Humans are Aliens – and we were brought to Earth hundreds of thousands of years ago

NASA

Right here in our solar system, three small ocean-containing moons are intriguing researchers, who think they might just harbor the conditions for existence to begin.

Draw a Venn diagram with two overlapping circles, label one “oceans” and the other “planetary moons,” and look at where the two spheres intersect — that’s where our search for alien life is focused right now. Saturn’s moons Enceladus and Titan, and Jupiter’s moon Europa, extraterrestrial bodies confirmed to contain liquid oceans and referred to as ocean worlds, are three targets of keen interest and of future exploration.

Drawing conclusions from Earth, scientists have settled on a shortlist of the ingredients needed for life as we know it: liquid water; an energy source for metabolism; and a chemical cocktail of carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, phosphorus and sulfur. Data from space missions has revealed the likely presence of these components on Enceladus, Titan and Europa — along with other unique elements — which raises the possibility they may have evolved their own ways of sustaining life. Planetary scientist Alexander Hayes, a professor at Cornell University and one of the researchers engaged in the hunt for life, explains why our hopes currently rest on these three moons (TEDxCornellTech Talk: Ocean worlds — life as we know it?).

Why these three moons? Earth’s oceans have led us there. 

In 2000, oceanographers probing the depths of the Atlantic Ocean came across masses of hydrothermal vent systems — essentially pools of heated water — in a spot near Ecuador where they’d never expected to discover them. Until then, such systems had been found only above underwater volcanoes. But these vents, known as the Lost City Hydrothermal Field, were different — their heat was created by chemical reactions between seawater and rock rather than from magma. From this process a unique biome had arisen. High amounts of methane and hydrogen gas came out of the vents, and the microbial world in the Lost City fed on it. Just like plants use water and sunlight to grow, the microorganisms relied on this gas. “Life was found literally running off the energy provided by chemical reactions between rock and ocean water,” says Hayes. Scientists wondered if the bottoms of extraterrestrial oceans could support similar biomes.

This graphic illustrates how scientists speculate that water interacts with rock at the bottom of the ocean of Saturn’s moon Enceladus. NASA/JPL-Caltech/Southwest Research Institute.

Enceladus: a moon with intriguing jets of ice and water. 

Enceladus is the sixth-largest moon of Saturn, with a diameter of roughly 310 kilometers — “it would fit nicely between Los Angeles and San Francisco,” says Hayes. This ocean world has been the subject of several fly-by investigations from NASA’s Cassini spacecraft. In 2005, Cassini data showed dozens of jets of ice and water particles coming out of Enceladus, breaking through the moon’s icy shell. “Something was generating heat,” Hayes says. “Icy water particles were coming out of more than 100 jets.” A Cassini sample of the particles also revealed they contained organics, Hayes says, “and about a year later, the team found salts in particles from the jets, which meant they must have come from a saline body of water and froze in a process like a sea spray.” An ocean was hiding under the moon’s surface.

The jets provide clues that hint at vents with a striking similarity to those of the Lost City Hydrothermal Field. 

In 2015, the Cassini spacecraft took a very fast (speeds reached 19,014 mph) and risky dive into one of the jets, which gave scientists a wealth of new samples to analyze. The team, led by NASA’s J. Hunter Waite, discovered molecular hydrogen in the samples, posing major implications in the hunt for life there. If Enceladus creates its own molecular hydrogen — and hydrogen is what feeds the microorganisms living in the Lost City vents — it’s another reason that life could exist there.

Could an expedition to Enceladus be next? 

Hayes’s Cornell University colleague Jonathan Lunine has proposed the Enceladus Life Finder (ELF), a mission to fly a specially designed probe through the jets and collect more samples and data to learn what’s going on. Cassini did sample the jets, but Lunine and his team explain that its instruments are much less advanced than the technology available now (Cassini launched back in October 1997, a lifetime ago in tech terms). “Enceladus is particularly attractive [for a mission] because liquid water from its deep interior is actively erupting into space, making sampling of the interior straightforward,” Lunine and team wrote in their proposal. ELF’s instruments could look at the jets’ solids and gases to search out life-building amino and fatty acids and look for more indications of conditions suitable for life.

Radar images from NASA’s Cassini spacecraft reveal many lakes on Titan’s surface, some filled with liquid and some appearing as empty depressions. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASI/USGS

Titan, Saturn’s largest moon, appears most like Earth, with some notable distinctions. 

Titan is the only body besides Earth known to have stable bodies of liquid on its surface. It harbors lakes of methane and seas of hydrocarbon, along with an underground ocean of an unknown liquid. It contains mountains and dunes, but the dunes are made of solid hydrocarbons, a plasticlike substance. It also has rain storms and canyons that flood. “Titan has the possibility for life as we know it — and perhaps for life as we don’t know it,” says Hayes. “Whether or not you need liquid water is an interesting question, and you cannot help but ask whether or not some exotic form of life may have developed in these hydrocarbon lakes and seas.”

Ideas to explore Titan: a boat? an orbiter? a balloon-boat orbiter combo? 

Eight years ago, an international team designed the Titan Saturn System Mission, a joint NASA/European Space Agency (ESA) initiative to send a balloon-boat orbiter combo to the ocean world. With goals of taking high-resolution photos of Titan from above and extracting samples from the atmosphere and one of its seas, the mission was floated for a 2020 launch. Since then, the Titan Mare Explorer (a boat mission to Titan’s Ligeia Mare), the Oceanus orbiter, and the Dragonfly drone have been proposed. All these potential ventures share the same essential objective: to uncover more information about Titan and gather samples that could reveal details on its lakes and seas, the currents within them, and the chemical composition of its dunes, rain and atmosphere.

This is an artist’s rendering of a plume of water vapor thought to be ejected off the surface of the Jupiter’s moon Europa, which is located about 500 million miles from the sun. Image credit: NASA/ESA/K. Retherford/SWRI

On Europa, a search for hydrothermal vents. 

Europa, a moon of Jupiter that’s slightly smaller than our moon, has been found to have a curious, time-varying magnetic field, which scientists say indicates it harbors a salty, underground ocean ten times deeper than the deepest area of Earth’s oceans. Thermal vents like the ones on our planet, which are found up to 1.5 miles underwater, might exist on Europa, too, according to information gathered by the Voyager and Galileo spacecrafts. Images show “the surface [of Europa] is covered by fracture patterns that crisscross all over the surface,” Hayes says. “They’ve been formed as Europa is being pushed and pulled by Jupiter in an eccentric orbit.” This constant pushing and pulling creates heat. And if Europa has a stable source of heat beneath its global ocean — which appears to have three times more water than all of Earth’s oceans combined — it could contain yet-uncovered pockets of life.

On the horizon: the Europa Clipper mission. 

This NASA mission is intended to attain a better picture of Europa’s landscape and gather reconnaissance for possible future landings … and maybe even human habitability. Hayes is one of the scientists working to develop the project. “We’re running all of these models right now to say, ‘These are the kind of images we can acquire from this orbital trajectory,’ and then taking the data we think we can acquire based on the position of the spacecraft and doing a tour assessment,” he says.

With so many efforts under way, Hayes is optimistic about what researchers could find. “I think it’s safe to say that we live in truly extraordinary times,” he says. “We have the capability to look for signs of life in the ocean worlds of the outer solar system; all we need is the will to move forward and progress past these recent discoveries and move on to other ones. We live in an era where we could see evidence in our own lifetimes for a second genesis of life in our solar system.”

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Hailey Reissman is the editorial coordinator at TEDx.

• alexander hayes
• alien life
• extra-terrestrial
• moons
• ocean worlds
• space
• space exploration
• TEDx

{ http://ideas.ted.com/ }

Finding alien life across the Universe is more a question of when, not if

Extremophiles show life can exist in the Universe's most extreme places giving hope to finding aliens on distant worlds

Jupiter's moon Europa was first discovered in 1610

Are we alone? To help answer one of humanity’s most profound questions, try looking closer to home.

Where are all the aliens? WIRED explains the Fermi Paradox

“We are now at the first time in human history where we can approach this question scientifically,” said Lynn Rothschild, astrobiologist at Nasa's Ames Research Centre. And the most significant discoveries are coming from research on Earth.

“If there’s an organism that can live under a certain condition here, it doesn’t mean it’s sitting there on Venus or Europa. It just means that it’s possible and so it’s worth looking,” Rothschild explained at the Starmusscience conference in Trondheim, Norway.

As we understand more and more about life living under the most extreme conditions on Earth, we draw closer to understanding the minimum conditions for life in the Universe. “If you’re out hunting for deer or elk you know what they look like, it’s pretty easy: you find one, you shoot it, you bring it home. But if you don’t know what an alien’s like, how are you going to find it? So we have to look at life on Earth to get some idea.”

The most volcanically-active body in the solar system, temperatures on Jovian moon Io range from freezing to 1,700 degrees C. Because of its low gravity, matter expelled by eruptions can fly more than 250 miles above its surface.

The darkest known exoplanet, TrES-2b reflects just one percent of any light that hits it. Likely of similar bulk and composition to Jupiter, the planet is less reflective than coal. It isn't yet known why it is so dark, but it has been speculated that TrES-2b's atmosphere is filled with light-absorbing sodium, potassium, or titanium oxide.

Larger than Mercury, Titan has one of the most fascinating atmospheres in the solar system. Temperatures stick at around -179 degrees C , but there still are seasons on the Saturnian moon. Lakes of liquid methane create methane rain, and it has even been speculated that rainbows could form in its dense atmosphere.

Wind speeds of 224mph keep Venus' thick atmosphere in constant, dizzying motion. While it takes 243 Earth days to complete one rotation on its axis, clouds fly around once every four days. Rain falls as sulphur dioxide and sulphuric acid, with surface temperatures hitting 462 degrees C. There's also lightning on Venus.

The winds on Neptune are the fastest of any planet in the Solar System, reaching 1,300mph. It is also one of the coldest -- temperatures fall to -218 degrees C in the outer atmosphere.

COROT-7B
Orbiting at one twenty-third the distance from the Sun to Mercury, things get pretty hot on COROT-7b. A year lasts just over 20 hours and temperatures soar to 2,600 degrees C. Its surface is likely coated in molten lava oceans and it might even rain rocks.

WASP-12b, discovered in 2008, is one of the largest exoplanets ever found. It orbits incredibly close to its sun and a year lasts little over a day. And that close orbit (approximately 2,115,000 miles, a quarter of the Earth's distance to the Sun) is a real killer. WASP-12b is being pulled into an egg shape by the star's tidal forces and is loosing its atmosphere at a rate of about 189 quadrillion tonnes per Earth year.

For astrobiologists, the problem comes from having a limited sample set: one. “We’ve only had one book to read so far and that’s on planet Earth,” said Rothschild. Since she joined Nasa in the 1980s, the number of known exoplanets has gone from zero to 3,496. These distant worlds exist in 2,606 solar systems and some could, potentially, hold life.

“As a biologist, I am in awe of the places that life has managed to live on the Earth,” said Rothschild. Extremophiles exist at the wildest range of temperature, pH, pressure, chemistry, salinity, desiccation, radiation and oxygen. To get an idea of how tough life is, hop in a time machine.

“Oxygen isn’t that great,” jokes Rothschild. “In fact, life on Earth was completely anaerobic for it’s first billion or so years. So when you hear about having to find a planet with oxygen on it, you would not have found that situation on Earth during the first few billion years of life. So, actually, it’s more difficult to live on a planet with oxygen than one without.”

Stephen Hawking warns that if we don't leave this planet soon, we will be annihilated

Stephen Hawking warns that if we don't leave this planet soon, we will be annihilated

Within our own Solar System, the signs are promising. Enceladus, Europa, Mars and Titan could all, potentially, be home to life. And then there’s Pluto. “No self-respecting scientist, certainly not an astrobiologist, would’ve talked about Pluto before. But now we know there’s ice there, potentially liquid water.”

As we start to find out more about the conditions both inside our Solar System and on exoplanets, Rothschild and her colleagues are presented with a new problem: what if we find conditions for life that are just outside the extremes studied on Earth? The answer: synthetic biology.

“Eventually we’ll even be able to make life de novo. Our lab and others have been working on this very issue. And so then you could have a completely different building block, a completely different chassis for life. That then opens up many, many more possibilities”

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{ http://www.wired.co.uk/ }

The shock sighting that sparked global UFO myth 70 years ago... and it's not Roswell

SEVENTY years ago tomorow, a US pilot had a bizarre encounter in the sky that changed his life and created the whole UFO phenomenon.

Britain finally releases its top-secret ‘X-Files’

By Margi Murphy, The Sun

Shutterstock

An official government UFO dossier that’s referred to as “Britain’s X-Files” has finally been released.

The National Archive has opened up a cache of 15 files from the Ministry of Defense that divulge details of mysterious incidents in British skies.

They include material relating to an unsolved encounter that’s been likened to the Roswell UFO incident in America.

The incident took place in December 1980, when three military personnel claimed to see flashing bright lights and a triangular object near a Royal Air Force base in Rendlesham Forest, Suffolk, about 100 miles northeast of London.

An investigation was opened but the mystery remains unsolved.

But alien hunters will have to wait a little longer to find out the truth, thanks to the process that’s been put in place to read these newly released files.

They have not been digitized, so enthusiasts must join a line to inspect the paper records at the National Archive’s reading room in London.

The UK’s most notorious UFO incident happened in the Rendlesham Forest
Getty Images

What’s more, there are an additional three files which have still not been released, according to Nick Pope, a former civil servant who worked for the Ministry of Defense.

Pope, who ran the defense ministry’s UFO project from 1991 to 1994, said: “The lack of a smoking gun and the fact that these files seem to have been slipped out without a formal media announcement is bound to start some conspiracy theories, and I know that many people believe the ‘good stuff’ is being held back.”

“Furthermore, the fact that some files haven’t been digitized, can’t be downloaded, and can only be viewed in person at the National Archives will doubtless also generate conspiracy theories.”

“After this, there are only three more UFO files still to be released, and they should be made public later this year, so there’s still more to come.”

“This is a good day for open government and for freedom of information.”

Last year, an American airman involved in the incident won a legal bid to force military health chiefs to pay for the treatment of injuries he claimed to have sustained at Rendlesham Forest.

“In citing the [MoD radiation documents] and in granting John Burroughs full disability for his injuries in Rendlesham Forest, the US Government has by de facto acknowledged the existence of unidentified aerial phenomena which, in John Burroughs’ case, resulted in physical injury,” his lawyer Pat Frascogna said.

The Rendlesham Forest incident: Britain’s most famous UFO sighting

The Rendlesham Forest incident is so famous that there is an official “UFO Trail” in Suffolk, England. Getty Images

The Rendlesham Forest incident took place in December 1980 over several nights.

On Dec. 26, 1980, military personnel at the twin bases of Royal Air Force Bentwaters and Royal Air Force Woodbridge in Suffolk saw a strange light in Rendlesham Forest, which lies between the two bases.

Three men were sent out to investigate and two of them encountered a small, triangular craft.

One man, Jim Penniston, got close enough to touch the side of the object.

He and another of the airmen present, John Burroughs, made sketches of the craft for witness statements.

Two nights later a deputy base commander, Lt. Col. Charles Halt, and his team encountered the UFO.

He said later: “Here I am, a senior official who routinely denies this sort of thing and diligently works to debunk them, and I’m involved in the middle of something I can’t explain.”

Despite a Ministry of Defense investigation, the Rendlesham Forest incident remains unexplained.

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We visited a town right out of 'The X-Files' and saw a UFO … maybe

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UFO over Daytona beach / port Orang, Florida – right now!

This UFO video was just submitted to us by our reader. It is happening right now over Florida.

Witness report: 

naked eye it looks to be shiny white and red hovering far up.  zoom on camera has it moving all crazy!  I hope it stays way up there!

{ http://www.latest-ufo-sightings.net/ }

Night Of UFOs In Brazil Is Considered One Of The Most Legitimate Incidents In Years But No One Talks About It Anymore

UFO enthusiasts often get the mocking for their extraterrestrial belief these days. Voices of critics often prevail than those who assert the existence of real UFOs. However, some UFO sightings are seemingly impossible to find any rational explanations. One of these is the Night of UFOs in Brazil, which is one of the most famous UFO-related incidents in decades. On the negative note among believers, this major event has mostly been forgotten today despite the national coverage of it.

Popularly known as the Brazil’s Night of UFOs, the incident took place on May 19, 1986. It involved 21 UFOs that were noticed by the Air Force radars in the country. Many witnesses claimed to have spotted the mysterious objects in different areas of the country, including Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro.

Interestingly, the Night of UFOs was not just all about the number of unidentified flying objects. The Brazilian government and the military were reportedly taking a serious investigation into the incident. The country’s Air Force was deployed to take a look at those strange aerial things with instruction to engage them if necessary.

The Air Force scrambled Northrop F-5E Tiger II aircraft, Dassault Mirages III fighters and other military aircraft. Despite the capability of Air Force aircraft to fly at high speeds, the UFOs reportedly outran the military fighters as the unusual aerial objects flew as fast as 2500 mph. The entire operation of the Air Force lasted around three hours.

On the day following the bizarre event, Brazilian Air Force Secretary Octávio Julio Moreira Lima held a press conference about it. Government officials and military officers spoke about the Nigh of UFOs. They promised the public full blown investigation into the incident and its findings would be released to the public. However, the full disclosure never happened. Then sceptical explanations about it followed later, such as the sightings being caused by ball lightning, meteor showers, a reflection of the full moon or problem with the radar system. Eventually, interest about it died down.

A Woman Spots and Films UFO Sighting In Tallahassee

A woman has claimed that she saw a UFO over Tallahassee, Florida and recorded it on video to prove her bizarre sighting. Sharla Daire-Brady is saying that she noticed the glowing unidentified flying object on June 17. The reporting witness reveals that she and her husband got up early that day to go fishing.

Sharla points out that the light got bigger and bigger as she walked closer to it.

She started to freak out but still managed to pull out her phone and start recording. When she recorded it on video, the mysterious light began changing colours and going all over the area while getting closer to her.

Suddenly, the bright light allegedly looked like an enormous green triangle. Sharla states that the flash remained for a few seconds before it flew away.

She then ran to share her husband what she had seen, but he was sceptical saying to her that she was just lack of sleep. However, with her UFO sighting video, he started to believe in her.

She has been showing the video to several friends as well who are also convinced that the unusual flying object does not appear to be any known aircraft or drone.

Sharla believes that she saw a UFO that she describes as too fast and too erratic to be a drone or any kind of aircraft.

{ http://www.latest-ufo-sightings.net/ }

Britain's secret 'X-Files' dossier, containing details of 50 YEARS of UFO sightings across the country, has finally been released

• The cache of 15 files contains details of UFO sightings for the last 50 years
• Ex-MOD official called UFOs one of the 'great mysteries of the modern era'
• Strangely, the files have not yet been digitised sparking conspiracy theories
• UFO hunters are hoping the files shed light on the Rendlesham Forest incident

By Phoebe Weston For Mailonline

A dossier of files kept secret by the UK government for almost 50 years has finally been released for the first time.

The cache of 15 files, which have been published by the National Archives, contain details of UFO sightings seen all over the country.

They contain information about a number of high profile incidents that are believed to be related to extra-terrestrials, including in Rendlesham Forest in 1980, dubbed 'Britain's Roswell.'

Mysteriously, the files have not yet been digitised so enthusiasts must go to London's National Archives in Kew if they want to have access to them.

Scroll down for video

The cache of 15 files, which have been published by the National Archives, contain details of sightings of UFOs seen all over the country (stock image) 

The papers were originally meant to be released in 2013 alongside thousands of others which did see the light of day, but 18 specific documents were withheld. 

The files are believed to date from 1971-76, 1996-2000 and 2004. 

The release marks the final stages of what's been a nine-year long project to declassify and release the MoD's entire archive of UFO files.

Three of these documents have still not been released.  

This prompted claims of a conspiracy to cover-up the existence of alien life among some theorists and another delay in publication last year added to this speculation.

'I think these files perfectly capture the wonder and fascination of the UFO mystery and show how MoD officials - myself included - struggled to make sense of one of the great mysteries of the modern era', said Nick Pope, who was part of the Ministry of Defence's UFO project from 1991 to 1994.

'Sadly, there's no 'smoking gun' in these files that will prove we've been visited by extraterrestrials, but there are plenty of intriguing UFO reports, as well as policy papers explaining how the MoD handled this subject.'

'The lack of a smoking gun and the fact that these files seem to have been slipped out without a formal media announcement is bound to start some conspiracy theories, and I know that many people believe the 'good stuff' is being held back', he said.

Conspiracy theorists are hoping the files may shed light on the notorious Rendlesham Forest incident in 1980, dubbed Britain's Roswell.

Strange lights were reported by servicemen in the forest near RAF Bentwaters and RAF Woodbridge.

Conspiracy theorists are hoping the files may shed light on the notorious Rendlesham Forest incident in 1980, dubbed Britain's Roswell

The disputed sightings, over three nights between December 26-28, occurred when Britain and the West were on high alert during the Cold War. 

'What's readily apparent from a detailed study of all this is that the MoD was telling Parliament, the media and the public that the UFO phenomenon was of "no defence significance" and of limited interest to the MoD', said Mr Pope. 

'However, the files show that behind the scenes, the subject was obviously taken more seriously than we let on, with many of the cases self-evidently being of great defence significance – e.g. when UFOs were seen in close proximity to military bases, were encountered by RAF pilots, or were tracked on radar by fighter controllers or air traffic controllers.' 

The remaining three files are due to be released later this year.   

'This is a good day for open government and for freedom of information', Mr Pope said. 

The last batch of files that was released contained some papers relating to anti-gravity and gravity modification research expressed by MoD scientists. 

'I wasn’t joking when I referred to MoD’s UFO project as being “the real-life X-Files”', said Mr Pope. 

Video shows a bizarre circling object in the skies above Cley Hill, near Warminster, Somerset.

Warminster has been crowned the country's top UFO hotspot since the 1960s when a strange spate of UFO sightings and paranormal incidents led to the legend of the Warminster Thing developing.

People reported eerie thundering noises, lights in the sky, birds being killed, and even cars malfunctioning after balls of light appeared above.

The area still witnesses UFO sightings and many crop circles.

The new video, was filmed by a resident from Frome, and shows the circling shows streaks of light above the hill, which is just two miles from Warminster.

YouTube

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The resident said: "I took this video from my house in Frome. 

"It was over the Cley Hill area I think, which is always a hotspot for UFOs."

But, they were not convinced it was anything alien, adding: "Probably a drone with a fancy flame effect tail or something. It's been spotted a few times locally."

However, it was picked up by UFO channels and soon went viral, with speculation about an alien origin and the earlier events from Warminster.

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"It was over the Cley Hill area I think, which is always a hotspot for UFOs."

Frome resident

Some conspiracy theorists even suggested it could be secret flight tests connected to military activity at nearby Salisbury Plain.

But, it appears the cameraman's hunch was right that there was a sensible explanation.

Scott Brando, who runs hoax-busting website ufoofinterest.org was the first to come forward and suggest it was a kite or acrobatic aircraft with pyrotechnics, providing video clips of both making a similar swirling effect.

Later, AeroSPARX, an aircraft aerobatic team that performs at air shows across Europe, came forward with an explanation.

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It appears it was a stunt plane belonging to the team.

Website Sky Watchers, who analyses UFO footage tracked down the culprits, and discovered AeroSPARX had been in the area at the time.

AeroSPARX, says of the particular craft: "The Grob is unique amongst air show types, as it has a special clearance to fly at night. 

"Pyrotechnics are quite unique and special in the half-light of twilight, but at night they really come alive and you can truly appreciate their majestic nature."

Related articles

•  Rendlesham key witness says UFO 'was alien'
•  Roswell and Rendlesham alien mysteries LINKED by hieroglyphics
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{ http://www.express.co.uk/ }

Britain’s top secret UFO docs RELEASED: ‘These are the REAL X-Files’

BRITAIN’S top secret UFO files have been finally released after months of wrangling – but the Government are not making it easy for alien hunters to get their hands of them.

By Henry Holloway

GETTY

Classified documents detailing evidence of UFOs and abductions covering nearly 50 years have been opened by the government.

The National Archives has opened up a selection of 15 files stored by the Ministry of Defence detailing reports of aliens.

Archivists had dubbed them the “real life X-files”, but they are proving not to be easy to get hold of them.

“These really are the real-life X-Files”

Nick Pope

UFO nuts will have to wait-in-line as the government has not digitised the files and posted them online.

Truth-seekers will have to rock up the Nationa Archive in Kew, West London, to inspect the paper versions of the documents.

But alien hunters have been waiting for the release for months – and three of files have not even been released.

GETTY

GETTY

Secret documents declassified are expected to obtain information relating the the Rendlesham Forest incident, which is regarded as Britain’s most infamous UFO encounter.

Military men at the twin bases of RAF Bentwaters and RAF Woodbridge in Suffolk experienced “alien” activity over a number of nights and encountered a “triangle shaped craft” in the woods.

The notorious incident has been likened to the UK”s Roswell.

Files were repeatedly delayed in their release – with the most recent speed bump being due to the General Election.

However, while UFO hunters are waiting with baited breath for the files, experts have downplayed their release.

Nick Pope, an expert who worked as the Ministry of Defence's UFO investigator for 15 years, said: "There’s no smoking gun in these files that will confirm the existence of aliens, but there are plenty of fascinating UFO reports and MoD policy documents, so these really are the real-life X-Files.”

Mr Pope added: "The lack of a smoking gun and the fact that these files seem to have been slipped out without a formal media announcement is bound to start some conspiracy theories, and I know that many people believe the ‘good stuff’ is being held back.

“Furthermore, the fact that some files haven’t been digitised, can’t be downloaded, and can only be viewed in person at the National Archives will doubtless also generate conspiracy theories.

“After this, there are only three more UFO files still to be released, and they should be made public later this year, so there’s still more to come.”

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{ http://www.dailystar.co.uk/ }

What are they hiding? MoD finally releases UFO alien X-Files… but mystery three held back

THE Ministry of Defence (MoD) has finally released a series of former top-secret files on UFOs - but has prompted claims of a cover up after holding three remaining dossiers back from release.

Real life UFO 'X Files' released to the public by the Government

Ex-MoD official gives his take on the 'fascinating' documents - and says their release will fuel further conspiracy theories

BY MIEKA SMILES

A 'UFO' over the countryside

The truth IS out there...

The National Archives has released 15 Ministry of Defence UFO files.

But a press officer for the organisation has confirmed if you want to read them you’ll need to visit its headquarters...

And a top UFO expert says this will fuel further ‘conspiracy theories.’

The National Archives press officer said: “15 files from the MoD on the subject of UFOs have been released.

“We release files on a weekly basis and have already highlighted previous releases on this subject.

Andrew Beattie spotted this UFO over the Whit by coastline

“With this release comprising of a small number of files, it has not been practical to prepare a full press pack.

“However, the files are available for all members of the press and public to view in our on site reading room here at Kew.”

Nick Pope used to work for the MoD and ran its UFO project from 1991 to 1994.

He said: “On June 24 1947 a pilot, Kenneth Arnold, saw strange objects that the media dubbed ‘flying saucers’.

“This marked the genesis of the modern UFO mystery.

“Now, almost exactly 70 years later, the release of these real-life X-Files shows that the UFO mystery lives on and that there’s still huge interest in this fascinating topic.”

Nick says that the release of the files is a victory in freedom of information.

He said: “These files will give people a revealing insight into this bizarre and intriguing aspect of Ministry of Defence business.

“I think these files perfectly capture the wonder and fascination of the UFO mystery and show how MoD officials - myself included - struggled to make sense of one of the great mysteries of the modern era.

“Whether people are believers, sceptics, or somewhere in between, these files should delight and fascinate.

“I hope people find them interesting and entertaining.”

READ MORE

• This UFO spotted over Whitby coastline left photographer 'freaked out'

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However it seems as though that mystery will continue to surround UFOs.

He said: “Sadly, there’s no ‘smoking gun’ in these files that will prove we’ve been visited by extraterrestrials, but there are plenty of intriguing UFO reports, as well as policy papers explaining how the MoD handled this subject.

“The lack of a smoking gun and the fact that these files seem to have been slipped out without a formal media announcement is bound to start some conspiracy theories, and I know that many people believe the ‘good stuff’ is being held back.

“Furthermore, the fact that some files haven’t been digitised, can’t be downloaded, and can only be viewed in person at the National Archives will doubtless also generate conspiracy theories.”

He added: “After this, there are only three more UFO files still to be released, and they should be made public later this year, so there’s still more to come.

“This is a good day for open government and for freedom of information.”

Here’s a link to the National Archives site to find out more.

{ http://www.gazettelive.co.uk/ }

Kunstmatige intelligentie maakt Curiosity veel slimmer

Tim Kraaijvanger

{ https://www.scientias.nl/ }

Maak kennis met Planeet Y: ons zonnestelsel telt misschien tien planeten

Tim Kraaijvanger

Naast Planeet X schuilt er mogelijk nog een tiende planeet in de Kuipergordel, namelijk Planeet Y. Deze planeet is ongeveer even groot als Mars of de aarde.

In het wetenschappelijke vakblad Astronomical Journal schrijven wetenschappers Kat Volk en Renu Malhotra van de universiteit van Arizona dat er bewijs is gevonden dat er niet acht of negen, maar tien planeten om de zon draaien. De astronomen keken naar de omloopbanen van ruim 600 Kuipergordelobjecten. Deze objecten zijn brokstukken, die overgebleven zijn na de vorming van het zonnestelsel. Inmiddels draaien deze kleine en grote ruimtestenen al zo’n 4,5 miljard jaar om de zon.

Toch merkten de astronomen een afwijking op in de oriëntatie van de banen van de meeste verre Kuipergordelobjecten. Het baanvlak wijkt acht procent af ten opzichte van het gemiddelde baanvlak. “Uit onze berekeningen blijkt dat er maar één logische verklaring is: er zweeft ergens een planeet ter grootte van Mars”, aldus Volk.

Een schematische weergave van de positie van Planeet Y. De onderzoekers hebben de planeet afgebeeld als een soort tweede aarde, maar de kans is extreem klein dat er leven mogelijk is op deze verre, ijskoude planeet.

Je kunt het baanvlak van het zonnestelsel het beste zien als een A4’tje. Vrijwel alle objecten in het zonnestelsel draaien op dit platte vel om de zon. Er zijn afwijkingen – bijvoorbeeld Pluto – maar gemiddeld gezien lijken de meeste planeten, asteroïden en kometen op dit A4’tje te rusten. “Zeker in de Kuipergordel moet het baanvlak nauwelijks afwijken, omdat de banen van deze objecten worden bepaald door de zon en de grotere planeten”, zegt Malhotra. “Toch zien we een afwijking bij Kuipergordelobjecten op 50 AE tot 80 AE van de zon.” In vergelijking: 1 AE is de afstand van de aarde tot de zon. “De kans is kleiner dan twee procent dat het gaat om een statistische afwijking.”

De ijskoude planeet ter grootte van Mars draait op een afstand van ruwweg 60 AE (negen miljard kilometer) om de zon. Dat is ruim twee keer de afstand van de zon naar Neptunus. Op dit moment is Neptunus de laatste planeet van ons zonnestelsel.

En Planeet X dan?
Er blijft één vraag over: worden de banen van deze Kuipergordelobjecten niet gewoon beïnvloed door Planeet X? Planeet X bestaat mogelijk echt en is een object op een afstand van 500 tot 700 AE van de zon. Deze planeet is ongeveer tien keer groter dan de aarde.

“Nee, Planeet X is te ver verwijderd om invloed uit te oefenen op deze Kuipergordelobjecten”, zegt Volk. “De afstand tot de zon moet kleiner zijn dan 100 AE om zulke baanafwijkingen te veroorzaken.”

De zoektocht naar Planeet Y
Een object ter grootte van Mars zou makkelijk gespot moeten worden, toch? De onderzoekers beweren dat de kans dertig procent is dat het object nog nooit is gevonden omdat we nog niet goed genoeg keken. Als Planeet X en Planeet Y echt bestaan, dan is de kans groot dat we deze objecten de komende jaren gaan vinden. De komende jaren verschijnen er allerlei nieuwe telescopen.

ALS PLANEET X EN PLANEET Y ECHT BESTAAN, DAN IS DE KANS GROOT DAT WE DEZE OBJECTEN DE KOMENDE JAREN GAAN VINDEN

Alternatieve verklaring
Als de afwijking van de Kuipergordelobjecten niet is veroorzaakt door Planeet Y, wat is dan de meest waarschijnlijke verklaring voor dit verschijnsel? Wellicht dat de afwijking dan is veroorzaakt door een passerende ster. “Dit zou betekenen dat de ster ergens in de afgelopen tien miljoen jaar rakelings langs het zonnestelsel scheerde”, beweert Malhotra. Als het langer dan tien miljoen jaar geleden is gebeurd, dan zouden de Kuipergordelobjecten langzaam teruggaan naar het oude baanvlak. “Dat lijkt ons een onwaarschijnlijk scenario.”

Bronmateriaal:

"UA Scientists and the Curious Case of the Warped Kuiper Belt" - UA

{ https://www.scientias.nl/ }

Zimbabwe UFO Child Conactee Speaks Publicly For The 1st Time

Fiery Angelic Being Circling over Montrose, Colorado

On June 21, 2017, a couple witnessed a very strange event in the sky over Montrose in Colorado.

Witness states: We were on our front deck watching the sunset and sky when my husband saw bright lights coming from the west I ran into the house to get my phone and my husband ran into the house to get his canon camera we took pictures of the 1st one.

I took video with my phone while he took still pictures a second one came from the same direction we have pictures and video, best description as a phoenix or angelic form.

Body long silver jet type or cylinder, with a possible nose pointing downward. Wings that were curved upward 80 degrees towards atmosphere that were fiery orange very bright and a triangular transparent veil that looked translucent seemingly hanging off left wing with bright orbs, we are not sure if it circled our city twice or there were 2 one following the other.

It was cloudy on June 21, 2017 and they both went northeast from the west into the clouds but not together they were separate in timing, possibly they were separate entities or one that was circling city could not see them circle because of the overcast in the northeast.

We couldn’t visually see the shape until we downloaded photos on the computer. We were excited and nervous and we never have seen a machine that could even look like anything of this world this is not the 1st time we have seen UFO's out here, though this one was different then the last 2 we saw that were together hovering over Burger King about 4 years ago. Mufon case 84548.

https://youtu.be/f-07Rqo8Xns

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

NASA Archive Unveils Transparent UFO next to Apollo 17 Spacecraft

Apollo 17 was the final mission of NASA's Apollo program. Launched at 12:33 a.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST) on December 7, 1972, with a crew made up of Commander Eugene Cernan, Command Module Pilot Ronald Evans, and Lunar Module Pilot Harrison Schmitt.

Transparent UFO in Space. Image credit: NASA Apollo 17 library.

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

ZE ZIJN ER, GEEN TWIJFEL MEER MOGELIJK ( VIDEO )

We schreven enkele dagen geleden een artikel over hoe Disclosure waarschijnlijk is begonnen in Zuid Amerika. 

Dit, omdat er in dit land regelmatig opnames opduiken van UFO’s die alleen te omschrijven zijn als “out of this world”, letterlijk. 

Er doen zich niet alleen in Zuid Amerika de laatste weken hele bijzondere gebeurtenissen voor, ook elders in de wereld gebeuren vreemde dingen met onbekende objecten in de lucht. 

Regelmatig zijn er verhalen van mensen die een UFO waarnemen, meestal een soort orb, die regelmatig terugkeert op dezelfde lokatie, zoals hier het geval is. 

Dat schijnt dan weer een heel ander verschijnsel te zijn dan de voorvallen in Zuid Amerika, waar ook vandaag een bijzondere waarneming is. 

Enkele dagen geleden zijn een aantal jonge Argentijnse jongens die ’s morgens rond vijf uur voor de kust aan het vissen zijn op zee. 

Plots zien ze een vreemd licht verschijnen en één van hen maakt daar een foto van. 

Je ziet de maan, de weerspiegeling van de zee en ergens daartussen het vreemde licht.

Deze foto is later verstrekt door de jongens, want bij de video-opname die ze hebben gemaakt, concentreren ze zich volledig op het vreemde licht. 

Die opname is werkelijk spectaculair te noemen, want op een gegeven moment verschijnt het volgende diamantvormige ruimteschip.

De door de jongens gemaakt video volgt hierna en je hoort de verbaasde uitroepen wanneer ze dit bijzondere object filmen. 

 

De hier gefilmde UFO is vrijwel identiek aan die die in 2007 werden gefilmd in het Engelse Wiltshire. 

De Australische Megan Heazlewild was op bezoek in Wiltshire omdat ze een groot liefhebber is van graancirkels en zij filmde de volgende objecten.

Zij maakte die avond de onderstaande video in de buurt van Silbury Hill. Naast Megan die deze avond filmde, waren er meer mensen getuige van dit voorval. 

 

De objecten die in 2007 bij de graancirkels in Wiltshire verschenen, zijn dezelfde als die nu opduiken voor de kust van Argentinië. 

Alhoewel ook aardbewoners beschikken over UFO technologie, lijkt het hier toch echt om buitenaardsen te gaan. Mede vanwege het feit dat exact dezelfde objecten zijn gesignaleerd boven de Engelse graancirkels en we de geheime aardse ruimtevloot niet zo snel boodschappen zien geven aan de mensheid via graancirkels. Aardlingen gebruiken hun technieken meer voor het zaaien van dood en verderf, in tegenstelling tot (sommige) buitenaardsen die ogenschijnlijk vreedzame bedoelingen hebben. 

Maar, met deze hele bijzondere opname uit Zuid Amerika is het bewijs toch wel geleverd dat buitenaardsen echt ook hier op aarde zijn.

{ http://www.niburu.co/ }

STRANGE ORGANIC UFO PHOTOGRAPHED IN OSHAWA, CANADA

No matter where you are in the world, there sure are different places to visit and see that will be completely different from where one lives or was born at. Canada is no exception. However, there has been another shocking footage released of yet another supernatural entity spotted: UFOs. However, this time, the look and feel of the UFO is completely shell-shocking: It looks like a flying turtle shell!  

The weather is getting weirder. Along with what is spotted in our skies. The weird thing is that anything that is spotted "floating" in the sky is classified as a UFO. Is this really a UFO? Many might think so, even though it hardly looks like one. However, most of our imaginations of a UFO is based on illustrations that were thought up, not actually really seen. Ken Rice, the photographer, was out in the Marsh in the Canadian city of Oshawa taking photographs of nature when he accidentally shot these pictures of the rumored "UFO". 

It has since been a controversial topic that has many people guessing just exactly what it was he saw in the sky that day. Ken Rice himself is not a believer in extraterrestrials but has admitted that nothing comes to mind if he tries to label the object he saw. At first, he thought it might have been a turkey vulture. However, it was "hovering" in the air for a moment, which is pretty impossible to do. In an interview with Durham Region newspaper, he said that "it kind of hovered, sat there for a minute and then it took off." He then thought it might have been a balloon or kite, but that is not possible either as he was completely sure he was alone in the marsh at that point of time. Thus, he could only conclude that the anomaly was a UFO - Unidentified flying object.

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{ http://www.disclose.tv/ }

THIS OFF-GRID UFO IS POWERED BY RENEWABLE ENERGY

Typically people look for UFOs in the skies; however, in the future UFOs may be found roaming the seas. This is if a boat company from Italy has anything to do with it.

LIVE OFF-GRID IN FLOATING LUXURY WITH POWER OF WATER AND SUN

Jet Capsule boating company has just revealed a design that allows anyone to totally live off-grid and at the same time enjoy a lifestyle of luxury. The UFO object is powered entirely by renewable energy such as with water, the sun and the wind, and this means one can live on and under the sea.  

Luca Solla and Pierpaolo Lazzarini from Jet Capsule are the designers and they said that the UFO craft is the perfect answer for anyone who wants to live in a house that floats and which can move slowly around the world. The craft has been designed in a flying saucer shape and is around 322 square feet. It includes a kitchen area and living area and below is a bathroom and bedroom. To take full advantage of the spectacular panoramic views there are large windows both below and above the water.   

UFO HOME IS PACKED WITH LATEST IN TECHNOLOGY

The craft has a hydro jet underneath and this takes power from the solar panels which are on the top of the roof and propels the craft anywhere the owner wants to travel. Along with this water and wind turbines offer additional power. A water generator collects rain or seawater and turns it into water that is drinkable. Around the upper part of the craft, above the level of water, there are rings where people can grow their own vegetables. The upper portion also has a deck for sitting and relaxing and taking in the views. 

As one might expect, life is slow on the UFO shaped home as the maximum speed is just four miles an hour. However, with its own roof garden and lounging area and with it being packed with comfortable facilities there really is no need to rush around the world. Jet Capsule said that people should not be concerned about inclement weather or choppy seas as the UFO home comes with an elastic anchor system and this ensures that is it stable in even the stormiest of weather.

UFO CRAFT PRICED AT AROUND $200,000 WHEN IT REACHES MARKET

The UFO home is going to be affordable according to the company as they said that when it reaches the market it will be in the price range of around $200,000, which costs less than an average houseboat. At the moment the company is looking for investors so that they can make the first prototype.  

The UFO home would essentially be like taking a vacation every day, imagine traveling around the Caribbean, moving at your own speed, anchoring in crystal clear blue waters and traveling slowly from island to island in the comfort of your own home, utter bliss.

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{ http://www.disclose.tv/ }

U.K. X-FILES : CHURCHILL UFO COVER-UP AND CALVINE UFO PHOTO COVER-UP

The government took the threat of UFOs thus seriously within the Nineteen Fifties that Britain intelligence chiefs met to debate the problem, newly-released files show.

UFO disclosure has been unbroken to a minimum, as several governments believe that the general public isn’t able to be exposed to extraterrestrial (ET) life and unidentified flying object phenomena, however. Government documents typically aren’t created public for many years (if at all), thus plenty of this info gets buried.  

The former Prime Minister, Winston S. Churchill, allegedly prohibited reporting of the “bizarre” incident, off the East Coast of England, for half a century amid fears disclosures regarding unidentified flying objects would produce public hysteria.

In the waning days of the Second War, former British Prime Minister Winston S. Churchill allegedly ordered the hiding of a detailed encounter between an RAF plane returning to England from the EU dry land and a UFO; apparently, the ordinarily composed “British Bulldog” purportedly feared that ought to the encounter become public knowledge it'd produce mass panic among a war weary population and destroy their belief in faith.

THE CALVINE UFO PHOTO  

The saga began on 4 August 1990 once two members of the general public out walking within the neck of the woods of Calvine, close to Pitlochry, in Scotland, quick-sighted a huge, diamond-shaped, aluminum apparition. The unidentified flying object was nearly stationary and hovered mutely for what the witnesses believed was many minutes, before fast away vertically at large speed.Throughout the observation, a military craft, believed to be a Harrier, was seen. However, it had been clear if it was escorting the craft, making an attempt to intercept it, or whether or not the pilot was ever tuned into it in the least.

The men, whose identities are not any longer known, allegedly took the camera to the Scottish Daily Record Newspaper, WHO successively allegedly sent the images and also the negatives to the MoD.  

Find out more:

http://matrixdisclosure.com/churchill-ufo-cover-up-calvine-ufo-files-british-declassified-ufo-documents/

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{ http://www.disclose.tv/ }

Author says new book based on UFO sighting over Wellington

• • Matt Morgan  

 Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

Author Steve Alten, photographed at his home in Wellington Monday, June 19, 2017. His book “Undisclosed” was inspired by what he describes as a UFO sighting in Wellington. “It looked like a saucer-shaped object with amber light on the bottom,” he said. “I saw a dozen coming over in staggered pairs. That was a big inspiration for the novel.”

(Bruce R. Bennett / The Palm Beach Post)

Three days before he was supposed to meet with a leading UFO researcher, New York Times bestselling author Steve Alten claims he saw something whirling in the sky above Wellington.

When he examined the odd lights more closely, he says he saw about a dozen saucer-shaped objects with amber lights on the bottoms flying from south to north along State Road 7. They were going in staggered pairs moving “whisper quiet” about 1,000 feet in the air.

Alten is convinced he saw a series of UFOs that night in 2013 and has been researching it ever since, culminating in a recently released fiction book called “Undisclosed.” His research on aliens and UFOs has cemented his the idea that extraterrestrials exist.

READ: Wellington author’s intense book hits home

“Seeing these things for myself takes the belief to a different level because now there is no question about it,” he said at his home in Stonehaven Estates, across the street from Wellington.

Alten is known for a series of books centered around the fictitious survival of the megalodon, a giant prehistoric shark, inspiring a movie in the works called Meg. He calls his latest novel “faction” instead of “fiction” because it’s based on what he believes are facts. The cover has flying saucers above a farm with the tagline “we’ve been lied to…”

Allen describes what he saw that night:

“There were eight to 12 of them flying in staggered pairs, approaching from the south less than a thousand feet above State Road 7. They were far too silent and smooth to be helicopters and they were definitely not planes. As they came closer and passed almost directly overhead we could see the outline of a… well, their saucer-shaped vessels. By this time I had parked the car (my wife) and I just stood and watched them, the two of us incredulous as they moved north through a cloudless night sky… until, pair by pair, they simply faded into the ether.”

Alten met with Steven Green, a former medical doctor and current “UFOlogist,” who has been working to bring to light what he thinks is a government conspiracy to coverup UFOs and extraterrestrial visits. Alten helped Greer with a recent book called “Unacknowledged” that claims to expose the secrets about aliens.

Alten said he thinks more than a dozen UFOs crashed or landed starting with one of the more famous incidents in Roswell, N.M., 1947. After decades of speculation, the U.S. military claims the incident was a nuclear test surveillance balloon that crashed on a ranch near the town. Many, however, remain skeptical of that report.

Alten said he believes government officials and the fossil fuel industry are covering up details.

READ: Wellington, West Palm Beach UFO sightings were probably floating lanterns, expert says

“The truth is out there, but first it’s going to really piss you off,” he said.

There have been hundreds of “UFO sightings” over the years including a famous image of a “flying saucer” over the 2012 London Olympic games, which turned out to be a Goodyear blimp.

More recently, allegations that NASA cut a live video feed when UFOs appeared, causing the organization to release a statement saying it wasn’t true.

“It’s very common for things like the moon, space debris, reflection from station windows, the spacecraft structure itself or light from Earth to appear as artifacts in photos and videos from the orbiting laboratory,” the statement reads.

Alten is still unflinching in his beliefs, but he is moving onto other projects.

READ: NASA denies accusations it cut live video feed when UFO appeared

The popular author has lived in the Wellington area for more than 15 years. He wrote his first book Meg: A Novel of Deep Terror in 1997, which is set in an alternate world where a giant prehistoric shark, the megalodon, survives. A science fiction horror film called Meg, based on his novel, will be released by Warner Bros. in 2018.

His books start with an idea followed by character development, months to years of research and then finally writing. He has written more than a dozen books, including eight from the Meg series.

“Writing is like a muscle,” he said. “The more you use it, the better you get.”

{ http://www.palmbeachpost.com/ }

{ http://www.prweb.com/ }

A recent Freedom of Information request featured in a UK newspaper states that British police officers responded to eight UFO reports in the last two years.

While no evidence was found by the officers, police were dispatched to emergency calls in Pendle Hill, Burnley, Fleetwood, Lytham St Annes, and several other places in 2015. In March of 2016, officers were also sent to investigate a suspected alien abduction in Accrington, and they were also notified that a UFO landed in Marsden Park, Nelson.

Alleged UFO video still taken over Holmfirth at 8:50 p.m. on October 6, 2016. Image by Gary Heseltine.

In September 2017, a police helicopter captured footage of a strange object on its infrared camera over Bristol Channel. The video was uploaded to YouTube and caused significant debate, as well as charges of conspiracy and cover-up.

Police encountering UFOs while on duty is not a strictly British phenomenon. Many cases in the United States, and across the world, have the fuzz engaging with strange lights in the sky. In August of 2014, police officers were dispatched to a call in Lower Paxton, Pennsylvania, where a witness watched a UFO for 20 minutes. The officers arrived at the scene, contacted the local airport and military base, and made an official report that the object they saw that night was totally out of the ordinary.

In regards to the UK police sightings, while it might seem like a waste of money and resources to send police officers to a UFO sighting, there is some justification to entertain such calls.

A police spokesman stated that officers are only deployed when the emergency call operator feels that the sighting or event may pose any risk, threat or harm to people in the area.

Sometimes these calls are not what they may seem so a potential UFO call could be a suspicious light or suspicious movement that could mean any number of things and we would assess and deploy officers if required, or there could be a concern for the caller’s welfare.

Whether it is fact or fiction, strange lights in the sky seem to be pretty common, but actually having police officers show up to a 911 call concerning a UFO is definitely rare.

Tags

aliens Bizarre modern mysteries police ufo

{ http://mysteriousuniverse.org/ }

The Mysterious Disappearance of Australian Pilot Frederick Valentich in 1978 - FindingUFO

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  • Science & Technology

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“With the passage of more than 50 years since my incident in Minot and 70 years since the incident in Roswell, NM, there can be no ethical, moral or critical reason to keep the secret of humanity any longer and my other colleagues agree thereby.”

Here’s another one of those old-is-news-again stories that keeps people suspicious of what governments may be hiding about UFOs. On December 6, 1966, the Minot Daily News in Minot, North Dakota, carried a front page story about recent UFO sightings in the area, especially around the Minot Air Force Base, home of a number of nuclear missiles poised to be launched if the Cold War heated up. That story is back on the front page again 50 years later with the release of It Never Happened, Volume 1, a tell-mostly-all-before-I-die memoir of the incident by Captain David D Schindele, a Minuteman I intercontinental ballistic missile launch crew commander at the base on that day. Schindele claims that nothing more was reported about the UFO sightings because the Air Force ordered everyone there to never in their lives speak about what happened next … the unexplained change in status of 10 ICBMs to ‘off-alert’ – meaning that they could not be launched.

“I remember that when we were relieved the next morning and arrived topside, I attempted to query the Flight Security Controller, who told me he could not speak about the incident. It was then that my commander also informed me that he had received word, during my rest break below, that we were to never speak about the incident.”

Schindele kept silent until 2010, when he first revealed his experiences to Robert Hastings, author of UFOs & Nukes: Extraordinary Encounters at Nuclear Weapons Sites. Why did Schindele finally disobey that order?

“During that time in Minot, many of us experienced unworldly incidents at Minuteman facilities but we were all individually instructed to keep silent. We never realized at the time that others among us were also experiencing incidents, but now the truth is becoming known. About 35 years after my Minot incident and learning about an identical incident experienced by another missileer (Capt. Robert Salas) connected to Malmstrom AFB in Montana, which was during the same general timeframe as my incident, I then contemplated coming forth with the ‘truth’.”

David D Schindele

These old “missileers” liked to get together to reminisce and commiserate and it seems that Schindele and Salas discovered they had something more than their service time in common. Schindele found additional officers from the base who would admit that they were individually ordered “to keep our ‘lips zipped’” but many took the secret to their graves and more refuse to disobey the order to this day.

This is ‘old news’ in that there have been many reports of UFOs at nuclear missile sights and nuclear plants around the world, ranging from UFO activity at the plant where plutonium was processed for the first atomic bomb to UFO sightings at nuclear plants in France to documents from Russia indicating similar unexplained missile shutdowns in the Soviet Union after UFO sightings.

It’s ‘new news’ that eyewitness David Schindele put his experiences in a book and, as the title indicates, has more to tell. Is he doing it for the money?

“From the beginning, I’ve been conflicted with the goal of bringing truth to as many people as possible, while having no appetite for bringing attention to myself or receiving monetary benefit. But I also realize the fallacy in that.”

Schindele says he will donate proceeds from the book to the Seattle Chapter of the Air Force Association where he still meets with fellow veterans.

Are the claims in the book true? If so, will the government release any supporting documents or will the book suddenly go ‘off-alert’ too?

Tags

alien Conspiracy government government coverup Nuclearnuclear warhead U.S. Air Force ufo

{ http://mysteriousuniverse.org/ }

Britain finally releases its top-secret ‘X-Files’

By Margi Murphy, The Sun

Shutterstock

An official government UFO dossier that’s referred to as “Britain’s X-Files” has finally been released.

The National Archive has opened up a cache of 15 files from the Ministry of Defense that divulge details of mysterious incidents in British skies.

They include material relating to an unsolved encounter that’s been likened to the Roswell UFO incident in America.

The incident took place in December 1980, when three military personnel claimed to see flashing bright lights and a triangular object near a Royal Air Force base in Rendlesham Forest, Suffolk, about 100 miles northeast of London.

An investigation was opened but the mystery remains unsolved.

But alien hunters will have to wait a little longer to find out the truth, thanks to the process that’s been put in place to read these newly released files.

They have not been digitized, so enthusiasts must join a line to inspect the paper records at the National Archive’s reading room in London.

The UK’s most notorious UFO incident happened in the Rendlesham Forest
Getty Images

What’s more, there are an additional three files which have still not been released, according to Nick Pope, a former civil servant who worked for the Ministry of Defense.

Pope, who ran the defense ministry’s UFO project from 1991 to 1994, said: “The lack of a smoking gun and the fact that these files seem to have been slipped out without a formal media announcement is bound to start some conspiracy theories, and I know that many people believe the ‘good stuff’ is being held back.”

“Furthermore, the fact that some files haven’t been digitized, can’t be downloaded, and can only be viewed in person at the National Archives will doubtless also generate conspiracy theories.”

“After this, there are only three more UFO files still to be released, and they should be made public later this year, so there’s still more to come.”

“This is a good day for open government and for freedom of information.”

Last year, an American airman involved in the incident won a legal bid to force military health chiefs to pay for the treatment of injuries he claimed to have sustained at Rendlesham Forest.

“In citing the [MoD radiation documents] and in granting John Burroughs full disability for his injuries in Rendlesham Forest, the US Government has by de facto acknowledged the existence of unidentified aerial phenomena which, in John Burroughs’ case, resulted in physical injury,” his lawyer Pat Frascogna said.

The Rendlesham Forest incident: Britain’s most famous UFO sighting

The Rendlesham Forest incident is so famous that there is an official “UFO Trail” in Suffolk, England. Getty Images

The Rendlesham Forest incident took place in December 1980 over several nights.

On Dec. 26, 1980, military personnel at the twin bases of Royal Air Force Bentwaters and Royal Air Force Woodbridge in Suffolk saw a strange light in Rendlesham Forest, which lies between the two bases.

Three men were sent out to investigate and two of them encountered a small, triangular craft.

One man, Jim Penniston, got close enough to touch the side of the object.

He and another of the airmen present, John Burroughs, made sketches of the craft for witness statements.

Two nights later a deputy base commander, Lt. Col. Charles Halt, and his team encountered the UFO.

He said later: “Here I am, a senior official who routinely denies this sort of thing and diligently works to debunk them, and I’m involved in the middle of something I can’t explain.”

Despite a Ministry of Defense investigation, the Rendlesham Forest incident remains unexplained.

RELATED VIDEO

We visited a town right out of 'The X-Files' and saw a UFO … maybe

{ http://nypost.com/ }

MYSTERIE GRAANCIRKEL LOCHEM HELEMAAL NIET OPGELOST

Enkele dagen geleden werd door een boer in het Gelderse Lochem een graancirkel ontdekt.

Gisteren kwamen de media met het bericht dat een aantal jongemannen dit in een dronken bui zouden hebben gemaakt. 

Afgelopen maandag verscheen het volgende bericht bij Omroep Gelderland:

Bij Wim Post aan de Kappellenweg in Lochem, buurtschap Nettelhorst, zijn graancirkels aangetroffen. In een gedeelte van zijn veld met zomertarwe zijn de cirkels te zien. 

Wim merkte zelf de cirkels pas maandagochtend op terwijl zijn buren er zondagavond al druk mee waren. Buurman Freek van Asch fietste die avond een rondje toen hij vreemde vormen zag in het gewas. 

Hij trommelde wat buren op en die wilden het bijzondere fenomeen van boven filmen. Via een bevriende hovenier regelden ze een hoogwerker en maakten ze foto's en filmpjes die op dit moment veel gedeeld worden op Facebook. 

 

Dan duurt het niet al te lang voordat het mysterie van deze graancirkel is opgelost, want een paar jongelui zouden dit in een dronken bui op hun geweten hebben. 

Volgens Omroep Gelderland gisteren: 

Nu is er op Facebook een filmpje opgedoken waarin buurtbewoner prins Stef wordt geïnterviewd. Hij legt in de video een complete bekentenis af, 'want het liep een beetje uit de hand'. 

'We hadden een boog gemaakt voor een bruiloft. Er gingen een paar biertjes in, het werd gezellig....toen waren we aan het ouwehoeren en dachten we: kom, we gaan graancirkels maken,' gaat Stef door het stof. 

Naar aanleiding van de bekentenis van Prins Stef ontvingen wij de volgende mail: 

Wil graag anoniem blijven hoor. Maar ik heb vraagtekens bij het volgende filmpje van de telegraaf over de graancirkels:

Waarom komen die dronken jongeren dan niet in beeld die dat gedaan hebben? Waarom komt er geen nieuwsbericht dat er een groepje jeugd is aangehouden vanwege het beschadigen van een graanakker? 

Hoe denkt Niburu.co over dit nieuwsbericht, is het echt of inderdaad mensenwerk? 

Laten we eerst even kijken wat boer Post heeft te vertellen over de actie van Prins Stef en vrienden: 

Boer Wim Post gelooft er helemaal niks van. 'Ik denk dat het om een grap gaat', laat hij telefonisch weten. Volgens Post zijn er experts bij geweest die geen enkel spoor hebben kunnen vinden. 'Ze kunnen er dus nooit dronken doorheen hebben gelopen, dan zouden we sporen moeten kunnen zien.' Hij beraadt zich nu op vervolgstappen. 'Als ze claimen schade te hebben aangericht mogen ze ook betalen, maar ik geloof het niet', aldus de boer. 

Boer Post gebruikt zijn gezonde verstand en komt tot de conclusie dat een aantal dronken jongelui dit echt niet gedaan kunnen hebben zonder sporen achter te laten. En dat alles dan waarschijnlijk ook nog een keer in het donker, hetgeen helemaal onmogelijk is. 

De enige conclusie kan dan ook alleen maar zijn dat Prins Stef liegt. Waarom hij dat doet, is niet duidelijk, misschien om aandacht te trekken of misschien omdat hij bang is dat er dingen zijn die hij niet begrijpt. 

Bij deze dagen wij Prins Stef dan ook uit om te demonstreren, en dat mag nuchter dit keer, hoe hij dit soort graancirkels maakt. Hij beschikt naar eigen zeggen over een ronde boog, dus dat moet een koud kunstje zijn voor hem om dit artistieke hoogstandje dan nog eens te herhalen. 

Als het hem lukt om precies dezelfde graancirkel te maken zonder sporen achter te laten in een veld, dan zullen wij publiekelijk onze excuses aanbieden. 

Wij weten ook niet wie of wat deze cirkel heeft gemaakt, maar als er weer iemand bekent, laat deze dan direct even aantonen hoe ze dat precies hebben gedaan. Waar Omroep Gelderland in ieder geval nog de reactie van boer Post plaatst, zo maakt het voor de Telegraaf allemaal niet uit, want die nemen alles klakkeloos aan. Zolang het maar in het mainstream kader past. 

Succes met de graancirkel Prins Stef en keep us posted!

{ http://www.niburu.co/ }

Europe approves deep-space ‘PLATO’ project to hunt for alien life

PARIS – Europe has approved the launch of a deep-space observatory to sniff out habitable planets in other star systems, along with any life forms they may host.

“The PLATO mission will address fundamental questions such as ‘how common are Earth-like planets?’ and ‘is our solar system unusual or even unique?’ ” the University of Warwick, whose scientists will take part in the project, said on Wednesday.

The multimillion-euro undertaking “could eventually even lead to the detection of extraterrestrial life,” it added.

A committee of the European Space Agency (ESA), meeting in Madrid, green-lit the mission on Tuesday, meaning “it can move from a blueprint into construction,” the university said in a statement.

When the candidate project was first announced three years ago, its cost was estimated at some €600 million ($668 million).

With 26 onboard telescopes, PLATO will join NASA’s Kepler observatory in a dedicated search for exoplanets revolving around stars other than our sun.

Kepler has so far found more than 3,400 confirmed exoplanets.

Of these, 30 are less than twice the size of Earth and orbiting within the so-called habitable zone of their star — not so close that water evaporates and not so cold that it freezes.

Liquid water is a key requirement for life as we know it.

This illustration shows Kepler-22b, a planet known to comfortably circle in the habitable zone of a sun-like star. The ESA's PLATO space telescope will join NASA's Kepler observatory in a dedicated search for exoplanets revolving around stars other than our sun. | AFP-JIJI

PLATO — whose acronym derives from PLAnetary Transits and Oscillations of stars — will be launched 1.5 million kilometers (932,000 miles) into space, monitoring thousands of stars over a large area of sky.

Telescopes search for slight dips in light when a planet “transits” between the star it orbits and the telescopes watching it.

Planets do not emit their own light. Had they been visible to the naked eye, they would appear as dark dots tracking across their bright stars.

PLATO is due for launch in 2026, the ESA said.

Other projects that have contributed to the exoplanet search, though it was not their exclusive mission, include NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope, as well as several dozen ground-based observatories.

The search for a planet capable of hosting life remains a distant pursuit — there is no solar system close enough for mankind to ever reach it, unless we develop time travel.

ESA also gave provisional approval for a project called LISA (Laser Interferometer Space Antenna), tasked with observing gravitational waves — created when black holes collide — from space.

Predicted in Albert Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity, gravitational waves were first observed with Earth-based instruments last year.

LISA will comprise free-floating detectors on three craft, separated by 2.5 million km in a triangular formation, following Earth in its orbit around the sun.

Launch is expected in 2034. But final approval will depend on the availability of technology and money, the ESA said.

The estimated mission cost is about a billion euros. Warwick University is based in central England.

{ http://www.japantimes.co.jp/ }

Could a dedicated mission to Enceladus detect microbial life there?

 by Tomasz Nowakowski, Astrowatch.net

Saturn's icy moon Enceladus is best known for its numerous geysers ejecting plumes of water and ice. These eruptive fountains perplex researchers searching for signs of microbial life beyond Earth. A dedicated spacecraft designed to study the plume-like features spewing from Enceladus could definitely tell us whether or not they contain alien microorganisms.

"We need a spacecraft to travel to Enceladus, fly through a geyser plume, and analyze the water that is immediately accessible," Geoffrey Marcy, a retired professor of astronomy at the University of California, Berkeley, told Astrowatch.net.

Marcy is a renowned exoplanet researcher who discovered many extrasolar worlds. He was one of the co-investigators of NASA's Kepler planet-hunting mission that detected more than 4,000 exoworlds. He was also involved in studies focusing on detecting signals from extraterrestrial civilizations and was the principal investigator of the Breakthrough Listen project. The program, funded by billionaire Yuri Milner, is looking for signs of extraterrestrial civilizations by searching stars and galaxies for radio signals and laser transmissions.

Marcy emphasizes that when it comes to searching for signs of microbial life in our solar system, assistance from billionaires investing in space projects could be helpful.

"The NASA missions, as currently planned, will require at least 20 years before a detection of microbial life will happen, at the earliest. However, a brilliant team of billionaires could work with NASA to fund a spacecraft to Saturn's moon, Enceladus. It could capture the water spurting out the geysers and use conventional microscopes to detect any microbial life there," Marcy said.

While a future mission to Enceladus would address complex questions about the origin of life, the spacecraft itself will be relatively easy to build and operate. According to Marcy, it would only require a dedicated probe equipped with a set of well-suited science instruments, capable of flying through the plumes and able to perform required measurements.

"The remarkable aspect of the search for microbes in the water spurting from geysers is that the spacecraft only needs to fly through the plume, well above the surface of Enceladus. No lander is needed—just a succession of flybys through the plumes as it orbits Enceladus," Marcy said.

He noted that such spacecraft should be fitted with a mass spectrometer to detect organic compounds that could be signs of microbial life. The spectrometer will look for amino acids and the structure of any organic molecules, especially fatty acids such as those composing cell membranes. It could also measure the relative amounts of isotopes of carbon (12 and 14) to detect non-natural anomalies due to biological processes.

Moreover, the mission to Enceladus would measure the properties of the water such as pH, oxidation and temperature, therefore assessing its suitability for organic life.

Marcy added that besides a spectrometer, the proposed spacecraft should also have an optical imaging system capable of capturing microscopic images in order to better examine microorganisms on this icy world.

"The mission should also include a microscope and camera to image directly any organisms in the water that are as small as a few microns in size," Marcy said.

Discovered in 1789 by William Herschel, Enceladus is the sixth-largest moon of Saturn with a diameter of about 310 miles (500 kilometers). First detailed pictures of this moon were acquired in the early 1980s by NASA's two Voyager probes. Since 2005, Enceladus is continuously studied by NASA/ESA Cassini spacecraft, which detected the water plumes erupting from the moon's south polar region.

 Explore further: Image: North pole of Enceladus

{ https://phys.org/ }

Oshawa photographer captures 'unidentified flying object'

Ken Rice says he’s never seen anything like this and has no idea what it is

by Parvaneh Pessian

OSHAWA — Wildlife photographer Ken Rice was out shooting photos in Oshawa on June 17 when something unusual suddenly appeared in his camera lens. June 21, 2017. - Ken Rice Photo

 

OSHAWA — Wildlife photographer Ken Rice was out shooting photos in Oshawa on June 17 when something unusual suddenly appeared in his camera lens. June 21, 2017. - Ken Rice Photo

{ https://www.durhamregion.com/ }

Pilot Kenneth Arnold reported seeing nine UFOs near Mount Ranier, Washington, on June 24, 1947.

US pilot Kenneth Arnold’s sighting of peculiar flying objects sparked the UFO craze

Troy Lennon, History editor, The Daily Telegraph

THE late 1940s through to the ’50s was the golden era of the UFO. It was a time when Cold War paranoia was just kicking in but, instead of fearing Soviet infiltration, people began seeing strange things in the skies. It was also when the terms “flying saucer” and “UFO” were coined and popularised, fuelling the public imagination.

But this alien spaceship craze can be traced largely to an incident that happened 70 years ago tomorrow.

Kenneth Arnold saw something in the skies on June 24, 1947, that caused millions of people to wonder if we were not alone in the universe. Arnold was born in Sebeka, Minnesota, in 1915, but grew up in Montana and North Dakota. He went to the University of Minnesota (although some sources say Iowa) where he showed himself to be a keen sportsman, going out for the university swimming team and contemplating a football career before a knee injury forced him to rethink his options.

After university he got a job with a company that sold fire fighting equipment and in 1940 started his own company, Great Western Fire Control Supply. A lot of his business involved visiting remote areas of the US so he decided that rather than relying on chartering aircraft he would fly his own. He took flying lessons, gained a pilot’s licence and bought a plane.

Gen. Roger M. Ramey with Colonel Thomas J. Dubose from the US air force identify metallic fragments found near Roswell, New Mexico, on August 7, 1947, as a high-altitude sounding device used by the air force and weather bureau.

Arnold had logged thousands of hours of flight time before his alien encounter. It happened in June 1947, while on a business trip in the state of Washington. He had taken off from Chehalis and was helping out with the search for a lost military transport plane. While flying over the Cascade Mountains, near Mt Rainier, he was startled by a flash of light.

“I observed a chain of nine peculiar looking aircraft flying from north to south” near Mt Rainier, he later said. It was about 3pm and Arnold watched the aircraft for two or three minutes.

When he landed at Yakima he told a friend who didn’t believe him.

The story soon got around and Arnold was sought out by reporters who asked for an account of what he saw.

At first he described the aircraft as like a “pie pan” but never mentioned that they were flat discs. In fact his description suggested they were shaped like a crescent or a boomerang. But when he said the aircraft moved “like saucers skipping on water” reporters started calling them flying saucers.

Not long after, in early July, a farmer named Mack Brazel found strange debris from something that dropped out of the sky on his farm about 60km northwest of Roswell in New Mexico. The remains consisted of sticks, metal pieces and a silver foil that, when crumpled, quickly regained its shape.

Brazel got in touch with the Walker Air Force Base at Roswell, thinking it might have been one of their aircraft.

Unidentified flying objects sighted over Yunnan province, in China in April 1981.

The base sent out Major Jesse Marcel who issued a press release on July 8 that they had recovered a flying disc from the farm. Newspapers reported that a “flying saucer” had been found on a ranch near Roswell.

The next day the air force base issued a new press release saying that the disc had been a weather balloon. But now that the “flying disc” story had been released nobody wanted to believe that it was just a weather balloon.

In reality it wasn’t a weather balloon but an experimental high altitude sounding balloon, codenamed Project Mogul, the US military hoped to use to monitor Soviet bomb tests. When one of the balloons crashed and people began talking about flying saucers it provided the perfect cover for the real story.

The Roswell incident fired up the public imagination and the number of sightings of strange aircraft soared.

This was also useful for the military because people were reporting suspicious aircraft or letting the military know when their top secret experimental aircraft were being indiscreet. In 1948 the US air force established Project Sign (later renamed Project Blue Book) to investigate all sightings.

Hollywood soon jumped on the bandwagon. In 1950 it released the film The Flying Saucer, the first time an alien ship was depicted as a flying disc. In 1951 The Day The Earth Stood Still depicted a saucer landing to warn humanity about nuclear annihilation.

In 1952 the USAF coined the term Unidentified Flying Object, or UFO, 
to describe any aircraft of unknown origin. It was meant to refer to any unidentified aircraft but over the years the acronym UFO has come to be indelibly associated with alien visits.

Originally published as Pilot’s strange sighting inspired the UFO craze

{ http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/ }

Triangle UFO follows Washington witness

A Washington witness at Sunnyside reported a slow-moving, triangle-shaped object that followed his vehicle along a rural roadway, according to testimony in Case 83989 from the Mutual UFO Network (MUFON) witness reporting database.

Witness illustration of the scene.

(Credit: MUFON)

The witness had just gotten off work and was driving home at 10:50 p.m. on May 25, 2017, when the incident began.

“I take the back roads home and got on Factory Road outside of Sunnyside, Washington,” the witness stated.“After about three minutes or so traveling down the road, I noticed an orange light near two red lights in a triangular pattern. The orange light was blinking.”

The witness immediately thought the object was a Chinook helicopter.

“I found it strange how low it was to the ground and the lack of sound. I also noticed it was traveling a bit fast to be a helicopter. It flew from south to north.”

The witness then thought that the object might be a drone.

“My speed was about 50 mph, though I was slowing down not wanting to get too close to the object. It crossed the road in front of me and then I proceeded to pass it. I found it to strange – it grabbed my curiosity. An oncoming car passed me, and once it did I pulled into a dirt driveway and turned around – doing a U-turn. I quickly drove back and found that it was out in the same area I had left it.”

The witness then slowed down in the middle of the road with no place to pull over.

“I simply stopped in the middle of road – now able to see a mile infront of me and behind me. I was facing west with my back to the east. It seemed to stop flying south and began to fly west.”

Witness illustration of the craft.

(Credit: MUFON)

The witness quickly reached for his smartphone and pulled up the camera app.

“I began to record as I drew closer. This was when I noticed a white light, much like a star starting to fly down from above it and near the object. It quickly got my attention as it quickly stopped again and turned 90-degrees and flew south across the road again. Once it had done this, it began to fly west.”

The object was then flying parallel to the road and began to make the witness afraid.

“Though it stopped and then began to fly northwest from its location towards me, I became overwhelmed with fear knowing this wasn’t a plane or a helicopter. Having both my windows down, I would have heard something. I threw my phone in the passenger seat and began to speed off. As I began to pass it, I came as close as I ever was to the object.”

The witness described the object.

“It was a gray triangle, with three orange lights and one red, glowing light in the middle with two small, green lights near the rear. It was hovering. I am now driving back from where I had come from. Heading into Sunnyside on Factory Road. I reached a speed of 97 mph and quickly began to slow down. I felt safer near town, though, now that it was nearly 11 p.m. and no one would be around.”

But that safe feeling quickly dissolved.

“I turned left onto Handford Road, and before getting to Vakima Valley Highway, I turned left onto another road that was near a car dealership and stopped again to see if I could​ see the object. It was flying west again and was in the same light configuration as when I first saw it – with one blinking, orange light and two red ones. I watched it fly for a short time before it began to fly southwest and I didn’t want it getting too close again. I got back onto Handford Road and onto Yakima Valley Highway driving towards Grandview.”

Cropped piece of witness illustration from the scene.

Credit: MUFON)

But once the witness arrived home and got of his vehicle, he saw the craft again.

“It had followed me approximately six miles and was flying southeast, though, I did not turn and I watched it fly in that direction until it was out of sight. I thought about following it, but didn’t want to push my luck as I began to feel afraid again. When I reviewed the video I recorded, the object was not captured due to it being too dark outside, and had stop recording without me pressing pause as I passed the object.”

Sunnyside is a city in Yakima County, Washington, population 15,858.Washington MUFON State Director James Clarkson investigated and closed this case as an Unknown.

“I would point out this case was near the Hanford Nuclear Reservation,” Clarkson stated in his report. “Given the highly unusual shape and lighting configuration, and the lack of sound when the witness had parked his car with all of the windows down, I am classifying this case as a true UAV with a highly credible witness.”

Please remember that most UFO sightings can be explained as something natural or man-made. The above quotes were edited for clarity. Please report UFO activity to MUFON.com.

{ http://www.openminds.tv/ }

Iowa witness recalls late night UFO close encounter

An Iowa witness at Millerton recalled a UFO incident from the early 90s where the object moved over his vehicle at one point and beamed light onto the vehicle, according to testimony in Case 83673 from the Mutual UFO Network (MUFON) witness reporting database.

The witness first thought the object was a helicopter. Pictured: Rural area near Millerton, Iowa.

(Credit: Google)

“I can’t remember the exact year and day, but I know that it was between 1990 and 1992,” the witness stated.“It occurred in rural Wayne County, Iowa. I had two young sons at that time. One was around 2 or 3 and the other was 4 or 5 at the time. That’s why I can narrow down the time that it happened. I had been at some friend’s house in the Corydon area that evening. They had two sons the same age as mine and the kids played while we played cards for awhile.”

The hour was late and past the kid’s bedtime, so the witness left to go home.

“The boys fell asleep in the car not far down the road.I was driving eastbound on a county highway east of Millerton. It was between 9-10 p.m. I believe. I noticed a bright flash of light to my left. It was maybe 10 or 15 miles directly north of me hovering low in the night sky. It would flash a bright light every second.”

The witness watched the object instantly jump from one area of the sky to another. Pictured: Rural area near Millerton, Iowa.

(Credit: Google)

The witness first thought the object was a helicopter – possibly life flight on its way to Corydon Hospital.

“I soon realized it wasn’t. I continued to glance over at it as I drove another mile or two. It just seemed to hang in the same spot. And the flashing light was just brilliant. Much brighter than any plane or helicopter.”

The witness decided to pull over on the shoulder to see what this object was.

“I drove a Pontiac Sunbird at that time and had the window rolled down while watching it. I shut off the lights and killed the engine. After a few minutes, I noticed the light was a bit brighter as if it had moved closer, yet I never saw it move. Then after another minute, it changed locations again. It was several miles closer to me. This thing moved so fast. It would hover motionless for a short while and then in the blink of an eye it would change locations. In a matter of minutes, it was approximately a half-mile north of me 50-75 feet above a crop field.”

At this point, the witness could see that the flashing light was actually a beam of light shining downward from the craft at about a 75-degree angle and making a full rotation approximately every second.

“I still couldn’t see the craft itself. Then it was suddenly a hundred yards due north hovering over the field. The brilliant beam of light shined all the way to the ground as it rotated in a wide circle. I’d never seen anything like it. It lit up the ground beneath it like daylight. You could see what looked like little dust particles in the light. It was weird. I thought for a moment that I should try to get out of there. But I was really intrigued with this thing. I still couldn’t make out the craft itself.”

The object eventually moved overhead and shown a beam of light into the witnesses’ vehicle. Pictured: Rural area near Millerton, Iowa.

(Credit: Google)

Then in the next moment, the witness realized the craft was no longer there.

“No more beam of light, nothing. Before I could even think about it, the car filled with a brilliant flash of light for just a moment. It was almost blinding. There was a peculiar feeling in the air like static electricity that seemed to wash over me.”

The witness then craned his head out the window and looked up.

“Above me was a large area of blackness and I knew it was above me. It was silent. The light wasn’t shining from it. Then for just a little bit, the underneath of it lit up with a bunch of smaller, blinking lights.”

At this point the witness was able to make out the shape and size of it.

“It was larger than I thought. Probably 40-50 feet in diameter and hovered about 40-50 feet above me at maybe a 75-degree angle. If it had tilted to a vertical position, I think I could have touched it. It was the shape of a disc. I thought to myself, “My God. I can’t believe I’m seeing this.’

Then in an instant, the craft was a half mile away.

“With the light beam rotating back down at a 75-degree angle as before. And in the same way that it came to me it left. Hovering for short intervals before zipping to another spot miles away, leaving only a faint streak of light between the two points. It was going east and slightly north. At one point, I estimated it as being probably in the Ottumwa area. Eventually it got far enough away that I couldn’t distinguish it from a star. The last time I could see it flashing I would guess it was perhaps in the Fairfield/Mt. Pleasant area headed in the direction of Burlington.”

The witness was upset over the incident.

“I was pretty shaken by this whole thing and watched it go away partly because I wanted to be certain the thing wasn’t going to turn around and come back. It scared the crap out of me to be honest. The boys didn’t wake up, so they never knew it even happened. When I got home, I called my friend whose house I had been to earlier. He didn’t believe me. Then awhile later, he heard that others had seen something too and had called the sheriff and reported it. They were told that it was a helicopter. I explained to him that it wasn’t, and he sternly replied, ‘I don’t know what you saw, but don’t be telling people about it. They’ll think you’re nuts and throw you in a padded room.’  So I haven’t. For the past 25-plus years.”

Millerton is a city in Wayne County, Iowa, population 45. Iowa MUFON Assistant State Director Beverly Trout investigated this case and closed it as an Unknown. Please remember that most UFO sightings can be explained as something natural or man-made. The above quotes were edited for clarity. Please report UFO activity to MUFON.com.

{ http://www.openminds.tv/ }

Stephen Hawking’s Tiny Spacecraft Could Reach Another Solar System in Just Over 20 Years

 Breakthrough Starshot Initiative

IN BRIEF

This week at the Starmus Festival, Stephen Hawking talked about his ongoing work to build a spacecraft capable of true interstellar travel. He explained that this unmanned space probe would be crucial to extending humanity's reach into space.

BETTING HIS CHIPS

Stephen Hawking isn’t content to just warn humanity about its dwindling potential for longterm survival — he’s determined to do something about it. In April 2016, the renowned physicist announced he was developing a spacecraft that could facilitate moving our species to a “second Earth.” This proposed spacecraft, named Star Chip, is part of an initiative called the Breakthrough Starshot.

While speaking at the Starmus Festival in Trondheim, Norway, this week, Hawking explained why his work is more important now than ever. He told the audience that he’s convinced we need to leave the Earth and migrate to a second planetary home. Building a base on the Moon by 2020 to serve as a jumping off point and finishing Star Chip as soon as possible are two important steps to making this happen.

This small space probe would be equipped with a lightsail weighing just a few grams. Powered by an array of Earth-based lasers, Star Chip would travel “on a beam of light,” reaching about a fifth of the speed of light, roughly 160 million k/h (100 million mph), on its journey to the Alpha Centauri solar system.

INTERSTELLAR HUMANITY

According to the Independent, Hawking told the audience what he thought his tiny space probe could achieve:

Such a system could reach Mars in less than an hour, reach Pluto in days, pass Voyager in under a week, and reach Alpha Centauri in just over 20 years. Once there, the nano craft could image any planets discovered in the system, test for magnetic fields and organic molecules, and send the data back to Earth in another laser beam. This tiny signal would be received by the same array of dishes that were used to transit the launch beam.

Since it could reach Alpha Centauri, it could make a fly-by to Proxima b, the exoplanet many consider the most similar to Earth. Star Chip would complete a true interstellar itinerary but without humans on board:

Of course, this would not be human interstellar travel, even if it could be scaled up to a crewed vessel. It would be unable to stop. But it would be the moment when human culture goes interstellar, when we finally reach out into the galaxy. And if Breakthrough Star Shot should send back images of a habitable planet orbiting our closest neighbor, it could be of immense importance to the future of humanity.

This is all very long-term thinking, with Hawking predicting humans wouldn’t be ready for interstellar travel for at least t wo more centuries. However, any knowledge we could glean from Star Chip’s mission could help us understand the nature of space, and perhaps help us find a new home before the “doomsday” Hawking predicts will befall humanity just 100 years from now. It’s worth a shot.

References: The Independent, Breakthrough Star Shot

{ https://futurism.com/ }

Did Researchers Find a Mummified, Three-fingered Alien in Nazca, Peru?

The purported discovery is backed by individuals with a history of making false, pseudoscientific claims.

CLAIM

A corpse found in Nazca, Peru, is that of an alien.

RATING

 FALSE

ORIGIN

On 20 June 2017, the web site Gaia.com published a video purporting to show the excavation and examination of a mummified body in Nazca, Peru:

In the spring of 2017, Gaia filmmakers joined researchers and scientists just outside of Nazca, Peru to investigate an unearthed mummified body. Independent scientists and universities are currently analyzing findings, with initial examinations suggesting the possibility of material that is unlike anything found in the fossil record.

Could this be a primitive human with an intentional or developmental deformity, or undeniable evidence that a non-human species exists?

Although Gaia.com at least posed the idea that the mummy was an alien as a question, the Disclose.tvweb site definitively reported the headline “New Alien Mummy Discovered in Peru Near Nazca Lines.”

The Nazca Lines are a set of geoglyphs (lines drawn by removing rocks and digging up earth) near Nazca, Peru. Some are drawn in the shape of animals (biomorphs) and are between 50 and 1,200 feet long, according to National Geographic. The absence of a single definitive explanation for their origins has prompted speculation that aliens were somehow involved in their creation.

However, no evidence has ever definitively proved the existence of alien life, and countless “alien” discoveries have later been shown to be hoaxes or to have far more mundane explanations.

In 2015, Mexican journalist Jaime Maussan, who reported the existence of the Nazca mummy to Gaia and is featured in the video, led an event called Be Witness, at which a mummified body — purportedly that of an alien — was unveiled. Later, though, that “alien” discovery was debunked, and the mummified corpse was shown to be that of a human child.

Forensic scientist José de Jésus Zalce Benitez was one of the lead researchers behind the (debunked) 2015 discovery, presenting his findings at the Be Witness event. Benitez also took part in Gaia’s Nazca project and can be seen in the video claiming that the three fingers of the mummy “makes us think that this does not belong to a human species.”

The previous discovery of mummies with elongated skulls in Peru, like that shown in the Gaia video, has prompted similar wild speculation about alien species. But anthropologists have explained that elongated skulls are the result of an ancient practice of artificial cranial deformation, in which young children had their heads bound in cloth, rope, or even wooden boards, possibly as part of a religious ritual.

Dr Konstantin Korotkov, who says with certainty in the Gaia video that the Nazca mummy “belongs to another creature,” also claims to have invented a camera that can photograph the soul and has previously made a host of pseudo-scientific pronouncements about the measurement of “auras,” such as this one:

If we send positive emotions, if we send love to each other, then we increase not only the other person’s energy field, but our own energy field.

Finally, Gaia.com (formerly known as Gaiam) web site has a long history of providing a platform for false and spurious pseudo-science, conspiracy theories, and paranormal claims. The company charges $95.40 per year for unlimited access to videos about remote viewing, contact with angels, alien abduction, crop circles, and the like.

It remains to be established whether the Nazca “mummy” is actually an excavated corpse or simply a hoax, what its origins are, and how its apparent deformities came about. But we are willing to say with certainty that it will not succeed where thousands of previous “discoveries” have failed, and present definitive, scientifically verifiable proof of alien life.

{ http://www.snopes.com/ }

Europe’s Space Agency approves alien-hunt project

The European Space Agency (ESA) has approved the launch of a deep-space observatory to hunt down habitable planets in other star systems and any alien life forms that may reside there.

An ESA committee approved the PLATO Mission on Tuesday during a meeting in Madrid, according to Warwick University, whose scientists will be taking part in the project.

“This means it can move from a blueprint into construction,” a university statement reads.

The launch, due to take place in 2026, will see PLATO (Planetary Transits and Oscillations of stars) and its 26 onboard telescopes launched into the ‘L2’ virtual point in space, located 1.5 million kilometers (932,000 miles) beyond Earth.

Once it has reached its destination in space, PLATO will “monitor thousands of bright stars over a large area of the sky, looking for regular dips in brightness as planets pass by them.”

It will also investigate seismic activity in some of the host stars, determining their masses, sizes, and ages “with unprecedented accuracy."

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“The launch of PLATO will give us the opportunity to contribute to some of the biggest discoveries of the next decade answering fundamental questions about our existence, and could eventually lead to the detection of extra-terrestrial life,” PLATO Science Coordinator and Professor of Physics at Warwick University Don Pollacco said.

PLATO’s mission is similar to that of NASA’s Kepler observatory, which has so far confirmed 3,400 exoplanets, only 30 of which are less than twice the size of Earth and orbiting within the ‘habitable’ zone of their star.

Habitable zones are defined by being not so close to the star that water evaporates, and not so cold that it freezes, as water is a requirement for life as we know it.

Meanwhile, the ESA has also given provisional approval for the LISA (Laser Interferometer Space Antenna) on Tuesday, which will be tasked with observing the gravitational waves created when black holes collide. Launch is expected in 2034.

Headquartered in Paris, the ESA is a collaborative agency with 22 member states. Canada also takes part in some projects under a cooperation agreement.

{https://www.rt.com/news/}

Europe okays project to seek alien life

Europe has approved the launch of a deep-space observatory to sniff out habitable planets in other star systems, along with any life forms they may host.

"The PLATO mission will address fundamental questions such as 'how common are Earth-like planets?' and 'is our solar system unusual or even unique?'," the University of Warwick, whose scientists will take part in the project, said on Wednesday.

The multi-million-euro undertaking "could eventually even lead to the detection of extra-terrestrial life," it added.

A committee of the European Space Agency (ESA), meeting in Madrid, green-lit the mission on Tuesday, meaning "it can move from a blueprint into construction," the university said in a statement.

When the candidate project was first announced three years ago, its cost was estimated at some 600 million euros ($668 million).

With 26 onboard telescopes, PLATO will join NASA's Kepler observatory in a dedicated search for exoplanets revolving around stars other than our Sun.

Kepler has so far found more than 3,400 confirmed exoplanets.

Of these, 30 are less than twice the size of Earth and orbiting within the so-called "habitable" zone of their star—not so close that water evaporates and not so cold that it freezes.

Liquid water is a key requirement for life as we know it.

PLATO—PLAnetary Transits and Oscillations of stars)—will be launched 1.5 million kilometres (932,000 miles) into space, monitoring thousands of stars over a large area of sky.

Telescopes search for slight dips in light when a planet "transits" between the star it orbits and the telescopes watching it.

Planets do not emit their own light. Had they been visible to the naked eye, they would appear as dark dots tracking across their bright stars.

PLATO is due for launch in 2026, the ESA said.

Other projects that have contributed to the exoplanet search, though it was not their exclusive mission, include NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, as well as several dozen ground-based observatories.

The search for a planet capable of hosting life remains a distant pursuit—there is no solar system close enough for mankind to ever reach it, unless we develop time travel.

ESA also gave provisional approval for a project called LISA (Laser Interferometer Space Antenna), tasked with observing gravitational waves—created when black holes collide—from Space.

Predicted in Albert Einstein's General Theory of Relativity, gravitational waves were first observed with Earth-based instruments last year.

LISA will comprise free-floating detectors on three craft, separated by 2.5 million kilometres in a triangular formation, following Earth in its orbit around the Sun.

Launch is expected in 2034. But final approval will depend on the availability of technology and money, the ESA said.

The estimated mission cost is about a billion euros. Warwick University is based in central England.

{ https://phys.org/ }