Dit is ons nieuw hondje Kira, een kruising van een waterhond en een Podenko. Ze is sinds 7 februari 2024 bij ons en druk bezig ons hart te veroveren. Het is een lief, aanhankelijk hondje, dat zich op een week snel aan ons heeft aangepast. Ze is heel vinnig en nieuwsgierig, een heel ander hondje dan Noleke.
This is our new dog Kira, a cross between a water dog and a Podenko. She has been with us since February 7, 2024 and is busy winning our hearts. She is a sweet, affectionate dog who quickly adapted to us within a week. She is very quick and curious, a very different dog than Noleke.
DEAR VISITOR,
MY BLOG EXISTS ALREADY 12 YEARS AND 10 MONTHS.
ON 06/04/2024 MORE THAN 1.951.050
VISITORS FROM 134 DIFFERENT NATIONS ALREADY FOUND THEIR WAY TO MY BLOG.
THAT IS AN AVERAGE OF 400GUESTS PER DAY.
THANK YOU FOR VISITING MY BLOG AND HOPE YOU ENJOY EACH TIME.
The purpose of this blog is the creation of an open, international, independent and free forum, where every UFO-researcher can publish the results of his/her research. The languagues, used for this blog, are Dutch, English and French.You can find the articles of a collegue by selecting his category. Each author stays resposable for the continue of his articles. As blogmaster I have the right to refuse an addition or an article, when it attacks other collegues or UFO-groupes.
Druk op onderstaande knop om te reageren in mijn forum
Zoeken in blog
Deze blog is opgedragen aan mijn overleden echtgenote Lucienne.
In 2012 verloor ze haar moedige strijd tegen kanker!
In 2011 startte ik deze blog, omdat ik niet mocht stoppen met mijn UFO-onderzoek.
BEDANKT!!!
Een interessant adres?
UFO'S of UAP'S, ASTRONOMIE, RUIMTEVAART, ARCHEOLOGIE, OUDHEIDKUNDE, SF-SNUFJES EN ANDERE ESOTERISCHE WETENSCHAPPEN - DE ALLERLAATSTE NIEUWTJES
UFO's of UAP'S in België en de rest van de wereld In België had je vooral BUFON of het Belgisch UFO-Netwerk, dat zich met UFO's bezighoudt. BEZOEK DUS ZEKER VOOR ALLE OBJECTIEVE INFORMATIE , enkel nog beschikbaar via Facebook en deze blog.
Verder heb je ook het Belgisch-Ufo-meldpunt en Caelestia, die prachtig, doch ZEER kritisch werk leveren, ja soms zelfs héél sceptisch...
Voor Nederland kan je de mooie site www.ufowijzer.nl bezoeken van Paul Harmans. Een mooie site met veel informatie en artikels.
MUFON of het Mutual UFO Network Inc is een Amerikaanse UFO-vereniging met afdelingen in alle USA-staten en diverse landen.
MUFON's mission is the analytical and scientific investigation of the UFO- Phenomenon for the benefit of humanity...
Je kan ook hun site bekijken onder www.mufon.com.
Ze geven een maandelijks tijdschrift uit, namelijk The MUFON UFO-Journal.
Since 02/01/2020 is Pieter ex-president (=voorzitter) of BUFON, but also ex-National Director MUFON / Flanders and the Netherlands. We work together with the French MUFON Reseau MUFON/EUROP.
ER IS EEN NIEUWE GROEPERING DIE ZICH BUFON NOEMT, MAAR DIE HEBBEN NIETS MET ONZE GROEP TE MAKEN. DEZE COLLEGA'S GEBRUIKEN DE NAAM BUFON VOOR HUN SITE... Ik wens hen veel succes met de verdere uitbouw van hun groep. Zij kunnen de naam BUFON wel geregistreerd hebben, maar het rijke verleden van BUFON kunnen ze niet wegnemen...
26-03-2024
UFO-nuke mystery goes global: Indian newspaper reports craft flying over nuclear power plants 'every few days'
UFO-nuke mystery goes global: Indian newspaper reports craft flying over nuclear power plants 'every few days'
Senior Indian police officials reported UFOs made baffling 'zigzag movements'
UFOs spotted near Kudankulam nuclear plant over 10 times in Aug., police said
One officer, an engineer by training, video taped two separate UFO incidents
Senior law enforcement in India investigated and video-taped eerie UFO sightings over nuclear plants across the Asian nation last year, a local news report revealed.
One witness, a police sub-inspector and engineer by training, said he was '100-percent sure' the object he taped, with its high-speed 'zigzag movements,' could not be explained by human tech.
But, reports of these 2023 incidents in India were allegedly less hostile.
One witness, a police sub-inspector and engineer by training, Syed Abdul Kader said he was '100-percent sure' the object he taped, with its high-speed 'zigzag movements,' could not be explained by human tech. Above, a still from one of Kader's encounters with the UFO
Police sub-inspector Syed Abdul Kader (right), assigned to the technical wing of the Tirunelveli office an hour's drive north of the Kudankulam nuclear plant, told UFO expert Sabir Hussain (left) that he filmed two videos of the unusual airborne phenomena.
The roughly dozen or so incidents all involved apparent craft loitering oddly near the Kudankulam nuclear plant at the southern tip of the subcontinent and the Madras atomic power station near Kalpakkam along the country's east coast.
Police sub-inspector Syed Abdul Kader, assigned to the technical wing of the service's Tirunelveli office an hour's drive north of the Kudankulam nuclear plant, told UFO expert Sabir Hussain he filmed two videos of unusual airborne phenomena.
'The way it stood still, the way it made zigzag movements and the speed in which it disappeared,' Kader told reporters for the English-language Indian daily DT Next, 'all were different.'
Confirming his conversations with Hussain, Kader told DT Next that he had personally spotted UFOs near the southern coast town of Kudankulam since 2020.
'After meeting UFO tracker Sabir and discussing with him,' he told the paper, 'I am more than 100-percent sure what I saw were UFOs.'
The roughly dozen or so incidents all involved apparent craft loitering oddly near the Kudankulam nuclear plant (pictured above) at the southern tip of the subcontinent and the Madras atomic power station (not pictured) near Kalpakkam along the country's east coast
This February, American UFO researchers dropped the bombshell that an ex-Pentagon UFO investigator had privately briefed Congress on a stunning 1964 incident where a UFO blasted an Atlas missile carrying a dummy nuclear warhead out of the sky (graphic re-creation above)
Chuck Schumer criticizes Republicans for striking down UFO bill
Kader's 2023 sightings to the south, overlapped with weeks of sightings in July and August up the eastern coast along the Neelankarai-Mahabalipuram shoreline.
That region, near the bustling city of Chennai, is home to the Madras Atomic Power Station (MAPS) in Kalpakkam.
Kader's video-taped sightings, Hussain told DT Next, 'happened just 10 days after former DGP [Director General of Police] Prateep V. Philip took pictures of a UFO on [the] Muttukadu sea shore near Chennai.'
US Customs and Border Patrol, the agency responsible for keeping terrorists and weapons out of the country, uploaded 10 videos that appear to show craft moving in strange ways in our skies. The videos document a fighter jet pursued by an apparently baffling flying orb, as well as something that appears to be a propeller-powered hang-glider, and another apparent orb hovering near a parked 16-wheeler truck
Philip's rank of DGP is the highest position attainable in the Indian Police Service.
Despite an official Pentagon UFO report to Congress this year, which attempted to dispel whistleblower allegations of a secret and illegal UFO crash retrieval program, senior members of the US Senate continue to pursue subpoena power to investigate the issue.
The Pentagon's report, produced by the Department of Defense's UFO-hunting All-Domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO), was preceded by a largely hobbled effort by lawmakers to pass a sweeping UFO 'disclosure' amendment — designed to grant authority to an independent panel that would then be tasked with scouring deeply buried clandestine information for the truth about UFOs.
As Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, who sponsored the bill, told The New York Times: 'It is really an outrage the House [of Representatives] didn't work with us on adopting our proposal for a review board.
'It means that declassification of UAP records will be largely up to the same entities that have blocked and obfuscated their disclosure for decades.'
'We got ripped off. We got completely hosed. They stripped out every part,' said Congressman Tim Burchett, one of the House lawmakers most vocal on the issue of UFO disclosure.
While the watered-down version of the bill has meant that the Pentagon and US intelligence agencies can determine on their own what information about these mysterious sightings can be kept secret for now, Congress plans to seriously revisit the issue again later the year.
'It's just a matter of priorities right now,' Senator Mike Rounds, who co-sponsored the bill with Sen. Schumer, told Capitol Hill reporter Matt Laslo this March. 'We have an interest in pursuing somethings like that.'
Guys, check this out. This report just came in not long ago to NUFORC and it's just amazing. A dark jellyfish shaped UFO is seen moving across the sky over South Africa...one of the rarest locations ever to get a report from...and this one is of great quality video, a steady eyewitness hand. The speed this UFO is moving looks to be about 25 miles per hour, much too fast to be wind and it is slightly rotating in a 360 degree turn once every 30 seconds. Awesome catch, fantastic and indisputable evidence that UFOs are flying low and want to be seen by humans.
Scott C. Waring
Eyewitness states:
Object flying across the sky with very unusual shape and color. Emitted no sound or light. Object moved across the sky at a reasonable fast pace. No light or sound came from it. Looked as if it had a blue to purple hue to it and was completely silent.
UFO cloaked as cloud over Pico Island, Portugal March 2024, UAP Sighting News.
UFO cloaked as cloud over Pico Island, Portugal March 2024, UAP Sighting News.
This disk shaped cloud is actually camouflage for a real UFO that sits within it. You see, often UFOs want to fly lower to gather data, but can't without revealing themselves, thus they use methods that make us shrug it off saying...oh its only a cloud, when in reality...its an alien vessel scanning us. Aliens like to believe they are smarter than us, well, I am here to say that they are flesh and bones and they do make mistakes and get caught every so often. But when an alien ship forms a cloud within their forcefield, the cloud cannot move off, but instead stays with the field tightly packed around the UFO.
Retired Japanese fighter pilot recounts a compelling encounter with a UFO
Retired Japanese fighter pilot recounts a compelling encounter with a UFO
In addition to American fighter jet pilots, others have recently shared accounts of encountering UFOs during their missions.
Mamoru Sato, a retired veteran Japanese fighter pilot and former Air Defense Force Base Commander with 34 years of dedicated service, recounts a compelling encounter involving an unidentified flying object (UFO) within the Japanese airspace.
During a routine training session at Matsushima Air Base, a pilot undergoing training in a craft witnessed an unusual occurrence. He described a cigar-shaped object hovering above him in the sky. Interestingly, the pilot seated in the front confirmed the presence of the UFO, while the instructor positioned in the back seat failed to observe it. However, the situation took a puzzling turn when the aircraft's fuselage experienced an unexpected malfunction. It wasn't a typical mechanical issue indicated by warning lights or similar alerts.
The pilot found control of the craft compromised, rendering steering virtually impossible. Strangely, as abruptly as the UFO had appeared, it vanished, coinciding with the cessation of the aircraft's malfunction and the restoration of flight control.
Upon attempting to land, the UFO reappeared, triggering a recurrence of the loss of control experienced previously. This time, even the instructor caught sight of the UFO, confirming the pilot's earlier sighting.....
Men in Black The Men in Black conspiracy theory suggests that mysterious individuals or groups monitor and suppress information related to UFOs and extraterrestrial encounters. They are believed to intimidate witnesses and researchers, ensuring the secrecy surrounding these phenomena.
According to this theory, these mysterious individuals dressed in black suits allegedly visit UFO witnesses, warning them to remain silent about what they saw, or they would erase their memories of the UFO encounter. The concept of Men in Black has also been popularized through movies and books.
Alien Manipulation of Human Genetics Conspiracy theories argue that extraterrestrial beings genetically engineered humans or altered human evolution for their own purposes. In fact, believers of this theory think that advanced beings from other worlds have even intervened in our evolutionary process.
However, it is important to note that the concept of alien manipulation of human genetics lacks substantial scientific evidence.
Government Knowledge and Secrecy Many conspiracy theorists argue that governments worldwide possess knowledge about extraterrestrial life and UFOs but keep it hidden from the public. They suggest that governments conduct secret investigations, such as the rumored Area 51 in the United States.
In the US, in December 2020, Congress passed the Intelligence Authorization Act, which required intelligence agencies to provide an unclassified report on unidentified aerial phenomena (UAPs) within 180 days. That report, released in June 2021, acknowledged UAP sightings by military personnel, but did not provide definitive explanations for the observed phenomena.
Reverse Engineering Alien Technology It is speculated that governments have acquired crashed UFOs and alien technology, allowing them to reverse engineer these technologies for military and technological advancements. This theory suggests that some advanced human technologies have extraterrestrial origins.
Reverse engineering is related to the process of dismantling and analyzing a technology to understand its components. The idea of reverse engineering alien technology suggests that humans have acquired extraterrestrial objects or devices and successfully deciphered their advanced technology.
Suppression of Advanced Energy Technologies It is speculated that governments or corporations suppress advanced energy technologies obtained from extraterrestrial sources. Their goal, according to believers of this theory, is to maintain their control over traditional energy industries.
These entities allegedly block the development and dissemination of revolutionary energy technologies. These innovations could potentially replace traditional fossil fuel-based energy systems in the future.
Collaboration with Extraterrestrial Beings This theory suggests that governments have established secret agreements or alliances with extraterrestrial beings. In these alliances, authorities would exchange technology and knowledge with aliens in undisclosed treaties.
However, there is no credible scientific evidence or documentation to support claims of collaboration with extraterrestrial beings.
Hybridization Programs Some conspiracy theories propose that extraterrestrial beings are engaged in hybridization programs. These kinds of programs consist of creating a hybrid species that combines human and alien DNA.
With that being said, it is virtually impossible to achieve that kind of hybridization. The study of genetics and reproductive biology indicates that successfulinterbreeding between species with major genetic differences is unlikely due to fundamental incompatibilities.
Secret Space Programs Some conspiracy theorists believe that governments operate secret space programs that explore extraterrestrial civilizations and engage in interstellar travel. These programs allegedly involve advanced spacecraft and interactions with alien species.
Space exploration and activities are typically carried out through publicly known programs. NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) in the United States, Roscosmos in Russia, ESA (European Space Agency) in Europe are examples of international space agencies.
Alien Infiltration of Governments This theory posits that extraterrestrial beings have infiltrated human governments at high levels. According to this theory, aliens have the power of manipulating global events and controlling world leaders for their own agenda.
Governments and institutions try to maintain security, protect national interests, and address potential threats. While governments do have top-secret operations, the claim of alien infiltration in those remains unsupported by meaningful evidence.
Staged Alien Invasions Some theorists propose that governments plan to stage fake alien invasions. The argument behind this theory is that authorities stage these invasions to create a global crisis and unite humanity under a single world government.
The notion of using a simulated alien invasion for political or social purposes has been mentioned in science fiction literature and films. However, there is no substantial evidence to support staged alien invasions in real life.
Alien Abductions and Experiments Some conspiracy theories propose that extraterrestrial beings visit Earth to abduct humans and conduct experiments on them. These theories often involve claims of missing time, strange markings, and repressed memories.
A popular theory about alien abductions is related to The Betty and Barney Hill case in 1961. Betty and Barney Hill were an American couple who claimed to have been abducted by extraterrestrial beings in rural New Hampshire.
Secret Underground Bases This theory suggests that governments have constructed hidden underground bases. In those bases, authorities conduct research, house recovered UFOs, and interact with extraterrestrial beings.
It’s worth mentioning that there are known underground facilities such as military bunkers or research laboratories. However, there is no major evidence regarding secret underground bases where research about UFOs is conducted.
UFO Disinformation Campaigns It is suggested that governments actively spread disinformation about UFOs and extraterrestrial life. The goal behind this, according to believers of this theory, is to confuse the public and discredit genuine sightings and encounters.
However, it is important to highlight the difference between deliberate disinformation campaigns and the complexities of investigating UFOs. Whether it is because of national security concerns, lack of definitive scientific conclusions, possibilities of hoaxes or public panic prevention, the government could inadvertedly cause disinformation or misinformation when trying to explain UFO investigations.
The Roswell Incident Cover-Up One of the most well-known conspiracy theories revolves around the alleged crash of an extraterrestrial spacecraft near Roswell, New Mexico, in 1947. Some believe that the US government covered up the existence of the crash and the recovery of extraterrestrial beings.
The official explanation provided by the U.S. military at the time stated that the debris recovered from the incident was actually from a top-secret research project known as the Mogul balloon. This secret project was designed to monitor Soviet nuclear tests during those early years of the Cold War.
Global Alien Cover-Up This theory argues that governments worldwide collaborate to suppress information. It also argues that there’s a global alliance to delete evidence of extraterrestrial life to maintain social stability and prevent widespread panic.
Governments have increasingly shown transparency and released previously classified information related to UFO sightings and investigations. There hasn’t been any concrete evidence about a global deliberate cover-up of extraterrestrial investigations.
Suppression of UFO Sightings It is claimed that governments actively suppress and discredit UFO sightings to prevent public panic and maintain control over the narrative surrounding extraterrestrial life. Authorities argue that they do it over national security concerns or the protection of sensitive military technology.
With that being said, this does not necessarily imply a deliberate suppression of information about UFO sightings. Governments, in general, decide to protect themselves and prevent any unwanted information, even in relation to UFO sightings, from coming to light because it is a “state secret”.
Moon and Mars Conspiracies Some conspiracy theories involve claims of secret alien bases on the moon or Mars. The argument is that governments are aware of these bases but keep them hidden from the public.
Theories surrounding these alien bases in other planets often rely on interpretations of anomalies or unusual features observed in images captured by spacecraft. However, these interpretations often lack scientific evidence of those bases, and can be easily confused with natural geological processes, lighting effects or image artifacts.
This theory argues that extraterrestrial beings visited Earth in ancient times and influenced human civilization. It says that aliens played a role in the construction of ancient monuments and shaping human history.
The claims of ancient astronaut theorists are based on interpretations of ancient texts, artwork, and archaeological sites, which they believe have evidence of extraterrestrial influence. However, the detractors of this theory refer to these claims as “pseudoscience.”
Crop Circles as Alien Messages The crop circles phenomenon is often attributed to extraterrestrial beings leaving encoded messages or symbols in fields. These crop circles would indicate their presence and intentions.
One example of alien-made crop circles is the Chilbolton crop circle that appeared in 2001 in Hampshire, England. However, it was later revealed that the circle was human-made and it was a publicity stunt.
Alien Influence on Religious Beliefs Some conspiracy theories propose that religious texts and beliefs were influenced by extraterrestrial beings, shaping human spirituality and religious practices. It starts from the linking of ancient religious texts and beliefs to encounters with advanced beings from other worlds.
The argument is primarily based on interpretations of ancient texts, artwork, and cultural myths. However, there isn’t any legitimate evidence of alien influence on religious beliefs of any kind.
Mysterious Lights Over the Ocean: A Remarkable UFO Sighting on November 28, 2023
Mysterious Lights Over the Ocean: A Remarkable UFO Sighting on November 28, 2023
In the realm of unexplained phenomena, few topics capture the imagination as vividly as UFO sightings. These enigmatic occurrences prompt a whirlwind of speculation, intrigue, and a perennial quest for understanding. A recent event, reported on January 16, 2024, to the National UFO Reporting Center (NUFORC), stands as a poignant testament to the enduring allure of the unknown. This sighting, occurring on November 28, 2023, features an eyewitness account that is as compelling as it is mystifying.
A Spectacular Observation
The incident unfolded in an unexpected locale: the vast, open ocean. The witness, a passenger aboard a cruise ship, ventured back to their room to enjoy the serene ambiance of the sea from their balcony. What was meant to be a moment of tranquility quickly turned into an encounter with the inexplicable. The observer noticed a bright object performing erratic maneuvers in the sky, a sight so unusual and distant from any landmass that it defied immediate explanation. According to the witness, “the closest land was hundreds of miles away,” underscoring the isolation and the oddity of the sighting.
No Drones on Board
In pursuit of answers, the passenger approached the cruise ship’s crew, only to be met with information that deepened the mystery. The crew member confirmed that drones were not only prohibited on board but also not utilized by the ship itself. This detail is crucial, effectively eliminating a common rational explanation for such sightings. The suggestion that “maybe Mexico is doing something” adds a layer of geopolitical intrigue, albeit without concrete evidence to substantiate this theory.
A Video That Speaks Volumes
Accompanying the eyewitness report is a video, a visual testament to the encounter that lends credence to the observer’s account. While the video will undoubtedly be subjected to scrutiny by skeptics and enthusiasts alike, it serves as a pivotal piece of evidence in the ongoing dialogue about UFOs and their place in our collective consciousness.
The Enigma Continues
This sighting is a reminder of the vastness of our world and the mysteries that linger in its unexplored corners. UFO sightings, such as the one reported on November 28, 2023, challenge our understanding of the possible and propel us to look beyond the horizon, in search of answers that may forever remain just out of reach.
For enthusiasts and skeptics alike, this sighting adds another intriguing chapter to the annals of UFO encounters. As we gaze up at the night sky, we are reminded that sometimes, the most extraordinary mysteries are not found in the far reaches of space but right here, in the vast expanse of our own planet’s skies.
For those captivated by the unexplained and the extraordinary, this recent UFO sighting over the open ocean serves as a compelling invitation to explore the unknown. The video accompanying the eyewitness account provides a glimpse into an encounter that defies easy explanation, reminding us that the mysteries of the universe are not only vast but also closer than we might think.
It has been previously thought that Earth is composed of four different layers: inner core, core, mantle, and crust. But a recent scientific discovery might change the way we see Planet Earth. Scientists claimed to they have found one more layer inside the inner core that takes the form of a solid, metallic sphere situated at the core’s center. It is not molten but solid.
A recent study published in the journal Nature Communications reveals that scientists have detected a 400-mile-thick solid metallic layer located at the Earth’s innermost core. This layer responds differently than previously known layers to earthquake shockwaves
The research was conducted by a team of two seismologists from the Australian National University (ANU), who speculates that this “innermost inner core” found inside Earth might have originated from a significant global occurrence in the past. Two Harvard seismologists, Miaki Ishii and Adam Dziewonski, first proposed the idea of the innermost inner core in 2002 based on peculiarities in the speed of seismic waves passing through the inner core.
The inner core of the Earth appears to hold an innermost secret. Image via The New York Times
The research states scientists have discovered up to fivefold reverberating waves from earthquakes along the Earth’s diameter, using a growing number of global seismic stations. This has enabled them to probe the Earth’s center and infer a transversely isotropic inner-core model that contains an anisotropically distinctive innermost inner core and its transition to a weakly anisotropic outer shell.
These findings improve current knowledge of the Earth’s formation and evolution and suggest that the anisotropy could be a fossilized record of a significant global event from the past. This research has shed light on our planet’s evolution over billions of years, including the development of the Earth’s magnetic field, which transformed it from an uninhabitable terrain into a habitable abode.
Dr. Thanh-Son Phạm, from the ANU Research School of Earth Sciences, stated that around two decades ago, a hypothesis was proposed about the presence of an internal metallic ball in the innermost core. According to Dr. Phạm, they are now presenting another line of evidence to support this hypothesis.
The ANU scientists describe this process as similar to a ping pong ball bouncing back and forth. “By developing a technique to boost the signals recorded by densely populated seismograph networks, we observed, for the first time, seismic waves that bounce back – and forth up to five times along the Earth’s diameter. Previous studies have documented only a single antipodal bounce,” Dr. Phạm said. (Source)
“This inner core is like a time capsule of Earth’s evolutionary history – it’s a fossilized record that serves as a gateway into the events of our planet’s past. Events that happened on Earth hundreds of millions to billions of years ago,” said in a statement one of the researchers, Hrvoje Tkalčić.
Scientists studied one of the earthquakes that originated in Alaska. Its seismic waves were observed to bounce off a location in the south Atlantic Ocean before returning to Alaska.
The researchers investigated the anisotropy of the iron-nickel alloy that forms the Earth’s inner core. Anisotropy refers to the way seismic waves speed up or slow down depending on their direction of travel through the Earth’s inner core, potentially caused by varying arrangements of iron atoms at high temperatures and pressures or preferred alignment of growing crystals.
The scientists discovered that the bouncing seismic waves probed the Earth’s center from different angles multiple times. By examining the travel times of seismic waves for various earthquakes, the researchers inferred that the crystallized structure within the innermost region of the inner core is likely different from the outer layer. This discrepancy could explain why seismic waves change speed depending on their entry angle as they penetrate the innermost part of the inner core.
According to the researchers, the formation of this metallic ball could have been triggered by a major global event, such as a large tectonic shift that occurred millions of years ago. Its significance lies in its potential role in supporting the thriving of life on Earth. As a crucial piece of the puzzle, it provides a captivating insight into our planet’s distant past.
Another Similar Discovery
Since the 1970s, the discovery of two giant structures inside the Earth has baffled scientists. They are located on opposite sides of our planet, and their size may be compared to continents. Each of these structures is almost 100 times bigger than Mount Everest and is located at the core of the Earth, at a depth of 2900 km. (Click here to read article)
Seismic studies show that the discovered formations have a different composition than the rest of the Earth’s mantle. These waves generated by earthquakes travel through the Earth’s interior, changing speed, bending, or scattering as they pass through different materials. Scientists use seismometers to detect these waves and create a picture of the rock below the surface.
A recent study used a machine-learning algorithm to analyze around 7,000 seismic wave records, revealing new information about three-dimensional structures near the core-mantle boundary in the sub-Pacific region of Earth.
The blobs, seen from the (a) North and (b) South Poles. The two-toned structures show the shapes of the blob based on the agreement of five different models (brown) and three different models (tan). Credit: Cottaar and Lekic, 2016, https://doi.org/10.1093/gji/ggw324
Geophysicists have known about these structures anomalies (generally they call them blobs) since the 1970s but are not much closer to understanding them today.
“They’re among the largest things inside the Earth,” University of Maryland geologist Ved Lekic told Eos reporter Jenessa Duncombe, “and yet we literally don’t know what they are, where they came from, how long they’ve been around, or what they do.”
The blobs begin thousands of miles below Earth’s surface, where the planet’s rocky lower mantle meets the molten outer core. One blob lurks deep below the Pacific Ocean, the other beneath Africa and parts of the Atlantic. Both are massive, stabbing up about halfway through the mantle and measuring as long as continents. According to Duncombe, each blob stretches about 100 times higher than Mount Everest; if they sat on the planet’s surface, the International Space Station would have to navigate around them.
These discoveries suggest that Earth is hiding many secrets within which are yet to reveal. Could there be a hidden civilization inside these structures?
Comparing ancient texts and megalithic architecture reveals an anthropological connection between civilizations that were considered technologically inferior and geographically removed from one another. The Silurian Hypothesis by Schmidt & Frank and Ultraterrestrial Models by H. E. Puthoff have evolved out of a process of elimination that has taken decades to come to light due to the layered nature of the phenomena and the incommensurability problem.
UFO Fleet Cloaked As Clouds Moving Over Mount Shasta, March 2024, UFO Sighting News.
UFO Fleet Cloaked As Clouds Moving Over Mount Shasta, March 2024, UFO Sighting News.
Date of sighting:March 2024
Location of sighting: Mount Shasta, California, USA
Hmmm...this reminds me of something. Mount Shasta is a hotspot for UFO sightings. I remember a couple who saw a spacecraft hovering over the St. Germain Foundation property in 1991 while lounging in their hot tub on their back porch. Also, its said an alien base site below Mount Shasta, and St. Germain is one of its leaders...and is often seen wandering the mountain trails from time to time. I know there is an alien base below Shasta, however the real question is...how do we the public contact them?
Man claims to have been abducted by aliens who forced him to perform 'sexual experiments' UFO Sighting News.
Man claims to have been abducted by aliens who forced him to perform 'sexual experiments' UFO Sighting News.
As funny a it may seem...such things do occur and there are hundreds of reports of such treatment by aliens, both in Project Blue Book reports and Majestic 12 reports and more. It doesn't seem about sex at all, but instead more about inbreeding, mixing species to make two strong species one single more powerful species (talking powerful through genetics and DNA). Biology says that when two species mix, often the new DNA introduced to the offspring brings fresh and more unique traits and abilities. Whats wrong with wanting a better life for ones offspring?
Scott C. Waring
26-03-2024 om 00:36
geschreven door peter
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- Gemiddelde waardering: 0/5 - (0 Stemmen) Categorie:ALIEN LIFE, UFO- CRASHES, ABDUCTIONS, MEN IN BLACK, ed ( FR. , NL; E )
What did Buzz Aldrin mean when he said, “you didn’t, no you didn’t, you watched animation.” About the nasa moon landing? UFO sighting news.
What did Buzz Aldrin mean when he said, “you didn’t, no you didn’t, you watched animation.” About the nasa moon landing? UFO sighting news.
News talked about an eyewitness who was using his telescope and recorded an unknown object shooting across the moon. I decided to look further into the recording and used the screenshot and added contrast and sharpening to see its true detail. The UFO is actually at the front right end of the glowing line. The UFO is also a disk with sharp not perfectly round but with about 8-10 different rectangle walls along the edge of the disk. The disk is also flying vertical to the moon. A disk flying vertical would be impossible, however many contact reports in Project Blue Book talk about the disks having their own gravity within, making such turns and angles of flight not felt by the pilots within. This UFO seen in the recording is 100% real, data doesn't lie.
The trojan asteroids of Mars. Credit: Armagh Observatory
POSTED BY EVAN GOUGH
An Asteroid Found Sharing the Orbit of Mars
Astronomers discovered another asteroid sharing Mars’ orbit. These types of asteroids are called trojans, and they orbit in two clumps, one ahead of and one behind the planet. But the origins of the Mars trojans are unclear.
Can this new discovery help explain where they came from?
There are now 14 known Mars Trojans and the name of the newest one is 2023 FW14. They’re in two groups, one 60 degrees ahead and one 60 degrees behind Mars. These are the Lagrange 4 and Lagrange 5 points.
Most of the Mars trojans are at the L5 point, and this newly discovered one is the second one found at the L4 point.
Scientists aren’t certain where the Mars trojans came from. Other trojans like the Jupiter trojans may have been captured by Jupiter in the Solar System’s early years. Or Jupiter may have captured them later when it migrated.
But Mars is a much less massive planet, and astronomers aren’t certain if Mars can capture trojans the same way Jupiter does. The Mars trojans could be as old as the Jupiter trojans, but some evidence suggests otherwise. The dozen or more trojans at the Mars L5 point seem to be a family from the same collision. The family is called Eureka, and their spectra indicate an olivine-rich composition.
Olivine is relatively rare in the main asteroid belt. That’s led some researchers to suggest that the L5 Mars trojans are debris from an ancient impact between Mars, where olivine is common, and a planetesimal.
The two L4 Mars trojans are different. They don’t have the same spectra as the L5 trojans, but the pair do show some similarities in their spectra, so a common origin for these two is a possibility.
In this paper, the researchers set out to determine 2023 FW14’s origins. They used the Gran Telescopio Canarias for their work. It’s a 10.4-meter telescope in Spain’s Canary Islands with an attached instrument called the OSIRIS camera spectrograph.
2023 FW14’s spectrum places it in the same class as an Xc-type asteroid. The X-type name contains several different types of asteroids with similar spectra but probably with different compositions. Xc-types are a sub-class of the X-types that are intermediate between C-type asteroids, the most common type of asteroid in the Solar System, and the uncommon K-type asteroids.
This graph from the research shows the spectrum of 2023 FW14 and several spectra of the other known L4 Mars Trojan (121514) 1999 UJ7. Orange shows 2023 FW14, with the red line representing the best asteroid taxonomical match, the Xc-type. Teal, blue, and green show different published spectra of 1999 UJ7. The gray area fills the entire domain between the mean B-type and D-type classes of asteroids.Image Credit: Marcos et al. 2024.
The researchers also used N-body simulations to try to understand the new asteroid’s resonance with Mars. Trojans follow what are known as tadpole orbits. Tadpole orbits are influenced by Earth’s gravity, which causes objects to librate or accelerate or decelerate alternately.
Tadpole orbits are complex. Asteroids on these orbits exchange large amounts of energy and angular momentum with a planet moving in a circular orbit. Tadpole loops are made of multiple overlapping epicyclic loops.
This video illustrates the tadpole orbit followed by an asteroid in Jupiter’s L4, not Mars’ L4, but the concept is the same.
2023 FW14 has a higher orbital eccentricity and lower inclination than Mars’ other L4 trojan. This means that it occupies an unstable region and orbits at the whim of several different resonances. That instability means that in a few million years, it’ll likely be ejected.
The researchers calculated its size as approximately 318 metres (+493/-199.) That makes it one of the smallest known trojans so far.
As for its origins, the authors say that there are two possibilities.
Its long-term behaviour, including its past, suggests that it was captured from the Near Earth Asteroid (NEA) population of Mars-crossing asteroids. But it could be a fragment of another trojan, as well, one that is so far undiscovered, or one that is no longer a trojan.
Spectral data suggests something else. Both of the L4 asteroids appear to be more primitive than Mars’ L5 trojans. 2023 FW14’s spectrum also supports the idea that it’s a captured Mars-crossing NEA. However, that data isn’t as clear, according to the authors, and can’t be used to rule out the other hypothesis, which is that the asteroid formed in situ. “Although incomplete, the data support the interpretation of 2023 FW14 as an interloper captured from the Mars-crossing NEA population, but they cannot be used to reject the competing hypothesis that 2023 FW14 was produced in situ,” they write.
Whatever its origins are, the researchers calculate that 2023 FW14 has about 10 million years before it’s ejected from its trojan orbit. It’s a temporary trojan, and this discovery could prove that Mars trojans can be temporarily captured, something that so far has been unproven.
The Sound of an Interstellar Meteor Might Have Just Been a Rumbling Truck
A 2023 expedition to the Pacific Ocean, searching for debris from a suspected extraterrestrial object, may have been looking in the wrong place. A new look at the infrasound data used to locate the point of impact suggests that they may have been confused by the rumblings of a truck driving past.
On 14 January 2018, a space rock hit the Earth’s atmosphere off the coast of Papua New Guinea. It was detected by what are mysteriously described as “US Government Sensors”, and given the catalogue entry “CNEOS 2014-01-08”. Based on the brightness of the fireball and its apparent speed, the physical rock likely survived without burning up completely. The observation was logged in a database kept by the Center for Near Earth Object Studies. Bolides like this can be a spectacular sight, when spotted by human eyes, but they are not rare; several are detected each week.
Extrasolar objects
A few years later, Oumuamua was discovered. Oumuamua was traveling at a high speed, along a path that showed it was not orbiting the Sun. Instead, it had come from interstellar space and was merely passing through. This was very exciting because it was the first time anybody had observed an interstellar rocky object, and so it attracted a lot of attention.
Some observations showed that Oumuamua’s path wasn’t steady, but kept making tiny changes. Most scientists agreed that this was almost certainly because of pockets of ice melting and jetting away in the Sun’s heat. This is a common phenomenon, that we often see happening with comets. More detailed observations and simulations showed that it had a long and skinny shape, more like a splinter than a boulder, which is very unusual among the asteroids and comets that we’re used to. But Oumuamua only really hit the mainstream press when a well-known and prestigious astrophysicist decided, in a surprising leap of logic, that all these details proved that it could be an alien spacecraft!
The Oumuamua discovery led many scientists to start searching for other interstellar objects. CNEOS 2014-01-08, with its high reported speed, looked like a promising candidate. The physicist who had made such a big deal about Oumuamua being artificial took a closer look at the bolide reports and concluded that it must have been traveling fast enough to be another extrasolar object. This claim was controversial, not only because the government sensors appear to be classified and so cannot be verified, but because meteor speeds are notoriously difficult to measure. Observers have mistakenly reported extrasolar meteors as far back as 1951!
But if CNEOS 2014-01-08 truly was from outside the Solar System, and we could find pieces of it, that would be an incredible discovery: The first actual geological samples from a planetary system outside our own!
The expedition
This is why an expedition was launched in 2023 to try and find it. The research team used seismic and infrasound data from seismic research stations in the area to try and find the exact place where the meteoroid would have splashed into the sea. They identified two likely signals from Geoscience Australia’s Passive Seismic Network. The signals were recorded by Manus Island, Papua New Guinea (AU.MANU) and Coen, Queensland, Australia (AU.COEN), at around the same time that people saw the fireball. They triangulated a precise location based on those recordings, and sailed out to search the ocean floor.
The expedition was widely reported as a success, after they found “metallic spherules”. These spherules had an unusual composition, which the expedition leader said was proof of a possible extraterrestrial origin. Like the speed calculations, though, this interpretation was widely challenged. Specialists in other fields have weighed in to argue that there was nothing unusual about the debris, and that various natural and human processes could have created them (My personal favorite: 19th century pollution!). With so much doubt as to where the spherules came from in the first place, it’s probably not wise to say that they are of “extraterrestrial technological” origin.
The area near the seismic station in Manus Island, based on satellite images. Image credit: Roberto Molar Candanosa and Benjamin Fernando/Johns Hopkins University, with imagery from CNES/Airbus via Google.
The truck
The most recent challenge to the results of this expedition come from a team led by Dr Benjamin Fernando of Johns Hopkins University. Their report focuses on the seismic and infrasound data used to locate the impact site.
They noticed a number of problems with the expedition’s analysis, starting with the fact that none of the detections happened within 30 seconds of the fireball. But beyond that, these stations are located in the Pacific Ring of Fire, which is very tectonically active. They detect a great many earthquakes and other natural seismic events every day, and some of these happened at the same time as the the meteorite impact. Separating the two signals is hard to do without distorting both of them. This adds a lot of error to any calculations based on those data.
Along with seismic data, these stations also have infrasound detectors, meant to detect and monitor nuclear weapons tests. But infrasound has a limited range, and is strongly affected by geography.
Fernando’s team concluded that only one station recorded an infrasound signal that could have come from CNEOS 2014-01-08, and that none of the seismic detections had anything to do with the bolide. Based on this, they believe that the expedition was looking in the wrong place, and that the debris they discovered had nothing at all to do with the 2014 bolide.
But their most damning claim is this: The strongest signal had an unusual pattern, lasting a long time and coming from a direction which changed halfway. They noticed that there is a road passing near the station, with a curve in it that matches the change in direction of the signal. They point out that the signals recorded by trucks driving that road are a far closer match than any natural event.
In other words, they believe that the expedition based its search location for an extraterrestrial meteoroid on the noise of somebody in a truck going for a drive.
In their defense
It’s tempting to laugh at the researchers on the expedition, especially since their leader was a respected astrophysicist who has recently developed a reputation for having crackpot ideas about aliens. But I think there is value in investigating these questions.
It’s easy to get tired of cranks and fools wasting our time with conspiracy theories and crazy stories about abductions. And we should always be skeptical of any claims about aliens, given what we know about the physics of interstellar travel and the absurd scale of the Universe.
But most astronomers agree that life has to exist elsewhere in the Universe, and many think that it could well be intelligent and technologically capable, like us. Nobody’s saying that they can’t possibly exist, only that it’s extremely unlikely that they are over here!
So we should be skeptical of these reports. It’s good to not waste too much time studying them, when there are other mysteries that are far more likely to be true. But that doesn’t mean we should ignore the possibility altogether. It would be disastrous if, by some chance, it turned out to be real, and the scientific community had simply refused to acknowledge it! When new evidence comes in, we must revisit our assumptions and go back and check our previous conclusions. And it’s important that somebody do this even when we’re certain that they’ll get a negative result.
Parker Solar Probe Was Blasted by Coronal Mass Ejections 28 Times in 4 Years
NASA’s Parker Solar Probe (PSP) was launched on August 12, 2018, with the goal of becoming the first spacecraft to touch the Sun while teaching us more about our host star than any spacecraft or solar instrument in human history. Now, a recent study submitted to The Astrophysical Journal discusses the incredible data that PSP collected on coronal mass ejections (CMEs) over a four-year period. This study holds the potential to help scientists and the public better understand the CMEs and how they contribute to space weather.
Here, Universe Today speaks with Dr. Tarik Mohammad Salman, who is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at NASA and George Mason University and lead author of the study regarding the motivation behind the study, its most significant results, implications for future research, PSP contributions, and the importance of studying CMEs. So, what was the motivation behind this study?
“The PSP science data is a treasure trove as it samples the solar wind at uncharted radial distances from the Sun,” Dr. Salman tells Universe Today. “There have been numerous case studies of coronal mass ejections (CMEs) using PSP observations that provided new insights into the evolution of CMEs as the structures propagate farther from the Sun. We are in the sixth year of the PSP mission which provided us with a reasonable number of CME events to perform a statistical investigation. That was the motivation for this project to compile a catalog of CME events that PSP measured from 2018-2022 and also to investigate different perspectives of CME evolution in a statistical manner.”
For the study, PSP collected direct measurements of 32 interplanetary coronal mass ejections (ICMEs) between October 2018 and August 2022 and distances from the Sun ranging between 0.23 and 0.83 astronomical units (AU), with 1 AU being the distance between the Earth and the Sun, or approximately 150 million kilometers (93 million miles). Of the 32 measurements, four were discarded due to gaps in the data, leaving 28 CMEs successfully measured by PSP. The study’s objectives were to identify various aspects of CMEs, specifically pertaining to how they change as they travel farther from the Sun, also known as radial distance. So, what were the most significant results from this study?
Dr. Salman tells Universe Today, “A few results that I would like to highlight are that we observed the internal CME magnetic structure to become more complex with radial distance. We found the CME magnetic field strength to decrease at a lower rate than previous studies. We also saw that the expansion of the CME is important in the formation of the compression region ahead of it and the internal magnetic field has an influence on the short-scale fluctuations we find within the compression region.”
While the study of CMEs falls under the scientific field of solar physics, which studies how our entire Sun functions, scientists also classify CMEs as part of space weather, which studies the activity on the Sun’s surface and how it affects the surrounding environment. Space weather can wreak havoc on electronics, specifically communication satellites and power stations on Earth, with one of the most notable space weather events occurring in September 1859 known as the Carrington Event, which was caused by a massive solar storm that wreaked havoc on worldwide electrical grids and created spectacular auroras across the globe, as well, with the latter traditionally only being visible in the northern and southern latitudes. Therefore, what implications can this study have on future research regarding our Sun, and specifically space weather?
“The compiled catalog of CME events itself will be a valuable resource for performing future extensive case studies,” Dr. Salman tells Universe Today. “Understanding the evolution of CMEs is of paramount importance for space weather operations. This statistical investigation of different aspects of CME evolution is a step towards that as it validates previous approximations but also raises new questions that need to be explored further with a more robust data set in the future.”
After having its first solar encounter in October 2018, PSP has continued to smash records regarding its distance from our Sun. This includes achieving its closest distance of 7.26 million kilometers (4.51 million miles) on September 27, 2023, which is slated to be surpassed after its last flyby of Venus in November 2024. Science objectives for PSP include determining the solar corona processes responsible for producing the solar wind, gaining insight into the solar plasma and magnetic field properties, and learning more about additional energy particles emitted by the Sun.
The reason why PSP can travel so close to our Sun is due to its state-of-the-art solar shield comprised of a 11.43-centimeter-thick (4.5-inch-thich) carbon-composite shield capable of withstanding scorching temperatures up to 1,377 degrees Celsius (2,500 degrees Fahrenheit). While PSP has already broken records regarding its distance to the Sun, PSP is slated to come within 6.16 million kilometers (3.83 million miles) during its mission, which is planned to last a total of seven years. But how has PSP contributed to our understanding of our Sun and space weather?
“PSP is so important for us to advance our current understanding of CME evolution and space weather,” Dr. Salman tells Universe Today. “The questions of interest for space weather are will a CME impact Earth and whether it will have a southward field component to interact with the northward magnetic field of Earth. Our modeling frameworks depend on an initial characterization of the CME closer to the Sun (within 20 solar radii) based on which the models project the CME parameters when it impacts Earth.”
Dr. Salman continues, “The initial characterization is made based on CME remote-sensing imaging. What PSP is doing is providing direct measurements of CMEs in the initial phases of propagation. Adding to this are the widespread radial observations of PSP to make our statistical approximations more robust. This is how PSP is contributing to develop a more accurate picture of the CME propagation and evolution from closer to the Sun to Earth.”
Animation showing NASA’s Parker Solar Probe studying the Sun. (Credit: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center/CIL/Brian Monroe)
CMEs have been observed for thousands of years in the form of auroras when the solar wind interacts with the Earth’s magnetic field near the planet’s surface. They are produced from the Sun’s corona in the form of massive discharges when solar plasma interacts with the Sun’s massive magnetic field and their velocities can range from 250 kilometers per second (155 miles per second) to almost 3,000 kilometers per second (1,864 miles per second).
CMEs are monitored by the Space Weather Prediction Center with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration using a combination of ground- and space-based solar observatories. As noted, space weather is constantly monitored to determine how much damage can be caused to Earth surface power grids and satellite communications. But aside from monitoring space weather, why is it so important to study CMEs?
“CMEs are crucial for the existence of our Sun,” Dr. Salman tells Universe Today. “CMEs appear as a valve that releases the built-up magnetic field from the Sun without which the Sun will rip itself apart. But the investigation of CME science also has important societal relevance. CMEs drive the strongest solar storms that can wreak havoc through impacting power grids and telecommunication networks. CMEs can also damage orbiting satellites and technological infrastructure. CMEs are now counted among the major natural hazards as well. A more in-depth understanding of CMEs (from initiation to propagation to evolution along the Sun-Earth line) is thus required to improve the current status quo of space weather operations.”
What new discoveries will researchers make about coronal mass ejections in the coming years and decades? Only time will tell, and this is why we science!
On July 1st, 2023, the European Space Agency (ESA) launched the Euclid Observatory, a mission that will spend the next six years investigating the composition and evolution of the Universe. In particular, Euclid will observe how the Universe has expanded over the past 10 billion years to test theories about Dark Energy. While fine-tuning and calibrating the telescope’s instruments in preparation for the mission’s first survey, the mission team noticed that a few layers of water ice formed on its mirrors after it entered the freezing cold of space.
While common, this is a problem for a highly sensitive mission like Euclid, which requires remarkable precision to investigate cosmic expansion. After months of research, the Euclid team tested a newly designed procedure to de-ice the mission’s optics. On March 20th, the ESA announced that the team’s de-icing approach worked (so far) and that Euclid’s vision has been restored. If the method proves successful, it will have validated the mission team’s plan to keep Euclid‘s optical system working for the rest of its mission.
The problem first became evident as science operations experts noticed a small but progressive decrease in light measured by the telescope’s VISible instrument (VIS). This instrument is responsible for measuring visible light from distant galaxies to determine how the light’s trajectory is affected by gravity fields. Mischa Schirmer, a calibration scientist for the Euclid consortium and one of the main designers of the new de-icing plan, explained in an ESA press release:
“We compared the starlight coming in through the VIS instrument with the recorded brightness of the same stars at earlier times, seen by both Euclid and ESA’s Gaia mission. Some stars in the Universe vary in their luminosity, but the majority are stable for many millions of years. So, when our instruments detected a faint, gradual decline in photons coming in, we knew it wasn’t them – it was us.”
Artist’s impression of the Euclid observatory. Credit: ESA
It was always expected that there would be some water contamination with Euclid, which is why there was an “outgassing campaign” shortly after launch. This consisted of the telescope being warmed up by onboard heaters and also partially exposed to the Sun, sublimating most of the water brought from Earth. However, a considerable amount remained after being absorbed in the telescope’s multi-layer insulation, which slowly began building up on the VIS intrument’s mirror surfaces. After months of research, lab studies, and calibrations, the team determined the source and began working on a solution.
The obvious solution was to heat Euclid again by running all its internal heaters for days. However, this ran the risk of deforming the mechanical structure of the spacecraft, which could alter Euclid’s optical alignment. Said Andreas Rudolph, Euclid Flight Director at ESA’s mission control:
“Most other space missions don’t have such demanding requirements on ‘thermo-optical stability’ as Euclid. To fulfilEuclid’s scientific goals of making a 3D map of the Universe by observing billions of galaxies out to 10 billion light-years, across more than a third of the sky, means we have to keep the mission incredibly stable – and that includes its temperature. Switching on the heaters in the payload module therefore needs to be done with extreme care.”
The team began by individually heating two of Euclid’s mirrors independently, a low-risk approach since they are located in areas where water vapor was not likely to contaminate other instruments. After analyzing the initial results, the team found that Euclid’s vision was restored to its previous accuracy. However, this was a temporary solution, and a long-term strategy for regular de-icing is still being sought. In the meantime, the ESA promises to continue to monitor the telescope for changes and share any new findings publicly.
However, the response to this problem highlights the international cooperation that made this mission possible. Said Ralf Kohley, Euclid Instrument Operations Scientist who coordinated the response:
“A complex mission requires a united response from teams across Europe, and I’m incredibly thankful for the effort and skill that so many have poured into this. It took work from teams at ESA’s ESTEC technical heart in the Netherlands, the ESAC science operations centre in Madrid and the Flight Control Team at ESOC mission control in Darmstadt – but we couldn’t have done it without the Euclid consortium and the critical inputs we got from spacecraft prime contractor Thales Alenia Space and its industrial partner Airbus Space.”
In addition, this issue could lead to vital research on how to maintain missions where highly sensitive optics are concerned. Despite how common this issue is for spacecraft, there is very little research on how ice forms on optical mirrors and impacts observations. Therefore, the solution devised by the mission team and agency could lead to new procedures for future missions. These could come in handy when Euclid is joined by NASA’sNancy Grace Roman Space Telescope (RST) in March 2027 – another mission that will explore the “dark Universe.”
Aan de rand van de woestijn in Namibië bevindt zich dor grasland met daarin kale plekken, die een vrijwel perfecte cirkel vormen. De vraag is: hoe kan het gras eromheen wel groeien en in de cirkel niet? Het is een mysterie dat wetenschappers al decennia bezighoudt, maar een stel Duitse en Israëlische onderzoekers lijkt nu het antwoord te hebben.
Ze zijn zelf het veld ingetrokken om te kijken hoe net opkomend gras vrijwel direct weer afsterft in de cirkel, terwijl het eromheen wel welig tiert. Dat blijkt door een gebrek aan water te komen, ontdekten ze. De bovenste 10 tot 12 centimeter grond functioneert als een soort death zone waarin gras niet lang kan overleven. Het gaat tien tot twintig dagen, nadat er regen is gevallen alsnog dood. Daarmee kan een andere theorie de prullenbak in: het gras gaat niet ten onder aan termieten, zoals lang werd gedacht.
Honderden metingen De wetenschappers zijn niet over één nacht ijs gegaan om dit tientallen jaren oude mysterie op te lossen. Ze hebben vijfhonderd grasplanten in vier regio’s van de Namib-woestijn opgemeten, en dan zowel de wortels als de sprieten. Ook hebben ze er statistische analyses op losgelaten en foto’s gemaakt. De honderden metingen van de vochtigheid van de grond tijdens en na de regenseizoenen van 2023 en 2024 boden uiteindelijk definitief uitsluitsel.
Daaruit bleek namelijk dat de toplaag erg gevoelig is voor uitdroging. Tijdens en na het regenseizoen is deze grond drie tot vier keer minder vochtig dan de aarde op een diepte van 20 centimeter. Daarbovenop is de toplaag in de periode na de regen nog droger binnen de cirkels dan erbuiten.
Langere wortels Onder deze omstandigheden kan het net ontkiemende gras niet overleven in de cirkel, concluderen de onderzoekers. Het droogt uit, omdat het de diepere, vochtigere grondlaag niet kan bereiken met de wortels die gemiddeld nog maar 10 centimeter lang zijn. Het grote, oudere gras daarentegen dat aan de rand van de cirkel groeit, heeft langere wortels en weet het water op 20 tot 30 centimeter diepte dus wel te halen. Het wordt na een stevige regenbui al snel weer lekker groen.
“Met hun goed ontwikkelde wortels zuigen deze graspollen veel van het water op. Na de regen hebben ze een enorm voordeel boven de net ontkiemende grassen in de cirkel. Het nieuwe gras verliest maar een klein deel van het water via transpiratie door zijn kleine sprietjes, waardoor er onvoldoende zuigkracht is om nieuw water uit diepere bodemlagen te halen”, legt hoofdonderzoeker Stephan Getzin uit van de Göttingen University.
Schematische weergave van de groei van het gras en de waterverdeling in de eerste weken na hevige regenval in de cirkel. Afbeelding: Bauhaus University Weimar, Faculty of Art & Design/Animation Art & Design
Bovenste grondlaag De metingen tonen verder aan dat het water vooral makkelijk uit de grond te zuigen is in de eerste twintig dagen na de regen en dan met name in de bovenste grondlaag. Het gevolg is dat het oudere, stevigere gras voornamelijk water haalt uit de bovenste 10 tot 20 centimeter grond. Daardoor blijft er nog minder over voor de nieuwe plantjes. “Dit is de doodsoorzaak van het nieuwe gras in de cirkel. Continue metingen van de grondvochtigheid gedurende meerdere jaren ondersteunen die conclusie, omdat daaruit blijkt dat het grondwater in de cirkel alleen merkbaar snel afneemt tijdens de groei van het omringende gras na de regen”, aldus de onderzoeker.
Dit betekent dus dat de cirkels eigenlijk een waterbron vormen voor het omringende gras dat een groot deel van het jaar kampt met een watertekort. Het gras zelf vormt de ronde vorm van de cirkels, omdat het zo voor zichzelf maximaal toegang heeft tot grondwater. “Deze zelforganisatie kun je zien als zwermintelligentie. Het is een systematische aanpassing aan een gebrek aan water in droge regio’s”, verklaart Getzin.
Geen termieten De theorie dat termieten de wortels van het verse gras opeten, waardoor het afsterft, klopt dan ook niet volgens de onderzoekers. “In een uitgebreide discussie over de zandtermietentheorie tonen we aan dat tot nu toe geen enkele veldstudie met systematische meetgegevens van de wortellengte heeft weten te bewijzen dat de termieten zich voeden met de wortels van het nieuwe gras in de cirkels”, klinkt het overtuigd.
Het bewijs stapelt zich dus op dat het echt een watertekort is dat tot de mysterieuze cirkels in de Namib-woestijn heeft geleid. De nieuwe verse grassprietjes delven het onderspit tegen de grote, oudere grassen, die veel langere wortels hebben.
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) continues to set its sights on the Moon, recently selecting defense giant Northrop Grumman to advance concepts on building a lunar railroad network.
Constructing a lunar railroad system may seem like something from a science fiction movie. Yet, the project reflects the Department of Defense’s (DoD) mysterious focus on lunar operations and potential ambition to establish a strategic military presence on the Moon.
“The envisioned lunar railroad network could transport humans, supplies, and resources for commercial ventures across the lunar surface – contributing to a space economy for the United States and international partners,” Northrop Grumman said in a statement.
According to Northrop Grumman, the company will begin by exploring concepts for constructing and operating a lunar railroad network, including identifying the foreseeable costs, necessary resources, and technological risks associated with such an ambitious endeavor.
The company will also provide DARPA with lunar railroad network prototypes, as well as demonstrations and analyses of how a fully operating system would perform.
DARPA’s plans to develop a lunar railroad network is a strategic initiative reminiscent of the pivotal role railroads played in expanding and developing the United States.
Just as the First Transcontinental Railroad revolutionized the settlement and economy of the American West, this lunar project aims to tackle the unique logistical and operational challenges of establishing a sustainable human and commercial presence on the Moon.
Chris Adams, vice president and general manager at Northrop Grumman’s Strategic Space Systems, emphasized the significance of this initiative. “This investment in key developmental research propels our technology to the forefront of next-generation solutions, establishing a sustainable space ecosystem,” Adams stated.
America’s development of a nationwide railroad network in the 1800s is primarily recognized as a symbol of modernity and national progress. However, the expansion of the First Transcontinental Railroad also came at a significant cost to the landscape and Indigenous communities of the American Midwest.
Many historians argue that the construction of the Pacific Railroad from 1863 to 1869 played a significant role in the near-extinction of the American bison. This was largely due to the railroad’s influx of settlers who hunted the bison extensively.
Furthermore, the arrival of these new settlers, coupled with diminishing natural resources, led to increased tensions and conflicts between the U.S. government and the Indigenous tribes of the region, as the expanded homesteading facilitated by the railroad encroached on their lands.
As a consequence of these developments, Indigenous peoples in the United States ended up losing nearly 99% of the land they had occupied for tens of thousands of years.
The Moon lacks human inhabitants or an ecosystem that a lunar railroad system could potentially disrupt. Nonetheless, this does not eliminate the possibility of unintended consequences as humanity plans to colonize the lunar surface.
As it relates to potential “unintended consequences,” perhaps one of the most pressing questions is why DARPA, the U.S. Department of Defense’s (DoD) primary brain trust, has taken such a keen interest in the Moon in recent years.
In addition to its 10-year Lunar Architecture (LunA-10) Capability Study, several other DARPA programs are developing various technologies to establish and facilitate a permanent human presence on the Moon.
One such initiative, the Demonstration Rocket for Agile Cislunar Operations program, or “DRACO,” looks to identify “leap-ahead” propulsion technologies to allow larger payload transfers between the Earth and the Moon.
Traditionally, NASA, the independent federal agency dedicated to the scientific exploration of aeronautics and outer space, has led America’s space exploration ventures. Yet, DARPA’s recent initiatives to develop lunar infrastructure, such as constructing a moon-based railroad, mark a significant change in how the U.S. is approaching space exploration.
In contrast to NASA’s emphasis on scientific research, DARPA’s official documents explicitly state its goal to foster a “thriving lunar economy” and establish a “civil lunar framework for peaceful U.S. and international use.”
During the announcement of industry partners for DARPA’s 10-Year Lunar Architecture (LunA-10) Capability Study, known as “LunA-10,” Dr. Michael “Orbit” Nayak, a program manager in DARPA’s Strategic Technology Office, underscored the agency’s intention to turn the Moon into an economic extension of the U.S.
“LunA-10 has the potential to upend how the civil space community thinks about spurring widespread commercial activity on and around the Moon within the next 10 years,” Dr. Nayak said. “LunA-10 performers include companies both big and small, domestic and international, each of which brought a clear vision and technically rigorous plan for advancing quickly towards our goal: a self-sustaining, monetizable, commercially owned-and-operated lunar infrastructure.”
Policy experts note that DARPA’s lunar initiatives, such as constructing a lunar railroad network, comply with the United Nations Outer Space Treaty of 1967. This treaty prohibits the militarization of space and requires the Moon and other celestial bodies to be used only for peaceful purposes.
However, there remains a risk of “unintended consequences” similar to those experienced during the construction of the First Transcontinental Railroad. In this case, the conflict would not involve Indigenous populations but could arise from commercialization and competition for lunar resources with another global power: China.
China likewise has plans for a permanent lunar settlement, including a nearly 14-square-mile lunar base with underground facilities, a command and communication center, a power station, laboratories, and a fleet of autonomous robots to support scientific research and commercialization of the Moon.
Even before either country has started constructing permanent settlements on the Moon, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson has accused China of intending to claim resource-rich areas of the Moon as its own sovereign territory, an allegation that Beijing has denied, labeling it a “lie.”
Nevertheless, as recently reported by The Debrief, Beijing plans to extend its advanced mass surveillance network, known as “Skynet,” to the Moon. Expanding its extensive spy network to include the lunar surface suggests China is already preparing for potential disputes with lunar neighbors, particularly the U.S.
The recent lunar railroad initiative by DARPA is not just about creating a novel means of transport but also envisioning a future where the Moon plays a pivotal role in supporting human life and commercial activities.
DARPA’s burgeoning interest in lunar infrastructure development subtly aligns with the DoD’s broader vision to leverage the Moon’s strategic position beyond mere scientific exploration to achieve economic and defense objectives.
It remains to be seen whether perceiving the Moon as a critical asset for U.S. national security and economic development will ultimately lead to earthly conflicts in the future.
“For my entire 50-year career, no one I knew was particularly interested in it [the moon], but now there is extreme attention,” Szymanski said. “In the 1970’s NASA asked the Air Force if they wanted a base on the moon, and they said ‘no,'”
“Yet now, I personally know of companies planning on providing cell phone service on the Moon, and the Air Force Research Lab is developing several programs, such as space surveillance for the far side of the Moon. None of this makes sense unless there is some other not publicly known factor that has changed everyone’s attitudes.”
Tim McMillan is a retired law enforcement executive, investigative reporter and co-founder of The Debrief. His writing typically focuses on defense, national security, the Intelligence Community and topics related to psychology. You can follow Tim on Twitter:@LtTimMcMillan. Tim can be reached by email: tim@thedebrief.org or through encrypted email:LtTimMcMillan@protonmail.com
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Ik ben Pieter, en gebruik soms ook wel de schuilnaam Peter2011.
Ik ben een man en woon in Linter (België) en mijn beroep is Ik ben op rust..
Ik ben geboren op 18/10/1950 en ben nu dus 73 jaar jong.
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