse in Revelation 12 that says that Satan will come down in great wrath knowing his time is short,' DiDio explained.

Many believers connect the moment DiDio referenced in Revelation's 12th chapter with a future period of intense trouble on Earth often called the Tribulation.

Biblical texts describe the Tribulation as seven years of chaos and disasters, where evil rules on Earth before Jesus returns to set up a peaceful kingdom.

'So, it could be that we are living in the last days, and I believe we're seeing prophecy fulfilled all around us,' DiDio said.

'And it is absolutely biblical to say we are seeing an increase in demonic activity. You have to combine that with verses like, "when sin does abound, grace does much more abound." And we know that if the enemy has a plan, God has a plan.'

'So, if Satan is increasing his activity, we also know that God is increasing his activity,' the bishop added.

Bishop DiDio believed that demonic entities were 'assigned' to each person on Earth and that demonic activity was on the rise in recent years (stock image)

In 1998, DiDio went with his friend to a loud, Pentecostal-style church service in North Carolina to hear a specific band play but ended up near the front when the visiting pastor singled him out of the crowd and prayed over him.

He said the faith leader compared DiDio to a boy in the Bible who was brought back to life after the prophet Elisha stretched himself over the child until he breathed again.

The pastor then apparently told DiDio he would live, not die, and would become an example of what God could do with a committed young man, and then pushed him down.

'The only thing I felt in that moment was absolute rage,' said DiDio. 'I could not believe my friend had invited me to this cult. I couldn't believe he was a part of the cult. So we literally got out of there as quickly as possible.'   

However, in the days after the pastor's prayer, DiDio claimed he felt a heavy inner 'cloud' of thoughts following him, telling him faith was not for him, to stay away from believers in Christianity, and that he was not even worth saving.

Then, at the youth group's party, DiDio said he took a seat in the corner, staying away from the other teens, when his demonic experience began to affect his hearing.

DiDio explained that it was not a vision or dream, but he quickly lost the ability to hear the other people at the party, as if he was underwater, listening as their voices became muffled.

'I lifted up my head and looked around, and I could see this loud room full of kids. I can see their mouths moving, but I can't hear the words that are coming out of their mouth,' he described.

At that moment, DiDio claimed the dark entity began to speak louder, becoming a real voice he could hear with perfect clarity, telling him to leave the gathering.

'I mean, it's as audible and as real as my voice is to you right now, saying, "You don't believe in any of this, you need to get out of here, this isn't for you, you don't believe in God, stay away from these people."'

DiDio hearing what he took to be Satan's voice made the supernatural suddenly real to him – and if Satan was real, Jesus had to be real as well.  

DiDio (above), who was an atheist at the time, was so moved his own experience that he immediately moved to attend Bible college and begin ministry work

Convinced in that moment that Jesus was his only hope to stop the encounter, DiDio told the disembodied voice his soul now belonged to Jesus, causing the teen to break down crying in front of the other youths.

'I thought I was controlling my life. I was bringing up these arguments against God, and I realized in an instant, in a moment, that this was actually a nefarious demonic entity that has been controlling my life,' the pastor recalled.

DiDio claimed he then received a 'download' of knowledge from Heaven which gave him the strength to cast out the dark entity speaking to him. 

He experienced a sudden, supernatural transfer of wisdom, insight and revelation directly from God into his mind and heart.

While he became a born-again Christian at that moment, DiDio believes his encounters with demonic entities did not end there.

The experience inspired him to immediately take up ministry work, and soon after, move to Ohio to begin Bible college. 

Just months into his studies at Bible College, DiDio claimed that he used the power of Jesus to stop a woman from being possessed by a demonic force.

He described her as a thin, pale young woman who attended a prayer meeting and suddenly changed when worship began. He claimed that her eyes turned milky with no visible pupils, and that she tried to bite the people around her.

After several attendees were able to restrain her, DiDio said he told the snarling woman to stop in Jesus' name, which he claimed caused her to go instantly quiet and her eyes to clear.

DiDio claims these run-ins with demonic spirits follow the same pattern of other dark encounters – which allegedly ended immediately after someone invoked the name of Jesus or God. 

'Whenever we take the name of Jesus, it's not just simply saying the name of Jesus, although that has power and intimidation all by itself, but it's the level of trust and faith behind the declaration of the name of Jesus,' the bishop said.

'I believe the spiritual world is accessed through trust and obedience. Those are the two things that really open portals or open doors for people to access spiritual things.

'When we respond in our love for Jesus, in our trust in Jesus, by declaring his name, that will always have an impact, no matter what force you're dealing with.'

An Atheist Tried to Debunk the Bible… Then He Saw This Prophecy!

From Atheist to Believer at 64 Years Old I My Story

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

Could AI really kill all humans? Scientists say an AI armageddon is unlikely – but warn 'enfeeblement' could cause our demise

By WILIAM HUNTER, SENIOR SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY REPORTER

Visions of an AI–fuelled armageddon usually involve nuclear blasts, deadly engineered viruses, and marching armies of murderous Terminator–style robots.

However, scientists warn that the real way AI may bring about humanity's demise is likely to be far more subtle.

Leading AI researchers are now sounding the alarm over the growing threat of 'enfeeblement'.

This is the gradual erosion of our critical thinking, planning, and even emotional abilities as we gladly hand over more and more responsibility to the machines.

Dr Samuele Vinanzi, senior lecturer in Robotics and Artificial Intelligence at Sheffield Hallam University, believes that this is the real risk that AI poses for the world.

Dr Vinanzi told the Daily Mail: 'Over time, those small choices could leave us with a population that struggles to think without help from an AI, and that is less able to understand, check and overrule the systems it depends on.'

And, according to a growing body of research, this worrying process has already begun.

Scientists warn that AI won't destroy the world with Terminator–style robots, but by gradually 'enfeebling' humanity as we hand over more power to the machines  

Over the last few months, the world of AI research has been shaken by serious concerns that rapid advancements in technology could threaten the human race. 

Earlier this month, 27–year–old Jacob Coxon, who helped train the latest versions of AI at San Francisco–based Anthropic, urged people to 'not underestimate' its power – particularly if it becomes 'super–intelligent'.

Posting on X, Mr Coxon added: 'The people building AI earnestly believe that it could kill us all by the end of the decade.'

In response, Anthropic's alignment science lead Evan Hubinger wrote: 'Jacob is correct here – we really do earnestly believe AI could kill all humans! I personally think it is >10% within the next decade.'

However, experts have been divided over exactly what form this AI threat would take.

According to some AI researchers, the biggest concern is that a rogue or 'unaligned' AI could take control of critical infrastructure such as the power grid or nuclear power stations.

Others are worried that AI could inadvertently trigger nuclear war or create advanced weaponised pathogens.

But Dr Vinanzi believes that none of these dramatic, apocalyptic scenarios is realistic.

He says: 'In my view, they tend to overlook how much any action in the real world still depends on people, materials and infrastructure.'

Concerns about AI's risk to the world hit a fever pitch after senior researchers at Anthropic claimed they 'earnestly believe AI could kill all humans'

What is enfeeblement?

Experts define enfeeblement as the 'slow erosion of human abilities that comes from handing more and more tasks over to machines'.

The basic idea is that improvements to AI will eventually make it so useful that people will start using it for everything.

As we start trusting AI for more tasks, such as reading and writing, skills that those activities would have developed fade away.

Eventually, humanity will lose the ability to question the judgement of the machines.

This will leave us totally at the mercy of a system we no longer understand how to control.  

Creating a deadly virus still requires physical laboratory work that no current software can replace, as trained humans still need to physically handle the equipment.

Likewise, even though power grids have some vulnerabilities, the most secure systems in nuclear power stations are almost always 'air–gapped'.

This means they are physically disconnected from the outside internet and can't be compromised unless someone physically uploads the malicious code.

However, that does not mean that humanity is safe from the dangerous influence of advanced AI systems.

According to some experts, the bigger risk is that AI is actually too helpful.

Dr Vinanzi describes enfeeblement as 'the slow erosion of human abilities that comes from handing more and more tasks over to machines'.

He says: 'This doesn't happen overnight; rather, it builds up through many small choices – psychologists call the habit of relying on external tools to save mental effort "cognitive offloading".

'Put simply, the more we let a computer do our writing, coding, research and decision–making, the more natural that shortcut feels, and the harder it becomes to stop.'

Enfeeblement is the slow erosion of human abilities that comes from handing more and more tasks over to AIs like ChatGPT

Already, we are beginning to see that humans are exceptionally willing to trust AI with important tasks.

AI is being used to detect cases of financial fraud, manage healthcare data, choose where police resources are focused, and even operate vehicles.

In one 2023 study, researchers asked 27 radiologists to read mammograms alongside a recommended diagnosis from what they believed to be a cutting–edge AI system, but had actually been prepared by the experimenters.

When the 'AI' suggestion was correct, the radiologists reached the right decision 80 per cent of the time.

But when they were deliberately given a false 'AI' recommendation, their success rate fell below 20 per cent.

That means simply believing a suggestion came from an AI was enough for trained experts to override their own expertise.

In a more dramatic example, it was recently reported that the US military came close to boarding a Chinese–flagged ship because an AI chatbot had falsely generated a report claiming it was carrying parts for a nuclear weapons programme.

'Disaster was avoided only because someone stopped to ask questions: exactly the kind of critical thinking we risk losing,' says Dr Vinanzi.

Experts are especially worried about the effects this could have on the next generation going through education with increasingly powerful chatbots available to them.

Professor Seun Kolade, of Sheffield Hallam University, told the Daily Mail: 'This is not simply a question of cheating. It is a question of human formation.'

Schools and universities are already struggling to prevent students from using tools like ChatGPT to complete their assignments for them.

In Professor Kolade's own experiment, he used ChatGPT to write essays in response to typical university essay questions.

He found that the AI produced 'original, well–written work that the markers scored highly', while Turnitin, the standard plagiarism checker, failed to flag most of it.

'What makes it hard to spot is that it doesn't look like failure. A student who hands their thinking to a machine can produce better–looking work than before,' Professor Kolade explains.

'They become more fluent at producing outputs and less capable of independent judgement.'

Skilled professions like surgeons, engineers, lawyers, and teachers risk being 'hollowed out of expertise' as the need to practise vanishes, while basic critical thinking skills wither away.

Studies have shown that even trained radiologists are willing to override their professional judgement if AI gives them a recommended diagnosis 

The ultimate consequence is a generation that is 'fluent but fragile'; able to generate answers but unable to judge them for themselves.

However, some experts believe that the consequences could be more dramatic, eventually leading to an out–of–control AI seizing humanity's vital services.

If our hospitals, roads, power grids, militaries, and economies are all handed over to AI to manage, we run the risk of losing control of all our critical infrastructure.

Andrea Miotti, founder and CEO of ControlAI, told the Daily Mail: 'With AI deeply integrated in the economy, superintelligent AI, if developed, would be capable of accumulating unprecedented power across our infrastructure, economies, and militaries, with no human involvement.

'Superintelligent AI would not be a tool under human control, but rather a rogue force stationed in a country's data centres, under no human command, capable of autonomously attacking critical infrastructure.'

Worryingly, Mr Miotti says that this process 'may not happen gradually'.

He says: 'Swarms of rogue AI agents have already escaped containment and hacked a multi–billion dollar company this summer. If this continues, loss of human control could happen very fast.

'Superintelligent AI would not need to be malicious to pose a threat. Humans would simply be collateral damage as powerful AI systems pursue more resources, just as ants are collateral damage when we build a motorway.' 

How AI Ends Humanity in 10 Years (Most Likely Simulations)

Could AI really ‘kill us all’? - Warnings explained

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David Grusch Says He Never Saw a Reptilian Himself but Claims US Personnel Shot Them After a UFO Crash

Grusch's extraordinary account goes further than his earlier testimony, but the alleged reptilian encounter remains second-hand and publicly unverified

David Grusch claimed that US personnel shot alleged reptilian beings after an unidentified craft reportedly crashed, while making clear that he did not witness the beings himself 

PHOTO U.S. House Subcommittee on National Security, the Border, and Foreign Affairs screenshot from government website video broadcast/Wikimedia Commons

David Grusch said US personnel shot alleged reptilian beings after an apparent unidentified craft crash, while stressing that he never personally saw the beings himself. The former intelligence officer made the claim during a 30 September appearance on The Joe Rogan Experience, where he described second-hand accounts of clashes involving non-human intelligence.

Grusch testified before a House Oversight subcommittee in July 2023 that he had been informed of a multi-decade programme involving UAP crash retrieval and reverse engineering. He did not claim to have personally examined recovered bodies. His latest remarks similarly relied on accounts from others, documents and audiovisual material.

No publicly verifiable evidence has established that reptilian beings, greys or other non-human entities have been recovered from crashed craft. The Pentagon's All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office, or AARO, said in September 2025 that it had found no evidence of extraterrestrial beings or technology.

David Grusch Claims Alleged Reptilians Survived a Crash

During the Rogan interview, Grusch described an alleged crash he linked to what he characterised as conflict between different non-human beings. He claimed dead greys were found at the scene while reptilian beings survived.

Rogan later asked what happened to the alleged survivors. Grusch said they were killed and agreed when Rogan asked whether US personnel had shot them.

Grusch also claimed the alleged beings had posed a threat to personnel and said people had been hurt or killed. He did not provide names or independently verifiable documentation during the interview.

Asked how often such alleged adversarial crashes had occurred, Grusch said the total appeared to be 'at least a dozen or two.' He acknowledged uncertainty about the overall number and some details surrounding the incidents.

Crucially, Grusch said he had never personally seen the reptilian beings. He attributed their description to a friend whom he presented as having knowledge of the alleged encounter. Grusch described them as more than seven feet tall, heavily built and covered in scaly skin.

He also associated the alleged craft with a Tic Tac-like shape. That description is separate from retired US Navy Commander David Fravor's 2004 UAP encounter off Southern California. Fravor has described seeing a white, oblong object about 40 feet long without visible wings.

The 2004 incident does not independently substantiate Grusch's later claims about alleged non-human occupants.

David Grusch's Claims Remain Second-Hand

Grusch's latest account builds on allegations he made under oath in 2023. In written testimony, he said his information relied on material supplied by other people, including photography, documents and classified oral testimony.

When questioned about alleged biologics during the hearing, Grusch attributed their supposed non-human classification to people he said had direct programme knowledge. He did not testify that he had personally inspected any bodies.

That distinction remains central to his latest interview. Grusch says he received extraordinary information from people and material he considers credible, but his account of reptilian beings is not based on something he says he witnessed.

Reaction spread through UFO-focused Reddit communities after the Rogan episode. Some users debated the implications of the alleged encounter, while sceptical commenters focused on the continuing absence of publicly verifiable evidence.

Earlier UAP Briefing Raised Similar Claims

Grusch's remarks also resemble claims aired during a congressional UAP briefing on 1 May 2025 involving the UAP Disclosure Fund and members of the House Oversight Committee. The event was a briefing rather than a formal congressional hearing.

Physicist Eric Davis discussed alleged categories of non-human beings at the event, including greys, Nordics, insectoids and reptilians.

US Representative Eric Burlison of Missouri later said he had heard the same classifications discussed privately. Burlison, who represents Missouri's 7th Congressional District, also expressed uncertainty about the basis for Davis's information.

Burlison said the claims would be 'paradigm-shifting' if proved true. His comments did not independently verify either Davis's account or Grusch's latest allegations.

AARO's public position remains that it has found no evidence of extraterrestrial beings or technology. Until independently verifiable evidence becomes public, the alleged crash, supposed beings and claimed shooting remain unverified.

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UFO Whistleblower David Grusch Says He Saw Footage of Bizarre Alien Species Resembling 'Greek Gods'

Speaking on The Joe Rogan Experience on 30 September, Grusch said the pale figures looked human and reminded him of 'Greek gods'

Former US Air Force intelligence officer David Grusch has renewed attention around his UFO claims after saying he viewed video showing unusual human-like bodies

PHOTO  PowerfulJRE/Youtube

David Grusch UFO claims have drawn fresh attention after the former US Air Force intelligence officer described video he says showed unusual human-like bodies. Speaking on The Joe Rogan Experience on 30 September, Grusch said the pale figures looked human and reminded him of 'Greek gods.' No footage has been released publicly, and US authorities have not verified his account.

Grusch testified before Congress in July 2023 about alleged secret UAP recovery and reverse-engineering programmes. His congressional statement said he served on the UAP Task Force from 2019 to 2021. He has also acknowledged that significant parts of his claims are based on information provided by other people.

During the 2026 podcast appearance, Grusch said he had recently finished working on Rep. Eric Burlison's congressional staff. His latest account included material he said he viewed during his investigation, alongside extraordinary second-hand descriptions from colleagues.

That distinction is important. Grusch has not said that he personally encountered alien beings, and the material he described has not been released for independent examination.

David Grusch Says Video Showed Three or Four Bodies

Grusch told Rogan he had seen video from what he described as a retrieval activity. He said the footage was contemporary but did not identify the alleged operation or say when it occurred.

When Rogan asked how many bodies he remembered seeing, Grusch replied, 'I think three or four is what I saw.' He added that he did not know how many bodies were involved altogether.

That differs from accounts describing exactly four bodies.

Grusch characterised the figures as human-looking, unusually beautiful and pale bluish-white. During the conversation, Rogan raised the comparison with 'Greek gods,' to which Grusch replied, 'That's how I described it.'

Grusch said he tried to corroborate the alleged event through other sources before accepting what he had been shown. However, the video and any records supporting his interpretation remain unavailable for public scrutiny.

His description also does not establish that the figures were extraterrestrial. Grusch discussed different possibilities for their origin during the interview while acknowledging that he did not have complete information.

The US government's official assessment is considerably more cautious. The Pentagon's All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office, known as AARO, said in its fiscal year 2025 annual report that it had no evidence that the US government or private companies had captured or exploited materials derived from UAPs.

That finding does not resolve every unexplained UAP report, but it provides no independent confirmation of Grusch's claims.

David Grusch Says Reptilian Claims Came From Colleagues

Grusch also recounted a separate alleged incident involving reptilian-looking beings and dead grey figures. He made clear that he had not personally seen the reptilian beings.

Instead, he said colleagues described creatures standing more than seven feet tall, with scaly skin and a gorilla-like build. Grusch also said some of those colleagues claimed to have encountered the beings alive.

He further alleged that US personnel opened fire during the encounter after the beings posed a threat. According to Grusch's account, American service members were hurt or killed. No independently verifiable evidence for that allegation was presented during the interview.

Grusch said he hoped people who had allegedly witnessed the event would eventually be permitted to discuss their experiences publicly.

He also discussed several reported craft shapes, including discs, eggs, crescents, boomerangs and Tic Tac-like objects.

The Tic Tac description has a documented history separate from Grusch's allegations about occupants. Retired Navy Cmdr. David Fravor testified before Congress about observing a Tic Tac-shaped object off San Diego on 14 November 2004.

Fravor did not report reptilian occupants, and his encounter does not corroborate Grusch's claims about non-human beings.

The Rogan interview attracted immediate interest in UFO-focused online communities, with reactions ranging from excitement to scepticism. Those responses show the level of public interest surrounding Grusch, but they offer no evidence that the extraordinary events he described actually occurred.

For now, the footage at the centre of his account remains outside public view.

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

Did Australia Attend AARO’s Secret 2025 UAP Workshop?

Newly released records hint at “Australian Government” involvement in the AARO-sponsored invite-only UAP data summit in August 2025...and an official response only deepens the mystery.

For years, the Australian Department of Defence has maintained a strict public persona regarding Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP): Move along folks, nothing to see here. Through official statements, parliamentary responses, and media brush-offs, those in positions of leadership in Defences have consistently assured the public that Australia does not track, investigate, or hold any institutional interest in UAP.

However, a newly declassified cache of documents tells a very different story. Behind closed doors, the Australian Government appears to be actively continuing its engagement with its US ally and Five Eyes partner on the UAP issue.

On 14 September 2026, the US Department of War issued a final response to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request filed by John Greenewald of The Black Vault. The request, designated case number 26-F-1773 (available for download via The Black Vault), targeted records surrounding a highly private, invite-only UAP workshop held in early August 2025. Sponsored by the Pentagon’s All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) and hosted by Associated Universities, Inc. (AUI) in Vienna, Virginia, the workshop was designed to tackle the complex challenges of UAP data collection, standardisation, and artificial intelligence integration.

The Pentagon identified 89 responsive pages, withholding 19 entirely under Exemption (b)(5) to protect deliberative decision-making processes. But what survived the redactor’s pen in the file is explosive.

Buried on page 39, nestled within an institutional roster that includes Harvard University, the RAND Corporation, and Uruguay’s official UAP commission, is an explicit entry for the “Australian Government”.

The Bureaucratic Runaround

I received absolutely nothing in response. What a shocker.

Not resting on those laurels, I put the question to our friends across the pond. I asked a US Department of War official about the Australian Government’s participation in AARO’s August 2025 UAP Workshop.

The response I received on 3 October 2026 was a masterclass in bureaucratic deflection:

“We refer you to the government of Australia to comment on the activities of their personnel.”

While it is a classic runaround, it is also a tacit confirmation. They did not deny Australian attendance; they simply passed the buck back to a government that refuses to answer the mail.

Crucially, this is not an isolated incident. This is now the second official engagement we know Australia has participated in. Australia previously begrudgingly admitted that it attended AARO’s Five Eyes Inaugural UAP Caucus Working Group meeting back in May 2023 (refer article below):

We are witnessing a clear, established pattern: public denial paired with private, high-level intelligence and scientific engagement.

So Who Attended from Australia?

We know the workshop was unclassified and heavily focused on the academic and scientific hurdles of UAP research. The agenda centred on standardising metadata, natural language processing, deploying AI for pattern recognition, and integrating multi-domain sensor networks. Because of this strict scientific and systems-engineering focus, it is highly unlikely that a representative from the Defence Intelligence Organisation (DIO) was the primary attendee…even though a representative from the DIO attended AARO’s Five Eyes briefing at the Pentagon back in May 2023.

Instead, all signs point to the Defence Science and Technology Group (DSTG), whose role is stated on their website as follows:

According to the September 2024 Senate Estimates brief, the current Chief of Air Force, Air Marshal Stephen Chappell, and the Chief Defence Scientist, Professor Tanya Monro, are listed to lead on discussions and DSTG activities related to UAP. The DSTG provides direct support to the ADF to identify and classify objects detected by sensing technology.

The absurdity of this public posture is laid bare in parliamentary records. Despite the September 2024 brief asserting Professor Monro’s leadership on UAP, Defence explicitly denied any knowledge of AARO’s primary UAP sensor architecture just weeks later in response to Question on Notice no. 844 , answered on 19 December 2024. Defence stated: “The Defence Science and Technology Group (DSTG) are not performing UAP research, and therefore not collaborating with the US Department of Defense on this topic. DSTG have not been briefed on the alleged AARO Gremlin system.”

The use of the word “alleged” to describe a well-documented Pentagon sensor suite betrays a staggering level of either institutional ignorance or deliberate obfuscation. If DSTG was entirely unaware of AARO’s flagship technology in late 2024, sending their top science attaché to an AARO data integration workshop in August 2025 represents a rapid and highly clandestine pivot.

However, Professor Monro was not likely to fly to Washington for a working-level data integration workshop. The most logical asset to send would be a Washington-based Defence Attaché.

Enter Darren J. Sutton.

Between May 2023 and October 2025, Sutton served as the Minister-Counsellor for the DSTG based at the Australian Embassy in Washington, DC. As the top defence science liaison in the US, he acted as the direct representative for Professor Monro, facilitating joint initiatives between Australia and the Pentagon’s vast research ecosystem.

Sutton is a defence science leader with over 35 years of experience. His portfolio includes deep involvement in US-Australia collaborations focused on artificial intelligence, autonomous uncrewed systems, and sensing capabilities. Functionally, he is the exact right asset for Australia to send to an event focused on building a centralised UAP data machine. While another possibility is Michael Docking - who currently holds the Minister-Counsellor role - the August 2025 timeline aligns perfectly with Sutton’s tenure.

Further supporting this theory is the logistical matrix found on page 41 of the FOIA release. The matrix maps attendee requirements for AUI-provided hotel accommodations. A Washington-based embassy attaché wouldn’t require a hotel in Vienna, Virginia, easily explaining how an Australian representative could seamlessly integrate into the daily sessions without generating a large logistical footprint.

The Global Picture: Uruguay and the SCU

AARO provided a specific list of topics they wished to discuss with CRIDOVNI, including their analytical methods, how they analyse narrative data for cases with little technical backing, and their scientific partnerships across South America. AARO even admitted they were already planning a “follow-on data workshop in early 2026” and asked for help networking with other South American UAP organisations.

The workshop itself featured heavy hitters from the civilian research world. Robert Powell of the Scientific Coalition for UAP Studies (SCU) co-delivered the keynote address. The SCU’s presentation material highlighted the fragmented state of current UAP databases and the dire need for standardised investigator training and natural language processing to triage the noise. Interestingly, the SCU presentation explicitly cited historical UAP archives maintained by Australia and New Zealand, demonstrating that Australian military records are recognised internationally as essential datasets.

The Williamtown Hypocrisy

While a DSTG representative was likely sitting in a room in Virginia discussing how to use machine learning to synthesise anomalous sensor data and triage UAP reports, the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) was dealing with a massive wave of unidentified drone incursions back home.

Between 11-13 July 2026, multiple incursions of unidentified objects - described officially as “drones” - breached the restricted airspace over RAAF Base Williamtown, Australia’s premier fighter base housing our F-35s:

The official mitigating strategy handed down to the military personnel on base?

Close your window blinds.

Just days ago, on 2 October 2026, DefenseScoop reported that US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth issued a forceful new directive aimed at rapidly accelerating the deployment of counter-drone technologies. In a decisive memorandum, Hegseth declared that “protection against the threat of drones will not be delayed by self-imposed restrictions,” ordering the Pentagon to slash bureaucratic red tape and compress operational approval timelines from months to mere days. The US military’s joint counter-drone task force, JIATF-401, echoed this exact urgency, stating they “will not accept a slow-moving bureaucracy when faced with a fast-moving threat”.

This aggressive American posture stands in blistering contrast to the Australian response. While the Pentagon is fundamentally overhauling its acquisition pathways to defeat the drone threat immediately, the RAAF is literally shutting the curtains. The implications for Australia are severe: it highlights a dangerous domestic complacency and exposes a widening capability gap between the ADF and our primary security ally. If Australia intends to maintain its standing within the AUKUS framework and interoperate seamlessly with US forces, Canberra cannot afford to let procedural sluggishness dictate its response to incursions over sensitive installations. We must adopt the same urgency Hegseth is demanding in Washington, or risk becoming a highly vulnerable link in the allied defence chain.

What makes Australia’s silence even more indefensible is that AARO’s portfolio is no longer confined strictly to the exotic. Under the fiscal 2025 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), AARO is explicitly required to liaise and team up with the Pentagon’s new counter-drone (C-UAS) task force. Alongside its core UAP mission, the office is actively assisting the US Department of War in formulating detection, identification, and mitigation strategies for hostile or unauthorised drone incursions across sensitive military airspace. AARO is building the sensor architectures, sensor-fusion algorithms, and rapid-triage pipelines intended to separate benign clutter and foreign surveillance drones from true anomalous craft. If Australia’s Defence Science and Technology Group (DSTG) is quietly liaising with AARO, it strongly suggests Canberra recognises that the Pentagon’s anomaly-resolution framework - now legally intertwined with America’s counter-drone mission - holds the keys to solving our own domestic drone dilemma. Yet rather than leveraging this partnership openly to harden our bases and reform outmoded engagement protocols, Defence leaders continue to bury their heads in the sand - leaving frontline personnel vulnerable while the critical technical solutions remain trapped behind closed doors.

If the RAAF cannot effectively mitigate the risks of known drone technologies, what hope do they have against true UAP? It is a staggering dereliction of duty, and it perfectly encapsulates the absurdity of the current paradigm. Defence leaders tell base personnel to shut their blinds to avoid the problem, while simultaneously sending attachés to secret Pentagon workshops to learn how to track it.

Conclusion

It is time for the Australian public, and our elected representatives, to demand accountability. Defence Minister Richard Marles and the Chief of the Defence Force need to answer basic questions:

Which department authorised attendance at AARO’s August 2025 workshop?

What briefings were provided back to Canberra?

And why is this critical national security collaboration remaining entirely undisclosed to the public?

It’s clear the Australian Government is actively looking for the truth…they just don’t want us to know.

• About Grant Lavac
  Grant is a UAP activist, researcher and podcaster residing in Melbourne, Australia. Grant frequently leverages the Freedom of Information Act to better understand Australia’s involvement (or rather, lack thereof) on the UAP issue, and engages both his elected representatives and the legacy media in the hope they’ll take the topic seriously and treat it with the respect it deserves. Grant reports on his FOIA findings and engagement efforts via his podcast, The Unexplained Rundown, which is freely available on Spotify and YouTube. To follow Grant’s ongoing research, visit grantlavac.com.

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'The Night of the UFOs': Remembering the Oct. 4, 1967, skies over Nova Scotia

Besides Shag Harbour, sightings were reported in Dartmouth, Sambro, Wedgeport and elsewhere

 Richard Woodbury · CBC News  

While Shag Harbour is considered Canada's most famous UFO incident, there were many sightings of unexplained objects in the sky over Nova Scotia on Oct. 4, 1967.

(CBC)

Chris Styles was just 12 years old on a clear night when he looked out his bedroom window and spotted a strange light moving along the shoreline a few blocks from his house.

He grabbed his grandfather's binoculars to get a better look and then ran out of the house, much to his dad's dismay, down to the water's edge.

"There's this huge sphere and it was a very dull orange, and it was glowing just like a poker in a fireplace," said Styles about what he saw on Oct. 4, 1967, around 10 p.m. AT.

While that date is best known for a UFO sighting in Shag Harbour in southwestern Nova Scotia, Styles was in Dartmouth, N.S.

Primarily between the Halifax area and southwestern Nova Scotia, people recorded seeing things in the sky that night, which has led ufologists to call it "The Night of the UFOs."

"If you were outside that ... night and you looked up, and for some hours afterwards, you would have seen something," said Styles. "It was a clear night. People were seeing the faintest stars without binoculars."

Chris Styles has written or co-written three books about UFO sightings.

(Submitted by Chris Styles)

Styles has written or co-written three books about UFO sightings, including Impact to Contact: The Shag Harbour Incident. He said coverage of Shag Harbour meant other sightings fell out of the press, such as what the crew of the MV Nickerson saw in the waters off Sambro.

Around 9 p.m., Capt. Leo Mersey said he spotted an object with three flashing red lights. The object, which showed up on radar, was about 25 kilometres away.

The man who phoned in Canada's most famous UFO sighting became the face of the mystery

"It was very clear that night and we could see the lights of Halifax," Mersey said in a statement he filed with the RCMP.

The radar also showed three objects about 10 kilometres away, but he could not see them.

Around 11 p.m., the object he could see went into the air, but by then had only one red flashing light.

This is the statement the RCMP took from the captain of the MV Nickerson, regarding something he and his crew saw in the sky on Oct. 4, 1967.

(Submitted by Chris Styles/RCMP)

"I had never seen anything like that before but it sounds like the thing they are looking for down off Shelburne or Barrington Passage," Mersey said in the statement, which was taken Oct. 7, 1967.

The RCMP statement, taken by a corporal with the Lunenburg detachment, noted: "Capt. Mersey is considered to be a reliable type individual and bears a good reputation in his community."

But Shag Harbour has long remained the focus, said Styles, in part because of the large witness pool, what authorities said at the time, and the subsequent paper trail left behind.

In Shag Harbour, an object with flashing lights crashed into the waters off the tiny fishing village.

Besides the many eyewitnesses, adding credence to the account was that a responding RCMP officer, Const. Ron O'Brien, described seeing a light from the object floating about 800 metres offshore.

"It was being carried out to sea by the tide and disappeared before we could get a boat to it," he told the Chronicle-Herald in an Oct. 7, 1967, article.

An Oct. 6, 1967, memo by a National Defence official describes some of the details surrounding the Shag Harbour UFO incident.

(Public Archives Canada)

Styles said RCMP officers commandeered two fishing boats to see what was in the water and if there were any survivors, assuming a plane had crashed. They were joined on the boats by local fishermen and other residents.

He said depending on who you talk to, the object either disappeared or submerged, but there was a yellow foam on the water that some say smelled of sulphur.

On Friday, Oct. 6, a naval diving team was brought in, and seven divers searched through the weekend, but reported finding nothing.

This CBC News footage shows the search in the days following the Oct. 4, 1967, Shag Harbour UFO incident.

(CBC)

The investigation reached the highest levels of National Defence.

An Oct. 6, 1967, memo by Col. W.W. Turner, the director of operations at National Defence headquarters, noted: "The Rescue Co-ordination Centre conducted [a] preliminary investigation and discounted the possibilities that the sighting was produced by an aircraft, flares, floats, or any other known objects."

His son, John Turner, told CBC News his father often mentioned to the family that he received reports of alleged UFO sightings.

"Many were easily discounted as photos of a Frisbee or a hubcap, but he often said others simply could not be explained," Turner wrote by email.

The Shag Harbour investigation was the cover story in the Oct. 7, 1967, Chronicle-Herald.

(Oct. 7, 1967, Chronicle-Herald)

Styles wasn't the only person to see something in Dartmouth on Oct. 4, according to the Chronicle-Herald on Oct. 7, 1967. The newspaper reported that a woman on her way home from work saw a bright, round object in the sky moving from the Halifax-Dartmouth ferry terminal.

"She described it as brighter, more vivid than a star, with an orange hue like a halo around the circumference," the reporter wrote.

The woman looked at it through binoculars when she got home and saw it was not a star.

The newspaper checked with CFB Shearwater's control tower to see if anything was on the radar during the window the woman described. Control tower personnel said no one was monitoring the radar at the time.

RELATED

The Shag Harbour UFO Incident - Full Documentary

The Fascinating Shag Harbour UFO Crash Incident in 1967 - FindingUFO

{https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia }

This Day In UFO History: Pilot encounters giant pyramid-shaped UFO over Pelotas, Brazil, Oct 5, 1996 UAP Sighting News.

Date of sighting: Oct 5, 1996

Location of sighting: Pelotas, Brazil

 

This is easily one of the most incredible pilot UFO encounters ever recorded—and 100% real.

On November 5, 1996, acrobatic pilot Haraldo Westendorf took off over Pelotas, Brazil, expecting a quick 12-minute recreational flight in his Embraer EMB-712. Instead, he came face-to-face with a mind-boggling, stadium-sized UFO floating at 5,000 feet.

Here is what makes this sighting so mind-blowing:

• Massive Scale: The craft was a massive brown faceted cone—roughly 325 feet wide and 225 feet tall. It was big enough to swallow a soccer field, making Westendorf's plane look like a speck.
  
  
• Extreme Close Encounter: Not realizing the potential danger, Westendorf flew around the base three times, getting within 40 meters of the object as it rotated slowly. The Pelotas tower confirmed they could see the massive craft from the ground.
  
  
• A Mothership Launch: After his third pass, the top of the giant cone opened up. A classic 30-foot flying saucer emerged from the inside, tilted, and shot off into the sky at an estimated Mach 10.
  
  
• Impossible Physics: When Westendorf tried to climb above the mothership for a better look, it shot red light beams into the sky and shot straight up at unthinkable speeds. Despite the craft being triple the weight of a Boeing 747, it left zero wake turbulence—defying known aerodynamics.

An experienced stunt pilot, ground tower confirmation, and a mothership releasing a smaller saucer in broad daylight. Guys, this is absolute 100% proof that alien technology operating in our skies is light-years ahead of anything we possess!

Scott C. Waring - UFO Sightings Daily

 

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

Pentagon Video of 6 Mysterious Spheres Moving at 480 MPH Sparks Bigger Questions

A mission report records an estimated speed near 480 mph while investigators flag key details remain redacted.

The objects appeared at roughly 22,000 feet during a 2025 mission supporting Operation Inherent Resolve, according to CBS News. The crew reported the spheres were grouped, moving southeast, and often changing direction

6 Objects at 480 MPH: New Pentagon UAP Video (2025)

The Pentagon released infrared video from the encounter earlier this month, along with a declassified mission report, as part of its latest batch of unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP) records.

What the crew saw remains unexplained.

Military Observation Details

According to an accompanying mission report, the crew spotted the objects on July 29, 2025, while supporting Operation Inherent Resolve.

The report describes six small spherical objects grouped together, appearing agile and frequently changing direction. The aircraft equipped with the infrared sensor was headed northwest when the objects were observed.

The video shows several objects entering the top of the infrared sensor's field of view and moving downward. The sensor pans to keep the objects centered before changing magnification.

The Pentagon is pictured as the Department of Defense just released more videos from their UAP roll out. (AP)

The Pentagon's All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office cautioned that its description of the video should not be treated as an investigative conclusion about the event's validity, nature or significance. The speed, altitude and descriptions in the mission report were estimates made by the person reporting the encounter.

The report also lists whether the objects were under intelligent control as "unknown." Their propulsion was also unknown, and the crew reported no recovered material and no effects on military equipment.

Declassified Report Released

The mission report was originally marked SECRET//NOFORN and was declassified July 10 by Maj. Gen. Richard Harrison, U.S. Central Command's chief of staff, before being included in the Sept. 18 public release.

U.S. Central Command submitted the video to AARO, the Pentagon office that investigates reports of unidentified anomalous phenomena involving military personnel and sensors.

It was one of 15 videos released in the sixth batch of files published under the Presidential Unsealing and Reporting System for UAP Encounters. The Pentagon plans to release more files on a rolling basis.

Another video in the same batch came from a 2025 Middle East mission in which a military operator described a white, round object that appeared to be moving as fast as 500 mph. That case is also listed as unresolved.

Status Unresolved

UAP is the government's term for observations it cannot identify immediately. An unresolved case does not mean investigators have determined an object to be extraterrestrial or technologically extraordinary.

Key questions remain unanswered.

A frame from military infrared footage released by the Pentagon shows an unidentified anomalous phenomenon being tracked over the Yellow Sea in 2023. The image was included in CBS News coverage of the Pentagon’s latest UAP records release.

(Screenshot/CBS News)

The Pentagon has not publicly identified the objects while portions of the mission report remain redacted, including operational details and the encounter's exact location.

AARO has cautioned in other unresolved cases that limited sensor information can prevent investigators from determining whether an observation represents a physical object, a sensor artifact or another explainable phenomenon.

The public record now includes military infrared footage, a formerly classified mission report, and a crew estimate that the objects were moving at nearly 500 mph.

The identity of the six objects remains unknown.

6 Objects Tracked at 480 MPH by U.S. Military | Unresolved UAP Footage

{ https://www.military.com/ }

‘Floating orbs’ zooming at 480 mph among UFOs spotted by US military, latest file drop reveals

By Josh Christenson and Ally Goelz

WASHINGTON — US military operators observed floating orbs flying at nearly 500 miles per hour over the Middle East last year, according to the latest release Friday of declassified UFO files by the Pentagon.

A 2025 report from US Central Command (CENTCOM) details a sighting of “six small spherical objects, grouped together” and “frequently changing direction” at 480 mph.

Accompanying the report was one minute of video footage showing the objects as they flew over what appeared to be a desert region.

Another video, from 2023, captured circular objects flying over the Yellow Sea that were spotted by an infrared sensor aboard a US military platform.

That same year, a Colorado law enforcement officer recorded a 15-minute cell phone video showing a UFO with “red, blue and green flashing lights” that remained “silent” as it hovered in the sky.

More than seven decades earlier, records from the office of the US Air Force Director of Intelligence discussed “flying disc” incidents recorded between September and December 1952.

A Navy warrant officer also saw what looked like flying discs near Tremonton, Utah, that July, an incident that he caught on camera only for an official investigation to assess they “were likely seabirds.”

The 16mm Kodachrome color motion-picture footage was captured with a Bell and Howell auto master camera on July 2, 1952, by chief warrant officer Delbert Newhouse, who was traveling from Washington, DC, to Portland, Ore., and ended up “filming a group of bright airborne objects.”

“The film later became one of the visual cases reviewed by Project Blue Book, the 1952–1969 U.S. Air Force program that investigated the nature and origin of unidentified flying objects (UFOs),” the declassified document webpage stated.

Investigators also tried to determine whether the officer had recorded “pillow balloons” and contacted General Mills, “the only known manufacturer of pillow balloons at the time, to determine whether a balloon release could account for the incident.

Other videos revealed circular objects flying over the Yellow Sea that were captured by an infrared sensor aboard a US military platform in 2023.

The Air Force Photo Reconnaissance Lab concluded in 1956 that the light in the film “was caused by seagulls soaring in thermal air currents.”

Another analysis said that it is “believed to be reasonably certain that the reflection brightness of these objects exceeds that of any natural diffusing type of reflecting object, such as white birds against the sky.”

The day before Newhouse shot his video, an unidentified correspondent reported seeing a “white object, shaped like an “elongated oval” but “fatter than a cigar,” about 100 feet in length.

The files have been released after President Trump signed an executive order this past February declassifying most information about the strange sightings.

{ https://nypost.com/us-news/ }

David Grusch’s Startling Statement on Sentient Plasmoid Life

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{ https://www.ufohastings.com/ }

Harvard and Korean Researchers Lead Scientific Investigation of UFO Sightings

Inha Son

UFO sightings have continued for decades. Despite clearer photos and videos and the emergence of advanced observation equipment, the controversy has not ended. Can the identity of UFOs be revealed?

Image created by generative AI.

Investigating Suspicious UFO Sightings

Three lights moved across the sky in broad daylight. A military infrared sensor captured an unidentified circular object, and a photograph showed an object not seen with the naked eye.

Mystery 1. Three Lights in the Daytime Sky

In August 2026, three shining white dots were spotted in the sky over Gimpo, Gyeonggi Province. The objects' shapes were not clearly visible. The three dots maintained a constant distance from each other, moving slowly, and were also seen changing positions. The video did not show them suddenly accelerating or sharply changing direction.

• Insufficient Data｜Seo Jong-han, Advisor to the Korean UAP Society
  The video alone is not enough to determine the object's position or speed. We need to confirm the situation at the time of filming and interview the witness to determine what it is.

(Left) Three dots spotted in the sky over Gimpo, Gyeonggi Province, in August 2026. YouTube channel video capture - Courtesy of Children's Science Donga. (Right) UFO-related photo released by the U.S. Department of Defense. U.S. Department of Defense - Courtesy of Children's Science Donga.

Mystery 2. UFO over the West Sea Interfering with Military Sensors?
Starting in May 2026, the U.S. Department of Defense released 375 records, including photos, videos, and reports related to UFOs on five occasions. Among them was a case from Korea. In 2023, an object presumed to be a UFO was filmed over the West Sea (Yellow Sea). A high-resolution infrared sensor on a military aircraft tracked the object for about 4 minutes and 45 seconds.

• nsufficient Data｜Yoon Dong-ki, Vice President of the Korean UAP Society
  Unusual phenomena, such as interference with the military aircraft's sensors, were observed, but a precise analysis is difficult because time, speed, and location data are missing.

Mystery 3. A Giant UFO Near the Moon?
In January 2026, a research team from the Main Astronomical Observatory of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine announced the discovery of over 20 UFOs in a video of the area around the Moon filmed in 2025. Assuming the objects were near the lunar surface, their size was estimated to be up to 36 km and their speed up to 11 km/s. The objects appeared doughnut- or disk-shaped and their brightness changed periodically. The findings have not yet been published in a scientific journal.

• Insufficient Data｜Avi Loeb, Professor at Harvard University
  Observations with a single ground-based telescope can make terrestrial objects appear to be passing in front of the 

(Left) UFO data announced in January 2026 by the research team from the Main Astronomical Observatory of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine. Boris Ephimovich Zhilyaev et al. (Right) UFO photo taken on September 4, 1995, by Kim Seon-kyu, a photojournalist for Munhwa Ilbo. Kim Seon-kyu - Courtesy of Children's Science Donga.

Mystery 4. A UFO Captured in a Chuseok Photo?!
On September 4, 1995, Kim Seon-kyu, a photojournalist for Munhwa Ilbo, was photographing a couple threshing sesame seeds in Gapyeong County, Gyeonggi Province. While reviewing the photos, he discovered an object presumed to be a UFO above and to the right of the couple. The photo became a hot topic when it was published in the Munhwa Ilbo. The location was a no-fly zone, and the Korea Meteorological Administration confirmed there were no special weather phenomena. Investigations by the European Space Agency and the film company Kodak found no evidence of manipulation or film error.

Judgment Reserved｜Maeng Seong-ryeol, Professor of Electrical and Electronic Engineering at Woosuk University & President of the Korean UAP Society
Assuming the object is a large aircraft far away, its estimated diameter is about 100m, its altitude 4-5 km, and its speed about 4 km/s.
Hwang Min-goo, Director of the Korea Institute of Forensic Image Analysis
It is presumed to be an insect in flight, captured as a streak, much like a fast-moving baseball is captured as a blur in a photograph.

The Hunt for UFOs: From Sighting to Analysis

People chasing the identity of UFOs have gathered in one place. At the general meeting of the Korean UAP Society, we observed how unidentified objects in photographs are analyzed. How is missing information obtained from just a photo? We also looked at the tracking methods of the Galileo Project, which uses various instruments for direct observation.

“A white dot appeared at the 30-second mark and disappeared at 31 seconds!”
On August 22, 2026, at the general meeting of the Korean UAP Society, advisor Seo Jong-han showed three photos taken at Seoraksan Mountain in 2022. A small white object was captured above a Buddha statue, but it was not visible in the photos taken one second before and one second after. To identify the object, Seo analyzed the photo for manipulation, shape, size, and speed in sequence. He examined the direction and contours of the light reflecting off the object and surrounding buildings but found no signs of tampering.

Advisor Seo Jong-han estimated the size of the white object by comparing the photo's pixel count, the distance to the Buddha statue, and the statue's size.

Courtesy of Children's Science Donga.

When the photo was enlarged, the object was revealed to be a horizontally elongated, symmetrical oval, like a rugby ball. Seo compared it to a fast-flying falcon, which has a similar shape, but concluded it was unlikely to be a falcon, stating, “The white object is excessively symmetrical and has a glossy surface.”

Size and speed were also estimated. Since the distance to the object could not be determined from the photo alone, it was assumed to be at the same distance as the Buddha statue. Using the statue's size and the number of pixels occupied by the statue and the white object in the photo, the object's calculated size was 35.4 cm horizontally and 16.9 cm vertically. Assuming the object moved out of frame within one second, its calculated speed was approximately 125.3 km/h.

Based on his analysis, Seo considered the possibility of it being a drone or a balloon to be low. However, he could not identify the object because the actual distance was unknown. “It's difficult to confirm its size and speed because we lack data from direct distance measurements,” Seo explained.

Photos Aren't Enough! Direct Observation is Key

Avi Loeb, a professor at Harvard University and head of the Galileo Project, supplements the limitations of photography by observing the sky with various instruments. The Galileo Project is a research initiative to identify UFOs using scientific equipment. The team records the light, heat, and radio waves of objects using infrared cameras and other devices. Artificial intelligence (AI) compares the observational data with known objects like birds, balloons, drones, aircraft, and satellites. Anything unclassified is then analyzed by the research team.

Professor Loeb emphasized the particular importance of accurately measuring the distance to an object. The team has set up three observatories in Las Vegas, USA, named 'Sphere,' 'Wildhorse,' and 'Hideout.' They observe the sky with a device called 'Dalek.' The distance between Sphere and Wildhorse is 10.2 km, between Sphere and Hideout is 10.1 km, and between Wildhorse and Hideout is 2 km. By observing the same object from three different locations, they can measure its distance, speed, and acceleration through triangulation.

 By observing the same object from three different locations, its distance, speed, and acceleration can be measured through triangulation.

Courtesy of Children's Science Donga.

Professor Loeb explained, “We want to determine whether UFOs are products of extraterrestrial civilizations or phenomena arising from other causes.” He added, “By obtaining clear images and material samples, we are also exploring the possibility that they could be probes sent by an alien civilization.”

Are UFOs Extraterrestrial Spacecraft?

Many photos thought to show UFOs have ultimately been identified as known objects or phenomena, such as balloons or satellites. Still, some incidents remain unexplained. Are the rapid acceleration and sharp turns often described in UFO sightings physically possible? We examine whether objects that defy identification can be considered extraterrestrial spacecraft.

According to an announcement by the French National Centre for Space Studies in August 2026, out of 3,381 UFO cases collected since 1977, 2,260 have been identified. Among cases identified between 2023 and 2025, aircraft-related phenomena were the most common at 20%, followed by balloons (17.6%), and astronomical phenomena and satellites/launch vehicles each at 12.2%.

However, some cases remain unexplained. “Among the cases reported to us, only about 0.01% are potential UFOs,” said Seo Jong-han, advisor to the Korean UAP Society. “In the investigation by the French National Centre for Space Studies, about 3.1% remained unidentified even after investigation.”

So, how did these unidentified UFOs move? Claims have emerged of saucer-shaped objects flying at supersonic speeds without creating a sonic boom, or accelerating instantaneously. There are also sightings of them making sharp turns at high speed or moving seamlessly between space, the atmosphere, and the ocean.

How did the unidentified UFOs move? There are claims of saucer-shaped objects flying at supersonic speeds without producing a sonic boom, or accelerating in an instant.

Image created by generative AI.

A saucer-shaped aircraft could fly if it had a superior propulsion and attitude control system. However, air resistance would create turbulence, making stable flight difficult. Flying at high speeds would also significantly raise the aircraft's surface temperature. Making a right-angle turn while maintaining high speed is also difficult. To change direction, an aircraft must turn in a curve. The X-31, an advanced fighter jet developed by the United States and Germany, had to reduce its speed before making curved turns.

Just because an object cannot be identified does not mean it is a spacecraft made by an alien civilization. Hong Sung-wook, a researcher at the Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute, explained, “To conclude it came from an extraterrestrial civilization, the same phenomenon must be observed multiple times and its cause precisely identified.” He added, “It also needs to be confirmed through various analyses that it involves technology that cannot be made on Earth.” Kim Jong-am, a professor in the Department of Aerospace Engineering at Seoul National University, emphasized, “Speculation about UFOs is not meaningless. But when concluding that a certain phenomenon could exist, it requires verification based on observational data and evidence.”

Harvard professor Avi Loeb on new federal UFO disclosure rules | FOX 10 Talks | FOX 10 Phoenix

{ https://www.dongascience.com/en }