Is Luis Elizondo becoming the government’s UFO megaphone?

Alienating UFO believers while hovering near the Pentagon.

Marcus Walsh - Journalist

He has also been brazen at times, recently warning other whistleblowers like David Grusch to be careful about revealing too much, as the CIA may be plotting “to eliminate you.”

During the interview with Willis, Elizondo was unusually vague, perhaps because of a non-disclosure agreement.

However, he emphasised he was continuing to advocate for “disclosure, truth and transparency regarding the UAP topic”, while keen to add that politicians are receptive to his efforts “from an advisory perspective.”

And, for those following the UFO disclosure movement, this lack of clarity left them grappling for meaning.

A sceptical reaction

The frustrating aspect for a lot of the UFO community on Reddit is the lack of specifics, no department, project, or role description was given by Elizondo, it was literally a case of “so here I am” (his own words.)

One commenter branded Elizondo “a government megaphone,” stipulating he is “nothing close to being a whistleblower.” Others chimed in and agreed, with one Redditor sarcastically remarking “he’s the resident expert now.”

UFO community reaction to Elizondo being hired. Screenshot from Reddit.

In another post he Elizondo was accused of “dangling a carrot in front of us but leading us astray,” doubling down that he will be a buffer protecting the Legacy program (alleged government retrieval and concealment of UFO craft) “until he is old and senile.

UFO community reaction to Elizondo being hired. Screenshot from Reddit.

Another UFOer tried to break down the speculation into the three possibilities of a “slow drip” towards disclosure, using Elizondo as an obstacle to the truth, or psychological warfare in the weapons race.

UFO community reaction to Elizondo being hired. Screenshot from Reddit.

As Elizondo was quite muted, it’s too early to say if his usual flamboyant nature will come to the fore again, revealing the real reasons why he has been hired again.

Luis Elizondo on Why the Government Stopped Using the Term "UFO"

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A collapse pit on the Moon’s near side may turn out to be an entrance to an ancient lava tube. NASA has selected a project whose team will investigate this directly from the surface. If a large cavity exists beneath the pit, it could provide natural shelter for astronauts.

Artist’s illustration of the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter above a lava tube in the Sea of Tranquility. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

An Opening in the Roof of a Lava Tube

The Marius Hills pit was first spotted in 2009 in images taken by Japan’s Kaguya probe. According to later measurements from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, its opening measures between 49 and 57 meters across. It is approximately 44 meters deep from the rim and 51 meters deep from the surrounding plain.

Artist’s illustration of a lunar lava tube converted into a human settlement. Credit: Port San Antonio/XArc

Scientists consider such collapse pits to be openings in the roofs of lava tubes—underground channels through which molten rock once flowed beneath an already solidified crust. A NASA release emphasizes that the layer of rock above such a cavity would protect astronauts from radiation, micrometeoroids, and extreme temperature fluctuations.

Instruments for Subsurface Exploration

The Geophysical Investigation of the Marius Lunar Pit (GIMLI) instrument suite combines ground-penetrating radar, seismic sensors, a gravimeter, and cameras. Together, they will determine whether the pit extends into an underground cavity and, if so, how large it is.

Artist’s illustration of Artemis astronauts during a moonwalk. Credit: NASA

Project leader Nathaniel Putzig has long wanted to bring active seismic surveying, in which vibrations are deliberately generated in the ground, back into planetary science. Since the Apollo astronauts conducted the first seismic investigations on the Moon, this method has rarely been used beyond Earth.

According to the Planetary Science Institute, the seismic system, gravimeter, and cameras will be built by Honeybee Robotics, which is owned by Blue Origin. The Norwegian  Space Agency will provide the ground-penetrating radar.

A Name from the History of Astronomy

The Marius Hills lie in the Ocean of Storms and are among the Moon’s most diverse regions in terms of volcanic history. According to Universe Today, such lava tubes may have formed between 3.8 and 3 billion years ago, when the Moon was still geologically active.

Simon Marius

The region takes its name from the nearby Marius impact crater, named after the German astronomer Simon Marius. Between 1609 and 1610, Simon Marius discovered Jupiter’s four largest moons at almost the same time as Galileo Galilei. He proposed the names Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto on the advice of Johannes Kepler.

Results Even Without a Cave

Even if no large cavity is found, the measurements will help explain how the collapse pit itself formed. Its walls expose layers of regolith and solidified lava that can reveal how lava flows spread and whether long pauses separated the eruptions.

The project was one of three selected by NASA under its PRISM program for lunar surface investigations. The launch date and budget have not yet been announced, nor has the company that will provide the lander and rover through the Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative.

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AMEC forms every year in Mars’s southern hemisphere, during the spring and summer dust season, consisting of water ice suspended in the air near the Arsia Mons volcano. During its seasonal appearance, the cloud can stretch up to 1,800 kilometers long, forming in the early morning before dissipating later in the day. This cycle repeats over several months.

Exploring Mars’s AMEC

The Martian cloud has intrigued researchers since its discovery in 2018. Previous work has explored AMEC’s behavior, evolution, and dynamics, identifying it as an orographic cloud that forms around mountains and volcanoes on Earth.

Despite years of investigation, this is the first time researchers have produced a model that closely matches observations of AMEC formation and behavior.

“To create the AMEC in our modelling, we found that we needed to include some exotic physics… physics that, while included in textbooks, is treated as theoretical and usually thought not to happen in nature. It certainly hasn’t been seen in action before,” said lead author Jorge Hernández-Bernal of LMD/CNRS/Sorbonne Université in Paris, France. “Once we included this physics in our simulations, the AMEC emerged just as we hoped.”

Cloud Formation on Mars

Scientists generally expect the fundamental processes governing cloud formation to be similar on Earth and Mars. As moist air cools, water vapor condenses into droplets or freezes into ice crystals, which remain suspended in the atmosphere to form clouds. Typically, those droplets and crystals require a nucleus, such as particles of salt, pollen, or dust, around which to form. Given Mars’s dusty surface conditions, scientists have long assumed Martian clouds form around suspended dust particles.

“For the AMEC, it seems that cloud formation takes place without needing any of this ‘stuff’,” adds Jorge. “Water vapour turns directly into icy cloud particles without any middle step. It’s akin to droplets of condensation appearing in the middle of a room, rather than on a window. We call this homogeneous nucleation, and we’ve never seen it before in a planetary atmosphere. It’s wholly unexpected.”

Such a process had previously been theorized as possible on Venus or in Earth’s upper atmosphere. For it to occur, however, conditions would have to be highly unusual, with water vapor reaching extreme levels of supersaturation. Scientists therefore suspected it would be an exceptionally rare occurrence, if it occurred at all. Before this research, such a cloud-forming process had not been identified in a planetary atmosphere.

“We’ve not seen these conditions on Mars before, but our finding now strongly suggests that the planet’s humidity can indeed reach these extreme levels,” says Jorge.

Explaining AMEC and Exoplanet Outlook

According to the researchers, a combination of Arsia Mons’s height and the thin Martian atmosphere creates unique conditions conducive to this type of cloud formation. As winds push past the roughly 12-mile-high volcano, they lift pockets of moist air to unusually high altitudes. The rapid ascent cools the air by about 30°C in approximately 10 minutes, while relative humidity climbs sharply, allowing ice crystals to form spontaneously.

Although the model closely reproduces the cloud’s behavior, further work remains to achieve an exact match with observations. Nevertheless, the team considers the findings a major advance, particularly given that scientists have far less observational data on the Martian atmosphere than on Earth’s.

“Mars Express can also track how the cloud is changing on timescales of mere hours, which gives us an unrivalled view of short-lived phenomena on the planet,” says ESA Mars Express Project Scientist Colin Wilson. “Overall, this finding is a true accomplishment for the mission and its scientists: Mars Express discovered the AMEC, has followed up and monitored it for years, and is now helping reveal the secrets of its formation.”

The team’s biggest takeaway is that atmospheric processes on other planets may behave quite differently from those commonly observed on Earth, potentially requiring unusual physical conditions to explain their behavior.

“While clouds on Earth and Mars seem to be governed by the same ‘rules’, Wilson concluded, “understanding this exotic Martian cloud required exotic physics – and this may be true elsewhere in the cosmos.”

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

Forget stone tools! Neanderthals were master woodworkers who crafted spears, trays and even tripods, scientists discover

By WILIAM HUNTER, SENIOR SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY REPORTER

Neanderthals might be famous for their use of sophisticated stone tools, but new evidence suggests that they were also accomplished carpenters.

Archaeologists investigating the site of Abric Romaní in Spain discovered evidence of wooden tools, structures, and woodworking dating from 40,000 to 62,000 years ago.

The researchers uncovered the imprints and charred remains of 13 objects ranging from spears and a club to trays and tripods.

It appears that Neanderthals even specifically sought out different types of wood for different applications, displaying a surprising level of technical know-how.

A collection of small trays, for example, were shaped from the flexible bark of the juniper tree – perfect for lightweight, flexible equipment.

Meanwhile, the Neanderthal carpenters sought out Scots pine for their harder-wearing tools, selecting a wood which is 'relatively compact and resistant, yet easy to work with'.

In their paper, published in Science Advances, the researchers say that this small collection of artefacts shows 'a remarkable technological versatility and the diversified exploitation of wood as a raw material'.

Archaeologists have uncovered wooden tools created by Neanderthals, including a club that could have been used as a weapon in war or hunting. Pictured: The preserved impression of a club in the ground and a model of what it would have looked like

The remains of wooden tools were found in the Abric Romaní, an enormous sheltered area covering more than 300 metres squared, where our ancient relatives once took shelter

Researchers also discovered trays, expertly shaped from the light, flexible bark of mulbury trees

(pictured) 

The Abric Romaní is an important archaeological site tucked beneath a dense limestone cliff known as Cinglera del Capelló.

It comprises an enormous sheltered area covering more than 300m squared, where our ancient relatives once took refuge.

In the Middle Palaeolithic period, 300,000 to 30,000 years ago, the site was a vital corridor connecting inland Catalonia with the coast, attracting both Neanderthals and early Homo sapiens.

Excavations began in 1983, but what makes this site so important is the fact that it is one of the few places to preserve evidence of ancient woodwork.

Scientists have observed that even our distant primate relatives, such as chimpanzees, are capable of using simple wooden tools to crack nuts or catch ants.

This means that the evolution of wooden technology likely plays an extremely important role in the development of human society.

However, unlike stone tools which can survive for millennia, wood rapidly breaks down and decays, making evidence extremely rare.

Luckily, at Abric Romaní, researchers have found charred remains preserved by carbonisation and imprints preserved by a process called travertine incrustation.

The wooden works were mainly found as impressions in the surrounding ground, preserved through a process called travertine incrustation

Archaeologists say that Neanderthals could have used the club and wooden spear to hunt down animals such as deer and horses

(artist's impression) 

This is a process by which calcium carbonate from the surrounding rock builds up in a layer around the wooden artefact as it slowly decays.

This leaves an impression on the rock which can preserve fine details, even down to the cellular level.

Using these remains, archaeologists have found extensive evidence of Neanderthal woodwork at the site, spanning a period of 22,000 years.

Some of the simplest are a collection of wooden trays crafted from bark that have been preserved in a carbonised state.

The researcher suggests that these may have 'functioned as containers for transporting food or as scoops or ladles, perhaps for collecting embers or ashes'.

The excavations have also revealed a collection of pointed sticks that appear to bear the marks of deliberate shaping.

These sticks could have been used as spears for hunting, fishing and warfare, or as simple tools for digging holes.

However, the archaeologists also uncovered evidence of more elaborate woodwork, including structural features.

In one part of the site, researchers found fragments of three sticks, each over a metre in length, that likely came together to form an elevated structure or tripod that could have been used in food processing.

In another, the team found a 16.7-feet-long (5.1m) tree that had been stripped of its branches, apparently intended to function as a 'structural element and as part of a resting area'.

Neanderthals also appear to have carved large pieces of wood to create structures, either for shelter or to help with processing food 

But the most advanced object of all is a unique wooden club carved from a single piece of wood.

Shaped almost like a kitchen knife, the club features a clear handle and head section that show a 'deliberate and technically controlled shaping process'.

The handle is wider towards the bottom end, making it more secure in the hand during a swing, and there is a sharp transition between handle and head which would have stopped the hand from slipping on impact.

Likewise, the 'blade' section is carefully tapered to a point to form a working point.

Wooden Neanderthal clubs like this are astonishingly rare, with only one other possible example dating from around 400,000 years ago, making it hard to determine what it was used for.

However, the researchers say that its shape suggests it might have been used as a weapon against other Neanderthals or for 'dispatching' animals like deer and horses.

So, although they might have lived in the Stone Age, the researchers say Neanderthals' craftwork may have been a lot more diverse than you would expect.

The researchers conclude: 'Beyond their deftness with stone, Neanderthals had a remarkable ability to work with organic materials such as bone, shell, fiber, and wood.'

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EXCLUSIVE - Scholars hail 2,000-year-old burial chest as first 'direct connection' to Jesus: Extraordinary etching clues after owner acquitted of forgery... as DNA tests begin on ancient bones

By STACY LIBERATORE, US SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY EDITOR

Some deem it 'the most significant item ever found' from the time of Christ.

The 2,000-year-old limestone chest, known as the James ossuary, measures roughly one foot nine inches long and ten inches wide and bears the inscription 'James, son of Joseph, brother of Jesus,' written in ancient Aramaic. Bone fragments have been recovered from inside the box.

But the inscription has been at the center of a decades-long forgery controversy. In 2003, the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) declared it a modern forgery carved into a genuine ancient burial box.

Its owner, Israeli collector Oded Golan, who says he acquired the box in the 1970s, was accused of adding the words 'brother of Jesus.' He was acquitted of forgery in 2012, although the judge stressed that the verdict did not establish the inscription's authenticity or its connection to the biblical Jesus.

Biblical scholar Dr Jeremiah Johnston, however, points to the acquittal and the support of leading experts in ancient inscriptions as evidence of its authenticity. 

Johnston also rejects the suggestion that a Christian added the words centuries later, arguing that the practice of collecting bones in burial boxes had disappeared from Jerusalem after AD 70. 

He and a team of experts plan to conduct a DNA analysis on the bone fragments in 2027.

'If it is truly his, we are looking at the only known archaeological artifact directly connected to the family of Jesus of Nazareth,' Johnston told the Daily Mail. 

A stunning 2,000-year-old ossuary could be the first link to Jesus' family

The limestone burial chest is engraved with 'James, son of Joseph, brother of Jesus'

Golan reportedly found the ossuary in an antiquities shop in Silwan, just outside Jerusalem's Old City, near the Siloam Spring.

He paid $200 for it, and years later had one of the world's leading experts on ancient Hebrew and Aramaic script, André Lemaire, analyze the limestone box.

'Its inscription read Ya'akov bar Yosef, akhui di Yeshua: "James, son of Joseph, brother of Jesus,"' Johnston wrote in his book The Jesus Discoveries. 

'Oded had always assumed it named three generations of one family. Lemaire reminded him that Jesus of Nazareth had a brother named James.'

Johnston, who has a PhD from Middlesex University in the UK and studied the James ossuary extensively, explained that the box fits a burial custom practiced in first-century Jerusalem: Families placed the deceased in a tomb, then returned about a year later to collect the bones and transfer them into a limestone ossuary.

James, Joseph and Jesus were all common names at the time. But Johnston argued that naming a brother makes this inscription particularly significant.

Of roughly 900 ossuaries in the catalog he cites, only about a quarter carry inscriptions, and Johnston said just one other names a brother. He believes the unusual addition suggests that the brother was a prominent figure.

Johnston also pointed to the first-century Jewish historian Josephus, who recorded the stoning of James, identified as 'the brother of Jesus who was called the Christ,' in AD 62.

According to the Bible, Jesus' brother, James, did not believe he was the Messiah throughout their lives

Some experts believe 'brother of Jesus' was added later as a forgery

Dr Jeremiah Johnston and a team of experts plan to conduct a DNA analysis on the bone fragments recovered from the ossuary

'If James died in AD 62, custom says his bones were gathered about a year later, around AD 63,' Johnston said. 'That is precisely the window the ossuary’s style and epigraphy point to.'

Early examinations by two Geological Survey of Israel researchers supported the case for authenticity. 

However, the agency later endorsed findings that the mineral coating inside the inscription could not have formed under the region's natural conditions, highlighting the scientific disagreement.

The ossuary went on public display in 2002, attracting international attention and scrutiny from the IAA.

Golan was subsequently accused of adding 'brother of Jesus' to an ancient inscription reading 'James, son of Joseph,' and applying a coating to make the new lettering appear old.

'What followed was one of the most unusual trials in the history of archaeology,' Johnston said.

Experts challenged the forgery allegations, including the respected scholar of ancient handwriting Ada Yardeni, whom Johnston said defended the inscription’s authenticity in court.

A 1976 family photograph showing the box and its disputed inscription also became part of Golan’s defense. A photographic expert testified that the paper and fading were consistent with its age and found no evidence of tampering.

When Golan was acquitted of forgery the judge said that the verdict did not establish the inscription's authenticity.

Johnston nevertheless believes the evidence makes a compelling case.

'So where do I land? Exactly where honest history always lands: not absolute certainty, but historical probability,' he said.

The Daily Mail has contacted IAA for comment. 

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Mysterious NASA Mars photo fuels wild claim of a lost civilization on the Red Planet

• READ MORE: I saw unreleased UFO files at a secret meeting in the Tennessee mountains. We prayed after seeing what these 'humanoid beings' did... the world is not prepared

By STACY LIBERATORE, US SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY EDITOR

NASA's Perseverance rover is currently searching for ancient signs of life on Mars.

But an image from the robot's camera has led some viewers to believe it uncovered evidence of a lost civilization.

UFO researcher Scott C Waring shared the photo online, showing a stunning view of the Mars landscape littered with large boulders.

In the distance, however, one formation Waring believes is an ancient gateway left by a lost civilization.

Sharing a close-up of the site, he circled the feature resembling a tall, narrow doorway in the face of a jagged rock, with a dark center, tapered top and uneven stone edges giving it the appearance of a ‘portal' - as he wrote on the image.

'I found some ancient runes in a Mars photo today,' Waring shared on his website UFO Sightings Daily.

He also claimed to have found another formation supporting his claim about a lost civilization on the Red Planet. 

'A tiny doorway that measures about 7 inches high and 5 inches wide and enters a pyramid-shaped object,' Waring wrote.

An image from NASA's Perseverance rover has led some viewers to believe it uncovered evidence of a lost civilization

UFO researcher Scott Waring shared the photo online, showing a stunning view of the Mars landscape littered with large boulders, and pointed to what he said was a portal

While the formations resemble the structures Waring proposed, NASA has long maintained there is no evidence of extraterrestrial life. 

The mosaic shows boulders inside Jezero Crater, where NASA’s Perseverance rover was exploring in June 2021 using its Mastcam-Z cameras. 

It is labeled Sol 107, referring to the 107th Martian day of the mission. 

Jezero once held a lake billions of years ago, making it a key location in the search for signs of ancient microbial life. 

Waring's UFO Sightings Daily website features a range of NASA images he claims show proof of alien life.

In August, he posted a photo snapped by NASA's Curiosity rover on Mars in May 2022, which Waring and many others were sure contained a doorway.

The photograph appears to show a dark, rectangular opening cut into a rocky hill, which some observers have compared to the doorway of a primitive dwelling.

‘The entrance is approximately 6.6 feet tall and 3.3 feet wide, about the size of a doorway in an Earth home,’ Waring said.

He also included a shot of what he believes is a doorway among the rocks

He questioned why the rover did not approach the feature and speculated that NASA may have already investigated it without releasing the results publicly.

Waring did not explain how he calculated the alleged doorway’s dimensions or provide evidence that the space agency conducted a secret investigation.

Its actual size cannot be reliably determined from the panorama alone without knowing its precise distance from Curiosity or identifying a nearby object that could provide scale.

In August, Waring posted a photo snapped by NASA's Curiosity rover on Mars in May 2022, which Waring and many others were sure contained a doorway 

The apparent entrance could therefore be significantly smaller, or larger, than Waring’s estimate.

NASA has not commented on the latest claim, but the agency addressed remarkably similar speculation after Curiosity photographed another door-shaped feature on Mars in May 2022.

That opening initially appeared large enough for a person to walk through, fueling theories that it was evidence of an artificial structure hidden within Mount Sharp.

Closer analysis revealed that it measured only approximately 12 inches tall and 16 inches wide, roughly the size of a dog door.

‘The mound, on Mount Sharp, has a number of naturally occurring open fractures,’ NASA explained at the time. ‘These kinds of open fractures are common in bedrock, both on Earth and on Mars.’

Scientists determined that the earlier ‘doorway’ was a small opening created where intersecting fractures caused pieces of rock to break away. 

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The Sphinx’s secret: Egyptian monument was built from rocks filled with the hidden fossils of ancient crocodiles, scientists discover

By WILIAM HUNTER, SENIOR SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY REPORTER

The Sphinx is one of ancient Egypt's most enigmatic monuments, and now scientists have found that it could be hiding a very unusual secret.

According to new research, the legendary half-human-half-lion was built from rocks filled with the hidden fossils of ancient crocodiles.

Scientists discovered a new species of extinct crocodile in the rocks of the Mokattam Formation in northern Egypt, which are 54million years old.

This ancient predator has been dubbed Herugavialis cairensis, after the ancient Egyptian god Heru, which the Sphinx is believed to depict.

The fossil crocodile was found in the very same limestone rocks that had been quarried over 4,000 years ago to construct the legendary Great Sphinx of Giza.

And the scientists even think that the Sphinx itself might now contain fossils of these long-extinct crocs.

Lead author Dr Paul Burke, of the Swedish Museum of Natural History, told the Daily Mail: 'It could! It was built from the same rocks where Herugavialis was found, so who knows.

'What I don’t recommend is tearing apart the Sphinx to see if there is!'

According to new research, the Great Sphinx of Giza was built using rocks filled with the fossilised remains of ancient crocodiles 

Scientists discovered a new species of extinct crocodile in the 54-million-year-old rocks of the Mokattam Formation in Egypt that were used to make the Sphinx, naming it Herugavialis cairensis (artist's impression)

Co-author Professor Philip Mannion, of University College London, says: 'Given this coincidence with the famously missing nose of the Great Sphinx, we decided to name the new crocodile after the Egyptian god Heru, who was possibly the inspiration for this iconic monument.'

Herugavialis is a member of the gavial family, a group of crocodiles characterised by their long, thin snouts.

Today, there are only two living species, which are found in freshwater environments across the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia.

The fossilised skull of Herugavialis was actually discovered all the way back in the 1920s, during excavations on the Mokattam Formation.

However, scientists initially thought that the skull belonged to the 'false gharial', or Tomistoma schlegelii, one of the living species of gavials.

But today, analytical advances in palaeontology, including the use of CT scanning to look inside the skull, have allowed researchers to find key differences between the false gharial and the ancient fossil.

That meant the skull was from an entirely new, previously undiscovered species of extinct crocodile, described in a paper published in Royal Society Open Science. 

And, just like the Sphinx is famously missing its nose, the fossilised skull is missing the tip of its snout.

Scientists say that the Sphinx itself might contain more fossils of Herugavialis cairensis (artist's impression), but don't recommend taking it apart to find them

Just as the Great Sphinx is famously missing its nose, the fossilised skull of this ancient predator is missing the tip of its snout 

Even though that part of the fossil is slightly damaged, this distinctive skull shape gives palaeontologists a clue as to how the animal might have once lived.

Dr Burke says: 'Herugavialis has a long, thin snout with razor-sharp, pointed teeth, similar to the extant Indian gharial, Gavialis.

'The Indian gharial feeds primarily on fish, so we think that Herugavialis did the same. In addition, the Mokattam Formation where Herugavialis was recovered from, also preserves plenty of fish fossils, so we assume they fed on these species.'

While the gavials have now vanished from the Mediterranean, the fossil records show that these aquatic hunters once spanned nearly the entire globe for more than 100million years, with many living in shallow marine habitats.

In fact, scientists think that Herugavialis would have once shared its home with at least two other species of long-snouted gavials.

Dr Paul Burke, of the Swedish Museum of Natural History, says: 'Throughout much of the last 50million years, the Mediterranean region hosted a high diversity of crocodiles, including gavials.

'However, this diversity fluctuated over time, seemingly corresponding to changes in global temperature and sea level, before the loss of all crocodiles in this region as a result of the drying of the Mediterranean approximately six million years ago.'

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Mars mystery solved: Scientists reveal the secret behind ‘impossible’ giant cloud that appears and vanishes every day

By WILIAM HUNTER, SENIOR SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

REPORTER

Scientists have finally solved one of Mars's most perplexing mysteries: the puzzle of an 'impossible' giant cloud.

Every day during spring and autumn, a vast trail of frozen water vapour emerges downwind of the Red Planet's 12.5-mile-tall (20km) Arsia Mons volcano.

The cloud forms, grows, and fades on a daily basis, reaching an astonishing length of 1,120 miles (1,800km) – nearly twice the length of the UK – before vanishing just as fast.

Known as the Arsia Mons Elongated Cloud (AMEC), this seemingly impossible behaviour has baffled scientists since it was first spotted in 2018.

Now, experts say this bizarre formation may be due to some very 'exotic' physics.

Lead author Dr Jorge Hernández-Bernal, of Sorbonne University, says: 'To create the AMEC in our modelling, we found that we needed to include some exotic physics… physics that, while included in textbooks, is treated as theoretical and usually thought not to happen in nature.

'Once we included this physics in our simulations, the AMEC emerged just as we hoped.'

Scientists have finally solved the mystery of a giant cloud which forms every day downwind of Mars' 12.5-mile-tall (20km) Arsia Mons volcano

The cloud forms, grows, and fades on a daily basis, reaching an astonishing length of 1,120 miles (1,800km) before vanishing just as fast

Scientists now believe the cloud forms due to a piece of 'exotic' physics known as homogeneous nucleation, which allows water droplets to condense without any particles to form around 

Scientists have a solid understanding of Mars' atmosphere and about the processes which form clouds, but AMEC stands out as exceptionally odd.

Dr Hernández-Bernal told the Daily Mail: 'What made it difficult to understand is that it seems to form the long tail by expansion from the origin point next to Arsia Mons, but given its high altitude it cannot be the result of the transport of water from the surface.

'Variations of temperature need to be the main driver, but in such a case we would usually expect the cloud to disappear when temperatures rise again after the starting point next to Arsia Mons.'

Likewise, when scientists tried to recreate the AMEC in a computer simulation, they couldn't get it to match the real-life observations made by the European Space Agency’s Mars Express orbiter.

On Earth, clouds form through a process known as heterogeneous nucleation, which involves water vapour condensing around a little speck of material in the atmosphere.

This could be a piece of pollen, a grain of salt, soot or, in the case of Mars, dust swept up from deserts below.

But that doesn't seem to be the case with the massive cloud that forms daily around Arsia Mons.

Instead, in a paper published in Nature Geoscience, scientists suggest that droplets in the AMEC condense without any particles at all to form around.

Dr Hernández-Bernal says: 'Water vapour turns directly into icy cloud particles without any middle step. It’s akin to droplets of condensation appearing in the middle of a room, rather than on a window.

'We call this homogeneous nucleation, and we’ve never seen it before in a planetary atmosphere. It’s wholly unexpected.'

Some scientists have previously suggested that this process might happen in the very upper reaches of the atmosphere on Earth and Venus, but it's never been observed.

The researchers now believe that the unique combination of Mars' thin atmosphere and the incredible height of Arsia Mons combine to create the rare conditions needed for this exotic cloud formation

As the wind blows over Arsia Mons, it creates a powerful wave that drags moist air up very quickly. That causes the temperature to drop and the relative humidity to increase, leading to homogeneous nucleation 

That's because homogeneous nucleation requires extremely specific conditions with extreme levels of humidity.

'In our daily lives it is uncommon to have relative humidities higher than 100 per cent, but we need around 100,000 times that for homogeneous nucleation to occur,' says Dr Hernández-Bernal.

Yet, however unusual it may be, once the scientists added this process into the simulation, their model started producing results that matched the real AMEC.

The researchers now believe that the unique combination of Mars' thin atmosphere and the incredible height of Arsia Mons combine to create the rare conditions needed for this exotic cloud formation.

As the wind flows past Arsia Mons, the bulk of the volcano creates a powerful wave that yanks parcels of moist air several miles into the sky within a few minutes.

That process rapidly cools the atmosphere, causing temperatures to drop by 30°C (54°F) in just 10 minutes and humidity levels to spike.

Those conditions allow water vapour to freeze directly into cloud particles, creating the enormous structure we can see from orbit as the AMEC.

Even though some details of the model don't exactly match the real cloud, the researchers say that the results are 'remarkable'.

Since we don't know as much about Mars' atmosphere as we do about Earth, even getting close to reality with a computer model suggests the researchers are on the right track.

And, if homogeneous nucleation really is going on in the Martian atmosphere, it might mean the Red Planet is a far stranger place than scientists had previously thought.

Dr Hernández-Bernal says: 'We’ve not seen these conditions on Mars before, but our finding now strongly suggests that the planet’s humidity can indeed reach these extreme levels.'

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

‘Earth is almost entirely in the red’: Scientists warn ‘super-duper’ El Niño is still intensifying – and could continue into spring next year

By XANTHA LEATHAM, EXECUTIVE SCIENCE EDITOR

Super El Niño is continuing to intensify, scientists have warned, with new forecasts suggesting the climate phenomenon could maintain its grip on global weather well into next year.

Experts say the event is now pushing into unprecedented territory, with vast swathes of the planet forecast to experience unusually warm conditions as the Pacific Ocean releases enormous amounts of stored heat.

The latest update from the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) predicts that El Niño will continue strengthening ahead of a forecasted peak in December.

Scientists say the powerful climate pattern is likely to influence temperatures and rainfall across much of the world in the coming months.

Britons have already been warned to expect large storms this autumn and winter, with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs urging people last month: 'If you've got a store of a bit of food that can keep you going for a while before the emergency services can get to you, you're going to be a lot better off than if you haven't.'  

The latest warning comes as meteorologists share striking maps showing large areas of the globe shaded red, indicating a heightened likelihood of above-average temperatures.

This map suggest Earth's climate engine is running hot, with unusually warm conditions forecast across much of the globe during the coming months as the powerful El Niño gathers strength. Pictured: The probability of above-average temperatures in November

Forecasters expect Super El Niño to peak in December and remain strong into the spring of next year

According to the WMO, there is a near-100 per cent chance that El Niño will persist through February next year.

US meteorologist Ryan Maue described the outlook in a post on X, writing: ‘New maps show Earth almost entirely in the red.

‘El Niño continues at 'maximum power' into the winter with planetary heating dialled up everywhere except the United States.’

The agency says the event could rank among the strongest observed since at least 1950.

WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo said: ‘El Niño is firmly established and strengthening rapidly.’

She explained that El Niño does not create new heat but instead releases heat that has accumulated beneath the ocean surface.

‘The ocean it's drawing from is the warmest we've ever measured it,’ Professor Saulo said. ‘There is simply more heat available to release.’

The widely used Niño 3.4 index rose from 1.6°C above normal in June to 2.5°C above normal in August, highlighting the rapid strengthening of the event.

WMO forecasts suggest the October-to-December average anomaly could reach about 3.7°C, with conditions peaking around December.

Experts say the event is now pushing into unprecedented territory, with vast swathes of the planet forecast to experience unusually warm conditions

Scientists have warned that this year's 'Super El Niño' has already smashed historical temperature records, months before reaching its peak

Climate scientist Zeke Hausfather said: ‘This year's El Niño continues its climb into uncharted waters.

‘Niño 3.4 region anomalies are now at 3.4°C above normal, higher than any prior El Niño event on record.'

Climate and energy researcher Leon Simons joked that forecasters are witnessing a ‘super-duper El Niño’, adding: ‘We're going to need a bigger y-axis.’

The update also points to an overwhelming likelihood of above-average sea surface temperatures across large parts of the globe during the final months of 2026.

Scientists warn that the combination of a powerful El Niño and exceptionally warm oceans could increase the risk of heat extremes, floods and droughts in different regions of the world for months to come.

Figures show that while sea surface temperatures are expected to start to slowly decrease in early 2027, El Niño will persist well into March.

How a Super El Niño will wreak havoc on the globe

• https://www.dailymail.com/i/html_modules/2026/06_JUN/260603_El_Nino_Weather/260603_El_Nino_Weather-large.jpg

El Niño is part of a naturally occurring weather cycle called the El Niño Southern Oscillation that changes between a hot and cool phase once every two to seven years.

During the hot, El Niño part of the cycle, the trade winds that normally blow warm water from the Pacific towards Australia slow or even reverse.

This allows warm water to collect near the surface of the equatorial Pacific Ocean off the west coast of South America, driving up global average temperatures.

Scientists have warned that this year's 'Super El Niño' has already smashed historical temperature records, months before reaching its peak.

Britons have been told to prepare for a stormy autumn thanks to the weather phenomenon.

According to scientists, Britons should prepare for 'heavy rainfall and flooding' from as early as October.

'A strong El Niño is likely to increase the chances of wetter, stormier conditions for the UK from October to December,' said Dr Amulya Chevuturi, senior hydroclimate scientist, UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology.

'The North West is expected to be worse affected than the South East.'

A bit of rain might sound quite appealing following the months of relentless heat.

However, Professor Bill McGuire, Professor Emeritus of Geophysical Hazards, warns that the stormy autumn will likely be followed by a bitterly cold winter.

'Powerful El Niños typically bring mild, stormy Autumns and early Winters to the UK, followed by bitter cold, although this isn't set in stone,' he said.

El Niño Warning | Expert explains expected disruptions to weather patterns and impacts

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UFO Whistleblower Claims US Forces Had a Deadly Shootout With Seven-Foot-Tall Reptilian Aliens

Even Grusch admits he never saw the reptilians, and the Pentagon says no such evidence exists

David Grusch, the former Air Force officer behind the 2023 UFO disclosure hearings, during a recent podcast appearance

PHOTO TheBritishIntel/X

David Grusch, the former US intelligence officer who testified at the 2023 congressional UFO hearing, told Joe Rogan on 30 September that US forces allegedly shot dead about seven-foot-tall reptilian beings after a crashed craft, although he said he never personally saw them.

Speaking on The Joe Rogan Experience, Grusch described a crashed 'tic-tac' craft linked to what he framed as a clash between two groups of non-human beings. He said dead 'grays' were recovered alongside living reptilians, creatures he described as more than seven feet tall, with a gorilla-like build and scaly skin.

Those beings, he claimed, turned on US personnel, wounding and killing some before troops opened fire and killed them. He also described human-like beings said to resemble Greek gods, part of a wider set of alleged non-human types.

Grusch told Rogan the account came from a colleague, not from anything he witnessed, and he offered no physical evidence to back it. 'I cannot believe I'm talking about this on Joe Rogan,' he said during the episode. Rogan himself called the subject 'kooky talk', while allowing that 'if it was real, there's no way it doesn't sound kooky'.

The Claim That Divided UFO Watchers

Reaction inside Reddit's r/UFOs forum turned sharply sceptical rather than excited. Users questioned why Grusch had moved from pressing for government transparency earlier this year to sharing a vivid, unprovable crash story. Several criticised the account as attention-seeking or fictional, with one comparing it to something lifted from a bad novella. The shift matters because Grusch built his reputation on documents and sworn statements, not on dramatic retellings.

Why Credibility Is the Real Story

Grusch is not a fringe figure, which is what makes the latest claims so awkward. He served as an Air Force intelligence officer and as the National Reconnaissance Office's representative to a Pentagon task force studying unidentified anomalous phenomena. When he testified under oath to a House Oversight subcommittee on 26 July 2023, he presented allegations based largely on information provided by others.

Even then, he said his testimony was based on information he had been given, and he declined to share classified material when pressed. His new account, by contrast, rests entirely on what others allegedly told him.

What the Pentagon Has Found

Official findings have not corroborated the broader claims of recovered extraterrestrial technology. The Pentagon's All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office, known as AARO, published a historical review in March 2024 and reported no verifiable evidence that the US government has recovered or reverse-engineered alien technology. The office also determined that specific claims about people, locations, and documents tied to alleged reverse-engineering programmes were inaccurate.

Sean Kirkpatrick, AARO's first director, told the Senate in April 2023 that investigators had found no credible evidence of extraterrestrial activity.

What Happens Next

Grusch told Rogan to expect major disclosure before President Donald Trump leaves office and predicted a coming shift in what the public accepts as real.

For now, the story rests on a secondhand account with no publicly available footage, bodies, or records that independently verify the encounter. Readers weighing whether to believe it face the same basic evidentiary question: where is the physical evidence?

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Shooting Down UFOs Could Risk Conflict With Extraterrestrials, Durham Professor Warns

Professor Michael Bohlander says UAP should generally be treated as non-aggressive unless they demonstrate hostile intent, while acknowledging there is no evidence they are extraterrestrial

Expert warns firing on UFOs without clear threat risks unlawful force and dangerous escalation

PHOTO Image: U.S. Department of War

Governments risk triggering a conflict humanity cannot win if they fire on unidentified flying objects that later turn out to be of non-human origin, a Durham University legal academic has warned.

Professor Michael Bohlander, the university's Chair in Global Law and SETI Policy, set out his argument in a commentary titled Should we Shoot Down UFOs?, published by Global Policy Journal on 30 September.

His case rests on a hypothetical. He does not claim that extraterrestrial craft have been shown to exist, and NASA says there is no evidence that unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP) are extraterrestrial.

Call for Restraint Before Pulling the Trigger

Prof. Bohlander argues that UAP should generally be treated as non-aggressive unless they demonstrate hostile intent. Where an object's nature and intentions cannot be established, he says, the default should be protection rather than destruction. He also argues that the legal basis for attacking such an object is hard to establish.

He wrote that there is 'no guarantee' UAP would remain restrained if attacked, and that some 'may carry weapon systems equally advanced as their overall technology'. He questioned whether humanity should test them without good reason and a 'colourable case' that humans would prevail.

Prof Bohlander joined the German judiciary in 1991 and has served as an international judge at the Kosovo Specialist Chambers and as international co-investigating judge at the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia.

Real-World Encounters Cited in Warning

UAP is a term used by US government agencies for observations that cannot immediately be attributed to known objects, actors or natural phenomena. The label does not itself indicate extraterrestrial origin.

Prof. Bohlander pointed to events in February 2023, when the US military shot down a Chinese high-altitude surveillance balloon off South Carolina. Three other unidentified objects were subsequently shot down over North American airspace.

Gen. Glen VanHerck, then NORAD commander, initially declined to rule out an extraterrestrial origin for the three objects, although officials later qualified the remark. Prof. Bohlander noted that the objects were reportedly observed without an apparent propulsion system. He said recordings of pilots' conversations during the Lake Huron encounter showed uncertainty over how to classify the object.

He also cited video shown at a 2025 US congressional hearing. Republican Rep. Lauren Boebert presented footage she said was taken on 30 October 2024, showing an MQ-9 drone tracking an object off Yemen while another launched a Hellfire missile. ABC News reported that the video appeared to show the missile bouncing off the object. No one has independently established what the object was.

Questions Over Secrecy and Rules of Engagement

Prof. Bohlander wrote that the US intelligence community has an 'iron grip' on the UAP environment. He argued there is little public transparency about the rules of engagement governing responses to such objects. That does not mean no rules exist, as such guidance can be classified.

Governments have released some UAP footage and records in recent years, but he maintains that important information remains too closed for public scrutiny.

Independent assessment of the precise origin and technical capabilities of the objects cited in his commentary is difficult, particularly where key data remains classified or has not been made publicly available.

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Satellite images of NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in California captured a strange detail: the legendary reconnaissance aircraft SR-71 Blackbird, tail number 844, disappeared from an open display area near Edwards Air Force Base. The aircraft, which had remained stationary for decades as a museum exhibit, was moved into a hangar for inspection. This immediately sparked a wave of rumors about the possible return to flight of the fastest jet aircraft in aviation history.

Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird with an experimental propulsion system from NASA in 1998. Photo: NASA

NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman added fuel to the fire. During a presentation at a summit in Los Angeles, he unveiled a concept for a new aircraft with distinctive features — tail surfaces, cockpit design, and engines resembling those of the SR-71. Isaacman said that the space agency would soon once again fly “as high and fast as we did decades ago, and even faster.”

Records That Remain Unbroken

The SR-71 Blackbird reconnaissance aircraft made its first flight in December 1964 and entered service in early 1966. During 24 years of active service with the U.S. Air Force, the aircraft earned the status of the fastest and highest-flying production aircraft in the world.

Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird

In July 1976, the SR-71 set two absolute world records in its class:

• Speed: 3,529.56 km/h (more than Mach 3);
• Flight altitude: 25,929 meters.

Tail number 844 made its last official flight on October 9, 1999, after which it became part of a museum display.

Engineers’ Doubts

According to specialized publications, NASA did contact several former engineers and test personnel who had worked with the SR-71 in order to assess the possibility of reviving the project. However, the specialists themselves are highly skeptical.

Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird in a hangar before testing for NASA. Photo: NASA

Mike Relia, a 70-year-old veteran engineer of the U.S. Air Force and NASA, admitted that he was stunned by the question of restoring flight operations: “I wished them luck, but I do not believe it is possible under the current conditions.”

According to Relia, getting an airframe back into the air after it had spent 27 years exposed to open sun, wind, and sand would be an extremely difficult task.

Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird taking off. Photo: NASA

The main problem lies in the propulsion systems. Starting and maintaining them requires unique components, including the ignition chemical triethylborane, special high-temperature oils, hydraulic fluids, as well as specialized ground equipment and carts for removing the engines. Most of this equipment has been permanently lost. During the aircraft’s operational period, spare engines were also started every 180 days, while the current engines have been shut down for more than 30 years.

In addition, in 2007 the U.S. Air Force and NASA completely destroyed the remaining SR-71 spare parts, valued at about $600 million.

NASA’s Official Position

For now, the space agency is refraining from directly confirming any revival of the Blackbird. In comments to the media, NASA representatives said they appreciate the enormous public interest in the history of the SR-71, but currently have no additional information regarding the aircraft’s future.

Whether moving aircraft No. 844 is an attempt to give the legend a new life or merely a research step toward developing new hypersonic vehicles remains to be seen.

Previously, we reported on how the XB-1 aircraft broke the sound barrier live on air.

• Based on materials from firstpost.com

• Posted in News, Tech

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ExoMars mission poster

The main technological advantage of Rosalind Franklin will be its unique drill, capable of penetrating up to 2 m beneath the surface.

All previous Mars rovers studied samples taken from the surface or from only shallow depths. However, the Martian surface has been continuously bombarded by solar and cosmic radiation for billions of years, destroying any organic material. At a depth of 2 m, rocks have remained untouched and protected from radiation.

ExoMars Rosalind Franklin rover during tests simulating Martian gravity. Source: ESA

Scientists do not expect to find living organisms. The rover’s goal is to detect biosignatures: chemical, molecular, or structural traces of ancient biological activity from the time when Mars was wet and habitable.

Panspermia and Common Ancestors

One of the mission’s most important questions concerns the panspermia hypothesis. During the early stages of the Solar System, around 3.8–4.1 billion years ago, Earth and Mars experienced intense meteorite bombardment. Rocks blasted into  space by powerful impacts could have traveled between the planets.

Illustration of the ExoMars Rosalind Franklin rover together with the spacecraft and landing module. Source: ESA

According to Professor of Planetary Mineralogy Susanne Schwenzer, if Martian biosignatures turn out to be similar to those on Earth, this could indicate the existence of a common ancestor. If, however, life on Mars is found to have emerged independently, it would show that biology in the Universe is a natural and widespread phenomenon when suitable conditions are present.

Oxia Planum

The rover will land near the equator in the Oxia Planum region. This location was chosen because of its rich deposits of ancient clay, which formed under prolonged exposure to water about 4 billion years ago. Clay minerals are excellent at preserving organic compounds.

To select the exact drilling site, the rover will use an entire suite of instruments:

• a panoramic camera from University College London to analyze the terrain;
• an infrared spectrometer from Aberystwyth University to determine mineral composition;
• a subsurface sounding radar to assess rock layers before the drill penetrates them.

Independent Decisions from Millions of Kilometers Away

Real-time control of the rover is impossible. A radio signal from Earth to Mars takes between 4 and 21 minutes, depending on the relative positions of the planets. Because of this, Rosalind Franklin will have a high level of autonomy.

Scientists involved in the mission note that any evidence of life on Mars could indicate a common origin with life on Earth. Source: REUTERS

The control center in Turin, Italy, will send general instructions, but the rover will independently avoid obstacles, choose its route, and carry out drilling. Engineers are currently testing autonomous driving and soil-sampling algorithms in Spain’s Tabernas Desert, whose dry terrain closely resembles that of Mars.

Previously, we explained why humanity is searching for life on Mars.

• Based on materials from Daily Galaxy

• Posted in News, Tech

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Most planets known to us form alongside their host stars within a shared protoplanetary disk. However, while analyzing data from space observations, an international team of scientists came across something unique: chemical and optical signatures of a gas giant that formed from the material left behind after its star died.

Artist’s illustration of a possible young planet that formed after its star became the white dwarf HS 0209+0832. Credit: Snehalata Sahu / University of Warwick

This young world now orbits the white dwarf HS 0209+0832, located approximately 270 light-years from Earth. The findings describing this phenomenon were published in Nature Astronomy.

A Niobium Signature and Clues from TESS

The main evidence for the birth of a second-generation planet came from the unusual composition of the white dwarf’s atmosphere. Using the Hubble  Space Telescope, astronomers detected a substantial concentration of niobium on the dead star’s surface.

Heavy elements in white dwarfs usually sink rapidly into the interior under the influence of immense gravity, leaving only the lighter hydrogen and helium at the surface. The presence of niobium indicates that this material arrived at the star from an external source very recently. Scientists believe that intense ultraviolet radiation from the hot white dwarf is literally evaporating the nearby planet’s atmosphere, causing this material to fall onto the star.

Further evidence came from observations by TESS (the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite). The spacecraft recorded regular variations in the white dwarf’s brightness with a period of 4.4 days, characteristic of a large planet passing in front of the stellar disk.

Life from Stardust

The formation of first-generation planets still holds many mysteries, and the mechanism behind the emergence of second-generation planets is even more complex. In the case of HS 0209+0832, scientists propose the following scenario: during its red giant phase, the dying star may have engulfed a close companion, such as a brown dwarf or a small star with about 20% of the Sun’s mass.

This infall prevented the stellar material from dispersing completely into space. Instead, some of the gas and dust began swirling in a dense disk around the remaining stellar core, from which a new exoplanet eventually condensed.

The Future of the Solar System

For the scientific community, this discovery overturns existing ideas about the evolution of planetary systems. White dwarfs cool over tens of billions of years, making their surrounding habitable zones exceptionally stable. If second-generation planets can form under such conditions, they could potentially provide a refuge for life over periods far exceeding the age of our Universe.

The discovery also offers a direct illustration of the future of our own cosmic home. In a few billion years, the Sun will also become a white dwarf. Although Earth will evaporate during this process, a new world could emerge in our system from its remnants and the stellar ashes.

For now, the object near HS 0209+0832 remains a planet candidate. To definitively confirm its existence, the team plans to conduct additional observations using Hubble, Chandra, and the James Webb Space Telescope.

We previously discussed how scientists find exoplanets in space.

• Based on reporting by Reuters.

• Posted in News, Science

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Something About Russia Insisting Everything Is Fine After the Lab Leak Death Is Making Us Nervous

Shutterstock / Futurism

Last week, a 28-year-old employee at an anti-plague institute in the Siberian city of Irkutsk died at a regional hospital just two days after mysteriously falling ill.

Her unusual occupation drew an international media frenzy, sparking fears over another pandemic. The news sounded just a bit too much like the opening to a cheesy medical horror movie, with US secretary of state Marco Rubio saying that the US is “watching and monitoring” the case “closely.”

Former White House COVID-19 response coordinator Deborah Birx called the death “particularly concerning,” saying that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are “very much aware and tracking” the situation.

And something about Russian officials’ reassurances hasn’t quite quelled our fears. The deceased worker, Darya Shipilova, was diagnosed with “pneumonia of unknown etiology,” per the Moscow Times — a vague diagnosis that left plenty of questions unanswered.

It’s especially unsettling considering the lab has been studying the pneumonic plague, which develops when “bacteria spread to the lungs of a patient with untreated bubonic or septicemic plague, or when a person inhales infectious droplets coughed out by another person or animal with pneumonic plague,” per the CDC.

The Black Death, a global 14th century pandemic that’s believed to have killed tens of millions of people, included all three forms of plague: bubonic, septicemic and pneumonic.

There have been recent outbreaks of pneumonic plague in Madagascar, but there are no known cases of the country exporting plague cases to other countries.

Russian head of the republic of the neighboring Siberian region Buryatia Alexei Tsydenov at first threw fuel on the fire by claiming in a Telegram post that Shipilova had died of the plague — before adding the word “maybe” to his statement.

Many say there’s no reason to panic. Consumer safety watchdog Rospotrebnadzor said it found no evidence that any lab materials had anything to do with the tragic death and that were no signs of foul play or security breaches. Intriguingly, the watchdog confirmed that contact tracing revealed two cases of COVID-19 and two cases of rhinovirus, according to the Moscow Times — but no plague.

The World Health Organization has since publicly stated that the risk of an epidemic in Russia is low. Spokesperson Christian Lindmeier said in a statement today that “all ‌of the patients’ contacts have reportedly been identified and are being monitored for ‌illness, and none to date have shown ​symptoms of illness.”

The lab at the institute where Shipilova was employed is currently under lockdown, including 60 of her colleagues, forcing them to sleep on the floors and in chairs.

Characteristically, president Donald Trump appeared to have received some serious mixed messaging from his aides — or struggled to interpret the details for himself.

“I hate to see them having it,” he said, seemingly implying the existence of a plague outbreak in Russia, one of the United States’ biggest adversaries. “We’ll help. Everybody who has that kind of a problem, we’ll always help.”

More on the plague:

• Experts Confirm Outbreaks of Black Death, Brain-Eating Amoeba

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EXCLUSIVE - I saw unreleased UFO files at a secret meeting in the Tennessee mountains. We prayed after seeing what these 'humanoid beings' did... the world is not prepared

By CHRIS MELORE, US DEPUTY SCIENCE EDITOR

A pastor who claims he was whisked away to a secret UFO disclosure gathering in the Tennessee mountains has revealed chilling new details about the evidence he was shown. 

In May, the Daily Mail first reported that private meeting of intelligence insiders, former military and faith leaders was said to have taken place in February ahead of the government's release of its 'UFO files', a collection of declassified records concerning unidentified flying objects.

One of the supposed attendees, Pastor Joseph Zupetz, has disclosed vivid new details about what he saw, warning that the UFO files released by the Trump administration so far are nothing compared to what is still to come.

Far removed from the grainy, blurry UFO footage previously released by the government, Zupetz said he and five other Christian influencers were shown images of non-human beings that were startlingly clear and sent chills down his spine. 

The pastor said the secretive meeting, whose attendees he declined to identify, was organized by 'personnel now working within groups that investigate non-human intelligence issues involving UAPs (Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena) and reverse-engineered craft.' 

'I was shown images that some of the people who were presenting to us had on their devices of real entities that they personally took photos of,' Zupetz told the Daily Mail.

'They took images of entities standing in the woods. They were very tall, they had very long appendages, some of them almost looked, and this is a crude way of saying it, almost like humanoid squid-type things.'

Congress recently requested 46 UFO videos from the Department of War, including one that viewers have claimed shows an angel flapping its wings

He claimed that other images featured 'tall, lanky, light beings,' with some completely see-through. 

Then, after leaving the two-hour meeting and boarding his flight back to Colorado, he noticed several glowing orbs hovering in the sky in the distance.

He recorded the strange encounter and shared the footage with the Daily Mail.

Zupetz said that during the flight, the plane was shaken so violently that he and other passengers began to pray.

When they looked back out the window, the orbs were gone from their view.

'We were flying in an aircraft, and we truly had an encounter with six orbs right outside the plane,' he said.

'We began to pray, and it stopped trembling. I thought that was very interesting. Now, maybe it was just turbulence, and we had a psychosomatic episode.' 

But, according to the pastor, he is convinced it was demonic and fears the encounter was linked to the meeting he had just attended. 

'Here I am, a faith-filled believer, and I'm seeing this, and it's making me question, like, okay, what is this? Is this demons? Is this angels? Is it high-level tech?' the pastor said.

Zupetz was one of several influential faith leaders who claimed to have attended private meetings held in Tennessee in February, where former government officials warned that information expected to be released this year could have profound implications for Christian beliefs.

The Daily Mail could not confirm that the meetings took place. But the evangelist Tony Merkel told us that he helped organize the meeting and was also in attendance.

Pastor Joseph Zuptz says he attended one of three secret meetings between faith leaders and former intelligence officials who believe UFO disclosure will shake the Christian faith

Faith leaders at multiple secret meetings throughout the US were allegedly shown images of real extraterrestrials, including a squid-like being with long limbs (Stock Image)

Merkel said the idea was to bring in key ministers who have a large reach within the Christian community to prepare people of faith for the potential disclosure of aliens.

On June 12, the third tranche of declassified files was released to the public, containing hundreds of pages of documents, images, videos and even audio recordings from NASA space flights.

However, Zupetz has admitted that he and his followers have not been shocked or convinced that extraterrestrial life existed after seeing these initial releases.

To this point, only a handful of videos disclosed by the Pentagon have shown clear footage of alleged UFOs, mostly metallic orbs, flying over the planet in great detail.

However, after attending the meeting in Tennessee, Zupetz and others were convinced the slow drip of UFO content from the government is designed to build a 'normalcy bias,' making strange things seem ordinary, to set up for a potentially Earth-shattering reveal in future. 

'They're going to continue to drip these things, drop them slowly, and it's not going to be shock and awe in the beginning. And this is what we were told,' Zupetz explained.

'Eventually, they will bring out an entity, a non-human biologic that they will either have speaking or communicating with, and when they do this, then it's going to be a little more shaking.'

The Pentagon's main UFO investigative unit has claimed that most reports of mysterious phenomena in the sky have been caused by explainable things, including balloons, drones and even bird sightings. 

To date, six batches of files have been released. 

A video released in the first wave of UFO files appeared to show a glowing object resembling an 'eight-pointed star' with uneven arms that has been compared to a craft from biblical times

Yet, despite the ongoing file dumps from the Pentagon and multiple members of Congress saying more evidence of real UFOs exists, the US government has maintained that there is no physical proof that aliens exist.

However, Zupetz and other faith leaders have presented an alternative theory, calling the appearance of strange craft, glowing orbs and non-human figures evidence of 'fallen angel technology.'

The theory argues that UFO sightings that cannot be explained as advanced human technology or natural phenomena may actually be interdimensional beings described in the Bible and the controversial Book of Enoch. 

'I believe that they are fallen angel tech, or it is interdimensional abilities afforded to angels, rogue spirits or demonic powers that can manifest and appear,' Zupetz said, referring to the origins of the unexplained phenomena in our skies.

'I believe that is the big false flag thing, and the agenda they'll bring forward is saying, we originally are the ones that [seeded] you here. 

'The Bible you read is close, but it's not perfectly accurate, because now we're here to enlighten humanity, raise your consciousness, and bring you higher.'

Zupetz shared images of six orbs that surrounded his plane while leaving the secret meeting in Tennessee

Zupetz said his plane began shaking as the orbs surrounded the aircraft, and only stopped when the passengers began praying

Zupetz said believers who find themselves faced with similar sightings and questioning their faith should speak the name of Jesus during their encounters.

The pastor claimed that genuine good entities would respond positively, while deceptive ones would be triggered negatively.

The pastor also cited Steven Spielberg's latest film, 'Disclosure Day,' and the famed director's comments regarding believers in Jesus as more evidence of an ominous narrative being formed, which aligns with the Bible's darkest chapters.

During a CBS News interview, Spielberg reflected on how confirmation of intelligent life beyond Earth could affect religious faith, saying, 'The movie also takes the position of the church.

'What does this do to the fundamental beliefs that many of us have? Is God our God only on this planet? Or is God a god for every system where there's civilization and intelligent life, and even developing life?'

Zupetz said: 'When this disclosure happens, it's the narrative attached to it that'll become more and more negative towards Christianity.'

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Unreleased UFO files seen by Pastor at a secret meeting in the Tennessee mountains #fyp #viral #news

Secret Pastor UFO Meeting Was NOT What Anyone Told You

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NASA targets mysterious hole on the moon in hunt for vast underground cave

• READ MORE: I saw unreleased UFO files at a secret meeting in the Tennessee mountains. We prayed after seeing what these 'humanoid beings' did... the world is not prepared

By STACY LIBERATORE, US SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY EDITOR

A mysterious hole on the moon's surface could open into a vast underground world.

NASA has selected a project to investigate the opening, known as the Marius Hills Pit, and determine whether it leads to a cavern that could shelter future astronauts from radiation and extreme temperatures.

The project, known as the Geophysical Instruments for Marius Lunar Pit Investigation (GIMLI), will combine ground-penetrating radar, seismic sensors and a device to measure the the local gravitational field to see below the surface. 

Located in one of the moon's most volcanically varied regions, the pit is about as deep as a 10-story building is tall, with an opening roughly the size of an American football field.

It is one of about 300 pits identified on the lunar surface, some of which could provide entrances to caves formed by ancient volcanic activity. It was found by Japan's SELENE spacecraft in 2009.

The team, which announced the project on Monday, said it also plans 'to study more than the possible underground structure.'

The surrounding area has experienced a long history of volcanic activity, and the walls of MHP expose layers of regolith and lava flows that normally remain buried. 

Examining these layers could show how lava once moved across and beneath the lunar landscape and whether individual eruptions were separated by long intervals. 

NASA has selected a project to investigate a hole on the lunar surface, known as the Marius Hills Pit. The initiative will determine whether it leads to a cavern that could shelter future astronauts from radiation and extreme temperatures

NASA has tapped the Planetary Science Institute (PSI) to lead the investigation.

The American space agency said that if such a cavern exists beneath the lunar surface, it could one day protect astronauts from radiation and the dramatic temperature swings on the lunar surface.

Radiation levels on the lunar surface are roughly 2.6 times higher than on the International Space Station (ISS), which orbits about 250 miles above Earth's surface, and about 200 times higher than on Earth.

If astronauts were exposed to such levels, they would face serious health risks, including cancer, cell damage and acute radiation sickness.

Rather than relying only on observations from above, GIMLI will provide researchers with an opportunity to examine Marius Hills Pit directly from the lunar surface. 

PSI Associate Director and Senior Scientist Than Putzig said in a statement: 'It's long been a desire of mine to reintroduce intentional active-source seismic methods to planetary science, as it has essentially not been done since the Apollo astronauts conducted the first seismic surveys on the moon.

'Combining that method with ground-penetrating radar and gravity measurements makes it all the more exciting, as these methods together will allow us to get a much better understanding of subsurface properties, including the anticipated detection of a lava tube extending away from the Marius Hills Pit.'

Even if an underground cave is not found, lunar pits are valuable because their walls expose otherwise hidden geology.

Located in one of the moon's most volcanically varied regions, the pit is about as deep as a 10-story building is tall, with an opening roughly the size of an American football field

Any underground spaces connected to them could also preserve evidence of the volcanic processes that helped shape the moon. 

Gareth Morgan, PSI Senior Scientist and Deputy Principal Investigator on the GIMLI program, said: 'Confirming a substantial lava tube would give us an insight into how volcanism operated on the moon.

'Lava tubes are a common feature of basaltic volcanism on Earth, so identifying them on the moon means we could use knowledge of such terrestrial caves to better understand lunar history.' 

The project comes as NASA plans to land astronauts on the moon during the Artemis IV mission in 2028. 

When the crew reaches the moon, two astronauts will descend to the surface and spend approximately a week near the South Pole of the moon conducting new science before returning to lunar orbit to join their crew for the journey back to Earth.

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UFO ties of missing scientist who vanished days after Trump's alien files order fuel new allegations

• READ MORE: New twist in mystery of dead and missing scientists: Experts uncover chilling link that ties four unsolved cases together... as questions swirl about unknown 'mentor'

By STACY LIBERATORE, US SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY EDITOR

The mysterious disappearance of a retired Air Force general has drawn fresh attention after a UFO whistleblower made new claims about his connections.

William Neil McCasland, 68, vanished from his Albuquerque, New Mexico, home on February 27. 

His phone, wearable devices and prescription glasses were left behind.

More than seven months later, he remains missing.

McCasland once commanded the Air Force Research Laboratory, overseeing billions of dollars in military science and technology research, which has long been tied to conspiracy theories of the alleged storage of crashed UFO debris and alien bodies from Roswell.

Now, UFO whistleblower David Grusch, who testified under oath in 2023 that the US government has secretly operated programs to recover and reverse-engineer non-human spacecraft for decades, has claimed the general was involved in an effort to prepare Americans for UFO disclosure.

Speaking on Joe Rogan's podcast, the former intelligence officer linked that alleged effort to Hillary Clinton's pledge to release UFO files if elected president in 2016.

'It's very bizarre. And it's within a week of Trump coming out,' said Grusch, referring to McCasland disappearing days after the president's February 19 announcement to release all files related to UFOs and extraterrestrials. 

William Neil McCasland, 68, vanished from his Albuquerque, New Mexico, home on February 27. His phone, wearable devices and prescription glasses were left behind

McCasland held senior military research positions at both Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio and Kirtland Air Force Base in New Mexico.

He commanded the Air Force Research Laboratory at Wright-Patterson and previously led its Phillips Research Site at Kirtland.

His connections to UFO discussions attracted public attention in 2016, when WikiLeaks published hacked emails from Podesta’s account.

One message, dated January 25, 2016, and titled ‘General McCasland,’ described former Blink-182 frontman Tom DeLonge’s dealings with the retired general.

DeLonge shifted his career to push for government disclosure on unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP, co-founding To The Stars Academy, which explored UFOs and other phenomena. 

‘I’ve been working with him for four months. I just got done giving him a four-hour presentation on the entire project a few weeks ago,’ DeLonge wrote.

‘He not only knows what I’m trying to achieve, he helped assemble my advisory team.’

In the same email, DeLonge repeated the longstanding claim that material from the Roswell incident had been taken to Wright-Patterson, linking that allegation to the laboratory McCasland had commanded.  The message did not provide evidence to substantiate that claim.

UFO whistleblower David Grusch, who testified under oath in 2023 that the US government has secretly operated programs to recover and reverse-engineer non-human spacecraft for decades, has claimed the general was involved in an effort to prepare Americans for UFO disclosure 

Grusch told Rogan: 'John Podesta greenlit a... I'll call it acclimatization activity, a popularization activity. And, you know, that's why Tom DeLonge got his advisors. 

'That's why General McCasland talked to him.'

Podesta recently publicly acknowledged UFO discussions involving DeLonge and McCasland.

In an emailed response to PARADIGM, Podesta challenged Grusch’s explanation of their purpose.

‘That is probably not how I would characterize our interaction,’ Podesta wrote.

He recalled a conference call arranged by DeLonge that covered declassifying Defense Department files and reducing the stigma surrounding professionals taking UFOs seriously.

‘I have always maintained that the American people could handle the truth about UAPs and didn’t really need to be “acclimated,"' Podesta wrote.

Grusch claimed McCasland spoke with DeLonge because the former Blink-182 star could be of use. 

A surveillance image shows retired Air Force general William Neil McCasland the day before he vanished without a trace on February 27

'It was because they were given top cover to see Tom as a public figure who had the touch of the youth, rightly or wrongly,' he told Rogan.

'I mean, once again, there was an attempt, and I'm not going to judge them bad or good, but they were trying to prep the battlespace prior to 2016.' 

McCasland's wife, Susan Wilkerson, told local police in February that she does not believe there was any foul play involved in her husband's disappearance, but also told 911 dispatchers it appeared the general 'had planned not to be found.'

Local police have not had any updates in the case.

Grusch had previously claimed that McCasland was one of the officers who had been in charge of classified programs related to non-human craft recovery and reverse-engineering.

The whistleblower also alleged that McCasland had not been cooperative with lawmakers seeking to interview individuals with knowledge of America's alleged contact with extraterrestrials.

Trump Release Alien Files Push Stalls as NYT Says Panel Found 'Unconfirmed Reports'

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Is ons leven op aarde afkomstig van buitenaardse wezens?

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Een theorie die ter discussie staat
Volgens de overheersende theorie ontstond het leven op aarde ongeveer 4 miljard jaar geleden uit organische moleculen, die zich ontwikkelden van eencellige micro-organismen tot de diversiteit aan levende wezens die we nu kennen. Toch zijn er steeds meer geluiden die deze opvatting bevragen.

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Abiogenese: anorganisch materiaal als basis
Deze hypothese, bekend als abiogenese, stelt dat leven is ontstaan uit niet-levend, dus anorganisch, materiaal. Eenvoudige verbindingen ontwikkelden zich tot complexe zelfreplicerende systemen (die zichzelf konden kopiëren met behulp van grondstoffen uit hun omgeving) dankzij verschillende chemische processen.

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Proces naar de eerste levensvormen
De omstandigheden waarin abiogenese plaatsvond kwamen overeen met de vroege ontwikkeling van de aarde. Ongeveer 4,5 miljard jaar geleden ontstond de planeet, en tijdens deze periode, tussen de door meteorietinslagen gevormde kraters gevuld met water en het hete magma van de mantel, ontstonden hydrothermale bronnen die het ideale milieu vormden voor het ontstaan van het eerste leven.

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Recent onderzoek werpt twijfels op
In juli 2025 publiceerde onderzoeker Robert G. Endres van Imperial College London een wetenschappelijke studie op arXiv getiteld 'The Irrational Probability of Being', waarin hij het onderwerp abiogenese analyseert. Hoewel hij deze mogelijkheid niet uitsluit, concludeert hij dat deze theorie vrijwel onmogelijk is.

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Toepassing van wiskundige modellen
Endres gebruikte verschillende wiskundige modellen om te berekenen hoeveel tijd het zou kosten voordat uit niet-levende elementen op natuurlijke wijze de eerste levende cel zou ontstaan.

©The Daily Digest

De tijden komen niet overeen
Op basis van deze veronderstelling ontdekte de Britse wiskundige dat de moleculen die essentieel zijn voor het creëren van leven zich veel sneller tot microbieel leven hadden moeten samenvoegen dan eigenlijk mogelijk is, aangezien ze normaal gesproken zouden afbreken voordat dit zou kunnen gebeuren.

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Te lang om aannemelijk te zijn
Voor Endres gaven de gebruikte modellen aan dat deze theorie uiterst onwaarschijnlijk is, vooral omdat het proces van trial-and-error dat hiervoor nodig zou zijn veel langer zou duren dan wat blijkt uit de bekende fossiele gegevens.

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Chemische reacties die leven veroorzaakten
Ook in zijn experimenten voor de studie kwam hij tot de conclusie dat de benodigde tijd niet overeenkwam, zelfs niet als, zoals abiogenese veronderstelt, katalysatoren betrokken zouden zijn die de reeks chemische reacties op gang brachten die nodig zijn voor het ontstaan van leven.

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Ongestructureerde systemen
Hieraan voegt hij het wetenschappelijk bewijs toe dat systemen de neiging hebben om chaotischer te worden in plaats van meer geordend, wat een duidelijk obstakel vormt voor het ontstaan van complexe en sterk georganiseerde structuren die essentieel zijn voor het ontstaan van leven.

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Onvoldoende onderbouwing
Endres sluit zijn onderzoek af met het in twijfel trekken van de abiogenese-theorie. Volgens hem kunnen we niet uitsluitend vertrouwen op deze natuurlijke chemische processen en toeval om afdoende te verklaren hoe leven op onze planeet ontstond in de context van de vroege aarde.

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Een grote uitdaging voor de biologische fysica
Desondanks benadrukt de wiskundige in zijn studie dat het ontstaan van leven niet onmogelijk is, maar dat er nog onvoldoende kennis is om dit volledig te begrijpen. Hiervoor zouden de onderliggende natuurkundige principes ontdekt moeten worden, wat een grote uitdaging blijft voor de biologische fysica.

©The Daily Digest

Wat als onze oorsprong buitenaards is?
Mocht de theorie dat leven door abiogenese ontstond worden weerlegd, dan overweegt Endres een alternatieve, niet nieuwe hypothese: wat als leven op aarde werd gebracht door buitenaardse wezens die de planeet aanpasten aan het leven?

©The Daily Digest

Buitenaardse interventie op aarde
"Is de aarde geterraformd of ontstond orde uit chaos onder het stille bestuur van de natuurkunde? Tegenwoordig overwegen mensen serieus het terraformen van Mars of Venus in wetenschappelijke tijdschriften. Als er geavanceerde beschavingen bestaan, is het niet onwaarschijnlijk dat zij soortgelijke ingrepen zouden proberen, uit nieuwsgierigheid, noodzaak of ontwerp," stelde Endres in zijn studie, zoals gerapporteerd door Popular Mechanics.

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Wat is terraforming?
Dit hypothetische proces, dat door sommige deskundigen wordt voorgesteld, bestaat uit het opzettelijk aanpassen van de omstandigheden van een planeet (zoals temperatuur, oppervlak, atmosfeer, enz.) om deze geschikt te maken voor leven en bewoonbaar te maken. Iets vergelijkbaars met wat sommigen vandaag met Mars willen doen.

©The Daily Digest

Al decennia aanwezig in sciencefiction
Dit onderwerp is niet alleen door de wetenschap behandeld, maar komt ook veelvuldig voor in films en boeken binnen het sciencefictiongenre. 'Star Trek' en '2001: A Space Odyssey' zijn daar goede voorbeelden van.

©The Daily Digest

Theorie van Francis Crick en Leslie Orgel
De theorieën over terraforming en gerichte panspermie (het doelbewust verspreiden van leven door buitenaardse wezens) ontstonden in de jaren 70 dankzij Leslie Orgel en Francis Crick (op de afbeelding één van de wetenschappers die hielp bij de identificatie van DNA). Zij suggereerden dat een buitenaardse beschaving die op het punt stond uit te sterven, leven op verschillende planeten zou hebben verspreid om zijn voortbestaan te waarborgen.

©The Daily Digest

Gerichte panspermie
Panspermie is een wetenschappelijke theorie die stelt dat leven de aarde kan hebben bereikt vanuit de ruimte, hetzij op natuurlijke wijze via moleculen of micro-organismen die door meteorieten, kometen of interstellair stof op aarde terechtkwamen, hetzij doelbewust overgebracht door een buitenaardse beschaving.

©The Daily Digest

Een radicale breuk met het bekende
"Hoewel het idee dat de aarde is geterraformd door geavanceerde buitenaardse wezens wellicht indruist tegen het principe van Occams scheermes uit de conventionele wetenschap, blijft gerichte panspermie, oorspronkelijk voorgesteld door Francis Crick en Leslie Orgel, een speculatief maar logisch openstaand alternatief", aldus Endres volgens Popular Mechanics.

©The Daily Digest

Een complexe, maar mogelijke optie
In dit opzicht onderschrijft Endres deze theorie met enige terughoudendheid. In zijn studie maakt hij duidelijk dat, hoewel een buitenaardse oorsprong van het leven onwaarschijnlijk is, het technisch gezien niet onmogelijk is en daarom niet volledig uitgesloten zou moeten worden binnen de wetenschappelijke gemeenschap.

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