It has been nearly two decades since a mysterious humanoid encounter took place high up in the Himalayas, and the group of eminent glaciologists and geologists of ISRO (Indian Space Research Organization), who had observed this strange humanoid entity for nearly 45 minutes, are still baffled by what they had witnessed and what it all means. 

The bizarre event unfolded on September 27, 2004, on the penultimate day of a week-long expedition undertaken by the Ahmedabad-based, Space Application Centre (SAC) of ISRO. The 5-member team of scientists were camping in the Samudra Tapu glacier region, roughly 14,500 feet above sea level, not far from the ethereal Chandratal Lake which is steeped in local legends about otherworldly beings. The objective of the expedition was to study the Samudra Tapu glacier using satellite data, and other means.

Samudra Tapu Glacier in the Chandra basin of the Himalayas. Credit: Kulkarni et al., Journal of Indian Society of Remote Sensing (2005).

One of the earliest accounts of the incident had been published in SiliconIndia, a few days after it had occurred. Although brief, it contained some intriguing details. Apparently, the humanoid entity was spotted at around 7 am, and it had “hovered around for about 45 minutes, some 200 metres from the stunned scientists.” Anil Kulkarni, the marine and water resources scientist of ISRO, went on to provide more details about the incident:

“There were balloons attached to this unusual object. It had ‘legs’ but we could not see the ‘hands’. It was moving closer to the hilltop. The object started moving in our direction when we started walking towards it. But when our porters made a noise, it moved away towards the hilltop,” he said. The object remained stationary for about five minutes after reaching the hilltop, then moved away in another direction before it disappeared, he added. “Interestingly when it was exposed to the sun, it turned black and in the shadow of the hill, it became white,” the scientist said.[1]

Nearly a year after the incident had occurred, a more detailed account of the events of that unusual day was published in the India Today magazine. The report states,

Around 6.45 a.m., as the scientists were preparing to leave their tents, one of the porters spotted a white object on top of an adjacent mountain ridge, and screamed: "Sir, the snow man is coming."
Anil Kulkarni, a senior ISRO scientist who has been mapping glaciers for a quarter century, and his team members saw what appeared to be a robot floating a few inches above the ground, approaching the camp along the mountain slope. Kulkarni and his co-researcher, geologist Sunil Dhar, pulled out their digital cameras and began shooting the object even as the team raced towards the mountain to investigate.
The oblong object, between 3 and 4 feet high, kept moving down the slope towards the team. It had a cylindrical head with two balloon-type attachments, a body, hands and two legs. “It seemed to be walking, planting and pacing its steps like a human being,” recalls Dhar.[2]

The scientists were flummoxed by what they had seen. They submitted the photographs to ISRO, and each of the scientists gave their versions of what had happened on that day. The report was circulated to the army and the SASE (Snow and Avalanche Study Establishments) - the only agencies stationed in high altitude areas. 

According to Kulkarni, the object could have been an UFO or an advanced espionage device capable of complex maneuverability. “It is a riddle beyond human perception,” said Dhar who, along with Kulkarni, contacted robotic labs across the world to determine what is technologically possible in unmanned flying vehicles. “But there is no known matching technology yet in the civilian realm to explain the mysterious object we saw so up close,” according to Kulkarni. “It didn't look like a man-made object,” opined geologist Rajesh Kalia.[3]
But, if it was not a balloon, UAV, spying robot, or any kind of man-made object for that matter, what could it possibly be?

If we put on our Sherlock Holmes hat, and apply that famous logic of his i.e. “When you have eliminated all which is impossible, then whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth,” then we are inevitably led to the conclusion that, what the team of scientists had seen at Samudra Tapu was a humanoid being, possibly of alien origin! 

This is not the first time that bizarre humanoid entities of a similar nature have been sighted, although it is certainly one of the first cases where a team of experienced scientists were the witnesses, which is why the matter received mainstream coverage. A quick perusal of some of the UFO and humanoid reports from around the world reveals that, what the ISRO scientists had seen on that day conforms to a general pattern. But first, let us take stock of some of the conspicuous attributes of this humanoid entity. 

1. It was a dwarf, humanoid being, between 3 to 4 feet tall. 
2. It had a large cylindrical head, hands and legs. 
3. It had two balloon-type attachments, probably on its head. 
4. It had robot-like movements, and appeared to pace its legs like a human. 
5. It floated a few inches above the ground, as it came down the mountain slope. It effortlessly went up the slope in a similar manner
6. It appeared white, but turned black when sunlight fell on it. 
7. It seemed to be a curious, non-threatening entity, which came down from the hilltop to “observe” the team of scientists and, perhaps, even interact with them, but moved away when it sensed the excitement and anxiety of the group. 

Similar sightings of dwarf humanoid beings with oversized heads, dressed in a silvery or gray suit, and walking in a robotic manner while floating a few inches above the ground, have been reported from all parts of the world for more than half a century. In some cases, the humanoid beings were spotted coming in and out of an UFO. Typically, these types of sightings are dismissed as hallucinations, observational mistakes or made-up stories, but now that a team of highly experienced scientists, who are trained in making observations at high altitudes, have seen a similar humanoid entity at close quarters for more than 45 minutes, it is a matter that cannot be treated flippantly any more. 

Let’s peruse some of the similar cases that have been reported over the years. One of the earliest sightings of a similar nature occurred way back in 1937, at a place near the small town of Chashniki in the Vitebsk Region of Belarus. A 7-year old girl named Ludmila Chepik was shepherding some cows and collecting flowers on a meadow near the River Uloy when suddenly she saw a “man” descending from the sky towards her without a parachute. 

“He descended to about 1 to 2 meters from her. The man was approximately 113 cm – 143 cm in height (dwarf like), of athletic built, with broad shoulders and a disproportionately large head. The man wore dark, tight-fitting clothing and had a helmet on his head, with a cone-shaped or “bulb” shaped protrusion on top. His face was visible, reddish in color and was wearing something resembling a transparent visor. The entity spent approximately 1 minute with the witness. He opened his visor, produced a protracted smile at the girl, looked around, and touched the grass with an oval device in his hands. After that, he waved his hands, and zoomed soundlessly up into the sky at high speed. After gaining an altitude of about 100 meters, he seemed to compress into a ball and dissolve into thin air.”[4]

On September 2, 1954, in Coldwater, Kansas, 12-year old John Jacob Swaim had just finished driving a tractor when he saw something downright bizarre.

“A dark complexioned little man about the size of a 5-year old child, with pointed nose & ears, was crouching about 20 feet away. The little man wore shiny clothing and carried 2-foot long cylinders on his back. He ran, apparently floating, to a 50 foot disc hovering 5 feet above the ground, jumped in, and took off without tilting the saucer, lights shone from windows as it flew off faster than a jet. At the site were found numerous pear shaped footprints 2" x 4.5", with very narrow heels.”[5]

In the idyllic city of Clermont Ferrand, in the Puy-de-Dome administrative department of France, something out of the ordinary had transpired in March 1969. 

“On the slopes of the bare hill, Puy-de-Chanturgue, Miss B. saw, about 600 feet away, 3 little humanoid forms of squat aspect and uniform gray color. Without touching the ground, they were moving rapidly back and forth. After she had watched these “gnomes” for 3 to 4 minutes they suddenly disappeared.”[6]

In August 1973, Edmund, a 19-year old youth from the Amparo settlement, in the Novo Friburgo municipality of Rio De Janeiro, Brazil, was in the fruit garden of the farm when he noticed agitation among the nearby fruit trees. He went out to investigate the matter, and saw a strange spherical object with metallic sheen, around 2 meters wide, hovering just above the ground and revolving slowly. As he gazed at it from a distance of about 4 meters,

“At this point an aperture appeared in the side of the craft with a loud bang; from it emerged a small humanoid figure in a one-piece suit that covered his head. Strapped to his back was a rather large, squarish backpack. The entity did not walk, but floated, with a "feverish" swinging of arms and legs in midair. The entity approached Edmund to within a distance of a meter, at which time the youth became panic stricken and fled, seeking others at the farmhouse. As he ran off, he looked back and saw the little being still “hovering” in the air at the spot where he stopped when the boy ran off.”[7]

A number of strange humanoid sightings were reported during the UFO invasion of Italy in 1978, of which a couple surprisingly similar to what the Indian scientists saw in the high Himalayas. On August 28, 1978, at 02:30 a.m., near Chieti, Italy, a baker named Amerigo Rocci was on his way to work when his car broke down. While checking under the hood, a powerful bright light illuminated the area around him.

“Approaching the light he noticed five strange figures, the height of an eight-year old child. The figures moved in unison in "synchronized" movements and appear to float 25 cm above the road. The figures wore a dark gray tight-fitting diver's suits that covered them from head to toe. They had thick necks and from the top of their heads protruded an “antenna” like device resembling a funnel. The beings were about 500 meters away and Rocci was not able to see any facial features. The beings glided away in single file from the witness, who noticed that the last figure was carrying something resembling a “shovel” like apparatus.”[8]

Another equally inexplicable event occurred in San Vito Chietino, Italy, on December 23, 1978. At around 8:30 pm, the Bucco family was returning from visiting relatives when a dazzling light began to follow their vehicle. The light overtook the vehicle and the vehicle suddenly stopped without the driver applying the brakes. 

“Then, at the same time a strange little man crossed road in front of the vehicle in bounding jumps. While Francesco and Fiorentina Bucco saw only one humanoid, the other two passengers in the vehicle reported seeing two. The figure or figures wore brown astronaut like suits, large helmets with black square visors, and 5-digit white gloves. The beings were about 1 meter in height, and moved over the road in unison, in a strange robot-like manner, floating 20-35 cm above the road, as if moving and bouncing on an invisible cushion. Mr. Bucco noticed a green flashlight like object wrapped over the humanoid's shoulder.”[9]

A mystifying account was reported from the small town of Los Zazos in the Tucuman province of Argentina, which had many of the classic ingredients of a humanoid encounter. A goat-herder called Flores de Mamani, was walking her animals back to her ranch along an isolated hillside when she suddenly felt paralyzed, completely unable to move. 

“She was leaning back against a rock when she saw, a hovering sphere very close to her position. The normally fierce dog remained quiet and the goats remained very still. A door-like opening became visible on the sphere and two little men came out. They wore brown diver's suits, and had what appeared to be backpacks on their backs. The witness attempted to scream but could not. The beings were about 4 feet tall, heavy set and there appeared to be some stripes on their shiny brown suits. They wore helmets with a glasslike visor. She also noticed what appeared to be two antennas coming out of their suits. They seemed to glide just above the ground. The sphere was described as shiny and silvery with several multi-colored lights around it. 
One of the little men then approached the witness grabbed her arm and tied a rubber hose around it, and then he proceeded to extract blood from the witness arm using a syringe like instrument. She felt no pain. The other little man then proceeded to milk one of the goats that remained completely still. Soon the little men glided back to the silvery sphere and went inside. The sphere then shot away at tremendous speed.”[10]

The dwarf humanoids seem to be very interested in collecting samples, for, in many humanoid sighting reports they have been seen collecting samples of vegetation or soil and putting them into the cylinders strapped to their back. They have also been seen poking the ground with long stick-like devices and digging holes with shovels. It’s almost as if they are interdimensional scientists keeping tabs on the planetary health and ecosystem.

Some witnesses have described these humanoid entities as “gnomes” (from Latin gnomus, meaning "earth-dweller") – that legendary race of dwarf people possessing various magical abilities, who are said to live in lavish comfort in underground chambers. The gnomes were said to be a wise, intelligent race who were beneficent to humans and were proficient in smithing, crafting, and mining. In ancient and medieval mythologies, gnomes were believed to guard mines and subterranean treasures. The Encyclopedia Brittanica tells us that, in Germanic legends, “Mine-dwelling dwarfs were usually more capricious and spiteful than their mountain brothers. They could be heard moving about the lower levels and were sometimes seen by miners, who took care to placate them by gifts of food.”

This is why the next report is so important – for it is one of those rare humanoid sighting that took place inside a mine.

This fascinating encounter took place on August 27, 1989, deep within a mine 1070 meters below the earth’s surface in Donetsk, Ukraine. An electrical worker in one of the mines was working the night shift when he suddenly saw two strangers standing at the end of the electric train depot. The figures moved slowly along the garage, stopping from time to time and studying different areas and equipment located there. Finally, the witness gathered up enough courage to confront the strangers, and walking out of his hiding place he yelled, “Who are you? What are you doing here? “and began to walk slowly towards the pair. 

“After taking several steps he looked closely and literally became numb with fear as he realized that the entities standing before him were not human. They were short creatures, dwarf-like with sallow facial complexions, and features he could not recognize as human. Both were dressed in silvery colored coveralls and their chest they had lighted circles and luminous dots circling around, like the screen of an oscillograph. After standing for a while, the entities turned around and walked away, quickly moving away floating just above the ground. In several seconds they vanished behind a bend on the underground tunnel.”[11]

Now that we have looked at a few similar humanoid sighting reports that have come in from all over the world over the past century or so, it becomes quite obvious that what the Indian scientists had witnessed in the Samudra Tapu glacier region of the Himalayas, some 14,500 feet above sea level, was not something unique or unprecedented. Everything that the scientists had noted about the humanoid entities has been reported elsewhere: the silvery suits, the oversized heads, the helmets with a pair of “balloon” or “funnel” or “bulb”-shaped extensions on top, the robot-like movements while floating a few inches above the ground, etc. Typically, such reports go unnoticed, but since the sighting in the Himalayas was reported by a group of respected scientists it generated more interest, at least in India.

It’s time to roll up our sleeves and tackle the big question: Who are these humanoid entities that have been spotted around the world, including the upper reaches of the Himalayas, and have been seen getting in and out of UFOs? Some witnesses have described them as “gnomes”, and since these entities have also been sighted inside mines, the “gnome” angle definitely needs to be explored. Perhaps, the gnomes are not imaginary beings as they have been made out to be, and maybe there is something to the ancient stories that speak of them.  

In India, the dwarfs or gnomes were called yakshas (also yakhhas, jakkhas or jakhs). They were the custodians of the earth’s wealth and were regarded as the protectors of sacred sites and villages. Yakshas statues were placed outside temples, on either side of the entrances, to ward off intruders. Not long ago, people used to set up altars for them under trees, made offerings of food and prayed to them for wealth, protection and fertility. A lot of interesting details about the yakshas have been recorded in the ancient Indian texts, which I shall probably discuss at a later time, but a couple of points stand out in relation to this case.

Firstly, in ancient Indian legends, the yakshas have often been associated with the flying vehicles called “vimanas”. The Ramayana relates that, in the Treta Yuga, after killing the rakshasha Ravana in a fierce battle, Rama had returned from Lanka to Ayodhya on the spacious, dome-shaped, vimana called “Pushpaka”, which was gilded and shone like the sun and was operated by thoughts or voice instructions.[12] The Pushpaka vimana originally belonged to Kuvera, who was the “chief of the yakshas”, and it had been snatched away from him by his half-brother Ravana, who was a rakshasha i.e. giant. 

Incidentally, the yakshas had access to many such vimanas. As per the Puranic Encyclopedia, Ravana had attacked Kuvera's city Alaka located on Mount Kailash, and "in the fight that followed, between Kubera and Ravana, the former fell down unconscious. But the yakshas brought two vimanas and carried Kubera to the palace.”[13]

The association of the yakshas with vimanas bolsters the argument that they could be the dwarf humanoids reported in UFO sightings. Another intriguing point about the yakshas throws light on the humanoid encounter that took place in the Himalayas. While yakshas were said to inhabit remote forests, hills and lakes, their favorite haunt was the Himalayan ranges. In the Mahabharata, there are many passages that highlight this. For instance,

“This Himalaya is inaccessible, and abounds with Yakshas (dwarfs) and the Rakshasas (giants), and searching about for me, they will be distracted.”[14]
“We shall now ascend that white rock, the mountain Mandara (one of the peaks of the Himalayas), inhabited by the Yakshas, Manibhadra and Kuvera, king of the Yakshas.”[15]

One of the mighty peaks of the Himalayan range is Mount Kailash, which is sacred to the Hindus, Buddhists and to all the mountain folk, and is an important place of pilgrimage. Kuvera’s city Alaka was said to be established on the summit of Kailash. The Mahabharata states, “It was here, on the breast of Kailasa, O Galava, that Kuvera, was installed on the sovereignty of the Rakshasas (giants), the Yakshas (dwarfs), and the Gandharvas (elves).” In the book Yaksas, the renowned scholar and art-historian Ananda Coomaraswamy, who was also a curator at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, wrote of Kuvera that,   

“His city Alaka (or Alakapuri) situated on Mt. Kailasa (also the abode of Siva) is a magnificent walled town, where dwell not only Yaksas, but also Kinnaras (sirens), Munis (sages), Gandharvas (elves) and Raksasas (giants)...Kubera has many beautiful palaces, groves, gardens, etc., on Mt. Kailasa. These need not be referred to in detail, but it may be remarked of the grove Caitraratha that its trees have jewels for their leaves and girls as their fruits.”[16]

Let’s look at a few images of Mount Kailash (6638 m), which is located in the Tibet Autonomous Region of China. Even though it is not a very high peak, being nearly 2000 m lower than Mount Everest, it has never been scaled. And that’s because the peak has a pyramidal shape with steep sides, and some sections are almost vertical which makes climbing impossible. The inhospitable climatic conditions and almost perennial snow cover makes the task even more challenging. 

Mount Kailash, north face. Credit: Ondrej ´vácek, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons Mount Kailash, south face, seen from the Barkha plain. Credit: Jean-Marie Hullot, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons

The Chinese government had imposed restrictions on climbing the sacred peak – so as not to offend the religious sentiments - once the region came under the control of China in 1951, but prior to that many mountaineers had tried to work out a route to the summit, but failed.  In 1926, Hugh Ruttledge studied the north face of Mount Kailash, and described it as “utterly unclimbable”. His mountaineering colleague Colonel R. C. Wilson attempted to climb via the southeast ridge, when he ran into heavy snowfall, and aborted the effort.

My question is, when we look at the imposing, awe-inspiring images of Mount Kailash, does it seem like it could have ever hosted the walled city of Kuvera called Alaka, complete with palaces, groves and gardens? Absolutely not. You can’t even stand steadily on those steep, treacherous, snow-covered slopes on a windy day, let alone build a city. In which case, one needs to ask, why did the Indian texts make such an extravagant claim? Was it a made-up story, or could there be more to this than meets the eye?

My guess is that, Kuvera’s city Alaka may have been built “inside” Mount Kailash and not on its summit or slopes. In other words, there may exist giant, well-lit, and lavishly decorated caverns inside the Kailash Mountain where the yakshas and other magical beings live. Isn’t that what is said of the gnomes, in general? While they usually live underground, they also inhabit the interiors of mountains, and “gnome tunnels” were said to lead to fabulous places inside mountains. A Welsh story written by Walter Map at around 1183 CE, in De Nugis Curialmn, tells of a dwarf king who led Herla, and ancient king of the Britons, to his own kingdom. 

“He [Herla] and his guide entered a very lofty cliff and after a space of darkness they passed into the light, seemingly not of the sun but of many lamps, like the palace of the sun in Ovid’s description.”[17]

Apparently, a similar belief is still associated with Mount Demerdzhi in Crimea, which is a popular tourist destination, for, on the slope of the mountain lies the so-called “Valley of Ghosts” that contains a large number of stone formations resembling humans, animals, mysterious creatures, pyramids and other puzzling objects. The region generally remains enveloped in a characteristic haze, and when the light conditions change the stone formations seem to magically change their shape and color. Although these formations are said to have been “naturally formed”, it is not impossible that some of them may have been sculpted by intelligent hands eons ago, and then suffered erosion over time.

Valley of Ghosts. Credit: mpolyakov, CC BY-SA 3.0 Valley of Ghosts. Credit: Andrew Butko, CC BY-SA 3.0 Valley of Ghosts. Credit: Pavel dp, CC BY-SA 3.0

In Albert Rosales, “1978 Humanoid Reports”, there is an entry about an odd incident that occurred on Mount Demerdzhi in June 1978.

A local teenager, Andrey, from the nearby town of Alushta had climbed to the top of Mount Demerdzhi and had camped there to spend the night. During the night a bright light pointed directly at his face suddenly awakened him. He opened his eyes and saw the outlines of several human-shaped figures. They had domed-shaped heads connected directly to their shoulders. Their faces were not visible or were absent…Apparently the witness was paralyzed and everything was brightly lit around him. Andrey felt no fear or any other emotions during the encounter; he soon fell asleep and could not remember anything else. A local legend states that Demerdzhi is hollow and had been excavated thousands of years before by a race of dwarfs in an effort to extract supposed treasures buried within. A local clairvoyant, Lenura Azizova, claims that there still exists an ancient underground alien base under the mountain.”[18]

The possibility of a “city of the yakshas” being concealed inside Mount Kailash is not a very outlandish proposition, if we think about it. Not only do we have analogous stories coming down to us from ancient times, but there are persistent local beliefs along similar lines in other parts of the world.

Now that we have explored the Himalayan humanoid encounter from a few different perspectives, what would you say happened on that intrigue-filled day at the Samudra Tapu glacier? I would reckon that the scientists saw a “juvenile” yaksha, who was ambling around the mountainside, going about his normal routine of collecting samples of soil, snow and vegetation, when he chanced upon the group of scientists who had camped there. The yaksha may not have seen humans, or at least interacted with them, before, and was led on by his curiosity. But on sensing the agitation within the group, it moved away and probably returned to his “yaksha city” hidden in the interiors of the mountains to tell his friends what he had just seen.

It may feel somewhat strange to hear of “yakshas” or “gnomes” being talked about as real entities, but a couple of thousand years ago no-one would have batted an eyelid to hear what I just proposed. Yakshas were an integral part of the belief systems of the people in the subcontinent, and many “yakshas shrines” were erected in their honor. Much has been forgotten over time as the inter-dimensional interactions began to dry up, but the increased sightings since the 1950s suggest that we could be living at a time when contact is re-established.     

References

[1] "UFO photo puts Indian scientists in fix", SiliconIndia, 06 October 2004, https://www.siliconindia.com/shownews/ufo-photo-puts-indian-scientists-in-fix-nid-25663-cid-2.html
[2] Ramesh Vinayak, "UFO sighting in Himachal Lahaul-Spiti district remains a mystery", INDIA TODAY Feb 13, 2006, https://www.indiatoday.in/magazine/science-and-technology/story/20060213-ufo-sighting-in-himachal-lahaul-spiti-district-remains-a-mystery-783701-2006-02-12
[3] Ibid.
[4] Albert Rosales “1937 Humanoid Reports” Case # 4, Source: Aleksandr Kuzovkin, Selected reports of UFO observations in the USSR, 1982
[5] Albert Rosales “1954 Humanoid Reports” Case # 63, Humcat 1954, Source: Sheriff Floyd Hadley & Rev. Albert Baller
[6] Albert Rosales “1969 Humanoid Reports” Case # 51, Humcat 1969, Source: LDLN Circle of Clermont Riom
[7] Albert Rosales “1973 Humanoid Reports” Case # 103, Humcat 1973, Source: SBEDV Bulletin # 104
[8] Albert Rosales “1978 Humanoid Reports” Case # 189, Source: Archivio S.U.F.
[9] Albert Rosales “1978 Humanoid Reports” Case# 303, Source: Archivio S.U.F.
[10] Albert Rosales “1990 Humanoid Reports” Case# 13, Source: Pablo Villarrubia Mauso 
[11] Albert Rosales “1989 Humanoid Reports” Case# 210, Source: Gennadiy Ya. Leszshenko, “Edge of the Unknown or What is Behind the Curtain” Donetsk, 1994.
[12] Valmiki Ramayana, 6.124 - 126, https://www.wisdomlib.org/hinduism/book/the-ramayana-of-valmiki/d/doc424752.html
[13] Vettam Mani, Puranic Encyclopedia, Motilal Banarsidass, 1975.
[14] Mahabharata 3.178.8839
[15] Mahabharata 3.139.7068
[16] Ananda K. Coomaraswamy, Yaksas, The Smithsonian Institution, 1928, p. 6.
[17] Vernon J. Harward Jr., The Dwarfs of Arthurian Romance and Celtic Tradition, E. J. Brill, Leiden, 1958, p 6-20
[18] Albert Rosales “1978 Humanoid Reports” Case# 132, Source: Anton Anfalov

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AI Focuses Cigar UFO Over Thermal, California May 14, 2022, UFO Sighting News

 

Date of sighting: May 14, 2022
Location of sighting: Thermal, California, USA

Email report: Sent to scwaring@yahoo.com 

 

Hey all I just wanted to take a screenshot and ai focus this UFO that was reported to me back in 2022, and wow! I was blown away by what ai showed me. This is a real alien cigar UFO and it's never before been seen this clear until today. Watch the video till the end, because the ai enhanced version is at the end. 

Scott C. Waring 

 

Eyewitness states: 

Saw a very large cigar shape object hovering floating in the sky over the mountain. Airplane flew towards the object but as it got closer the airplane disappeared because of the distance but the cigar shape was huge so I could easily see it.

 

{ https://www.ufosightingsdaily.com }

AI Focused Black Knight Satellites, Up Close And Personal, UFO UAP Sighting News.

Hey all, I was asked on X and Youtube by many people to put the Dark Knight satellites through the ai program and see what happens. Well I did and it sharpened them a lot and brought the surface of the space craft into focus. It is said that these satellites are tens of thousand of years old or older. That they cannot be approached or they will paralyze the oncoming spacecraft. Tell me your thoughts of what these are and why they are in Earths orbit and why did NASA move the links three times before giving up?

Scott C. Waring 

{ https://www.ufosightingsdaily.com }

Dat de ontdekking van die extra ogen zo lang op zich heeft laten wachten, is wel te verklaren. Ze zitten – in gefossiliseerde trilobieten – namelijk enigszins verstopt.

Zo’n 500 miljoen jaar geleden wemelden de oceanen van de trilobieten. Dit zijn een bekende klasse uitgestorven geleedpotigen die in vervlogen tijden in de zee leefden. Trilobieten behoren samen met ammonieten en dinosauriërs ongetwijfeld tot de bekendste fossielen. Maar ondanks 150 jaar onderzoek heeft het beestje alsnog verrassingen voor ons in petto. Zo zijn wetenschappers op extra ogen gestuit, die al die tijd over het hoofd zijn gezien.

Ogen

Geleedpotigen hebben meestal twee soorten ogen. Allereerst hebben ze een paar samengestelde ogen (ook wel facetogen genoemd). Deze bestaan vaak uit duizenden aparte lensjes. Daarnaast zijn geleedpotigen ook nog eens uitgerust met mediane ogen. Dit zijn eigenlijk een extra set enkelvoudige ogen, die zich in het midden van het voorhoofd bevinden, tussen de samengestelde ogen in. Alleen trilobieten, een belangrijke groep geleedpotigen die ten tijde van het Paleozoïcum leefden, leken vreemd genoeg geen mediane ogen te hebben.

Ontdekking
Tenminste, dat was tot voor kort de veronderstelling. Totdat onderzoekers de trilobiet Aulacopleura koninckii, waarvan een deel van de kop was afgeschraapt, aan een nadere inspectie onderwierpen.

Aulacopleura koninckii. Afbeelding: University of Cologne

Het team ontdekte drie bijna identiek gevormde, donkere, onopvallende kleine ovale vlekjes van dezelfde grootte aan de voorkant van de kop. Deze drie structuren lopen evenwijdig aan elkaar en waaieren aan de onderkant iets uit. Alle drie de vlekken worden gekenmerkt door een gladde, duidelijke omtrek en een uniforme, donkerbruine kleur. “Deze plekken onderscheiden zich duidelijk van de vlekken die ontstaan door verval of fossilisatie,” legt onderzoeker Brigitte Schoenemann uit. “In plaats daarvan komt het precies overeen met hoe de overblijfselen van eenvoudige mediane ogen eruitzien.

Mediaan oog
Het betekent dat trilobieten mogelijk toch – net als alle andere geleedpotigen én veel naaste verwanten – niet alleen samengestelde ogen hadden, maar ook met een extra set ogen waren uitgerust. “De ontdekking ondersteunt de veronderstelling dat trilobieten oorspronkelijk mediane ogen hadden,” concludeert Schoenemann.

Onopgemerkt
Dat de trilobiet dit geheimpje zolang heeft weten te bewaren, is opvallend. Zoals gezegd is de trilobiet al ruim een eeuw uitgebreid bestudeerd. Bovendien zijn er ondertussen al meer dan 22.000 soorten ontdekt. Ondanks dat, zijn de mediane ogen al die tijd onopgemerkt gebleven. Toch is dit wel te verklaren. Ze zitten – in gefossiliseerde trilobieten – namelijk enigszins verstopt.

Verstopt
De wetenschappers gaan ervan uit dat de mediane ogen kenmerkend waren voor het larvenstadium, zo leggen ze in hun studie uit. Bovendien bevonden ze zich onder een transparante laag van het schild. Gedurende het fossilisatieproces wordt deze laag echter ondoorzichtig. “Dit heeft er beide toe bijgedragen dat de ontdekking van de extra set ogen zo lang op zich heeft laten verwachten,” aldus Schoenemann.

Meer over trilobieten
Trilobieten zijn te herkennen aan een verkalkt exoskelet aan de rugkant van het lichaam. Ze hadden een halvemaanvormige kop die wel wat weg had van de hedendaagse degenkrab. Hoewel de dieren onderhand zijn uitgestorven, waren ze een succesvolle soort in termen van evolutie. Ze hebben meer dan 250 miljoen jaar weten te overleven; langer dan de dinosauriërs.

Het betekent dat trilobieten waarschijnlijk meerdere verborgen ogen hadden. Toen de onderzoekers de trilobiet Cyclopyge sibilla bestudeerden, vonden ze namelijk ook drie mediane ogen op het voorhoofd, precies tussen de twee samengestelde ogen in. Deze waren bovendien zelfs uitgerust met lenzen die vergelijkbaar zijn met die in menselijke ogen. Dit wijst erop dat deze trilobiet waarschijnlijk beter kon zien dan zijn naaste verwant Aulacopleura koninckii, die – in tegenstelling tot Cyclopyge sibilla – enkel op de bodem leefde.

Variërend
Kortom, uit de bevindingen blijkt dat trilobieten veel meer ogen hadden dan gedacht; waarschijnlijk minstens vijf! Al kan dat aantal ook nog weleens hebben gevarieerd. De onderzoekers denken dat geleedpotigen namelijk op verschillende momenten in de evolutie over een verschillend aantal mediane ogen beschikten. “Het oorspronkelijke aantal mediane ogen is twee,” vertelt Schoenemann. “Daarnaast hadden zeer primitieve geleedpotigen er waarschijnlijk vier. Hedendaagse dieren, zoals insecten en schaaldieren, zijn uitgerust met drie mediane ogen.”

Al met al zijn de onderzoekers er dankzij hun eigen scherpe oog in geslaagd het mysterie van de ontbrekende mediane ogen bij trilobieten op te lossen. Maar dit breidt niet alleen onze kennis over deze uitgestorven prehistorische zeedieren uit. Dat het aantal mediane ogen in geleedpotigen varieerde, zou mogelijk de evolutionaire classificatie van archaïsche geleedpotigen kunnen vergemakkelijken. “Met behulp van het aantal mediane ogen kunnen we nu mogelijk eenvoudiger de positie van een geleedpotige in de evolutieboom bepalen,” besluit Schoenemann.

Bronmateriaal

• "New eyes discovered in trilobites" - University of Cologne
  
• Afbeelding bovenaan dit artikel: jonnysek van Getty Images (via canva.com)

{ https://scientias.nl/ }

Er is een "Pompeii van de zee" ontdekt met perfect bewaarde fossielen: het dateert van 515 miljoen jaar geleden

Abderrazak El Albani, University of Poitiers

Allerlei families van trilobieten verschijnen plotseling in het Cambrium en zien er al direct zeer complex uit. Van evolutionaire voorouders is vooralsnog geen spoor te bekennen.

Overblijfselen van trilobieten bewaard gebleven dankzij gevonden vulkanische as: de studie

We zijn in Aït Youb, in de regio Souss-Massa in Marokko. Hier heeft een team onderzoekers onder leiding van Abderrazak El Albani fossielen ontdekt van twee nieuwe soorten trilobieten die gedateerd kunnen worden op ongeveer 515 miljoen jaar geleden. Tot zover niets vreemds, behalve dat de staat van bewaring van deze trilobieten de beste is die ooit is gevonden.

Zoals we in de inleiding al zeiden, was het tot nu toe onmogelijk om de interne structuren van trilobieten goed te bestuderen: meestal fossiliseert alleen het exoskelet. In het geval van Aït Youb daarentegen heeft vulkanische as van uitbarstingen uit het Precambrium het mogelijk gemaakt om exemplaren te vinden die bijna perfect bewaard zijn gebleven, zo goed zelfs dat ze doen denken aan de vondsten in Pompeii. Aan de andere kant, zo stelt El Albani, is de dynamiek die ten grondslag ligt aan het behoud ervan vrijwel hetzelfde.

Wat is er gebeurd met de trilobieten die ontdekt zijn in Aït Youb?

Didier Descouens/Wikimedia Commons - CC BY-SA 4.0

Volgens El Albani en zijn team hebben we de uitstekende conservering van de trilobieten in feite te danken aan een snelle vulkaanuitbarsting, die de exemplaren begroef en in zeer korte tijd gevangen hield. Sommige trilobieten zijn al opgerold, terwijl andere zich voorbereiden om te ontsnappen, en er zijn enkele exemplaren die zelfs het spijsverteringskanaal vol sediment laten zien dat kort voor de uitbarsting is ingenomen. Als je bedenkt dat het tot voor kort niet mogelijk was om de interne anatomie van een trilobiet te bestuderen, begrijp je heel goed de revolutionaire betekenis van deze ontdekking.

Om deze fossielen beter te kunnen bestuderen, gebruikten de onderzoekers röntgenmicrotomografie, zodat ze een driedimensionale weergave konden bekijken zonder de exemplaren uit de rotsmatrix te halen.  Dit is een innovatieve techniek waarmee anatomische details kunnen worden bekeken zonder de vondsten in gevaar te brengen. Het onderzoek, gepubliceerd in het tijdschrift Science, onthulde ook tot nu toe onbekende anatomische structuren van trilobieten, waaronder sporen van mondaanhangsels en zacht weefsel.

Een bijna perfecte bewaring... zoals in Pompeii

El Albani zelf noemde de vondst in Marokko een “Pompeii van de zee”, en met een goede reden. Zoals we hebben gezien, creëerde de vulkanische as driedimensionale mallen van de trilobieten, waardoor ze in feite bevroren werden in de tijd. Maar terwijl er in het geval van Pompeii zo'n 2000 jaar is verstreken, is er hier 515 miljoen jaar verstreken en daarom was het gebruik van röntgenmicrotomografie bijzonder nuttig.

Ontdekkingen zoals deze zorgen voor een beter begrip van het belang van vulkanische asafzettingen voor het behoud van fossielen, maar tegelijkertijd testen ze de technologische vooruitgang in het bestuderen van het verleden. In staat zijn om trilobieten van 515 miljoen jaar geleden te analyseren vertegenwoordigt een onmisbare kans, die in het verleden onmogelijk was: vanuit een bepaald oogpunt is het ook een vorm van respect voor deze oude fossielen. Laten we niet vergeten dat ze een groot deel van de geschiedenis van onze planeet hebben overbrugd en bijna perfect bewaard zijn gebleven.

Allerlei families van trilobieten verschijnen plotseling in het Cambrium en zien er al direct zeer complex uit. Van evolutionaire voorouders is vooralsnog geen spoor te bekennen.

{ https://www.curioctopus.nl}

NASA heeft twee asteroïden ontdekt die dicht langs de aarde kwamen: planetaire radarbeelden

Unsplash - Not the actual photo

De ruimte van het zonnestelsel is bijna helemaal leeg, zelfs als je rekening houdt met de hemellichamen die rond de zon draaien, maar minder dan 0,15 procent van de massa van het hele stelsel uitmaken. Toch is het niet zo onwaarschijnlijk dat twee hemellichamen heel dicht bij elkaar kunnen zijn, zoals gebeurde met twee asteroïden die dicht bij de aarde passeerden, slechts een paar dagen na elkaar. De ontdekking werd gedaan door wetenschappers van JPL dankzij de Goldstone Solar System Radar, die er ook in slaagde om enkele beelden van deze asteroïden, die beide potentieel gevaarlijk zijn, vast te leggen.

Eerste waarneming: asteroïde van 1,5 kilometer passeerde dicht bij de aarde

Eén van de doelstellingen van op de ruimte gerichte radars is het relatief vroeg detecteren van de passage van asteroïden vlakbij de aarde. Onlangs werd bijvoorbeeld asteroïde 2011 UL21 slechts 13 dagen vóór zijn dichtste nadering tot onze planeet gedetecteerd. Nu hebben we het over een relatief groot hemellichaam, ongeveer 1,5 kilometer breed en potentieel gevaarlijk voor de aarde.

Gelukkig zijn er momenteel geen risico's, zoals bevestigd door wetenschappers van het Jet Propulsion Laboratory van NASA. 2011 UL21 passeerde feitelijk op 27 juni 2024 op een afstand van ongeveer 6,6 miljoen kilometer, oftewel ongeveer 17 keer de afstand tussen de aarde en de maan. Maar dat is nog niet alles: dankzij de Goldston Solar System Radar heeft JPL ontdekt dat 2011 UL21 niet één enkele asteroïde is, maar een systeem van twee asteroïden in een baan om de aarde. Een beetje zoals wat er gebeurde met Dinkinesh, het kleine binaire systeem dat werd geïdentificeerd door de Lucy-missie die eind 2023 richting Jupiter reisde.

Tweede waarneming: asteroïde passeerde veel dichter bij onze planeet

NASA/JPL-Caltech

Slechts twee dagen na de waarneming van 2011 UL21 op zo'n 6,6 miljoen kilometer van de aarde, hebben wetenschappers van JPL een tweede asteroïde gezien, dit keer veel dichter bij onze planeet. Het gaat om asteroïde 2024 MK, die slechts 150 meter breed is en dus veel kleiner dan het hemellichaam dat eerder werd waargenomen. 2024 MK wordt echter ook beschouwd als een potentieel gevaarlijke asteroïde en deze asteroïde passeerde slechts 295.000 kilometer van de aarde. Met andere woorden, ongeveer driekwart van de afstand die ons van de maan scheidt.

Dergelijke naderingen zijn vrij zeldzaam en komen ongeveer elke 20 jaar voor. Hoewel ze in strikte zin niet gevaarlijk zijn voor onze planeet, zijn ze essentiële informatiebronnen voor ons begrip van het zonnestelsel. De eenvoudige passage naar 295 duizend kilometer van de aarde verminderde bijvoorbeeld de baan van 2024 MK rond de zon met ongeveer 24 dagen.

Potentieel gevaarlijke asteroïden: wat betekent dat?

Er zijn verschillende factoren waarmee wetenschappers bij NASA en andere ruimtevaartorganisaties rekening houden om een ​​asteroïde als "potentieel gevaarlijk" te definiëren. Hiervan zijn de volgende zeer belangrijk:

•  de afmetingen, met een diameter van minimaal 140 meter;
• de afstand tot de aarde, binnen 0,05 Astronomische Eenheden, of ongeveer 7,5 miljoen kilometer;
• de naderingssnelheid, de onregelmatige vorm en samenstelling, als secundaire factoren.

Zoals je kunt zien, zijn potentieel gevaarlijke asteroïden niet de asteroïden die een gevaar in de strikte zin van het woord voor de aarde inhouden, een beetje zoals in het geval van 2011 UL21 en 2024 MK. Kortom, we hebben het niet over Chicxulub dat 66 miljoen jaar geleden leidde tot het uitsterven van niet-aviaanse dinosaurussen, maar over hemellichamen die NASA van plan is te observeren tijdens hun passage op een bepaalde afstand van onze planeet. In de hoop dat deze afstand altijd groter zal zijn.

{ https://www.curioctopus.nl/ }

THIS SCORCHINGLY HOT PLANET THAT RAINS DOWN GLASS APPARENTLY ALSO SMELLS LIKE ROTTEN EGGS

A study published Monday shows evidence for the toxic, nasty-smelling gas hydrogen sulfide in a nearby exoplanet.

BY DORIS ELÍN URRUTIA

 

Roberto Molar Candanosa/Johns Hopkins Univeristy

A study published Monday in the journal Nature shows evidence for the presence of the toxic, nasty-smelling gas hydrogen sulfide in HD 189733 b. The knowledge isn’t just for sensorial space exploration: It shapes how astronomers understand the evolution of all planets under the Sun – err, stars.

An illustration of the Jupiter-sized exoplanet HD 189733 b.

ROBERTO MOLAR CANDANOSA/JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY

Sewer gas on another world is a helpful clue. The chemical compound aids the construction of more complex molecules, including those essential to life. “Sulfur is a vital element for building more complex molecules, and — like carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, and phosphate — scientists need to study it more to fully understand how planets are made and what they’re made of,” Guangwei Fu, lead researcher and astrophysicist at Johns Hopkins University, said in an announcement about the new paper.

In the case of this particular exoplanet, Fu said, researchers aren’t looking for life. Astronomers already know this world, located 64 light years away from Earth, is inhospitable. Temperatures reach 1,700 degrees Fahrenheit there, and its glass-filled wind would humble any terrestrial storm, thanks to its 5,000 mph winds.

“We’re not looking for life on this planet because it’s way too hot, but finding hydrogen sulfide is a stepping stone for finding this molecule on other planets and gaining more understanding of how different types of planets form,” Fu added.

HD 189733 b is one of many exoplanets analyzed through a technique called the transit method. Astronomers glean details about it as the gas giant passes in front of its parent star. HD 189733 b is one of the nearest known “hot Jupiters” to Earth, making it a scientifically-rich object.

According to NASA, there are now more than 5,600 confirmed exoplanets in the Milky Way.

{ https://www.inverse.com/ }

5 Fascinating Facts On The Sleek USAF U-2 Dragon Lady Spy Plane

By Mike Scanlon

SUMMARY

With its sleek design and technological prowess, the U-2 spy plane, often referred to as the "Dragon Lady," represents one of the most iconic aircraft in military aviation history. Developed in the early 1950s in response to increasing nuclear and long-range nuclear missile threats from the USSR during the Cold War, the high-flying aircraft changed the landscape of aerial reconnaissance and espionage, providing the United States with unmatched intelligence-gathering capabilities. In this article, we take a look at a healthy handful of interesting facts about the legendary Dragon Lady.

1. Secretive U-2 test flights caused a spike in UFO sightings

Fiery objects in the sky baffle pilots below

When given just eight months to design an aircraft capable of flight above 70,000 feet (21,336 m), Lockheed Chief Engineer Clarence "Kelly" Johnson (pictured below) and his team at the secret Skunk Works plant in California delivered what was essentially a jet-powered glider, the CL-282, which would later be dubbed the U-2. As time was of the essence, the design was quickly approved by the CIA, and production was immediately underway.

Completed units were delivered to the highly classified Nevada Test and Training Range, also known as Area 51, for testing under tremendous secrecy. According to the CIA, high-altitude testing of the aircraft led to a significant spike in UFO reports. With most commercial flights flying under 20,000 ft (6,096 m) and military aircraft below 40,000 ft (12,192 m), pilots of these aircraft were dumbfounded by the object flying above them at 60,000 ft (18,288 m), a feat considered impossible at the time

Under certain conditions, the sun would reflect off the then-silver wings of the U-2, which made them appear as "fiery objects" flying high above to pilots below. The overwhelming reports of UFOs led to the USAF's Operation Blue Book, also known as Project Blue Book, based at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio.

Operation Blue Book gathered all the reports of UFOs and cross-referenced them against U-2 flight logs. USAF investigators would subsequently dismiss the reports as "natural phenomena," unable to reveal the truth behind these sightings. U-2 (and later OXCART) are believed to have been the source of over half of the UFO reports from the late 1950s through the 1960s.

RELATED

U-2 Dragon Lady: Meet One Of The US Air Force’s Oldest Cold War Aircraft Still Operating

The U-2 spy plane has had a long career, although it appears to be finally approaching the end of it.

2. Suited for space travel

U-2 pilots wear space suits similar to those worn by NASA astronauts

Photo: Senior Airman Alexander Recupero | US Air Force

Soaring to the edge of space at altitudes over 70,000 feet (21,336 m), U-2 pilots are required to wear specialized space suits, also known as full-pressure suits, made by the same company that supplies NASA, to ensure their survival in the harsh environment of the upper atmosphere. The model S1034 space suit serve as a personal life support system, should the cockpit pressurization system fail, and are key to safeguarding the pilots against decompression sickness, hypoxia, and exposure to the near-vacuum conditions of high altitudes.

Photo: US Air Force

The suit's engineering is nothing short of remarkable, meticulously designed to balance safety, functionality, and comfort, highlighting the extreme conditions U-2 pilots face. It features a distinct helmet equipped with a communications system, a visor that can be heated to prevent fogging and an oxygen supply system that guarantees the pilot has a steady flow of breathable air. Furthermore, the suit includes a cooling garment integrated with tubing to circulate temperature-controlled water, ensuring the pilot remains comfortable during long missions.

3. It's like riding a bicycle...that weighs 16,000 pounds with massive wings

The U-2 has a very unique set of wheels

Photo: US Air Force

Designed to minimize aircraft weight and promote higher altitude, the U-2's unique landing gear configuration distinguishes it from most conventional aircraft. Unlike typical aircraft that utilize a tricycle arrangement, the U-2 employs a bicycle-style arrangement with two sets of wheels positioned along the longitudinal axis of the fuselage.

This setup includes a forward main landing gear located just behind the cockpit and an aft main landing gear near the tail and connected to the rudder to provide steering functionality during taxiing.

To maintain balance during takeoff, the U-2 utilizes outrigger gears, known colloquially as "pogos." These removable wheels are attached to mid-wing sockets and jettisoned during takeoff, falling to the runway. Upon landing, once the aircraft comes to rest on its wingtip, the pogos are reinstalled for taxiing. Suffice it to say that U-2 takeoff and landing procedures are not for the faint of heart, as shown in the X link below.

4. Taming the Dragon Lady

The U-2 is considered by many to be the most difficult airplane to fly

• https://youtu.be/eiA6u0mT4oI

The U-2 is widely considered the most difficult airplane to fly. Mastery of the U-2 requires an exceptional level of expertise, dexterity, and resilience, qualities that define the elite group of pilots (fewer than 1500) capable of taming the "Dragon Lady." There are several factors contributing to its notoriously difficult handling, making it a true test of a pilot's skill and endurance.

Firstly, the U-2 operates at extreme altitudes, often above 70,000 ft (21,336 m), where the air is thin and the margin for error is minimal. The aircraft's design prioritizes performance at these altitudes over ease of control, leading to a unique combination of a highly sensitive control system and low maneuverability.

Secondly, the U-2's takeoff and landing phases are particularly challenging. During takeoff, the aircraft's massive wings and lightweight frame make it highly susceptible to crosswinds and other atmospheric disturbances.

Landing the U-2 is equally daunting due to the bicycle-like landing gear configuration, as described above. Landing the U-2 requires exceptional skill and coordination, as the pilot must balance on the bicycle gear while reducing speed and altitude, with the assistance of a chase car driven by another pilot as shown below, providing real-time feedback and assistance. To make matters worse, visibility is limited during the landing because of the plane's unique design.

Moreover, pilots must endure long missions that can extend beyond ten hours, confined to a pressurized suit similar to those worn by astronauts. This suit is necessary due to the harsh conditions at cruising altitude and introduces additional challenges in terms of physical comfort, fatigue management, and sustenance.

The U-2 is still in service but the US Air Force plans to retire the iconic aircraft in 2026.

5. What do U-2 pilots eat during flight?

Hint: The Dragon Lady isn't much of a cook

Photo: David Kamm | US Army

Flying sorties up to and beyond ten hours, U-2 pilots often need to eat and drink during flight. However, at such extreme altitudes, doing so isn't as simple as it sounds. According to U-2 Support Launch and Recovery Supervisor Staff Sergeant David Labarge, U-2 pilots are instructed that once their helmet is locked down, they are not to open it until they land. Failure to heed this warning could have disastrous consequences.

As long as the cockpit is pressurized, theoretically, a U-2 pilot could safely open their helmet to eat, scratch their nose, or have a sip of water. However, Sgt. Labarge cautions that, at such high altitudes, were a pilot to open their helmet and the cockpit pressurization system suddenly failed, "the blood in their body would instantaneously boil, leading to instantaneous death."

"The blood in their body would instantaneously boil, leading to instantaneous death."

As such, the helmet is designed with a feeding port through which pilots can drink from a gravity-fed water bottle and eat "tube food, made by the same people who make traditional meals-ready-to-eat (MRE).

Photo: Airman 1st Class Drew Buchanan | US Air Force

The food is squeezed from a toothpaste-like tube through the helmet's feeding port directly into the pilot's mouth.

Photo: Jeff Sisto | US Army

Dinner service aboard a U-2 offers a variety of choices, including beef stroganoff, truffle mac and cheese, chicken alfredo, peaches, pears, chocolate pudding, and even caffeinated cinnamon applesauce. A heater inside the aircraft ensures their meatloaf-in-a-tube is nice and hot. Bon Appétit!

U-2 Specifications
Power plant	One General Electric F118-101 engine.
Thrust	17,000 pounds
Wingspan	105 feet (32 meters)
Length	63 feet (19.2 meters)
Height	16 feet (4.8 meters)
Weight	16,000 pounds
Speed	410 mph
Range	6,090 nautical miles
Crew	One
Initial operating capability	1956
Unit cost	Classified

{ https://simpleflying.com/ }

Failed Thrusters, Helium Leaks, and a Hard Deadline: Inside NASA’s Decision to Keep Boeing’s Starliner At the ISS

Does it still count as being "grounded" when you're in space?

BY KIONA SMITH

Maxar/Getty Images

Inverse has all the details about why it’s taking so long to bring Starliner home, how the not-stranded-but-definitely-delayed crew is spending their time in orbit, and why the spacecraft has to leave ISS by mid-August.

AN ABUNDANCE OF CAUTION

Boeing and NASA don’t believe that any of Starliner’s thrusters are damaged, say Stich and Nappi speaking at a press conference on Wednesday. If Starliner had to leave the International Space Station immediately (maybe because of a collision with a piece of satellite debris, like the near-miss that caused the crew to take shelter aboard Starliner earlier this week), the ship could get its crew home safely, according to Nappi.

“If we were to have to do that today, we would just perform a nominal undocking and return,” Nappi told reporters during a press conference on Wednesday.

The extensive tests keeping the spacecraft docked at ISS, they said at the press conference, are a chance for engineers to figure out exactly why five of Starliner’s 28 maneuvering thrusters (technically called the Reaction Control System, or RCS) failed while the spacecraft was docking with the International Space Station on June 6. Starliner’s service module — which houses the thrusters — is designed to burn up during re-entry to Earth’s atmosphere, so once the ship heads home, engineers will lose their chance to poke at the problem.

Boeing and NASA also want to be extremely sure there’s actually nothing wrong. “We don’t believe that we have damaged thrusters, but we want to fill in the blanks and run these tests to assure ourselves of this,” Nappi says.

Stich adds, “Really, what we're doing is just taking the time to make sure that we have looked under every rock and every stone, just to make sure that there's nothing that would surprise us.”

STARLINER RECAP: FAILED THRUSTERS AND HELIUM LEAKS

During its rendezvous with ISS on June 6, five of Starliner's 28 maneuvering thrusters failed. The crew and mission control managed to get four of them back online, but one (thruster B1A3) refused to cooperate, first sputtering out just 11 percent of its normal thrust, and then nothing at all. B1A3 will remain shut off for the rest of the mission.

The thruster issues appeared after Starliner had to fire its thruster more — and more often, in several short pulses — than engineers had expected.

And then there are the helium leaks. Starliner uses helium to pressurize its thrusters, and some of that helium is leaking out around the O-rings used to seal the area where the helium — and two lines that carry rocket propellant — pass through a flange and into the thruster.

"Helium was getting out from that flange area and somehow getting around that O-ring," says Nappi "The design should have been sufficient, but there's obviously something going on in that cavity that we don't understand."

Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams are the first crew to fly aboard Starliner. 

JOE RAEDLE/GETTY IMAGES NEWS/GETTY IMAGES

SO MUCH TESTING, SO LITTLE TIME

Last week, Starliner test-fired its thrusters while docked to the ISS, using the station’s flight control system to measure how much thrust the thrusters were actually thrusting (Inverse would certainly not like to apologize for that sentence, thank you).

Meanwhile, at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico, engineers have test fired several thrusters, trying to re-create the extreme temperatures and workload Starliner’s thrusters faced during flight. Those tests are now complete, but engineers still need to physically check the tested thrusters for damage and analyze a tremendous collection of data about their performance. Next, engineers will be repeating the process — but this time they’ll be simulating the “downhill” phase of the mission, or the return to Earth.

“We really wanted to get that testing completed and actually physically inspect the thruster before we committed to the nominal undocking,” says Stich. “I think there's ways from what we've learned from this flight to change the number of pulses required for the rendezvous and docking phase to not put such demand on the thrusters.”

Engineers are also working on the helium leak, which means smearing grease on spare flanges, tossing debris into them, and blasting them with heat to test possible causes for the leak. They also need to make sure that the thrusters are still getting enough helium to keep them pressurized — at least enough to work reliably and safely.

“We would like to duplicate that flange design on the ground under a controlled test and see if we can't make it leak, and experiment with some larger seals or maybe a different seal material that might not be as susceptible to degradation from the propellant,” said Nappi.

“THE NATURE OF WHAT WE DO”

To bystanders, it seems like an alarming situation: a new spacecraft launches with its first crew, only for its thrusters to fail and start leaking helium pressurizer. But for test pilots like Starliner test commander Butch Wilmore, it’s another day at the office.

“Human spaceflight is not easy. There have been multiple issues with every spacecraft that has ever been designed, and that's the nature of what we do,” said Wilmore.

Nappi and Stich repeated a similar message to reporters.

“We knew that there would be some learning from this flight test. We've learned a great deal from how the hardware works, how our processes work, and how we can improve the things that we're doing,” said Nappi. “As engineers, we test, we learn, we fix, and that’s exactly what we’re going through.”

Starliner launched on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket on June 5, following several delays.

ANADOLU/ANADOLU/GETTY IMAGES

MAKE ROOM, MAKE ROOM!

The testing and analysis are likely to take another couple of weeks, at least, which means Wilmore and Starliner test pilot Suni Williams probably won’t be bidding farewell to the ISS until at least the end of July – and Stich described that possible timeframe as optimistic. But Starliner needs to be on its way by mid-August, when a SpaceX Crew Dragon is set to bring a new quartet of spacefarers (astronauts Zena Cardman, Nick Hague, and Stephanie Wilson, as well as Russian cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov) to the ISS.

The SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft that carried Crew-8 (astronauts Matthew Dominick, Michael Barratt, and Jeanette Epps, as well as Russian cosmonaut Alexander Grebenkin) to the ISS is still docked at the station, waiting for Crew-8 to hop aboard and fly it home. Before they leave, though, they need to meet and brief their replacements, a process NASA calls a handover. Crew-9 will dock their Crew Dragon with ISS and come aboard before Crew-8 leaves. At the moment, that’s a problem, because Starliner is sitting in Crew-9’s parking spot.

That gives NASA and Boeing a deadline for finishing their tests and either deeming Starliner fit to fly home or making other arrangements.

“The beautiful thing about the commercial crew program is that we have two vehicles, two different systems, that we could use to return the crew,” said Stich, referring to Starliner and Crew Dragon. “We have a little more time to go through the data and decide whether we need to do anything different but the prime option today is to return Butch and Suni on Starliner.”

“LIKE COMING BACK HOME”

For now, Wilmore and Williams are safe and sound on the ISS, where they’ve been pitching in with maintenance and science experiments.

“Butch and I have been up here before, and it feels like coming back home,” says Williams. “We've been integrated right into Expedition 71. We've been doing science with them, maintenance, and some major maintenance that has been waiting for a little while.”

Wilmore recently tested NASA’s Moon Microscope, a handheld 3D-printed microscope that’s part of a medical kit that could help future lunar explorers diagnose illnesses and make sure their food, water, and quarters aren’t contaminated. And Williams sequenced DNA while zipping around Earth at 17,500 miles per hour. The pair also helped swap out a urine processor pump. (Never a dull moment aboard ISS, and no lack of variety, either.)

Stich says the whole ISS crew is comfortable and has plenty of supplies — including things like food and clothing — to last the duration. A Northrop-Grumman Cygnus cargo spacecraft is scheduled to launch in early August, bringing new supplies and probably some extra items from home for the Starliner crew, if they’re still aboard. Meanwhile, this isn’t even close to the most crowded the ISS has ever been.

In fact, situations like this one may become more common over the next few years. Stich, paraphrasing retired astronaut Ken Bowersox, said earlier today that now that ISS can provide electricity to docked spacecraft, it can serve as a sort of temporary hangar for engineers to troubleshoot spacecraft in orbit.

Meanwhile, Williams and Wilmore sound calm and confident – which is also part of their job.

“I have a really good feeling in my heart that the spacecraft will bring us home,” says Williams.

{ https://www.inverse.com/ }

{ https://scientias.nl/ }

SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket suffers failure during Starlink satellite launch (video)

SpaceX's workhorse Falcon 9 rocket suffered a rare anomaly on Thursday night (July 11).

The incident occurred during a launch of SpaceX's Starlink internet satellites from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. The Falcon 9 performed well initially; its two stages separated on time, and the first stage came down for a landing on a drone ship about eight minutes after liftoff as planned.

But the rocket's upper stage, which was hauling 20 Starlink spacecraft to low Earth orbit, encountered a problem — a leak of liquid oxygen, which had serious repercussions for the mission.

"After a planned relight of the upper-stage engine to raise perigee — or the lowest point of orbit — the Merlin Vacuum engine experienced an anomaly and was unable to complete its second burn," SpaceX wrote in an update today (July 12). (The Falcon 9's upper stage is powered by that single engine; the first stage sports nine Merlins, which explains the rocket's name.) 

SpaceX engineers worked to get the 20 Starlink satellites — 13 of which were capable of beaming service directly to cell phones — to raise their orbits using their onboard ion thrusters. But the hill was too steep to climb, according to the company.

"At this level of drag, our maximum available thrust is unlikely to be enough to successfully raise the satellites," SpaceX wrote in the update. "As such, the satellites will reenter Earth’s atmosphere and fully demise. They do not pose a threat to other satellites in orbit or to public safety."

The Falcon 9 is the most prolific rocket flying today, with 69 launches under its belt already in 2024. It's known for its reliability; before Thursday night, the Falcon 9 had suffered only one full in-flight failure in its storied history, which occurred during the launch of a robotic Dragon cargo capsule toward the International Space Station (ISS) in June 2015.

The Falcon 9 is also human-rated; it has launched 13 crewed missions to date, nine of which have sent astronauts to the ISS for NASA. It's unclear how Thursday's failure will affect the rocket and its manifest at this point; SpaceX will first need to figure out exactly what happened and how to address the issue — an effort that's already underway.

"SpaceX will perform a full investigation in coordination with the FAA [Federal Aviation Administration], determine root cause, and make corrective actions to ensure the success of future missions," SpaceX wrote in today's update. "With a robust satellite and rocket production capability, and a high launch cadence, we’re positioned to rapidly recover and continue our pace as the world’s most active launch services provider."

Most Falcon 9 missions these days service the giant and ever-growing Starlink megaconstellation, which currently consists of more than 6,100 operational satellites; 49 of the 69 Falcon 9 launches so far in 2024 have been dedicated Starlink missions.

Editor's note: This story was updated at 4:30 p.m. ET on July 12 with the news from SpaceX that all 20 Starlink satellites will be lost due to the Falcon 9 upper-stage failure.

A stack of SpaceX Starlink satellites, which included the first six featuring Direct to Cell capabilities. The batch launched on the Starlink 7-9 mission, which lifted off from Vandenberg Space Force Base on Jan. 2, 2024.

Image: SpaceX

{ https://www.space.com/ }

Pentagon Publishes Report on Material From an Alleged Alien Aircraft

Former Area-51 Pilot Claimed He Flew Re-Engineered UFO To 500 Feet But It Crashed & Broke His Legs

Before 2013,  Area-51 had only been in the conspiracies. People ridiculed those who claimed to have worked in this highly classified US Air Force facility. Thanks to archivist Jeffrey Richelson who made it possible for the government to finally admitted that  Area-51 is a real place in the Mojave Desert about 100 miles north of Las Vegas. A few years back, ApexTV, famous for their mysterious content, did an interview with a fellow named Robert Miller who piloted an alien spacecraft at Area-51 telepathically, before crashing and breaking both his legs.

His story is worth reading as who knows what secrets may open up later in the future and become the reality in our life.  Area-51 is one of the world’s most secretive places controlled by the US Air Force, which is claimed to be the storehouse of alien spacecraft, where their technology is being developed. It has been actively working since 1955 (as officially stated), which was the study point of UFOs in the 50s. Since then, the place has become a pilgrimage for alien hunters and UFO researchers.

In December 2017, Robert Miller did an interview with ApexTV where he revealed secrets of the inner workings of  Groom Lake. According to Miller, aliens and extraterrestrial crafts are being kept inside  Area-51, and he alleged to have been part of a top-secret project in which he was chosen to pilot a reverse-engineered UFO.

The video shows a bald man in cargo shorts claiming he flew an alien spaceship telepathically, but the sound quality is terrible. Miller cliamed to have hidden the fact that he worked in  Area-51 from his closest relatives, but his mother had the slightest that idea about his job. His purpose for recording the video is to remove this secret from his conscience, and he knew the circumstances of the reveal that the government would come after him.

Miller grew up in a small town in Southern Nevada, and his father was an aerospace engineer who taught him to fly aircraft which helped him become a licensed pilot at the age of 15. He later joined Marine Corps as a pilot, where he was considered one of the top pilots. By the time he became 18, he was planning to retire from the Marine Corps and find a normal job back home and thinking to start a family.

Everything changed when he received an offer letter about his new job as a test pilot in a secret program. “I thought, great. It also said, a plane would be picking me up at the Las Vegas airport Friday the second at three AM to take me there. So we flew out there in the middle of the night and two men in black suits escorted me into an underground building. It was built on the side of a hill and yes, the men in black are real. Believe me, they’re real,” Miller said.

He continued explaining the place which had long hallways and many doors on each side. Miller added: “We went down several flights of stairs, must have been far underground at that point. They showed me into a small room with a single bed and a desk.” He was then locked inside the room by those men.

Miller looked in one of his drawers and found a booklet, titled something like “Working at Grim Lake” that mentioned that there were 1,200 other employees. He claimed only insiders decide whom to recruit to work in  Area-51. “I assumed that my father invited me and this is where he had been working when I was a kid. He had long, long since retired by the time I got there, and I wasn’t sure what was in store for me now.”

Miller was appointed as a test pilot for the so-called alien technology that was allegedly recovered from the crafts that crashed in 1947. Like any other whistleblower, he also said that they had already reversed engineering the alien spacecraft technology. He was going to be the first person to pilot the craft.

“Also, they threatened me again, if I told anybody, even my family, there would be dire consequences for all. I asked them what were the origins of the craft they found and they really thought it just was from another country. They told me not of this world and the beings that engineered it were extra-dimensional. They said the beings were still alive and were being kept in an undisclosed location in a facility,” Miller revealed.

Miller described a large disc-shaped craft about “50 feet from end to end, edge to edge” standing in the middle of the warehouse. It had a transparent dome at the top. He assumed that it was his testing vehicle. The engineers who worked on the craft technology told him that it was powered by an anti-matter reactor. The reactor produced bursts of dense energy that could generate wormholes and make the craft travel near the speed of light.

Read also:

• Ret. US Army Major Showed Deleted UFO Photos Captured By Apollo Astronauts On Moon
• FBI Chilling UFO Reports: Recovered 3 UFOs With Alien Bodies In New Mexico & 27,000 Mph Craft
• Ret. US Army Colonel Claimed Aliens In Roswell UFO Crash Were Bio-Robots Built For Space Travel
• Ariel School 62 Children Witnessed Landing Of Grey Aliens In Zimbabwe 1994, New Photo Evidence

“They then said that my test flight was going to be delayed until the next day because they had to explain to me everything I needed to know in order to be able to pilot this thing. Now I’m just going off of what I can remember. There was a lot of specifics, gauges, and things but as I’ve gotten older, so I’m telling you as much as I can possibly remember. I do remember they brought me inside the craft.”

According to Miller, the alien spacecraft had a room for only one person. The cockpit had a seat, no joystick, no steering wheel, and no other controls, only a helmet. He told that the craft operates only telepathically.

“The helmet measured my brainwaves and

was to control the craft by simply thinking about it. After a hard night of trying to sleep, thinking about this, morning came. And it was finally time to take the craft for the first test flight. They brought out a tarp and ordered everyone working on the base to go inside. They wanted to keep everybody not knowing about this secret technology to a bare minimum.”

He put on the helmet and followed the guidance as the craft was only going to operate by analyzing his brain waves. He had to imagine the craft floating off the ground but instead, he imagined being a part of the craft. After that, he began thinking of himself floating off the ground. “I felt vibrations from the anti-matter reactor below me as it started to fire up.”

He was instructed to take the craft up to 1000 feet. He succeeded in taking it to 500 feet but shockingly, the engine stopped and Miller started losing altitude. He found no safety feature, and no seat ejection system was there in the craft. He kept imaging the craft floating but eventually, it hit the ground and Miller received serious injuries.

Miller said he fell unconscious and then woke up in the medical ward, where he was told by another man in a black suit that the craft mysteriously disappeared just before crashing and everyone at the base simply “called it a day” and went inside. Then in the middle of the night, they heard a loud crashing noise outside. Running out to see what happened, they saw the craft had crashed in the spot it was about to crash a while earlier during the day.

“I was inside the pilot’s seat unconscious, both my legs were shattered. The scientists had hypothesized that the craft had actually time traveled to a point in time, several hours later. They had me sign a non-disclosure, the third one, stating, since the first meeting, I would not tell anybody as long as I lived and making this video. Well, as you can see, I have gone against this NDA contract because I feel that the public needs to know about this.”

A similar claim of testing a re-engineered ET craft has another witness named Bill Uhouse who testified that it required a good amount of time for a person to train in order to operate the disc. Besides, its design was so exacting that nothing could be externally installed on it such as machine guns and bombs like in traditional aircraft.

{ https://www.howandwhys.com/ }

Former Area-51 Pilot Claimed He Flew Re-Engineered UFO To 500 Feet But It Crashed & Broke His Legs

Before 2013,  Area-51 had only been in the conspiracies. People ridiculed those who claimed to have worked in this highly classified US Air Force facility. Thanks to archivist Jeffrey Richelson who made it possible for the government to finally admitted that  Area-51 is a real place in the Mojave Desert about 100 miles north of Las Vegas. A few years back, ApexTV, famous for their mysterious content, did an interview with a fellow named Robert Miller who piloted an alien spacecraft at Area-51 telepathically, before crashing and breaking both his legs.

His story is worth reading as who knows what secrets may open up later in the future and become the reality in our life.  Area-51 is one of the world’s most secretive places controlled by the US Air Force, which is claimed to be the storehouse of alien spacecraft, where their technology is being developed. It has been actively working since 1955 (as officially stated), which was the study point of UFOs in the 50s. Since then, the place has become a pilgrimage for alien hunters and UFO researchers.

In December 2017, Robert Miller did an interview with ApexTV where he revealed secrets of the inner workings of  Groom Lake. According to Miller, aliens and extraterrestrial crafts are being kept inside  Area-51, and he alleged to have been part of a top-secret project in which he was chosen to pilot a reverse-engineered UFO.

The video shows a bald man in cargo shorts claiming he flew an alien spaceship telepathically, but the sound quality is terrible. Miller cliamed to have hidden the fact that he worked in  Area-51 from his closest relatives, but his mother had the slightest that idea about his job. His purpose for recording the video is to remove this secret from his conscience, and he knew the circumstances of the reveal that the government would come after him.

Miller grew up in a small town in Southern Nevada, and his father was an aerospace engineer who taught him to fly aircraft which helped him become a licensed pilot at the age of 15. He later joined Marine Corps as a pilot, where he was considered one of the top pilots. By the time he became 18, he was planning to retire from the Marine Corps and find a normal job back home and thinking to start a family.

Everything changed when he received an offer letter about his new job as a test pilot in a secret program. “I thought, great. It also said, a plane would be picking me up at the Las Vegas airport Friday the second at three AM to take me there. So we flew out there in the middle of the night and two men in black suits escorted me into an underground building. It was built on the side of a hill and yes, the men in black are real. Believe me, they’re real,” Miller said.

He continued explaining the place which had long hallways and many doors on each side. Miller added: “We went down several flights of stairs, must have been far underground at that point. They showed me into a small room with a single bed and a desk.” He was then locked inside the room by those men.

Miller looked in one of his drawers and found a booklet, titled something like “Working at Grim Lake” that mentioned that there were 1,200 other employees. He claimed only insiders decide whom to recruit to work in  Area-51. “I assumed that my father invited me and this is where he had been working when I was a kid. He had long, long since retired by the time I got there, and I wasn’t sure what was in store for me now.”

Miller was appointed as a test pilot for the so-called alien technology that was allegedly recovered from the crafts that crashed in 1947. Like any other whistleblower, he also said that they had already reversed engineering the alien spacecraft technology. He was going to be the first person to pilot the craft.

“Also, they threatened me again, if I told anybody, even my family, there would be dire consequences for all. I asked them what were the origins of the craft they found and they really thought it just was from another country. They told me not of this world and the beings that engineered it were extra-dimensional. They said the beings were still alive and were being kept in an undisclosed location in a facility,” Miller revealed.

Miller described a large disc-shaped craft about “50 feet from end to end, edge to edge” standing in the middle of the warehouse. It had a transparent dome at the top. He assumed that it was his testing vehicle. The engineers who worked on the craft technology told him that it was powered by an anti-matter reactor. The reactor produced bursts of dense energy that could generate wormholes and make the craft travel near the speed of light.

Read also:

• Ret. US Army Major Showed Deleted UFO Photos Captured By Apollo Astronauts On Moon
• FBI Chilling UFO Reports: Recovered 3 UFOs With Alien Bodies In New Mexico & 27,000 Mph Craft
• Ret. US Army Colonel Claimed Aliens In Roswell UFO Crash Were Bio-Robots Built For Space Travel
• Ariel School 62 Children Witnessed Landing Of Grey Aliens In Zimbabwe 1994, New Photo Evidence

“They then said that my test flight was going to be delayed until the next day because they had to explain to me everything I needed to know in order to be able to pilot this thing. Now I’m just going off of what I can remember. There was a lot of specifics, gauges, and things but as I’ve gotten older, so I’m telling you as much as I can possibly remember. I do remember they brought me inside the craft.”

According to Miller, the alien spacecraft had a room for only one person. The cockpit had a seat, no joystick, no steering wheel, and no other controls, only a helmet. He told that the craft operates only telepathically.

“The helmet measured my brainwaves and

was to control the craft by simply thinking about it. After a hard night of trying to sleep, thinking about this, morning came. And it was finally time to take the craft for the first test flight. They brought out a tarp and ordered everyone working on the base to go inside. They wanted to keep everybody not knowing about this secret technology to a bare minimum.”

He put on the helmet and followed the guidance as the craft was only going to operate by analyzing his brain waves. He had to imagine the craft floating off the ground but instead, he imagined being a part of the craft. After that, he began thinking of himself floating off the ground. “I felt vibrations from the anti-matter reactor below me as it started to fire up.”

He was instructed to take the craft up to 1000 feet. He succeeded in taking it to 500 feet but shockingly, the engine stopped and Miller started losing altitude. He found no safety feature, and no seat ejection system was there in the craft. He kept imaging the craft floating but eventually, it hit the ground and Miller received serious injuries.

Miller said he fell unconscious and then woke up in the medical ward, where he was told by another man in a black suit that the craft mysteriously disappeared just before crashing and everyone at the base simply “called it a day” and went inside. Then in the middle of the night, they heard a loud crashing noise outside. Running out to see what happened, they saw the craft had crashed in the spot it was about to crash a while earlier during the day.

“I was inside the pilot’s seat unconscious, both my legs were shattered. The scientists had hypothesized that the craft had actually time traveled to a point in time, several hours later. They had me sign a non-disclosure, the third one, stating, since the first meeting, I would not tell anybody as long as I lived and making this video. Well, as you can see, I have gone against this NDA contract because I feel that the public needs to know about this.”

A similar claim of testing a re-engineered ET craft has another witness named Bill Uhouse who testified that it required a good amount of time for a person to train in order to operate the disc. Besides, its design was so exacting that nothing could be externally installed on it such as machine guns and bombs like in traditional aircraft.

{ https://www.howandwhys.com/ }

Story by Paul M. Sutter

The sci-fi landscape is littered with wormholes. From Douglas Adam's Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and Rick and Morty to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, these theoretical constructs allow characters to zip between distant points in the universe as easy as stepping through a doorway.

An Einstein-Rosen bridge is the simplest kind of wormhole. And while it can, in theory, allow you to meet a new friend from a distant part of the universe, there are some important reasons why it won’t let you travel back in time.

Black Holes, White Holes and Wormholes

Let’s start with everybody’s favorite astronomical mystery: a black hole. Despite their fearsome reputation, they’re actually rather simple creature. They have a point of infinite density, known as the singularity, in their centers. They are surrounded by a boundary called the event horizon.

The event horizon doesn’t exist in the same way that the surface of a planet exists. Instead it’s just a mathematical line in the sand that tells you one thing: if you cross within that special distance, you’re trapped forever, because you’ll have to travel faster than the speed of light to escape.

Read More: 

• 'Fuzzballs' Might Be the Answer to a Decades-Old Paradox About Black Holes

And that’s it. That’s a black hole. A singularity and an event horizon. All things that cross the event horizon will never escape back into the universe – things go in and never come out.

Mathematically we can also define the polar opposite of a black hole, which is conveniently called a white hole. White holes also have a singularity, but their event horizons act differently. Anything already on the outside of a white hole (like, the entire universe) can never, ever cross within it, no matter how hard it tries. And anything already inside the white hole will find itself ejected from it faster than the speed of light.

Now when we take a black hole and a white hole and connect their singularities together, we get an entirely new kind of object: an Einstein-Rosen bridge, better known as a wormhole.

Read More:

•  Astronomers Found a Baffling Black Hole That Existed 13 Billion Years Ago

What Is a Wormhole?

Wormholes are essentially hollow tubes through space and time that can connect very distant regions of the universe. A star may be thousands of light-years away, but a wormhole can connect that star to us with a tunnel only a few steps long.

Wormholes also have the somewhat mystical ability to allow backwards time travel. If you take one end of the wormhole and accelerate it to a speed close to that of light, it will experience time dilation — its internal “clock” will run slower than the rest of the universe.

That will cause the two ends of the wormhole to no longer be synchronized in time. Then you could walk in one end and end up in your own past. Voilà: time travel.

Read More: 

• Is There a Particle That Can Travel Back in Time?

Can Humans Travel Through Wormholes?

There's just one, tiny, teensy problem with this setup: Einstein-Rosen bridges are indeed wormholes, but the entrance to the wormhole sits behind the black hole event horizon. And the number one rule of black hole event horizons is that once you cross them, you’re never allowed to escape. Ever.

Once you pass through a black hole event horizon, you are forced towards the singularity, where you are guaranteed to meet your gruesome end. In other words, once you enter an Einstein-Rosen bridge, you will never escape.

So, the unfortunate truth with Einstein-Rosen bridges is that while they appear to be magical doorways to distant reaches of the universe, they are just as deadly as black holes. When you enter you can meet other travelers who have fallen in from the other side, and you could even carry on a conversation…briefly, before you both struck the singularity.

There have been attempts to stabilize Einstein-Rosen bridges and make them traversable by somehow getting their entrances to sit outside the event horizon. So far the only way we know how to do this is with exotic matter. If you threaded the wormhole tunnel with matter that had negative mass, then in principle you could have a not-deadly-at-all wormhole.

Alas, negative matter does not appear to exist in the universe, and so our wormhole — and time travel — dreams will have to remain as mere mathematical fantasies.

Read More: 

• What Did Einstein's Theories Say About the Illusion of Time?

{ https://www.msn.com/en-us/ }

Astronomers may have found a rare "missing link" black hole in the Milky Way after spotting a group of improbably fast-moving stars at the heart of a nearby stellar cluster. If confirmed, the cosmic juggernaut, known as an intermediate-mass black hole (IMBH), would be the second-largest black hole ever found in our galaxy. 

IMBHs are an extremely rare subset of black holes that are larger than stellar-mass black holes but smaller than supermassive black holes. This means they can be anywhere between 100 and 100,000 times the mass of the sun, according to NASA.

In theory, IMBHs should be just as common as other black hole types. However, astronomers have struggled to locate potential IMBHs or confirm their existence — and they aren't sure why. As a result, IMBHs are often referred to as missing link black holes. While several promising candidates have been detected, none have been proven to be the real deal.

Now, in a recent study uploaded April 4 to the preprint server arXiv, researchers may have uncovered evidence of a large IMBH in the globular cluster Omega Centauri — a compact group of around 10 million stars in the Milky Way located around 17,000 light-years from Earth.

The team compared 500 photographs of Omega Centauri taken by the Hubble Space Telescope and mapped the movements of around 1.4 million stars at the cluster's center. This revealed at least seven stars that "should not be there," researchers wrote in a statement.

Omega Centauri is the largest globular cluster in the Milky Way.

(Image credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, M. Häberle)© Provided by Live Science

This is because these stars were spotted whizzing around fast enough to escape the cluster's gravity and fly off into intergalactic space. But despite this, the stars continue to orbit at breakneck speed near the cluster's center.

"The most likely explanation [for this] is that a very massive object is gravitationally pulling on these stars and keeping them close to the [cluster's] centre," study lead author Maximilian Häberle, a doctoral candidate at the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy (MPIA) in Germany, said in the statement. "The only object that can be so massive is a black hole, with a mass at least 8,200 times that of our sun."

Related: 

• The most elusive black holes in the universe could lurk at the Milky Way's center

The Milky Way's second-biggest black hole?

Omega Centauri is an unusual entity: It is around 10 times larger than most other globular clusters and is surprisingly flat. It is so massive that you can even see it with the naked eye on dark, clear nights, when it takes up almost as much of the night sky as the moon when viewed from Earth.

Researchers suspect that the cluster likely used to be a dwarf galaxy that orbited the Milky Way, before being pulled into the galaxy's middle. As a result, scientists have often wondered if there could have been a sizable black hole at its heart.

Researchers first proposed the idea of an IMBH in Omega Centauri in 2008, when Hubble revealed how tightly the cluster's stars are bunched at its center. However, at the time, other researchers argued that this could be caused by a swarm of several smaller, stellar-mass black holes.

But the superfast stars highlighted in the new study indicate the existence of an IMBH, the study authors argue.

"This discovery is the most direct evidence so far of an IMBH in Omega Centauri," study co-author Nadine Neumayer, an astronomer at MPIA, said in the statement. If confirmed, it would be the Milky Way's second-largest known black hole behind Sagittarius A* — the supermassive black hole at the heart of our galaxy, she added. "This is exciting because there are only very few other black holes known with a similar mass."

However, the presence of an IMBH in Omega Centauri is not confirmed, and more data is needed to know for certain if it is really there. It is also unclear exactly how large the cosmic entity might be and where it is.

The researchers have been granted time in the future to use the powerful James Webb Space Telescope to peer deeper into the cluster, which means we may not have to wait too long for more evidence of the black hole's existence.

{ https://www.msn.com/en-us/ }

De geur van een planeet niet ver van de aarde ontdekt, waar gesmolten glas naar beneden regent: het ruikt naar “rotte eieren”

ESA/Hubble/Wikimedia commons - CC BY 4.0

We kunnen exoplaneten, die zich buiten ons zonnestelsel bevinden, niet bereiken, maar we kunnen hun geur wel waarnemen: een van hen ruikt naar rotte eieren, zo heeft een nieuw onderzoek ontdekt.

HD 189733 b, de “warme Jupiter" op 64 lichtjaar afstand van ons

Mensen associëren de geur van zwavel met die van rotte eieren, en zouden hun neus moeten dichtknijpen voor de exoplaneet die volgens wetenschappers een atmosfeer heeft die aan deze “geur” doet denken. De buitenaardse wereld in kwestie is een hete exoplaneet van Jupiter genaamd HD 189733 b en is 64 lichtjaar van de aarde verwijderd: een relatief korte afstand, gezien de locatie buiten ons zonnestelsel.

Dankzij de James Webb-telescoop was het mogelijk om te ontdekken dat het omgeven is door een atmosfeer gevuld met waterstofsulfide, waardoor je je gemakkelijk de geur kunt voorstellen die je zou kunnen inademen. HD 189733 b staat dertien keer dichter bij zijn moederster dan Mercurius bij de zon, waardoor het een “helse” planeet is, zoals beschreven. Een bijzonder hete en gasvormige Jupiter in het sterrenbeeld Vosje, die in slechts twee aardse dagen een baan rond zijn ster voltooit. Dit betekent dat de temperatuur bijna 925°C bedraagt: uiteraard onleefbaar voor mensen, afgezien van de geur die het afgeeft. Maar dit is niet de enige bizarre eigenaardigheid van de exoplaneet in kwestie.

De exoplaneet die naar rotte eieren ruikt en waarop het gesmolten glas regent

Roberto Molar Candanosa/Johns Hopkins Univeristy

Voordat ze in het nieuwe onderzoek de geur van HD 189733 b ontdekten, hadden wetenschappers al onthuld dat er een grote kans bestaat dat er op de exoplaneet buien van gesmolten glas ontstaan, die het gevolg zouden kunnen zijn van winden die het materiaal met een snelheid die kan oplopen tot 800 km per uur zijwaarts duwen, drie keer zo snel als een orkaan van categorie 5 op aarde. Het zijn precies de “eigenaardigheden” van deze buitenaardse wereld die onderzoekers ertoe hebben aangezet er nieuwe aandacht aan te besteden met behulp van de James Webb.

De nieuwe waarnemingen maakten het mogelijk om koolstofdioxide, zware metalen in de atmosfeer, de hoeveelheid water en zuurstof te meten. Zo ontdekten ze de aanwezigheid van waterstofsulfide, dat op onze planeet wordt uitgestoten door vulkanen en ontbindend organisch materiaal. Het is een licht ontvlambaar, schadelijk en kleurloos gas. Voor wetenschappers was het geen echte verrassing: men vermoedde al dat HD 189733 b, als zijnde gasreus, dit molecuul zou kunnen bevatten, dat ook op Uranus en Jupiter aanwezig is. Tot nu toe is dit gas echter zelden buiten het zonnestelsel gedetecteerd, behalve in de ruimte tussen de sterren.

Op zoek naar andere werelden met waterstofsulfide

Guangwei Fu, een astrofysicus aan de Johns Hopkins University, Maryland, noemde de ontdekking van waterstofsulfide op de exoplaneet een belangrijke "opstap naar het vinden van dit molecuul op andere planeten en om beter te begrijpen hoe verschillende soorten werelden ontstaan." Zwavel, zo legde Fu uit, is een essentieel element voor het bouwen van complexe moleculen en is van fundamenteel belang voor de overgrote meerderheid van de levensvormen op aarde.

De aanwezigheid van buitenaards leven op HD 189733 b kan echter vrijwel zeker worden uitgesloten, vanwege de extreem hoge temperaturen, maar ook vanwege de meteorologische omstandigheden. Het feit dat er waterstofsulfide aanwezig is op de exoplaneet doet ons echter denken dat andere werelden buiten ons zonnestelsel dit zouden kunnen bevatten, samen met mogelijke buitenaardse levensvormen. De volgende stap van de onderzoekers zal zijn om andere hete planeten vergelijkbaar met Jupiter te observeren met behulp van de James Webb om de aanwezigheid van hetzelfde gas te evalueren.

• https://youtu.be/xxs_et1yQlY

• https://youtu.be/UVS4tpWWNTM

{ https://www.curioctopus.nl/ }

Yalçin Yalman Speaks: Unveiling the Turkey UFO Phenomenon

The enigmatic Kumburgaz UFO sightings, recorded between 2007 and 2009, have captivated the imaginations of UFO enthusiasts worldwide. At the heart of this phenomenon is Yalçin Yalman, the man behind the camera. In a recent groundbreaking interview, Yalman has broken his silence, providing new insights into his extraordinary experiences, the beings he encountered, and his predictions for future sightings. This article delves into Yalman’s journey and the broader implications of the Turkey UFO phenomenon.

A Journey Begun in Childhood

Yalçin Yalman’s fascination with UFOs began at the tender age of 12. His early years were marked by vivid dreams and astral journeys, during which he claimed to encounter beings from the Zeta Reticuli star system. These experiences left a profound impact on him, laying the foundation for a lifelong quest to understand and document extraterrestrial phenomena.

At the age of 20, while serving in the military, Yalman had a pivotal encounter. He reported seeing a hexagonal craft in the sky that communicated with him telepathically, urging him to follow it. This incident, coupled with his earlier experiences, cemented his belief in the existence of extraterrestrial life and set him on a path of relentless pursuit.

• https://youtu.be/Nhsz1Wkkp18

The Kumburgaz UFO Footage

Between 2007 and 2009, Yalman captured several significant UFO sightings in Kumburgaz, Turkey. Using a Canon XL1 mini DV camera and later a Sony handicam with a telescoping lens, he recorded footage of hexagonal and triangular crafts, some of which appeared to have humanoid figures inside. This footage gained substantial attention and was validated by Turkish authorities and scientists, including TÜBİTAK, Turkey’s scientific and technological research council.

Despite the recognition, Yalman’s journey was fraught with challenges. He faced severe financial difficulties and homelessness, which hindered his ability to continue his work. However, he felt an irresistible compulsion to document these sightings, often feeling as though he was under some form of hypnosis or guided influence.

Astral Contact and Beings from Zeta Reticuli

Yalman claimed to have had ongoing astral contact with beings from Zeta Reticuli. According to him, these beings chose him for a mission to share their existence and information with humanity. He believed these beings protected him from malevolent entities, specifically reptilians from the Orion constellation.

One of Yalman’s most startling revelations was a vision suggesting that an ancient spacecraft was buried under Mount Nemrut in Turkey. This vision, he claimed, could have profound implications for our understanding of extraterrestrial life and ancient human history.

Predictions for Future Sightings

In his interview, Yalman made bold predictions about future UFO sightings. He stated that two large spacecraft would be visible in regions such as Peru, Chile, Brazil, or northern New Mexico by specific dates: July 28 and between August 15-20. He believed these sightings would occur in cloudy weather and hoped that their occurrence would validate his experiences and insights.

Challenges and Validation

Yalman’s claims have been met with skepticism from some quarters. Detractors question the authenticity of his footage, suggesting it could be hoaxed. However, Yalman and his supporters emphasize the multiple witnesses and expert validations that corroborate his accounts.

Throughout his life, Yalman faced numerous personal hardships, including health issues like epilepsy and legal troubles that led to imprisonment. These challenges, however, did not deter him from his mission. He continued to document his experiences and share them with the world, driven by a deep-seated belief in the significance of his work.

VIDEO:

• Chris Lehto – Yalçin Yalman Breaks Silence: Inside the Turkey UFO Phenomenon

• https://youtu.be/1RF6dl4hQ1g

• https://youtu.be/HciJorFh1Jg

Yalçin Yalman’s message to those interested in UFO phenomena is clear: faith and a pure heart are essential for making contact or capturing footage of extraterrestrial entities. He expressed a strong desire to share his knowledge and experiences with humanity before he dies, highlighting the potential role of extraterrestrial beings in shaping human history and future.

In conclusion, Yalçin Yalman’s revelations provide a fascinating glimpse into the Turkey UFO phenomenon. His experiences, while controversial, offer valuable insights into the potential existence of extraterrestrial life and its interaction with humanity. As the dates of his predicted sightings approach, the world will be watching closely to see if his extraordinary claims hold true.

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

Notably, at the time of the NASA report’s release, the UAP Independent Study Team said that it had not examined or attempted to evaluate any actual incident reports. Instead, it focused on providing recommendations that could help improve future UAP studies while highlighting resources NASA can provide that may assist with such investigations.

Since the NASA report’s publication last year, little additional information has been made publicly available about what progress—if any—the American space agency and its recently appointed Director of UAP Research have made and to what degree NASA will remain involved in the U.S. government’s evaluation of UAP.

Now, almost a year after the NASA team’s findings were released, follow-up inquiries made by The Debrief appear to convey NASA officials’ reluctance to discuss the agency’s status regarding the UAP issue.

Mark McInerney, NASA’s current Director of UAP Research, who has held the position since his appointment in September 2023

(Credit: NASA).

Altogether, few NASA officials The Debrief reached out to responded or were willing to speak on the record about any progress the agency has made regarding UAP since the release of last year’s report, although one individual speaking on background did acknowledge that the agency is not historically recognized for having significant involvement in the study of what have traditionally been called unidentified flying objects (UFOs).

The study team’s 36-page report issued last year, which featured several entire pages displaying colorful images of lightning, aurorae, and other luminous phenomena that may occasionally be mistaken for UAP, provided guidance on the types of information that the study team deemed to be most useful in helping to determine the nature and origin of UAPs.

The report also emphasized the importance of improving sensor calibration, obtaining multiple measurements, and leveraging NASA’s expertise in a comprehensive data acquisition strategy within a whole-of-government framework.

“Currently, UAP data analysis is hindered by poor sensor calibration, lack of multiple measurements, insufficient sensor metadata, and absence of baseline data,” the report states. To address these issues, the UAPIST members said NASA should contribute to data collection efforts, using well-calibrated sensors and possibly utilizing multispectral or hyperspectral data in a rigorous acquisition campaign.

The study team’s assessment also advocates for the use of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) as essential tools for identifying and potentially resolving UAP occurrences, although emphasizing that better data will be needed than what currently exists in data made available publicly by both government and civilian agencies. Notably absent from the NASA report had been any investigations or analyses related to recent or past UAP sightings.

Coinciding with the release of its report last year, Daniel Evans, assistant deputy associate administrator for research with NASA’s Science Mission Directorate and one of the UAPIST team members, emphasized NASA’s commitment to understanding what UAP might represent.

“We at NASA believe that understanding UAP is vital,” Evans said last September at a press conference announcing the release of his team’s findings.

“The presence of UAP raises serious concerns about the safety of our skies,” Evans said, adding that “by understanding the nature of UAP, we can ensure that our skies remain a safe space for all.”

The Debrief also contacted Evans last month for feedback on any progress NASA officials have made following the report’s release last September, but as of the time of publication, it had not yet received a response.

“The top takeaway from the study is that there is a lot more to learn,” NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said following the report’s release. “We will use NASA’s expertise to work with other agencies to analyze UAP,” Nelson added, stressing the importance of shifting the UAP dialogue from sensationalism to science and sharing findings globally.

Nelson also said that his agency will remain committed to transparency on the issue and to attempting to better understand what UAP might represent.

“We are open, and we’re going to be open about this,” Nelson also said in response to a question from filmmaker James Fox, who attended last September’s press conference.

“We don’t know what these UAP are,” Nelson said, “but we’re gonna try to find out.”

However, in contrast to Nelson’s statements at the time, NASA has remained mostly silent on the UAP issue since the report’s release last year, providing few indications publicly that it plans to maintain any degree of active engagement with the matter, a reality that appeared to be reflected in the limited guidance agency officials and former members of NASA’s UAP study team were willing to provide in response to The Debrief’s inquiries over the last several weeks.

Following the publication of the UAPIST report last year, a short article published by Boston University’s Photonics Center quoted Joshua Semeter, a professor with the school’s Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and a member of NASA’s UAP study team who was appointed to the group for his specialization in imaging and remote sensing observations.

“Even Professor Semeter was surprised to find the report focused more on mapping out next steps,” the article said of Semeter, who called UAP “a strangely polarizing topic.”

“One way to think about it is that whenever you’re faced with incomplete data, your brain fills in the rest, that’s our tendency,” Semeter was quoted saying of people’s tendency to exhibit biases regarding UAP, even when it involves academics studying the phenomenon. “The tendency of people looking into UAP is to fall on one side or the other with respect to an incomplete picture,” he added.

The Debrief reached out to Professor Semeter for further comment, but like with other study team members we contacted, received no response to our requests.

Earlier this year, astrophysicist David Spergel, President of the Simons Foundation and chair of NASA’s UAP study team, also spoke briefly about the group’s assessment during a NASA Future In-Space Operations seminar that was streamed on February 7, 2024.

Weeks later, in a document published online detailing the proceedings of the NASA Advisory Council Science Committee Spring Meeting on March 25, 2024, details outlining an earlier NASA Earth Science Advisory Committee (ESAC) meeting included a summary of the UAP report’s findings, given that UAPIST was a subcommittee formed under the ESAC.

“The ESAC finds that the UAPIST Subcommittee has addressed the questions outlined in the Statement of Task, and thereby has met its Terms of Reference,” the summary states. “The ESAC finds that the scope of the Subcommittee report, including any recommendations, is beyond NASA’s Earth Science program.”

A brief ESAC Procedural Recommendation also states that “The ESAC does not have the expertise to make detailed recommendations to ESD regarding the report,” concluding that “The ESAC accordingly recommends that the report be conveyed to agency leadership.”

No additional information has currently been made available by NASA regarding any data collection plan the agency may have implemented, nor any research methods, systems integration, budget appropriation, staffing, or other efforts being undertaken by NASA’s current Director of UAP Research. Further specific requests for updates on all these issues by The Debrief remained unanswered in our communications with NASA officials.

NASA’s lack of communication on the UAP subject following the release of last year’s report leaves more questions than answers about the agency’s current stance on the issue, as well as what plans, if any, it may have in terms of ongoing engagement and coordination with other federal agencies.

While the UAP Independent Study Team concluded its report last year by emphasizing there is currently no evidence credibly linking UAP sightings to extraterrestrial technologies, the authors nonetheless conceded that such possibilities at least remain on the table.

“At this point there is no reason to conclude that existing UAP reports have an extraterrestrial source. However, if we acknowledge that as one possibility, then those objects must have traveled through our solar system to get here,” the report’s authors wrote.

“Just as the galaxy does not stop at the outskirts of the solar system, the solar system also includes Earth and its environs. Thus, there is an intellectual continuum between extrasolar technosignatures, solar system SETI, and potential unknown alien technology operating in Earth’s atmosphere.”

• https://youtu.be/-9vzF4I96RY

• https://youtu.be/9ZS5cpCtPPQ

• https://youtu.be/RKnXUlwdG6w

“If we recognize the plausibility of any of these,” the authors concluded, “then we should recognize that all are at least plausible.”

• Micah Hanks is the Editor-in-Chief and Co-Founder of The Debrief. He can be reached by email at micah@thedebrief.org. Follow his work at micahhanks.com and on X: @MicahHanks

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

A Way to Solve the UFO Mystery

Here's how to identify Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (previously UFOs).

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

THE VATICAN HIDDEN UFO SECRETS?!?

There's some interesting paintings inside the Vatican ... and it's worth taking a closer look at what's being depicted in the sky.

TMZ Studios has a new series, "Strange & Suspicious," now airing on a dozen FOX stations, where we explore unexplained and downright weird stories, and now we're combing over the artwork inside the headquarters of the Roman Catholic Church.

In several paintings that are centuries old, there are some mysterious shapes in the heavens above ... sparking comparisons to flying saucers.

The potential references to extraterrestrial craft are hidden in plain sight ... some are subtle, and some are seemingly obvious ... like the objects appearing to shoot beams down from the sky.

Of course, there were no flying objects of any kind way back when painters were creating these works ... making this phenomenon even more interesting.

Some inside the Vatican are open to the possibility of alien life ... making these mysterious paintings worth another look.

We try to answer all these UFO questions and more on "Strange & Suspicious" ... plus bizarre phenomena and true crime.

• https://youtu.be/iEUeaRvOGtg

{ https://www.tmz.com/ }

Tachyons: Facts about these faster-than-light particles

Traveling faster than light and time-travel could be real for tachyons. If one thing science fiction excels at, it's allowing us to marvel at the breaking of the physical laws of the universe. We watch and read in wonder as the warp engines of the starship Enterprise push it to beyond the speed of light, or as Barry or Wally  —  whoever is carrying the name of the Flash at the time  —  does the same in no more than a pair of yellow boots. 

Likewise, we enjoy tales of adventurers like the Doctor, or Doc Brown, using weird seemingly antiquated machinery to violate the laws of causality. What if there was a fundamental particle that could do all these things? Moving faster than light like the Flash, and traveling back through time without the need for a TARDIS or a Delorian or yellow boots. 

That’s a tachyon. But make no mistake, these particles aren’t just the idling's of science fiction writers. Tachyons are the stuff of "hard" science. 

Related: 

• What would happen if the speed of light was much lower? 

{ https://www.space.com/ }

Do Tachyons Exist as Particles?

Tachyons are hypothetical particles that always travel faster than light. Until recently, they were generally regarded as entities that did not fit into the special theory of relativity. According to a new paper in the journal Physical Review D, these faster-than-light particles are ‘not only not ruled out by the theory, but allow us to understand its causal structure better.’

An AI impression of tachyons.

“Motion at speeds beyond the speed of light is one of the most controversial issues in physics,” said Professor Andrzej Dragan from the University of Warsaw and National University of Singapore and his colleagues.

“Hypothetical particles that could move at superluminal speeds, called tachyons, are the enfant terrible of modern physics.”

“Until recently, they were widely regarded as creations that do not fit into the special theory of relativity.”

“At least three reasons for the non-existence of tachyons within quantum theory were known so far,” they added.

"The first is the ground state of the tachyon field was supposed to be unstable, which would mean that such superluminal particles would form avalanches.”

“The second is a change in the inertial observer was supposed to lead to a change in the number of particles observed in his reference system, yet the existence of, say, seven particles cannot depend on who is looking at them.”

“The third reason is the energy of the superluminal particles could take on negative values.”

“The difficulties with tachyons so far had a common cause,” the physicists said.

“It turned out that the boundary conditions that determine the course of physical processes include not only the initial state but also the final state of the system.”

“To put it simply: in order to calculate the probability of a quantum process involving tachyons, it is necessary to know not only its past initial state but also its future final state.”

“Once this fact was incorporated into the theory, all the difficulties mentioned earlier completely disappeared and tachyon theory became mathematically consistent.”

“It’s a bit like Internet advertising — one simple trick can solve your problems,” Professor Dragan said.

“The idea that the future can influence the present instead of the present determining the future is not new in physics.”

“However, until now, this type of view has at best been an unorthodox interpretation of certain quantum phenomena, and this time we were forced to this conclusion by the theory itself.”

“To make room for tachyons we had to expand the state space.”

“We also predict that the expansion of the boundary conditions has its consequences: a new kind of quantum entanglement appears in the theory, mixing past and future, which is not present in conventional particle theory.”

The team’s paper also raises the question of whether tachyons described in this way are purely a mathematical possibility or whether such particles are likely to be observed one day.

“Tachyons are not only a possibility but are, in fact, an indispensable component of the spontaneous breaking process responsible for the formation of matter,” the authors said.

“This hypothesis would mean that Higgs field excitations, before the symmetry was spontaneously broken, could travel at superluminal speeds in the vacuum.”

• Jerzy Paczos et al. 2024. Covariant quantum field theory of tachyons. Phys. Rev. D 110 (1): 015006; doi: 10.1103/PhysRevD.110.015006
• This article is a version of a press-release provided by the University of Warsaw

{ https://www.sci.news/ }

Ancient Mars was Cool and Relatively Wet, New Study Suggests

In a new study, planetary scientists found strong similarities between soils found in Gale Crater on Mars and those of Canada’s Newfoundland, a cold subarctic climate.

X-ray amorphous material comprises 15-73 wt.% of sedimentary rocks and eolian sediments in Gale Crater. This material is variably siliceous and iron rich but aluminum poor. The presence of volatiles is consistent with the existence of incipient weathering products. To better understand the implications of this material for past aqueous conditions on Mars, Feldman et al. investigated X-ray amorphous material formation and longevity within terrestrial iron rich soils with varying ages and environmental conditions using bulk and selective dissolution methods, X-ray diffraction, and transmission electron microscopy.

Image credit: M. Kornmesser / ESO.

Scientists often use soil to depict environmental history, as the minerals present can tell the story of landscape evolution through time.

Understanding more about how these materials formed could help answer long-standing questions about historical conditions on the red planet.

The soils and rocks of Gale Crater provide a record of Mars’ climate between 3 and 4 billion years ago, during a time of relatively abundant water on the planet — and the same time period that saw life first appear on Earth.

“Gale Crater is a paleo lakebed — there was obviously water present. But what were the environmental conditions when the water was there?” said Dr. Anthony Feldman, a soil scientist and geomorphologist at Desert Research Institute.

“We’re never going to find a direct analog to the Martian surface, because conditions are so different between Mars and Earth. But we can look at trends under terrestrial conditions and use those to try to extrapolate to Martian questions.”

NASA’s Curiosity Rover has been investigating Gale Crater since 2011, and has found a plethora of soil materials known as X-ray amorphous materials.

These components of the soil lack the typical repeating atomic structure that defines minerals, and therefore can’t be easily characterized using traditional techniques like X-ray diffraction.

When X-rays are shot at crystalline materials like a diamond, for example, the X-rays scatter at characteristic angles based on the mineral’s internal structure.

However, X-ray amorphous material does not produce these characteristic fingerprints.

This X-ray diffraction method was used by the Curiosity Rover to demonstrate that X-ray amorphous material comprised between 15 and 73% of the soil and rock samples tested in Gale Crater.

“You can think of X-Ray amorphous materials like Jello. It’s this soup of different elements and chemicals that just slide past each other,” Dr. Feldman said.

Curiosity also conducted chemical analyses on the soil and rock samples, finding that the amorphous material was rich in iron and silica but deficient in aluminum.

Beyond the limited chemical information, scientists don’t yet understand what the amorphous material is, or what its presence implies about Mars’ historical environment.

Uncovering more information about how these enigmatic materials form and persist on Earth could help answer persistent questions about the red planet.

Dr. Feldman and his colleagues visited three locations in search of similar X-ray amorphous material: the Tablelands of Gros Morne National Park in Newfoundland, Northern California’s Klamath Mountains, and western Nevada.

These three sites had serpentine soils that the researchers expected to be chemically similar to the X-ray amorphous material at Gale Crater: rich in iron and silicon but lacking in aluminum.

The three locations also provided a range of rainfall, snowfall, and temperature that could help provide insight into the type of environmental conditions that produce amorphous material and encourage its preservation.

At each site, the research team examined the soils using X-ray diffraction analysis and transmission electron microscopy, which allowed them to see the soil materials at a more detailed level.

The subarctic conditions of Newfoundland produced materials chemically similar to those found in Gale Crater that also lacked in crystalline structure. The soils produced in warmer climates like California and Nevada did not.

“This shows that you need the water there in order to form these materials,” Dr. Feldman said.

“But it needs to be cold, near-freezing mean annual temperature conditions in order to preserve the amorphous material in the soils.”

Amorphous material is often considered to be relatively unstable, meaning that at an atomic level, the atoms haven’t yet organized into their final, more crystalline forms.

“There’s something going on in the kinetics — or the rate of reaction — that is slowing it down so that these materials can be preserved over geologic time scales,” Dr. Feldman said.

“What we’re suggesting is that very cold, close to freezing conditions, is one particular kinetic limiting factor that allows for these materials to form and be preserved.”

“This study improves our understanding of the climate of Mars.”

“The results suggest that the abundance of this material in Gale Crater is consistent with subarctic conditions, similar to what we would see in, for instance, Iceland.”

• The team’s work appears in the journal Communications Earth and Environment.
• A.D. Feldman et al. 2024, Fe-rich X-ray amorphous material records past climate and persistence of water on Mars. Commun Earth Environ 5, 364; doi: 10.1038/s43247-024-01495-4
• This article is based on a press-release from Desert Research Institute.

{ https://www.sci.news/ }

POSTED BY ALAN BOYLE

Ariane 6 Rocket’s Debut Puts Europe Back in the Launch Game

Europe’s next-generation Ariane 6 rocket rose today for the first time from its South American spaceport, ending a yearlong launch gap caused by the Ariane 5’s retirement.

The heavy-lift launch vehicle’s demonstration flight began with liftoff at 4 p.m. local time (19:00 GMT) from the Kourou spaceport in French Guiana, and continued with satellite deployments in orbit.

“A completely new rocket is not launched often, and success is far from guaranteed,” Josef Aschbacher, the European Space Agency’s director general, said in a statement. “I am privileged to have witnessed this historic moment when Europe’s new generation of the Ariane family lifted off – successfully – effectively reinstating European access to space.”

ESA and its partners have been working on the two-stage Ariane 6 since the early 2010s as an upgrade to the Ariane 5 series, which lofted more than 100 spacecraft (including NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope) into orbit beginning in 1998. Ariane 6 development cost is estimated at nearly $4 billion.

The first Ariane 6 was originally planned for 2020, but technical issues and the COVID-19 pandemic forced delays. After last year’s final Ariane 5 mission, Europe’s launch industry could offer only the Vega small-lift launch vehicle, leaving a gap in the medium- to heavy-lift market.

The market for the Ariane 6 is dramatically different from what it was when the Ariane 5 entered service more than a quarter-century ago. Thanks to SpaceX and other commercial ventures, rocket reusability is becoming the standard in the industry — raising questions about how competitive non-reusable rockets like the Ariane 6 can be.

ArianeGroup, a joint venture between Airbus and Safran, is counting on Ariane 6’s success. But in January, The Financial Times quoted Aschbacher as saying “there is no guarantee” that ArianeGroup would continue to be Europe’s launch company of choice.

The Ariane 6 line features a modular design that can be adapted for missions to low Earth orbit or to deep space. For today’s mission, known as VA262, the rocket’s core stage was augmented by two side-mounted solid rocket boosters. Another configuration calls for four strap-on boosters for heavy-lift missions. The four-booster configuration can deliver up to 21.6 metric tons to low Earth orbit.

An overview of Europe’s new rocket Ariane 6. Credit: ESA

Today’s launch sent the Ariane 6’s upper stage to an altitude of about 600 kilometers (373 miles). Nine satellites were deployed, and five onboard experiments were activated.

Another objective involved demonstrating the upper stage’s ability to relight its Vinci engine for orbital adjustments and deorbiting. Two experimental re-entry capsules were supposed to be released as the mission wound down. But in an update posted to the X social-media platform, ESA said the technology demonstration phase showed “an unexpected result which will only affect the end of the mission.”

During a follow-up briefing, mission managers said the upper stage’s auxiliary power unit suffered an anomaly that caused a premature engine shutdown. As a result, the re-entry capsules were not released, and the upper stage remained in orbit.

The next Ariane 6 mission is scheduled to put France’s CSO-3 spy satellite into orbit later this year. About 30 Ariane 6 launches are said to be booked already, including 18 launches for Amazon’s Project Kuiper satellites. Arianespace CEO Stéphane Israël said today’s end-of-mission anomaly would have “no consequence on the next launches.”

“We are perfectly on track now to make a second launch this year,” Israël said.

{ https://www.universetoday.com/ }

A Hopping Robot Could Explore Europa Using Locally Harvested Water

However, the hopping robot itself is well suited for the environment in Europa. Its designers intended to make it “terrain agnostic,” meaning it could traverse even the harshest terrain the icy moon could throw at it. These would include penitentes, shards of ice that could be meters tall, and difficult for ground-based robots to traverse.

SPARROW could fly over them, collect interesting samples, and return to the lander to refuel and deposit them. Then, it could go out again in a different direction. To model this system architecture, the JPL team spent Phase I trying to determine the best propulsion system for the robot and modeling control algorithms for the flights.

First, let’s tackle the propulsion system. The lander accompanying SPARROW would have to mine ice off the moon’s surface, then heat it and store it as water. When SPARROW returned from a hop, it would use the water to refuel. Five different propulsion methods were considered as part of the study. Still, the best turned out to be a “hot water thruster,” where SPARROW would internally heat the water supplied by the lander, then eject that out in a burst of propulsive force to launch the robot off the surface.

The second major part of the paper was controlling that propulsion. Trajectory correction is critical to mission success, but in this case, the designers believe that no matter where the robot ends up, it will be able to collect a sample and return to the lander. This is due to its gimballed design, which allows the robot to consistently orient correctly, even after bouncing along a frozen surface for a while.

There is still much work to do before the mission is ready to go, though. Some of the most pressing questions are how to stop ice from forming in the robot’s propulsion nozzle and throughout its structural cage. Such blockages could easily throw off any existing trajectory calculations and theoretically immobilize the hopper entirely if they were severe enough.

However, no work is planned to solve those problems for now as the project has yet to receive Phase II funding from NIAC, and work on it appears to have stalled. Dr. Gareth Meirion-Griffith, the primary investigator on the project, has moved on from JPL to take a job at Collins Aerospace. Even so, someday, the author’s ideas might be integrated into a Europa lander mission—we’ll have to wait and see.

Learn More:

• JPL – This Hopping Robot Could Explore the Solar System’s Icy Moons
• Meirion-Griffith et al. – SPARROW: Steam Propelled Autonomous Retrieval Robot for Ocean Worlds
• UT – A Robot Hopper to Explore the Moon’s Dangerous Terrain
• UT – Miniaturized Jumping Robots Could Study An Asteroid’s Gravity

Lead Image:

• Artist’s depiction of SPARROW and it’s lander operating on an ocean world.
  Credit – NASA JPL / Caltech

{ https://www.universetoday.com/ }

AI Focuses UFO Over Las Vegas, Nevada On Feb 23, 2021, UAP Sighting News. 

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

AI Focused Photo of Tom Delonge Of Blink UAP Photo, UFO Sighting News. Video.

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

Are UFOs Killing Cows? Unraveling the Cattle Mutilation Mystery

Aliens traveling across the universe to perform fatal experiments on American cows might sound like the plot of a science fiction movie, but for many, it is a disturbing reality. For the past five decades, new stories about so-called cattle mutilations have emerged annually, each echoing a familiar narrative: cows found dead with precise surgical cuts, missing body parts, and sometimes, no blood left in their bodies.

The Unsettling Phenomenon

The phenomenon of cattle mutilations, often abbreviated to “mutes,” involves more than just cattle. Various animals have been found violently killed, exhibiting strange and precise cuts as if made by a laser or surgical instrument. Typically, there are no tracks around the carcasses, and the bodies are often exsanguinated, with certain parts, such as eyes, sexual organs, and the anus, defleshed or removed. This eerie scenario is frequently accompanied by reports of UFO sightings, contributing to the prevailing theory that extraterrestrial beings are responsible.

Historical Cases

The American fascination with cattle mutilations began in earnest in 1967 in Alamosa, Colorado. A rancher found his missing horse, Lady (incorrectly reported by the media as “Snippy”), dead with parts of its body stripped of flesh. The rancher’s mother claimed to have seen a UFO on the day the horse went missing, sparking wild rumors that quickly spread through the national media. Despite a scientific examination by the Condon Committee, which concluded that Lady likely died from a severe infection and scavenger activity, the sensational story of alien involvement persisted.

Media and Public Hysteria

The 1970s saw a wave of cattle mutilation reports across the United States, particularly in Colorado. Local journalists, such as Dorothy Aldridge, fueled public hysteria with headlines suggesting satanic cults were responsible for the gruesome deaths. This narrative quickly spread, inciting fear and panic among local communities. Law enforcement, local governments, and even the governor got involved, offering rewards and promising thorough investigations, which only served to validate the public’s fears.

Enter the UFO Theorists

Amidst the growing hysteria, UFO enthusiasts began to adopt cattle mutilations as potential evidence of extraterrestrial activity. Figures like Tom Adams, who meticulously collected and shared information on mutilation cases, played a crucial role in linking the phenomenon to UFOs. His newsletters and packages sent to law enforcement helped establish a perceived national pattern of alien involvement.

Cementing the Alien Theory

The theory gained significant traction with the release of Linda Moulton Howe’s TV documentary, “A Strange Harvest,” and her follow-up book, “Alien Harvest.” Howe’s work posited that aliens were harvesting genetic material from these animals, a narrative that resonated deeply within the UFO community. Her investigations and assertions that a government-extraterrestrial treaty might allow for such activities added a layer of conspiracy, further entrenching the alien theory in popular culture.

Investigations and Skepticism

Despite the widespread belief in extraterrestrial involvement, thorough investigations have repeatedly debunked these claims. Journalist Dan Kagan and science fiction writer Ian Summers spent two years investigating cattle mutilations for their book “Mute Evidence.” They found that many sensational stories were either exaggerations or outright fabrications. In many cases, local experts, often unqualified to perform postmortem analyses, made unfounded conclusions about the causes of death.

VIDEO:

• New York Post – Are UFOs killing cows? We investigate the “cattle mutilation” phenomenon | The Basement Office

• https://youtu.be/SwMh0Gt-shE

The Colorado Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and an independent investigation led by retired FBI agent Kenneth Rommel in New Mexico both found no evidence supporting paranormal or extraterrestrial causes. Instead, they attributed the mutilations to natural predation, scavenger activity, and decomposition. In some instances, human perpetrators inspired by media coverage were identified.

Ongoing Myth and Media Sensation

Despite the lack of scientific evidence, the cattle mutilation myth persists, largely due to media portrayal. Articles often focus on sensational aspects, such as UFOs and satanic cults, while neglecting to mention the absence of proper forensic analysis. This ongoing cycle of media-driven hysteria ensures that the image of a flying saucer abducting a cow remains a potent and enduring part of American folklore.

In conclusion, while the idea of UFOs killing cows makes for compelling stories, thorough investigations have consistently debunked these claims. The cattle mutilation phenomenon serves as a fascinating case study of how media sensationalism, public hysteria, and the desire to believe in the extraordinary can create and sustain myths, even in the face of contradicting scientific evidence.

Mutilations differ from typical livestock deaths because the carcasses are found with body parts removed in an unusual fashion.   

Getty Images/iStockphoto

Cattle mutilations have been going on for decades.

Getty Images/iStockphoto

LINKS EXTRA VIDEOS

• https://youtu.be/Mhkc_ST8HEA

• https://youtu.be/7_P5dbHWRqA

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

Story by Danny Gutmann

 

{ https://www.msn.com/en-us/}

Residents of Tampico, Mexico, reckon the city is protected from hurricanes by an underwater alien base, and a new video from the area now appears to show a UFO flying above

The city is a hotbed of UFO activity...

(stock) (Image: Getty Images/iStockphoto)

A video has been shared on TikTok that supposedly shows a UFO flying in the sky above a city in Mexico.

Residents of Tampico, in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas, have long claimed the city is a hotspot for extra-terrestrial activity.

This latest incident was captured by a young man in broad daylight. The 22-second clip shows a grey object slowly moving between clouds, and it has been viewed more than 10,000 times on the video-sharing app.

READ MORE: 

• Aliens in 'white cubes' swooped down to snatch two women off street, claims witness

RELATED ARTICLES

• UK government's secret UFO investigation came to 'very strong' verdict

• 'I faced 10ft demon creature aliens in my garden – even the police were nervous'

Reacting in the comments section, one TikTok user said: "You can see them very often. I’m surprised that people still believe we are the only ones in an infinite universe." Another wrote: "We are not alone." However not everyone was convinced by the clip, with another comment reading: "I don't see anything."

The video adds fuel to a bizarre theory perpetuated by Tampico residents - that the city is protected by aliens.

Locals reckon there is an underwater alien base some 13km from Miramar Beach. They claim this is why the city hasn't been hit by a tropical storm or hurricane since 1966.

Following Storm Inez that year, people started to spot "light discs" that vanished into the sea off Miramar Beach. And since then there have been no hurricanes. The theory has gained so much traction that alien festivals are now held in the area.

However, there is a boring scientific explanation as to why Tampico seems to be protected from hurricanes. The water near the coast of southern Tamaulipas is slightly cooler than it is further south or further north. Scientists say cooler waters can "pull" air masses in, diverting hurricanes north to the US or to southern Mexico.

{ https://www.dailystar.co.uk/ }

Residents of Tampico, Mexico, reckon the city is protected from hurricanes by an underwater alien base, and a new video from the area now appears to show a UFO flying above

The city is a hotbed of UFO activity...

(stock) (Image: Getty Images/iStockphoto)

A video has been shared on TikTok that supposedly shows a UFO flying in the sky above a city in Mexico.

Residents of Tampico, in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas, have long claimed the city is a hotspot for extra-terrestrial activity.

This latest incident was captured by a young man in broad daylight. The 22-second clip shows a grey object slowly moving between clouds, and it has been viewed more than 10,000 times on the video-sharing app.

READ MORE: 

• Aliens in 'white cubes' swooped down to snatch two women off street, claims witness

RELATED ARTICLES

• UK government's secret UFO investigation came to 'very strong' verdict

• 'I faced 10ft demon creature aliens in my garden – even the police were nervous'

Reacting in the comments section, one TikTok user said: "You can see them very often. I’m surprised that people still believe we are the only ones in an infinite universe." Another wrote: "We are not alone." However not everyone was convinced by the clip, with another comment reading: "I don't see anything."

The video adds fuel to a bizarre theory perpetuated by Tampico residents - that the city is protected by aliens.

Locals reckon there is an underwater alien base some 13km from Miramar Beach. They claim this is why the city hasn't been hit by a tropical storm or hurricane since 1966.

Following Storm Inez that year, people started to spot "light discs" that vanished into the sea off Miramar Beach. And since then there have been no hurricanes. The theory has gained so much traction that alien festivals are now held in the area.

However, there is a boring scientific explanation as to why Tampico seems to be protected from hurricanes. The water near the coast of southern Tamaulipas is slightly cooler than it is further south or further north. Scientists say cooler waters can "pull" air masses in, diverting hurricanes north to the US or to southern Mexico.

{ https://www.dailystar.co.uk/ }

New Witness Reports Seeing Military Images Of UFO, Alien Body From Roswell Crash Site

BY DOUGLAS CHARLES

A new witness who claims to have seen United States military images of alien bodies at the alleged Roswell UFO crash site in New Mexico says he is willing to take a lie detector test to prove he is telling the truth.

For those unfamiliar, in June of 1947 the United States Army announced that it had recovered a flying disc near Alamogordo Army Air Field. One day later, the Army retracted its claim and stated that it was nothing more than a conventional weather balloon.

Since then, numerous people have come forward with eyewitness and second-hand reports that the weather balloon story was a cover-up for what the government really found in Roswell on that day: aliens.

The latest person to do so filed a new report with the National UFO Reporting Center (NUFORC) last month.

It was in 1986 that this individual claims to have seen official government photos of a UFO and an alien body from the Roswell New Mexico crash site.

“I was randomly shown two photos unexpectedly one day of the actual Roswell crash site,” the witness states. “The photo was face down with a hand cut strip of paper cut out with scissors and a piece of brownish aged scotch tape on the ends of the strip, the strip had typed on it 1947, Roswell New Mexico – Two Air force officers inspecting alien body in front of wreckage (as best as I remember).

“The other photo had no strip of paper on the back. I have been afraid to share this because of the sensitive nature and fear of reprisal from the government, but I am 70 now and I do not feel right just going to my grave whenever that might be with it. The guy wanted to share them but again, fear of reprisal.

“So, I have deep experience in photography and in certifying documents, zero doubt these were real. Basically it looked like a Graflex 4×5 inch negative camera with a flash photo taken at night. The photographer was standing and the photo was angled down to where the alien body was on the ground, mostly laying on it’s front with the head turned slightly, about three to four feet from the camera, then the body, then the two officers squatting/kneeling beside it.

“One was holding something that kind of looked like an ink pen and had held it against the arm or back of the suit on the alien and was lifting it. It looked like melted striations running down from the pen or whatever was he was holding.

“There was some space between the two officers and a little space on each side of them and you could clearly see the crashed UFO and the skin of the ship ripped and smashed open, not scattered pieces but like a wrecked car that was still together. I could see what some of the construction looked like, some bent metal tubes mostly and small like straight pieces bent up from the crash. The ship was actually smashed up against a rock and you could clearly see that.”

The witness added that he is willing to take a lie detector test or undergo hypnosis to prove that what he reported seeing in the images from Roswell is true.

“The official position I looked the other day is still is the radar balloons for detecting soviet nuclear tests and there was no UFO or alien bodies there,” he continued.

“The complete opposite is true. There is no way, shape or form that there was not an alien body and a crashed disc saucer smashed there out at the site.”

{ https://brobible.com/ }

Archaeologists Discover 4,000-Year-Old Temple and Theater in Peru

Field Museum scientist Luis Muro Ynoñán with the carving of a mythological bird creature in La Otra Banda, Cerro Las Animas. 

Ucupe Cultural Landscape Archaeological Project

The newly-discovered structures predate the famous Inca citadel of Machu Picchu by roughly 3,500 years, and were made long before the Inca and their predecessors, according to a team of archaeologists with the Ucupe Cultural Landscape Archaeological Project.

The newly-discovered archaeological site, including carving of a mythological bird creature, at La Otra Banda, Cerro Las Animas, Peru.

Image credit: Ucupe Cultural Landscape Archaeological Project.

“It was amazing. This discovery tells us about the early origins of religion in Peru,” said Dr. Muro Ynoñán, an archaeologist at the Field Museum.

“We still know very little about how and under which circumstances complex belief systems emerged in the Andes, and now we have evidence about some of the earliest religious spaces that people were creating in this part of the world.”

“We don’t know what these people called themselves, or how other people referred to them.”

Dr. Ynoñán and his team discovered the new archaeological site at La Otra Banda in Peru in 2023.

They selected a plot roughly 10 by 10 m (33 by 33 feet) and began slowly removing the sediment that had piled up over the millenia.

Just 1.8 m (6 feet) deep, they found signs of ancient walls made of mud and clay.

“It was so surprising that these very ancient structures were so close to the modern surface,” Dr. Ynoñan said.

As they dug deeper, the archaeologists found evidence that the site once housed a temple.

“We think that a large temple was built into the side of the mountain, and we’ve found one section of it,” Dr. Ynoñan said.

“One of the most exciting things we found was a small theater, with a backstage area and a staircase that led to a stage-like platform.”

“This could have been used for ritual performances in front of a selected audience.”

A team of archaeologists work on what appear to be parts of a 4,000-year-old ceremonial temple buried in a sand dune of northern Peru, in Lambayeque, Peru, Jun 27, 2024.

(Photo: Pontifical Catholic University via Reuters)

Flanking one of the theater’s staircases, the archaeologists found mud panels decorated with elaborate carved designs showing a bird-like creature.

“It’s a very beautiful and, at the same time, intriguing design, of a mythological creature — it’s like an anthropomorphic bird, but with some reptilian features,” Dr. Ynoñán said.

“This figure stood out to us because it gives important clues as to when the temple was built and how this construction relates to other ancient temples built by early groups from the Andes.”

“Other images of mythological creatures similar to the one found by our team have been found in Peru, dating to what archaeologists call the Initial Period, roughly 4,000 years ago.”

“Despite the name, the people of the Initial Period were not the first to live in the region: people have inhabited Peru for 15,000 years.”

Close-up of the carving of a mythological bird creature in La Otra Banda, Cerro 

“Around 5000-3000 BCE, called the Preceramic Period, people in coastal Peru began creating societies and complex political systems.”

“The Initial Period came next, starting around 2,000 BCE and lasting until 900 BCE.”

“The Initial Period is important because it’s when we first start to see evidence of an institutionalized religion in Peru.”

“The bird creature at this temple resembles a figure known from the Chavín region, nearly 500 years later. This new site could help reveal the origins of this religion

VIDEOS:

• https://youtu.be/id4R4lT1qEc

• https://youtu.be/76dTXIB9eRw

{ https://www.sci.news/ }

AI focused, UFO over Colima's Volcán de Fuego On June 13, 2016, Photos, UAP Sightings Daily.

Date of sighting: June 13, 2016 

Location of sighting: Colima Volcano, Mexico 

News source: 

• http://inexplicata.blogspot.tw 

Ok so I used a photo from 2016 and it came out 100% focused and it's true...it's a real UFO. The disk is thicker in the center area where there are two windows visible. Also the craft has some unusual blue tenticles on the upper left. Very odd looking UFO but still a classic design. This is 100% proof that aliens do have a base below Colima Volcano which is active and too dangerous for humans to climb. 

Scott C. Waring 

 

 Inexplicata states:

Mexico: A "Flying Saucer" over Colima's Volcán de Fuego Mexico's Criterio Hidalgo (from Pachuca, state of Hidalgo)has reprinted a photograph of an alleged UFO captured by Webcams de Mexico (which has acquired a worldwide reputation for its captures of unusual phenomena over the Popocatepetl Volcano). The text reads as follows: "A new UFO photo has gone viral on social media, shown near the Volcan de Fuego in the state of Colima. Through its Facebook account, Webcams de Mexico displayed the photograph last Friday, showing an object crossing the sky near the fiery colossus. The photo asks the question "what could it be?" in order that users may leave their comments about what appears to be a flying saucers."

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

AI Focused Photo! Alien Structure On Asteroid 2011 MD, UFO Sighting News. The UAP Is Scanning Us!

Please hit subscribe. My 2011 post about this asteroid at 

• https://www.ufosightingsdaily.com/2011/06/nasa-gives-4-day-warning-of-asteroid.html

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

NASA, vrijwillige bemanning beëindigt eerste gesimuleerde missie naar Mars na 378 dagen isolatie

 Door Janine

Vanessa Wyche/X

De ontdekking van Mars gaat door, ook vanaf de aarde: na een jaar heeft de eerste bemanning die betrokken was bij een simulatie op de rode planeet zijn ongelooflijke ervaring beëindigd.

De eerste simulatie op Mars vanaf de aarde is voltooid

Een van NASA's meest ambitieuze en toekomstige doelen is om Mars te bereiken met de eerste menselijke bemanning. Om zich voor te bereiden op deze langverwachte missie, nam een team vrijwilligers deel aan een 378 dagen durende simulatie die zich afspeelde op de rode planeet, terwijl ze de hele tijd op aarde bleven.

Ruim twaalf maanden van volledige isolatie, die eindigde op zaterdag 6 juli 2024, toen de vier vrijwilligers Kelly Haston, Anca Selariu, Ross Brockwell en Nathan Jones de 3D-geprinte habitat verlieten die ze op 25 juni 2023 waren binnengegaan. Dit is de eerste kunstmatige simulatie van NASA die de omgeving van Mars nabootst, gebouwd in het Johnson Space Center in Houston. De eerste bemanning van het project Crew Health and Performance Exploration Analog keerde vervolgens terug naar huis, na meer dan een jaar weg te zijn geweest van hun families.

HAPEA 1-missie afgerond: "Mars is ons doel"

NASA/X

De leiding van de missie als commandant was Haston die, toen ze met haar bemanning de simulatie verliet, begon: "Hallo. Het is echt geweldig om jullie allemaal gedag te kunnen zeggen." De emotie van de vier NASA-vrijwilligers was duidelijk, evenals het kunnen terugkeren naar huis. Jones, de arts die de missie volgde, voegde eraan toe dat de 378 dagen snel voorbijgingen, in tegenstelling tot wat je zou denken.

De groep deelde een ruimte van slechts 157 vierkante meter om uit te vinden hoe mensen op onze rode buurman zouden leven en om mogelijke strategieën te evalueren om oplossingen te ontwikkelen om ons te huisvesten. Dit omvatte onder andere wandelingen op Mars, Marswalks genaamd, het kweken van groenten, de uitdaging van beperkte beschikbare middelen en communicatievertragingen met de aarde, die de grens van 22 minuten bereikten. NASA plant nog twee CHAPEA-missies in 2025 en 2027 om andere aspecten van de toekomstige menselijke duurzaamheid op Mars te onderzoeken, afgezien van voedselvoorziening en de fysieke en mentale impact op de bemanning.

De groep deelde een ruimte van slechts 157 vierkante meter om uit te vinden hoe mensen op onze rode buurman zouden leven en om mogelijke strategieën te evalueren om oplossingen te ontwikkelen om ons te huisvesten. Dit omvatte onder andere wandelingen op Mars, Marswalks genaamd, het kweken van groenten, de uitdaging van beperkte beschikbare middelen en communicatievertragingen met de aarde, die de grens van 22 minuten bereikten. NASA plant nog twee CHAPEA-missies in 2025 en 2027 om andere aspecten van de toekomstige menselijke duurzaamheid op Mars te onderzoeken, afgezien van voedselvoorziening en de fysieke en mentale impact op de bemanning.

Steve Koerner, adjunct-directeur van het Johnson Space Center, verklaarde: "De vrijwilligers werden gescheiden van hun families, kregen een zorgvuldig voorgeschreven dieet en werden onderworpen aan veel observatie. Mars is ons doel." De belangrijkste les die men van deze ervaring heeft geleerd, meldt boordwerktuigkundige Brockwell, is het belang van een duurzaam leven op aarde voor het welzijn van de planeet en al haar bewoners.

Op Mars is een scheur groter dan de Grand Canyon

ESA/DLR/FU Berlin

Ondertussen is er op Mars een scheur ter grootte van de Grand Canyon waargenomen dankzij satellietfoto's gemaakt door de Mars Express orbiter van de ESA, de Europese ruimtevaartorganisatie. Het is een immense afgrond, dat volgens wetenschappers is gevormd door een enorme hoeveelheid magma onder de miljoenen jaren oude vulkaan Arsia Mons op het Tharsis Plateau.

De gigantische kloof, met een donker aspect met merkwaardige zebrastrepen, heet Aganippe Fossa en meet ongeveer 600 km. Het meest interessante kenmerk, dat voor het eerst werd ontdekt in 1930, is de graben, "een gleuf-achtige greppel, met steile wanden aan beide zijden", aldus de ESA. Het overtreft de afmetingen van de Grand Canyon, 446 km lang, maar is kleiner dan de Valles Marineris van de evenaar van Mars, die 4000 km reikt, waardoor het wordt geclassificeerd als de langste kloof van het zonnestelsel.

{ https://www.curioctopus.nl/ }

How Did Our Fascination With Alien Abductions and Flying Saucers Transpire?

About 75 percent of Americans believe in extraterrestrials. Find out why flying saucers and alien abduction stories are scattered throughout history, and where they came from.

(Credit: ktsdesign/Shutterstock)

In September 1961, Barney and Betty Hill were driving late at night in the mountains of New Hampshire when they saw a flying object whizzing in the sky. Barney thought it was a plane until he saw it swiftly switch directions.

According to The Interrupted Journey, the couple nervously continued driving until a spacecraft confronted them. They remembered seeing “humanoid-like” creatures and hearing pinging sounds reverberate off their car trunk. And then, they found themselves 35 miles further along on the highway with almost no memory of what had just transpired. They believed they had been abducted.

The Hills reported their experience to the nearby Air Force base and it later became the subject of a book and then a movie. Their experience was widely considered the start of a collective fascination with extraterrestrials.

It’s a captivation that persists, and 75 percent of Americans believe there are intelligent lifeforms elsewhere in the universe. But attitudes have changed, and most Americans no longer think aliens are hostile or a national security threat. Social scientists say our attitudes towards Unidentified Flying Objects (UFO) have evolved with our acceptance of technology.

(Credit: ktsdesign/Shutterstock)

Scholars mark 1947 as the start of the UFO fascination. A pilot flying in the Cascade Mountains in Washington state reported seeing disc-shaped objects. In the next decade, aliens were primarily seen as benevolent, intelligent beings who came to Earth to offer advice or warnings.

In 1961, the Hills reported their abduction and stories about aliens became more sinister. Social scientists, like famed psychologist Carl Jung, analyzed the UFO obsession and found it fit neatly with humans’ long fascination with heavenly ascents. Whereas past societies looked for angels, saints or Gods to descend from the heavens, modern Americans were looking for “technological angels.”

Starting in the 1960s, aliens were both benign angels and menacing demons, which prompted some religious scholars to see UFO fixation as a modern religious movement.

Other scholars saw the popular fascination as a response to society dealing with rapidly changing technology. At the start of the 1950s, for example, most households didn’t have a television. That changed within the decade, and Americans were also aware that technological advancements would soon bring computers into our workplaces, households and even our bodies through devices like cardiac pacemakers.

Most Americans now rely on technology for work and entertainment. People who call out to Alexa to add an item to the grocery list aren’t as technologically anxious as people were in the past. And for decades, that anxiety fueled books, TV and film about extraterrestrials.

Read More: 

• Life Elsewhere in the Universe: When Did We First Consider the Possibility?

(Credit: Shutterstock/ Anton_Ivanov)

The 1982 film, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial dominated box office sales and was one of the few storylines to depict a kind alien. Most popular narratives featured frightening aliens. The long-running TV series X Files, involved a government coverup about alien life forms. Similarly, the 1997 film Men in Black, based on the comic book series, involved government agents protecting both alien allies and Earthlings from a variety of cosmic criminals.

Stories about abduction were also common, which scholars have analyzed and identified consistent patterns and rhetorical devices.

One scholar suggested that aliens were a stand-in for technological fears. Abductees described how the aliens controlled their bodies and minds. The aliens used high-tech, futuristic gadgets to conduct tests, many of which were described as stressful and painful. In the end, the person had lost time they could not account for.

Another study looked at 130 accounts of alien abductions. The author found that the standard abduction story about aliens waking you from bed, transporting you into a spaceship and then subjecting you to medical tests was a modern myth in which the storyteller placed themselves as the hero. One abductee, for example, made himself a hero saying his “superior genetics” was the reason that aliens had abducted him multiple times.

Abductee stories about humanoids communicating telepathically are outlandish, but compelling. And social scientists think they persuade people to listen.

(Credit: Shutterstock/MyImages - Micha)

In 2007, a psychologist interviewed and analyzed people who felt aliens once abducted them. The psychologist concluded these people were sane but created false memories that fictional accounts partly fueled.

So why would anyone else believe their stories of aliens sucking them into a spaceship and then probing them in all the wrong places? The author found that the stories were compelling because the emotions expressed were both real and relatable. The stories followed a consistent pattern, which made them feel more valid. And, there were also many people willing to tell these tales.

The large number of people who have described UFO encounters or abductions has prompted scholars to consider the belief a type of myth-making.

And myths, one scholar notes, endure because they have both the appearance of truth and societal approval. Thus, UFO fascination flourished because the accounts seemed truthful and many people were willing to trust in a repetitive, but incomplete narrative and to believe there was much more to be learned. Just as they said in the X-Files, “the truth is out there.”

Read More: 

• Fact or Fiction: What Is The Truth Behind Alien Conspiracy Theories?

{ https://www.discovermagazine.com/ }

Here's How the Latest U.S. Intelligence Report on UFOs Might Bring Science to the UFO World

The new government report describes 144 sightings of unidentified aerial phenomena.

(Credit: IgorZh/Shutterstock)

On June 25, 2021, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence released a much-anticipated report on UFOs to Congress. The military has rebranded unidentified flying objects as unidentified aerial phenomena – UAPs – in part to avoid the stigma that has been attached to claims of aliens visiting the Earth since the Roswell incident in 1947. The report presents no convincing evidence that alien spacecraft have been spotted, but some of the data defy easy interpretation.

I’m a professor of astronomy who has written extensively on the search for life in the universe. I also teach a free online class on astrobiology. I do not believe that the new government report or any other sightings of UFOs in the past are proof of aliens visiting Earth. But the report is important because it opens the door for a serious look at UFOs. Specifically, it encourages the U.S. government to collect better data on UFOs, and I think the release of the report increases the chances that scientists will try to interpret that data. Historically, UFOs have felt off limits to mainstream science, but perhaps no more.

The No. 1 thing the report focuses on is the lack of high-quality data. Here are the highlights from the slender nine-page report, covering a total of 144 UAP sightings from U.S. government sources between 2004 and 2021:

• “Limited data and inconsistent reporting are key challenges to evaluating UAP.”

• Some observations “could be the result of sensor errors, spoofing, or observer misperception.”

• “UAP clearly pose a safety of flight issue and may pose a challenge to U.S. national security.”

• Of the 144 sightings, the task force was “able to identify one reported UAP with high confidence. In that case, we identified the object as a large, deflating balloon. The others remain unexplained.”

• “Some UAP many be technologies deployed by China, Russia, another nation, or non-governmental entity.”

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence prepared the report for the Congressional Intelligence and Armed Services Committees.

(Credit: Office of the Director of National Intelligence)

UFO means unidentified flying object. Nothing more, nothing less. You’d think scientists would enjoy the challenge of solving this puzzle. Instead, UFOs have been taboo for academic scientists to investigate, and so unexplained reports have not received the scrutiny they deserve.

One reason is that most scientists think there is less to most reports than meets the eye, and the few who have dug deeply have mostly debunked the phenomenon. Over half of sightings can be attributed to meteors, fireballs and the planet Venus.

Another reason for the scientific hesitance is that UFOs have been co-opted by popular culture. They are part of a landscape of conspiracy theories that includes accounts of abduction by aliens and crop circles. Scientists worry about their professional reputations, and the association of UFOs with these supernatural stories causes most researchers to avoid the topic.

But some scientists have looked. In 1968, Edward U. Condon at the University of Colorado published the first major academic study of UFO sightings. The Condon Report put a damper on further research when it found that “nothing has come from the study of UFOs in the past 21 years that has added to scientific knowledge.”

However, a review in 1998 by a panel led by Peter Sturrock, a professor of applied physics at Stanford University, concluded that some sightings are accompanied by physical evidence that deserves scientific study. Sturrock also surveyed professional astronomers and found that nearly half thought UFOs were worthy of scientific study, with higher interest among younger and more well-informed astronomers.

If astronomers are intrigued by UFOs – and believe some cases deserve study with academic rigor – what’s holding them back? A history of mistrust between ufologists and scientists hasn’t helped. And while UFO research has employed some of the tools of the scientific method, it has not had the core of skeptical, evidence-based reasoning that demarcates science from pseudoscience.

A search of 90,000 recent and current grants awarded by the National Science Foundation finds none addressing UFOs or related phenomena. I’ve served on review panels for 35 years, and can imagine the reaction if such a proposal came up for peer review: raised eyebrows and a quick vote not to fund.

Radio telescopes like the Allen Telescope Array seen here scan the sky looking for signs of intelligent life in the universe.

(Credit: Brewbooks/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA)

While the scientific community has almost entirely avoided engaging with UFOs, a much more mainstream search for intelligent aliens and their technology has been going on for decades.

The search is motivated by the fact that astronomers have, to date, discovered over 4,400 planets orbiting other stars. Called exoplanets, some are close to the Earth’s mass and at just the right distance from their stars to potentially have water on their surfaces – meaning they might be habitable.

Astronomers estimate that there are 300 million habitable worlds in the Milky Way galaxy alone, and each one is a potential opportunity for life to develop and for intelligence and technology to emerge. Indeed, most astronomers think it very unlikely that humans are the only or the first advanced civilization.

This confidence has fueled an active search for extraterrestrial intelligence, known as SETI. It has been unsuccessful so far. As a result, researchers have recast the question “Are we alone?” to “Where are the aliens?” The absence of evidence for intelligent aliens is called the Fermi paradox. First articulated by the physicist Enrico Fermi, it’s a paradox because advanced civilizations should be spread throughout the galaxy, yet we see no sign of their existence.

The SETI activity has not been immune from scientists’ criticism. It was starved of federal funding for decades and recently has gotten most of its support from private sources. However, in 2020, NASA resumed funding for SETI, and the new NASA administrator wants researchers to pursue the topic of UFOs.

In this context, the intelligence report is welcome. The report draws few concrete conclusions about UFOs and avoids any reference to aliens or extraterrestrial spacecraft. However, it notes the importance of destigmatizing UFOs so that more pilots report what they see. It also sets a goal of moving from anecdotal observations to standardized and scientific data collection. Time will tell if this is enough to draw scientists into the effort, but the transparency to publish the report at all reverses a long history of secrecy surrounding U.S. government reports on UFOs.

I don’t see any convincing evidence of alien spacecraft, but as a curious scientist, I hope the subset of UFO sightings that are truly unexplained gets closer study. Scientists are unlikely to weigh in if their skepticism generates attacks from “true believers” or they get ostracized by their colleagues. Meanwhile, the truth is still out there.

• Cate Varney is a Distinguished Professor of Astronomy at the University of Arizona. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

{ https://www.discovermagazine.com/ }

Fact or Fiction: What Is The Truth Behind Alien Conspiracy Theories?

Are aliens real? Is the government trying to cover them up? Learn how these popular alien conspiracy theories have become so fascinating.

(Credit:lassedesignen/Shutterstock)

Every few years, an eerie cycle plays out in the news. Headlines report the sightings of unidentified flying objects (UFOs/UAPs). Then, a government agency issues a denial.  

In 2006, employees at Chicago O’Hare International Airport described seeing an unidentified object hovering quietly near a terminal. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) dismissed it as a weather event.

Then in 2014, Navy pilots reported seeing a series of spinning saucers. The Pentagon did not comment at the time. Later in 2021, an American Airlines pilot said a long, cylinder-shaped object flew over his aircraft and resembled a missile. In response, the FAA said that no such object appeared on official radars.

This cycle of UFO sightings and official denial has fueled conspiracy theories that the U.S. government is hiding alien information from the public. And in recent months, revelations from former government workers have prompted more people to believe these conspiracy theories might be legitimate. 

A conspiracy theory is the belief that a small group of people are acting secretly, and their actions are meant to benefit their exclusive group. The idea that aliens exist is not a conspiracy theory. It becomes a conspiracy theory only when people believe that a small group — typically government insiders — are hiding information about aliens from the rest of us.

When it comes to UFO conspiracy theories, the U.S. government tends to take the blame. More so, conspiracy theorists tend to merge the U.S. government into a singular identity, even though scholars argue there are millions of people who work for “the government.”

Read More: 

• Our Fascination With Aliens and When It All Started

Conspiracy theories become more palatable to nonbelievers when trustworthy (or seemingly trustworthy) informants come forward with information. The last decade has seen an increase in credible-seeming people stating they have either witnessed UFOs or have evidence the government knows about aliens and is hiding them from the rest of the public.

In 2023, a former official at the Pentagon, David Grusch, came forward as a self-described whistle-blower who once served on the Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Task Force. He claimed the U.S. had debris from a spacecraft of “nonhuman origin.”

Grusch also said the U.S. has known about alien aircraft for decades, and his statements were helped by other government reports, including a 2021 report by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence that didn’t deny UFO sightings and instead admitted there were a lot of unanswered questions. 

Read More: 

• What Are UAPs And What Do We Know About Them So Far?

One common UFO conspiracy theory, including the one proposed by Grusch, is that the government is hiding remnants of a UFO that crashed into the Earth. One of the first crash coverup conspiracies began in 1947 in Roswell, New Mexico, when reports of debris from a flying saucer were discovered near a military base.

The U.S. military dismissed the debris as a weather balloon, not a flying saucer. As the decades passed, conspiracy theorists believed the government knew it was actually a UFO and intentionally hid the truth.

It turns out the government was indeed hiding something — it just wasn’t a spaceship filled with little green Martians. In 1994, the General Accounting Office (GAO) audited the records related to the Roswell incident and released a report of their findings.

In 1947, the U.S. worried about Russian nuclear capabilities. They were trying to monitor the upper atmosphere for evidence of Russian nuclear testing using a balloon device. When the balloon crashed, the U.S. military didn’t want the world to know what they were really doing. The UFO conspiracy theory was a helpful distraction. 

Read More: 

• Life Elsewhere in the Universe: When Did We First Consider the Possibility?

(Credit:Dean Clarke/Shutterstock)

Another common UFO conspiracy theory is that the government not only has the remnants of an alien spaceship, but they also have the occupants in custody.

Area 51, located in Nevada, has long been suspected of harboring crashed UFOS and extraterrestrial beings. One scholar described Area 51 as an “open secret” in which people understand the government is doing something but don’t know exactly what. 

Area 51 is closed to the public, and the nearest public viewpoint is 12 miles away. In the 1980s, conspiracy theorists began promoting the idea that the government had aliens tucked away at Area 51.

Read More: 

• What Would Earth Look Like to Alien Astronomers?

The theory was heightened in the late 1980s by an ex-employee who claimed he saw alien spacecraft with “gravity generators” when he worked at Area 51. He argued the U.S. government was hiding what they knew about extraterrestrial life from the American people.

The ex-employee also boasted he held degrees from prestigious institutions like the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). When reporters researched his background and found no evidence he attended these schools, the ex-employee said the government erased his background so he would not exist on record because he was working with such highly-classified information.

The ex-employee was eventually discredited, and the government seemed to ignore him. However, the Air Force’s tolerance for alien accusations has its limits. In 2019, a Facebook group developed the idea to “Storm Area 51” because they “can’t stop all of us.”

More than a million people signed the pledge to show up at Area 51 and “see them aliens.” The Air Force issued firm warnings not to come, and the event was over before it began. 

Read More: 

• Here's How the Latest U.S. Intelligence Report on UFOs Might Bring Science to the UFO World

{ https://www.discovermagazine.com/ }

27 Astonishing Alien Encounters: Eyewitness Accounts That Defy Explanation

Fans of shows like Ancient Apocalypse and Ancient Aliens will find the documentary 27 Alien Encounters by Highly Credible Eyewitnesses both fascinating and provocative. This documentary delves into strange and perplexing UFO encounters that challenge our understanding of physics and the universe. Unlike typical tales of UFO sightings, these encounters involve highly credible witnesses, making the accounts even more compelling.

The Phenomenon of Alien Encounters

UFO sightings often describe objects that hover silently before speeding away at incredible velocities, shapes shifting, and sizes changing. Witnesses report these objects emitting beams of light over nuclear bases, illuminating roads, and even entire towns. More astonishing are the accounts of abductions and the mysterious reasons behind why these extraterrestrials might be here on Earth. Various governments and military forces are aware of these occurrences, indicating a phenomenon that could impact society, world structure, and our very understanding of existence.

Dimensions Beyond Physical Space

The documentary suggests that space might not be the final frontier. Instead, it posits that there could be dimensions beyond the physical universe that humans have yet to understand fully. Scientists now agree that other planes and dimensions exist, though they know little about them. Daily, there are sightings that defy logic and suggest that aliens might be accessing these dimensions or using advanced technology to traverse them.

Historical Encounters

Strange sightings are not a modern phenomenon. Petroglyphs in the Southwest and the Nazca lines in Peru depict beings and craft that suggest ancient encounters with extraterrestrials. These historical markers indicate a long history of contact with beings from other worlds.

The Westall Encounter

One notable event was the 1966 Westall encounter in Melbourne, Australia, witnessed by over 200 people, including pupils and teachers. They saw a silver-gray object landing before it abruptly took off again, leaving scorch marks. The sheer number of witnesses and the response from the police and Air Force add credibility to this sighting.

The Mirabo Incident

In 1886, a Venezuelan family experienced a bizarre and tragic encounter during a lightning storm. Their hut was bathed in dazzling light, and they suffered symptoms resembling radiation poisoning, long before radiation was known. This case remains unexplained but suggests a possible alien encounter.

The Falcon Lake Incident

In 1967, Steven Michalak of Manitoba, Canada, reported an encounter with two UFOs. Investigating the objects, he was blasted with hot gas, leaving him with distinctive burn marks and symptoms of radiation poisoning. This case stands out because of the physical evidence and Michalak’s resulting injuries.

The Cash-Landrum Incident

In 1980, Betty Cash, Vickie Landrum, and her grandson Colby encountered a diamond-shaped object in Texas. The encounter left them with severe health issues consistent with radiation exposure. Despite pursuing answers through the courts, official agencies denied any knowledge of the incident.

Mass Sightings

The documentary highlights several mass sightings that are hard to dismiss. In 1957, multiple residents of Levelland, Texas, reported a fiery object that caused electrical malfunctions in vehicles. Similarly, in the early 1980s, thousands of residents in Hudson Valley, New York, witnessed a V-shaped array of lights. In 1997, the Phoenix Lights incident saw thousands of Arizonans observing mysterious lights in the sky.

The Battle of Los Angeles

In 1942, American troops in Los Angeles attempted to shoot down an unidentified object in what became known as the Battle of Los Angeles. Despite firing 1,400 rounds, no wreckage was found, suggesting the object was something beyond known technology.

Underwater Encounters

The documentary also explores USOs (Unidentified Submerged Objects), such as the 1952 incident aboard the USS FDR, where a metallic object was seen rising from the water. These underwater sightings suggest that extraterrestrial activity may not be limited to the skies.

Theories on Alien Motivations

The documentary explores various theories on why aliens might visit Earth. Some suggest simple curiosity, while others propose that aliens are conducting genetic experiments or seeking resources. Abduction accounts often include warnings of environmental destruction, hinting that some extraterrestrials might be concerned about humanity’s future.

VIDEO:

• https://youtu.be/giYXBnzkT_4

With more recordings of UFOs due to modern technology, the frequency and credibility of sightings continue to grow. 27 Alien Encounters by Highly Credible Eyewitnesses presents compelling evidence and testimony that invite viewers to reconsider the possibility of extraterrestrial life and its impact on our world. As sightings increase and technology advances, we may one day find definitive proof that we are not alone in the universe.

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

De asteroïde die de aarde zal raken heet Bennu

©NL Beeld

De asteroïde die de aarde zal raken heet Bennu
Onderzoekers hebben de precieze datum bepaald waarop een asteroïde mogelijk de aarde zou kunnen inslaan, met een kracht die gelijk is aan die van 22 atoombommen. Dit hemellichaam, genaamd Bennu, nadert onze planeet elke zes jaar. Wetenschappers zijn echter van mening dat 24 september 2182 de datum zou kunnen zijn waarop er een reëel risico bestaat op een botsing tussen de aarde en de asteroïde.

Ondanks dat de mogelijke datum van de apocalyptische gebeurtenis nog ver weg is, is NASA momenteel bezig met intensieve inspanningen om de asteroïde Bennu af te buigen en bevindt zij zich in de laatste fase van haar missie. Zeven jaar geleden lanceerde de Amerikaanse ruimtevaartorganisatie een sonde naar de asteroïde met als doel monsters te verzamelen, in de hoop dat de verzamelde informatie een mogelijke catastrofale ontmoeting zou kunnen helpen voorkomen.

Asteroïden hebben de aarde door de jaren heen vele malen getroffen. Bekijk de volgende galerij voor enkele van de meest betekenisvolle effecten.

©Shutterstock

Meteoor inslag locatie, VS
Meteor Crater, ook bekend als Barringer Crater, gelegen nabij Flagstaff, Arizona, is een grote meteorietinslagkrater. Dit opmerkelijke natuurverschijnsel is een van de best bewaarde kraters in zijn soort op onze planeet, met een diameter van ongeveer 1200 meter en een diepte van ongeveer 170 meter.

©Public Domain

Tenoumer krater, Mauritanië
Het kenmerkende geologische kenmerk van de Tenoumer-krater in de Sahara-woestijn van Mauritanië is de dramatische, bijna cirkelvormige rand. De foto van Michael Dennig geeft perfect de afmetingen van de krater weer.

©Getty Images

Vredefort krater, Zuid-Afrika
De Vredefort krater in de Zuid-Afrikaanse provincie Vrijstaat is de grootste bevestigde inslagkrater op aarde, met een diameter van meer dan 300 km (190 mijl). De afbeelding toont de Vredefort Dome, het centrale deel van de krater.

©Shutterstock

Kaali-krater, Estland
Kaali verwijst naar een groep van negen meteorietkratermeren in het dorp Kaali op Saaremaa, een Ests eiland. Dit cluster van meren werd gevormd rond 1530-1450 v.Chr.

©Shutterstock

Gosses Bluff Impact Site, Australië
De opmerkelijke meteoorkrater Gosses Bluff, gelegen in het zuidelijke deel van het Northern Territory, heeft een diameter van 5 km en een randhoogte van 200 meter. Deze locatie wordt door de westerse Arrernte Aboriginals Tnorala genoemd en wordt als een heilige plaats beschouwd.

©Getty Images

Manicouaganmeer, Canada
Het Manicouagan Reservoir in het centrum van Quebec ontstond 214 miljoen jaar geleden door een meteoorinslag. René-Levasseur Island is het eiland in het midden van het meer. De hele formatie wordt gewoonlijk "het oog van Quebec" genoemd.

©Shutterstock

Wolfe Creek-krater, Australië

De Wolfe Creek-krater in West-Australië is een opmerkelijk intacte inslaglocatie. Het meet een diameter van ongeveer 875 meter (2871 ft) en heeft een diepte van 60 meter (200 ft) van rand tot vloer. Deze krater, die minder dan 120.000 jaar oud is, ligt in het hart van het Wolfe Creek Meteorite Crater National Park.

©Public Domain

Sudbury-bekken, Canada
Het Sudbury Basin in Ontario beslaat ongeveer 10-15 km (6,2-9,3 mijl) en ontstond ongeveer 1,8 miljard jaar geleden. Een afbeelding van het bassin wordt weergegeven in NASA's wereldbolsoftware WorldWind.

©Getty Images

Popigai-krater, Rusland
De Popigai-krater, gelegen in Siberië, werd ongeveer 35 miljoen jaar geleden gevormd. De oostkant van de krater, met een diameter van 100 km (62 mijl), is linksboven in het satellietbeeld zichtbaar.

©Getty Images

Acramankrater, Australië
Lake Acraman in Zuid-Australië is een opvallend kenmerk van de Acraman-krater, die ongeveer 590 miljoen jaar geleden werd gevormd door een asteroïde-inslag. Dit satellietbeeld legt de 40 km lange krater vast, met het meer in het hart.

©Getty Images

Karakul-krater, Tadzjikistan
Karakul is de aangewezen naam voor het meer gelegen in een aanzienlijke inslagkrater van 52 km (32 mijl) in het Tadzjiekse Nationale Park. Deze formatie, zichtbaar op dit satellietbeeld, is ongeveer 25 miljoen jaar geleden ontstaan.

©Getty Images

Chesapeake Bay, VS
Ongeveer 35 miljoen jaar geleden werd de Chesapeake Bay aan de oostkust van Amerika gevormd door sediment dat over het puin van een meteoorinslag viel. De afbeelding toont een deel van de inslagstructuur in Virginia.

©Getty Images

Bosumtwi-krater, Ghana
Lake Bosumtwi is het enige natuurlijke meer in Ghana, gelegen in een oude inslagkrater ten zuidoosten van Kumasi. De Ashanti-bevolking vereert Bosumtwi als een heilig waterlichaam.

©Shutterstock

Morasko Meteoriet Natuurreservaat, Polen
Het Morasko Meteoriet Natuurreservaat ligt in de bossen nabij Poznań. Bezoekers kunnen zeven kraters verkennen, waarvan de grootste een diameter van ongeveer 100 meter (328 ft) heeft en een diepte van ongeveer 11 meter (36 ft) bereikt.

©Getty Images

Lonarkrater, India
Het Lonar-meer in de staat Maharashtra is ontstaan ​​door een meteorietinslag die ongeveer 35.000 tot 50.000 jaar geleden plaatsvond.

©Shutterstock

Middlesboro-krater, VS
De Middlesboro-krater in Kentucky dankt zijn naam aan de stad waar hij nu staat. De krater is ongeveer 5 km breed en vermoedelijk minder dan 300 miljoen jaar oud.

©Getty Images

Mistastin-krater, Canada
De Mistastin-krater werd ongeveer 36 miljoen jaar geleden gevormd als gevolg van een krachtige asteroïde-botsing in Labrador, Canada. De afbeelding toont Mishta-minishtikᐡ, het gebogen eiland van het meer, levendig.

©Shutterstock

Tswaing-krater, Zuid-Afrika
De schilderachtige Tswaing-krater ligt ten noordwesten van Pretoria en is vermoedelijk tussen de 220.000 en 52.000 jaar oud. Met name blijkt uit archeologisch bewijs dat de krater minstens 100.000 jaar geleden door mensen werd bezocht, zoals blijkt uit stenen werktuigen uit het middensteentijdperk.

©Shutterstock

Henbury Meteorites Conservation Reserve, Australië
Het Henbury Meteorites Conservation Reserve in het Northern Territory van Australië bestaat uit minstens 14 kraters. Deze kraters zijn het resultaat van een meteoriet die uit elkaar viel bij een botsing met het aardoppervlak. De grootste krater, die een combinatie is van twee kleinere kraters, is 217 meter lang, 111 meter breed en 15 meter diep.

©Getty Images

El'gygytgyn-krater, Rusland
Het El'gygytgyn-meer ligt binnen de poolcirkel in het noordoosten van Siberië en werd ongeveer 3,6 miljoen jaar geleden gevormd uit een inslagkrater van een asteroïde.

©Getty Images

Araguainha-impactstructuur, Brazilië
De inslagstructuur van Araguainha is gemakkelijk herkenbaar als een cirkelvormige omtrek met een diameter van 40 km (25 mijl), gelegen op de grens van de staten Mato Grosso en Goiás. Het wordt beschouwd als de grootste inslagkrater van Zuid-Amerika.

©Getty Images

Nördlinger Ries, Duitsland
De Nördlinger Ries is een belangrijke inslagkrater in het westen van Beieren en het oosten van Baden-Württemberg. Het werd gebruikt als trainingslocatie voor de Apollo 14-astronauten. De foto toont de zuidelijke bosrand van de Nördlinger Ries.

©Getty Images

Haughton-krater, Canada
De Haughton-krater, gevonden op het eiland Devon in Nunavut, is vermoedelijk ongeveer 39 miljoen jaar oud en is het resultaat van een asteroïde-inslag die een 23 km brede krater creëerde.

©Shutterstock

Lappajärvi-krater, Finland
Het Lappajärvi-meer, gelegen in de Finse regio Zuid-Österbotten, is een watermassa die de gedeeltelijk geërodeerde meteorietinslagkrater van Lappajärvi beslaat. Deze indrukwekkende krater, die 23 kilometer (14 mijl) beslaat, dient als herinnering aan een gebeurtenis die ongeveer 76 miljoen jaar geleden plaatsvond.

©Getty Images

Chicxulub-krater, Mexico
De Chicxulub-krater, gelegen onder het schiereiland Yucatán, is het gevolg van een enorme asteroïde-botsing die ongeveer 66 miljoen jaar geleden plaatsvond en leidde tot het uitsterven van dinosauriërs. Op deze NASA-foto van het noordwestelijke deel van het schiereiland benadrukt een vage donkergroene curve de overblijfselen van de inslagkrater, die de op een na grootste ter wereld is.

©Getty Images

Tunguska-evenement, Rusland
In het jaar 1908 drong een meteoriet de atmosfeer van de aarde binnen, maar in plaats van de grond te raken, ontplofte hij in de lucht. Deze buitengewone gebeurtenis vond plaats nabij de rivier Podkamennaya Tunguska en resulteerde in een wijdverbreide verwoesting. Hoewel er zich geen zichtbare krater vormde, veroorzaakte de explosie het afvlakken van ongeveer 80 miljoen bomen, waardoor een uitgestrekt bosgebied van 2.150 vierkante kilometer (830 vierkante mijl) werd aangetast. Bekende bronnen die informatie verstrekken over dit incident zijn onder meer NASA, de National Park Service, Smithsonian Magazine, Geopark Ries en EarthSky.

Als je geïnteresseerd bent, kun je hier ook enkele van de gevaarlijkste vulkanen ter wereld verkennen: Ontdek enkele van de gevaarlijkste vulkanen ter wereld

{ https://www.msn.com/nl-be/ } 

Map reveals eight UFO hotspots around the world – is your country on the list?

 Hiyah Zaidi

If you were to have an alien encounter, where in the world would you expect it to be?

Unidentified flying objects (UFOs), also known as unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP), are a source of mystery and intrigue as cases of potential alien visitors sweep across the globe. 

But, where are the best places to go if you wanted to spot a UFO? American non-profit organisation the National UFO Reporting Center (NUFORC) has a bank of data revealing, they feel to be, the most credible or interesting cases. 

The organisation said these reports tend to be from ‘trained observers such as pilots, reports of anomalous structured craft seen at close distances, and reports with interesting and clear video or photographic evidence’.

Many of these cases stem back to the 1990s, and are posted in the author’s own words. So, where are the UFO hotspots around the world?

1. The United States

Naturally, the US made the top of the list with a whopping 133,682 apparent UFO sightings across the country dating back to 1995.

The state with the most viewings is California, with 16,399 ‘credible’ cases since the mid-90s, and the fewest number of viewings were around the capital, the District of Columbia, with only 155 cases.

In California, reported shapes often take the form of mysterious ‘lights’ or orbs.

One case as recent June 15 in Richmond reported three pink orbs glowing in the sky. The witness wrote: ‘Three orbs in a line coming up from the ground.

‘Was heading East on I-80 and saw three pink lights in a column. The lowest of the lights looked to be hovering just above the ground and the highest was probably 100-200ft in the air and the middle was directly in between the other two. They weren’t moving or blinking but eventually all three dimmed and went out.’

Another case report, from Minnesota, in 2008, details a cigar-shaped UAP. 

The witness wrote: ‘Small white cigar-shaped object, low in sky, hovered for 2 minutes, then disappeared, no trail.

‘Two friends and I were golfing on the 10th hole at North Links golf course, and there was a clear blue sky. As we looked forward into the sky, one of us noticed a white, cigar or tampon-shaped object sitting in the sky, no wings, obviously not a plane or helicopter, and there was no smoke or jetstream coming from the object. It was probably about 500 yards or so away in the sky.

‘We sat stunned, asking each other, “What could that possibly be, besides a UFO?”

‘No one wanted to tee off, because we wanted to wait to see what happened with the foreign craft.

‘After about two minutes, the craft gradually got smaller for about 10 seconds, and then completely disappeared like it went into stealth mode, again, no smoke or anything, it just vanished.

‘Within minutes of seeing the craft, a small army-type plane was flying in the same general area where we had seen the craft. We kept looking for the next two hours of golf, but no reappearance occurred.’ 

The organisation noted that the witness chose to remain totally anonymous and provided no contact information. 

2. Canada

Still in North America, the people of Canada have compiled 5,973 UFO sightings dating back to 1995. With a large number like this, NUFORC has split case reports by province, and revealed the highest number of reports came from the province of Ontario, with 2,547 reports. 

The fewest reports came from Prince Edward Island, with 27 ‘credible’ reports. 

In the province of New Brunswick, in the town of Bouctouche, two observers reported that they saw a disk-like object. The witnesses wrote: ‘On May 17, 2021, I was driving my friend home as I noticed lights in the sky and told my friend about it.

‘It was a line of lights – seems like stars, but was not – and then it faded away. We were 30 seconds from my friend’s house, so I rushed to park and got out of the car to see if we could see more.

‘We started looking up and suddenly saw an oval-shaped flying object that was moving. We noticed it was passing in front of two stars. It also looked like it had windows, but was very low on lighting around, we could only spot it because of window lights on the objects.

‘We could see it floating for like a good 30 seconds before we lost track of it.’

3. The UK

The UK is another well-known hotspot for UFOs, and has racked up 3,439 cases that date back to 1996. 

The reports appear across the country. One witness in Birmingham, in September 2009, said: ‘South Birmingham 11.40am, clear sky gold flat object a few feet square with slight bend.

‘On Sunday morning, while taking a coffee after some light housework –my wife was at morning work. I witnessed something exceedingly weird off the back patio.

‘I have no belief in UFOs – laws of physics dictate against it – and have always explained away anything unusual as helicopter lights etc but not this time, I’m afraid.

‘I observed a crazy sighting which I cannot figure out.

‘It looked like a piece of gold vellum paper, slightly folded as if hovering in the wind. It was sunny so I could have been catching the Sun. I also considered a butterfly.

‘However, it became apparent that the size was wrong for a butterfly, and paper, it was not – because the object proceeded to move out across the park at supernatural speed, with increasing velocity. I was completely dumbstruck and offer no explanation. I’m employed as a physics engineering technician.’

Over in Ciliau Aeron, Wales, a report in 2018 told of a sphere-shaped, house-sized, UFO that hovered above the valley. The witness reported: ‘I opened the back door at 6am to let the dogs out.

‘I looked across the fields to where I have a view of the Aeron Valley. It was very dark, but I immediately saw what I thought was a house on fire about half a mile away. 

‘I watched for a minute, planning to call 999. Then, the “fire” moved to the west a few hundred metres behind some trees. I realised it was a large sphere, the size of a house and seemed to churn or pulsate with its “fire”.

‘It was extremely bright and white/yellow in colour. Then it stopped where it hovered for a minute and then flew the other way to the east where it continued past its original position, all the way along the valley until out of sight. Just before it went out of sight, a bright red light appeared on the top half of the sphere.

‘It travelled in a straight path, sometimes behind trees at the speed of a car. It also had “sparks” flying out of it like molten metal falling to the ground. It didn’t make a sound. I believe it to have been something not of our Earth.’

4. Australia 

On the other side of the world, there is one surprising country that has quite a few sightings of UFOs. In Australia, data from the NUFORC revealed there have been 961 sightings since 1996, and some echo other reports from elsewhere in the world. 

In 2023, one witness in New South Wales reported a triangular UFO, with white lights that was moving fast and silently.

The report said: ‘Standing in my suburban backyard at 6:45pm EST looking at the stars facing West.

‘I saw the object as it passed directly overhead heading in a south westerly direction. The object was triangular in shape with approximately 10 lights on the forward two sides and 3 on the rear side. The lights were white and not flashing. Stars were blacked out within the triangle as it passed over.

The object appeared to be the size of a football field in width and there was no sound whatsoever. It appeared to be quite close.

‘I lost sight of the object as it passed over a hill to the south west. The object was visible to me for approximately 20 seconds.’

Triangular objects seem to be a popular shape for a UFO down under – another report in 2018 in Victoria spoke about a solid metallic object that was around five feet on all sides.

The witness wrote: ‘It was in the middle of the day, I was sitting on an oval [an Australian Football field] with my friend and I look up and see a giant metal triangle hovering without moving a bit away from us, not to far away, maybe half an oval away.

‘It looked like it was solid metal and after a few seconds of hovering in the same spot it zoomed away very fast over the tree line. It was a nice sunny day without any wind. It definitely wasn’t a drone or a weather balloon. The metal didn’t look bendable and looked like a solid triangle just in the sky.’ 

5. India

While we hear of many cases from countries like the US and the UK, we rarely hear of reports from countries such as India. However, according to the NUFORC, there are 502 ‘credible’ cases that stem back to 1999. 

In 2010, a woman in the city of Alwar saw a UFO hovering overhead for around five minutes. She reported the object looked like a disk, and featured lights, as well as an aura or a haze surrounding it. 

She wrote: ‘At 6:21pm, I was playing with my kids at the rooftop of our row house in Alwar city of Rajasthan State in India. Suddenly I saw a white and silver color saucer sparkling in the sky. It was moving in a zigzag way, it was moving towards the east and then suddenly changed direction to the north.

‘I told my parents and kids to also look and we all saw the object for around 5 minutes as it was moving very slowly and everybody was surprised to see the same thing. We tried to capture the picture of the object in our mobile phone camera but as the object was distant, we were not able to capture it.

‘Let me also say it was clear sky that day but suddenly we saw a rapid change in weather and after three hours a thunderstorm and lightning happened. I am not sure but this might be linked to this flying object.’

She wrote: ‘To add to my credibility I am a post graduate in science and a mother of two kids.’ 

In 2021, a witness in Jalpaiguri reported a hockey stick-shaped UFO that had lights, as well as an aura or haze. 

They wrote: ‘It looked like a hockey stick oscillating like a pendulum. The two crafts suddenly collided and there was light which moved northwards.

‘I was playing with my friends and we suddenly noticed something in the sky quite far above. There was a shrill sound for a matter of a few seconds. Most thought it to be a jet aircraft or a shooting star but I thought it was something else.

‘Then as we looked carefully we saw as if something like a hockey stick was upside down and it was showing oscillatory movement. Suddenly the two crafts of the same sort collided and a streak of light was emitted. Then we all thought it was a UFO.

‘We were amazed and the crafts were separated for around 20 minutes. Suddenly they collided and the light streak started moving straight towards the north eastern direction continuously for around another half an hour and it was of the same size quite unlike the common thing that we know.

‘Though we all understood that it was going far, however the size of the light streak didn’t decrease. Suddenly, in an absurd way again the light disappeared and nothing else was seen. We had no mobiles or cameras then and we were alone.’

6. South Africa

Another UFO hotspot on the list is the country of South Africa. According to the data, the country has 211 reports that date back to 1997. 

But despite the smaller number of cases, they are still just as eerie. One witness reported seeing a UFO over a rhino sanctuary in Klerksdorp, which has a no-fly zone.

The witness wrote: ‘I have some very weird footage for you from South Africa, captured at 4am by my son on a high security rhino farm with state of the art security systems, including radar – which was how the object was detected in the first place – and night sight cameras.

‘They could not identify the object on camera, and as it is a no fly zone, they dispatched a team of rangers, but no lights and no sound was heard by the team, so they could not locate anything as it was still dark.

‘The object was not travelling in a straight line, and it changed course as well. Hard to determine the height of it, as it looked high at some stages, and very low at other stages. This is definitely not a drone of some kind, and the shape seems to move on the top of the object as if scanning or something.

‘Just very very weird.’

Another report came through of an apparent UFO sighting in Cape Town near the harbour. The alleged UFO had lights, and was in the shape of a triangle. 

The witness reported: ‘South Africa also got UFOs. 

‘I just left the restaurant called Panama Jacks Seafood in Cape Town Harbour and took a photo of my wife in front of the massive harbour cranes and lights. I handed her the camera back and she put it back in her handbag. As we looked up for the last time at the enormous cranes [we saw] 3 x orange lights in a perfect triangular shape. 

‘They held formation in distance from each other, but were kind of erratic in movement, much the same way as a stingray fish would swim. Came from the ocean direction and passed over or left of Table Bay Mountain. I tried to get them on my Blackberry Cell phone camera but I could not find them on the screen. Sorry!’

7. Ireland 

Back in Europe, another UFO hotspot country that might be unknown, is Ireland. The country has reported 189 cases which date back to 1998. 

But despite being half a world away, the organisation revealed reports that also talked of a flying object moving in a zigzag pattern. One witness from Dublin in 1998 wrote of a strange light spotted with an aura nearby. The report said: ‘I was looking out my bedroom window staring at the stars when suddenly one moved.

‘At first I thought it was a satellite but it was zigzagging, jerking, moving in circles, and changing direction. I called my father and my brother and we went outside to look at it better. It stopped moving for a while then started moving again. I stayed there observing it for another 20 mins before I went inside again. When I got upstairs I couldn’t see it anymore…’ 

A more recent report from 2019 told of an apparent UFO that seemed to scan the sky with lasers. 

The report said: ‘At first it was just one blue glow in the clouds.

‘The glow would get stronger and then dim a little. Afterwards it moved and at stages bluish/white lights came through the clouds. Very hard to describe but the best example I can give is when you see a sci-fi movie where a robot or gadget 3D scans something with lasers.

‘These lights would light up the clouds but when they were visible they’d beam out one direction then change very quickly to another direction. They shot out at every angle too.

‘After maybe two minutes there were two blue glows behind clouds. Both moved rapidly from one point to another with flashing lighting up clouds as they stopped. When I could see the beam, it looked as though it came from a central point and spread out into a few beams like I said as though it was quickly scanning then moving.

‘Sorry I know it’s really hard to put into words this episode, but I didn’t know where or who else to report this to as I feel very uneasy about it all.’ 

8. Brazil 

Brazil isn’t well known for being a UFO hotspot, but since 1997, there have been 153 sightings dating back to 1997, according to the NUFORC.

In 2015, one person reported seeing a tear-shaped UFO in Florianopolis.

The witness said: ‘I was driving to class, when I looked up to see the sky and saw a lime green light, shaped like a teardrop, travelling really fast, and vanishing seconds later.

‘I’m positive it wasn’t a weather balloon or a drone, it appeared to be really high and the shape may be due to its velocity.’

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{ https://metro.co.uk/ }

Stunning UFO Sighting Over Rijeka, Croatia: Witness Captures Mysterious Blue Triangle

On the early morning of June 25, 2024, the skies over Rijeka, Croatia, became the scene of an extraordinary event that has left locals and UFO enthusiasts buzzing with excitement. At around 3 AM, a witness reported seeing a peculiar, bright blue, triangle-shaped object hovering stationary in the night sky. The sighting, which lasted approximately 10 minutes, has sparked a wave of speculation and intrigue.

Eyewitness Account

The witness, who managed to film the event, described the object as a solid triangle with a bright blue hue. “Filmed in Croatia yesterday 25.06 in 3 AM,” he shared. “It looked like some triangle-shaped object in bright blue color… it seemed like a solid object but who knows right… could this be some weather phenomenon or maybe some weird moonlight?” The witness also mentioned that the object didn’t appear to move despite high winds, ruling out the possibility of it being a drone. “It was there around 10 minutes that I was watching… but I don’t know how long did it stay… for me it didn’t seem like this was the moon but who knows.“

Theories and Speculation

This sighting has led to various theories ranging from weather phenomena to extraterrestrial visitors. The object’s bright blue color and triangular shape are not typical characteristics of known weather phenomena, leading some to speculate that it could be an unidentified flying object (UFO).

Expert Opinions

UFO sightings often attract a mix of skepticism and curiosity. Experts suggest that while unusual sightings like these are fascinating, they require thorough investigation. Atmospheric conditions, reflections, and other natural explanations need to be considered. However, the witness’s account of a stationary, bright blue triangle in high winds adds a layer of mystery that is not easily explained by conventional means.

Conclusion

Whether this sighting over Rijeka is a genuine UFO or a rare atmospheric event, it has undoubtedly captured the attention of many. As the video of the sighting circulates, more people are likely to weigh in with their interpretations and theories. For now, the mysterious blue triangle remains an enigma in the night sky of Croatia.

Watch the Video

• https://youtu.be/nMBM06vso7k

For a firsthand look at this intriguing sighting, check out the video below and decide for yourself what might be lurking in the skies over Rijeka.

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

NASA Imagines a Catastrophic Asteroid Impact to Study How to Prevent it

In this case, the scenario some participants developed didn’t directly impact China or Russia. However, both could have been affected by a tidal wave if the target asteroid had landed in the Pacific Ocean. The scenario called for an asteroid a few hundred meters across that had a 72% chance of impacting the Earth in about 14 years. 

The projected path that the asteroid carved across the Earth went from the Pacific across northern Mexico and the southern US, passing directly over Dallas and Washington DC before crossing over the Atlantic Ocean, passing over Portugal, Spain (including Madrid), and northern Africa. It was probably not lost on participants that this scenario could directly affect the town they were sitting in.

Calculations showed that there was a 45% chance the impact wouldn’t affect anybody, a relatively high chance it would impact between 1,000 and 100,000 people, and a .04% chance it would impact more than 10 million people—for example, if it scored a direct hit on the Dallas metropolitan area. That uncertainty and the extended timeline gave the planetary defense officials the most significant trouble for this exercise.

As in Don’t Look Up, political considerations played the forefront in the participant’s minds. Many repeated the sentiment of one anonymous participant reported in the preliminary report: “I know what I would prefer [to do], but Congress will tell us to wait.” The uncertainty about impact, and especially about whether it would affect anyone at all, was a significant consideration. In the scenario, the asteroid passed behind the Sun, so additional observations to clarify those estimates weren’t possible for another seven months. 

The availability of resources was again a primary consideration, both to track the potential impactor closely enough and to design and execute a mission to potentially deflect it. Participants didn’t believe there would be enough resources for either task and stated that it was one of their main concerns in the future. 

They also agreed that the tabletop exercise was a massive success, with it allowing decision-makers who would be involved in an actual process of determining what to do with a potential real asteroid strike to think through the steps they would have to take and what the likely political and public responses would be. Plans for additional exercises are already in the works, and the final report of the session is due to be released on August 5th, with specific assignable action items to come as part of it. While any expected asteroid impact isn’t foreseen in the coming decades, these sorts of exercises will continue to hone what is arguably one of the most valuable skills of any space agency – how to protect ourselves from one of our biggest threats.

Learn More:

• NASA – Quick-Look Report – Planetary Defense Interagency Tabletop Exercise 5
• NASA – NASA Asteroid Experts Create Hypothetical Impact Scenario for Exercise
• UT – Another Asteroid Discovered Hours Before it Impacts the Earth
• UT – If You’re Trying to Prevent an Asteroid Impact, the Technical and Political Challenges are Staggering

Lead Image:

• This artist’s concept depicts an asteroid drifting through space. Many such objects frequency pass Earth. To help prepare for the discovery of one with a chance of impacting our planet, NASA leads regular exercises to figure out how the international community could respond to such a threat.
  Credit – NASA / JPL-Caltech

{ https://www.universetoday.com/ }

POSTED BY MARK THOMPSON

The Rugged Desert Moss Best Equipped to Survive on Mars

For decades, we have seen Mars as a desolate landscape devoid of any signs of life. Attempt to identify ways of growing plants and food on the red planet have focussed on greenhouse like structures to enable plants to survive, that is, until now! A desert moss called ‘Syntrichia caninervis’ has been identified and it can grown in extreme environments like Antarctica and the Mojave Desert. A new study revealed the moss can survive Mars-like environments too including low temperatures, high levels of radiation and drought. 

Mars has often be referred to as the “Red Planet” for its distinct red hue. It is the fourth planet from the Sun and to some extent resembles the Earth. Polar ice caps, seasonal weather patterns, extinct volcanoes, ancient riverbeds and flood plains are among the many surface features and. This cold world has fascinated us for centuries and its thin atmosphere, mostly made up of carbon dioxide, has been subjected to lots of studies. It has been thought for many years that it experiences some of the harshest weather conditions, including planet-wide dust storms but the recent study suggests there may just be a plant on Earth capable of surviving these conditions. 

Mars, Credit NASA

Exploring and colonising planets like Mars can enhance human sustainability. Since no life forms have been found on Mars, introducing Earth organisms might be necessary for creating suitable conditions for human life in a process known as terraforming. This will involve selecting or engineering plants that can thrive in the harsh environments of an alien world. Few studies have tested organisms’ ability to withstand extreme environments of space or Mars, focusing mainly on microorganisms, algae, and lichens. However until recently, studies including mosses and whole plants have been lacking.

There have been many long term plans and even whimsical ideas to establish settlements on Mars. Pivotal to the success is the establishment of adapted crops that can grow in controlled, synthetic environments. However, to develop such a plant requires significant progress and development before plants are capable of growing in the soils and harsh conditions. In the report by lead author Xiaoshuang Li and team the incredible resilience of a moss called Syntrichia caninervis (S. caninervis) to survive a Mars-like environment even after having lost more than 98% of its water content. 

Studies into the resilience of the plants have shown they can withstand  extremely low  temperatures and regenerate even after being stored in a freezer at -80°C for five years or in liquid nitrogen for one month. S. caninervis also demonstrates high resistance to gamma radiation and can survive in simulated Martian conditions. 

The study concluded that S. caninervis is among the most stress-tolerant organisms known. It shows how it is a real potential species for the colonisation of alien worlds like Mars. The resilience to extreme conditions such as desiccation, low temperatures, and high radiation makes it an ideal for future terraforming efforts. It helps to understand the unique properties of this moss (in particular) and how it can form a foundational layer for biologically sustainable human habitats in space.

Source : 

• The extremotolerant desert moss Syntrichia caninervis is a promising pioneer plant for colonizing extraterrestrial environments

{ https://www.universetoday.com/ }

Intelligence Agents Investigate UFOs in Roswell (7 JUL 1947)

INTELLIGENCE AGENTS INVESTIGATE UFOS IN ROSWELL
On 7 July 1947, Counter Intelligence Corps (CIC) agents Lt. Col. Sheridan W. Cavitt, M. Sgt. Lewis S. Rickett, and Army Air Force intelligence agent Maj. Jesse A. Marcel investigated reports of an Unidentified Flying Object (UFO) that crash landed in Roswell, New Mexico.

The “Roswell Incident” occurred during the 1947 Flying Disc Craze, in which sixteen or more alleged sightings of UFOs were reported in the U.S. between May and July, many in the American Southwest. On 7 July 1947, a rancher named William “Mac” Brazel reported he had recovered “one of them flying saucers” on his ranch near Roswell. The investigation was turned over to Roswell Army Airfield, which assigned the case to Major Marcel.

During World War II, Jesse Marcel had attended the U.S. Army Air Force Intelligence School at Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, where he trained as a combat photo interpreter. He graduated in late 1942 and became an instructor until deploying with the 5th Bomber Command to the Southwest Pacific. After the war, Marcel was assigned to the 509th Composite Group, 313th Bombardment Wing, stationed at Roswell Army Airfield (Walker Air Force Base since 1948) and deployed during Operation CROSSROADS, the U.S. nuclear weapons tests in the Bikini Atoll in 1946. The unit was redesignated the 509th Bombardment Group, Very Heavy, in July 1946 and attached to the Strategic Air Command at Roswell.

For the investigation, Major Marcel was joined by Colonel Cavitt, commander of the 700th Air CIC Detachment’s Roswell office, and Sergeant Rickett from Cavitt’s office. The three men traveled to Brazel’s ranch and collected numerous pieces of what Cavitt later described as bamboo sticks and a “reflective sort of material” like aluminum foil. The next day, 8 July 1947, the incident appeared in local newspapers with headlines proclaiming the Air Force had recovered the remains of a “flying disc.” The excitement was short-lived. That same day, Brig. Gen. (later Lt. Gen.) Roger Ramey, commander of the Eighth Air Force at Fort Worth Army Airfield, held a press conference announcing the discovered materials belonged to a weather balloon. The incident was quickly forgotten.
 
The story resurfaced in 1978, when then-Lt. Col. Marcel claimed in an interview with ufologists (researchers of UFOs) that the materials were “extraterrestrial.” More witnesses came forward following publication of Marcel’s claims, and UFO enthusiasts grasped onto the story with a fervor, despite most “witnesses” providing only second- or thirdhand accounts. Even today, Marcel’s account remains the basis for conspiracists of a major military cover-up of extraterrestrial life at Roswell. Interestingly, shortly after the 1947 incident, Marcel’s personnel file noted his tendency to exaggerate. Contrary to Marcel’s remembrances, Colonel Cavitt later recalled, “I don’t think I even made a report to [700th CIC Headquarters], which I normally would if there was anything at all unusual.”

In 1994, an official U.S. Air Force investigation revealed the shredded remains of a UFO discovered in Roswell in July 1947 belonged to a prototype balloon for then-classified Project MOGUL. The project sought to “develop a technique capable of recording the sound of a nuclear detonation within the Soviet Union,” by placing “acoustic sensors (i.e. quasi-microphones) on balloons that operated at a steady state within the stratosphere.” In the summer of 1947, tests of these balloons were occurring at Alamogordo Army Airfield (Holloman Air Force Base since 1948), New Mexico, during which several balloons were lost. Project engineer Professor Charles B. Moore confirmed in 1994 that witness descriptions and photographs of the recovered Roswell UFO were consistent with the materials used in some of these balloons. MOGUL researchers reportedly used radio broadcasts of UFO sightings during the 1947 Flying Disc Craze to locate their lost balloons.

New issues of This Week in MI History are published each week. To report story errors, ask questions, or be added to our distribution list, please contact: TR-ICoE-Command-Historian@army.mil.

{ https://www.dvidshub.net/ }

The UFO, which some took to be an enormous spaceship, was caught on camera in Iran. The footage was shared on TikTok, leaving some people thinking aliens were headed for Earth

By Danny Gutmann

A gigantic UFO beaming from the bottom with pulsating green lights has been caught on camera in Iran.

And the apparent spaceship has sparked debate among viewers after footage showing it hovering ominously was shared on TikTok.

The craft, which appears to be flying quite low at certain junctures, looked to have four circular rows of bright pulsating green lights with one solid dot in the middle of its underside.

Zipping through the skies over the capital Tehran, it's picked up on camera by several people. Its speed and altitude appear to change as it continues its journey.

The clip was posted on the social media platform on May 30 by TikTok user @jakestaxxx. It has received more than half a million views, viewers divided on what it is exactly.

One TikTok user believes the images were made using CGI 

( Image: jakestaxxx/TikTok)

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One user, who claimed to have witnessed a UFO previously, seemed to take the TikTok post at face value, writing: "That's so cool, I've witnessed a real UFO close up but it was so fast coming down and it stopped only to do four circles around in the sky so fast then flew over us like that, awesome to witness."

But, for all those who were willing to believe it was in fact other worldly, there were others who disagreed, with some suggesting digital wizardry had been used.

One, though, was clear, saying: "Aliens just don't show up like that, there's galactic rules. If this was real it would have caused public unrest. I don't see any public unrest."

{ https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/ }

A number of sightings of UFO's were reported in south Wales at that time

(Image: Getty Images)

The BBC go back to the 1970's to try and get to the bottom of the sudden surge of UFO sightins in a small seaside Welsh town that left locals confused and scared

By Danny Gutmann

On a typically rainy February morning in a Brit seaside town more than four decades ago, a group of school boys saw something from the playground that they couldn't quite believe.

And now, 47 years after the baffling event in 1977, the BBC has investigated the reported UFO sighting in Broad Haven, Wales, as part of its new Paranormal series.

In the series, Sian Eleri travels to the town to try to uncover the truth behind what has become one of the most notorious UFO sightings ever in the UK.

David Davies was one of the boys who saw the 'craft', and he can still remember it clearly.

After hearing from other students in the school talking about seeing a UFO outside, he went to investigate for himself and to 'prove them wrong' – but he saw the same thing, a bus sized 'silver, cigar-shaped object' with a 'red pulsating glow' on top.

What was even more staggering was that the children were asked to draw a picture of what they had seen. And, spookily, they all depicted the same other worldly spaceship.

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But, that's not all – during the four-part series, Sian goes on to uncover various other peculiar sightings in Wales.

Just two months later Rosa Granville, who owned the Haven Fort Hotel, described seeing a UFO, but this time there was something even more troubling about what had been captured.

Speaking to the BBC on the 40th anniversary in 2017, Rosa said 'faceless humanoid' creatures appeared from a 'upside-down saucer'.

Sian Eleri investigates the surge in UFO sightings in South Wales during the late 1970s 

( Image: BBC/Twenty Twenty Productions Ltd/Rory Jackson)

She said: "There was light coming from it and flames of all colours. Then (the creatures) came out of these flames, that's what I don't understand,".

Sian explores many different reasons for such a huge number of reported UFO sightings in the area, including the theory that the objects could have been RAF aircraft.

The RAF Museum states that between 1970 and 1990 there were five airfields in south Wales, which does support the possibility that the UFOs were in fact regular aircraft being used by the military.

{ https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/ }

The world watched on in anticipation as NASA sent astronauts to walk in space for the first time, but one of those on board spotted something that he just couldn't take his eyes off

By Danny Gutmann

On what was set to be remembered for being the very first space walk, an unusual sighting by astronaut Jim McDivitt means it will always be remembered for something very different.

Flying through the eerily black sky in June 1965 aboard NASA's Gemini 4 mission, astronaut Jim claimed he saw a mysterious 'beer can' like UFO flying past him.

So much so, even 10 years later he still couldn't let go of what he saw on that day.

Speaking to US television all those years later, he said: "At the time I saw it, I said there was something out in front of me or outside the spacecraft that I couldn't identify and I never have been able to identify it, and I don't think anybody ever will.

Jim paid close attention to the suspected UFO, noting it's every movement 

(Image: NASA)

• 

Channel 4 give celebrities chance to experience their own funeral in wild new show

Man catches mysterious 'long object' moving across moon in sky above London

"We were in drifting flight and my partner, Ed White, was asleep. I couldn't see anything out in front of me except just the black sky.

"And it was rotating around, I noticed something out in front that was a white cylindrical shape with a white pole sticking it out of one corner of it - it looked like a beer can with a smooth pencil sticking out. I grabbed two cameras and took pictures of it.

"As the sun shone on the window, I could no longer see out and the thing just disappeared.

"They checked NORAD records to see what they had up on radar and there wasn't anything within very close range of us."

Jim's partner on board, Ed White was asleep at the time of the sighting 

(Image: Getty Images)

But, unlike many UFO sightings that are told from anecdotal evidence alone, Jim had been careful to photograph what he had seen.

But, as the public eagerly awaited the release of the photos, they were ultimately underwhelming and became known as the 'tadpoles' thanks to their blurry complexion.

Jim said: "I've seen the photos that were released. I went back and went through each frame of all of the pictures that we took and there wasn't anything in there like what I had seen."

After further inspection and analysis, any hope that Jim had become one of the rare few to have spotted alien life were quashed completely after another explanation came to light.

Speaking in 1999 he said: "And really what it was, was a reflection of the bolts in the windows.

"The windows were made up of about three or four or five panes of glass, so that if one got broken we still had some pressure integrity.

"And these little things, when the Sun shined on them right, they’d multiply the images off the different panes. And I’m quite sure that that’s what this thing was."

{ https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/ }