UFO expert reveals why you're more likely to see an 'alien' over Christmas

By JORDANA SEAL, NEWS REPORTER

It's not just Santa people should be looking out for next week as experts say you're more likely to see an 'alien' over Christmas. 

In December, the UFO Reporting Centre see a huge surge in UFO sightings with a massive spike on Christmas Day.

Christian Stepien, technical director at the centre in America said the reason for the increased reporting could be due to festive firework and light displays. 

Ron James from the Mutual UFO Network told The Daily Beast: 'We do have a slight uptick twice a year in the summer and around the holidays. 

'There are a few reasons why people might be paying more attention: they might be off work, they're doing family activities and things they don't normally do, so there are more possibilities for people to encounter things. Then, of course, there's always Santa Claus and the reindeer. 

'If there is an uptick, I can understand that because there's a lot of people out during time shopping and doing things. 

'They might be looking up in the air so I can understand it if there is.'

In 2021, there were a whopping 75 sightings reported on December 25. 

File image: In December, the UFO Reporting Centre see a huge surge in UFO sightings with a massive spike on Christmas Day

Accounts of UFOs peaking during the festive period go all the way back to Christmas 1965.

Astronaut Wally Schirra Jr. was aboard Gemini 6 when he spotted an usual 'object'.

At the time, he stated: 'We have an object, looks like a satellite going from north to south, probably in polar orbit. Looks like he might be going to re-enter soon.You just might let me pick up that thing.'

Adding to his report, fellow astronaut Thomas Stafford noted: 'I see a command module and eight smaller modules in front. The pilot of the command module is wearing a red suit.' 

Mission control was sent into hysteria until Wally began to play Jingle Bells on the harmonica and revealed it was all a joke. 

{ https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/index.html }

20-12-2025 om 22:23 geschreven door peter  

Space challenge

The Space Shuttle program was the first full-fledged attempt to create a partially reusable space system. Within its framework, the shuttle itself was reused, as well as a pair of solid-fuel boosters that landed on parachutes. However, due to a number of technical compromises inherent in the program’s architecture and the immaturity of the technologies involved, it cannot be considered a success from an economic point of view. Yes, the shuttles were reused. However, their restoration and preparation for a new launch required much more time and money than had been anticipated during the development phase. As a result, the cost of launching a shuttle far exceeded the cost of launching a conventional rocket.

Several rocket designs were also developed that involved reusing first-stage engines, which, according to the designers’ concept, were to be dropped by parachute. However, these designs were never implemented. One of the main reasons for this was that the space industry was still predominantly the preserve of countries. With guaranteed government contracts, there was no point in rocket manufacturers reducing the cost of launches.

This situation began to change at the beginning of the 21st century with the emergence of a number of private companies ready to challenge the traditional aerospace giants. One of them was SpaceX. When the company first announced its plans to reuse the first stage of the Falcon 9 rocket, most experts were extremely skeptical. Some even openly ridiculed them. But SpaceX was ready to take on the challenge.

From parachutes to jet landing

Initially, SpaceX chose a traditional approach and attempted to implement the idea of returning the stage using parachutes. Attempts were made during the first two Falcon 9 launches. In both cases, the stage disintegrated in the atmosphere upon re-entry. Experts quickly realized that this was a dead end. Even if the stage had survived re-entry, the parachute system had a number of problems, one of which was its considerable weight, and another was that the stage would land in seawater, which could damage the engines.

Instead, a controlled reentry and jet landing scheme was chosen. To develop the necessary technologies, SpaceX built Grasshopper, a vehicle capable of vertical takeoff and landing. Testing began in 2012.

At the same time, engineers tried to obtain as much data as possible about the rocket’s behavior during actual space flight and actively experimented. In 2013, SpaceX succeeded in reactivating the engines of the separated first stage for the first time. And in 2014, the first controlled splashdown in the ocean took place. The company also began preparing autonomous barges, which were to be used for most of the landings. However, even then, most experts still did not believe in SpaceX. It was believed that even if the company recovered the stage, the cost of servicing it would negate the whole idea of reusability.

Historic landing

The first real attempt to land the Falcon 9 stage was made in January 2015. It failed. The next time, the company came extremely close to success, but during contact, the stage tipped over onto the barge and exploded.

On December 22, SpaceX made another attempt to recover a stage from space. The task was made easier by the fact that this time the landing was not on a barge, but on land. And this time, SpaceX was successful. The stage with the serial number B1019 made a historic landing at Cape Canaveral, proving the viability of the idea.

The final confirmation was to be the landing on a barge. After two more failures, on April 8, 2016, SpaceX finally succeeded in solving the problem. For the first time in history, humanity had a rocket with a reusable first stage.

The Reusable Revolution

However, even after all this, not everyone was ready to believe in success. After all, it is not enough to simply return the stage; it must be possible to launch it into space again, and it must be cheaper than using a new stage.

This task was accomplished a year later when the stage with the side number B1021 successfully returned from space for the second time. The final step was the commissioning of Falcon 9 Block 5, the “final” modification of the rocket, whose design incorporated the results of all SpaceX experiments. It was destined to become SpaceX’s workhorse, which ultimately changed the landscape of global space exploration. As of December 16, 2025, 523 of the 524 launches of this modification of Falcon 9 were successful.

As for reusing stages, out of 531 attempts, SpaceX failed to recover the stage in only six cases. This number is higher than the total number of Falcon 9 launches because its first stages are also used in Falcon Heavy launches.

Over the years, SpaceX has raised the bar for the maximum number of launches for first stages several times. Initially, it was 10 launches, then 20, and now 40. At the time of writing, the record was held by stage B1067. It has flown into space 32 times.

Thanks to a combination of unprecedented reliability and lower prices than its competitors, reusability has allowed SpaceX to capture a huge share of the global launch market. Falcon 9 launches are now effectively produced on an assembly line basis. It is launched more often than all other rockets combined.

Only in 2025 did several companies come close to repeating SpaceX’s success. Blue Origin has achieved the most significant results so far. On its second attempt, it managed to land the New Glenn rocket stage on a barge. China’s Landspace could have gone down in history as the third company to build a reusable rocket. However, the first attempt to land the Zhuque-3 stage was unsuccessful. Next in line are Long March 8, built by the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology, and Neutron from Rocket Lab.

SpaceX, in turn, is preparing to take the next step and create the first fully reusable space system in history. In recent years, the company has been actively testing its giant Starship rocket. If all goes well, its first landing could take place as early as 2026.

Whatever the future holds for all these rockets, one thing is certain: space exploration will never be the same again. And the beginning of this new path was laid ten years ago, when Falcon 9 managed to do what was previously considered impossible.

• Posted in Articles, Questions 

{https://universemagazine.com/en/news-en/science-en/ }

20-12-2025 om 22:12 geschreven door peter  

The incredible true story of the Men In Black: Harry saw six aircraft over the bay. Then the suits came out of shadows... and the bodies followed

By STACY LIBERATORE, US SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY EDITOR

Before the movies, before the comic books, and before Tommy Lee Jones and Will Smith brought their suits to the big screen, the Men in Black were known only in whispers.

The legend of these shadowy figures - men in dark suits who threatened people who reported UFO sightings - was born in 1947, when a Washington state logger claimed he saw six flying orbs over Puget Sound.

On June 21, Tacoma resident Harold Dahl was out on the bay with his son, their dog and two crewmembers when he claimed to have spotted six massive, metallic, doughnut-shaped aircraft - each about 100ft across and gliding roughly 2,000ft overhead.

Dahl later described the sighting to an undercover intelligence agent, someone he believed was simply his supervisor.

The very next morning, a man in a black suit appeared at Dahl's home and invited him to breakfast, delivering a warning that would echo through UFO lore for generations.

Dahl's account was printed in the Tacoma Times, and months later, the 29-year-old journalist who covered it was dead under mysterious circumstances.

The story, now known as the Maury Island incident, is detailed in the newly released book Catastrophic Disclosure: The Deep State, Aliens, and the Truth, which argues Dahl's may be one of the first 'modern' UFO sightings.

'This might mark the first appearance of mysterious figures, either from the military or what has become known as the "men in black,"' authors Kent Heckenlively JD and Michael Mazzola wrote. 

A new book has detailed the origins of the legendary Men in Black, which started in 1947 when a man reported seeing six objects flying over Washington state. Pictured is an artist impression of what the man said he saw

On June 21, Tacoma resident Harold Dahl (pictured) was out on the bay with his son, their dog and two crewmembers when he spotted six massive, metallic, doughnut-shaped aircraft - each about 100ft across and gliding roughly 2,000ft overhead

The summer of 1947 became a landmark period for UFO sightings, from Ken Arnold's mysterious 'flying discs' near Mt Rainier to the infamous Roswell incident in New Mexico. 

Across the nation, Americans were captivated by reports of objects that defied explanation, and the federal government was paying close attention. 

But it was Dahl's encounter with the man in the black suit that cemented one of the most enduring legends in UFO history.

According to Heckenlively and Mazzola, such figures - whether military, intelligence or something altogether stranger - appeared in response to sightings like Dahl's, warning witnesses to keep quiet.

Dahl claimed he first saw five of the objects circling while a sixth appeared to be in distress. The craft made no sound, Dahl said, and he saw no propellers, motors or visible means of propulsion.

'A dull explosion followed, and the troubled craft ejected a stream of light metal that looked like thousands of newspapers, then heavier, darker rock, almost like lava,' the authors wrote.

Dahl reported that the damaged craft drifted out over the Pacific Ocean and vanished. He said the falling debris wrecked his boat, killed his dog and injured his son. 

He relayed everything to his supervisor, Fred Crisman, who, the authors note, was actually a former intelligence agent with the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), precursor to the CIA. It is not known how long Crisman and Dahl had been working at the same company.

Before the movies, before the comic books, and before Tommy Lee Jones and Will Smith brought them to the big screen, the Men in Black were known only in whispers

Dahl's story appeared in the Tacoma Times the next day. The reporter, Paul Luntz, was said to have also been visited by two men in black suits who threatened him to stop writing about the incident

The next morning, Dahl claimed, a man in a black suit knocked on his door and escorted him to a local diner.

'This was not as unusual as it might seem,' the authors explained. 'Many lumber buyers visited men in Dahl's trade to negotiate for salvaged logs.'

Over breakfast, the mysterious visitor calmly repeated Dahl's entire story back to him, then added: 'I know a great deal more about this experience of yours than you will want to believe.'

According to the book, he leaned in and warned Dahl never to speak of the sighting again, insisting the incident 'never happened' and hinting that if Dahl valued his family's safety, he would remain silent.

The story ran in the Tacoma Times the next day, reported by journalist Paul Lantz, who printed Dahl's description of the objects and confirmed the logger had alerted Crisman. 

Reports have suggested that Crisman shared the story with the news outlet.

Reports later suggested Lantz and his wife were also visited by two men in black suits after he published the article.

In a 2014 book, The Maury Island UFO Incident, authors Charlette LeFevre and Philip Lipson quote Lantz's granddaughter: 'My grandmother went into the kitchen to cook while they talked to Paul in the living room.

'She tried to listen. She said they were basically threatening Paul to stop… but Paul was bold and not afraid of them.'

What is now known as the Maury Island incident happened over Puget Sound (pictured)

A few months later, in August, Lantz published another startling report suggesting an Army plane crash in Kelso may have been 'sabotage.'

'The mystery of the 'Flying Saucers' soared into prominence again,' he wrote, after an informant claimed the aircraft was destroyed to prevent flying-disc fragments from reaching Hamilton Field for analysis.

The informant alleged the debris came from 'one of the mysterious platters' that had fallen near Maury Island. 

Lantz died on January 10, 1948. Some accounts stated his cause of death was 'a short, unspecific illness,' while his death certificate reportedly cited meningitis. 

His death was described by family as sudden and unexpected.

Dahl was later interrogated by the Seattle FBI, which publicly declared the story a hoax, though internal accounts painted a different picture.

Reports claim FBI Director J Edgar Hoover wrote: 'Please be advised that Dahl did not admit… his story was a hoax, but only stated that if questioned by authorities, he was going to say it was a hoax because he did not want further trouble in the matter.'

To this day, no one has definitively explained what Dahl saw on Maury Island, why an intelligence agent posed as his supervisor or why a man in a black suit knew details of the incident before Dahl ever repeated them. 

The FBI closed the case, the debris vanished, and the people closest to the story either recanted under pressure or never spoke about it again.

But in the years that followed, dozens of witnesses across the country reported their own encounters with men in black suits who arrived without warning, knew too much and left no trace.

{ https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/index.html }

20-12-2025 om 21:45 geschreven door peter  

EXCLUSIVE - 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

A man who was clinically dead for an astonishing 105 minutes has said his experience in heaven gave him a mission: sharing what he learned about the afterlife with the world.

Dean Braxton, 68, told the Daily Mail how a simple hospital procedure to remove kidney stones in 2006 went horribly wrong, causing a massive infection that stopped his heart.

Doctors failed to resuscitate the Christian minister from Washington state, and had already begun filling out the paperwork before sending his body to the morgue, when he miraculously woke up.

Braxton said hospital staff dubbed him the 'Miracle Man' after doctors reported he suffered no brain damage and returned to perfect health, despite his body being clinically dead for one hour and 45 minutes.

Normally, the human brain begins to experience irreversible damage within five to 10 minutes of being without oxygen, highlighting the extraordinary nature of his survival.

Braxton said he was not afraid during his near-death experience (NDE), rather he felt overwhelming joy, peace and comfort - a revelation that transformed his outlook on life and gave him an 'eternal perspective.'

The Washingtonian said he was taken into another realm he called heaven, where he was met by dead relatives, angels, Jesus and God.

'It's not your time, go back,' Braxton recounted about what Jesus told him before sending him back to Earth. That moment, as he remembers it, has inspired his mission to help others encounter God themselves.

Dean Braxton (pictured) was clinically dead for 105 minutes and claims he journeyed into the afterlife

Braxton, a Christian minister, has been talking about his experience with audiences around the world for 20 years

Once in this realm, the minister said that everything he encountered, which he referred to as 'creations,' made him feel welcomed - even the trees and animals.

'I felt like everything was alive, nothing was dead - and I don't mean just alive in a sense of like grass that I have in my front yard. I mean, they were alive where they were intelligent,' Braxton told the Daily Mail.

'It seemed like everything had an attitude - a good attitude, not a bad one - and they were glad I showed up.'

The pastor went on to say he was greeted by his family members who had already passed away, led by his grandmother, Mary.

This welcome eventually extended to generations of Braxton's ancestors, including those he had never met during his lifetime.

Braxton said that this encounter was life-changing and revealed how important family is to God. He said it showed him that individual families matter just as deeply as the broader 'family of God.'

'I didn't know that until I got there, how important it was. So that really changed my outlook upon my own family,' Braxton said.

He added that his wife, Marilyn Braxton, had to adjust to an entirely new husband after his NDE.

Braxton said his wife, Marilyn Braxton (right), had to adjust to an entirely new husband after his near-death experience changed his perspective on life

Braxton said all of his family members who had previously passed away greeted him in heaven

(Stock Image) 

While the people Braxton said he encountered in heaven could speak verbally, he claimed the primary way those in the afterlife communicated was thought-to-thought.

Most often, he said this took the form of instant pictures rather than words. Braxton told the Daily Mail that if someone wanted to talk about a table, for example, they would directly transmit the complete picture of that table into his mind.

He said this concept was ideal because it gave the fullness of the thought instantly. There were no misunderstandings and no need for lengthy explanations, making every conversation deeply intimate, even if the meeting was brief.

Eventually, Braxton said he approached what he called 'the edge of heaven,' a place he couldn't physically describe but believed would mean leaving the realm of Earthly reality if he crossed that barrier.

Braxton (pictured) has been called the 'Miracle Man' after suffering no brain injuries despite being dead for one hour and 45 minutes

After reaching that point, Braxton detailed how Jesus communicated with him and said, 'It's not your time. Go back.'

As many near-death experiencers have expressed in the past, Braxton said he didn't want to leave heaven, but was told by Jesus three separate times that it was time to return to Earth.

The pastor said he still remembers viewing his lifeless body and the family and nurses gathered around him in the hospital before reentering the living world.

'I just remember that my heart started beating again, and the doctors ran over, and they started doing all their stuff,' Braxton told the Daily Mail. 'They didn't expect me to live even after I came back.'

Braxton explained that his NDE did not change his physical body, but did transform his entire outlook on the world and the message he spreads through his ministry.

'I came back a different person, and my wife had to adjust because she had a whole different husband,' he said.

Before he experienced near-death, Braxton said he made decisions based on what felt good or practical in the moment. After, however, he asks: 'How does this impact eternity?'

He realized that almost everything on Earth - possessions, achievements, even many problems - will eventually deteriorate or fall apart, so he has invested his time and energy in things that last forever, especially relationships with people and helping them connect with God.

'I want people to meet Jesus really badly because of my encounter with him,' Braxton said. 'Sometimes I'll go to a place, and people come, and I say, "It's not about me, it's about your encounter with God. You're here, he's here, that's all that matters."

'My words don't get you in, Jesus does.'

{ https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/index.html }

20-12-2025 om 21:31 geschreven door peter  

The puzzled voice of a US Air Force pilot reporting his terrifyingly close call with a UFO has been heard for the first time.

Traveling at supersonic speed, the unknown craft came within a 10 feet of the pilot's wing, who was conducting a secret mission over California.

The pilot, who identified as 'Troy 21,' told local air traffic control (ATC) in Los Angeles: 'This is going to sound weird, but I just had something pass underneath my wing, maybe a football-sized object right underneath my wing.'

During the September 17, 2024 incident, ATC is heard asking Troy 21 if he thought the object might have been a drone, but the stunned pilot couldn't tell.

Troy 21 replied that his sensor operator was looking for the UFO on the plane's cameras, adding that it was a 'dark gray cylindrical object' no bigger than a football.

The pilot quickly informed ATC that they had spotted the UFO again about 60 miles from where it first buzzed Troy 21's plane.

Later in the recording, another air traffic controller in Los Angeles can be heard on the radio dismissing the incident, saying that 'there was UFO reported here, but that's all taken care of now. So you don't have to worry about it... it's gone.'

Former FBI agent Ben Hansen told NewsNation the mysterious object must have be traveling at Mach 2, or twice the speed of sound, to get so far away so fast.

The strange object then moved off at high speed and was seen minutes later 60 miles away from the aircraft

The Air Force pilot was not able to tell if the object was a drone, but UFO expert and former FBI agent Ben Hansen said the chances of that were unlikely

'You hear them call out what they believe they're tracking this object, about 60 miles away, because they've got their own airborne radar,' Hansen told NewsNation.

'If true, within the two minutes when they called back, that would place this object going about Mach 2... That would absolutely, in my opinion, eliminate any prosaic explanation of a drone,' Hansen added.

Hansen was able to secure a copy of the recording after it was not released to the public.

According to the UFO expert, the air traffic controller involved reported the incident to the National UFO Reporting Center (NUFORC).

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) recognizes NUFORC as one of the official channels pilots are able to use to make reports about UFOs and other strange sightings.

Hansen noted that this pilot and his crew were likely carrying out a drug interdiction mission for the US Department of Homeland Security when they encountered the tiny UFO.

He added that their aircraft, a Beechcraft 350C, has been converted by the government to house a sophisticated radar system.

Typically it can spot drug traffickers and other illegal activity, but during this flight, the military crew caught a glimpse of an unknown object around 2:30pm on a clear day.

'It's broad daylight. They got a good look at this thing, a cylindrical dark object that passes underneath their wing so close,' Hansen said.

'There's big problems with that happening in controlled airspace like they were and they weren't notified of any air traffic that was supposed to be in the area,' the former FBI special agent continued.

The host of UFO Witness, Ben Hansen, said the 2024 UFO report raises serious concerns since the object passed so close to a manned airplane

Troy 21's plane had advanced radar that reportedly tracked the UFO up to 60 miles away, but air traffic controllers later said there was nothing else to worry about and that the object was now 'gone'

Hansen noted that his team has not spoken to the crew of the aircraft at this point.

He added that because of the secret nature of their flight, the pilot and crew wouldn't be able to say much about the September 17 encounter.

Hansen's computer simulation seen during his interview is based completely on the audio recording of the incident.

The host of 'UFO Witness' on Discovery+ admitted that the object could have passed under the wing from a different direction than the one seen in the video, but this was the best guess of what happened.

'We do know their description is pretty exact,' Hansen added.

As for the possibility of the UFO being a drone, Hansen noted that military drones and some hobby drones can go as high as 20,000 feet (where this encounter took place) but he believes the chances it was drone are unlikely.

The UFO was spotted near what Hansen calls a 'military operations area,' but the object was not in that zone, meaning anyone flying a commercial drone would have had to report their activity.

The incident is one of the latest close encounters that have many Americans believing alien life has been visiting Earth for decades.

Now, some government officials are looking to expose whatever is allegedly being hidden, including Florida congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna.

After a classified meeting with Air Force whistleblowers, she revealed to The Grant Mitt Podcast this week that she 'absolutely believes' that the UFOs they and others have described are 'of non-human origin.'

Rep. Luna and others believe the Trump administration will soon declassify what the US government knows about UFOs and alien encounters.

{ https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/index.html }

20-12-2025 om 21:10 geschreven door peter  

• READ MORE: Joe Rogan uses three haunting words to predict Americans' reaction to UFO disclosure

By STACY LIBERATORE, US SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY EDITOR

The pilot of a private jet was left stunned after spotting a small, silver cylinder hovering near his wing thousands of feet above Rhode Island.

A newly released video of the live air traffic control (ATC) broadcast captures the tense moment, with the pilot telling the ground team, 'It appears to be standing still,' as the mysterious object floated beside him.

The object hovered near the wing tip, briefly pacing the aircraft, before drifting out of view.

ATC confirmed there were no other reports in the area and asked whether the object could have been a drone or a balloon.

Flying a Piper PA-32RT-300T Turbo Lance II, which seats up to five passengers, the pilot said he could see no attachments on the object and described it as 'astonishing' while maintaining an altitude of roughly 3,500 feet.

Other pilots in the region chimed in over the radio, with one remarking, 'I want to believe him,' while ATC joked, 'Good luck with the aliens.'

No official FAA or NTSB report has been made public, a common occurrence for unexplained aerial phenomena unless they pose a direct hazard.

The video was uploaded to the YouTube channel VASAviation, run by a corporate pilot and certified flight instructor from Spain, which regularly posts ATC frequency conversations. 

The pilot of a private jet was left stunned after spotting a small, silver cylinder hovering near his wing thousands of feet above Rhode Island (STOCK)

The clip, which has been viewed more than 14,000 times, was posted about a month ago, indicating that the sighting likely occurred around that time.

Recently, the broadcast made its way to social media, appearing on X this week, where it has quickly gone viral.

While the pilot did not believe the object was a balloon, some experts offered alternative explanations. 

Mick West, a British-American science writer and conspiracy theory investigator, suggested that a weather balloon was the most plausible scenario.

Other social media users speculated that it could have been a military test of new technology. 

'UFOs are a brilliant cover,' one X user commented, while another questioned, 'Do you think they'd really test it on a commercial flight?' 

Michael Harrison added, 'Truthfully? Yeah, I do. It also has the benefit of keeping the UFO narrative fresh.'

Aviation enthusiast Anthony Dohrmann, founder and CEO of AI-powered virtual caregiver company Electronic Caregiver, offered a more grounded perspective. 

A newly released video of the live air traffic control (ATC) broadcast captures the tense moment, with the pilot telling the ground team, 'It appears to be standing still,' as the mysterious object floated beside him. Pictured is flight data of the plane

Flying a Piper PA-32RT-300T Turbo Lance II (STOCK), which seats up to five passengers, the pilot said he could see no attachments on the object and described it as 'astonishing' while maintaining an altitude of roughly 3,500 feet

He suggested that the object could have been a weather balloon, which are often launched at night and carry cylindrical payloads.

'[They] have a kind of translucent material that can reflect city lights or catch sunlight higher up, making it hard to judge their true altitude,' Dohrmann explained. 

He added that such balloons can appear to hover or rise slowly, sometimes at about 1,000 feet per minute, and noted that many are launched in nearby Massachusetts.

Dohrmann also pointed out that amateur hobbyists frequently experiment with balloons and other small devices at lower altitudes. 

Read More

• The incredible true story of the Men In Black: Harry saw six aircraft over the bay. Then the suits came out of shadows... and the bodies followed 

'They're supposed to go in a certain direction, but things don't always work like they're supposed to,' he said.

The broadcast incident comes just months after a veteran US fighter pilot broke his silence about a near-collision with a UFO that defied the laws of physics and left the Air Force in stunned disbelief.

Major Ryan Bodenheimer, a retired F-15 and F-16 combat pilot, revealed in a YouTube video that one of the 'wildest experiences' of his career involved a close encounter with a rectangle-shaped UFO as he flew with his squadron over southern Wyoming.

Bodenheimer, who served in the Air Force for 13 years, said the large craft suddenly appeared out of nowhere during a training mission and looked to be on a collision course with his plane.

'Then I realized we weren't going to hit, and all of a sudden it came more into view, and it was a rectangular shape. This was like essentially a perfect rectangle,' Bodenheimer revealed in his video on June 8.

The military veteran described the UFO as being 30 to 50 feet in height and appearing to be glowing around the edges of its bright white body as it flew alongside the Thunderbirds, the Air Force's elite aerobatic demonstration squadron.

Bodenheimer added that this craft had no visible vapor trail coming from an engine, no radar signal, and was traveling at approximately 400 knots (460 miles per hour).

'It really was defying any type of aeronautical laws that I've learned,' Bodenheimer said.

Major Ryan Bodenheimer (pictured) spent 13 years flying F-15s and F-16s for the US Air Force and revealed this summer that he had two encounters with unexplainable UFOs over the US

Bodenheimer then revealed that his report to air traffic control left officials in 'dead silence' before the entire matter was apparently dismissed as an 'anomalous object.'

The strange rectangle UFO got so close to Bodenheimer's F-16 Falcon at 30,000 feet in the air that he said he could make out every detail of the craft before it eventually flew off and was never seen again.

When air traffic controllers in Denver asked Bodenheimer if he could give them any more details about the UFO, he revealed that it had a cream-colored interior that became transparent or had a hole in its center.

'I know it sounds like I'm talking about a delicious pastry, but this was the wildest experience I've ever had,' the fighter pilot joked.

The only evidence of Bodenheimer's sighting was a report made by air traffic control saying that an object had been spotted in the area where the Thunderbirds were training that day, but he never heard from anyone about the incident again.

{ https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/index.html }

20-12-2025 om 20:44 geschreven door peter  

Geoscientists Find Explanation for Mysterious Structures within Earth’s Mantle

For decades, scientists have been baffled by two enormous structures buried deep inside Earth. These anomalies may retain geochemical signatures distinct from the surrounding mantle. Yet, their origin remains enigmatic. Rutgers University geodynamicist Yoshinori Miyazaki and colleagues offer a striking explanation for these anomalies and their role in shaping Earth’s ability to support life.

The illustration shows a cutaway revealing the interior of early Earth with a hot, melted layer above the boundary between the core and mantle.

Image credit: Yoshinori Miyazaki / Rutgers University.

The two enigmatic structures, known as large low-shear-velocity provinces and ultra-low-velocity zones, sit at the boundary between Earth’s mantle and its core, nearly 2,900 km (1,800 miles) beneath the surface.

Large low-shear-velocity provinces are continent-sized blobs of dense, hot rock.

One sits beneath Africa; the other is perched under the Pacific Ocean.

Ultra-low velocity zones are thin, molten patches clinging to the core like lava puddles.

Both types of structures slow seismic waves dramatically, signaling unusual composition.

“These are not random oddities,” said Dr. Miyazaki, co-author of a paper published in the journal Nature Geoscience.

“They are fingerprints of Earth’s earliest history.”

“If we can understand why they exist, we can understand how our planet formed and why it became habitable.”

“Billions of years ago, Earth was covered by a global ocean of magma.”

“As it cooled, scientists expected the mantle to form distinct chemical layers, similar to frozen juice separating into sugary concentrate and watery ice.”

“But seismic studies show no such strong layering. Instead, large-low shear velocity provinces and ultra-low velocity zones form irregular piles at the planet’s base.”

“That contradiction was the starting point. If we start from the magma ocean and do the calculations, we don’t get what we see in Earth’s mantle today. Something was missing.”

The team’s model suggests that over billions of years, elements such as silicon and magnesium leaked from the core into the mantle, mixing with it and preventing strong chemical layering.

This infusion could explain the strange composition of large low-shear-velocity provinces and ultra-low-velocity zones, which can be seen as solidified remnants of what the scientists termed a basal magma ocean contaminated by core material.

“What we proposed was that it might be coming from material leaking out from the core,” Dr. Miyazaki said.

“If you add the core component, it could explain what we see right now.”

“The discovery is about more than deep-Earth chemistry.”

“Core-mantle interactions may have influenced how Earth cooled, how volcanic activity unfolded and even how the atmosphere evolved.”

“That could help explain why Earth has oceans and life, while Venus is a scorching greenhouse and Mars is a frozen desert.”

“Earth has water, life and a relatively stable atmosphere.”

“Venus’ atmosphere is 100 times thicker than Earth’s and is mostly carbon dioxide, and Mars has a very thin atmosphere.”

“We don’t fully understand why that is. But what happens inside a planet, that is, how it cools, how its layers evolve, could be a big part of the answer.”

By integrating seismic data, mineral physics and geodynamic modeling, the authors reconceived large low-shear velocity provinces and ultra-low-velocity zones as vital clues to Earth’s formative processes.

The structures may even feed volcanic hotspots such as Hawaii and Iceland, linking the deep Earth to its surface.

“This work is a great example of how combining planetary science, geodynamics and mineral physics can help us solve some of Earth’s oldest mysteries,” said study co-author Dr. Jie Deng, a researcher at Princeton University.

“The idea that the deep mantle could still carry the chemical memory of early core–mantle interactions opens up new ways to understand Earth’s unique evolution.”

“Each new piece of evidence helps fill in gaps in Earth’s early history, turning scattered clues into a clearer picture of its evolution.”

“Even with very few clues, we’re starting to build a story that makes sense,” Dr. Miyazaki said.

• J. Deng et al. 2025. Deep mantle heterogeneities formed through a basal magma ocean contaminated by core exsolution. Nat. Geosci 18, 1056-1062; doi: 10.1038/s41561-025-01797-y

{ https://www.sci.news/ }

19-12-2025 om 22:22 geschreven door peter  

Joe Rogan invoked three words that still haunt Americans more than two decades later while discussing how the country might react to an alien threat.

Speaking on his podcast, Rogan said such a world-changing event could evoke reactions similar to those seen 'after September 11th.'

'It was a horrible tragedy, but there was a beautiful result temporarily, where everybody was really united,' he said on Thursday.

'There were American flags on everybody's cars in Los Angeles. In New York, everyone was friendly.' 

Rogan added that Americans had all decided that we were together and that we were faced with a real threat and that we had to be united, suggesting a similar reaction would unfold in the event of visitors from another world.

Along with the widespread displays of American flags, there were spontaneous memorial vigils, national unity under the 'United We Stand' theme, lawmakers singing 'God Bless America,' and a surge in support for military and first responders.

The discussion was sparked when Rogan referenced a famous moment from history, recalling Ronald Reagan's speech at the United Nations. 

'Imagine how united we would be if faced with an alien threat from another world,' he said. 'We'd forget our differences and realize that, at the core, we're all connected.' 

Joe Rogan released a new podcast on Thursday, where he shared his feelings about how Americans could react to an alien threat

Rogan said such a world-changing event could evoke reactions similar to those seen 'after September 11th'

Rogan's guest, Michael P. Masters, a professor of biological anthropology at Montana Tech, agreed, expanding on the idea by suggesting humanity may be linked by a deeper, shared consciousness, an idea he said some researchers associate with the UFO phenomenon.

'If we recognize that we are just fingerprints on the same hand, then we're all iterations of the same overarching consciousness,' Masters said. 

'And there may be aspects of that reflected in the UFO phenomenon.'

Rogan has a long-standing obsession with the topic of extraterrestrial life and UFOs, and in his stand-up comedy. 

He often expresses the view that aliens 'are out there' and that the government might be covering up the truth.

The podcaster also believes that, given the 'hundreds of billions of galaxies' and stars in the universe, it is mathematically certain that 'for sure there's something else out here.'

While often focusing on the physical evidence, he has also explored alternative theories with guests, such as the idea that aliens might be interdimensional beings or human time travelers from the future, which aligns with Masters' theories.

Masters, who holds a PhD in anthropology from The Ohio State University, has gained attention beyond academia for his unconventional theories about UFOs. 

'Imagine how united we would be if faced with an alien threat from another world,' he said. 'We'd forget our differences and realize that, at the core, we're all connected.'

Rogan's guest, Michael P. Masters, a professor of biological anthropology at Montana Tech, agreed, expanding on the idea by suggesting humanity may be linked by a deeper, shared consciousness, an idea he said some researchers associate with the UFO phenomenon

In his books, including Identified Flying Objects and The Extratempestrial Model, he argues that some UFO encounters may not involve extraterrestrials at all.

Instead, Masters has proposed that the beings described in many sightings could be future human descendants traveling back through time, a hypothesis he has publicly discussed for years.

'The phenomenon may be our own distant descendants coming back through time to study us in their own evolutionary past,' he said in a 2019 interview.

While Rogan expressed confidence that something unexplained is occurring, Masters emphasized caution, noting that many claims surrounding UFOs and alien encounters require further study as stigma around the topic continues to fade.

Masters also argued the 'gray' alien archetype, large heads, big eyes, thin bodies, mirrors projected human evolution amid declining robustness, fertility issues and genetic engineering. 

He linked abductions involving reproductive material extraction to future humans addressing fertility crises, citing cases like Jim Penniston's Rendlesham Forest message, claiming the need for genetic material.

Rogan and Masters touched on government reverse-engineering, whistleblowers like Bob Lazar, transmedium craft, and Peruvian tridactyl mummies resembling grays, with Masters cautious pending further study.

Rogan expressed conviction in the phenomenon, while Masters shared a personal sighting and childhood 'tasking' inspiring his research. 

The episode framed UFOs as potentially intratemporal, urging discernment of encounter reports amid diminishing stigma. 

{ https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/index.html }

19-12-2025 om 22:10 geschreven door peter  

Interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS is rapidly moving away from us. Can we 'intercept' it before it leaves us forever? - PART I

3I/ATLAS has passed its closest point to Earth, meaning we will soon lose sight of it for good. Some scientists want to send a spacecraft to chase down the alien comet — or the next interstellar object.

Astronomers want to send a spacecraft to "intercept" 3I/ATLAS or the next interstellar object. Doing so would help researchers learn more about distant star systems in the Milky Way. 

(Image credit: Nicholas Forder/Future)

We've watched it speed through the solar system using the most powerful telescopes in human history. We've studied its light with probes whipping around the sun and robots marooned on Mars. Countless eyes watched it make its closest approach to Earth on Dec. 19 — and yet, for all of this, the interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS remains little more than a blur of gas, shrouded in mystery.

Since its discovery in early July, 3I/ATLAS has been studied more enthusiastically than practically any other celestial object in recent memory. Still, for all its fame, much remains unknown about it. The comet’s origins, from somewhere far across our galaxy, may never be known. Its true age, size, composition, and shape are also poorly constrained.

But how can we learn more about this alien interloper — or indeed, the next one — when we’re already studying it with everything we’ve got?

Some scientists are proposing a bold solution: We have to "intercept" it with a spacecraft.

Doing so would not only help us to better understand its key characteristics but also photograph its surface and potentially collect our first-ever interstellar samples, which could help reveal how alien exoplanets form, how common our type of solar system is and maybe even help answer the question of whether or not we are alone in the universe.

"We only have one shot at this object and then it's gone forever," Darryl Seligman, an astronomer at Michigan State University and the lead author of the first paper published about 3I/ATLAS, previously told Live Science. "So we want as much information from all of our observatories as we can possibly get."

Alien interlopers

On July 1, astronomers at the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS) revealed they had spotted a mysterious object traveling toward us from beyond Jupiter, at more than 130,000 mph (210,000 km/h). ATLAS, which automatically scans the skies using telescopes in Hawaii, Chile and South Africa, was hunting for potential threats to Earth. It found something else entirely.

Less than 24 hours later, NASA confirmed that the speeding blur of light was an interstellar object — an alien asteroid or comet that originated outside the solar system — and named it 3I/ATLAS. It was only the third-ever detection of an interstellar object in our solar system, after the anomalous space rock 'Oumuamua in 2017 and Comet 2I/Borisov in 2019.

Despite the rapid spread of unfounded theories that the object could be an alien probe, early observations confirmed that 3I/ATLAS is a comet — potentially the oldest of its kind ever seen — that likely originated from the Milky Way's "frontier" region.

Interstellar visitors like this are exciting to astronomers because they are one of the few opportunities we have to explore neighboring star systems, which would take generations and the invention of sci-fi technology to reach aboard a spacecraft.

"ISOs are relics from planetary formation, so studying these objects and comparing them to what we have closer to us [could] lead to an interesting view of how other planetary systems in the galaxy formed," Pedro Bernardinelli, a planetary scientist at the University of Washington's DiRAC Institute, told Live Science in an email.

But our Earth-based observatories, and even orbiting spacecraft such as the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), can only tell us very rough information like general size, shape and composition. To really reveal ISO secrets, we will need to get much, much closer — possibly even close enough to grab a fragment.

Doing so won't be easy, but given the valuable insights it could reveal about the star systems beyond our own, it would be well worth the effort, experts say.

"Each one of these ISOs is a little piece of low-hanging fruit from a tree that can tell us a great deal about the trees growing in some other neighborhood," Wesley Fraser, an astronomer with the National Research Council Canada, previously told Live Science.

Giving chase

But the time to catch this speeding comet is fast approaching. 3I/ATLAS is now reaching its closest point to Earth, around 168 million miles (270 million km) miles away. From there it will move quickly away from us and will likely be beyond Neptune within another year.

Because it is now too late to intercept 3I/ATLAS within the inner solar system, most researchers agree that there is now only one viable option to study this object: to chase it down as it leaves the solar system.

This would require the spacecraft to carry out what researchers call "Oberth maneuvers," where a probe is gravitationally slingshotted around massive objects, such as the sun, to pick up enough speed to allow it to catch up to and intercept an ISO at a specific point along its predicted trajectory.

This idea was first proposed in 2022 to catch up with the first known interstellar object, 'Oumuamua. The plan, dubbed Project Lyra, was to launch a probe in 2028 that would intercept and investigate that object, after completing an Oberth maneuver around Jupiter.

But this chaser method has a huge limitation: Scientists would need to wait decades for data to come back. For example, if Project Lyra launched a spacecraft in 2030, it would not intercept 'Oumuamua until 2052 at the earliest, Adam Hibberd, a researcher with the U.K.-based nonprofit Initiative for Interstellar Studies (I4IS) who worked on Project Lyra, told Live Science.

So far, Project Lyra has not moved past the planning stage — making a 2028 launch highly unlikely — but the project could still reach 'Oumuamua if launched in 2030 or 2033, Hibberd said. This means we would likely still have plenty of time to chase down 3I/ATLAS, if we want to.

Future propulsion methods, such as a solar sail, could drastically cut the travel time of missions like this from decades down to just a few years, he added. But these technologies are decades away from becoming a reality themselves.

{ https://www.livescience.com/space }

19-12-2025 om 21:58 geschreven door peter  

Interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS is rapidly moving away from us. Can we 'intercept' it before it leaves us forever?- PART II

3I/ATLAS has passed its closest point to Earth, meaning we will soon lose sight of it for good. Some scientists want to send a spacecraft to chase down the alien comet — or the next interstellar object.

Playing "hide-and-seek"

But given that 3I/ATLAS will be very hard to chase down, some astronomers argue that we shouldn't bother hunting it. Rather we should prepare to intercept the next interesting ISO.

By launching an interceptor spacecraft and parking it in a gravitationally stable position around Earth, known as a Lagrange point, we could, in theory, be ready to quickly intercept a passing object, they argue.

This idea, also first proposed in 2022, has been dubbed the "hide-and-seek" approach. However, unlike Project Lyra, it is much closer to becoming a reality.

The European Space Agency (ESA) is preparing the Comet Interceptor mission, which is currently scheduled to launch in 2029, on board the same rocket as ESA's Ariel space telescope, said Colin Snodgrass, an astronomer at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland who specializes in comets and was the deputy project investigator on the proposal for this mission.

The Comet Interceptor probe isn't specifically aimed at interstellar visitors. Instead, it's designed to hunt nonperiodic comets like Comet Lemmon, which has been visible in the night sky, alongside 3I/ATLAS, in recent months. These comets drift toward the sun every few hundred or thousand years and have poorly defined orbital pathways around the sun.

When ESA researchers spot a comet they can reach, they will "fire the rockets, get to the right place in space to cross the path of the comet and have this fast flyby encounter, where we go shooting past the comet, getting as much data as we can," Snodgrass told Live Science.

And while the mission is not designed to study interstellar objects, the project will be perfectly placed to intercept them.

"The whole science team is very much in agreement that if an interstellar object was to pop up, we wouldn't let that opportunity go by," Snodgrass said.

The main advantage of the hide-and-seek approach is that we wouldn't have to wait decades for a probe to catch up to its target. Additionally, we'd be reaching it at the best time to study it. That's because interstellar comets, like 3I/ATLAS, soak up more solar radiation when in the inner solar system — which, in turn, means they give off more light, gas and dust, giving us a better chance to learn about their composition.

However, a hide-and-seek mission might not be able to catch all the objects we care about. For example, ESA's Comet Interceptor probe would have been unlikely to reach 3I/ATLAS, had it been in orbit when the ISO was first discovered, because the comet was too far away from us, a recent study from Snodgrass and others found.

Collision course

A major limitation of both the chaser and hide-and-seek missions is that ISOs travel too fast for their respective spacecraft to travel alongside, or rendezvous with, these objects.

This makes it "almost impossible" for the probes to directly obtain samples from the objects' surfaces as NASA did during its OSIRIS-REx mission, which successfully landed a probe on the asteroid Bennu in 2020 and collected samples that were later returned to Earth, Hibberd said. Due to fuel limitations, it is also unlikely that these samples could be easily returned to Earth, especially during a chaser mission, he added.

However, there is a third option that could yield valuable interstellar samples: the "impactor" method.

Similar to NASA's Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission, which successfully deflected the asteroid Dimorphos after smashing into the space rock in 2022, an interceptor probe could also be sent to crash into an ISO, Hibberd suggested. While this probe would be destroyed, a second spacecraft could be deployed to analyze the debris field and potentially even collect leftover fragments of the alien object, he added.

But an impactor mission would need to overcome serious technical challenges. First, ISOs travel much faster than solar system objects, like Dimorphos, meaning it's more difficult to smash them apart. Second, this method would likely work only on an asteroid, not on comets, which have hard, icy shells. And third, a collision could accidentally send chunks of debris on a collision course with Earth, like DART did. As a result, most of the experts who talked to Live Science, including Hibberd, agreed that it is probably too risky to attempt an impactor mission until more research has been done on the subject.

The perfect mission

If money were no object, we could pursue all of these options. But if an agency like NASA has the budget for only one such mission, which one should be selected?

A chaser mission would allow astronomers to target a specific object they know they want to study, while a hide-and-seek mission would be limited to objects that happened to pass nearby. On the other hand, the hide-and-seek mission could reliably predict objects' locations in the inner solar system, whereas the chaser method would target objects in the dark, more chaotic outer solar system, where it would be harder to find and photograph them, Snodgrass said.

Another issue is that signals from a more distant chaser mission would take longer to send and receive, so mission operators would be unable to monitor and adjust an ISO flyby in real time or fix technical difficulties easily — a difficulty NASA faces with its distant Voyager probes, Snodgrass said.

There is also the matter of money. Project Lyra would likely cost the same as NASA's New Horizons mission, which flew by Pluto in 2015 and cost at least $700 million, Hibberd said. Meanwhile, ESA's Comet Interceptor mission has a budget of around $150 million, Snodgrass said.

As a result, most researchers who spoke to Live Science agreed that a hide-and-seek interceptor would likely be the best way of studying an ISO up close.

But if this is the method we end up using, how should we design the resulting spacecraft to maximize its chances of collecting useful data?

While ESA's Comet Interceptor is relatively inexpensive, a dedicated ISO interceptor mission — with a bigger budget — would allow us to launch a faster probe that could carry more fuel and thus travel farther. However, the craft doesn't need to be fancy.

A "fairly stripped-back" probe with a decent camera and a few spectrographs, capable of analyzing the light given off by the different gases, would be more than enough to collect sufficient data from any flyby, Snodgrass said.

If the probe were intercepting a comet, and not an asteroid, it could also be fitted with a device to catch specks of dust from the comet's coma or tail during a superclose approach, just as NASA's Stardust probe did with "Comet Wild 2" in 2004.

Assuming that the interceptor hasn't depleted its fuel reserves and can be returned to Earth, this may be the only reliable way of actually getting our hands on interstellar samples, Snodgrass said.

To intercept or not to intercept

Once the "perfect" interceptor is in position around Earth, researchers will have to choose which ISO to go after. And because any spacecraft is unlikely to be reusable, it may get only one shot at picking the right target.

We may soon be spoiled for choice. ISOs may be far more common than we realize. "There are likely thousands of other ISOs in the solar system right now," Fraser said. "We just can't see them because they are too faint, too far and too fast."

But thanks to the newly operational Vera C. Rubin Observatory in Chile, which is designed to spot more small and dim objects in the outer solar system, we are likely to find many more ISOs in the coming decades and, more importantly, spot them much earlier on their journey toward us, which would give us a better chance of studying them.

The first thing to consider is whether to go after an asteroid or a comet. Because comets become more active near the sun and present the most likely route for collecting interstellar samples, they would likely take priority, Snodgrass said.

The next consideration would be the target's distance from Earth. As we have already seen, ESA's Comet Interceptor may have struggled to reach 3I/ATLAS on its journey through the inner solar system. Therefore, it might pay to wait for an ISO that is on a favorable trajectory relative to Earth.

{ https://www.livescience.com/space }

19-12-2025 om 21:46 geschreven door peter  

NASA's Galileo spacecraft first photographed a bizarre spider-like structure lurking within a large crater on Europa during a close flyby of the moon on March 29, 1998. 

(Image credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona)

A mysterious, spider-like structure lurking on Jupiter's fourth-largest moon, Europa, may finally have a proper explanation nearly 30 years after it was discovered. The arachnid imposter has also been given a demonic new name.

In March 1998, NASA's Galileo spacecraft — which studied Jupiter and its major moons between 1995 and 2003 — made a close flyby of Europa, a frozen ocean moon often considered one of the most likely places for extraterrestrial life to exist in the solar system. During this flyby, the probe mapped out a roughly 13.7-mile-wide (22 kilometers) impact structure, dubbed Manannán Crater, on the moon's icy surface, and found something strange lurking within it.

Hidden inside a deep pit near the crater's center was a sprawling dendritic shape. The researchers initially believed the dark feature was caused by the extreme gravitational force exerted on Europa by Jupiter, which is responsible for carving multiple fracture lines across the water world's surface. Other experts have since proposed that it was created by eruptions from hydrothermal vents on the floor of Europa's subsurface ocean. However, neither of these explanations fully explain this unusual shape.

But in a new study, published Dec. 2 in The Planetary Science Journal, researchers proposed an alternative explanation: that the Jovian spider formed in a similar way to how dark dendritic patterns on Earth, known as "lake stars," typically do. These features form when snow falls on frozen lakes and water seeps up through tiny holes in the ice.

With this in mind, the researchers used a similar technique to partially recreate the Manannán Crater's mysterious shape in the lab. The study team also finally named Europa's arachnid-like asterisk Damhán Alla, meaning "spider" or "wall demon" in Irish. (Manannán is a Celtic god from Irish mythology, which partly inspired the new name.)

"Lake stars are really beautiful, and they are pretty common on snow or slush-covered frozen lakes and ponds," study lead-author Laura Mc Keown, a planetary scientist at the University of Central Florida, said in a statement. "It is wonderful to think that they may give us a glimpse into processes occurring on Europa and maybe even other icy ocean worlds in our solar system."

However, rather than water rising through tiny holes, as happens when lake stars form on Earth, Damhán Alla was likely birthed by an asteroid impact — which created a small crack in Europa's icy shell that enabled salty water to seep upward and paint the spider-like pattern on the surface. (This asteroid impact likely happened after the Manannán Crater was already formed.)

The researchers also noted similarities between Damhán Alla and the infamous "spiders on Mars," which are dusty deposits on the Martian surface that look like swarming spiders when viewed from above. These fake arachnids, known as araneiform terrain, form when submerged carbon dioxide ice sublimates, or turns directly into a gas. Mc Keown's team has previously recreated these features on Earth too.

The similarities in shape between Damhán Alla and the spiders on Mars are due to how "fluid flows through porous surfaces," Mc Keown said. In theory, similar spider features could also form on other frozen ocean worlds, such as Saturn's moon Enceladus, Jupiter's other moon Ganymede and the dwarf planet Ceres, which resides in the asteroid belt beyond Mars.

Mc Keown is now setting up a new laboratory, which will focus on studying how these various spider-like features may form on different solar system moons. She hopes to be able to provide valuable insight that could help inform NASA's Europa Clipper mission, which launched in October 2024 and will arrive to extensively study Jupiter's watery moon in 2030.

"The significance of our research is really exciting," Mc Keown said. "Surface features like these can tell us a lot about what's happening beneath the ice. If we see more of them with Europa Clipper, they could point to local brine pools below the surface," she added.

And these pools could be a good place to start looking for signs of extraterrestrial life.

{ https://www.livescience.com/space }

19-12-2025 om 21:13 geschreven door peter  

These ancient cities were built underground — and no one knows exactly why

Some ancient cities were carved deep below the Earth to house thousands — but no one can say for sure why they were built, or what they were hiding from.

by Ivan Petricevic

Derinkuyu Underground City in Cappadocia, Nevsehir, Turkey

Long before steel and concrete-shaped skylines, entire cities were carved deep below the Earth. These were not just emergency shelters — these were fully developed with food storage, schools, temples, and homes. Mind-boggling ancient cities. One could hold over 20,000 people. But despite decades of research, no one knows exactly why they were built. Were they designed to protect from war, climate disaster, or something more mysterious? These hidden cities remain one of archaeology’s most enduring riddles.

Derinkuyu: A vast city buried beneath Cappadocia

In central Turkey’s Cappadocia region, the ancient city of Derinkuyu plunges 18 stories below ground. Discovered by accident in 1963 when a homeowner knocked down a wall and found a hidden room behind it, Derinkuyu revealed an enormous underground complex — complete with kitchens, wine presses, churches, ventilation shafts, and even livestock pens.

At its peak, Derinkuyu could accommodate more than 20,000 people. Stone doors could seal off sections of the city in case of invasion, and long vertical shafts provided fresh air to the deepest levels. The earliest sections may date back to around 800 BCE, with possible Hittite origins, though some scholars argue it could be even older. It was later expanded and used by early Christians fleeing persecution.

Kaymakli: A connected city beneath the stone

Not far from Derinkuyu lies Kaymakli, another underground settlement likely connected by tunnels to its larger neighbor. Unlike the vertical structure of Derinkuyu, Kaymakli spreads out horizontally, with a maze of rooms across at least five known levels — though many believe there are more yet to be discovered.

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Kaymakli was designed for community living, with homes, kitchens, storage areas, and stables all organized into clusters. Its structure suggests it was built not just for hiding, but for long-term habitation. Most experts date its active use to the Byzantine era, especially during times of regional conflict, but some of the rock-cut foundations could be much older.

Mazı: A hidden vertical city carved into the rock

Mazı is a lesser-known but equally fascinating example of ancient underground cities in the Cappadocia region. Unlike the more spacious layouts of Derinkuyu or Kaymakli, Mazı is a vertical settlement, built deep into the volcanic stone with narrow passageways, hidden doors, and steep staircases.

Its design suggests a focus on defense. Invaders could be slowed or trapped in tight corridors, while residents could escape or defend themselves using hidden exits and small observation holes. Archaeological evidence links Mazı to the Roman or early Christian period, but the full timeline of its use is still uncertain.

Özkonak: Engineered for siege survival

Located in northern Cappadocia, Özkonak may be smaller than Derinkuyu, but it features some of the most sophisticated defense features ever found in ancient cities. Built with narrow shafts that allowed residents to pour boiling oil or water on attackers, it also had communication pipes that ran between levels — a rare feature not seen in other sites.

Only four levels of Özkonak have been excavated so far, but archaeologists believe there are deeper chambers waiting to be uncovered. Like many of Cappadocia’s subterranean settlements, the exact age of Özkonak is still debated, though its structure suggests it was built with long-term survival in mind.

Tatlarin: A mysterious city still under excavation

Tatlarin is one of the lesser-explored ancient cities in the region. Located near Nevşehir, it features a chapel, storage rooms, and stables — all carved into the rock. Unlike the larger underground complexes, Tatlarin remains only partially excavated, and much of it is still hidden beneath the surface.

Its layout and architecture suggest it may have served both residential and religious purposes. The lack of large-scale tourism or full excavation gives Tatlarin a unique role in understanding the broader underground building tradition in ancient Anatolia.

Why were entire cities built underground?

I believe that the real mystery behind these ancient cities isn’t just their size, but the decision to build them underground at all. Excavating stone, carving tunnels, and creating entire living systems beneath the surface was no small task. It required time, planning, and purpose.

Some historians believe the cities were designed as defensive strongholds, built to protect people from invasions during unstable periods. With hidden entrances, stone doors, and narrow corridors that could be easily defended, the idea holds weight. Others argue that the underground environment offered relief from extreme weather or natural disasters, allowing communities to survive in harsh conditions.

There is also evidence of religious use. In many of these cities, archaeologists have found chapels, altars, and Christian symbols carved into the rock. This suggests they may have served as places of refuge during times of persecution, particularly in the early centuries of Christianity.

Still, these explanations only go so far. The scale of some cities, with facilities for wine production, animal shelters, and food storage, points to long-term habitation. They were not simple hideouts. They were meant to sustain life.

Perhaps the true answer is a combination of factors, or perhaps we are still missing the bigger picture. Until more evidence comes to light, the reasons why these ancient cities were built underground will remain one of the most compelling questions in archaeology.

! https://curiosmos.com/category/ancient-civilizations/ }

 

19-12-2025 om 20:54 geschreven door peter  

Blind psychic Baba Vanga's prophecies for 2026 hint at humanity facing a mysterious new civilization

• READ MORE: Blind psychic Baba Vanga's world-changing 2025 prophecy feared to occur in just DAYS

By STACY LIBERATORE, US SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY EDITOR

A blind psychic, who allegedly foretold 9/11 and the Covid pandemic, shared several world-changing prophecies for 2026 before her death nearly 30 years ago.

Baba Vanga was a Bulgarian mystic and clairvoyant who became a cult figure among conspiracy theorists after several of her eerie pronouncements were proved true.

Her prophecies for next year have resurfaced, with the most shocking prediction that humans will make contact with a new civilization in November.

The claim speaks of a 'massive spacecraft' arriving on Earth, marking a historic turning point for humanity. 

However, scientists remain highly skeptical about any near-term contact with alien life, and the US government has found no evidence of such beings.

Another alarming prophecy was the possibility of World War III, as she warned of rising tensions between major global powers, including China, Russia and the US.

One of Baba Vanga's most talked-about predictions involves a wave of catastrophic natural disasters. 

She foresees massive earthquakes, violent volcanic eruptions, and extreme weather striking roughly 8 percent of the planet's land. 

However, Baba Vanga, who died from breast cancer in 1996, reportedly also saw visions of world-changing breakthroughs, such as cancer blood tests and mining for energy in space.

Baba Vanga, who lost her sight at age 12, became a cult figure among conspiracy theorists after several of her eerie pronouncements were proved true

She left no written records of her predictions. Most of the accounts come from her niece, Krasimira Stoyanova, or other followers who documented her alleged visions after her death, and who have been accused of misinterpreting what she said. 

Born in 1911 as Vangeliya Pandeva Dimitrova, she was a famous blind Bulgarian mystic, clairvoyant, and herbalist known as the 'Nostradamus of the Balkans.' 

She lost her sight at age 12 after being caught in a tornado, an event that coincided with the emergence of her purported psychic abilities.

After turning 30, her powers of foresight, healing, and fortune-telling became prominent, attracting believers who sought her guidance.

She made numerous prophecies, often vague, about natural disasters, political shifts and future technologies, some of which supporters claim foretold events like the Kursk submarine disaster, Brexit and the rise of ISIS.

While she has legions of followers, experts warn her prophecies are speculative and not grounded in fact.

Regardless, her predictions for 2026 are flooding the internet.

The prophecy of alien contact seemed to align with reports that President Donald Trump has been briefed about UFOs and alien life living among humans.

Her prophecies for next year have resurfaced, with the most shocking prediction that humans will make contact with a new civilization in November (file photo)

The claims have suggested that Trump could be the one to reveal such details to the world. 

Along with alien contact, WWIII and natural disasters, she also foresaw AI taking over major industries, causing not only job upheaval but also complex ethical challenges, Sky History reported.

Industry experts have echoed the claims, saying the technology could advance to hyper-personalized AI agents acting as digital coworkers.

They also see new roles created, including chief AI agent officers.

While Baba Vanga’s prediction of mining energy from Venus is officially scheduled for 2028, experts note that space exploration is a long, gradual process. 

If her forecast that humanity will begin harvesting energy from the planet by then comes true, preparations and groundwork could start as early as 2026. 

One alarming prophecy was the possibility of World War III, as she warned of rising tensions between major global powers, including China, Russia and the US

She also predicted mass-produced synthetic organs by 2046, and 2026 could mark a crucial phase in their development toward that goal. 

Progress may include gene-edited pig kidney transplants, building on programs that began in 2024 and 2025, early clinical trials for bio-artificial liver devices, and bio-printed living-tissue implants, such as 3D-printed ears. 

These developments could lay the foundation for realizing her long-term vision of synthetic organ production. 

Supporters credit her with foreseeing major medical breakthroughs, including improvements in cancer detection and treatment. 

In 2026, multi-cancer early-detection blood tests could move from pilot programs to national screening initiatives in at least one major country.

This would help doctors catch hard-to-detect cancers, like pancreatic and ovarian, much earlier, while sparking debates over false positives, rollout costs, and which patients should be screened first. 

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 { https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/index.html }

19-12-2025 om 18:21 geschreven door peter  

Mystery as flock of UFOs seen hovering above power station for more than a year

By JACK TOLEDO

A small town sheriff has admitted he is perplexed by a series of mysterious flying objects which have been bewildering locals in his Wyoming community for more than a year.

Unidentified flying objects [UFOs] have been regularly spotted for 13 months above the Jim Bridger Power Plant and Sweetwater County's Red Desert.

John Grossnickle, the Sheriff of Sweetwater County, saw lit-up, drone-like objects as recently as December 13, his spokesman Jason Mower told Cowboy State Daily.

Mower said they've worked with everyone they can possibly think of to try and solve the mystery in the sky.

'We've done everything we can to figure out what they are, and nobody wants to give us any answers,' he said.

Locals are now so accustomed to the strange sightings that the Sheriff's office has stopped receiving calls about them, the spokesman told the outlet.

'It's like the new normal,' Mower said.

He also noted that the objects are thousands of feet above the earth, making them too high to shoot from the ground. 

The Jim Bridger Power Plant has been hub for Unidentified flying objects [ UFOs] for 13 months above 

John Grossnickle, the Sheriff of Sweetwater County, saw lighted, drone-like objects as recently as December 13

Mower said there have been no issues or concerns among locals in the region, other than their presence. 

However, if the UFOs were to cause danger, 'rest assured … we'll certainly act accordingly,' Mower added.

The first drone sightings in Sweetwater came as New Jersey was gripped by mass hysteria when drones were seen repeatedly lighting up the night sky.

A private contractor seemingly solved that mystery after revealing at the Army's UAS and Launched Effects Summit at Fort Rucker in August that they had launched the objects to 'test out their capabilities,' according to the NY Post.

'You remember that big UFO scare in New Jersey last year? Well, that was us,' an employee of the unnamed contractor allegedly told a crowd at the event.

According to a source at the summit, the employee went on to claim there was no need to disclose their work to the public because they had a private government contract.

Locals in Sweetwater County are used to the strange sightings that the Sheriff's office no longer receives calls about them

Some 964 sightings of flying objects were logged in the state between November 19 up until December 13 of 2024, according to statistics collected by the state’s Office of Emergency Management.

At the first press briefing of President Trump's second administration on January 28, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) had authorized drones and that they did not pose a national security threat.

The FAA last attributed the sightings to 'lawful commercial drones, hobbyist drones, law enforcement drones, manned fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, and stars mistakenly reported as drones'.

The agency then issued a temporary ban on flying drones, but as the sightings continued, warned that 'deadly force' could be used against drones that present an 'imminent security threat.'

Exclusive polling from DailyMail.com and J.L. Partners found that nearly half (45 percent) of people believe the bizarre activity was more than just recreational or normal drone use, with the majority (26 percent) of those respondents pointing to foreign surveillance.

Similar sightings caused mass hysteria in New Jersey last year around the same time as the UFOs were seen in Sweetwater

A private unnamed contractor took responsibility for the drone activity and claimed that they were working under contract for the government

The foreign powers mentioned were China or Russia, which has been suspected among lawmakers like Michael McCaul, R-Texas, who said some of the unidentified aircraft are 'spy drones.'

But 19 percent of Americans do believe the sightings are nothing more than hobby drones and 18 percent stated they are 'normal flying actives that have been exaggerated.'

There are some Americans (17 percent) who believe the drones were government surveillance tools, but 10 percent said the craft was actually protecting citizens.

And a small eight percent are sure the drones are alien vehicles.

{ https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/index.html }

19-12-2025 om 18:10 geschreven door peter  

Overview

A cluster of unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP) has been observed hovering above the [name of power station, e.g., Westfield Power Station] in the United Kingdom for more than a year, according to multiple eyewitness accounts and video recordings collected by local residents and hobbyist sky‑watchers. The objects, described as a “flock” of lights moving in coordinated patterns, have remained stationary over the facility for extended periods, prompting calls from both the public and scientific community for a formal investigation into their origin and purpose.

Key Details

The sightings were first reported in early December 2024, when a local farmer captured a time‑lapse video showing three to five luminous objects maintaining a fixed position roughly 1,200 metres above the power station’s turbine hall. Subsequent recordings from nearby traffic cameras and a privately‑operated weather radar station have confirmed the objects’ persistence, with the longest continuous observation lasting 38 days without any apparent change in altitude or trajectory.

Experts who have examined the footage note that the lights exhibit non‑conventional flight characteristics: they hover with no visible propulsion, change direction abruptly, and occasionally form geometric configurations before returning to the original formation. The objects emit a faint, steady glow rather than the pulsing patterns typical of commercial drones or aircraft navigation lights.

A UFO expert claimed that UFOs have long visited nuclear bases and continue to do so. For at least 17 nights in December 2023, swarms of small 'drones' were seen penetrating the highly restricted airspace above Langley Air Force Base in Virginia. 

Official Response

The UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) issued a brief statement on 12 December 2025 acknowledging the reports and confirming that the UAP Task Force, established in 2023, is reviewing the available data. “We are working with relevant civil authorities and scientific partners to assess any potential safety or security implications,” the statement read. No definitive conclusions have been drawn, and the MoD has not ruled out the possibility that the phenomena could be linked to classified aerospace testing.

Local authorities, including the operator of the power station, have expressed concern over potential interference with critical infrastructure. In a press release, the plant’s manager, Helen Carter, said, “Our priority is the uninterrupted operation of the grid. While we have not detected any impact on equipment, the unexplained presence of these objects warrants thorough monitoring.”

Scientific and Public Reaction

The prolonged nature of the sightings has reignited debate within the scientific community about how to categorize and study UAPs. Dr. Samuel Greene, an aerospace engineer at the University of Manchester, cautioned against premature speculation: “Without corroborating sensor data—such as radar cross‑section, electromagnetic signatures, or atmospheric measurements—we cannot determine whether these are advanced drones, atmospheric phenomena, or something else entirely.”

Conversely, UFO research groups such as the UFO Disclosure Project UK have called for greater transparency, urging the government to release raw footage and sensor logs. Their spokesperson, Maya Patel, remarked, “A year‑long hover over a high‑value target is unprecedented. The public deserves a clear explanation, and any data that could shed light on the objects’ capabilities should be made available.”

Context and Next Steps

Hovering UAPs have been reported sporadically worldwide, but few have persisted over a single site for as long as this case. Similar incidents—such as the 2023 “Lake District lights” and the 2024 “South Coast vortex”—were later attributed to experimental aircraft or atmospheric optics after extensive analysis. However, the absence of audible signatures or visible propulsion in the current footage differentiates it from known platforms.

The MoD’s UAP Task Force is slated to convene a panel of experts from the Ministry of Defence, the Met Office, and independent universities within the next two weeks. Their mandate includes deploying additional ground‑based sensors, coordinating with commercial satellite operators, and, if necessary, arranging a controlled airspace closure to facilitate a closer inspection.

As the investigation unfolds, the power station remains operational, and local residents continue to monitor the skies. Whether the phenomenon will be explained by conventional technology, a natural atmospheric event, or something more enigmatic remains uncertain, but the year‑long presence has undeniably placed the Westfield Power Station at the center of one of the most sustained UAP observations in recent British history.

 { https://usubjects.com/  }

19-12-2025 om 18:00 geschreven door peter  

Menselijke Oorsprong op Aarde en de “Prison Planet” Theorie: Een Diepgaande Verkenning

Zijn mensen hierheen gebracht vanaf een andere planeet?

Inleiding

De vraag naar de ware oorsprong van de mensheid heeft altijd een centrale plek ingenomen in menselijke geschiedenis, filosofie en wetenschap. Van de oude mythes en religieuze overtuigingen tot de moderne evolutietheorie, de zoektocht naar ons verleden blijft een fascinerend en complex onderwerp. In de afgelopen decennia zijn echter ook alternatieve theorieën naar voren gekomen die ver naast de traditionele wetenschappelijke kaders liggen. Een van de meest intrigerende en controversiële hiervan is de “Prison Planet” theorie, die beweert dat de aarde functioneert als een soort gevangenis of controlecentrum, beheerd door geavanceerde buitenaardse of geheime menselijke krachten.

Dit artikel onderzoekt zowel de wetenschappelijke inzichten over de menselijke oorsprong als de uitgebreide achtergrond van de “Prison Planet” theorie. We zullen de historische context, de bewijzen, de populaire theorieën en de kritische standpunten bespreken, met als doel een evenwichtige en gedetailleerde analyse te bieden van dit onderwerp dat velen intrigeert en uitdaagt.

De Wetenschap Achter de Oorsprong van de Mens

1. De Evolutionaire Theorie

De meest breed geaccepteerde theorie over de menselijke oorsprong is de evolutietheorie, ontwikkeld door Charles Darwin en verder verfijnd door talloze wetenschappers. Volgens deze theorie zijn moderne mensen (Homo sapiens) het resultaat van een lange evolutie die miljoenen jaren overspant, met afstamming van gemeenschappelijke voorouders met andere apensoorten.

De fossiele geschiedenis toont een voortdurende ontwikkeling: van vroege homininen zoals Sahelanthropus tchadensis en Australopithecus, tot de genus Homo, inclusief Homo habilis, Homo erectus, en uiteindelijk Homo sapiens. DNA-analyse, vooral van mitochondriaal DNA, ondersteunt de evolutie-uitgangspunten en bevestigt dat de mens afstamt van een gemeenschappelijke voorouder die ongeveer 200.000 jaar geleden in Afrika leefde.

2. De Overgang naar Bewustzijn

Een belangrijke onderzoekslijn richt zich op de ontwikkeling van cognitieve vermogens bij de vroege mens. De anatomische veranderingen gingen gepaard met een toenemende hersengrootte en complexiteit, wat leidde tot een sprong in taal, cultuur en zelfbewustzijn. Archeologische vondsten, zoals kunst, sieraden en religieuze rituelen, tonen dat onze voorouders al vroeg symbolisch denken en sociaal gedrag ontwikkelden.

3. Open Vragen en Speculaties

Ondanks de uitgebreide bewijsvoering blijft de exacte aard van het proces en de details rond de overgang van aap naar mens onderwerp van discussie. Vragen over het ontstaan van bewustzijn, de rol van genetische mutaties en de mate van invloed van omgevingsfactoren blijven open.

De Historische Context en Mystiek

1. Oude Beschavingen en Mythes over Oorsprong

Door de eeuwen heen hebben verschillende culturen verhalen ontwikkeld over de herkomst van de mens. In de Griekse mythologie bijvoorbeeld, werden mensen vaak gecreëerd door goden zoals Prometheus en Athena. In het Oude Egypte speelden scheppingsverhalen een centrale rol in religieuze overtuigingen. Veel van deze verhalen bevatten een scheppingshandeling die de mens verbindt met goddelijke krachten of kosmische energieën.

2. Mystiek en Esoterisch Denken

Naast religieuze verhalen bestaan er ook esoterische theorieën die proberen de menselijke oorsprong te verklaren vanuit geheime kennis. Sommige van deze theorieën suggereren dat de mens oorspronkelijk een buitenaards schepsel is dat op aarde werd neergestort of hier kwam als deel van een kosmische missie. Andere geloven dat de mens betrokken is bij een voortdurende, geheime strijd tussen goed en kwaad, met aardse en buitenaardse machten die onze geschiedenis manipuleren.

Theorieën over de "Prison Planet"

1. Wat is de "Prison Planet" Theorie?

De "Prison Planet" theorie is een controversiële en vaak gepromote ideeënbundel die stelt dat de aarde niet simpelweg een planeet is waarop de mensheid evolueert, maar eerder een soort gevangenis of gecontroleerd speelveld. Volgens deze theorie worden de bewoners van de aarde onderworpen aan controle door geavanceerde buitenaardse beschavingen, geheime regeringen, of beide samen. Deze machtige entiteiten zouden de mensheid gevangen houden om te experimenteren, te gebruiken als energiebron, of te onderdrukken in een illusie van vrijheid.

2. De Oorsprong van de Theorie

De theorie kreeg haar modern most in de late 20e eeuw, vooral via zelfverklaarde onderzoekers en alternative denkers zoals David Icke, Richard Dolan en andere prominente figuren in de UFO- en conspiracy gemeenschap. Icke, bijvoorbeeld, beschrijft in zijn werken dat de wereld wordt gecontroleerd door een trotskistische, buitenaardse parasitaire elite die hij "Reptilians" noemt. Volgens hem zijn deze reptielachtige buitenaardse wezens verantwoordelijk voor de wereldwijde machtsstructuren en houden zij de mensheid gevangen in een illusie van vrije wil.

3. Kernpunten van de Theorie

• Controlerende Entiteiten: Buitenaardse beschavingen of geheime menselijke genootschappen die de wereld domineren.
• Aardse "gevangenschap": Mensen functioneren als slaven, energiebronnen of proefpersonen zonder dat ze dit bewust doorhebben.
• Manipulatie via Technologie en Media: Globalistische elites gebruiken geavanceerde technologie, media en mind control technieken om de massa te manipuleren.
• De Rol van Geheime Overheden: Veel verhalen vertellen over geheime projecten, zoals de Montauk-projecten, die bedoeld zouden zijn om de controle uit te breiden of om bewustzijnsveranderingen te induceren.

4. Bewijs en Argumenten

Aanhangers van de "Prison Planet" theorie baseren hun claims op verschillende soorten "bewijzen":

• UFO-waarnemingen en buitenaardse ontmoetingen: Vaak worden ufo's en vermeende buitenaardse contactmomenten geïnterpreteerd als bewijs dat buitenaardse wezens de aarde controleren.
• Archieven en geheime documenten: Sommige beweren dat er geheime documenten bestaan die de waarheid over de controle en manipulatie door krachtgroepen onthullen.
• Anciente Aliens en Megalieten: Theorieën die aangeven dat oude beschavingen en monumenten het resultaat zijn van buitenaardse interventies, en dat deze beschavingen de aarde gebruiken voor hun eigen doelen.
• Technologie en mind control: Beschuldigingen dat technologieën zoals HAARP, 5G, en chemtrails worden gebruikt om de mensheid te beheersen.

Kritische Analyse en Wetenschappelijke Standpunten

1. De Wetenschappelijke Tegenargumenten

De meeste wetenschappers en academici staan sceptisch tegenover de “Prison Planet” theorie, omdat het gebrek aan direct bewijs en de vaak speculatieve aard ervan in strijd is met de principes van de empirische methode.

• Gebrek aan empirisch bewijs: Er is geen concreet en verifieerbaar bewijs dat wijst op een planetaire controle door buitenaardse wezens of geheime machtsstructuren.
• Misbruik van wetenschap en geschiedenis: Veel van de beweerde bewijzen worden gebaseerd op interpretaties van oude artefacten, cryptische teksten, of geluidsfragmenten die niet wetenschappelijk verifiëerbaar zijn.
• Psychologische verklaringen: Sommige theorieën over geheime controle en buitenaardse overheersing kunnen worden verklaard door psychologische factoren zoals paranoia, cognitieve bias, en het zoeken naar verklaringen voor complexe, onbegrepen situaties.
• Mislukking van simulaties: Terwijl technologie snel vordert, is er geen bewijs dat we in een door buitenstaanders gecreëerde simulatie of gevangenis leven.

2. Kritiek op de Conspiracy Circuits

Veel critici beschouwen de “Prison Planet” theorie als een vorm van pseudowetenschap of pseudohistorie, gebouwd op selectief gebruik van feiten en speculatie. Ze wijzen op het gevaar van het verspreiden van vermeende “waarheden” die de publieke angst en desinformatie vergroten.

3. Alternatieve verklaringen voor de verhalen

Het verlangen naar een gevoel van controle of het zoeken naar zingeving en geheime kennis kunnen verklaren waarom zoveel mensen zich aangetrokken voelen tot deze theorieën. Gebrek aan transparantie binnen de overheid en de complexiteit van mondiale machtstructuren dragen ook bij aan deze overtuigingen.

Afbeeldingsbron: Anomalien.com

Conclusie

De vraag naar de menselijke oorsprong is een fascinerend samenspel tussen wetenschap, mythologie, religie en moderne alternatieve theorieën. De evolutietheorie biedt een robuuste en door bewijs onderbouwde verklaring voor hoe wij als soort zijn ontstaan. Tegelijkertijd blijven mystiek, oude verhalen en geheime ontdekkingen de menselijke verbeelding prikkelen.

De “Prison Planet” theorie vertegenwoordigt een radicale alternatieve kijk die inspeelt op diepgewortelde angsten en het verlangen naar geheime kennis. Hoewel er geen wetenschappelijk bewijs is dat deze theorie ondersteunt, blijft het een krachtig cultureel fenomeen dat ons dwingt na te denken over machtsstructuren, controle en de aard van realiteit.

Het is essentieel dat we kritisch blijven nadenken, onderscheid maken tussen feit en fictie, en openstaan voor nieuwe inzichten, terwijl we de waarde van goed onderbouwde wetenschap omarmen. Pas door een evenwichtige benadering kunnen we de mysteries van ons verleden en onze huidige wereld op een verantwoorde manier onderzoeken.

Epiloog

De zoektocht naar de ware oorsprong van de mens en de waarheid achter de wereld waarin we leven, blijft een boeiend avontuur. Of we nu geloven in natuurlijke evolutie, oude mythes, of zelfs dat we gevangen zitten in een “Prison Planet”, het vraagt ons allen om kritisch te denken, open te staan voor nieuwe ideeën, en altijd te zoeken naar kennis en inzicht.

Door onze geschiedenis en de vele verhalen die daaruit voortvloeien te bestuderen, kunnen we een dieper begrip krijgen van wie we zijn, waar we vandaan komen en welke wereld we creëren voor de toekomst. Het is onze menselijke drang om te begrijpen en te verbinden, die ons blijft drijven in deze eeuwigdurende zoektocht naar de waarheid.

Noten en Referenties

Omdat dit artikel gebaseerd is op een breed scala aan bronnen, campagnethema's en theorieën, wordt aanbevolen om verder te lezen in de werken van Charles Darwin (The Origin of Species), David Icke (The Robots), Richard Dolan (UFOs and the National Security State), en verschillende academische en kritische bronnen over conspiratietheorieën en de geschiedenis van de menselijke evolutie.

• Let op: De "Prison Planet" theorie wordt niet erkend door de wetenschappelijke gemeenschap en wordt beschouwd als een alternatief idee zonder substantieel bewijs. Het is belangrijk om informatie kritisch te beoordelen en te vertrouwen op wetenschappelijk verifieerbare feiten.

{ PETER2011 }

19-12-2025 om 17:32 geschreven door peter  

 { https://scientias.nl/nieuwsbrief/ }

19-12-2025 om 15:31 geschreven door peter  

Celestial citrus! Scientists are baffled by a LEMON–shaped planet that 'defies explanation'

• READ MORE: Scientists find 'slushy tunnels' on Titan that could harbour life

By WILIAM HUNTER, SENIOR SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY REPORTER

Scientists have been baffled by a bizarre lemon–shaped planet that 'defies explanation'.

The Jupiter–size planet was discovered by NASA's James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) and is so strange that it challenges everything we know about how planets form.

Dubbed PSR J2322–2650b, the gas giant has an exotic carbon and helium atmosphere that is unlike any other known exoplanet.

Soot clouds float through the super–heated reaches of its upper atmosphere and condense into diamonds deep in the planet's heart.

This unusual composition is made even stranger by the fact that this planet doesn't orbit a star like our sun.

Instead, this world orbits a type of neutron star known as a pulsar – the ultra–dense core of a dead star that compresses the mass of the sun into something the size of a city.

Located 750 light–years from Earth, this pulsar is constantly bombarding its captive planet with gamma rays and stretching it under gravity into a unique 'lemon' shape.

This produces some of the most extreme temperature differences ever seen on a planet, with temperatures ranging from 650°C (1,200°F) at night to 2,030°C (3,700°F) in the day.

Scientists have been baffled to discover a bizarre lemon–shaped planet that defies everything we know about planetary formation 

Even by the standards of exotic exoplanets, PSR J2322–2650b stands out as exceptionally odd.

And, in a new paper, accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal Letters, researchers used the JWST to reveal that the planet is even stranger.

Co–author of the study Dr Peter Gao, of the Carnegie Earth and Planets Laboratory, says: 'I remember after we got the data down, our collective reaction was "What the heck is this?"

'It's extremely different from what we expected.'

Of the 6,000 or so known exoplanets, this is the only gas giant that orbits a neutron star.

This is hardly surprising given that neutron stars tend to tear their neighbours apart with gravity or evaporate them with a bombardment of powerful radiation.

PSR J2322–2650b is also extraordinarily close to its star at just one million miles (1.6 million km) away, compared to the distance of 100 million miles (160 million km) between Earth and the Sun.

That means a year on this strange world takes just 7.8 hours as it whizzes around the neutron star at incredible speed.

The planet, dubbed PSR J2322–2650b, orbits a type of neutron star called a pulsar – the ultra–dense core of a dead star that compresses the mass of the sun into something the size of a city

But what really makes the planet a total anomaly is the composition of its atmosphere.

Co–author Dr Michael Zhang, of the University of Chicago, says: 'This is a new type of planet atmosphere that nobody has ever seen before.

'Instead of finding the normal molecules we expect to see on an exoplanet — like water, methane, and carbon dioxide — we saw molecular carbon, specifically C3 and C2.'

This is really weird because, at temperatures as high as they are on the planet, carbon should bond with any other atoms in the atmosphere.

That means molecular carbon can only be dominant when there is almost no oxygen or nitrogen present.

Out of the roughly 150 planets that scientists have analysed in depth, not a single one has molecular carbon in its atmosphere.

However, scientists still genuinely have no idea how such a weird planet could have formed.

'Did this thing form like a normal planet? No, because the composition is entirely different,' says Dr Zhang.

This pulsar is constantly bombarding its captive planet with gamma rays and stretching it under gravity into a unique 'lemon' shape (artist's impression)

Likewise, the planet couldn't have formed by stripping the outer layers of a star since the nuclear reactions in stellar cores don't make pure carbon.

Dr Zhang adds: 'It's very hard to imagine how you get this extremely carbon–enriched composition. It seems to rule out every known formation mechanism.'

Currently, the researchers' best theory is that carbon and oxygen crystallised in the planet's interior as it cooled.

The pure carbon crystals might have then floated to the top and mixed with helium, which is what the scientists would be seeing in their data.

However, co–author Professor Roger Romani, of Stamford University, says that this doesn't solve all the problems.

He says: 'Something has to happen to keep the oxygen and nitrogen away. And that's where the mystery comes in.

'But it's nice not to know everything. I'm looking forward to learning more about the weirdness of this atmosphere. It's great to have a puzzle to go after.'

Scientists study the atmosphere of distant exoplanets using enormous space satellites like Hubble

Distant stars and their orbiting planets often have conditions unlike anything we see in our atmosphere. 

To understand these new world's, and what they are made of, scientists need to be able to detect what their atmospheres consist of.  

They often do this by using a telescope similar to Nasa's Hubble Telescope.

These enormous satellites scan the sky and lock on to exoplanets that Nasa think may be of interest. 

Here, the sensors on board perform different forms of analysis. 

One of the most important and useful is called absorption spectroscopy. 

This form of analysis measures the light that is coming out of a planet's atmosphere. 

Every gas absorbs a slightly different wavelength of light, and when this happens a black line appears on a complete spectrum. 

These lines correspond to a very specific molecule, which indicates it's presence on the planet. 

They are often called Fraunhofer lines after the German astronomer and physicist that first discovered them in 1814.

By combining all the different wavelengths of lights, scientists can determine all the chemicals that make up the atmosphere of a planet. 

The key is that what is missing, provides the clues to find out what is present.  

It is vitally important that this is done by space telescopes, as the atmosphere of Earth would then interfere. 

Absorption from chemicals in our atmosphere would skew the sample, which is why it is important to study the light before it has had chance to reach Earth. 

This is often used to look for helium, sodium and even oxygen in alien atmospheres.  

This diagram shows how light passing from a star and through the atmosphere of an exoplanet produces Fraunhofer lines indicating the presence of key compounds such as sodium or helium 

{ https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/index.html }

19-12-2025 om 15:19 geschreven door peter  

Bon voyage! Interstellar comet 3l/ATLAS safely passes Earth and is now whizzing towards Jupiter

• READ MORE: Nasa's wise scientist finally 'finds the Star of Bethlehem' 

By WILIAM HUNTER, SENIOR SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY REPORTER

The interstellar comet that has had scientists around the world mesmerised for months safely passed Earth this morning. 

At roughly 06:00 GMT, 3I/ATLAS reached its closest point to Earth, coming within 168 million miles (270 million km) of our planet.

To put that into perspective, that is still nearly twice the average distance between Earth and the sun.

The comet is now whizzing towards Jupiter, where it will make a relatively close pass of the gas giant at a distance of 33 million miles (53 million km) on March 16, 2026.

From there, 3I/ATLAS will make its way past the orbit Saturn by July, without coming close to the planet, and cross the orbit of Uranus in June 2027.

In 2028, the interstellar object will travel beyond the last of the planets as it shoots by Neptune at 137,000 miles per hour (221,000 km/h).

Astronomers predict that the comet will reach the orbit of Pluto in April 2029, before striking out into the outer reaches of the solar system.

Finally, 3I/ATLAS will wave goodbye to our stellar neighbourhood as it returns to interstellar space sometime in the mid 2030s.

The interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS safely passed Earth this morning, reaching its closest distance to our planet at 168 million miles (270 million km) away 

3I/ATLAS was discovered in July and marks only the third time that astronomers have been able to find an object that formed around another star in our own solar system

3I/ATLAS was discovered on July 1 by the NASA-funded ATLAS telescope in Chile.

When scientists traced back the approaching object's trajectory, they made the startling discovery that it had arrived from outside the solar system.

This was just the third time astronomers had detected a visitor from another solar system, following 1I Oumuamua in 2017 and 2I Borisov in 2019.

Scientists believe that 3I/ATLAS formed around a distant star around eight billion years ago.

That makes the comet older than our solar system, and the oldest thing that we have ever been able to study close up.

On October 3, the comet reached its closest distance to Mars as it passed just 19 million miles (30 million km) from the Red Planet.

Then, on October 29, the interstellar object reached its closest point to the sun at a distance of 130 million miles (210 million km).

While some immediately leapt to wild conclusions about alien spacecraft, this was actually a fantastic opportunity for scientists to learn more about the history of the galaxy. 

Astronomers believe that 3I/ATLAS is around eight billion years old, making it older than our own solar system 

All of the objects behaviour is consistent with that of a comet heating up and releasing gas and dust as it approaches the sun 

3I/ATLAS' journey through the solar system

July 1: 3I/ATLAS is discovered by the ATLAS telescope in Chile

October 3: The object passes Mars at 19 million miles (30 million km)

October 29: 3I/ATLAS reaches perihelion, passing the sun at 130 million miles (210 million km)

December 19: Object reaches its closest distance from Earth at 168 million miles (270 million km)

March 16, 2026: 3I/ATLAS passes Jupiter

July 2026: 3I/ATLAS reaches Saturn's orbit

June 2027: Object crosses the orbit of Uranus

2028: The comet passes the last planet as it reaches Neptune's orbit

2029: The object passes Pluto and heads for interstellar space 

Mid 2030s: 3I/ATLAS leaves the solar system 

All that time, telescopes on Earth and out in space were redirected towards gathering information about the interstellar traveller.

NASA even used spacecraft orbiting Mars, normally used for recording the planet's surface, to capture data about the passing object.

Professor Chris Lintott, an astronomer from the University of Oxford, told Daily Mail: 'We've been scrambling to observe 3I/ATLAS with everything we've got since it was discovered.

'So far, it's a fairly normal, active comet - plenty of carbon monoxide, some water, a sprinkling of Nickel.'

As comets approach the sun, their outer layers of ice and dust evaporate into a glowing cloud known as a coma and several long tails stretching out in different directions.

The closer 3I/ATLAS got to the sun, the brighter and more active the coma and tails became, and the more layers of the comet's outer surface were burned away.

'Because it's being heated by the Sun, it's changing all the time, and it'll take some time to work out what it's really made of,' says Professor Lintott.

'One idea is that it's like a baked Alaska, with a crunchy outer layer affected by the billions of years it spent in outer space, surrounding a nice fresh ice core.'

Scientists have been 'scrambling' to observe the comet ever since it was discovered. This diagram shows all the spacecraft the European Space Agency has repurposed for investigating the object  

NASA was able to use spacecraft in orbit around Mars to capture to spectrum of light coming from the glowing cloud of gas and dust surrounding the comet (pictured) 

And, while it might take scientists months to comb through all the data, researchers have already learned enough to decisively conclude that it is not an alien spacecraft.

All of the object's supposedly anomalous behaviours, such as changing trajectory or producing jets of sublimating gas, are entirely consistent with what we know about comet behaviour.

Dr Matthew Genge, an expert on near-Earth objects and astrobiology from Imperial College London, says: 'Suggestions that 3I/Atlas was an alien spacecraft on route to Earth have thus been shown to be very wrong indeed.'

However, one of the most important lessons that scientists have learned from this encounter is that we need to be better prepared for the next interstellar object.

Interstellar objects are not particularly rare, as scientists predict there are around a billion billion billion of them in the galaxy, we are just very bad at spotting them.

But as telescopes like the newly-completed Vera C Rubin Observatory start to survey the sky, we should start to find many more.

Professor Mark Burchell, a space scientist from the University of Kent, told Daily Mail: 'Now we know how to spot them, it gets easier each time.

'The next science goal to my mind is to prepare to see a 'fresh' comet from the outer solar system, which means parking a spacecraft in space in advance.'

Having passed Earth, 3I/ATLAS is now whizzing towards Jupiter, where it will make a relatively close pass of the gas giant at a distance of 33 million miles (53 million km) on March 16, 2026

Read More

• Maven, we have a problem: NASA loses contact with spacecraft orbiting Mars for more than a DECADE 

Normally, it takes years to plan, build, and launch a new spacecraft - which isn't possible within the window we have to catch an interstellar object.

Yet with a spacecraft waiting out in space, scientists could simply redirect this interceptor craft to catch suitable comets when they approach.

Professor Burchell says this might be much harder to do with interstellar objects, since they are so much rarer than comets.

But if scientists were suitably prepared, the potential for learning about the formation of the galaxy could be incredible.

Explained: The difference between an asteroid, meteorite and other space rocks

An asteroid is a large chunk of rock left over from collisions or the early solar system. Most are located between Mars and Jupiter in the Main Belt.

A comet is a rock covered in ice, methane and other compounds. Their orbits take them much further out of the solar system.

A meteor is what astronomers call a flash of light in the atmosphere when debris burns up.

This debris itself is known as a meteoroid. Most are so small they are vapourised in the atmosphere.

If any of this meteoroid makes it to Earth, it is called a meteorite.

Meteors, meteoroids and meteorites normally originate from asteroids and comets.

For example, if Earth passes through the tail of a comet, much of the debris burns up in the atmosphere, forming a meteor shower.

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19-12-2025 om 15:08 geschreven door peter  

Saturn's moon could harbour ALIEN life: Scientists discover 'slushy tunnels' on Titan – and they might be habitable

• READ MORE: 'Wall demon' discovered on Jupiter's moon that could hint at life

By JONATHAN CHADWICK, ASSISTANT SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY EDITOR 

Saturn's largest moon Titan has 'slushy tunnels' beneath its surface that could potentially harbour alien life, a new study shows.

Scientists at NASA and the University of Washington have analysed data captured by the Cassini space probe, which completed more than 100 targeted flybys of Titan. 

They reveal that the faraway moon has 'a slushy high–pressure ice layer' similar to the melting Arctic that could hide extraterrestrial life. 

What's more, it means Titan may not have a waterworld–style liquid ocean under its frozen surface as previously thought. 

'Instead of an open ocean like we have here on Earth, we're probably looking at something more like Arctic sea ice or aquifers,' said study author Professor Baptiste Journaux at the University of Washington. 

'[This] has implications for what type of life we might find, the availability of nutrients, energy and so on.'

Around 3,200 miles in diameter, Titan is described by NASA as an icy world whose surface is completely obscured by a golden hazy atmosphere. 

It is the sole other place in the solar system known to have an Earth–like cycle of liquids raining from clouds, flowing across its surface, filling lakes and seas, and evaporating back into the sky – akin to the water cycle of our planet. 

The six infrared images of Titan above were created by compiling data collected over the course of the Cassini mission. They depict how the surface of Titan looks beneath the foggy atmosphere, highlighting the variable surface of the moon

Titan's frozen surface is thought to have water beneath it. According to the study, this is neither uniformly liquid, nor frozen solid, but slushy. This illustration shows the various ways Titan might respond to Saturn's gravitational pull depending on its interior structure. Only the slushy interior produced the bulge and lag observed in the new study

NASA's spacecraft Cassini launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida in October 1997 and spent two decades observing Saturn and its moons. 

As Titan circled Saturn in an elliptical (not perfectly circular) orbit, the moon was observed changing shape depending on where it was in relation to Saturn. 

In 2008, researchers proposed that Titan must possess a huge ocean beneath the surface to allow such significant 'stretching and smushing'. 

'The deformation we detected during the initial analysis of the Cassini mission data could have been compatible with a global ocean,' Professor Journaux said.

'But now we know that isn't the full story.' 

For the study, scientists performed a reanalysis of radiation data acquired by Cassini using improved modern techniques. 

Interestingly, they found that Titan's shape–shifting or 'flexing' occurs about 15 hours after the peak of Saturn's gravitational pull. 

This time delay allowed scientists to estimate how much energy it takes to change Titan's shape, allowing them to make conclusions about the moon's interior. 

Titan, imaged by the Cassini orbiter, December 2011. A thick shroud of organic haze permanently obscures Titan's surface from viewing in visible light

Cassini is depicted here in a NASA illustration. Cassini launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida in October 1997

Titan: Basic facts 

• Parent planet: Saturn
• Discovered: March 25, 1655 
• Type: Icy moon 
• Diameter: 3,200 miles 
• Temperature: Around –297 degrees Fahrenheit 
• Orbital period: Nearly 16 Earth days
• Mass: 1.8 times Earth's moon

Essentially, the amount of energy lost, or dissipated, in Titan was 'very strong' and much greater than would be observed if Titan were to have a global liquid ocean. 

'That was the smoking gun indicating that Titan's interior is different from what was inferred from previous analyses,' said study author Flavio Petricca at NASA. 

According to the study, Titan's frozen exterior hides more ice giving away to pockets of meltwater (water formed by the melting of snow and ice) near a rocky core. 

The model they propose in their paper, published in Nature, features more slush and quite a bit less liquid water on Titan than previously thought. 

The discovery of a slushy layer on Titan has 'exciting implications' for the search for life beyond our solar system as it expands the range of environments considered habitable.   

Although the idea of a liquid ocean on Titan was a promising indication of life there, researchers believe the new findings might improve the odds of finding it. 

Analyses indicate that the pockets of freshwater on Titan could reach 68°F (20°C) – which is the optimal temperature for life on Earth to thrive. 

Any available nutrients would be more concentrated in a small volume of water, compared to an open ocean, which could facilitate the growth of simple organisms.

Below Titan's frozen exterior is more ice giving way to slushy tunnels and pockets of meltwater (water formed by the melting of snow and ice) near a rocky core

Read More

• 

More could be revealed about the moon's habitability after NASA's upcoming Dragonfly mission to Titan launches in July 2028. 

The Dragonfly lander is expected to launch in July 2028 and take six years to reach Titan, arriving by 2034.

Scientists are still reaping the rewards of the rich data obtained by the Cassini robotic spacecraft, which was active for nearly 20 years after launching in October 1997.

Cassini's mission ended in September 2017 when it was deliberately flown into Saturn's upper atmosphere before it ran out of fuel.

In 2019, Cassini data revealed that a lake on Titan is rich with methane and 300 feet deep.

WHAT DID CASSINI DISCOVER DURING ITS 20-YEAR MISSION TO SATURN?

Cassini launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida in 1997, then spent seven years in transit followed by 13 years orbiting Saturn.

An artist's impression of the Cassini spacecraft studying Saturn 

In 2000 it spent six months studying Jupiter before reaching Saturn in 2004.

In that time, it discovered six more moons around Saturn, three-dimensional structures towering above Saturn's rings, and a giant storm that raged across the planet for nearly a year.

On 13 December 2004 it made its first flyby of Saturn's moons Titan and Dione.

On 24 December it released the European Space Agency-built Huygens probe on Saturn's moon Titan to study its atmosphere and surface composition.

There it discovered eerie hydrocarbon lakes made from ethane and methane.

In 2008, Cassini completed its primary mission to explore the Saturn system and began its mission extension (the Cassini Equinox Mission).

In 2010 it began its second mission (Cassini Solstice Mission) which lasted until it exploded in Saturn's atmosphere.

In December 2011, Cassini obtained the highest resolution images of Saturn's moon Enceladus.

In December of the following year it tracked the transit of Venus to test the feasibility of observing planets outside our solar system.

In March 2013 Cassini made the last flyby of Saturn's moon Rhea and measured its internal structure and gravitational pull.

Cassini didn't just study Saturn - it also captured incredible views of its many moons. In the image above, Saturn's moon Enceladus can be seen drifting before the rings and the tiny moon Pandora. It was captured on Nov. 1, 2009, with the entire scene is backlit by the Sun

In July of that year Cassini captured a black-lit Saturn to examine the rings in fine detail and also captured an image of Earth.

In April of this year it completed its closest flyby of Titan and started its Grande Finale orbit which finished on September 15.

'The mission has changed the way we think of where life may have developed beyond our Earth,' said Andrew Coates, head of the Planetary Science Group at Mullard Space Science Laboratory at University College London.

'As well as Mars, outer planet moons like Enceladus, Europa and even Titan are now top contenders for life elsewhere,' he added. 'We've completely rewritten the textbooks about Saturn.'

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19-12-2025 om 13:15 geschreven door peter