Was Jesus Copied From Horus? What the Egyptian Sources Say

Osiris on a bier with Isis above him in the form of a kite, a relief in the Osiris chapel of the temple at Dendera that shows the conception of Horus.

Photo by A. Parrot, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons.

 All Fact Checks

A familiar post is doing the rounds on X again this October. It sets the Egyptian god Horus beside Jesus and lists what the two supposedly share, from a virgin birth on December 25 to 12 disciples, a crucifixion and a rising after three days. So, do the Egyptian sources actually tell that story about Horus?

This Fact Check tests only that question and offers no view on matters of faith. Its verdicts cover only whether each parallel can be found in Egyptian texts or in the classical writers who described Egyptian religion.

Read that way, most of the list does not hold up. Horus has a father in the texts, and no source saved for this check gives him a December birthday, 12 disciples or a crucifixion. Two Egyptian themes are often compared with the Christian story, a story in which the child Horus dies and is restored to life, and images of Isis holding Horus.

What the evidence says

The oldest relevant texts are the Pyramid Texts, spells carved inside royal pyramids. In Samuel Mercer's 1952 translation of Utterance 366, the goddess Isis comes to her husband Osiris "rejoicing for love of thee," and the passage then says "Horus the pointed has come forth from thee". The same lines call the child "Horus, the son, who avenges his father." Here Horus has a father.

The Greek writer Plutarch gives a later version in his essay Isis and Osiris. After the god Typhon, the Greek name for Set, kills and scatters Osiris, Plutarch writes that "Osiris consorted with Isis after his death, and she became the mother of Harpocrates, untimely born and weak in his lower limbs." Harpocrates is the Greek form of Horus the Child. A birth after a father's death is unusual, but neither text describes a virgin mother.

The Metternich Stela, a magical stela with Horus the Child, made in the reign of Nectanebo II, 360 to 343 BC. Metropolitan Museum of Art 50.85, Fletcher Fund, 1950.

Public domain 

On the question of the date, Plutarch explains that the Egyptian year ended with five extra days, which the Egyptians "celebrate them as the birthdays of the gods." He adds, "On the second of these days Arueris was born whom they call Apollo, and some call him also the elder Horus." The Egyptologist Edmund Meltzer, answering readers' questions about these parallels, gives the same day to Horus in general, noting that "the birthday of Horus was celebrated on the second Epagomenal Day of the year". He accepts that the Egyptian calendar slowly drifted, so in some year that day would have matched December 25. His conclusion is direct: "There is no way that this can be responsibly equated with Dec. 25".

The disciples and the crucifixion fare worse, and Meltzer explains that the phrase "Followers of Horus" appears often in Egyptian texts with more than one meaning, and he writes that "in no way can their religious role be characterized as disciples or apostles." On the idea of a crucified Horus, which rests on identifying Horus with a star between two other stars described as thieves of light, he calls the reasoning "Procrustean logic".

The Egyptian texts do contain a story of revival, though of a very different kind. The account carved on the Metternich Stela, a magical stela of the fourth century BC now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, tells how the young Horus "was stung by a scorpion and died". In the 1912 retelling by the Egyptologist Wallis Budge, the god Thoth then "proceeded to utter the great spell which restored Horus to life", after which "the poison of the scorpion flowed out of him, and he once more breathed and lived." Meltzer also notes that "The resurrection of Horus is an episode in his childhood". The child revives at once, with no three days.

The Egyptian god most linked with a return from death is Osiris. Plutarch says Osiris "came to Horus from the other world and exercised and trained him for the battle," and Meltzer, too, points to "the resurrection of Osiris" as one of the genuine points of comparison.

Finally, there is the image of mother and child. Meltzer writes that many Egyptologists see a similarity in some aspects, such as "the depiction of Isis and the child Horus and the depiction of the Madonna and Child". He adds only that "This might involve some historical influence". That is a likeness, indicative rather than conclusive.

The alternative view

The idea is older than the internet, and the English writer Gerald Massey set it out in Ancient Egypt the Light of the World in 1907. He wrote that "the birthday of the Messiah now celebrated on the 25th of December had been celebrated for at least 10,000 years on the corresponding day as the birth of the Egyptian" child god. In the same book he listed "the virgin motherhood of Jesus, the divine sonship of Jesus, the miracles of Jesus" among features he believed had earlier been told of an Egyptian figure he called Iusa, and he placed a rising in the underworld "on the third day."

Massey reached December 25 through astronomy, holding that a birthday of Horus on July 25 had shifted over thousands of years until it "came to be commemorated on the 25th of December", and he described a company of twelve as "followers of Horus, or disciples of Iusa". Meltzer traces the modern form of the claim to the online film Zeitgeist, whose points he says "seem to be based on a book called The Pagan Christ by Tom Harpur". Ancient Origins did not read Harpur's book or the film directly for this check, so their arguments are reported here only as Meltzer describes them. Other popular writers who are often linked with these lists, such as Alvin Boyd Kuhn and Dorothy Murdock, who wrote as Acharya S, were not read either, and this check does not assess their work.

Supporters of the comparison can point to Meltzer himself, who accepts that the mother and child images and the resurrection of Osiris invite comparison, while calling the longer list "extremely forced and sometimes entirely illusory."

Where this leaves it

The Egyptian texts and Plutarch give Horus a father and no band of 12 followers or crucifixion. They do preserve a story of the child Horus dying and being restored to life, and a mother and child image that many scholars compare with later Christian art.

Nothing in the Egyptian record bears on Christian faith, and this Fact Check makes no judgment on it.

How we checked this

Ancient Origins read Samuel Mercer's 1952 translation of the Pyramid Texts, Utterance 366, and Frank Cole Babbitt's Loeb translation of Plutarch's Isis and Osiris. It also read Wallis Budge's Legends of the Gods (1912) for the Metternich Stela story and the Metropolitan Museum of Art's record, which dates the stela to Nectanebo II. Budge dated it to Nectanebo I.

Gerald Massey's 1907 book was read in a public online edition, and Edmund Meltzer's answer to readers' questions was read only as a search-index excerpt, because the full page could not be opened. Tom Harpur, Alvin Boyd Kuhn, Dorothy Murdock and the film Zeitgeist were not read directly.

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

By Aris Manus

Claim by claim

• Unverified: The story of Jesus was copied from the Egyptian god Horus. Reason: the Egyptian texts and Plutarch do not tell most of the parallels in the popular list.
• Established: Egyptian texts give Horus a father. Reason: the Pyramid Texts and Plutarch both make Osiris his father.
• Unverified: Horus was born on December 25. Reason: Plutarch places the birth of Arueris, the "elder Horus", on the second of the five extra days, and Meltzer gives Horus that day.
• Unverified: Horus had 12 disciples and was crucified. Reason: no source read for this check records either, and Meltzer rejects both readings.
• Established: An Egyptian story has the child Horus die and live again. Reason: on the Metternich Stela Thoth revives him at once with a spell, and the text gives no three days.
• Disputed: Images of Isis and Horus shaped Madonna and Child images. Reason: Meltzer says many Egyptologists see a likeness but that influence only might be involved.

Sources

• Mercer, Samuel A. B. (1952). The Pyramid Texts, Utterance 366. Sacred Texts. https://www.sacred-texts.com/book/the-pyramid-texts/16-miscellaneous-ut…
• Plutarch. Isis and Osiris. Translated by Frank Cole Babbitt, Loeb Classical Library (1936). LacusCurtius. https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Moralia/Isi…
• Budge, E. A. Wallis (1912). Legends of the Gods. Project Gutenberg eBook 9411.
• The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Magical Stela with Horus the Child (Metternich Stela), 50.85. https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/546037
• Meltzer, Edmund S. Answer to inquiries about the supposed parallels between Horus and Jesus (2009ff). Academia.edu. Search index excerpt.
• Massey, Gerald (1907). Ancient Egypt the Light of the World, Book 12. Wisdom Library. https://www.wisdomlib.org/various/book/ancient-egypt-the-light-of-the-w…

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What really happens when you die? Scientists find 'credible' evidence your consciousness lives on after your brain shuts down

• READ MORE: I was dead for 105 minutes and learned exactly how you get into heaven... then Jesus spoke six words into my mind and sent me back

By STACY LIBERATORE, US SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY EDITOR

Your mind could live on after death, even when your brain stops working, a researcher has suggested. 

Finland-based researcher Pekka Rechardt based the idea on accounts of cardiac arrest survivors who recalled vivid experiences that an earlier review placed during periods of severely suppressed or undetectable electrical brain activity.

Rechardt reexamined a 2025 review of near-death research by a team of international researchers, who reported that electrical activity in the cortex, the brain’s outer layer, can disappear within 10 to 30 seconds of cardiac arrest.

The authors of that review, published in the peer-reviewed journal International Review of Psychiatry, argued that some near-death experiences occur during this suppressed period, when an electroencephalogram, or EEG, shows a flat recording.

Rechardt treated those accounts as evidence supporting the possibility that consciousness does not depend entirely on brain activity.

For Rechardt, the puzzle is that these experiences retained three basic ingredients of awareness: a sense of being present, vivid sensations and the ability to experience events as a coherent whole.

He argued that if those ingredients can persist without the brain activity normally associated with consciousness, the destruction of the brain might not necessarily destroy the mind.

‘This empirical consideration supports life after death being a credible option,’ he wrote. 

A new paper argues that vivid near-death experiences support the possibility that consciousness exists beyond the brain and could survive death

Published in the Journal of Consciousness Studies, the paper developed an explanation of consciousness that Rechardt proposed in 2023.

The earlier review, by Bruno Angeli-Faez, Bruce Greyson and Pim van Lommel, also reported that alpha and beta brain rhythms, which it describes as critical for consciousness, disappear within about 6.5 seconds of cardiac arrest.

Rechardt’s own explanation starts from the assumption that consciousness cannot be reduced to brain activity. He then asked how experiences fit together, even in ordinary life.

The paper uses the example of someone walking along a sunny beach, enjoying the scenery and warmth while thinking about philosophical questions.

These sensations and thoughts involve different parts of the brain, and signals take time to travel between them. Yet the person experiences them together, as one unfolding scene.

Rechardt argues that explaining this unified perspective requires more than identifying the individual brain processes involved.

His proposed answer is an additional spatial dimension beyond familiar length, width and height, from which information associated with different brain regions could be experienced together.

He illustrated the principle by considering how someone looking down at a flat drawing can see its separate parts together from a position above the page. 

Near-death experiences, the researcher wrote, may offer ‘a glimpse of what awaits her or him’ when the bodily functions that sustain human life have ended

Extending that analogy, he proposed that the three-dimensional brain could be associated with a conscious perspective in a fourth spatial dimension.

Another part of his argument concerned the feeling of being present in the ‘Now.’ A near-death experience can include memories or unfamiliar scenes, but the person still experiences them as happening within a present moment.

Rechardt argued that describing physical events in space and time does not fully explain that personal sense of presence.

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He makes a similar distinction between detecting a brain response to a color and explaining what seeing that color actually feels like.

These questions form part of the ‘hard problem’ of consciousness: why physical processes are accompanied by subjective experiences.

For Rechardt, the persistence of these familiar features in near-death accounts is a reason to consider a framework for awareness beyond the brain. However, gaps in an explanation do not establish that his alternative is correct.

He applied his dimensional analogy to death by noting that destroying a painting does not destroy the person looking at it.

In his proposed scenario, death could similarly end the connection between the brain and consciousness without destroying the framework in which experience occurs.

Awareness could then continue without receiving information through the body’s senses, he suggested.

That possibility depends on the framework existing independently of the brain, rather than being created and maintained by it.

Near-death experiences, he wrote, may offer ‘a glimpse of what awaits her or him’ when the bodily functions that sustain human life have ended.

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November #21 MUFON eNewsletter

Worldwide Number of Reports by Country UNITED STATES 254 CANADA 19 UNITED KINGDOM 16 AUSTRALIA 3 FRANCE 7 BRAZIL 3 IRAN 2 ITALY 3 GREECE 2 RUSSIA 2 JAPAN 2 SPAIN 3 KOREA, (South) 2 IRELAND 2 INDIA 2 AUSTRIA 1 INDONESIA 1 NORWAY 1 THIALAND 1 LITHUANIA PORTUGAL 1 SWEDEN 1 TURKEY 1 CHILE 1 SO. AFRICA 1 NETHERLANDS 1 SYRIA 1 BULGARIA 1 ISRAEL 1 PUERTO RICO 1 CHINA 1 KAZAKHSTAN 1 TOTAL:334 Shape of Object Number of Reports Circle 55 Sphere 49 Triangle 34 Unknown 33 Other 21 Disc 19 Star-like 19 Cigar 12 Fireball 8 Tic Tac 7 N/A 7 Cylinder 6 Oval 5 Square/Rectangular 4 Boomerang 2 Egg 4 Diamond 4 Blimp 3 Flash 2 Bullet/Missile 2 Blimp 5 Cross 2 Teardrop 1 Cross 1 Saturn 1 State Number of Reports California 22 Florida 19 New York 16 Texas 13 Michigan 12 Missouri 10 Washington 10 Pennsylvania 10 Arizona 10 Colorado 9 Ohio 9 North Carolina 8 Massachusetts 7 Nevada 6 Indiana 6 Connecticut 5 Kansas 5 Virginia 5 Kentucky 5 Georgia 5 New Jersey 5 Illinois 5 Tennessee 5 Oklahoma 4 Oregon 4 South Carolina 4 Arkansas 4 Minnesota 4 Alabama 3 Wisconsin 3 Idaho 3 Wyoming 3 Iowa 2 Utah 2 Montana 2 Maine 2 New Mexico 2 Delaware 1 Nebraska 1 West Virginia 1 Maryland 1 Rhode Island 1 Distance from Witness Number of Reports < 100 ft - 37 101-500 ft - 26 501 ft - 1 Mile - 50 Over 1 Mile - 65 Unknown - 41 NO VALUE - 24 Most impressively there were 10 Landings, Hovering, or Takeoffs reported and 20 Entities observed.  ERT Number of abduction (ERT) cases submitted with Experiencer Questionnaires were 58.

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Science Behind the Forecast: The cloud that can look like a UFO

Lenticular clouds can look like a UFO

Every week WAVE 3 meteorologist Tawana Andrew breaks down what we know and what we don't about the climate and weather here in Louisville.

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According to Jacques Vallée, a renowned computer scientist and ufologist, these entities may not necessarily be extraterrestrial in origin but could belong to a reality operating under different physical laws. 

These bioforms, or living entities, are not only observed floating in our skies but also, for example, orbiting the Moon, potentially inhabiting the vast expanses of free space and the cosmic void. 

The next video has been circulating since around June 15, 2026 (attributed to Sara Jane Osborn and reportedly filmed over the Anchorage/Eagle River area near Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson). It appears to show a possible jellyfish-like bioform drifting slowly against the backdrop of a mountain. 

Now, for example, compare this jellyfish anomaly with jellyfish found in the oceans. They are among the oldest life forms on Earth, having existed for at least 500 million years. They are remarkable creatures because they have no brain, heart, or bones and they move by rhythmically contracting their bodies, but they also drift along with ocean currents. 

Could it then be possible that the anomaly captured in this video is indeed a bioform, similar to the jellyfish that have existed in our oceans for at least 500 million years, but instead of living in water, it exists in the vast expanses of open space and the cosmic void? Like its ocean-dwelling counterparts, could it move by rhythmically contracting its body while drifting along with the wind, as the anomaly appears to do in the video?

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The ozone hole is at its largest in a DECADE: Opening over Antarctica reaches 9.6 million square miles – more than twice the area of the United States, NASA warns

By SHIVALI BEST, SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY EDITOR

The ozone hole is at its largest in a decade, thanks to 'atypical weather conditions' over Antarctica, NOAA and NASA scientists have revealed. 

At its peak, between September 7 and October 13, the hole stretched to 9.6 million square miles (25 million square kilometres). 

To put that into perspective, that is more than twice the area of the United States. 

Scientists say the hole – which is the seventh largest in 48 years of recording – is being fuelled by the powerful polar vortex. 

'The annual ozone hole has been forming later in the season in recent years, which tells us the ozone layer is healing,' explained Paul Newman, a senior scientist at the University of Maryland and leader of NASA's ozone research team. 

'But an unusually powerful polar vortex has extended ozone depletion in the Antarctic this season, allowing the hole to grow to proportions we haven't seen in a decade.'

The ozone hole is at its largest in a decade, thanks to 'atypical weather conditions' over Antarctica, NOAA and NASA scientists have revealed

NOAA and NASA's measurements show that the hole reached its greatest extent on September 18. 

On that day, it stretched out a staggering 10.5 million square miles (27.1 million square kilometres). 

That's about three times as big as the United States – and around 90 per cent as large as the largest ozone hole ever observed, which was recorded on September 9, 2000.

Dr Newman explained: 'The 2026 ozone hole is large but could have been 1 to 2 million square miles (3.5 million square kilometers) larger if ozone–depleting substances were as prevalent in the atmosphere today as they were at their year 2000 peak.'

Dr Newman is referencing chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and other ozone-depleting compounds that were once widely used in consumer goods such as refrigerators, air conditioners, and building insulation. 

While these chemicals still linger in the atmosphere today, scientists estimate they'll be gone by the 2070s, at which point the ozone hole will fully recover.

Ozone in the stratosphere acts as Earth's sunscreen, helping to shield us from harmful solar radiation. 

However, when human–made compounds containing chlorine and bromine are released into the air, ozone can deplete. 

NOAA and NASA's measurements - taken using weather balloons (pictured) - show that the hole reached its greatest extent on September 18

Air currents carry these gases up into the stratosphere, where they're broken down by UV radiation. 

As the freed chlorine and bromine atoms interact with cloud particles, they cause ozone to be destroyed. 

While the ozone hole opens up every autumn, scientists say the current polar vortex is to blame for this year's unprecedented size. 

'The polar vortex was unusually large this year in part because planetary–scale weather systems that typically well up from the lower atmosphere and break up the vortex were especially weak in August and September,' said Amy Butler, a research scientist at the NOAA Chemical Sciences Laboratory. 

'That weak wave action kept the strongest polar vortex winds further from the South Pole by several degrees of latitude, creating a larger area for conditions ideal for ozone depletion to occur.'

The news comes shortly after scientists warned that the polar vortex could bring early snow to Britain. 

Forecasts predict a dramatic weakening of the polar vortex, with some even indicating the winds could reverse direction by mid–November.

If this happens, the jet stream will be allowed to wander from its usual position, increasing the risk of cold air moving southwards out of the Arctic.

It could also cause a 'blocked weather pattern' that encourages high pressure to become established over the UK, bringing cold, dry air.

Speaking to the Daily Mail, Dr Regan Mudhar, a weather scientist from the Université de Lausanne, said we 'certainly can't rule out' the possibility of snowfall.

The Ozone layer sits in the stratosphere 25 miles above the Earth's surface and acts like a natural sunscreen

Ozone is a molecule comprised of three oxygen atoms that occurs naturally in small amounts. 

In the stratosphere, roughly seven to 25 miles above Earth's surface, the ozone layer acts like sunscreen, shielding the planet from potentially harmful ultraviolet radiation that can cause skin cancer and cataracts, suppress immune systems and also damage plants. 

It is produced in tropical latitudes and distributed around the globe. 

Closer to the ground, ozone can also be created by photochemical reactions between the sun and pollution from vehicle emissions and other sources, forming harmful smog.

Although warmer-than-average stratospheric weather conditions have reduced ozone depletion during the past two years, the current ozone hole area is still large compared to the 1980s, when the depletion of the ozone layer above Antarctica was first detected. 

In the stratosphere, roughly seven to 25 miles above Earth's surface, the ozone layer acts like sunscreen, shielding the planet from potentially harmful ultraviolet radiation

This is because levels of ozone-depleting substances like chlorine and bromine remain high enough to produce significant ozone loss. 

In the 1970s, it was recognised that chemicals called CFCs, used for example in refrigeration and aerosols, were destroying ozone in the stratosphere.  

In 1987, the Montreal Protocol was agreed, which led to the phase-out of CFCs and, recently, the first signs of recovery of the Antarctic ozone layer. 

The upper stratosphere at lower latitudes is also showing clear signs of recovery, proving the Montreal Protocol is working well.

But the new study, published in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, found it is likely not recovering at latitudes between 60°N and 60°S (London is at 51°N).

The cause is not certain but the researchers believe it is possible climate change is altering the pattern of atmospheric circulation - causing more ozone to be carried away from the tropics.

They say another possibility is that very short-lived substances (VSLSs), which contain chlorine and bromine, could be destroying ozone in the lower stratosphere.

VSLSs include chemicals used as solvents, paint strippers, and as degreasing agents.

One is even used in the production of an ozone-friendly replacement for CFCs.

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Stonehenge mystery deepens: Scientists say the Altar Stone may come from northern ENGLAND after all – and not Scotland or Wales as previously thought

By XANTHA LEATHAM, EXECUTIVE SCIENCE EDITOR

It's one of the biggest remaining mysteries surrounding Stonehenge – where did the central stone come from?

For years, researchers have been trying to determine where the huge six-ton sandstone slab originated before it was transported to Salisbury Plain thousands of years ago.

For much of the last century, experts believed the Altar Stone came from west Wales.

That theory was then overturned by recent studies pointing instead to north-east Scotland.

Now, an investigation has cast doubt on Scotland as well, leaving northern England as one of the most promising remaining candidates.

Lead author Professor Duncan Pirrie, from the University of South Wales, told the Daily Mail: 'Our search is focusing on rocks which form part of a geological unit called the 'Old Red Sandstone'.

'Key areas for us to focus on now are in the Midland Valley of Scotland, Southern Scotland and northern England.'

The monument's Altar Stone, now mostly buried under two bigger sarsen stones, may come from northern England after all

Researchers have spent years trying to determine where the huge sandstone slab originated before it was transported to Salisbury Plain thousands of years ago

The Altar Stone is a distinctive 16ft (4.9m) sandstone slab that lies at the heart of Stonehenge. 

The international team carried out the most detailed geological analysis of the Altar Stone ever undertaken, examining its structure, minerals, chemistry and isotopic composition.

Their findings, published in the Journal of the Geological Society, suggest the stone did not come from the Orcadian Basin in north-east Scotland, which has been one of the leading theories.

Instead, the hunt for its true birthplace has narrowed to a broad swathe of southern Scotland and northern England.

Professor Pirrie explained: 'The two main groups of rocks at Stonehenge are the larger "sarsen" stones which are broadly speaking relatively locally derived.

'There are then the smaller bluestones which are dominantly a range of igneous rock types which can be linked back to the Preseli Hills of Pembrokeshire.'

According to the researchers, the Altar Stone stands apart because it is composed of sandstone containing distinctive calcite cement and the mineral baryte.

Researchers believe Stonehenge is made of three types of stone. Here, the Altar Stone is highlighted in green

Lead author Professor Duncan Pirrie said key areas of focus are now the Midland Valley of Scotland, Southern Scotland and northern England

While sandstone is common throughout Britain, scientists have yet to find a perfect geological match.

'Our work has suggested that we can rule out Wales,' Professor Pirrie added.

'There are still some areas in the far north-east of Scotland that we need to check, so perhaps we cannot entirely rule out this area, although we haven't found anywhere yet in this region.

'So we are focusing on southern Scotland and northern England.'

Researchers believe identifying the source could reveal new details about the abilities of the Neolithic people who built the monument.

'I think that we have perhaps rather lost sight of just how capable Neolithic people were,' Professor Pirrie added.

'Clearly moving a six-tonne stone significant distances is a testament to their engineering and organisational ability.'

The Altar Stone contains distinctive white mineral bands and ripple–like patterns formed millions of years ago. These geological features act like a fingerprint, helping scientists trace its origins

Microscopic images of the Altar Stone reveal its unique mix of minerals and cement, providing scientists with a detailed geological fingerprint

Professor Pirrie notes that while the bluestones were transported around 140 miles (225km), bringing the Altar Stone from Scotland would have involved an even greater journey.

'Our latest study provides the most detailed description of the Altar Stone ever compiled, and we are very hopeful that we can answer this challenge soon,' he added.

According to Professor Richard Bevins of Aberystwyth University, the latest work has significantly narrowed the search area.

He said: 'For almost a century, the prevailing view was that the Altar Stone came from west Wales.

'Our previous research overturned that assumption and pointed instead to Scotland as the most likely source.

'This latest study significantly refines the search by identifying the specific geological characteristics we need to look for, allowing future investigations to be targeted more effectively.

'With each new piece of evidence, we move closer to solving one of Stonehenge's most enduring mysteries.'

Stonehenge's sarsen stones are the larger megaliths that form an outer circle and central horseshoe. Then there are the smaller bluestones, and the Altar Stone in the middle

It's possible the stones were transported by being placed on logs, with a team of people pulling them along via ropes. Pictured: A replica of a stone being transported at Stonehenge.

Professor Nick Pearce, also of Aberystwyth University, said eliminating possible source regions was just as important as discovering new ones.

'Every location eliminated narrows the search and brings us closer to discovering where the Altar Stone originated,' he said.

Earlier this year, an expert suggested Stonehenge's famous sarsen stones may have been transported there as part of a Neolithic race.

Win Scutt, curator of properties at Stonehenge, said there may have been an element of competition in lugging the 30-ton stones from up to 20 miles away.

The prehistoric monument on Salisbury Plain features dozens of massive, iconic megaliths that form an outer circle and central horseshoe.

While there are countless theories as to why the monument, which is around 5,000 years old, was built, Mr Scutt suggests humanity's primal urge to compete may have played a role.

'I think there might have been a sport in getting these stones here,' he said. 'Teams of people, a bit of competition, a challenge.'

The Stonehenge monument standing today was the final stage of a four part building project that ended 3,500 years ago

Stonehenge is one of the most prominent prehistoric monuments in Britain. The Stonehenge that can be seen today is the final stage that was completed about 3,500 years ago. 

According to the monument's website, Stonehenge was built in four stages:   

First stage: The first version of Stonehenge was a large earthwork or Henge, comprising a ditch, bank and the Aubrey holes, all probably built around 3100 BC. 

The Aubrey holes are round pits in the chalk, about one metre (3.3 feet) wide and deep, with steep sides and flat bottoms. 

Stonehenge (pictured) is one of the most prominent prehistoric monuments in Britain

They form a circle about 86.6 metres (284 feet) in diameter. 

Excavations revealed cremated human bones in some of the chalk filling, but the holes themselves were likely not made to be used as graves, but as part of a religious ceremony.

After this first stage, Stonehenge was abandoned and left untouched for more than 1,000 years. 

Second stage: The second and most dramatic stage of Stonehenge started around 2150 years BC, when about 82 bluestones from the Preseli mountains in south-west Wales were transported to the site. It's thought that the stones, some of which weigh four tonnes each, were dragged on rollers and sledges to the waters at Milford Haven, where they were loaded onto rafts.

They were carried on water along the south coast of Wales and up the rivers Avon and Frome, before being dragged overland again near Warminster and Wiltshire.

The final stage of the journey was mainly by water, down the river Wylye to Salisbury, then the Salisbury Avon to west Amesbury. 

The journey spanned nearly 240 miles, and once at the site, the stones were set up in the centre to form an incomplete double circle. 

During the same period, the original entrance was widened and a pair of Heel Stones were erected. The nearer part of the Avenue, connecting Stonehenge with the River Avon, was built aligned with the midsummer sunrise. 

Third stage: The third stage of Stonehenge, which took place about 2000 years BC, saw the arrival of the sarsen stones (a type of sandstone), which were larger than the bluestones.

They were likely brought from the Marlborough Downs (40 kilometres, or 25 miles, north of Stonehenge). 

The largest of the sarsen stones transported to Stonehenge weighs 50 tonnes, and transportation by water would not have been possible, so it's suspected that they were transported using sledges and ropes. 

Calculations have shown that it would have taken 500 men using leather ropes to pull one stone, with an extra 100 men needed to lay the rollers in front of the sledge.

These stones were arranged in an outer circle with a continuous run of lintels - horizontal supports. 

Inside the circle, five trilithons - structures consisting of two upright stones and a third across the top as a lintel - were placed in a horseshoe arrangement, which can still be seen today. 

Final stage: The fourth and final stage took place just after 1500 years BC, when the smaller bluestones were rearranged in the horseshoe and circle that can be seen today.

The original number of stones in the bluestone circle was probably around 60, but these have since been removed or broken up. Some remain as stumps below ground level. 

Source: Stonehenge.co.uk 

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NASA unveils experimental X–70 Fractal airplane – as it hails a 'new beginning for aeronautics'

By SHIVALI BEST, SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY EDITOR

NASA has unveiled a new experimental airplane, dubbed the 'X–70 Fractal'.

The space agency has kept details on the aircraft sparse, but says it hails a 'new beginning for aeronautics'. 

'The X–70 Fractal gives NASA a crewed, high–performance platform to test advanced flight–control, maneuverability, and other cutting–edge technologies in real flight,' said NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman. 

'Its modular design and ability to rapidly swap internal and external payloads will keep our teams flying, learning, and moving quickly from one experiment to the next. 

'We expect her first flight under the NASA banner within the next two years, and X–70 is just one part of this new beginning for aeronautics. 

'This is why people come to NASA: to build, to learn, and most importantly, to fly.' 

NASA has unveiled a new experimental airplane, dubbed the 'X–70 Fractal'. However, instead of showing the actual plane, NASA decided to release an AI–generated image – which didn't sit well among many fans

The mysterious aircraft was announced during the UP.Summit at NASA's Kennedy Space Centre in Florida. 

However, instead of showing the actual plane, NASA decided to release an AI–generated image – which didn't sit well among many fans. 

Taking to X, one said: '@NASA If you're going to introduce an aircraft, AT LEAST SHOW IT.'

Another questioned: 'Why share a photo if you won’t share the photo.' 

And one joked: 'NASA dropping stealth aircraft teasers like Batman trailers.' 

According to NASA, the X–70 Fractal will be crewed, and has enough space to accomodate up to 2,000lbs of experimental payloads.  

It has a takeoff weight of 10,000lbs and is designed to cruise at Mach.75 – about the same as a Boeing 737. 

In terms of altitude, the plane can reach up to 45,000 feet, while its range is about 1,726 miles.

NASA's 'Son of Concorde' supersonic jet (pictured) has broken the sound barrier for the first time, hitting a top speed of 713 miles per hour (1,150 km/h)

NASA has remained tight–lipped on further details, including the launch date and price. 

'For decades, NASA Aeronautics has used X–planes to develop technologies that advance aviation,' said Laurie Grindle, director of the Aeronautics Division within NASA's Research and Technology Mission Directorate. 

'It's exciting to bring on another X–plane to accelerate and drive aeronautics research.' 

The X–70 Fractal is one of several experimental planes owned by NASA. 

The Bell X–1 made history in 1947, when it became the first aircraft to break the sound barrier, reaching a speed of 700 miles per hour (1,127 kilometers per hour). 

The X–15 then reached 4,520mph (Mach 6.7) in 1967 – a record that still stands today.

Meanwhile, NASA's current X–59 quiet supersonic demonstrator has been hailed as the 'Son of Concorde'. 

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

Artist’s illustration of China’s crewed lunar program

Three Steps Toward a Landing

The mission sequence was presented on October 31 at the Seventh Academic Conference on Human Spaceflight in Beijing. Speakers included Wang Xiang, chief designer of the Lunar Exploration Project. The years appeared only on presentation slides later circulated on social media. A CCTV report described the same stages without dates.

According to Ars Technica, a Long March 10A rocket is scheduled to send the new Mengzhou spacecraft into Earth orbit without a crew in early 2027. The spacecraft for this flight is already at the Wenchang launch site on Hainan Island. In 2028, the more powerful Long March 10 will send the Lanyue lander to the Moon, where it will land and take off without a crew. A year later, two such rockets will launch both spacecraft simultaneously, and the vehicles will dock in lunar orbit. Only after that will astronauts board Mengzhou.

A Long March 10 test rocket lifts off from the Wenchang launch site during a low-altitude test flight on February 11, 2026.

Credit: VCG/VCG via Getty Images

Separate launches are necessary because China does not have a rocket capable of sending both the crew spacecraft and the lander to the Moon together. In lunar orbit, two of the three astronauts will transfer to Lanyue and descend to the surface. After completing their work, they will ascend to rejoin Mengzhou and return home aboard it. Whether these deadlines can be met will help determine who becomes the first to land humans on the Moon again since 1972.

Rehearsals Without Crews

Wang Xiang explained this sequence through two principles. Everything that must be done near the Moon will first be tested in Earth orbit, including during flights to the Tiangong space station. Everything the crew will do will first be performed by uncrewed spacecraft. The uncrewed Lanyue is intended to test, as far as possible, the key technologies of the entire future mission, from docking with the crew spacecraft to landing, ascent, and redocking. The lander will also carry scientific and technology experiments, for which the China Manned Space Agency issued a call for proposals on October 22.

The American Apollo program followed a different path. Before the July 1969 landing, NASA sent crews to the Moon twice, and the Apollo 10 astronauts descended in their lunar module to approximately 15 kilometers above the surface. China is replacing such dress rehearsals with uncrewed missions. Before the landing itself, Mengzhou will carry astronauts only to the Tiangong station in Earth orbit.

Who Will Be First?

NASA plans to land astronauts during the Artemis IV mission in 2028, approximately a year before China. The United States has been developing the  Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft for more than 15 years, making them more mature than their Chinese counterparts. However, serious questions remain about the landers for which SpaceX and Blue Origin received multibillion-dollar contracts. These could push the American mission back to 2030 or later.

The structure of the Orion spacecraft.

Illustration: NASA

Congress and the White House have given NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman broad authority to accelerate the Artemis program. Over the past year, Isaacman has canceled construction of the Lunar Gateway station and a planned upgrade to the Space Launch System. In late October, he announced that Orion would be placed in low lunar orbit to accommodate Blue Origin’s lander.

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

Deflecting a Dangerous Incoming Asteroid with a Nuclear Blast Isn’t Science Fiction

In science fiction, humans often use nuclear missiles to redirect dangerous asteroids headed toward Earth, with varying levels of success. Although no real-life scenario has required an actual nuclear missile to deflect an asteroid, scientists have built models of the event to plan for the worst case.

Instead of blasting the target into millions of pieces, Sandia National Laboratories scientists explored using X-rays emitted from a nuclear blast to “nudge” a dangerous asteroid off course. According to Sandia physicist Nathan Moore, the idea first came to him when the facility’s Z machine deflected a small piece of an asteroid with X-rays.

“I started wondering how to scale up the calculation to more accurately predict deflection of a full-scale asteroid,” Moore explained.

When investigating the problem, Moore found that most existing X-ray asteroid deflection models had taken a mathematical shortcut. More specifically, most abandoned the complex, calculation-intensive mathematics of naturally shaped asteroids in favor of hypothetical spherical ones. However, as the SNL research team leader noted, “the trouble is, spherical asteroids don’t exist,” adding that asteroids “come in all kinds of odd, lumpy shapes.”

While searching for a new approach that accounts for the unusual shapes of space rocks and the complex mathematics of X-ray deflection, Moore said he “latched onto some work one of my colleagues was doing” on outgassing in objects like asteroids moving through space, which led to an “aha moment.”

“We realized we could do this,” Moore said. “No more spheres. We would be able to model deflection for any asteroid.”

Researchers Surprised by How Much Aim Affected Success

To build the model, Moore said he borrowed high-fidelity codes used at Sandia for different types of problems and combined their specific abilities into one asteroid deflection tool. This included the ALLEGRA code, which Moore noted is typically used to model “fast, high-energy experiments, like magnetically imploding wires on the Z machine.”

The team also included SPARTA. Moore said this is a direct simulation Monte Carlo code normally used to “model comparatively weak, slowly evolving forces, like the drag on a satellite from the solar wind.”

“Our new algorithm is over 1,600 times faster, which was critical to this breakthrough,” Moore said. “With the old models, computers just couldn’t handle it.”

Using the new approach, the team modeled a simulated asteroid using high-resolution 3D imagery from spacecraft flybys of actual asteroids. Next, the Sandia team blasted their simulated asteroid with simulated X-rays to measure the effect. To approximate real-world scenarios, the team adjusted the explosion’s size and distance and changed which side of the rock was irradiated.

After comparing the results, Moore and colleagues found that irradiating different sides of a naturally shaped asteroid altered how much momentum the blast transferred to the asteroid. They also found that altering the blast’s location affected how much spin was induced in the target rock.

In some cases, the team observed a fivefold difference in rotational speed between two different blast locations. In another case, the team found that the asteroid’s change in rotational velocity after explosion “varied by a factor of 17.”

“We expected aim to matter,” Moore said. “What surprised us was how much.”

“Guess Wrong, and it Could be a Bad Day”

When discussing the current model’s limitations, the Sandi team noted that their model requires “fairly accurate” asteroid shape data from all sides. In a real-world scenario, there may not be enough time to send a spacecraft to capture such data. Moore also pointed to limitations in predicting how an asteroid will react after it is broken into several pieces.

“We can’t predict breakup of the entire asteroid body accurately yet,” Moore said, adding that the current version only models the breakup of surface material.

Still, the study author noted, the model reduces much of the guesswork in avoiding a doomsday scenario, with targeting the blast location becoming increasingly critical to success.

“Our study shows how important it is to aim carefully,” Moore said. “Pick the right side, and you win. Guess wrong, and it could be a bad day.”

• Christopher Plain has spent the last six years as Associate News Editor and Head Science Reporter at The Debrief. Follow and connect with him on X, learn about his novels at plainfiction.com, or email him at christopher@thedebrief.org.

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

Pilot claims he spotted UFOs moving across sky during ‘seven flights’

Josh Milton | Senior science and technology reporter

A veteran pilot says he has seen a raft of unidentified flying objects (UFOs) over the last four years.

Steve Frazer, 48, first saw a mysterious… something zipping through the skies above Brussels, Belgium, in 2022.

Since then, the pilot of 27 years has noticed the same flashing lights ‘six or seven’ times, including last month.

He initially chalked the glowing orbs up to military aircraft that might be refuelling but says other pilots in the Netherlands have seen them, too.

One fellow pilot even radioed to ask about any military activity.

‘I saw these lights when I was working and another colleague saw the lights coming back from Lithuania,’ Steve, from Sandbach, Cheshire, says.

Steve Frazer spotted the groups of lights for the first time in 2022

(Picture: Steve Frazer/SWNS)

The orbs were fast-moving, with the plane never reaching them

(Picture: Steve Frazer/SWNS)

Steve Frazer claims other pilots have spotted similar lights

(Picture: Steve Frazer/SWNS)

‘We saw them in the same space and roughly the same direction but it was ever so strange.’

Steve was flying towards the light for some time but could never quite catch up to the floating lights.

‘In the little video you see the lights coming up from the ground and I seem to recall it was Brussels coming into view back towards the UK – it’s always north-westerly heading,’ he adds.

Steve compared footage of the UFO to satellites such as Starlink, Elon Musk’s constellation of metal that provides internet connection.

‘The report deserves to be logged properly’

Metro showed Steve’s footage to two UFOlogists, people who investigate the metal discs, jittery lights and fiery orbs filling the skies.

Both said it’s hard to ignore Steve’s claims, given he is a pilot of nearly three decades.

‘When someone with that background says an object does not match anything he has seen before – satellites, Starlink, military refuelling, or normal traffic – the report deserves to be logged properly,’ says Mark Christopher Lee, a filmmaker and alien hunter.

The lights could be a yet-to-be-made-public drone, a type of unarmed aircraft, said one expert (Picture: Steve Frazer/SWNS)

Still, there could be a more down-to-Earth explanation.

Given Belgium is a member of Nato, a Western mutual-defence alliance, the lights could be powerful drones being tested in secret.

‘That remains the most straightforward explanation for many high-quality, recurring sightings of this type,’ Lee says.

Gary Heseltine, the editor of UFO Truth Magazine, says he doesn’t blame Steve for filming the ‘baffling lights’.

‘Many UAPs are similar to the objects seen in these clips,’ Heseltine says, using a term for what UFOs are often called by government officials: unidentified anomalous phenomena.

‘They remain an enigma worthy of serious scientific research.’

Steve said the orbs didn’t appear shaped like satellites

 (Picture: Steve Frazer/SWNS)

Nearly one in three Brits believe that aliens have already visited Earth, according to a YouGov poll, while 7% say they have seen a UFO.

The pollster said it shows that feeling the truth is out there has become less of a fringe belief in recent years.

Still, Lee says that the UK lacks a centralised way of reporting UFO sightings. Many police forces no longer track them, and a Ministry of Defence ‘UFO hotline’ was closed in the 2000s.

It’s why the producer has long called on the government to reinstate it.

Until then, for Heseltine, the fact that Steve spoke with the press is certainly something.

‘What is to be applauded is the fact that the pilot is willing to go public about the incident,’ he adds. ‘This is to be encouraged.’

{ https://metro.co.uk/news/ }

Midlands pilot claims he spotted UFOs moving across the sky during flights over Belgium

Commercial pilot Steve Frazer says he has spotted mysterious flashing lights during flights over Brussels multiple times since 2022, and claims other pilots have reported similar sightings

BY Jordan Coussins and SWNS EmilyPhillips (Emily Phillips)

A pilot claims he has observed UFOs while operating aircraft above Brussels.

Steve Frazer, 48, has served as a captain for 20 years conducting commercial flights, and in 2022 initially witnessed what appeared to be an aircraft circling over territory near Brussels.

Since that moment, he has observed the identical flashing lights "six or seven" times, most recently in October 2026, initially confusing them for a military aircraft that could be refuelling.

Time-lapse footage Steve recorded during flight shows what seems to be small orbs of light darting across the sky before vanishing.

Steve claims he's not alone in reporting the unusual lights, with fellow pilots remarking on them after he investigated the phenomenon online.

The captain, from Sandbach, Cheshire, states: "I saw these lights when I was working and another colleague saw the lights coming back from Lithuania.

"We saw them in the same space and roughly the same direction but it was ever so strange.

"I just thought it was a military refuelling aircraft but the way it was moving and speed, it didn't make any sense.

"We were going towards them for seemingly ages and never got to them.

"That was a few years ago and I didn't think much about it.

"I did a couple of flights recently and saw them again.

"I've been flying 27 years commercially and it doesn't fit with anything I've seen previously.

"Technically in a sense it's an unidentified object that seems to be flying.

"It looked to me it was coming over the Atlantic, it looked beyond the UK."

Steve claims he isn't alone in spotting the orbs, with another pilot making radio contact last month to enquire about any military operations.

"I've done my own digging to try and figure out what they are and I can't find an answer to it," he told Talk to the Press.

"I know what satellites normally look like, I've seen plenty of Starlinks and things like that.

"They don't fit with that movement.

"In the little video you see the lights coming up from the ground and I seem to recall it was Brussels coming into view back towards the UK - it's always north-westerly heading.

"I've done a little research online and other people have reported this but I don't think anyone has recorded it, not that I've seen anyway.

"Some people flying in the Netherlands saw it as well and made a report through a media channel but I'm not entirely sure.

"It seems to fit with what other pilots have commented on when they've seen them."

RELATED

{ https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/midlands-news/ }

Asteroids' Oddball Shapes Make Deflecting Them Challenging

This artist's illustration shows NASA's Double Asteroid Redirection Test spacecraft approaching its target, Dimorphos. If we need to deflect an incoming asteroid on short notice, an impactor like DART won't do the job. We may need to redirect the dangerous rock with an x-ray pulse from a carefully detonated nuclear weapon. But the part of the surface we direct the x-ray pulse at matters a lot.

Image Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins APL/Steve Gribben

If you're looking for uniformity in Nature, you won't find it in the asteroid belt. Not only are asteroid compositions different because they come from different parent bodies, but their shapes are different, too. They're not massive enough to round themselves like planets do.

This is more than just another space factoid; asteroid shapes matter. It's a near-certainty, given enough time, that a dangerous asteroid will head directly for a collision with Earth, and that's something scientists are actively studying. They want to develop ways to knock an asteroid off course, if necessary. That's what NASA's Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART), and the ESA's follow-up Hera mission were about.

There are multiple concepts for redirecting a dangerous asteroid. One of them is a nuclear weapon. Not to obliterate an asteroid, but to bombard it with radiation by exploding the nuclear weapon in close proximity to the asteroid. This is called a stand-off X-ray mitigation scenario. The radiation pulse will change an asteroid's course, if done soon enough and done correctly.

But the outcome of the pulse needs to be predictable to work, and that's where asteroids' different shapes come into play.

"The effectiveness of deflecting Near Earth Objects (NEOs) using pulsed radiation is challenging to quantify because it hinges critically on surface topography, which is often unknown," write the authors of new research in Icarus. The research is "Efficient computation of vapor ejecta over asteroid geometries during pulsed energy deflection," and the lead author is Nathan Moore. Moore is a physicist at Sandia National Laboratories.

A simple kinetic impactor is probably the preferred choice for deflecting an asteroid. That's what the DART mission did, and it appeared to be successful. Though it only changed the velocity of its target Dimorphos by a little, it was done soon enough to create a substantial change in its position over years.

But the more pertinent issue concerns an asteroid, or perhaps a comet, that's on a collision course with Earth, but isn't discovered soon enough for an impactor to effectively change its trajectory.

"While considered an option of last resort, it has been argued that late-time interception of a near-Earth object (NEO) or comet, either for disruption or deflection, might only be possible with the higher energy concentration available from detonation of a pulsed energy device," the authors write. 'Pulsed energy device' is one way of saying nuclear weapon. In space, there's no atmospheric shock wave from a nuclear explosion, only radiation, which is released in a powerful pulse.

"Stand-off energy bursts—those detonated far from the surface—hold a potential advantage compared to surface explosions in that they might permit deflection with less disruption to the original structure, allowing for more controlled steering of the asteroid and its debris," the authors write. Disrupting the original structure might make for a good action sequence in a movie, but it would multiply the hazard to Earth by creating a swarm of debris, some of which could strike our planet.

Researchers have simulated using nuclear weapons and their radiation pulses to deflect asteroids, but their irregular shapes have stymied them. These shapes are far more difficult to model, so most research has focused on spherical asteroids. Moore and his colleagues developed a new algorithm to overcome these limitations.

“Our new algorithm is over 1,600 times faster, which was critical to this breakthrough,” Moore said. “With the old models, computers just couldn’t handle it.”

In this research, the authors simulated known asteroids with more irregular shapes, an important improvement on previous work.

"The approach improves on earlier methods by accounting for the actual topography of the asteroid fully in three dimensions without unacceptably increasing computational cost or reducing accuracy," the authors explain. "As a demonstration, we predict the deflection of three bodies of different shape—asteroid (101955) Bennu, asteroid (25143) Itokawa, and asteroid (6489) Golevka—from both near-field and far-field irradiations."

These images of asteroids Itokawa (left) and Bennu (middle), and a computer model of asteroid Golevka (right), show how asteroid shapes can be very different from one another.

Image Credits: Itokawa: By ESO, CC BY 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=170826264. Bennu: By NASA/Goddard/University of Arizona - Public Domain. Golevka: By NASA/JPL - NASA - Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Public Domain.

A sequence of events unfolds after a nuclear device is detonated near an asteroid. First, an intense x-ray pulse is directed at one side of the asteroid. Then there's rapid surface vaporization, and that creates most of the deflection thrust. Next is an internal shock wave, a powerful blow that travels through the asteroid's body. Finally, the internal structure of the asteroid is fractured, and that can blow chunks of the asteroid off the surface opposite the blast, and off of the asteroid's sides.

So despite there being no atmospheric shock wave, the asteroid is still disrupted.

The results highlighted how important an asteroid's shape is. Depending on which side of the asteroid was facing the radiation blast, the deflection velocity can be up to five times greater. "We find that the orientation of the body at time of intercept can increase the deflection velocity by up to nearly 2× for Bennu, 4× for Itokawa, and 5× for Golevka, compared to the minimum response for each body," the authors write.

This figure shows the pressure distribution as averaged over the first 20 μs of vapor expansion, for asteroid (a) Bennu, (b) Itokawa, and (c) Golevka, for near and far Height Of Bursts (HOB). The vaporization is what creates most of the deflection thrust.

Image Credit: Moore et al. 2026. Icarus.

“We expected aim to matter,” said lead author Moore in a press release. “What surprised us was how much.”

The simulation in this work can be used on any asteroid that's been mapped by a spacecraft during a flyby. The size of the explosion, the distance, and the surface exposed to it can all be calculated in advance. By calculating the surface vaporization, the main factor in deflection, the simulation determines how hard the asteroid will be pushed, how fast it will rotate, and how much of the surface might break up.

The interior structure of asteroids can be quite different, and that's beyond the capabilities of this model to account for. "Right now, our computer model only considers breakup of rocks on the surface. We can’t predict breakup of the entire asteroid body accurately yet," Moore said.

Real life is always different from simulations, and that means that these results can't tell us with absolute certainty what will happen. But it's a step forward, one that drives home how critical the aim is to a successful asteroid deflection, should one be needed in the future.

"The strong sensitivity of deflection and disruption to asteroid topography is especially pertinent given that the shape of an incoming NEO might not be known, and its orientation at time of intercept may be uncontrolled," the authors write. Their work as it stands now can at least be used to make estimates, which is better, far better, than nothing.

"Alternatively, effort could be made to obtain high-resolution topographic characterization of an incoming NEO to improve accuracy of the deflection model, such as using spacecraft-based imagery or altimetry acquired before detonation," the authors explain.

It's possible that asteroid-mapping spacecraft could stand at the ready in space, waiting to be deployed. They could even be paired with asteroid-disrupting spacecraft carrying nuclear weapons. Or the two capabilities could be combined into one spacecraft. Placing atomic weapons in space would be extremely tricky in our fractured geopolitical world, but it's still a possibility, maybe the only possibility.

But however we prepare for an incoming asteroid, this work highlights how important it is that our aim is true.

• “Our study shows how important it is to aim carefully,” Moore said. “Pick the right side and you win. Guess wrong and it could be a bad day.”

RELATED

{  https://www.universetoday.com/  }

Blue Glowing Tic-Tac Over Medellín, Antioquia, Colombia. Sept 31, 2026, UFO UAP Sighting News.

Date of sighting: Oct 31, 2026

Location of sighting: Medellín, Antioquia, Colombia

Source: NUFORC

 

Colombia is notorious for its UFO sightings seen by police, mayors and public. However this one is unique in that its glowing bright blue, usually reports label them as red. This object appeared in the sky and the disappeared as the eyewitness watched. Its soul purpose...to seed our skies with mini ai living orbs. You can see seval star like objects near, but in different positions among the two phtoos submitted. This blue tic-tac craft is a mother orb ship. The smaller orbs observe everything from insects to aircraft, from kids playing in trees to horses on a farm. Its all significant to them because its all lost history that they are trying to record, but lost millions or billions of years ago. Also note...orbs have no outer arms or moving parts, the soul tool they use is often...telepathic, because nothing is more real, than the memories of the living at that specific moment in history. Knowledge...is the asset that aliens seek most. 

Scott C. Waring - UFO Sightings Daily

 

Eyewitness states: 

 

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

NASA's 3,200-pound space telescope plummets back to Earth with an uncontrolled fiery crash

• READ MORE: I worked with NASA. UFO disclosure will finally happen... but it's not coming from the White House

By STACY LIBERATORE, US SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY EDITOR

NASA's doomed space telescope made an uncontrolled reentry back to Earth on Wednesday, nearly 22 years after launching. 

The 3,200-pound Swift Observatory launched in 2004 to study gamma-ray bursts, the most powerful explosions in the universe, and other cosmic objects and events. 

It was designed for a two-year prime mission. 

After 21 years of science operations, Swift’s low Earth orbit began to rapidly decay because of increased solar activity. 

The US Space Force confirmed that the Swift spacecraft re-entered Earth’s atmosphere at 7.39am ET over the North Sumatra region of Indonesia, at approximately 3.4 degrees north latitude and 98.6 degrees east longitude. 

NASA expected most of the spacecraft to burn up as it traveled through the atmosphere, but some components may have survived re-entry. 

Pennsylvania State University’s John Nousek, an astronomer involved in the mission, told AP: 'We’ve known this day would come since before Swift was launched. 

'At least in low-Earth orbit, what goes up must come down. And that end is catastrophic.'

The US Space Force confirmed that the Swift spacecraft re-entered Earth’s atmosphere at

The space agency's press release explained that surviving fragments could fall within a broad belt around the equator stretching across parts of Latin America, Africa, southern Asia and northern Australia.

That places the US and Europe outside the potential impact zone. 

The re-entry follows NASA's failed attempt to rescue Swift in August.

The space agency had spent $30 million in hopes of sending another spacecraft to push the telescope into a higher orbit and avoid an uncontrolled fall back to Earth. 

 The rescue spacecraft, named Link, went into an uncontrollable spin a few weeks after its liftoff in early July.

While flight controllers managed to slow Link’s tumble, issues continued to plague its pointing and positioning in orbit.

NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said in a statement: 'This is not the outcome we were working toward, but it does not change why this mission was worth attempting.'

Swift resumed observations once the rescue attempt was called off, discovering even more gamma-ray bursts and other ultrahigh-energy events. But by late October, the telescope was too low to remain steady for observations, and its systems were shut down.

The 3,200-pound Swift Observatory launched in 2004 to study gamma-ray bursts, the most powerful explosions in the universe, and other cosmic objects and events 

Swift Observatory captured the afterglow of a gamma-ray burst. The bright rings are X-rays scattered by dust layers within our galaxy. Multiple space and ground-based telescopes witnessed one of the brightest explosions in space when it reached Earth

Its final tally included more than 2,000 gamma-ray bursts and 1,400 exploding stars, not to mention a slew of comets, asteroids and star-shredding black holes. 

The telescope’s superpower was its ability to swivel swiftly toward erupting celestial events.

NASA considered Swift a first responder for the Hubble and Webb space telescopes and others that would follow its alerts and provide deeper investigations. 

Scientists are still figuring out how to fill the gap.

Nousek said: 'Our fervent hope is that the lessons learned by the successes of Swift can be applied to new generations of space missions to accelerate our discoveries about the universe.'

RELATED

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

Lost account of Jesus's descent to hell and resurrection uncovered in 1,600-year-old papyrus, researchers suggest

• READ MORE: I ascended to heaven and met Jesus. When I returned, I painted his face with help from a 7-foot stranger who appeared at my door

By STACY LIBERATORE, US SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY EDITOR

A few broken lines of ancient writing may preserve a lost account of Christianity’s most extraordinary claims.

Researchers have deciphered a roughly 1,600-year-old Christian manuscript that they believe describes Jesus’ death, descent into the underworld and return through his resurrection.

Written in Greek, the fragment measures just two by three inches and was held among unpublished papyri in the Austrian National Library.

The team’s tentative translation includes references to someone who ‘died’ and a figure who ‘descended’ and apparently ‘ascended again,’ although missing letters leave parts of the wording uncertain.

Amphilochios Papathomas and Marianna Thoma, of the University of Athens in Greece, believe the passage concerns Jesus and could belong to a Christian work that did not survive through medieval copying.

Their analysis favors a fourth- or fifth-century date, placing the manuscript hundreds of years after the crucifixion but within the ancient Christian world.

They suggested it may preserve a sermon, possibly written by a church father or an Egyptian religious leader, although a hymn or another religious composition remains possible.

If their interpretation is correct, the fragment preserves part of a Christian work that may otherwise have disappeared, offering another glimpse of how ancient believers described Jesus’ victory over death. 

Researchers have deciphered a roughly 1,600-year-old Christian manuscript that they believe describes Jesus’ death, descent into the underworld and return through his resurrection

Published online on January 19, 2026, in the journal Tyche, the paper examined the fragment catalogued as P.Vindob. G 29289, a Late Antique Greek papyrus fragment.

Its original author remains unknown, as does the precise place where the papyrus was found.

The researchers suspect it came from Egypt’s Fayum region or Hermopolis because those locations supplied material to the collection, but the library’s inventories provide no precise origin.

Their investigation involved studying the original in Vienna, transcribing the surviving Greek and comparing its handwriting and language with other ancient manuscripts and Christian writings.

The most striking interpretation concerns a damaged phrase on the reverse.

Translated into English, the researchers’ tentative reading is: ‘… alone (?) he who descended (into Hades) ascended again (?) …’ 

The words ‘into Hades’ are supplied by the researchers to explain their interpretation, while the final word translated as ‘ascended’ is partly reconstructed. 

‘The sense of the passage is probably that only Jesus and no one else went into Hades and returned through his resurrection,’ the researchers wrote, translated from German.

The team’s tentative translation includes references to someone who ‘died’ and a figure who ‘descended’ and apparently ‘ascended again,’ although missing letters leave parts of the wording uncertain

Hades refers here to the realm of the dead, which the authors connect with a Christian tradition describing Jesus’ descent after death.

According to a longstanding Christian tradition, Jesus entered the realm of the dead before his resurrection and freed the righteous who had died before him. 

The researchers supported their interpretation by comparing the wording with passages attributed to Eusebius and with Christian hymns describing the Savior descending into the regions of death.

In one passage, Eusebius, an early Christian writer, describes the Savior alone descending into the regions of death, resembling the fragment’s proposed reference to a lone figure who ‘descended.’ 

Another surviving verb appears to mean ‘swallowed.’

The team suggested death was its subject, drawing comparisons with Christian writings that portray death swallowing people but failing to retain or overcome Jesus.

Their proposed reading placed the fragment within an established tradition of describing Christ’s victory over death.

However, the manuscript does not preserve an uninterrupted narrative of an empty tomb or Jesus appearing alive to his disciples.

Its gaps are substantial, and some crucial words have been reconstructed from surviving letters and parallels elsewhere.

The papyrus bears three horizontal folds and appears to have broken along the upper two. 

Near the end of the passage, the scribe squeezed the beginning of the word interpreted as ‘ascended’ against the edge of the sheet, while its continuation is now missing. 

The researchers reconstructed the proposed ending from the remaining letters and comparisons with other Christian texts. 

Blank space at the end of the final surviving line suggests the passage may have concluded a section of the original work. 

The researchers acknowledged other possible restorations, including a word meaning ‘was raised.’

The authors also considered a less likely interpretation in which the descent refers to Jesus coming from heaven to live as a human, rather than entering the realm of the dead. 

The front appears to offer moral guidance, addressing the reader as a ‘wanderer’ and warning against taking the ‘broad road’ while hoping for life.

The researchers found a similar warning in a sermon by early Christian preacher John Chrysostom.

However, a damaged verb could describe someone walking in the past rather than a command to ‘walk,’ possibly making the passage about Jesus’ own life.

Both sides were copied by the same scribe in a carefully executed literary script, according to the team.

To estimate its age, they compared its handwriting with examples spanning several centuries, including the Egerton Gospel and other Christian papyri.

Although some similarities occur in earlier and later manuscripts, the combined handwriting and linguistic evidence points them toward the fourth or fifth century.

The researchers allow a broader date range from the late third through the fifth century, although they favor the fourth or fifth. 

That estimate concerns the surviving copy, not necessarily the work’s composition.

The paper reports no radiocarbon dating.

Double slashes dividing the text provide another clue: similar marks occur in Christian manuscripts and hymns, supporting the possibility of a poetic composition.

The researchers hope this first scholarly publication will help others identify the original work or locate more pieces of the same papyrus.

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Mars' volcanoes could contain the ingredients needed for alien life to develop, scientists say

By SHIVALI BEST, SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY EDITOR

It's one of the biggest unanswered questions in science – if there are aliens out there, where are they hiding?

Now, scientists from the Space Research Institute in Moscow think the answer could be on Mars.

In their new study, the team discovered gas seeping from volcanic rifts on the Martian surface – suggesting the planet is not geologically dead, and instead is 'merely sleeping'.

Excitingly, the researchers suggest life could be hiding within these seeping fissures, particularly in the Alba Mons region.

'Looking for Martian life in the seeping fissures of the Alba Mons region would make a lot of sense,' said Daniel Mege, co-lead author of the study.

'If hydrothermal systems are active, they could contain the ingredients and energy needed for microorganisms to develop, and shield microorganisms from the hostile and changing environment above the surface.'

In their new study, the team discovered gas seeping from volcanic rifts on the Martian surface – suggesting the planet is not geologically dead, and instead is 'merely sleeping'

Excitingly, the researchers suggest life could be hiding within these seeping fissures, particularly in the Alba Mons region (pictured)

Out of all the planets in the Solar System, Mars has the largest volcanoes - yet scientists have not known how active they are.

Seismometers have detected marsquakes on the Martian surface, while orbital imagery shows that some volcanoes have been active within the last few million years.

However, no new lava flows or eruptions have actually been observed.

In 2021, the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) detected unusual spikes of hydrogen chloride gas in the Martian atmosphere.

This gas varies seasonally on Mars, reaching its maximum in the northern hemisphere's winter, before mostly disappearing in the summer.

Most of this variation is linked with Mars' dust and water cycles.

However, here on Earth, hydrogen chloride is often found escaping from magmatic vents – leading the scientists to wonder whether the same might be happening on Mars.

To verify the finding, the team used the TGO's CaSSIS camera to take a closer look at Alba Mons.

As for why the levels of hydrogen chloride vary with the seasons, the researchers suggest that the fissures might be blocked by ice in the winter, with the gas only released as the ice melts in early summer

Excitingly, this showed fresh and narrow fissures – some measuring hundreds of metres long.

'The Trace Gas Orbiter was able to find the smoking gun,' Professor Mege said.

'It was like looking for a needle in a haystack. 

'It's truly amazing that it spotted a handful of molecules from a perhaps intermittent source, whilst moving continuously along its orbit to monitor the whole martian atmosphere.'

As for why the levels of hydrogen chloride vary with the seasons, the researchers suggest that the fissures might be blocked by ice in the winter, with the gas only released as the ice melts in early summer.

In the past, the levels of hydrogen chloride on Mars may have been higher – contributing to a thicker atmosphere and warmer climate.

According to the researchers, this could have allowed liquid water to cover the Maritan surface – leading to warm, habitable niches.

'These findings may prove to be TGO's greatest success yet,' said Colin Wilson, ESA's project scientist for the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter.

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A mysterious object has been spotted flying by the International Space Station, sparking claims that astronauts just had a near-miss with a UFO.

The unidentified object was seen on October 15 as a SpaceX Dragon cargo spacecraft was approaching the station with new supplies.

NASA's live stream of the docking captured the bright disc or small sphere moving steadily by the ISS moments after the broadcast began.

Scott C Waring of UFO Sightings Daily saw the object and said: 'This UFO was about seven meters [23 feet] across and could have destroyed the station had it hit it.'

'The crew on board the DragonX said nothing about it, not NASA control, not even the station itself,' he added.

The UFO researcher also claimed that the NASA broadcast captured another unidentified craft moving erratically around the Dragon cargo ship.

NASA’s report of the capsule's arrival described a normal docking that delivered more than 6,300 pounds of supplies, science experiments and a pair of roll-out solar arrays.

There was no mention of any close call, space debris threat, or UFO during the approach or docking last month.

A NASA live stream clearly captured a small object flying past the International Space Station on October 15

Cameras following the cargo ship spotted a faint image passing the SpaceX vehicle on two separate occasions as it traveled over the Earth.

In both instances, the object appeared cone-like in shape and was bobbing back and forth while the capsule flew towards ISS.

'Do you see how they're moving very oddly? Moving like no aircraft we've ever seen or spacecraft. It doesn't conform to physics the way humans expect things to. The way it moves is bizarre,' Waring claimed in his breakdown of the recording on YouTube.

The object seen passing the Dragon spacecraft was very faint in the video, and Waring admitted he could not prove the image floating through the video was a legitimate UFO.

As for the object seen passing the space station, a camera on board the Dragon spacecraft captured the mysterious object which nearly collided with the ISS.

Waring estimated based on the size of the station that the UFO was approximately 82 feet away from hitting the structure's solar panels when it passed by.

The SpaceX camera continued recording the object for several seconds while it was fixed on the ISS. NASA's feed did not change position until the UFO had moved out of view and was safely away from the station. 

The ISS has been struck many times by tiny micrometeoroids and orbital debris, but has never been hit by anything close to the estimated size of the object which passed it on October 15.

Cameras on the station also captured the faint image of an object near the SpaceX Dragon craft bringing supplies to the International Space Station

Cameras on the station also captured the faint image of an object near the SpaceX Dragon craft bringing supplies to the International Space Station

Vishnu Reddy, an astronomer at the University of Arizona, said in 2021 that even an object the size of a ping-pong ball 'would be catastrophic' if it struck in a critical area of the station – potentially causing a rapid loss of oxygen and pressure.

The ISS has already suffered one scare this year, as an air leak in the Russian-controlled side of the station forced the NASA astronauts on board to prepare for an emergency evacuation in June.

The crisis was averted and leaks repaired without needing to abandon the space station.

As for what passed the station, several NASA streams have captured unknown objects in Earth orbit, but the space agency has never acknowledged any of them to be extraterrestrial in origin.

The US government has also maintained for decades that no physical proof of UFOs or alien life has been recovered by NASA or the military. 

'Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe this isn't a UFO. But for me, this just confirms that intelligent life is out there. It's watching us. It's scanning us and it wants to see what we're up to,' Waring said on November 1.

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Could life already exist on Mars? Scientists discover microbes that can THRIVE in extreme conditions found beneath the Red Planet's surface

By WILIAM HUNTER, SENIOR SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY REPORTER

The hunt for life on Mars may have taken a major step forward, as scientists find microbes that could survive on the Red Planet.

A team from the University of Florida grew alien-like 'extremophile' lifeforms in conditions that mimic those found beneath the Martian surface.

These hardy microbes were left for months at just a fraction of Earth's normal atmosphere, in a solution seven times saltier than seawater, and breathing chemicals similar to bleach.

Amazingly, these salt-loving microorganisms didn't just survive; they thrived.

Although they grew much slower than those kept under Earth-like conditions, colonies in the simulated Mars environment were able to keep growing.

The researchers found that the microbes were able to harness chemicals in their surroundings to produce the energy they needed for reproduction.

This could mean scientists need to drastically reconsider the types of environments they consider to be suitable for life.

Lead author Dr Adam Robinson says: 'We are adding to the growing body of evidence suggesting that we should consider the possibility of life on Mars today.'

Scientists from the University of Florida grew alien-like 'extremophile' lifeforms in conditions that mimic those found beneath the Martian surface. Pictured: A false-colour electron microscope image of microbes grown in a Mars-like environment 

In the study, published in the journal Applied and Environmental Microbiology, Dr Robinson studied a particular type of extremely tough microbe called Haloferax volcanii.

These microbes make their homes in some of Earth's least hospitable environments, such as the Dead Sea or Utah's Great Salt Lake.

Because of their unique ability to tolerate conditions that would kill most forms of life, scientists often use them as a model for the kinds of life that could survive on other planets.

Most excitingly, scientists think the high-salt environments where Haloferax thrives could be quite similar to the conditions below the surface of Mars.

What makes surviving on Mars so tough isn't the cold, saltiness, radiation, or lack of atmosphere alone, but the fact that all of these stresses occur at the same time.

In the past, scientists have tested whether bacteria can grow and reproduce in environments with one of Mars' environmental stresses.

Likewise, some studies have shown that microbes can cling on for months when faced with several stresses at once.

But very little research has been able to show that microbes can actually grow in the face of multiple Mars-like environmental hazards.

Scientists recreated some of Mars' conditons in the lab (pictured), leaving them with just a fraction of Earth's normal atmosphere, in a solution seven times saltier than seawater, and breathing chemicals similar to bleach

The researchers studied an extremely tough microbe called Haloferax volcanii, which can be found in very salty environments like the Great Salt Lake. Pictured: Pink waters in the Great Salt Lake, triggered by salt-loving organisms that flourish as the salinity rises 

Dr Robinson says: 'Far fewer have been able to combine these conditions together and show that microorganisms can actively grow.'

In the lab, Dr Robinson and his co-authors kept cultures of Haloferax in extremely salty, oxygen-free, carbon dioxide-rich conditions for 180 days.

The researchers gave them a mix of chemicals, either nitrates or perchlorates, that are found on Mars and could be used in place of oxygen during respiration.

Microbes given one of these chemicals were able to feed and reproduce, while the cultures that were given neither didn't show any noticeable growth at all.

Interestingly, the researchers may have also figured out how these microbes were able to survive in such salty conditions.

They noticed that the microbes formed biofilms, a clump of organisms encased in a slimy protective layer, that helped them hold in fresh water.

When the researchers investigated, they discovered that the cultures had lost very little of their water over the six months of the experiment.

In fact, Dr Robinson says that we should expect any real Martian bacteria to be even tougher.

In Mars-like conditions, the bacteria formed into slimy clumps called biofilm (bottom row). This may have helped them retain fresh water in an extremely salty environment

Although this doesn't prove that there is life on Mars, it suggests that more of the Martian surface could be considered habitable than scientists had previously thought. Pictured: Mars' surface seen by the Perseverance Mars Rover 

He told the Daily Mail: 'If Mars hosted life earlier in its history, it is possible that some organisms evolved to tolerate increasingly hostile conditions as the environment changed. 

'If life from Earth can grow under hostile conditions it has never naturally encountered, what might potential life on Mars look like after billions of years of evolution under those conditions?'

However, this doesn't necessarily show that Earth-based life could survive on the Martian surface, and it definitely doesn't prove that there is life on Mars today.

Dr Robinson says: 'I would not say this study suggests there is definitely life on Mars today. However, this work adds to a growing body of evidence suggesting that the shallow subsurface of Mars may still retain environmental conditions conducive to active metabolism and extant life.'

One of the biggest caveats is that the laboratory conditions didn't perfectly recreate all the dangers Martian life would face.

In the lab, the cultures were held at balmy temperatures of 21°C (70°F), the temperature of a balmy summer day on Mars.

Meanwhile the average temperature on the Red Planet is -60°C (-76°) and can reach lows of -153°C (-243°C) at the frozen poles.

Likewise, although it is possible that there could be sub-surface pockets of liquid water for bacteria to live in, no one has actually found these on Mars. 

However, Dr Robinson says this doesn't affect the main point of the study, which is to show that the search for life on Mars should be a priority for future exploration missions.

He adds: 'We are currently performing experiments at lower pressures and temperatures, working step by step toward conditions more representative of the average present-day environment near the Martian surface.'

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