Will disclosure come from the sea? Newly released Catalina Island files raise UAP questions about alien life

UFO researcher and filmmaker Mark Christopher Lee believes newly released UAP files documenting unexplained sightings over California's Catalina Island could support the theory that answers about alien activity may lie beneath the ocean rather than in the skies.

UFO investigator Mark Christopher Lee

UFO researcher and filmmaker Mark Christopher Lee believes alien disclosure could come from what has been lurking under the sea.

Lee has highlighted recently released Department of War files from PURSUE Release 07 that document a cluster of UAP reports over Catalina Island, California, between 1949 and 1955.

Lee, who has made a series of documentary films about alien life, including The Rendlesham UFO: The British Roswell and The King of UFOs, argues these historical cases, combined with long-standing USO activity off the California coast, strengthen the case that meaningful disclosure may ultimately emerge from the ocean rather than the sky alone.

The Release 07 documents include Air Intelligence Information Reports and unresolved case files detailing silver "flying saucers" observed by Boy Scouts near Camp Fox in 1952, described as moving faster than a conventional jet before climbing and apparently disintegrating; a 1953 sighting of a round purplish-white object that remained stationary before heading northwest towards Los Angeles; and an earlier report of multiple objects seen singly over the island in 1949. The reports remain unexplained, although the 1953 file lists Jupiter as a possible explanation and the 1949 report states there was insufficient data for evaluation.

He said: "These Catalina files aren’t isolated curiosities. They sit in one of the most active stretches of water for USO reports on the planet. While the public focuses on the recent silent black triangle sightings, the older Catalina material points to something that has been operating in and around the ocean for decades. We’ve spent seventy years looking up. The real answers may be under the waves.”

Lee drew a direct connection to the ongoing work of retired US Navy Rear Admiral Tim Gallaudet, former acting NOAA Administrator and Oceanographer of the Navy.

Gallaudet has publicly argued that some UAP activity involves transmedium craft operating in both air and water and has testified about the seriousness of the phenomenon. He has also described proprietary high-resolution bathymetric surveys in the Atlantic that a research team believes contain features corresponding to Plato's account of Atlantis. However, the location and underlying data have not been made public, and there has been no independent confirmation that the features are linked to Atlantis.

Lee continued: "Gallaudet brings institutional credibility to what many of us have argued for years: the ocean is not a side note in the UAP question - it may be central. If his team is mapping sites that align with ancient descriptions while the government is releasing decades-old Catalina reports that never got properly investigated, the two threads are pointing in the same direction. Disclosure might not arrive as a press conference about the sky. It might arrive when we finally start looking seriously at what’s under the water.”

Lee noted that previous AARO historical reviews found no confirmed evidence of extraterrestrial technology, and that the Catalina cases, like other unresolved UAP reports, remain subjects of uncertainty. AARO's 2024 historical report found no evidence that any US government investigation or official review had confirmed a UAP sighting represented extraterrestrial technology, while noting that many reports remained unresolved.

He has called for independent oceanographic and archival follow-up on the Catalina cluster, greater attention to USO data, and transparency around any government or private surveys of anomalous underwater features.

• The full PURSUE Release 07 files are available at war.gov/UFO.

RELATED

{ https://bangpremier.com/feeds/top-stories/MzQ0LDM0NQ== }

A visual representation of an unidentified flying object released by the FBI on Oct. 23, 2026, with a red circle annotation by Gizmodo

© FBI

Earlier this year, federal agents somewhere in the western U.S. observed a mysterious triangular aircraft hovering over an unnamed site that’s sensitive to national security, according to new documents released by the Pentagon. The matte black craft was completely silent and zipped around as fast as a fighter jet, according to a witness, who described it as “resembling a delta wing drone.”

The craft was estimated to be somewhere between 13 and 15 feet in wingspan with a 6-9 foot fuselage length, according to the Department of Defense document made public Friday. The vertical thickness of the craft was estimated to be, at most, just one or two feet, according to the Department of Defense.

“The unidentified craft maintained a completely fixed horizontal alignment [which] did not tilt, sway, or wobble during the controlled vertical ascent of approximately ten seconds,” the DOD report explains. “It climbed to an altitude of an estimated 200 to 300 feet above the local ridge line. Upon reaching this altitude, the craft instantaneously arrested all vertical motion and entered a stable hover for an estimated twenty seconds.”

The craft then “transitioned from a zero-velocity state directly into high-speed horizontal flight,” and managed to execute “a fluid banking maneuver and terrain-hugging descent into a canyon drainage in approximately two to three seconds.” The report notes that once the craft was banking, its “silhouette appeared to flatten and present as a more triangle.”

The FBI report on the incident includes nine images, which feature landscape photos and a black triangle that moves when they’re viewed together as though part of a flipbook. The report doesn’t indicate whether the images are authentic photos or artistic renditions.

Gizmodo ran the images through SynthID.com, which is used to detect invisible watermarks when an image is made with AI image tools from OpenAI and Google. The images did not contain the SynthID watermark, though they could have been made with a different company’s tools or made with basic Photoshop-style editing software.

“The two primary witnesses reported no physiological effects,” the report explains. “There were no reports of (but not limited to) disorientation, nausea, headache, dermal sensation, visual disturbance, memory gap, or other anomalous sensory phenomena. No anomalous odors were noted. No electromagnetic interference, signal degradation, or anomalous sensor readings were recorded on personal or agency equipment.”

The newly released reports are part of periodic Pentagon releases related to unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAPs), more commonly known historically as UFOs. The first releases were broadly hyped, but they’ve rendered very few answers about the central question: Are these aircraft otherworldly or simply high-tech advancements from near-peer geopolitical adversaries like China?

RELATED

{ https://gizmodo.com/tech/transportation }

Steven Spielberg Thinks UFOs Might Just Be Humans Travelling Back From 500,000 Years In The Future

In his 2023 interview with Stephen Colbert, the filmmaker considered future humans returning to study their own history

Steven Spielberg discussed UFOs, extraterrestrial life and the possibility of future human visitors during the 2023 TV interview with Stephen Colbert

PHOTO Gage Skidmore/Wikimedia Commons

Steven Spielberg speculated in a 2023 interview with Stephen Colbert on The Late Show that UFOs could be humans travelling back from 500,000 years in the future to study their own history.

The conversation addressed reports of unidentified aerial phenomena, or UAPs, in North American skies. The filmmaker expressed fascination with the sightings and concern about what he regarded as a lack of transparency surrounding them, calling for closer examination of what was happening.

At the time of the interview, Spielberg told Colbert he had never seen a UFO himself. His future humans theory was an imaginative possibility, rather than a claim that he had identified the objects or established evidence of time travel.

Steven Spielberg Imagines Visitors Studying Their Own Past

The filmmaker's suggestion recast the visitors as anthropologists. Instead of arriving from a distant civilisation elsewhere in the universe, they might be human descendants returning to examine the lives of earlier generations.

He imagined people from '500,000 years in the future' documenting the second half of the 20th century and into the 21st century. In that scenario, objects recorded by military cameras would be connected to an investigation of humanity's own past.

'And they know something we don't quite know, yet, that has occurred, and they're trying to track the last hundred years of our history?' he told Colbert.

The proposed reason for returning was historical research. Spielberg's speculation also raised the possibility that those visitors would have knowledge unavailable to the people whose lives they were documenting.

Colbert drew attention to the optimistic implication of that explanation. Under Spielberg's theory, he observed, 'we survive'.

Spielberg qualified that optimism with the suggestion that 'a certain percentage of us survive that allows these other generations to flourish'.

Steven Spielberg Considers Life Beyond Earth

The director of E.T. and Close Encounters also expressed a broader conviction that intelligent life exists beyond Earth. He presented that belief alongside a difficulty he saw in explaining how visitors could cross the distances involved.

'I don't believe we're alone in the universe. I think it's mathematically impossible that we are the only intelligent species in the cosmos. I think that's totally impossible'.

He described a visit from 400 million light-years away as seemingly impossible outside films, unless travellers could find a way to reach Earth through wormholes. Both the distance and the proposed means of crossing it formed part of his speculation.

Spielberg qualified his authority on the subject, telling Colbert, 'I'm not an astrophysicist'.

He approached the discussion as a filmmaker employing his imagination and as someone curious about UFOs. His interest extended beyond the objects themselves to questions about what information had been disclosed.

'I think what has been coming up recently is fascinating, just absolutely fascinating', Spielberg told Colbert.

He called for extraordinary due diligence over the sightings and criticised what he regarded as secrecy surrounding them. Those comments expressed his concerns about disclosure, rather than establishing an explanation for the phenomena.

Steven Spielberg Favours Curiosity Over an Alien Attack

Colbert also framed the discussion through two of Spielberg's films, questioning whether an encounter with extraterrestrial visitors would more closely resemble E.T. or War of the Worlds.

Spielberg favoured the less hostile possibility. His reasoning concerned the motives he imagined for a civilisation capable of reaching Earth, rather than any established account of alien visitors.

'I believe that if any extraterrestrial civilisation has journeyed all the way here its because of curiosity and science and its not about aggression'.

He extended that reasoning to the restraint he imagined such visitors would have exercised.

'And the fact they've been this patient with us and haven't turned the Earth into a burnt-out cinder is extraordinary – you have to applaud them'.

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

Democrats Reportedly Prepare UFO Disclosure Committee Because Whistleblowers Do Not 'Trust Another President'

Indiana Congressman Andre Carson says a key historical UAP report has been delayed for almost two years, though the proposed panel remains conditional and its scope is unclear

Indiana congressman Andre Carson has questioned delayed UAP records, as Democrats reportedly consider a select committee if they win the US House 

PHOTO US Congress/Wikimedia Commons Public Domain

Democrats are weighing the creation of a UFO disclosure committee in the US House of Representatives if they regain control in the midterm elections, amid claims a key Pentagon report on historical sightings has been held back for almost two years.

Indiana congressman Andre Carson is leading the reported push, arguing that federal records on unidentified anomalous phenomena are overdue for release.

Carson chaired a congressional hearing on unidentified flying objects in 2022. He now argues that efforts to obtain information about unidentified anomalous phenomena, or UAP, have fallen short of requirements already established by Congress. The proposal remains conditional rather than a formally announced committee.

UFO Disclosure Push Focuses on a Delayed Pentagon Report

Carson has singled out a historical records report from the Department of Defense's All-Domain Anomaly Resolution Office, which handles UAP reporting and investigations. He claims the document has been delayed for almost two years, despite legislative requirements intended to improve scrutiny of the subject.

'Unfortunately, the current administration has not been fully transparent on UAP and has slow walked several of the statutory requirements Congress established for UAP disclosure. For example, the Department of Defense's All-Domain Anomaly Resolution Office was established to receive, analyze, and resolve UAP reporting — but it has delayed the release of a key historical UAP record report for almost two years.'

The Indiana Democrat told the Post that the material should address historical sightings, the way incidents were examined and the possible involvement of classified programmes. One question is whether relevant activities were properly communicated to lawmakers, rather than remaining outside congressional oversight.

He described its intended scope as including 'how incidents were investigated, the role of classified programs, and whether relevant activities were appropriately disclosed to Congress.'

Carson did not identify the report by title or specify the deadlines he believes officials missed. Those omissions leave the precise document and the timing of its expected release unclear.

UFO Disclosure Plans Could Sharpen Party Rivalry

Although the proposed panel would depend on Democrats taking control of the House, interest in UAP records is not confined to one party. President Donald Trump has also directed federal agencies, including NASA, to identify and release government files relating to UFOs.

The Post cited unnamed Republican insiders who fear a Democratic select committee could take political credit for disclosures that might otherwise be associated with the Trump administration. Their concern relates to which political figures would oversee and announce any release, not proof that the records contain evidence of extraterrestrial activity.

A caucus and a select committee would also be different initiatives. The reported proposal includes both, but the available account does not establish their membership, formal powers or a schedule for setting them up.

UFO Disclosure Concerns Extend to the Next President

David Grusch, who has appeared on Joe Rogan's podcast, has raised a different concern about the timing. He fears a future president may be less willing to allow the release of information, expressing the view, 'I don't trust another president'.

That is distinct from Carson's stated objection to delays under the current administration. Neither concern establishes what any unreleased document contains, or whether a change in congressional control would compel its publication.

Rogan also questioned the timing of UFO disclosures in May, suggesting that renewed attention to the subject could distract from criticism surrounding the Iran War. His suspicion was not presented with evidence linking any disclosure decision to military events.

For now, Carson's proposed congressional effort depends on an electoral outcome, while the historical report at the centre of his complaint has not been identified by name or accompanied by a confirmed publication date.

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

Democrats plan UFO disclosure committee as Trump trust wanes

Locked in a big game of disclosure chess.

Blue and red chess pieces locked in UAP disclosure checkmate.

Image by Cybernews.

Marcus Walsh  - Journalist

Key takeaways

1. Democrats have drafted a plan for a House UAP committee if they regain Congress.
2. Andre Carson says the current administration has delayed legal requirements for UAP disclosure.
3. David Grusch argues UFO disclosure should not depend on one president.
4. Reddit users questioned whether either party would deliver faster UFO transparency.

A UFO flying through the cosmos.

Image by Cybernews.

{ https://cybernews.com/ }

Number of mysterious drones flying over defence bases rises as authorities in the dark

Yashee Sharma

Authorities are in the dark about who is behind the major jump in the number of unidentified drones flying over Australian Defence Force bases in what has been described as a national security threat.

Defence officials told a Senate committee the reports of unidentified drone sightings over bases have risen from 19 in 2022-23 to 204 in 2025-26.

Classic Hornets take of at Williamtown RAAF base for operation in 2014. Several unidentified drones breached the base’s airspace earlier this year.

Ryan Osland

These added to a total of about 420 sightings over the past four financial years.

In the financial year to date, which started on July 1, there has already been 42 reports.

Asked how many of the incidents were just “a silly teenager” and how many were foreign interference or espionage, the defence officials were unable to say.

“I can say we’re working really closely on the motivations,” the official said.

“We haven’t identified particular high-end concerns but we are very concerned that this is a growing challenge.”

Australian Strategic Policy Institute defence expert Malcolm Davis said the rising number of unidentified drones was “absolutely” a national security threat.

“The risk is there’s not so much some amateur flying a drone over a base creating an incident,” he said.

“It’s the possibility that you could have a foreign adversary or a terrorist organisation utilising drones to actually attack one of our bases.”

The Williamtown RAAF Base, home to fighter jets and aircraft about 30km north of Newcastle in NSW, made headlines after unidentified drones were found to have breached the restricted airspace on two separate occasions in July and August.

Defence personnel did not shoot the drones down and investigations are still ongoing to determine their origins.

Defence officials flagged the current legal framework was “not straightforward” about their powers in responding to these incidents.

Davis said the incident showed how easy it could have been to damage aircraft and infrastructure and pointed to Ukraine’s Operation Spiderweb.

The covert military operation had caused damage to multimillion-dollar Russian military assets after cheap drones were unleashed in a surprise attack in July 2025.

“Drones are cheap. They can be armed with explosives. They can do real damage,” Davis said.

At the time of the Williamtown base incident, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said it was “unsafe and dangerous” to have drones around defence airspace.

While small and relatively cheap, drones can cause significant damage and have become a defining feature of the war in Ukraine. 

AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky

“It makes no sense for that to occur,” he said.

Legislation to grant defence members the ability to shoot down any unidentified drones was introduced in October.

Shadow defence minister James Paterson said it should not have taken so many months of pressure for the federal government to finally act and bring forward those reforms.

“The Coalition has been raising the alarm on drone attacks on our major defence infrastructure for many months, particularly our RAAF bases,” he said.

Australia will spend a record $425 billion over the next decade to overhaul the defence force.

About $22 billion has been spent on counter-drone technology and $7 billion on counter-drone investment over the decade.

Davis called on the federal government to fast-track its investment into counter-drone defences.

“At the , I think that we’re only just starting to wake up to this threat and the government is moving way too slowly to remomentspond to this threat,” he said.

“We don’t have 10 years to think about a capability solution and then buy it. We’ve got to get this in place within 12 months.”

In a statement, an Australian government spokesperson said “modern threats demand modern laws”.

“Protecting Defence personnel, critical infrastructure and sensitive capabilities has never been more important.

“The legislation builds on the Albanese government’s previous regulatory changes and provides Defence with enduring authority to respond to drone incursions.

“Defence must be able to protect its people, bases and capabilities against a range of rapidly evolving threats.”

US SECURITY ALERT | Unidentified Drones Detected Over US Army Base Near Top Officials’ Residence

{ https://www.nine.com.au/topic/defence-5w8 }

Ariyuanhas & Adrieiuous — The Alleged Pleiadian Prisoner Photographs — United States — 1972

Ariyuanhas & Adrieiuous — United States — 1972

In 2010, YouTube user startraveler2000 uploaded a video titled “real human aliens” showing a series of photographs said to depict two human-looking extraterrestrials named Ariyuanhas and Adrieiuous.

The pair were described as a woman and her son from the Pleiades who had allegedly been taken into United States military custody in 1972.

The photographs were describeed as being taken by a military intake specialist.

Ariyuanhas was identified as the adult woman shown throughout the photographs. According to the account, she was between 78 and 100 years old in Earth years, although she appeared to be approximately 30.

She was described as having very light blue eyes, large pupils and slightly pointed ears. Material associated with the case identified her as a scientist and gave her origin as the Pleiades constellation.

The story stated that Ariyuanhas and her son had arrived on Earth after their spacecraft made an emergency landing while they were searching for Adrieiuous’ father. The pair were allegedly intercepted by the United States military and taken to a secret facility, where they were held separately.

During her confinement, Ariyuanhas reportedly stopped speaking and eating, although she continued to drink water. She allegedly did not request to see her son because the two were capable of communicating telepathically.

The inscribed text box reads:

SPECIES: HUMAN/CELEST
GENDER: FEMALE
STATS: 7FT-3IN/143LBS/BLUE EYES/
AGE: 78-100
LOCATION: BLOCK 9, CELL 16, BLK-SPY
ORIGIN: PLEIADES CONSTELLATION
THREAT LEVEL: NON THREATENING
LANGUAGE: NON VERBAL COMM
TITLE: SCIENCE
DATE OF CUSTODY: 05121972
CRAFT: MURCURY/STA-ELECT/DISK
REG NUMBER: 5127209016

The Arm Markings

One of the most distinctive elements in the surviving material is a series of dark markings visible across Ariyuanhas’ left forearm.

According to the accompanying account, the symbols represented a constellation of stars.

Adrieiuous

Adrieiuous was identified as Ariyuanhas’ son and appears separately in the surviving photographs.

He was described as being between 19 and 28 years old, despite physically resembling a boy of approximately eight to ten. Unlike his mother, Adrieiuous reportedly spoke with guards, ate food and participated in testing.

The story claimed that an intelligence test produced a score of approximately 210.

The pair were said to have remained in custody for approximately two years before eventually being permitted to leave in their spacecraft.

The inscribed text box reads:

SPECIES: HUMAN/CELEST
GENDER: MALE
STATS: 5FT-11IN, 89LBS, BLUE EYES
AGE: 19-28
LOCATION: BLOCK 9, CELL 15, BLK SPY

Detention Information

A custody date of 05.12.1972 was associated with the case. The surviving material does not establish whether this was intended as May 12 or December 5, 1972.

A later summary of the same account listed Ariyuanhas as approximately 2.22 meters tall, with blue eyes and an apparent age in her early thirties, while Adrieiuous was listed as approximately 1.56 meters tall and physically resembling an eight- to ten-year-old child. The same summary repeated the claim that the two had been held separately and communicated telepathically.

Provenance

The earliest source currently located for the photographs is the YouTube video “real human aliens,” uploaded by startraveler2000.

No identified photographer, original negatives, military archive, authenticated detention records or earlier publication of the photographs has been located.

The identities of the people shown in the photographs remain unverified.

{ https://alienarchivist.substack.com/ }

Steven Greer’s CE-5 Alien Photographs — Andromedan Ambassador “Bijou,” the Light Being, the Mt. Shasta Being & the Healer — 2009–2017

Steven Greer

Steven M. Greer is an American physician and UFO researcher who founded the Center for the Study of Extraterrestrial Intelligence (CSETI) in 1990. He later established the Disclosure Project, focused on testimony concerning UFOs and alleged extraterrestrial activity.

Greer also developed the CE-5 contact protocols, intended to facilitate human-initiated contact with extraterrestrial intelligence. During CSETI and CE-5 expeditions, Greer and members of his groups have produced several photographs claimed to show extraterrestrial beings.

Bijou — November 17, 2009

During a CSETI expedition at Joshua Tree National Park, California, on November 17, 2009, CSETI member Raven Nabulsi photographed an area beside the group’s chairs at approximately 11:31 p.m.

CSETI released the photograph publicly in 2010, describing the figure as an extraterrestrial being encountered during the contact event.

The original account did not identify the figure as Bijou or describe it as Andromedan. Greer later presented the same figure as “Bijou,” an ambassador from the Andromeda Galaxy.

The Light Being — February 2010

In February 2010, CSETI member Emery Smith photographed a small luminous humanoid-shaped figure during a contact event at Boca Grande, Florida. The image became known as the “Light Being” and was also catalogued in Greer’s archive as a “Crystalline ET.”

The photograph was subsequently included among the CE-5 and extraterrestrial photographs presented through Greer’s organization.

The Mt. Shasta Being — 2011

Another alleged entity photograph was presented by Greer from a CE-5 event at Mt. Shasta, California, in 2011.

Greer later displayed the photograph while discussing alleged extraterrestrial contact during CE-5 events.

The surviving presentation identifies the location and year as Mt. Shasta, California — 2011. The photographer is not identified in the source material currently located.

The Healer — May 2017

A third alleged entity was photographed by David Marconi, the screenwriter and director known for writing Enemy of the State, during a CE-5 expedition near Oracle, Arizona, held from May 23–29, 2017.

According to Greer, Marconi had a Nikon camera mounted on a tripod when the group noticed what appeared to be a red orb near an older man seated in the contact circle. Greer asked Marconi to photograph the area.

Greer described the figure as having a large head, a beak-like nose and mouth, and what appeared to be a feathery garment. He said members of the group had heard the entity moving behind them despite not seeing it with the naked eye.

Greer referred to the entity as “The Healer,” stating that it had allegedly appeared during other encounters. He also claimed that the older man photographed beside it had suffered severe hearing loss since his youth and awoke the following morning with his hearing restored

Sources

• Steven Greer — Joshua Tree, November 17, 2009
• Steven Greer — CSETI Contact with ET Being, June 2010
• Steven Greer — Light Being, Boca Grande, February 2010
• CE5 Podcast — Raven Nabulsi
• Steven Greer interview — The Healer account

{ https://alienarchivist.substack.com/ }

Salt on Ceres.

Source: phys.org

The Mystery of Salt Deposits on the Dwarf Planet

Two researchers at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) may have brought us closer to understanding the connection between water-ice activity on Ceres and its surface salt deposits. In findings published in Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets, the scientists presented evidence that previous estimates of the amount of salt in deposits observed by NASA’s Dawn spacecraft, which explored Ceres from 2015 to 2018, may have been inaccurate. The study is reported by phys.org.

Ceres is perhaps one of the most overlooked and underappreciated planetary bodies in the Solar System. This may be because, although Ceres has the same dwarf-planet status as Pluto, it is mostly regarded as an asteroid because it lies in the main asteroid belt. Yet Ceres is not only the largest object in the main asteroid belt; it also accounts for 25–30% of the belt’s total mass.

Although this has yet to gain recognition, Ceres has a layered interior, like most rocky worlds, including Pluto. Its surface also shows signs of past water-ice activity, known as cryovolcanism, in the form of several “bright spots”—highly reflective salt deposits. But what can these deposits tell scientists about Ceres’s formation and evolution?

Ceres Has More Salt Deposits Than It Appears

For the study, the scientists combined Dawn spacecraft data with a series of computer models to investigate the evolution of water-ice and salt deposits on Ceres’s surface. Their main goal was to bridge a longstanding gap between observations of these surface deposits and the processes actually taking place. Specifically, the study focused on how salt deposits form as water ice turns directly into vapor—a process scientifically known as sublimation—and whether Dawn’s data provide accurate estimates of the amounts of water ice and salt.

The researchers ultimately concluded that salt deposits may be concealed beneath layers of water ice with which they are mixed. The amount of salt could be 30–50% greater than previously estimated. They also found that landslides expose larger areas of surface ice, which then sublimates, leaving behind the bright, salty patches observed by Dawn. Some of the water-ice deposits detected by the spacecraft may therefore have been recently exposed by landslides.

A Model of Salty-Ice Segregation on Ceres

We've even seen some crazy ideas that the spots are actually electricity:

Or maybe they're just good old fashioned aliens:

NASA officials admit they have no idea what the spots are. Guesses have ranged from volcanoes to ice plumes to salt deposits. In the meantime NASA put together a poll where you can vote on what you think the weird bright spots are.

Soon, though, Dawn will get some real answers.

The strange bright spots on Ceres.  

NASA

Last year astronomers at the European Space Agency peered at Ceres with the Herschel telescope and determined that the planet is actually surrounded by a thin layer of water vapor. That means that Ceres may hold ice water beneath its surface, and lends some support to the idea that those weird bright spots are actually light reflecting off ice plumes.

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

Today, this massive feature, known as the Arsia Mons Elongated Cloud (AMEC), is better understood thanks to decades of study by NASA, as well as its international partners like the European Space Agency and its Mars Express spacecraft.

Yet much about the cloud remains mysterious. Although researchers have learned more about its unusual behavior, recent findings suggest that the conditions responsible for its formation may differ significantly from those involved in conventional cloud formation.

Mystery at Arsia Mons

Appearing over Arsia Mons, one of the Red Planet’s massive volcanoes, the unusual cloud is typically seen during the Martian spring and summer seasons and is most prominent in the morning hours.

The cloud mainly consists of water ice crystals, which the warm seasonal winds carry across long distances, resulting in a lengthy cloud that stretches more than 900 miles across the planet’s surface.

Still, many questions remain about how this remarkable feature develops. On Earth, water vapor typically condenses or freezes onto microscopic airborne particles, including dust, allowing cloud droplets and ice crystals to form.

However, the Martian atmosphere is extremely thin, and conditions at the high altitudes where the Arsia Mons cloud forms may not provide enough dust particles to support the same process. Because of this, it remains unclear whether similar processes that lead to cloud formation on Earth could be occurring on Mars, or if something entirely different causes the massive Arsia Mons Elongated Cloud to form.

Possible Answers to a Longstanding Mystery

Based on recent research, scientists now believe the Arsia Mons cloud could form, resulting from a process that does not rely on dust particles, which would normally be responsible for similar formations when they occur on Earth.

If this is correct, it potentially reveals previously unrecognized aspects of cloud formation in planetary atmospheres—a phenomenon that might gain additional confirmation from future observations of cloud formation in planetary atmospheres that are thinner than Earth’s.

Ultimately, unraveling the mystery of the Arsia Mons Elongated Cloud could help scientists refine their understanding of atmospheric processes not only on Mars, but potentially here on Earth as well.

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

Scientists have explained the Arsia Mons Elongated Cloud, a recurring 1,800 km plume that forms each Martian morning during the southern summer. Using Mars Express Orbiter data and atmospheric modeling, they found it results from homogeneous nucleation of ice crystals in super-saturated water vapor interacting with volcanic slopes. The discovery advances understanding of Martian weather and water movement, offering insights for future exploration.

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

Steven Spielberg shares his mind-blowing theory about alien life

Harriet Brewis

If there’s one thing we can count on Steven Spielberg for, it’s making space exciting.

The creative force behind everyone’s all-time favourite E.T. has shared his thoughts on extraterrestrial life and the recent spate of UFO sightings – and his theories are pretty mind-blowing.

The Oscar-winning movie maker had his brain picked by Stephen Colbert in a wide-ranging interview for The Late Show back in 2023.

And whilst the Close Encounters director admitted he’d never seen a UFO himself, he said he believed there was “something going on”.

Spielberg was referring to the unidentified aerial phenomena” (UAPs) that have been littering North American skies in recent weeks, with US officials admitting they didn’t know the origin of at least three flying objects that the military shot down last month.

"I think what has been coming up recently is fascinating, just absolutely fascinating,” Spielberg told Colbert.

“And I think the secrecy that is shrouding all of these sightings and the lack of transparency until the Freedom of Information Acts compels certain materials to be released publicly… I think there is something going on that simply needs extraordinary due diligence."

He continued: "I don’t believe we’re alone in the universe. I think it’s mathematically impossible that we are the only intelligent species in the cosmos. I think that’s totally impossible.

"At the same time, it also seems impossible that anyone would visit us from 400 million lightyears from here – except in the movies – unless it figures out some way of basically jumping the shark, so to speak, and getting here through wormholes.”

But, he conceded: “I’m not an astrophysicist. I really can’t speak the language of the people that do it so well out of JPL (Nasa’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory), but I just know – as a person that makes movies and uses his imagination and also is a person that is insatiably curious about UFOs – or UAPs – that there’s something going on that’s not being disclosed to us.”

“There’s Something Out There” - Steven Spielberg on Alien Visitors, and an “E.T.” Sequel

youtu.be

So what does he think these mysterious objects are?

"The most optimistic thing I feel about these things that we’re seeing in the skies – or the army and navy and airforce are recording on their gun cameras – is that what if they’re not from an advanced civilisation 300 million lightyears from here? But what if it’s us, 500,000 years in the future, that is coming back to document the second half of the 20th century and into the 21st century because they’re anthropologists?," he said.

"And they know something we don’t quite know, yet, that has occurred, and they’re trying to track the last hundred years of our history?"

That’s quite a thought.

And, as Colbert pointed out, the nice thing about that theory is that “we survive”.

Yes, Spielberg agreed. Or, at least, “a certain percentage of us survive that allows these other generations to flourish”.

Nodding to two of his most famous works, Colbert then asked whether the filmmaker thought an E.T. or War of the Worlds scenario was more likely if we were ever to face alien visitors.

Spielberg went for the more family-friendly option, stressing: “I believe that if any extraterrestrial civilisation has journeyed all the way here its because of curiosity and science and its not about aggression.”

He added: “And the fact they’ve been this patient with us and haven’t turned the Earth into a burnt-out cinder is extraordinary – you have to applaud them.”

Who knows, maybe one day we will.

{ https://www.indy100.com/topic/steven-spielberg }

Was a 2,000-Year-Old Manuscript Recording Jesus Rising From the Dead Just Identified?

Aris Manus

Fact Check verdict: Unverified. A written account of Jesus rising from the dead was identified in a 2,000-year-old manuscript.

The Daily Mail ran a headline this week that reads "Written account of Jesus rising from the dead identified in 2,000-year-old manuscript, study suggests." The story behind it concerns the lines on Jesus written by the Jewish historian Flavius Josephus. So, has a 2,000-year-old manuscript really been found?

This Fact Check tests only the wording of that headline. It offers no verdict on matters of faith, and the Resurrection of Jesus is not under review here. What is checked is what the study is, what the text says and how the press described it.

The short answer is that no new manuscript has turned up. The study compares known versions of a passage that Josephus wrote in the first century. That passage does record that Jesus "appeared to them alive again the third day", and the headline is right that this is a written account by a historian who was not a Christian.

Now, a researcher has identified wording in an ancient text that he argues may preserve a first-century written account of Jesus rising from the dead

What the evidence says

The passage is known as the Testimonium Flavianum, and it sits in Book 18 of Jewish Antiquities. The Daily Mail itself explains that Josephus wrote this history "around AD 93 to 94". In William Whiston's public domain translation of 1737, it begins "Now there was about this time Jesus, a wise man, if it be lawful to call him a man".

Whiston's text goes on to say that "when Pilate, at the suggestion of the principal men amongst us, had condemned him to the cross, those that loved him at the first did not forsake him". It then gives the line at the heart of the headline, "for he appeared to them alive again the third day". The passage closes, "And the tribe of Christians, so named from him, are not extinct at this day."

Here, then, is a Jewish historian writing at Rome in the first century about the crucifixion under Pontius Pilate, who names Jesus, his execution and the testimony of his followers that he appeared to them alive on the third day.

Josephus mentions Jesus a second time in his history, and in Book 20 he describes how the high priest Ananus brought before the Sanhedrin "the brother of Jesus, who was called Christ, whose name was James". This short notice of James is widely trusted, and the new study notes that this passage has drawn "almost none of the suspicion" given to Book 18, and it reports the judgment of the scholar Louis Feldman that few have doubted its authenticity.

What the study actually did

The research behind the headline is a preprint by the independent researcher Jesús Fernández-Pedrera Correa, posted on the open repository Zenodo on August 15, 2026, under the title "The Testimonium Flavianum in Four Transmission Lines: Greek, Latin, Arabic, and Syriac". It deserves to be read on its own terms, and its argument is careful.

He sets the Greek text of Josephus beside three other ways the passage reached later readers. These are the Latin of Jerome, written about 392, the Arabic history of Agapius of Hierapolis from the tenth century and the Syriac Chronicle of Michael the Syrian from the twelfth century. All four carry the appearance on the third day. Jerome's Latin reads "Apparuit enim eis tertia die vivens", and the Daily Mail gives this in English as "he appeared to them the third day alive."

In the Arabic form, as the study summarizes Shlomo Pines's English rendering, Jesus "appeared to them three days after the crucifixion, alive". That matches the third day recorded in the Greek, the Latin and the Syriac, so every line of transmission the study follows keeps the account of Jesus appearing alive again.

His wider conclusion is a strong one for the passage. He writes that the idea of total interpolation "remains poorly supported" and that the core of the passage "stands as first-century non-Christian testimony to the existence of Jesus and to his execution under the Roman prefect." He also records that the scholarly debate about the passage is "by now largely settled in favor of the third option" among the three positions he lists, total authenticity, total interpolation or partial authenticity. Partial authenticity is the view that Josephus wrote a genuine core.

Where the headline goes wrong

The problem lies in two words, "manuscript" and "identified". No copy of Jewish Antiquities in Josephus's own hand survives, which is the normal position for ancient books. The study states that the oldest Greek manuscript of the work, "Codex Ambrosianus 370 (F 128), is an eleventh-century book." That date is ordinary background for a text of this age. Like most classical histories, Jewish Antiquities reached the present through copies made by later scribes.

The Daily Mail's own article makes this clear further down the page, noting that "The study examines later copies and retellings of Josephus’s work, rather than a surviving manuscript from his lifetime." The passage itself was not newly identified either. Eusebius of Caesarea quoted it in his Ecclesiastical History around 324, the study notes, and readers have studied it ever since.

What is new in the study is therefore the argument. Fernández-Pedrera Correa reads the Latin, Arabic and Syriac witnesses together and argues that they help show the shape of what Josephus wrote.

Did a 2,000-year-old manuscript record Jesus rising from the dead? Historians are actively weighing in.

Rawpixel.com – stock.adobe.com

Where this leaves it

The headline gets the substance right and the object wrong. There is no newly found 2,000-year-old manuscript. There is a first-century history by a Jewish writer, preserved in later copies, which records Jesus, his crucifixion under Pilate and that he "appeared to them alive again the third day", together with a new study that argues for the genuine core of that passage.

For readers interested in Josephus as a witness, that is the story worth sharing. The same historian also wrote about John the Baptist, a few chapters later in the same Book 18.

How we checked this

Ancient Origins read the Daily Mail article of October 29, 2026, the Zenodo record and the full text of Fernández-Pedrera Correa's preprint, and William Whiston's translation of Jewish Antiquities in the Project Gutenberg edition. Scholars named by the study, including Louis Feldman, Alice Whealey, John Meier and Shlomo Pines, were not read directly and are reported only as the study describes them.

How we label claims: see How we check evidence. More Fact Checks: Göbekli Tepe, the Sphinx and Atlantis, the evidence hub.

• A page from a 12th-century Latin copy of Josephus's Jewish Antiquities and Jewish War, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Latin 8959 (detail). Image: Bibliothèque nationale de France, via Wikimedia Commons. Public domain.

By Aris Manus

Claim by claim

• Unverified: A written account of Jesus rising from the dead was identified in a 2,000-year-old manuscript. Reason: the study compares known later copies and versions of a passage quoted since the fourth century, and the Daily Mail itself says no manuscript from the lifetime of Josephus survives.
• Established: Josephus wrote in Jewish Antiquities that Jesus "appeared to them alive again the third day". Reason: the passage stands in Book 18 in William Whiston's 1737 translation.
• Established: Josephus also names James as "the brother of Jesus, who was called Christ". Reason: the passage stands in Book 20, and the study reports that few scholars have doubted it.
• Established: The Greek, Latin, Arabic and Syriac forms of the passage all record the appearance on the third day. Reason: the study sets out all four, from Jerome's Latin of about 392 to the Syriac of Michael the Syrian.

Sources

• Liberatore, Stacy (2026). Written account of Jesus rising from the dead identified in 2,000-year-old manuscript, study suggests. Daily Mail, October 29, 2026. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-16249597/ancient-jesus-…
• Fernández-Pedrera Correa, Jesús (2026). The Testimonium Flavianum in Four Transmission Lines: Greek, Latin, Arabic, and Syriac. Preprint, Zenodo, August 15, 2026. https://zenodo.org/records/21945637
• Josephus, Flavius. The Antiquities of the Jews, Books 18 and 20. Translated by William Whiston. Project Gutenberg eBook 2848. https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/2848

RELATED

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

She made one of her most intriguing statements during a 2020 interview with Jeremy Rys and Mark Sokol, when she said: "They are from the future. They are from here. They are you, they are me." 

She referred to what are known as ultraterrestrials, beings believed to originate on Earth, who could potentially be descendants of an ancient form of humanity, rather than extraterrestrials originating from elsewhere in the universe. 

Eskridge explained two classifications: 

• P-47: Present + 47,000 years. 

• P-52: Present + 52,000 years. 

According to Amy, these beings would be descendants of present-day humanity, living tens of thousands of years in our future. 

If her statement were true, it would fundamentally change how we understand UFO phenomena. Suppose an advanced human civilization existed 50,000 years in our future. Could some UFO sightings represent technology developed by a future human civilization? 

Instead of asking whether extraterrestrials are visiting Earth from another solar system, we would have to consider whether some encounters might involve descendants of humanity itself.  

Interestingly, during an interview with late-night talk show host Stephen Colbert, Steven Spielberg suggested the possibility that the beings behind the UFO phenomenon might actually be us from the future. That is a fascinating hypothesis, especially when considered alongside the theories Amy Eskridge discussed about ultraterrestrials. Spielberg's access to influential people in Hollywood, government and scientific circles may have exposed him to unusual perspectives and information. 

It is quite possible that, during her research, Amy discovered something significant that provided a basis for her statements and theories. Unfortunately, she died on June 11, 2022, in Huntsville, Alabama. Her death was officially reported as a suicide by gunshot, although the circumstances surrounding her death continue to raise questions and remain a subject of controversy.

 

RELATED

{ https://ufosightingshotspot.blogspot.com/ }

Nostradamus' chilling prophecies fuel claims of financial ruin and deadly discovery in 2027

• READ MORE: America could descend into chaos in minutes: Ex-FBI agents warn of 'existential threat' and reveal why families must stockpile food, cash and escape bags now

By STACY LIBERATORE, US SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY EDITOR

Nostradamus’ centuries-old writings have been linked to a chilling vision of 2027, with interpretations pointing to financial turmoil, devastating fires and upheaval overseas.

The French astrologer, who died in 1566, left behind cryptic passages that followers continue to search for clues about what lies ahead.

The latest readings suggest the coming year could bring threats to both the natural world and the systems people depend on.

One ominous passage describes fire sweeping across the horizon, leaving a disturbing scene in its wake.

Other writings have been presented as warnings of mounting debt and a potentially destructive financial reckoning.

References to an ancient power and a strategically placed city have also been linked to a turning point involving Iran.

And alongside a predicted political upset in France is a darker claim that a long-sought discovery could come at a deadly price.

However, Nostradamus never specifically named 2027 in these passages, and their connection to next year comes from modern interpretations. 

While the writings do not include exact dates, believers say a number of his cryptic passages could relate to events happening this year, from escalating global conflicts to political turmoil

The claims appear in an analysis published by Sky HISTORY, which examined whether the astrologer’s mysterious verses could be applied to the year ahead.

Nostradamus wrote more than 900 four-line poems, known as quatrains, which were published in collections called Centuries.

His supporters have credited him with anticipating events including the Great Fire of London, the French Revolution and the assassination of President John F Kennedy.

Those connections remain interpretations of his often obscure language, rather than proof that he accurately foresaw the events. 

For 2027, one theory centers on a detail in the way his writings were numbered. 

Reports have suggested that the 27th verse of different Centuries could offer clues about the year ending in the same two digits.

The numbering itself does not establish a date, but it provides the starting point for several of the predictions now being discussed.

Among the most unsettling is a passage describing fire moving across a vast area.

Among the most unsettling is a passage describing fire sweeping across a vast area: ‘Celestial fire from the Western side, / And from the South, running up to the East' (stock)

The wording reads: ‘Celestial fire from the Western side, / And from the South, running up to the East.’

It continues with an image of ‘worms half dead without finding even a root.’

The outlet links that bleak scene to destructive wildfires, interpreting the reference to damaged life beneath the surface as a sign that the devastation could extend beyond what people see above ground.

The passage does not identify a modern country or give a date for such a disaster.

But its imagery has been presented as a warning of landscapes stripped of the conditions needed to sustain life.

A separate interpretation focuses on money, raising the prospect of a crisis driven by debt.

One passage, translated as ‘copies of gold and silver inflated,’ has been interpreted as a warning of financial turmoil, alongside references to mounting debt and the destruction of financial documents.

Together, those images have fueled speculation about an economic breakdown, although that reading depends on how the centuries-old language is translated and understood.

Unlike several other passages linked to 2027, the gold-and-silver verse comes from the 28th quatrain of Century VIII, rather than a verse numbered 27.

Another prediction shifts the focus from financial instability to a potential flashpoint near the Black Sea.

In Century V’s 27th quatrain, Nostradamus wrote: ‘Through fire and arms not far from the Black Sea, / He will come from Persia to occupy Trebizond.’

Persia is the historical name associated with Iran, while Trebizond is the older name for Trabzon, a city on Turkey’s northeastern Black Sea coast.

Those recognizable locations have prompted speculation that the passage could describe a future turning point involving the two countries.

The reference to ‘fire and arms’ adds a menacing undertone, but the verse does not identify the mysterious figure, explain his arrival or place the event in 2027.

Nostradamus’ native France also features in the unsettling interpretations.

The 27th quatrain of Century IX describes a figure who will strike the ‘Dauphin,’ the historical title given to the heir to the French throne.

Modern readings treat the royal reference as a symbol for a political successor, suggesting someone seemingly poised to take power could face an unexpected challenge.

The final prediction concerns a discovery that could turn triumph into tragedy.

A passage describes treasure concealed near an oak tree struck by lightning, followed by a grisly warning about the fate of whoever finds it.

‘Beneath the oak tree of Gienne, struck by lightning, the treasure is hidden not far from there,’ reads one translation.

The verse goes on to describe a fatal injury in which a person’s eye is pierced by a spring.

The oak reference has been linked to the legendary treasure hunt on Oak Island, where generations of searchers have pursued an elusive haul.

Under that interpretation, the passage hints that the moment of discovery could also bring death.

However, neither Oak Island nor 2027 appears in the wording, leaving both the supposed location and timing dependent on modern speculation.

RELATED

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

A group of astronomers reported watching two formations of mysterious lights race silently above their observatory before one vanished in an instant.

Eight members of the Salford Astronomical Society, a volunteer-run, not-for-profit astronomy club, were said to have witnessed the encounters over Salford, England, on October 7.

The first involved glowing orange orbs moving together across the sky.

Just 25 minutes later, a different arrangement appeared overhead, this time resembling a triangle.

The witnesses described both displays as unusually fast and unlike conventional aircraft.

Their account estimated speeds exceeding 500mph and placed the closest encounter at 500 feet.

Checks of flight tracking information and a military flying schedule did not explain it, according to the report.

The report, submitted to the National UFO Reporting Center on October 8 and published October 13, describes two encounters above the society’s observatory.

A group of astronomers reported watching two formations of mysterious lights race silently above their observatory before one vanished in an instant (stock)

The first began at 7:54pm, when six orange orbs reportedly passed overhead in a V formation.

They were traveling southwest, with the witnesses estimating that the lights were approximately 500 feet above them.

The account does not explain how that height was calculated or provide a size estimate for the orange lights.

At 8:19pm, attention turned to three white lights arranged at equal distances from one another.

Their positioning outlined an equilateral triangle, with the report suggesting the lights appeared to mark the tips of a single shape.

The estimated size entered for the triangular arrangement was between 100 and 200 feet.

However, the description does not establish that a solid surface was visible between the lights, leaving the apparent connection between them uncertain.

Then, the three lights abruptly disappeared.

The witness described them vanishing ‘in the blink of an eye,’ as though someone had switched them off.

That wording describes a sudden loss of visibility, rather than demonstrating that an object physically disappeared.

The account lists a duration of 30 seconds, although it does not specify whether that applies to one encounter or the two combined.

Silence was another feature emphasized by the person who submitted the report.

Both formations were described as ‘very fast moving, absolutely silent,’ with the observer saying they did not resemble conventional aircraft.

The submission also lists pilot and aviation expertise among the observer details, but does not name the witnesses or explain their qualifications.

According to the account, the group checked flight tracking information after the sightings.

Aircraft departing Manchester Airport had been flying above the area, the witness said, but none appeared overhead at the times of the encounters.

The report does not identify the tracking service or include records showing what information was available.

The witnesses also dismissed drones, citing the lack of sound and saying no drone activity was planned locally.

They said a check of the Ministry of Defence’s low-flying schedule showed nothing planned in the area.

Those checks reflect the witnesses’ efforts to identify what they saw, but do not independently establish the source of the lights.

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

A crater near Mars’s north polar cap, imaged by the HiRISE camera aboard Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona

Ten Martian Years

Planetary scientists tracked 36 craters on the northern residual polar cap—the permanent layer of water ice exposed in summer when the seasonal covering of frozen carbon dioxide disappears. The largest craters measure up to 300 meters across, while one of the best studied is about 57 meters wide, roughly half the length of a football field. Between 2006 and 2025, the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera aboard Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter captured 228 images of these craters.

Ten Martian years passed during that period, each lasting 687 Earth days. Bright deposits changed in 32 craters, mostly alternating between expansion and retreat. Four others remained unchanged, and the authors do not explain why. The study was published in the peer-reviewed journal Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets.

Why Monitor Craters?

Mars’s northern cap consists of layers of water ice mixed with dust, reaching a total thickness of several kilometers. Planetary scientists have long suspected that these layers preserve part of Mars’s climate history, much like ice cores on Earth. To read that record, researchers need to know whether the uppermost layer is currently accumulating or losing ice.

Previous observations offered conflicting answers. Some data indicated that the cap was losing ice, while other evidence suggested that its surface was very young and had been renewed until recently.

The ice on the floors of these craters is very young, probably no more than a few thousand years old. Only a small amount has accumulated over that time. Even frost that forms or disappears during a single summer can therefore noticeably change the extent of the ice on a crater’s floor.

The Role of Seasonal Frost

When more frost covered the area around a crater, the deposit inside generally grew as well. When the surrounding frost diminished, the deposit retreated. In three-quarters of cases, changes inside and outside the craters followed the same direction.

A dune field of volcanic origin in Kaiser Crater. Frost deposits on the southern slopes create the metallic sheen.

Credit: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin (CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO)

The summer water cycle offers an explanation. In early summer, solar radiation turns ice directly into vapor. Toward the end of summer, the atmosphere cools, and the vapor settles back onto the surface. Frost covers both the plain surrounding a crater and its floor. If some of the previous year’s frost survives until the end of summer, a new layer of ice builds up on the crater floor. If not, the ice there becomes thinner.

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

Buried for 2,600 years beneath Nile mud, a massive ancient Egyptian complex was just found — from space

Satellite radar and underground electrical scans have revealed a 2,600-year-old structure at Buto, one of ancient Egypt's most sacred cities. The real surprise wasn't the walls — but what was underneath them.

Egyptian researchers have found a hidden 2,600-year-old structure the size of a football field after using satellites to peer below the ground. But what they found beneath the structure may be just as remarkable as the building itself.

The site they examined is known as Buto (modern-day Tell el-Fara'in), a sprawling mound of layered history in the northwestern Nile Delta. To the ancient Egyptians, it was the sacred home of Wadjet, the cobra goddess of Lower Egypt, and one of the most religiously important cities in the pharaonic landscape.

Archaeologists have excavated its upper layers for decades, finding remains from the rule of the Macedonian Ptolemaic dynasty (305 to 30 B.C.) and Roman era (30 B.C. to A.D. 395). But the deeper, older layers at the site — including a mound called Kom C, sitting below groundwater level in waterlogged delta clay — had stayed stubbornly out of reach. Kom C itself rises above the surface as a visible mound, but earlier excavations had reached only the Ptolemaic and Roman layers before hitting the water table.

Now, researchers have turned to noninvasive tools, including satellite imagery, to delve into the mysterious subterranean layers.

First, they turned to the European Space Agency's Sentinel-1 satellite, which can produce radar images by beaming down microwave pulses from orbit and then measuring how they reflect back; the returning signals can reveal subtle differences in surface moisture, elevation and reflectivity that can hint at buried structures beneath the ground. After looking at these radar images, the team spotted a large oval-shaped anomaly buried beneath Kom C that was 420 feet long and 203 feet wide (128 by 62 meters).

• 3,200-year-old inscription may point to a long-lost ancient Egyptian city from the time of Ramesses II
• 2 giant Ramesses II statues, one wearing a double crown, discovered by man in Egypt
• Ancient Egyptian tomb holding the king's 'keeper of secrets' unearthed at Saqqara

To learn more without disturbing the site, the team ran 15 parallel lines of electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) across an area of roughly 58,100 square feet (5,400 square meters). This technique reveals the underground landscape by passing electrical currents through the earth, measuring how they travel and creating a map that archaeologists can read.

The picture that came back was layered. Between the surface and 10 feet (3 m) down, the team found scattered Ptolemaic and Roman debris, including displaced mudbricks, pottery shards and broken limestone, which point to centuries of continued occupation and rebuilding on the site. Later residents dismantled older structures for reuse and left a scatter of displaced material behind.

 Using pure sand as a stabilizing cushion was a brilliant, deliberate tactic — the ancient builders profoundly understood their environment.

Deeper still, between 10 and 20 feet (3 and 6 m), the researchers found a large mudbrick structure from the 26th dynasty (688 to 525 B.C.), also known as the Saite period. They were able to date this discovery based on its layer, the unique shape of the mudbricks and other artifacts such as pottery, which the team dated by style and their archaeological layer, with carbon-14 dating applied to associated organic material. The large structure may be a tomb, a house for priests or a religious shrine, the team wrote in the study, published in March in the journal Acta Geophysica.

And below that, at 20 to 23 feet (6 to 7 m) underground, the researchers unexpectedly found a thick, clean layer of sand.

That sand is the discovery within the discovery, the team wrote in the study.

• 3,000-year-old burial of ancient Egyptian horse found — and a nearby stone carving depicts a captured prisoner
• 'Listen, father!': 1,700-year-old tomb discovered in Egypt contains a poem in ancient Greek and spells to protect the dead
• Ritual solstice structure 1,000 years older than Stonehenge unearthed in Czech Republic

The Nile Delta's clay is notoriously treacherous to build on. It absorbs moisture and swells, and then contracts and shifts as it dries — posing a slow-motion threat to anything heavy sitting on top of it. The Saite builders, it seems, knew this. Before laying the foundations to their structure, they packed a cushion of clean sand beneath it. This sand would have spread the building's weight, let groundwater drain through, and stopped the clay from creeping. It is the same logic behind modern load-distributing foundations — applied here more than two and a half millennia ago.

"By combining satellite radar with deep ERT profiles, we didn't just map the walls of this massive Saite-era structure — we were also able to analyze the subsurface layers," study co-author author Abdelaziz Elfadaly, an associate research professor at Egypt's National Authority for Remote Sensing and Space Sciences, told Live Science. "The detection of a significant, clean sand foundation layer beneath the mudbrick walls explains how these heavy structures survived the high water table and shifting clayey soil of Buto."

The sand layer, in effect, acts as a barrier; it stops groundwater from wicking upward into the mudbrick, which would soften and dissolve it. The sand also lets water drain sideways instead of pooling against the foundation, according to Elfadaly.

A 3-by-3 foot (10 by 10 m) excavation trench that was around 20 to 23 feet (6 to 7 m) deep confirmed the presence of thick mudbrick walls resting on that sand layer, and nearby, a spread of objects that hint at the site's sacred function. According to Elfadaly, these finds included ushabti and shawabti figurines — small servant statues typically placed in tombs to serve the deceased in the afterlife — and a limestone altar whose carved channels bore dried residues consistent with animal blood, pointing to offering rituals performed at the site. The study also noted a rarer find: a faience baboon figurine, the kind associated with Thoth, the god of wisdom.

Image credit: Abouarab et al.,Acta Geophysica (2026); CC BY 4.0

Image credit: Abouarab et al.,Acta Geophysica (2026); CC BY 4.0

A selection of artifacts recovered from the excavated square at Kom C, including small figurines and worked stone fragments from the Saite-era structure.

The Saite period was a moment of cultural revival. After generations of Assyrian and Libyan domination, Egyptian pharaohs retook the throne and poured resources into restoring Egypt's religious landscape, particularly in the Nile Delta, which had been their power base. Buto, with its deep ties to Lower Egyptian identity, was a natural focus. The Saite kings ruled from the nearby delta city of Sais, so restoring Buto reinforced their roots and their claim to the throne.

Related stories

"A monumental building of this scale underscores the Saite pharaohs' intense commitment to glorifying the Delta region," Hussein Bassir, director of the Antiquities Museum at a cultural research center known as Bibliotheca Alexandrina who wasn't involved with the study, told Live Science in a WhatsApp message. "Using pure sand as a stabilizing cushion was a brilliant, deliberate tactic — the ancient builders profoundly understood their environment."

The team is planning a return visit, this time using wider-spaced electrical resistivity surveys to reach deeper layers, along with specialists who study ancient plants and also understand how geological features changed over time, which may help reconstruct what the landscape around Buto looked like when these walls were first laid.

{ https://www.livescience.com/archaeology/ancient-egyptians }

A former astronaut reveals the reasons for his belief in extraterrestrial life and warns of a war in space

The likelihood of military conflict in space increases as competition between major powers intensifies

Washington, DC – Former US astronaut Winston Scott has sparked widespread interest with his statements regarding his belief in the existence of intelligent life beyond Earth.

He based his argument on the vastness of the universe and the enormous number of planets. At the same time, he warned of the potential for military conflict in space as competition between major powers intensifies.

The possibility of extraterrestrial life

Scott, who participated in two NASA space missions during the 1990s, explained that the vastness of the universe and the existence of billions of planets make it difficult to believe that Earth is the only place where life has emerged.

He indicated that the possibility of other life forms warrants scientific investigation and study. Conversely, the former astronaut distinguished between the possibility of extraterrestrial life and claims of alien visits to our planet.

He also emphasized that believing in life elsewhere does not constitute proof that such beings have reached Earth. Furthermore, Scott warned of the spillover of political and military tensions between international powers into space.

This comes amidst growing competition to develop satellite and related systems capabilities. He believes this race could open the door to future confrontations beyond Earth’s atmosphere.

Competition between private space companies

He pointed out that international cooperation on projects like the International Space Station

does not eliminate existing disagreements between major powers.

He also expressed his hope that space would continue to be used for research and exploration rather than becoming an arena for military conflicts.

He expressed interest in the competition between private space companies, particularly SpaceX and Blue Origin, to develop technologies for reaching and exploring the moon.

He believes that competition in this field can accelerate innovation and reduce the costs of space travel.

These statements come at a time of growing global interest in space exploration and the search for signs of extraterrestrial life. While NASA has not yet announced the discovery of conclusive scientific evidence proving the existence of life or life beyond our planet.

RELATED

{ https://www.voiceofemirates.com/en/category/science-and-tech/ }

Kurt Russell Witnessed One of the Most Famous UFO Sightings in History and Didn’t Even Realize It