Enkele tientallen meters zijn voldoende voor een asteroïde om heel wat schade te veroorzaken.

© iStock

“Plots veegt een asteroïde je stad weg en niemand zag het aankomen”: waarom we volgende keer misschien minder geluk hebben

Zondag explodeerde een metersgroot stuk ruimterots onverwacht in onze atmosfeer. Een deel van deze meteoriet veroorzaakte zelfs schade in Duitsland. Maar het had erger kunnen aflopen. HLN-wetenschapsexpert Martijn Peters legt uit waarom niemand dit zag aankomen, hoe het komt dat wetenschappers de hemel halsstarrig afspeuren naar gevaarlijke asteroïden en wat de kans is dat zo’n exemplaar ons treft. “De ‘kleintjes’ vormen meer gevaar.”

Martijn Peters

Op zondag 8 maart trok een vuurbol – ook wel bolide genoemd – een vurig spoor door de hemel. Veel mensen waren getuigen van dit zes seconden durende spektakel. Volgens ruimtevaartagentschap ESA was het stuk ruimterots dat in onze atmosfeer uiteenspatte en grotendeels opbrandde, groter dan een meter. Enkele brokstukken wisten de aarde te bereiken in Duitsland en zorgden voor schade aan huizen. Dit keer raakte niemand gewond, maar in de toekomst hebben we misschien minder geluk.

Want ons zonnestelsel is niet bepaald netjes: al miljarden jaren zweven er restjes rond. De meest tot de verbeelding sprekende zijn ongetwijfeld kometen. Die zijn honderden tot duizenden meters groot en bestaan uit stof, gruis en ijs. Wanneer ze in de buurt van de zon komen, verschijnt plots hun staart. Maar dat zijn er slechts enkele duizenden. Talrijker zijn de asteroïden. Wetenschappers schatten hun aantal op bijna anderhalf miljoen. Deze relikwieën van rots en metaal bestaan in alle maten en gewichten, van enkele meters tot honderden kilometers groot.

Bij verwoesting denken velen meteen aan reusachtige, kilometersgrote exemplaren. Dat is volkomen terecht. Een asteroïde van 1 kilometer veroorzaakt wereldwijde problemen. Eentje van 10 kilometer of meer, zoals degene die het einde van de dinosauriërs inluidde, vertelt haast niemand meer na. Maar over deze ‘joekels’ maken wetenschappers zich weinig zorgen. Dat heeft twee redenen. De kans op zo’n inslag is bijvoorbeeld ongelooflijk klein: minder dan één keer per half miljoen jaar, afhankelijk van de grootte. Daarnaast hebben we ze zo goed als allemaal (meer dan 90%) in kaart gebracht. Een wereldwijde ramp is dus extreem zeldzaam.

{ https://www.hln.be/nieuws/ }

10-03-2026 om 21:05 geschreven door peter  

Marc Van den Broeck van Volkssterrenwacht Urania legt uit wat die vuurbol aan de hemel was. 

© rv / Tessa Kraan

• Marc Van den Broeck van Volkssterrenwacht Urania legt uit wat die vuurbol aan de hemel was.

5 vragen

Vuurbal die gisteravond door de hemel kliefde, richtte ook ravage aan in Duitsland: wat was dat precies? En kan er nog iets volgen?

“Ik wist niet wat ik zag. Een fel brandend object met een witte staart aan de hemel.” Onze tiplijn 4040 stond zondagavond omstreeks 19 uur roodgloeiend. Van Langemark tot Lummen staarden Vlamingen vol ongeloof naar de hemel, waar een vuurbol te zien was. Wat was dat vreemde object? Is het gevaarlijk? En moeten we vrezen voor een nog grotere inslag? Marc Van den Broeck van Volkssterrenwacht Urania legt uit: “Mogelijk ging het om een steen ter grootte van een voetbal.”

Ingrid De Vos - Journalist bij HLN

“Dit was duidelijk geen klassieke vallende ster zoals we die in augustus zien. Dat is vaak maar een stofje van een komeet dat in een fractie van een seconde verdwijnt. Nu waren mensen getuige van een spektakel van vijf seconden, vol gloed en uiteenspattende lichtdeeltjes. Dat wijst erop dat een brokstuk ruimtepuin — een overblijfsel uit de tijd dat onze wereld miljarden jaren geleden werd gevormd — de dampkring is binnengedrongen. In eerste instantie dacht ik aan een kiezelsteentje, maar omdat er ook een luide knal is gehoord, gaan we er nu van uit dat het eerder een steen ter grootte van een voetbal was.”

Aanvankelijk werd gedacht dat het om een meteoor ging:

“Omdat die steen met een waanzinnige rotvaart op onze dampkring beukte. Ter vergelijking: de spaceshuttle remt af tot 10.000 kilometer per uur voor hij de atmosfeer induikt. Dit brokstuk vloog naar binnen met een snelheid van 100.000 kilometer per uur. Door de enorme wrijving met de lucht op 70 kilometer hoogte werd de steen zó heet dat hij begon te gloeien en uiteindelijk met een klap uiteenspatte. Dat is de flits die iedereen zag.”

“Deze vuurbol was uniek vanwege het tijdstip. Dergelijke vuurbollen zien we een paar keer per jaar, maar meestal ’s nachts, als iedereen nog in bed ligt, of in de vroege ochtend. Dat het zich ’s avonds voordoet, is veel zeldzamer. Voor mij is het al tien jaar geleden dat ik het nog eens meemaakte. Dat heeft te maken met de hoek waarin het ruimtepuin op ons af komt vliegen. Stel je de aarde voor als een auto die door een sneeuwstorm rijdt: als chauffeur zie je de vlokken op je voorruit afkomen, terwijl ze in je achterruit net van je wegvliegen. De ochtendhemel is de voorruit van de aarde, de avondhemel de achterruit. Gisteravond keken we dus door de achterruit en zagen we toch een voltreffer.”

“De lichtflits die we zagen was een stuk krachtiger dan we gewend zijn. En in Duitsland hebben ze het geweten: volgens de politie zijn daar meteorieten door daken geboord bij Koblenz, in de Hunsrück en in de Eifel in de regio Rijnland-Palts. Dat is voor onze contreien uiterst uitzonderlijk. Als er effectief brokstukken de grond raken, spreken we van een meteoriet. Meestal is zo’n steen al tot stof verpulverd voor hij de aarde raakt. Dan blijft het bij een mooi schouwspel en spreken we van een meteoor. Elke dag valt er zo’n ton kosmisch stof op onze planeet, maar dat gebeurt vrijwel altijd geruisloos.”

“Absoluut niet. Dit was puur gruis, materiaal dat al miljoenen jaren in de ruimte rondvliegt. Dat het gisteren onze baan kruiste, is puur toeval. Meteorieten die de grond raken, komen meestal in de oceaan of in onbewoond gebied terecht. Slechts 10 procent van de aarde is dichtbevolkt. We zijn gisteravond vooral getuige geweest van een zeldzaam en krachtig natuurverschijnsel.”

LEES OOK.

• Vuurbal boven de hemel in Vlaanderen, richt schade aan in Duitsland: “Gat zo groot als een voetbal”

• KIJK. Opvallende vuurbal te zien boven Vlaanderen

{ https://www.hln.be/ }

10-03-2026 om 20:38 geschreven door peter  

On modern battlefields, speed and unpredictability increasingly determine survival, and as we’ve seen in the current U.S.-Iran conflict, fixed airbases and long concrete runways that once enabled airpower are starting to look like strategic vulnerabilities.

On Monday, DARPA revealed its newest X-plane, the X-76, an experimental aircraft designed to combine the “go anywhere” flexibility of vertical lift with cruise speeds typical of conventional fixed-wing aircraft.

The X-76 is the centerpiece of DARPA’s Speed and Runway Independent Technologies program, or “SPRINT,” a joint effort with U.S. Special Operations Command. The program is designed to overcome one of aviation’s oldest trade-offs. Helicopters and other VTOL aircraft can reach tight spaces, but they are slower. Meanwhile, traditional fixed-wing aircraft are faster, but they require runways, which limit their operating range and survivability in contested environments.

DARPA has announced that, following a critical design review, Bell Textron has been selected to begin building the X-76 demonstrator, marking the program’s transition into manufacturing, integration, and ground testing ahead of a planned flight-test phase in early 2028.

“For too long, the runway has been both an enabler and a tether, granting speed but creating a critical vulnerability,” DARPA SPRINT program manager, Commander Ian Higgins, said in a press release. “With SPRINT, we’re not just building an X-plane; we’re building options.”

Concept art rendering of the X-76.

(Image Source: Bell Textron)

DARPA’s public renderings reveal the X-76 is not an operational aircraft meant to be fielded as-is. Rather, it is a proof-of-concept technology demonstrator meant to show that the underlying engineering can work at full scale, and to generate real-world data that could shape what comes next.

According to DARPA, the X-76 is intended to mature technologies needed for runway-independent operations while cruising at speeds exceeding 400 knots. The aircraft would also be capable of hovering and operating from unprepared surfaces. Together, those capabilities would blur the line between the roles traditionally filled by helicopters, tiltrotors, and fixed-wing aircraft.

SPRINT’s ambitions are also a window into how the U.S. military’s priorities have shifted as precision weapons and long-range surveillance proliferate.

As we saw in the opening days of the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran, fixed airfields can be mapped, targeted, and logistics hubs can become predictable choke points. Given this reality, having vertical lift capabilities is no longer about convenience. It is about dispersal, resilience, and keeping forces moving even when the infrastructure they once depended on becomes an enemy 

The X-76 announcement is also notable for what it signals about the program’s maturity. SPRINT began Phase 1 in late 2023, then moved to Phase 1B in 2024 with contracts to two performers: Aurora Flight Sciences and Bell.

In 2025, DARPA selected Bell for the next stages, awarding it the contract for Phases 2 and 3 to complete design, build the X-plane, and move toward flight testing. The Critical Design Review completed this year marks a milestone that often separates promising concepts from hardware that can actually be assembled, tested, and flown.

In a release by Bell Textron, the company emphasized the symbolic and practical weight of the experimental plane’s designation. “Bell is honored to receive the X-76 designation and continue the spirit of American innovation, honoring the founding of the United States in 1776,” Bell’s senior vice president of engineering, Jason Hurst, said.

That 1776 reference is not subtle. DARPA says the X-76 designation was chosen specifically to coincide with the United States’ 250th anniversary, framing it as a “deliberate nod to the revolutionary spirit of 1776.”

So what exactly is the X-76 trying to prove?

Publicly, DARPA and Bell are focused on the outcomes rather than the engineering schematics.

DARPA’s announcement highlights the aircraft’s target performance envelope. The demonstrator is designed to hover in austere environments and take off and land without prepared runways. At the same time, it is expected to sustain cruise speeds above 400 knots—roughly the territory of many turboprops and some regional jets, but far beyond conventional helicopter performance.

“The goal of the program is to provide these aircraft with the ability to cruise at speeds from 400 to 450 knots at relevant altitudes and hover in austere environments from unprepared surfaces,” DARPA’s SPRINT program description reads.

Bell, for its part, points to a specific enabling approach using “stop/fold” technology. In a statement, the company describes the X-76 build phase as a move toward a “brand-new X-plane with first-of-its-kind stop/fold technology,” intended to support runway independence with jet-like speeds.

A wind tunnel model of one of Bell’s fold-away rotor design concepts. 

Bell

Concept art of the X-76 shows an aircraft equipped with folding rotor blades that can be stowed after transitioning to forward flight, reducing drag and enabling higher cruise speeds than traditional rotorcraft.

That basic idea—getting the lift of rotors without paying the aerodynamic penalty of carrying them through high-speed cruise—has been a recurring theme in vertical-lift engineering for decades. Rotors are incredibly efficient at hovering and low-speed flight, but they become a drag and vibration problem as speed climbs.

Crewed and uncrewed design concepts utilizing fold-away proprotor technology that Bell unveiled in 2024 as part of its work on DARPA’s SPRINT program. 

Bell

Tiltrotors like the V-22 Osprey pushed that boundary, yet still live with compromises because the rotors remain a dominant feature at all speeds. If initial renderings are any indication, the X-76 demonstrator will be built around a more radical transition—vertical lift when you need it, streamlined cruise when you don’t—which could open a new design space.

DARPA’s own messaging puts it in operational terms. When Cmdr. Higgins calls the runway a “tether,” he is highlighting a modern vulnerability: speed is valuable, but speed tied to predictable basing can be strategically limiting.

By aiming for runway-independent operation, DARPA is implicitly pursuing a future in which aircraft can disperse, relocate, and operate from austere locations—complicating an adversary’s targeting problem while improving response times for time-sensitive missions.

The SPRINT’s partnership structure also hints at where this could matter first. Special operations forces routinely operate at the edge of infrastructure—short on time, long on distance, and often constrained by where aircraft can safely land.

A platform that could move people or critical cargo quickly without relying on long runways could, in theory, compress timelines for infiltration, resupply, or medical evacuation, while expanding the number of usable launch and recovery sites.

DARPA’s program description stresses that the demonstrator is meant to validate integrated concepts that “can be scaled to different-sized military aircraft,” suggesting that the endgame is not a single airframe, but a portfolio of possible derivatives.

An earlier (2021) Bell rendering showing three related design concepts with fold-away rotor blades. 

Bell

There are good reasons DARPA is pursuing this as an X-plane effort rather than a direct acquisition program. “Runway-independent” and “high speed” are not especially difficult goals on their own. The challenge is combining them in a single aircraft with useful payload capacity, manageable complexity, and a transition mode that is both safe and repeatable.

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

10-03-2026 om 17:02 geschreven door peter  

An interstellar comet packed with alcohol? What ALMA found in 3I/ATLAS

by Jill Malusky, National Radio Astronomy Observatory

10-03-2026 om 16:22 geschreven door peter  

For a long time, space was considered a static and cold place, where huge chunks of rock flew through the void without any changes for millions of years. However, a recent study by astronomers at the University of Maryland (UMD) paints a very different picture. It turns out that binary asteroid systems are veritable “cosmic sandboxes” where objects constantly interact, exchanging material in a remarkable way reminiscent of a slow game of snowballs.

Do you know that approximately one in six asteroids, or about 15%, flying past Earth are not actually “lone wolves”? These are binary systems where a smaller companion orbits a larger object. Previously, scientists believed that these pairs simply existed side by side under the influence of gravity, but data published in the Planetary Science Journal proves that there is a fairly close connection between them. 

The research team discovered that asteroids constantly “throw” rocks and dust at each other. These are not catastrophic collisions that tear celestial bodies apart, but gentle, almost delicate touches. These “cosmic kisses” gradually change the landscape of both bodies, transforming their surface into a dynamic environment that is constantly evolving.

Photographic evidence: a fan of dust and rocks

The key to the discovery was unique footage taken by a NASA spacecraft as part of the DART (Double Asteroid Redirection Test) mission in 2022. Before deliberately crashing into the asteroid Dimorphos, the spacecraft managed to transmit extremely clear images of the surface to Earth. 

While analyzing these images, Professor Jessica Sunshine and her team noticed something strange — bright fan-shaped stripes stretching across the entire surface of Dimorphos. At first, scientists blamed camera defects or errors in data processing. But after carefully cleaning up the images, it became clear: what they were looking at was the first visual confirmation in history of the natural transfer of material from one asteroid to another.

“It looked as if someone had thrown space snowballs at the asteroid,” Professor Sunshine shares his impressions. These stripes are nothing more than “scars” from low-speed impacts left by material flying in from a neighboring asteroid.

Solar engine

Where does this “traveling rock” come from? Scientists explain this phenomenon as the YORP effect (the Yarkovsky–O’Keefe–Radzievsky–Paddack effect). This is a complex term for a fairly simple process: solar radiation heats the uneven surface of a small asteroid, causing it to spin faster and faster. 

When the rotational speed becomes critical, centrifugal force begins to exceed the weak gravity of the asteroid. Rock fragments, dust, and boulders lying on the surface of Didymos’ parent body simply fly off into open space. And since Dimorphos is nearby, a significant portion of this “debris” falls into its gravitational trap and gently settles on its surface. Thus, the Sun acts as an invisible engine, spinning asteroids into cosmic sprinklers.

Detective work with pixels

Finding these stripes was a real challenge. In the original DART images, they were almost invisible due to complex lighting and the play of shadows from numerous boulders. Tony Farnham and Juan Rizos from the University of Maryland have developed special algorithms to “remove” excess light and shadows.

The probe’s flight itself complicated the task: it approached its target in almost a straight line, which meant that the angle and lighting angle remained virtually unchanged. This created the illusion that the stripes might just be an optical effect. However, the creation of a 3D model of the asteroid put everything in its place. The more accurate the model became, the clearer the fan-shaped structures appeared. They were concentrated along the equator of Dimorphos — precisely where, according to the laws of physics, the material ejected from Didymos should have landed.

Physics of “soft” collisions

We are used to cosmic speeds of thousands of kilometers per hour, but in the world of double asteroids, everything is different. Harrison Agrusa’s research showed that debris from Didymos traveled toward the moon at a speed of only 30.7 cm/s. This is three times slower than a person walking at a normal pace in a park.

It is precisely thanks to this “turtle-like” speed that unique patterns are formed. Instead of creating huge craters, the rocks gently sink into the loose soil (regolith), leaving long rays of deposits. This is not destruction, but a gradual “increase” in the mass of the moon due to its “big brother.”

Checking the theory with sand

To finally confirm their hypothesis, scientists led by Esteban Wright conducted a series of experiments on Earth. At the UMD Institute of Physical Sciences and Technology, a special setup was created: balls were thrown at different angles into a container filled with sand mixed with colored gravel (simulating the surface of Dimorphos). 

High-speed cameras captured an incredible resemblance: when the “stranger” hit the boulders on the surface, some of the matter was deflected, while other matter penetrated through the cracks, forming the very fan-shaped rays that we see in photographs from space. Computer modeling at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory confirmed these results.

Next stop: the Hera mission

This discovery radically changes our understanding of how to protect Earth from asteroid threats. If we want to change the trajectory of an asteroid, we need to understand how dynamic it is and how it exchanges mass with its moons.

 

The next major event will take place in December 2026, when the European Space Agency (ESA) mission called Hera will arrive at the Didymos-Dimorphos system. It will conduct a thorough “inspection of the scene” after the DART impact. Scientists hope to see the very stripes that may not have been completely destroyed by the explosion and gain new insights into how this amazing cosmic conveyor belt works.

Earlier, we reported on how Hubble photographed the double tail of the asteroid Dimorphos.

• According to NASA JPL

• Posted in News, Science

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

09-03-2026 om 23:15 geschreven door peter  

The energy crisis is not just a global problem. If there are civilizations in the Universe that are thousands or millions of years ahead of us, their appetite for energy should be enormous. Instead of building thousands of thermonuclear reactors in an attempt to reproduce the processes inside stars, they could have taken a simpler and more logical approach: take a ready-made star and “wrap” it in a giant solar battery. New research by astronomers suggests that such objects should be sought not near bright giants, but near the modest “babies” of our Universe.

The Legacy of Freeman Dyson

The very idea of megastructures surrounding stars belongs to the outstanding theoretical physicist Freeman Dyson. Back in the 1960s, he suggested that any sufficiently developed civilization would sooner or later face a shortage of resources on its planet. One solution could be a “Dyson sphere” — a colossal structure made of mirrors or solar panels rotating around the sun, intercepting almost 100% of its radiation. 

Interestingly, Dyson himself initially referred to his idea as a “little joke” in conversations with journalists. However, over the years, he changed his mind, recognizing the concept as entirely viable and logical from a thermodynamic point of view. Today, the search for such structures is one of the priorities of SETI (the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence project), since a Dyson sphere is the most striking “technosignature” that can be detected from a distance of many light years.

Why are white and red dwarfs ideal candidates? 

In a new study published in Nature, astronomer Amirnezam Amiri from the University of Arkansas has revisited traditional views on where exactly to look for these megastructures. Most previous theories have focused on solar-type stars, but Amiri suggests turning our attention to low-mass stars: white dwarfs and red dwarfs.

Red dwarfs are the most common stars in our galaxy. They burn extremely slowly, providing energy to the surrounding space for trillions of years. White dwarfs are the remains of stars that have already “retired,” but they continue to steadily emit heat over enormous periods of time. 

According to Amiri’s calculations, these stars are the best sources for long-term energy supply to megastructures. They are stable, not prone to frequent catastrophic outbursts (like some massive stars), and allow for the creation of an energy system that will operate almost indefinitely. 

Compactness – the key to saving resources

One of the main problems with building the Dyson sphere is the incredible amount of materials required. To encircle the Sun at the distance of Earth’s orbit, it would be necessary to literally break down several planets the size of Jupiter into atoms. However, the rules of the game change for red and white dwarfs.

The habitable zone (where temperatures allow water to remain liquid) around a red dwarf is located very close to the star, typically between 0.05 and 0.3 astronomical units. For a highly developed civilization, this is the ideal place:

• Material savings. The sphere will have a much smaller radius, which means it will require significantly fewer resources to build.
• Efficiency. The closer the panels are to the light source, the more compact and manageable the entire energy farm is.
• Stability. A compact sphere is more easily held in place by the star’s gravity, reducing the risk of structural failure.

James Webb in search of alien engineers

The most practical part of Amiri’s research is devoted to how we can detect such objects from Earth. According to the laws of physics, the Dyson sphere cannot simply absorb energy — it has to release it somewhere (discharge excess heat), otherwise it will simply melt. This heat is emitted in the form of infrared light.

To an outside observer, a star in a “wrapper” will look very strange:

1. Abnormal dimness. The star will appear significantly fainter than it should be based on its mass.
2. Spectrum change. Instead of visible light, the observer will see a uniform “black” spectrum of infrared radiation.
3. Artificial signals. If the sphere consists of separate panels (a so-called “Dyson swarm”), they can create unusual flickering or radiation bursts that cannot be explained by natural processes.
4. No dust. Building the sphere requires a huge amount of matter, so the aliens will most likely “clean” the system of dust and asteroids, using them as raw materials.

Amiri claims that modern observatories, such as the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), already have sufficient sensitivity to detect such infrared anomalies. We already have the tools to detect aliens — we just need to know what to look for.

Are we alone in the Universe?

Of course, Dyson spheres remain pure theory for now. Any such prediction is based on a number of assumptions: that aliens exist, that they develop according to similar physical laws, and that they want to build such large-scale objects in the first place. Perhaps they have found even more sophisticated ways of obtaining energy that we cannot even imagine.

However, such studies make us think about the future of humanity. If we want to survive as a species in the long term, we will have to become a “Type II civilization” on the Kardashev scale — one that completely controls the energy of its star. Studying possible Dyson spheres around white dwarfs is not only a search for “little green men,” but also an attempt to glimpse our own future millions of years from now.

Freeman Dyson once said that “The Universe is far more interesting than we can imagine.” And if somewhere in the depths of the Milky Way a red dwarf suddenly began to shine unusually dimly, it is possible that someone’s giant energy farm has been operating there for millions of years.

We previously reported that Jupiter should be destroyed to build a Dyson sphere around the Sun.

• According to Gizmodo

• Posted in News, Tech

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

09-03-2026 om 22:55 geschreven door peter  

All you need to know about missing former Air Force General with 'UFO secrets'

Retired US Air Force General William Neil McCasland vanished from his New Mexico home, with FBI joining search as journalist warns disappearance poses grave national security concerns

William Neil McCasland's disappearance has sparked major concerns 

(Image: United States Air Force)

NEED TO KNOW: UFO Expert and Ex-US Air Force General Vanishes

• Former US Air Force General William Neil McCasland has mysteriously vanished from his home in Albuquerque, New Mexico, sparking fears over national security.
• The 68-year-old, who has unprecedented knowledge of UFO sightings, disappeared without a trace after leaving his house on foot. He left his mobile phone behind and is believed to have medical issues.
• Local police have issued a Silver Alert and the FBI has joined the desperate search for the missing general.
• McCasland's disappearance has raised serious concerns due to his potential knowledge of highly classified extraterrestrial information. During his Air Force career, he oversaw research at the secretive Wright Patterson Air Force Base, long linked to UFO conspiracies and the infamous Roswell incident.
• Investigative journalist Ross Coulthart warned the situation amounts to a "grave national security crisis". "This is a man with some of the most sensitive secrets of the United States in his head," he said on his Reality Check podcast.
• Coulthart believes the timing is suspicious, coming after President Trump's recent comments about possible government knowledge of extraterrestrial contact. "The fact that Gen. Neil McCasland has disappeared off the face of the earth is a grave national security crisis for the United States of America," he added.
• However, neither law enforcement nor the FBI have publicly acknowledged the disappearance as suspicious or linked it to McCasland's former military position.
• READ THE FULL STORY: Disappearance of US Airforce General with 'top-secret UFO knowledge' is 'national crisis'

Disappearance of US Airforce General with 'top-secret UFO knowledge' is ‘national crisis'

A former US Airforce General has vanished after leaving his New Mexico home this week, sparking concerns about his well-being as well as the release of secrets he might know

The disappearance of a former US Airforce General who is believed to have unprecedented knowledge on reported UFO sightings has gone missing from his home in Alberquerque, New Mexico, sparking serious concerns for his safety.

Law enforcement in the area report that William Neil McCasland vanished without a trace after leaving his home on foot. A 'Silver Alert' has been made by the local County Sheriff’s Office, who have also asked the public to come forward with any information that may help find the retiree, who is believed to have "“medical issues", according to reports

Since the initial alert made, the FBI are believed to have joined the search efforts for the 68-year-old.

It is unknown why McCasland decided to leave his house or where he was heading, although he is believed to have his mobile phone behind before his unexplained departure.

The Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office issued a Silver Alert for the missing retiree, seeking help from the public in locating him

(Image: Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office)

McCasland's disappearance has sparked national security concerns, with some stressing that the former Airforce general may have secret and highly sensitive knowledge relating to UFO sightings.

Investigative journalist Ross Coulthart told listeners to his “Reality Check” podcast that the incident ammounted to a "grave national security crisis", especially if McCasland has knowledge of supposed "extraterrestrials".

“This is a man with some of the most sensitive secrets of the United States in his head", warned Coulthart.

At one point during his illustrious Airforce career McCasland is believed to have overseen research at the secretive Wright Patterson Air Force Base, a site long associated by conspiracists with classified space weapons programmes as well as possible extraterrestrial sightings such as the infamous Roswell incident.

Coulthart also postured that the disappearance may be connected to recent comments by President Donald Trump on the possibility of the US Government having knowledge of extraterrestrial contact.

Trump has told the US Pentagon to "release" files related to aliens and UFOs

(Image: Getty)

“The timing is screechingly relevant,” Coulthart said. “The fact that Gen. Neil McCasland has disappeared off the face of the earth is a grave national security crisis for the United States of America."

"This is a man with some of the most sensitive secrets of the United States in his head."

While Coulthart is not alone in believing McCasland's disappearance to be suspicious, neither law enforcement nor the FBI have publicly acknowledged it as being so.

There has also been no official links made to McCasland's former position in the Airforce.

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{ https://www.dailystar.co.uk/latest/ufo }

09-03-2026 om 22:34 geschreven door peter  

Will Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena Disclosure Shock Humanity?

How humans might respond if the U.S. government confirms nonhuman intelligence.

 Reviewed by Michelle Quirk

Key points

• If governments confirm nonhuman intelligence, research suggests reactions will vary widely.
• People with high intolerance of uncertainty may struggle more when familiar assumptions about reality change.
• Preparing mental health systems to support vulnerable individuals will be important if disclosure occurs.

Source: Greg Rakozy / Unsplash

{ https://www.psychologytoday.com/gb }

09-03-2026 om 22:15 geschreven door peter  

See stunning photos of the Atacama Desert — the driest on Earth — blooming in winter for 1st time in a decade

For the first time in a decade, plants in the Atacama Desert have started flowering in the middle of winter, covering a portion of the driest desert on the planet in white and violet hues. 

The rare bloom is the result of rain in northern Chile during the Southern Hemisphere's fall. About 0.4 inches (11 millimeters) fell in mid-April, which combined with the morning fog known locally as "camanchaca" to activate vegetation that can remain dormant for up to 15 years. 

Two of the first species to color the landscape this year were the "pata de guanaco" (Cistanthe grandiflora), with its bright fuchsia-colored flowers, and the white "sighs of the field" (Nolana baccata).

The flowering has occurred in an area covering between 115 and 155 square miles (300 to 400 square kilometers), said César Pizarro, head of the Biodiversity Conservation section and Scientific Research at the National Forestry Corporation (Conaf) in Atacama. A full flowering desert, which occurs in spring (September to October) due to winter rains, can extend over about 5,800 square miles (15,000 square km), with more than 200 species in bloom.

Typically, the desert flowers bloom in spring in years when at least 0.6 inches (15 mm) of rain falls between June, July and August. This is related to the El Niño phenomenon — which increases precipitations in Chile above average.

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In 2015, the rains fell in March, activating the vegetation in winter, just as is happening now. 

That year it also rained in July and August, causing the desert to explode with flowers in spring. 

But it's unclear if the same thing will occur this time. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) forecast indicates that current ENSO-neutral conditions — a period when neither El Niño or La Niña are happening — will likely persist for one more month before transitioning to La Niña . This means that the drought will return, and the Atacama Desert will not have enough humidity to reactivate the vegetation during the cycle.

If precipitation occurs in the coming weeks, atmospheric humidity would be higher than normal, potentially causing a flowering desert in September. However, this is not forecast.

Alternatively, if La Niña occurs soon, the flower patches blooming this winter are probably the last ones that will be seen this decade (because of the El Niño, La Niña cycles), and there will not be a huge flowering next spring, Francisco Squeo, president of the Institute of Ecology and Biodiversity (IEB) and researcher in the Department of Biology at the University of La Serena, told Live Science.

The rare winter flowering of the Atacama Desert is not without problems. The main one, according to María Fernanda Pérez, associate professor of ecology at the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile , is that pollinators do not arrive as quickly as the plants react to rain. "If the seeds germinate and flower but the pollinators do not arrive, the seeds run out," she told Live Science.

This is likely happening now, as there are currently no bees, moths, beetles or other pollinators present due to low temperatures, according to Pizarro. Only mites and a few reptiles, birds and mammals have been seen.

Herbaceous plants — like those flowering in the Atacama Desert — have a self-pollination mechanism that activates if a pollinator does not arrive in a given year. But this backup occurs late in flowering. 

A major scientific unknown is what happens if this decoupling between flowering and pollinators caused by anomalous events , persists over time, as no seeds would be added to the reserve of those that remain dormant for the next reactivation.

"This very arid soil houses a treasure. [A] seed bank that has been resilient," she said.

With climate change, anomalous events like this year's winter bloom could become more frequent, potentially meaning annual plants do not reproduce. The flowering desert would only be left with bulbous plants, drastically reducing its diversity, or leaving room for invasive species, Pizarro said.

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