UFOs on the Moon: What NASA and Astronauts Couldn’t Reveal | Dr. Steven Greer’s Shocking Insights

For decades, humanity’s fascination with the Moon has been intertwined with curiosity about extraterrestrial life. Recent discussions, particularly those led by Dr. Steven Greer—a prominent figure in UFO disclosure—have shed new light on the mysteries surrounding UFOs and unexplained phenomena on the Moon. In this article, we delve into Dr. Greer’s insights into what astronauts, government agencies, and historical events suggest about UFOs on the Moon.

Dr. Steven Greer and the UFO Disclosure Movement

Dr. Steven Greer, a physician turned UFO researcher, has spent over 30 years uncovering classified information on UFOs and extraterrestrial life. Known for his work with the Disclosure Project, Dr. Greer has briefed world leaders, conducted press conferences, and produced documentaries to educate the public. His goal is to promote peaceful interstellar contact and reveal suppressed truths about UFOs, technology, and extraterrestrial civilizations.

Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Alleged Encounters on the Moon

The Apollo 11 Moon landing in 1969 marked a monumental achievement for humanity, but according to Dr. Greer, it also unveiled an unsettling truth: we were not alone on the Moon. Citing sources close to Neil Armstrong, Dr. Greer suggests that the Apollo astronauts encountered UFOs during their mission. These unidentified craft were reportedly observed above the rim of a crater, leading to significant concern among the astronauts.

Armstrong and his crewmate Buzz Aldrin were allegedly warned against revealing what they saw. Armstrong, fearing for the safety of his family, chose to remain silent. Similarly, Aldrin reportedly experienced emotional distress following the mission, and his sister corroborated the account, stating that significant pressure was placed on the astronauts to suppress the truth.

The Covert Footage and Its Implications

To maintain secrecy, Dr. Greer claims that NASA prepared alternate footage to splice into live broadcasts if something unexpected occurred. This pre-recorded footage was allegedly used during the Apollo 11 mission to hide evidence of extraterrestrial activity. One key anomaly often cited is the movement of the American flag, which seems to flutter despite the Moon’s lack of atmosphere. According to Dr. Greer, this was an oversight in NASA’s attempt to cover up evidence of UFOs.

Ancient Structures and Lunar Anomalies

Dr. Greer also highlights evidence of artificial structures on the Moon, some ancient and others relatively new. These structures were reportedly identified during the Lunar Orbiter missions, even before Apollo 11. Images from these missions were sent to a specialized facility where they were analyzed and sequestered from public view. These findings, combined with the Apollo astronauts’ experiences, suggest that the Moon may have been a site of extraterrestrial activity long before human exploration.

Warnings from Extraterrestrial Civilizations

One of the most startling claims from Dr. Greer’s sources is that extraterrestrial civilizations “warned off” humanity from further Moon exploration. According to Neil Armstrong, these civilizations expressed displeasure with humanity’s Cold War mentality and military-driven space exploration. The message was clear: space exploration should be approached with a spirit of peace and cooperation, not competition and militarization.

This could explain why the U.S. discontinued its lunar missions after the Apollo program, despite initial plans for lunar colonies and long-term exploration. While official narratives cite budgetary constraints, Dr. Greer suggests that extraterrestrial warnings played a significant role in halting these efforts.

Marilyn Monroe, JFK, and the UFO Connection

Dr. Greer also connects the secrecy surrounding UFOs to historical figures like President John F. Kennedy and Marilyn Monroe. Kennedy’s vision of a cooperative space program and his alleged intention to disclose UFO information may have contributed to his assassination. Similarly, Marilyn Monroe’s reported plans to reveal details about UFOs and extraterrestrial encounters—shared with her during her relationships with JFK and Robert Kennedy—could have led to her untimely death. Dr. Greer cites a CIA document that implicates Monroe’s knowledge of “objects from outer space” as a potential motive for silencing her.

What Does This Mean for Humanity?

The claims surrounding UFOs on the Moon are more than just sensational stories—they challenge our understanding of history, technology, and our place in the cosmos. If true, these revelations suggest that humanity is being monitored by advanced civilizations with a vested interest in our progress. They also raise questions about the extent of government secrecy and the suppression of information that could revolutionize our understanding of the universe.

VIDEO:

Dr. Steven Greer’s insights provide a compelling narrative about UFOs and extraterrestrial activity on the Moon. While skeptics may dismiss these claims, the testimonies of astronauts, whistleblowers, and historical documents suggest there is more to the story than meets the eye. As humanity continues to explore space, perhaps it is time to revisit these accounts with an open mind and a commitment to uncovering the truth.

The Moon, it seems, holds not just the promise of scientific discovery but also the potential to reshape our understanding of our relationship with the cosmos.

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

Story by Stacy Liberatore For Dailymail.com

 

• A Harvard physicist published a study revealing the fragments are not coal ash 
• Avi Loeb analyzed 850 fragments, finding 10 percent have 'alien' elements
• READ MORE:  Study claimed spheres were industrial pollutants

A Harvard physicist has revealed that up to 10 percent of the fragments recovered from the Pacific Ocean contain 'alien' elements not seen in our solar system.

Avi Loeb told DailyMail.com that he and his team completed their analysis of 850 spherules, finding a new class of differentiated elemental composition labeled BeLaU - and 'not coal ash, as claimed by some people.'

The composition included Beryllium, lanthanum and uranium, which are found on Earth, but were arranged in patterns that do not match our planet's alloys.

'We studied more than a dozen BeLaU spherules and showed that they are distinctly different from coal fly ash based on the abundances of 55 elements from the periodic table,' said Loeb.

'Beyond any reasonable doubt, this rules out the coal ash interpretation that was suggested by four people.'

The teams findings have now claimed that the IM1 meteor detected shooting through the skies in 2014 was Earth's first interstellar visitor.

A Harvard physicist has revealed that up to 10 percent of the fragments recovered from the Pacific Ocean contain ' alien ' elements not seen in our solar system. Avi Loeb told DailyMail.com that he and his team completed their analysis of 850 spherules, finding a new class of differentiated elemental composition labeled BeLaU - and 'not coal ash, as claimed by some people.' The composition included Beryllium, lanthanum and uranium, which are found on Earth, but were arranged in patterns that do not match our planet's alloys.

©Provided by Daily Mail

The Harvard physicist's latest paper, published in January, breaks down the classification of the spherules.

Loeb told DailyMail.com that the samples were studied by three laboratories: University of California, Berkley, Bruker Corporation and Harvard University.

The samples were subdivided into three compositional types: silicate-rich spherules or S-type, the Ferich (Fe) spherules or I-type and glassy spherules or G-type.

Around 78 percent fall along S, G and I-type spherules.

Another group was labeled 'differentiated,' which was found to have higher silicon (Si) and Magnesium (Mg), along with increased ratios of Aluminum (Ai) and Si.

'These spherules are thus called differentiated, meaning they are likely derived from crustal rocks of a differentiated planet; we label them as D-type spherules, characterized by Mg/Si,' reads the study.

'We studied more than a dozen BeLaU spherules and showed that they are distinctly different from coal fly ash based on the abundances of 55 elements from the periodic table,' said Loeb. 'Beyond any reasonable doubt, this rules out the coal ash interpretation that was suggested by four people.' The teams findings have now claimed that the IM1 meteor detected shooting through the skies in 2014 was Earth's first interstellar visitor. The Harvard physicist's latest paper, published in January, breaks down the classification of the spherules.

©Provided by Daily Mail

Loeb told DailyMail.com that the samples were studied by three laboratories: University of California, Berkley, Bruker Corporation and Harvard University. The samples were subdivided into three compositional types: silicate-rich spherules or S-type, the Ferich (Fe) spherules or I-type and glassy spherules or G-type. Around 78 percent fall along S, G and I-type spherules. Another group was labeled 'differentiated,' which was found to have higher silicon (Si) and Magnesium (Mg), along with increased ratios of Aluminum (Ai) and Si. 'These spherules are thus called differentiated, meaning they are likely derived from crustal rocks of a differentiated planet; we label them as D-type spherules, characterized by Mg/Si,' reads the study. Another group was labeled 'differentiated,' which was found to have higher silicon (Si) and Magnesium (Mg), along with increased ratios of Aluminum (Ai) and Si. And about 22 percent of the 850 spherules were labeled as differentiated. The team used a different method to identify spherules with enrichments of Be, La and U.

©Provided by Daily Mail

This procedure identifies 10 of D-type spherules as BeLaU with low-Si spherules and two as BeLaU with high-Si spherules. Loeb explained that it is clear the fragments form from a material that split from a rock-like object, but the chemical composition is unlike any known solar system material with a component of the lunar crust being closest. 'The elemental composition of the BeLaU spherules was never reported in the scientific literature and is different from familiar spherules from known solar system meteors,' Loeb told DailyMail.com.

©Provided by Daily Mail

Another group was labeled 'differentiated,' which was found to have higher silicon (Si) and Magnesium (Mg), along with increased ratios of Aluminum (Ai) and Si.

And about 22 percent of the 850 spherules were labeled as differentiated.

The team used a different method to identify spherules with enrichments of Be, La and U.

This procedure identifies 10 of D-type spherules as BeLaU with low-Si spherules and two as BeLaU with high-Si spherules.

Loeb explained that it is clear the fragments form from a material that split from a rock-like object, but the chemical composition is unlike any known solar system material with a component of the lunar crust being closest.

'The abundance pattern does not resemble natural materials on the Earth, Moon, Mars or solar system asteroids and features enhanced abundances of some elements by up to a factor of a thousand relative to the initial composition of the solar system materials. We interpret it as being from outside the solar system. 'It constitutes the first recognized interstellar meteor, IM1.' Avi shared initial findings in October after analyzing just 57 fragments, stating the samples contained the new patterns of BeLaU, along with low content of elements with high affinity to iron, like Rhenium. However, the claim was met with criticism from other members of the scientific community, with one saying there was a lack of 'conclusive evidence'. Patricio A. Gallardo, a physicist at the University of Chicago, published a counter-study last November. 'The meteoritic origin is disfavored,' Gallardo shared in his paper published in Research Notes of the AAS. 'Few comparisons to contaminants have been conducted to discard the null hypothesis of terrestrial contamination.'

©Provided by Daily Mail

'The elemental composition of the BeLaU spherules was never reported in the scientific literature and is different from familiar spherules from known solar system meteors,' Loeb told DailyMail.com.

'The abundance pattern does not resemble natural materials on the Earth, Moon, Mars or solar system asteroids and features enhanced abundances of some elements by up to a factor of a thousand relative to the initial composition of the solar system materials. We interpret it as being from outside the solar system. 

'It constitutes the first recognized interstellar meteor, IM1.'

Avi shared initial findings in October after analyzing just 57 fragments, stating the samples contained the new patterns of BeLaU, along with low content of elements with high affinity to iron, like Rhenium

However, the claim was met with criticism from other members of the scientific community, with one saying there was a lack of 'conclusive evidence'.

Patricio A. Gallardo, a physicist at the University of Chicago, published a counter-study last November.

'The meteoritic origin is disfavored,' Gallardo shared in his paper published in Research Notes of the AAS.

'Few comparisons to contaminants have been conducted to discard the null hypothesis of terrestrial contamination.'

Gallardo also claimed that there was a consistency between these three elements (as well as nickel) with the beryllium, lanthanum, uranium and nickel that arises in the ash from the burning of coal.

Steve Desch and Alan Jackson from Arizona State University also shared their criticism last year, stating: 'Far from being exotic particles from an extrasolar planet, the spherules collected and analyzed by Loeb et al. appear to be just like those found around the world, with a Solar System origin and compositions modified by tens of thousands of years residence at the ocean bottom.'

A fourth person echoed Gallardo's paper in claiming the spherules are 'coal ash from human activity since the industrial revolution.'

Gallardo also claimed that there was a consistency between these three elements (as well as nickel) with the beryllium, lanthanum, uranium and nickel that arises in the ash from the burning of coal. Steve Desch and Alan Jackson from Arizona State University also shared their criticism last year, stating: 'Far from being exotic particles from an extrasolar planet, the spherules collected and analyzed by Loeb et al. appear to be just like those found around the world, with a Solar System origin and compositions modified by tens of thousands of years residence at the ocean bottom.' A fourth person echoed Gallardo's paper in claiming the spherules are 'coal ash from human activity since the industrial revolution.' 'All four of these critics did not have access to the expedition materials and made loud statements to the science community, the public, and news media without substantive evidence,' Loeb told DailyMail.com.

©Avi Loeb/Medium

'We now show that their 'coal ash' claim is invalid based on a detailed analysis of 55 elements from the periodic table. Their 'coal ash' claim was misinformation.' For years, Loeb has argued that Earth may have been visited by such technology. In 2017, an interstellar object named Oumuamua passed through the solar system, and while most scientists believe it was a natural phenomenon, Loeb famously argued it may have been of alien origin. After the discovery of Oumuamua in 2017, Loeb theorized - despite much criticism - that more interstellar objects had likely whizzed past Earth. He was vindicated in 2019 when a student discovered that a high-speed fireball in 2014, the IM1 meteor, also had interstellar origins and predated Oumuamua.

©Provided by Daily Mail

'All four of these critics did not have access to the expedition materials and made loud statements to the science community, the public, and news media without substantive evidence,' Loeb told DailyMail.com.

'We now show that their 'coal ash' claim is invalid based on a detailed analysis of 55 elements from the periodic table. Their 'coal ash' claim was misinformation.'

For years, Loeb has argued that Earth may have been visited by such technology.

In 2017, an interstellar object named Oumuamua passed through the solar system, and while most scientists believe it was a natural phenomenon, Loeb famously argued it may have been of alien origin.

After the discovery of Oumuamua in 2017, Loeb theorized - despite much criticism - that more interstellar objects had likely whizzed past Earth.

He was vindicated in 2019 when a Loeb and his team discovered that a high-speed fireball in 2014, the IM1 meteor, also had interstellar origins and predated Oumuamua.

The Harvard scientists spent years working closely with the US military to pinpoint the impact zone, combing through data to determine if and when the object fell from space. And determined the object crashed off the coast of Papua New Guinea. Air friction burst IM1 into flames in mid-air as it careened towards Earth, leaving a trail of molten iron rain droplets in its wake on January 8, 2014. The discovery that these interstellar metal fragments could be dredged from the Pacific with powerful magnets led to Loeb and his Galileo team's 2023 mission.

©Avi Loeb IM1 expedition

Last June, Loeb and his team traveled to a site where the meteor IM1 was believed to have crashed nearly a decade ago. Also known as CNEOS1 2014-01-08, the object had an estimated diameter of 1.5 feet, a mass of 1,014 pounds and a pre-impact velocity of 37.3 miles per second. IM1 withstood four times the pressure that would typically destroy an ordinary iron-metal meteor ¿ as it hurtled through Earth's atmosphere at 100,215 miles per hour. The researchers trawled the seafloor off the coast of New Guinea in June 2023, pulling hundreds of tiny metallic spherules during the expedition.

Read the full story: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-13051739/metals-pacific-ocean-outside-solar-alien.html?ito=msngallery

©Provided by Daily Mail

The Harvard scientists spent years working closely with the US military to pinpoint the impact zone, combing through data to determine if and when the object fell from space.

And determined the object crashed off the coast of Papua New Guinea.  

Air friction burst IM1 into flames in mid-air as it careened towards Earth, leaving a trail of molten iron rain droplets in its wake on January 8, 2014.

The discovery that these interstellar metal fragments could be dredged from the Pacific with powerful magnets led to Loeb and his Galileo team's 2023 mission.

Last June, Loeb and his team traveled to a site where the meteor IM1 was believed to have crashed nearly a decade ago.

Also known as CNEOS1 2014-01-08, the object had an estimated diameter of 1.5 feet, a mass of 1,014 pounds and a pre-impact velocity of 37.3 miles per second.

IM1 withstood four times the pressure that would typically destroy an ordinary iron-metal meteor — as it hurtled through Earth's atmosphere at 100,215 miles per hour.

The researchers trawled the seafloor off the coast of New Guinea in June 2023, pulling hundreds of tiny metallic spherules during the expedition.

The True Scale of Ocean Pollution

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

Bill Tompkins Was In Control Room When Neil Armstrong Met Moon Reptilians

Just two years before his death, William M. Tompkins had written “Selected by Extraterrestrials,” which induced sudden chaos in the UFO community with his incredible testimony about the US Navy’s secret development of space battle groups with the assistance of major aerospace companies beginning with Douglas Aircraft. He can be considered one of the most incredible whistleblowers to step forward and disclose the Secret Space Programs, E.T. Agendas, and hidden governments. He claimed to be part of an operation involving US Navy spies who stole UFO plans and antigravity technological secrets from the Nazis during World War II.

In July 2017, at a press conference, Tompkins made an unprecedented statement. He worked for the Douglas Aircraft Company alongside extraterrestrials (Nordic alien women). It had been 4-7 years before NASA appeared. He claimed about it in his book (mentioned above) that was published in 2015.

Additionally, he revealed that the Nazis had already had operational UFOs during the war, and because of the information that the US spies were able to obtain, the US later developed its fleet of UFOs – which then got siphoned off into the black military sphere under the control of Majestic 12, the ultra-secretive group that controlled and managed the UFO/alien issue in the 1940s.

During the time of World War, there were secret societies such as the Thule Society and the Vril Society. Famous British historian Nicholas Goodrick-Clark wrote a whole chapter about Maria Orsic in his book “Black Sun” published in 2001, where he connected her with Vril society.

The author mentioned that Orsic could communicate with alien civilizations and one of them was from the planet Aldebaran, which is located in the Taurus system.

According to Tompkins, the Nazis were in contact with Extraterrestrial Reptilians at the same time as Orsic was doing her channeling. Hitler found out about Orsic, her abilities, and the fact she was receiving information that detailed how to construct UFOs.

According to Tompkins, Hitler allowed Orsic (and the Nordics with whom she was working) to continue to work on their UFO program because the Nazis were already in contact with the Reptilians, and because Hitler knew he could always take over Orsic’s project at any time.

Robert Wood, who was interviewed alongside William Tompkins by Search4TruthReality (source), claimed that the Nazis’ technology rapidly advanced due to their relationship with the Reptilians so that they got to the far side of the moon before the end of WW2.

Dr. Wood worked in research and development management in Douglas Aircraft and McDonnell Douglas from 1956 to 1993. Later he became a Board member of MUFON. He was given $500,000 to disseminate UFO documents and $250,000 to make a UFO documentary. Later, Robert and his son Ryan scanned hundreds of MJ-12 documents and made them available on their website MajesticDocuments.com.

According to William Tompkins, he was recruited at a young age by the Navy due to his precocious ability to build highly accurate model ships. After working at North American Aviation and Northrop, he was hired by Douglas Aircraft Company in 1950.

In interviews such as with Project Camelot and in his book “Selected by Extraterrestrials,” Tompkins revealed much of his story. He explained that MJ-12 began in 1942 with the senior Douglas (the man who started the company).

Tompkins stated that right after the Battle of LA in 1942, to handle the implications of UFOs openly showing themselves in the skies, Douglas pulled some key men into a group (or think tank) that later became MJ-12.

Seventeen-year-old Bill Tompkins points out the detail on his models to naval Captain H. C. Gearing, commandant of the 11th Naval District in San Diego. Bill was soon inducted into the navy and is shown in the second photo in his uniform holding one of his aircraft carriers. He went on to help design com on the real ships. Image Credit: Craftsmanshipmuseum.com/Tompkins

Dr. Wood stated that MJ-12 is mostly associated with the Air Force, not other branches of the US military. He explained that the US Navy started back-engineering Nazi UFO crafts in 1942 before MJ-12 came into existence. It took the Navy around a decade to produce functional UFO craft, but they did so eventually.

Tompkins stated that when the first astronauts went to the moon, they were shocked to discover it had already been occupied by Draco Reptilians. He said that the Reptilians, over 9 feet tall, were standing next to their advanced craft.

Bill Tompkins: They were parked around the side of the crater. Okay. They were not parked on it. They were floating above it. So there were hundreds of these nine-foot reptilian guys standing with their legs. Yeah. They were all the way across underneath their vehicles, standing on the crater.

Interviewer: And what do they look like?

Bill Tompkins: They’re ugly-looking lizard, alligator-type people. They got the same skin as the lizards got. Okay. And terrible-looking faces. But then they have the ability to shift and look like a human. All of them do. Okay.

Interviewer. Do you think Von Braun was a reptilian?

Bill Tompkins: No. Your president. Yes.

Interviewer: Oh, which one?

Bill Tompkins: [George Bush senior] And Bill Clinton and this guy you just got rid. Yeah. They all were. Right. Okay. And they all have this ability to make themselves look like real good-looking people.

Interviewer: And you’re saying Trump isn’t one?

Bill Tompkins: No, he’s not. That’s a relief. And he knows more about this subject than people realize. But trying to get back to your earlier question, these groups of extraterrestrials who work together but are at war with other extraterrestrials, okay, have these vehicles that look like a planet, like our moon is a vehicle. It’s a command center for this arm. The easiest way to look at this is to put your arm out like this, and you be the center of the galaxy. (Source)

Read also:

• Project Stargate: CIA Top Secret Program To Track UFOs & Explore Mars
• Gray Alien Named ‘Sen’: Californian Woman Encounter Case By MUFON Researcher
• Aliens From Andromeda Told US Army Personnel That Humans Are Composite of 22 different E.T. races
• FBI 1947 Declassified Report: Giant Aliens Visit Earth From Another Dimension

According to both Tompkins and Dr. Wood, the Reptilians had already made a deal with the Nazis. Amazingly, Tompkins himself claimed he saw ancient structures on the far side of the moon and that he saw a floating building – 1.5 miles above the lunar surface.

According to Tompkins, many ET species are interacting with humanity currently, including Dracos/Reptilians and Nordics which have a great influence on the world.

In his Project Camelot interview, Tompkins prevented himself from disclosing more information about Reptilians as it was harmful to his credibility. Tompkins also described the US Military’s concerns about UFOs and alien beings and the Military’s rush to create advanced space-based weapons, which could be used to defend the planet Earth against an ET threat to our civilization.

He revealed US Navy has Battle Groups operating outside the Earth. He designed five spaceships and thirty support ships. Using the latest technology, he designed different spaceships for Northrop Aviation Company. Northrop started building the huge craft underground in Utah.

Tompkins claimed we are now building even better Battle Groups. The Apollo moon landings were also designed to build a base on the moon. We have had bases on the moon along with bases on Mars and Jupiter’s moons.

A month after the shocking conference, Tompkins passed away unexpectedly on August 21, 2017, in San Diego, California, at the age of 94.

References:

{ https://howandwhys.com/ }

Dr. Jon Kosloski, Director of the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (Senate Armed Services Committee)

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

Venus Has Never Been Habitable, New Study Suggests

Planetary researcher Tereza Constantinou and her colleagues at the University of Cambridge have examined the chemical composition of the Venusian atmosphere and inferred that the planet’s interior is too dry today for there ever to have been enough water for oceans to exist at its surface; instead, Venus has likely been a scorching, inhospitable world for its entire history.

This composite image, taken by JAXA’s Akatsuki spacecraft, shows Venus.

Image credit: JAXA / ISAS / DARTS / Damia Bouic.

From a distance, Venus and Earth look like siblings: it is almost identical in size and is a rocky planet like Earth.

But up close, Venus is more like an evil twin: it is covered with thick clouds of sulfuric acid, and its surface has a mean temperature close to 500 degrees Celsius.

Despite these extreme conditions, for decades, astronomers have been investigating whether Venus once had liquid oceans capable of supporting life, or whether some mysterious form of ‘aerial’ life exists in its thick clouds now.

“We won’t know for sure whether Venus can or did support life until we send probes at the end of this decade,” Constantinou said.

“But given it likely never had oceans, it is hard to imagine Venus ever having supported Earth-like life, which requires liquid water.”

When searching for life elsewhere in our galaxy, astronomers focus on planets orbiting their host stars in the habitable zone, where temperatures are such that liquid water can exist on the planet’s surface.

Venus provides a powerful limit on where this habitable zone lies around a star.

“Even though it’s the closest planet to us, Venus is important for exoplanet science, because it gives us a unique opportunity to explore a planet that evolved very differently to ours, right at the edge of the habitable zone,” Constantinou said.

The dichotomous climate pathways proposed for Venus.

Image credit: Constantinou et al., doi: 10.1038/s41550-024-02414-5.

There are two primary theories on how conditions on Venus may have evolved since its formation 4.6 billion years ago.

The first is that conditions on the surface of Venus were once temperate enough to support liquid water, but a runaway greenhouse effect caused by widespread volcanic activity caused the planet to get hotter and hotter.

The second theory is that Venus was born hot, and liquid water has never been able to condense at the surface.

“Both of those theories are based on climate models, but we wanted to take a different approach based on observations of Venus’ current atmospheric chemistry,” Constantinou said.

“To keep the Venusian atmosphere stable, then any chemicals being removed from the atmosphere should also be getting restored to it, since the planet’s interior and exterior are in constant chemical communication with one another.”

The researchers calculated the present destruction rate of water, carbon dioxide and carbonyl sulfide molecules in Venus’ atmosphere, which must be restored by volcanic gases to keep the atmosphere stable.

Volcanism, through its supply of gases to the atmosphere, provides a window into the interior of rocky planets like Venus.

As magma rises from the mantle to the surface, it releases gases from the deeper portions of the planet.

On Earth, volcanic eruptions are mostly steam, due to our planet’s water-rich interior.

But, based on the composition of the volcanic gases necessary to sustain the Venusian atmosphere, the scientists found that volcanic gases on Venus are at most six percent water.

These dry eruptions suggest that Venus’s interior, the source of the magma that releases volcanic gases, is also dehydrated.

At the end of this decade, NASA’s DAVINCI mission will be able to test and confirm whether Venus has always been a dry, inhospitable planet, with a series of flybys and a probe sent to the surface.

The results could help astronomers narrow their focus when searching for planets that can support life in orbit around other stars in the galaxy.

“If Venus was habitable in the past, it would mean other planets we have already found might also be habitable,” Constantinou said.

“Instruments like the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope are best at studying the atmospheres of planets close to their host star, like Venus.”

“But if Venus was never habitable, then it makes Venus-like planets elsewhere less likely candidates for habitable conditions or life.

“We would have loved to find that Venus was once a planet much closer to our own, so it’s kind of sad in a way to find out that it wasn’t, but ultimately it’s more useful to focus the search on planets that are mostly likely to be able to support life — at least life as we know it.”

• The study was published this month in the journal Nature Astronomy.
• T. Constantinou et al. A dry Venusian interior constrained by atmospheric chemistry. Nat Astron, published online December 2, 2024; doi: 10.1038/s41550-024-02414-5
• This article is based on a press-release provided by the University of Cambridge.

{ https://www.sci.news/ }

EXCLUSIVE - I'm a professional asteroid hunter - and this is what NASA is not telling you about the space rocks on a collision course for Earth

• READ MORE: Incredible moment asteroid crashes into Earth's atmosphere

By WILIAM HUNTER

This week, an asteroid slammed into Earth's atmosphere and exploded in a ball of fire above Siberia.

From the time the space rock was spotted by NASA to the time it hit Earth, space agencies around the world had just seven hours to react.

Luckily for Earth, this asteroid was only 70cm across and burned up harmlessly in the air - but for asteroid hunter Franck Marchis, this was too close for comfort.

Dr Marchis, senior astronomer at the SETI Institute and founder of the UNISTELLAR citizen astronomer network, told MailOnline: 'If it had been slightly bigger, that would been a very different story.'

While institutes like NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA) keep a close watch for any space rocks that threaten Earth, there simply aren't enough people watching the sky to catch everything. 

If scientists want to save humanity from a potential 'city killer' asteroid we need years of warning, not a handful of hours.

The solution, according to Dr Marchis, is to enlist amateur astronomers to fill in the gaps left behind by the professionals.

Dr Marchis says: 'Asteroids can come at any moment towards Earth. Having eyes on the sky everywhere in the world allows us to track them.' 

Professional asteroid hunter Franck Marchis says that governmental space agencies like NASA and ESA can't protect Earth from an impending asteroid impact alone

Franck Marchis (pictured) senior astronomer at the SETI Institute and founder of UNISTELLAR, told MailOnline that the only way to protect Earth from asteroids is for civilians to spot the threats that NASA misses 

What's the risk of an asteroid hitting Earth? 

On Christmas Day, 2004, while most of us were busy opening presents and enjoying time with our families, Dr Marchis was facing down a potentially deadly threat.

NASA had spotted a large space rock, known as a Near-Earth Object (NEO), and sent out a call for astronomers to take a closer look. 

After taking measurements of the asteroid's course and calculating its orbit, Dr Marchis and other astronomers came to the sobering realisation that it was headed right for Earth.

At around 400m in diameter, the asteroid, known as 2004 MN4, was a true city killer capable of punching through the atmosphere and hitting the planet with devastating force.

To make matters worse, Dr Marchis predicted that there were only four to seven hours before impact.

He says: 'The community was freaked out, for several hours we had no idea if it was going to hit the planet or not.'

Thankfully, it turned out that the initial observations had been wrong and 2004 MN4 merely skimmed by the planet without colliding.

Just like the film 'Don't Look Up', on Christmas Day 2004, Dr Marchis detected an asteroid that was predicted to collide with Earth. However, unlike the film, Dr Marchis spotted the 400m-long space rock when there were only four hours before it was expected to hit 

However, for seven hours on Christmas Day, there were only about 400 people in the world who knew just how close Earth had come to total disaster.

He says: 'I think when you see something like that, you realise that this is possible and you realise the potential impact of it.'

Each day, the Earth is bombarded by an estimated 100 tonnes of material from space, most of which are no larger than a grain of dust and burn up harmlessly in Earth's atmosphere.

However, astronomers have discovered 36,765 NEOs, including more than 11,000 which are over 140m across and 868 larger than a kilometre.

Of those, 1,714 are on the 'risk list' meaning that there is a non-zero chance of a collision with Earth. 

With space around Earth so full of potential threats, near misses are not entirely uncommon.

Last year a 130m-wide space rock named 2019 OK travelling at 88,500 kmph (55,000 mph) passed within just 72,500 km (45,000 miles) of Earth - extraordinarily close in astronomical terms.

Nor do asteroids need to be as large as 2003 MN4 to cause absolute devastation.

In 2004, Dr Marchis detected the asteroid 400m-wide 2004 MN4. At the time, calculations suggested it may hit Earth within hours of its discovery 

The Chelyabinsk meteor (pictured) which injured over 1,600 and damaged over 7,000 buildings in 2013 was believed to be just 18m in diameter.

For instance, the Chelyabinsk meteor which injured over 1,600 and damaged over 7,000 buildings in 2013 was believed to be just 18m in diameter.

Dr Marchis says: 'An asteroid of over 120 metres will impact our planet every 10,000 years on average.

'This shows that, if we want our civilisation to last for a long period of time, we need to look around us and characterise those objects.'

How can we save Earth from a devastating asteroid impact?

After the Christmas Day scare, Dr Marchis says he realised that small groups of professionals simply weren't up to the task of defending the entire planet.

'There are multiple stations around the world, professional telescopes, that detect and characterise objects but most of them are located in the same area,' Dr Marchis says. 

'It means that if an asteroid is coming to us from over Japan or Russia there is nobody looking in this direction, so we still have what we call dark zones.'

The novel solution was that, instead of having a handful of massive advanced systems, you could fill the dark zones with small, cheap telescopes to watch the whole sky at once.

Dr Marchis' initial plan was to place a series of small satellite telescopes in orbit (pictured) to detect incoming asteroids. However, this was deemed too expensive 

Dr Marchis says: 'We quickly realised that having an entire worldwide array of telescopes capable of watching all of the sky all of the time would help.'

Back in 2014, Dr Marchis thought that the best way to do this would be to surround the planet with a network of orbiting telescope satellites.

However, before the days of reusable rockets, nobody was interested in funding a vast satellite constellation and Dr Marchis now calls the idea his 'sci-fi' project.

Unable to put his telescopes in space, Dr Marchis ultimately settled on the next best thing: putting them in as many homes around the world as physically possible.

In 2015, he founded UNISTELLAR which makes relatively cheap telescopes 'smart telescopes' which can track objects in space and share their measurements with a network of amateur astronomers.

These observations allow average civilians to light up the world's dark zones and keep a watchful eye on anything that could pose a threat to Earth.  

When NASA or ESA's wide-angle telescopes spot something bright and fast moving through the sky they send a notification to a database called the Minor Planets Centre.

Dr Marchis says: 'Based on about five or six observations they tell other people: "Hey, there is an asteroid coming to us and it could be potentially hazardous."

Instead of going to space, Dr Marchis founded Unistellar which sells telescopes (pictured) that automatically share data on the objects they observe with a network of amateur astronomers. This allows scientists to gather lots of observations of potentially hazardous objects

'Amateur astronomers including those in our network get this notification and use our telescopes to refine the observation.

'It's by combining all those eyes together that refines the predicted orbit of the asteroid and confirms whether it is an asteroid rather than a piece of rocket.'

In the case of spotting a dangerous asteroid, the impact will first be confirmed by NASA's Sentry and ESA's Meerkat prediction systems.

Then Dr Marchis and the other members of UNISTELLAR would bring their predictions to the UN's International Asteroid Warning Network to coordinate the response.

This was exactly what happened with the asteroid COWECP5 which dramatically exploded over Russia this week.

The asteroid was spotted by a NASA-funded telescope in Arizona about seven hours prior to impact.

Amateur astronomers in Japan and Australia then used their smaller telescopes to work out exactly where and when it would hit.

This time, it was determined that the space rock would burn up in the atmosphere so the issue was not escalated to the UN but, if it had been bigger, it would have been these citizen scientists' observations which determined the areas to be evacuated. 

The Earth frequently faces near misses from hazardous asteroids. This year four 'potentially hazardous' asteroids passed Earth within a 12-hour window. The largest was the 'city killer' asteroid 2002 NV16 which is taller than the Blackpool Tower 

The future of planetary defence 

However, if humanity is to survive into the future, we need to do more than just know when Earth is about to be hit by an asteroid - we need a way of stopping it.

'The good news is that, two years ago, we made an experiment showing that we can deflect an asteroid if we know well in advance that such an impact will happen,' Dr Marchis says.

'And that's changing a lot about how we think about this problem.'

The experiment Dr Marchis refers to is NASA's Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) which slammed a fast-moving satellite into the side of a distant asteroid.

Although the results will be confirmed in 2026 by ESA's Hera mission, the early results show that the asteroid was indeed bumped out of its orbit.

And, as the satellite collided with its target, it was telescopes in the UNISTELLAR network that recorded the impact as it happened.

These observations provided the first images of the plumes of dust and debris caused by the collision which showed that the $324.5 million (£253.5 million) mission had been a success.

NASA's DART mission used a small fast-moving satellite to slam into a massive asteroid. This test showed that it is possible to knock an asteroid out of a collision course with Earth 

It was even the hard work of citizen scientists which provided the data that proved humanity really could push a dangerous asteroid out of the way.

Dr Marchis says that the goal is now to expand the UNISTELLAR network so that amateur astronomers can start to identify any asteroids that could pose a threat.

He says: 'What we need to do is map the entire surroundings of Earth to find all those bodies 120m or larger because, as soon as we know that one of them could impact our planet, we just have to send a spacecraft over to deflect it.

'We do more observations in a year now than we have done over the past 200 years but we could still do better.'

For example, there are still vast dark zones over the developing countries where Earth just can't see what is coming its way.

Dr Marchis says that the only solution is to either 'win the lottery' to fund his satellite telescopes or get more amateur astronomers involved in planetary defence.

He concludes: 'If people like astronomy or if they want to do something more meaningful in their life they should really look at what we do in citizen science.

'This is a movement which is going to change the way we progress as a civilisation and UNISTELLAR is proof that every human can make remarkable discoveries that will one day change humanity.'

{ https://www.dailymail.co.uk/ }

Secret Pentagon study hints at reincarnation being real after finding consciousness 'never dies'

• READ MORE: First remote mind control technology is developed in South Korea

By MATTHEW PHELAN SENIOR SCIENCE REPORTER FOR DAILYMAIL.COM

A study conducted by US Army Intelligence has suggested that reincarnation is real because consciousness 'never dies.'

Entitled 'Analysis and Assessment of The Gateway Process,' the 29-page report was drafted by US Army Lieutenant Colonel Wayne M McDonnell in 1983 and declassified by the CIA in 2003.

The research has resurfaced on social media, with Chicago-based comedian Sara Holcomb summarizing the findings, saying: 'We're pretty sure reincarnation is real.'

'Consciousness is energy and it exists outside of our understanding of reality,' Holocomb said, paraphrasing page 19 of McDonnell's Army intel report. 'And energy... never dies.'

The mind-bending official Pentagon study was commissioned to better understand what its Army intel colleagues were doing sending personnel to a small institute in Charlottesville, Virginia that was working on the 'Gateway Experience.'

The then-secretive 'Gateway' project, based to McDonnell's analysis, was 'a training system designed to bring enhanced strength, focus and coherence... to alter consciousness.'

From there, Gateway's ambitious goal was to shift the practitioner's consciousness 'outside the physical sphere so as to ultimately escape even the restrictions of time and space.'

At least according to McDonnell, the Monroe Institute's discoveries that wound up bolstering the case for reincarnation were profound. 

'When consciousness returns to the Absolute [Monroe jargon for a realm outside spacetime] it brings with it all the memories it has accumulated through experience in reality,' as he distilled the Institute's finding that memories pass on from life to life via reincarnation.

An eye-popping study conducted by US Army Intelligence and made public by the CIA has shocked social media with its finding that consciousness transcends space and time. Entitled 'Analysis and Assessment of The Gateway Process,' the 29-page report was drafted in 1983

The recently resurfaced US Army Intelligence report presents an abstract explanation of how consciousness is created through the brain's processing of energy in the physical world - transforming it into what Lieutenant Colonel Wayne McDonnell compares to a hologram (above)

Or, as Holocomb put it more succinctly in one of many videos by TikTok users fascinated with the metaphysical US Army study: 'You're pretty sure reincarnation is a legit thing? Yup.' 

The comedian, who posts as @mad_hatter_news on TikTok, also referenced a vast body of research by the nearby University of Virginia Medical School's Division of Perceptual Studies which has compiled a database of over 2,500 cases of professed reincarnation.

Many of the cases involved children under the age of five who claimed to remember 'memories of a previous life they claim to have lived.'

'Why the kids?' Holocomb continued in her post. 'It seems they're the ones that most easily remember their past lives.'

But the Gateway study explored more than simply heady spiritual questions of reincarnation, the nature of consciousness and the afterlife. 

Ltc McDonnell's report as a member of US Army Intelligence and Security Command (INSCOM) was concerned with psychic spycraft along the astral plane. Psychic spycraft involves the use of alleged paranormal abilities for espionage.

In 1983, INSCOM was headed by Major General Albert Stubblebine III, one of the US military's greatest proponents of psychic warfare.

Joe McMoneagle —  who served as Remote Viewer No1. in one of Major General Stubblebine's psychic spy programs — has said his own role was to use remote viewing to spy on Russian military bases and gather intelligence.

He spent more than 20 years as a so-called 'remote viewer' working at Fort Meade in Maryland, which is also home to the National Security Agency (NSA).

'My success rate was around 28 percent,' McMoneagle said. 'That may not sound very good, but we were brought in to deal with the hopeless cases.'

'Our information was then cross-checked with any other available intelligence to build up an overall picture. We proved to be quite useful "spies."'

Joe McMoneagle (pictured) was a Vietnam vet and American 'psychic spy.' His role was to use 'remote viewing' to spy on Russian bases and gather intelligence. He now serves on the Board of Advisors for the Monroe Institute - whose 'Gateway' process was studied in the 1983 report

In 1983, INSCOM was headed by Major General Albert Stubblebine III (portrait above), one of the US military's greatest proponents of psychic warfare

Today in retirement, McMoneagle serves as on the Board of Advisors and as a trainer for the Monroe Institute, the same institute whose 'Gateway' process was studied by US Army INSCOM in their 1983 report.

Ultimately Ltc McDonnell's 'Gateway Experience' report, was an effort to verify the institute's suitability as a defense contractor used in this Army INSCOM program to operationalize 'out of body' experiences for espionage.

In his summary, McDonnell concluded: 'There is a sound and rational basis in terms of physical science parameters for considering Gateway to be plausible in terms of its essential objectives.' 

'Intuitional insights of not only personal but of a practical and professional nature would seem to be within the bounds of reasonable expectations,' he continued, in essence validating INSCOM's 'psychic spying' strategy.

But there was a catch, he noted: These experiences were hard to control or direct consistently, which Ltc McDonnell suggested would require long and careful training.

'[A] phased approach for entering the Gateway Experience in an accelerated mode would seem to be required [...] from the standpoint of establishing an organization-wide exploitation of Gateway's potential,' he wrote. 

In other words, while the Army intel official found that Gateway was real and possible, more research was needed to get to a place where US intelligence could actually make use it. 

Ltc McDonnell then laid out recommendations for how Army INSCOM could go about designing further Gateway studies, though its unclear if more studies were ever launched. 

Mysteriously, one page of Ltc McDonnell's report is missing, number 25, in the middle of a section where he was outlining potential practical defense uses of Gateway. 

The omission caught the attention of some readers who launched a Change.org petition calling for the CIA to release it. 

The CIA, however, says that it never had the page to begin with — fueling theories that it has been left it out on purpose due to the powerful techniques that page 25 described.

{ https://www.dailymail.co.uk/ }

Photo by Jonny Gios on Unsplash

Written by Christopher Sharp 

The United States Air Force (USAF) has confirmed to Liberation Times that ‘small unmanned aerial systems’ were observed above three of its UK bases in the East of England over a continuous five-day period.

In comments, which have now been officially published, a USAF spokesperson told Liberation Times:

‘Small unmanned aerial systems were spotted in the vicinity of and over Royal Air Force Lakenheath, RAF Mildenhall and RAF Feltwell between Nov. 20 and Nov. 24.

‘The number of systems fluctuated, and they ranged in sizes and configurations. The sUASs were actively monitored and installation leaders determined that none of the incursions impacted base residents, facilities or assets.’

On Facebook, Colonel Jack R. Arthaud the commander of the 48th Fighter Wing at RAF Lakenheath posted:

‘You are most likely aware that we have experienced several sUAS or small drone sightings across the tri-base area since 20 Nov. They are being actively monitored and have not impacted base residents or infrastructure.

‘If you see anything suspicious, to include sUAS's or drone activity within the tri-base area, please contact either local police or Security Forces. The Liberty Wing is taking all appropriate measures to safeguard RAF Lakenheath, RAF Feltwell and residents.’

Specific details about the drone activities on Saturday 23 November, and Sunday 24 November, are not yet known. However, with wind speeds reaching up to 65 miles per hour in the area over the weekend, operating drones in such conditions would likely have been challenging.

This evening, plane spotters monitoring USAF activities from the affected bases reported ongoing drone incursions and observed Air Force assets deploying apparent countermeasures.

One YouTuber filming from outside RAF Lakenheath in Suffolk stated that he could see lights of apparent drones “skimming the tops of trees” near the base and that F15s had taken off and were going “round and round above us”.

The streamer, whose YouTube channel is named ‘Liberty Wing UK’, witnessed the F15s take off, said “they weren’t hanging around, full afterburner all the way up.”

The streamer appeared to have captured a radio conversation from the base, where one USAF officer can be heard saying:

“We’ve got multiple reports of UAVs [unmanned aerial vehicles] taking off from fields to the north and south”

Later on, the streamer added:

“I've had this information that it's some sort of test. But I just can't think it is because what I've been told by the base as well.

“They didn’t want me to stream to start with. If it was just an exercise I would have thought they wouldn’t bother saying anything to me.

“But they came over to me and spoke to me and, on purpose, asked me what I was doing. And they've been going around the perimeter, looking at people's cars and stuff as well. To me, I don’t think they would be bothered doing stuff like that if it was just an exercise.”

X user Dr. Andrew O'Malley shared a map of the area surrounding the base, highlighting aircraft activity, including a military refuelling plane.

He added:

‘Stratotanker up. That means fighter jets are up too with their transponders off.’

Liberation Times requested comment from the USAF to confirm whether drone incursions were ongoing as of 25 November 2024 - however no official confirmation has been provided.

One Facebook user and local resident named Hardy Lewis Jhardy witnessed what may have been one of the mysterious drones in the nearby Valbri Motel in the town of Brandon, Suffolk.

He sent Liberation Times exclusive footage of what appears to be a faint flashing light in the sky, whilst fighter jets can be heard in the background.

Jhardy told Liberation Times that the apparent drone appeared to be moving fast towards RAF Lakenheath and was medium in size.

The video was also posted onto Facebook. In response to it, one commenter suggested that it could be a USAF drone, stating:

‘Could be a drone from the base. I saw a drone once inside the Lakenheath base but owned by the military.’

Another commenter agreed, posting:

‘Is nobody considering that they may be security drones scanning for potential threats or sabotage!!’

On a separate Facebook post commenting on the incidents, one former USAF officer speculated that the apparent drones could belong to an adversary power, writing:

‘I hope the installation security posture is reflecting the threat? Drones will test security, gauge response times, identify vulnerabilities, and distract from another higher priority mission. A Drone swarm could overwhelm security forces in short order.

‘Too many incidents not to be coordinated. Stateside, overseas, getting probed. Very reminiscent of the bad old days, when we had humans poking around.’

The activity affecting the USAF-operated bases took place after the UK and U.S. governments approved the Ukrainian military's use of long-range missiles to strike targets within Russian territory.

So far, neither the UK nor U.S. governments have identified the operators of the apparent drones or specified the types of drones involved, despite their repeated launches on consecutive nights.

A resident of the nearby town of Brandon expressed his frustrations on Facebook, writing:

‘So Lakenheath, Mildenhall & Feltwell RAF American bases, have all had mystery drones flying around them. I have to ask, why were the drones not quickly shot down.’

Another wrote:

‘Little worrying.’

Meanwhile, Brandon’s Town Council told Liberation Times:

‘Our Town Clerk has informed me that we have received no official reports from any of the bases but the Squadron Leader does have a regular report at Full Council, so if there is anything to report on the matter, we will receive it then.’

With locals left concerned about the situation, a spokesperson from the UK’s Ministry of Defence (MOD) commented to Liberation Times:

“We take threats seriously and maintain robust measures at defence sites. This includes counter drone security capabilities.

“We won’t comment further on security procedures.”

The incursions over the U.S. bases follows other drones incidents reported by Liberation Times above Langley Air Force in December 2023, where logs show that dronebusters used by security forces failed to intercept the objects.

In January this year, it was reported that the U.S. military was set to deploy nuclear weapons at RAF Lakenheath.

In March 2023, a document, external from the U.S. Office of the Under Secretary of Defense disclosed how $50m had been earmarked to build a facility known as a ‘Surety Dormitory’ at the base.

The phrase is understood to refer to nuclear weapons storage, external.

• Note: Liberation Times has reached out to Suffolk Constabulary for comment on the local police response to the incidents but has not received a reply.
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{ https://www.liberationtimes.com/ }

Unveiling the Mystery: Underwater UFOs and Hidden ET Bases Beneath the Waves

The mystery of unidentified flying objects (UFOs) has long fascinated humanity, but a less-discussed phenomenon also warrants attention: underwater unidentified submerged objects (USOs). These transmedium crafts exhibit extraordinary abilities to seamlessly transition between air, water, and even space. Recent explorations near California have shed light on compelling evidence of these enigmatic phenomena and the possibility of extraterrestrial (ET) bases hidden beneath the ocean’s surface.

Discoveries by Rory Kremer: Archaeologist and Undersea Explorer

Rory Kremer, a seasoned archaeologist with over 20 years of experience, ventured into the depths near California as part of a Netflix series, Alien Investigation. Tasked with exploring underwater structures and anomalies, Kremer’s findings have captivated UFO researchers and skeptics alike. Using advanced technologies such as side-scan sonar and remotely operated vehicles (ROVs), Kremer identified potential evidence of intelligent design beneath the waves.

One of the most notable discoveries was a 60-90 foot fuselage-like structure with an aerodynamic form, unlike anything naturally occurring. Other finds included geometrically precise stone objects and what appeared to be ancient fire rings. These discoveries hint at either long-lost civilizations or something more extraordinary, such as ET activity.

The Transmedium Craft Phenomenon

Eyewitness accounts of transmedium crafts reveal their astonishing ability to traverse multiple environments—air, water, and space—without losing speed or maneuverability. One such encounter, described by Kremer, occurred during a Pacific expedition. He recounted a glowing object that emerged from the ocean, hovered briefly, and vanished into the night sky within seconds. This object, capable of both soundless flight and underwater navigation, challenges conventional understanding of physics and technology.

Footage from Kremer’s expeditions captured what appeared to be playful interactions from such objects, diving and reemerging from the water with remarkable speed. The video evidence, later featured in the Netflix series, showcases an object entering the ocean and glowing beneath the water’s surface, leaving behind an otherworldly phosphorescent trail.

California’s Underwater Hotspot

The waters surrounding California, particularly near Santa Cruz Island and Catalina Island, have been hotspots for USO sightings. The area is known for frequent reports of unidentified aerial phenomena (UAPs) diving into the ocean, further fueling speculation about underwater ET bases. Native American oral histories also reference mysterious flying entities, which some researchers link to these modern-day sightings.

Geologically, the region’s underwater caves, lava tubes, and trenches provide ideal hiding places for advanced underwater vehicles or bases. Kremer’s exploration into Painted Cave and Balloon Hanger Cave revealed potential evidence of such activity, with structural anomalies that defy natural explanations.

Military Connections and Speculations

Adding to the intrigue, the area is a known hub for military activity, including testing of advanced technologies. Some speculate that these sightings could involve classified military projects, but the capabilities of these objects far surpass known human technology. Reports of UFOs disabling missile facilities in Montana during the 1970s further link these phenomena to sensitive military zones, suggesting a deeper connection between UFOs, national security, and extraterrestrial involvement.

Historical and Cultural Significance

The region’s rich history also adds layers of mystery. With water levels rising by approximately 200-250 feet over the past 10,000 years, much of California’s ancient coastal archaeology lies submerged. Kremer’s findings suggest that some underwater anomalies may belong to pre-European civilizations. However, the precision of certain artifacts raises questions about whether these structures could be linked to advanced non-human intelligence.

The Road Ahead: What Lies Beneath?

Kremer’s work underscores how little is understood about the depths of our oceans. Advanced tools like LIDAR could revolutionize future investigations, offering a clearer picture of underwater landscapes and the potential presence of ET bases. The Netflix series and accompanying evidence have already sparked widespread interest, though much remains unexplored.

For now, the mystery of underwater UFOs and USOs continues to challenge our understanding of the natural and extraterrestrial world. Are these sightings evidence of ancient civilizations, classified military experiments, or visitors from other worlds? The answers may lie deep beneath the ocean’s surface, waiting for humanity to uncover them.

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

By ISHITA SRIVASTAVA FOR DAILYMAIL.COM

Mysterious UFO drones have been spotted flying over New York City - after weeks of being photographed in New Jersey. 

Staten Island Borough President Vito Fossella confirmed that the peculiar objects had been seen flying above Howland Hook Marine Terminal and the West Shore on Staten Island earlier this week. 

In a letter addressed to the FAA and FBI requesting an investigation, Fossella called the situation 'bizarre', according to PIX11. 

'It is odd and quite bizarre that nobody can figure out who is flying these drones, where they are coming from, and their purpose. 

'It is not just a bizarre situation, but also a concerning one, as it seems these drones can potentially become a danger to personal safety.'

He also stated that he was worried about the drones' ability to impede life-saving care in medical emergencies - especially over the two hospital systems on Staten Island. 

'It was recently reported that, during a medical emergency resulting from a crash in Branchburg, New Jersey, the presence of these drones prevented a medevac helicopter from being able to transport a seriously injured patient to the hospital. 

'We hope that such an investigation may shed light on what these drones are doing, where they are coming from and how to mitigate the risks they may pose on public safety.'  

Mysterious UFO drones have been spotted flying over New York City - days after being photographed in New Jersey

Yesterday, new footage of at least five or possibly six of the unidentified drones was captured in a 50-second cell phone video in New Jersey, which one commenter declared was 'the clearest video yet.'

One drone, heard roaring in the skies as it moved through the darkness, appeared to have a cluster of white lights on its underbelly and red lights blinking at the tips of its wings and tail. 

Another drone came into frame that resembled a classic 'black triangle' UFO or the triangular TR-3B, which beamed bright white lights from its nose, wingtips and tail.

Since mid-November, a wave of unexplained drone sightings above central Jersey has left both law enforcement and the general public watching the skies, hunting for clues on what these mysterious night flights might be.

Governor Phil Murphy has attempted to calm residents claiming these true UFOs pose 'no known threat to the public at this time,' but FBI and local police are actively investigating.

Concerns have heightened over the proximity of these drone-like UFOs to President-elect Donald Trump's Bedminster golf course, US military research facility Picatinny Arsenal and critical local infrastructure.

'Water reservoirs, electric transmission lines, rail stations, police departments, and military installations' have all had the UFOs roaming above them in recent weeks, according to the chief of police for the New Jersey borough of Florham Park.

'Their presence appears nefarious in nature,' the police chief added.

Staten Island Borough President Vito Fossella confirmed that the peculiar objects had been seen flying above Howland Hook Marine Terminal and the West Shore on Staten Island earlier this week

'Seems like they want them to be seen,' NJ native and TikTok creator @_bucky13 commented under his phone footage of the eerie drones (still image above), captioned 'Mysterious drones spotted all over New Jersey.' At least five drone-like UFOs are seen in his 50-second clip

One of the UFO drones, whose engines can be heard roaring from the ground, appeared to have a cluster of white lights on its underbelly with red lights blinking at its wingtips and tail (above)

But the New Jersian who posted the new footage of these drones online maintains the answer lies within America's own classified world of black budget projects. 

'Seems like they want them to be seen,' TikTok user @_bucky13 commented under his phone video of the eerie UFOs, captioned 

'Mysterious drones spotted all over New Jersey.'

'I think they are trying to scare Russia by demonstrating some secret weapons,' he wrote. 

The camera was pointed to the sky when the drones came into view. 

'There they are! There are more in New Jersey!,' he can be heard shouting in his handheld video — as an unsettled woman off-camera says, 'We shouldn't be outside.'

'They look like an f***ing triangle! They look like a triangle,' he said in disbelief, as je spotted a triangular-shaped drone cruising into the night.

A later UFO or drone seemed to hover stationary beyond the tree line, lit up with multiple lights that pulsed bright enough to produce a lens flare effect. 

'Are you freaking kidding me right now,' one woman can be heard saying of the craft. 

Commenters of UFO video joined him in his suspicion that the objects may ultimately prove to be top secret US military craft, even as the TikToker can be heard marveling in his video that 'an F-16 just flew over' in hot pursuit of the unidentified craft.  

According to one NJ local, this image depicts roughly nine of the unidentified drones flying in to the Garden State from the Atlantic Ocean on Thursday night, December 5

A later UFO or drone in the new video looks like it might have hovered stationary beyond the tree line, lit up with multiple lights that pulsed bright enough to produce a lens flare effect

'Looks like a military drone,' one Tik Tok user said, with another chiming in 'Definitely government made drones.'

Many stated with confidence that the triangle craft was the legendary and still unconfirmed TR-3B 'Black Manta' anti-gravity spy plane, the alleged follow-up to the equally unconfirmed TR-3A, both claimed to have been made by defense contractor Northrop in the early 1990s.

'Those are TR-3B government drones,' one poster said. 'Look them up, they're pretty cool.'

A December 1991 cover story in Popular Mechanics was one of the first mainstream media reports to allege that the TR-3A existed as a highly advanced 'tactical reconnaissance vehicle' eyewitnesses said was 42-feet long with a 60-foot wingspan.

Others have speculated that the UFOs above New Jersey might be an update to US defense contractor Lockheed Martin’s original 'Darkstar'  that flew in 1996. 

{ https://www.dailymail.co.uk/ }

NASA Pushes Human Moon Landing Back to 2027

The Artemis moon landings are delayed again due to technical difficulties. This time, the problem is with the Orion spacecraft heat shield. NASA administrator Bill Nelson announced that the new landing dates are in April of 2026 for Artemis II and sometime in 2027 for the first human landing during the Artemis III mission.

The difficulties the Artemis program faces stem from the complexity of the hardware and trajectories needed to take astronauts to the Moon according to Nelson. “The Artemis campaign is the most daring, technically challenging, collaborative, international endeavor humanity has ever set out to do,” said Nelson. He pointed out that the mission has made a lot of progress. However, there’s more work to be done, in particular on the Orion life support systems. Artemis II is next up in early 2026. It will be a test flight to demonstrate the viability of all the systems, said Nelson. “We need to get this next test flight right. That’s how the Artemis campaign succeeds.”

Making a safe return through Earth’s atmosphere is a vital part of the mission. After Orion came back from its Artemis 1 mission in November 2022, engineers noticed issues with the heat shield. They figured out that gases generated inside the heat shield didn’t vent properly. That caused cracks in the shield and triggered an investigation. The decision to delay the Artemis II test flight came after that investigation. This allows NASA engineers to work with the heat shield currently attached to the Orion capsule for the April 2026 flight. In addition, they’re studying the re-entry process to avoid future problems with the shield. 

Artemis II to the Moon

As we all know, the Artemis program will allow long-term exploration of the Moon. The April 2026 mission is a test flight that will orbit, but not land, and then return to Earth. The idea is to test all the spacecraft’s systems with astronauts on board.

The Orion spacecraft is the crew’s living quarters and lab, all in one. It’s built to carry four astronauts from Earth to space and ultimately to the Moon. It makes sense that this “home away from home” has to be shielded from pretty much anything that space—and Earth’s atmosphere—can throw at the capsule. This includes the ultrahot trip through our atmosphere on the return trip. At times, Orion experiences temperatures up to 2700 C (5000 F), which could harm the capsule if not for the shielding. So, the shield is a life-saver.

The heat shield retrieved after the Artemis 1 test flight to the Moon. Crews inspected it to understand what caused it to char. Courtesy: NASA.

When Orion first encountered the heat shield problem, engineers determined that heating rates increased during the spaceship’s planned “dips” into the atmosphere. It was performing a skip guidance entry technique. Heat built up inside the heat shield’s material and gases accumulated. Eventually, that cracked areas in the outer layer of the shield and blew some of it off to space. It turns out that if astronauts had been aboard, they would not have been affected. However, now that engineers understand what occurred, they can enhance the heat shield material to make sure it doesn’t happen again. In addition, the mission plan will be altered to change how far the capsule flies between atmospheric re-entry and eventual landing.

Upgrading Mission Plans

The extended time until the April 2026 and mid-2027 Artemis missions will allow improvements to the capsule and launch systems. For example, engineers can give more attention to environmental and life support systems. This is particularly important for the Artemis III mission. It will launch on top of a Space Launch System rocket into Earth orbit. Once there, the mission will perform a translunar injection to send it to lunar space.

Not only will it carry astronauts to the Moon, but they will land in the south polar region using a SpaceX landing system. That 30-day mission will require at least two crew members to spend a week at the pole collecting samples, doing site photography, and measuring conditions there.

This image shows nine candidate landing regions for NASA’s Artemis III mission, with each region containing multiple potential sites for the first crewed landing on the Moon in more than 50 years. The background image of the lunar South Pole terrain within the nine regions is a mosaic of LRO (Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter) WAC (Wide Angle Camera) images. Credit: NASA

Artemis III will be the first time anyone has set foot on the Moon since the last Apollo mission in December 1972. The entire Artemis program aims at providing long-term habitation and study of Earth’s nearest neighbor in space. To that end, NASA has been studying several interesting landing spots at the pole.

Eventually, there will be an orbiting lunar station, plus habitats on the surface and regular trips between. NASA and other agencies expect that lunar explorers will be spending their time studying the surface and geology of the Moon, plus determining what resources are available for long-term exploration and habitation. However, given the pace of the program, those next developments probably won’t take place until the 2030s.

For More Information

• NASA Identifies Cause of Artemis I Orion Heat Shield Chart Loss
• As Artemis Moves Forward, NASA Picks SpaceX to Land Next Americans on Moon
  Artemis II
• Artemis III: NASA’s First Human Mission to the Lunar South Pole

{ https://www.universetoday.com/ }

New Species of Archaic Human Proposed: Homo juluensis

Homo juluensis — a newly-erected human species that includes enigmatic Denisovans and several hominin fossils from Tibet, Taiwan and Laos — lived in eastern Asia from around 300,000 years ago to 50,000 years ago.

A portrait of a juvenile female Denisovan based on a skeletal profile reconstructed from ancient DNA methylation maps.

Image credit: Maayan Harel.

“Our study clarifies a hominin fossil record that has tended to include anything that cannot easily be assigned to Homo erectus, Homo neanderthalensis or Homo sapiens,” said University of Hawai’i at Mānoa Professor Christopher Bae and Dr. Xiujie Wu from the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology at the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

“Although we started this project several years ago, we did not expect being able to propose a new hominin species and then to be able to organize the hominin fossils from Asia into different groups. Ultimately, this should help with science communication.”

“This work is important because it helps scientists better understand the complex story of human evolution in Asia, filling in some of the gaps in our understanding of our ancient relatives.”

Reconstruction of Homo floresiensis.

Image credit: Elisabeth Daynes.

The authors suggest that at least four hominin species — Homo floresiensis, Homo luzonensis, Homo longi, and the newly-established Homo juluensis — were present in eastern Asia during the Late Quaternary period.

Homo juluensis lived approximately 300,000 years ago in eastern Asia, hunted wild horses in small groups, and made stone tools and possibly processed animal hides for survival before disappearing around 50,000 years ago.

“Thanks largely to a growing hominin fossil record, the field of Late Quaternary eastern Asian paleoanthropology is in the midst of significant and important change that is contributing tremendously to how we view and are refining these evolutionary models,” the researchers said.

“In particular, the field received a jolt two decades ago with the publication of the diminutive Homo floresiensis fossils from the island of Flores in Indonesia in 2004.”

“More recently, another diminutive species, Homo luzonensis, from the island of Luzon in the Philippines was added as a new hominin species.”

“In China, Homo longi was presented following an analysis of the Harbin fossil.”

“Fossils like Dali and Jinniushan may be tentatively included in Homo longi as well, though we await further comparative analyses.”

“Most recently, after a detailed study of the Xujiayao and Xuchang fossils, we have added Homo juluensis to these discussions.”

A reconstruction of Homo longi in his habitat.

Image credit: Chuang Zhao.

Importantly, the scientists also assign the enigmatic Denisovans, along with the Xiahe, Penghu, and Tam Ngu Hao 2 fossils, to Homo juluensis.

More research is clearly needed to test this relationship, which is primarily based on similarities between jaw and teeth fossils from these different sites.

“The eastern Asian hominin fossil record is an excellent example of how unilineal models of evolution, such as traditional multiregionalism, cannot adequately explain the complexity in the paleoanthropological record, particularly during the Late Quaternary,” the authors concluded.

“If anything, the eastern Asian record is prompting us to recognize just how complex human evolution is more generally and really forcing us to revise and rethink our interpretations of various evolutionary models to better match the growing fossil record.”

• Their paper was published in the journal Nature Communications.
• C.J. Bae & X. Wu. 2024. Making sense of eastern Asian Late Quaternary hominin variability. Nat Commun 15, 9479; doi: 10.1038/s41467-024-53918-7

Other Liquids Could Be Forming Minerals on Mars

Most people will think of a dry arid landscape when they think of Mars. When seen from orbit, dry river channels and lake-beds can be seen along with mineral deposits thought to be the created in the presence of liquid water. A team of researches now suggest that liquid carbon dioxide could also explain the features seen. On Earth, a process known as carbon sequestration liquefies CO2 which is buried underground. There are a number of mechanisms that could explain the liquid CO2 underground the researchers suggest.

Mars is often referred to as the ‘red planet’ due to its visual appearance. It’s the fourth planet from the Sun and has been a real focus for exploration and research for decades. The red colour is caused by iron oxide (rust) on its surface which can often be lifted up into the atmosphere by the Martian winds giving stunning pink skies. It’s just over half the size of the Earth, has a thin atmosphere mostly made of carbon dioxide and a surface composed of deserts and volcanoes like Olympus Mons. One of the key focusses of the exploration on Mars has been to establish whether the conditions are suitable for life, have been suitable in the past or whether liquid water exists on the surface. 

A full-disk view of Mars, courtesy of VMC. Credit: ESA

The presence of dry riverbeds and lake beds points to a surface that had liquid flowing long ago. Quite what that liquid is has been the cause for debate. Observations of minerals from orbit and from more direct analysis on the surface, suggest that the liquid was just water. However a team of researchers have published a paper in Nature Geoscience that suggests otherwise. They explain that water is only one of two possible liquids that could have existed on ancient Mars. The other is liquid carbon dioxide or CO2. Given the atmospheric conditions it may have been more likely and easier for CO2 in the atmosphere to condense into a liquid than for surface ice to melt into water. 

A topographic image of an area of anceint riverbeds on Mars. Created with data from the High-Resolution Stereo Camera on the Mars Express Orbiter. Image Credit: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin http://www.esa.int/spaceinimages/ESA_Multimedia/Copyright_Notice_Images

It has been the general consensus that the minerals point to liquid water. The paper suggests that processes like carbon sequestration, liquid CO2 buried underground can alter the composition of minerals even faster than water can. Lead author Michael Hecht, research scientist at MIT’s Haystack Observatory said “Understanding how sufficient liquid water was able to flow on early Mars to explain the morphology and mineralogy we see today is probably the greatest unsettled question of Mars science. There is likely no one right answer, and we are merely suggesting another possible piece of the puzzle.”

Image of the Martian atmosphere and surface obtained by the Viking 1 orbiter in June 1976. (Credit: NASA/Viking 1)

The paper explores our current understanding of the Martian atmosphere and combine it with the carbon sequestration research to conclude that the processes do support the evidence and mineralogy seen on Mars. They note however that this proposal does not suggest all Martian surface liquid was CO2 but rather there could have been a combination of the two.

They explain that liquid CO2 on the surface of Mars could exist as a stable surface liquid, as melted CO2 under CO2 ice or in subsurface reservoirs. Which actually took place would have dependent entirely on the distribution of CO2 at the time and the surface conditions too. The paper acknowledges that further testing is required under more realistic Martian conditions to test whether the same processes still occur. 

Source : 

• Liquid on Mars was not necessarily all water

Exploring Martian Geology and Habitability through Mineralogy

Curiosity Mining Minerals On Planet Mars

{ https://www.universetoday.com/ }

Mystery of bizarre drones over New Jersey deepens after new footage of UFOs emerge

• READ MORE: Listen to baffled pilots report tow UFOs above their planes in Texas

By MATTHEW PHELAN SENIOR SCIENCE REPORTER FOR DAILYMAIL.COM

New footage of multiple eerie 'triangle' craft flying above New Jersey has only compounded the mystery for locals.

At least five or possibly six of the unidentified drones were captured in the new, 50-second cell phone video, which one commenter declared was 'the clearest video yet.'

One drone, heard roaring in the skies as it moved through the darkness, appeared to have a cluster of white lights on its underbelly and red lights blinking at the tips of its wings and tail. 

Another drone came into frame that resembled a classic 'black triangle' UFO or the triangular TR-3B, which beamed bright white lights from its nose, wingtips and tail.

Since mid-November, a wave of unexplained drone sightings above central Jersey has left both law enforcement and the general public watching the skies, hunting for clues on what these mysterious night flights might be.

Governor Phil Murphy has attempted to calm residents claiming these true UFOs pose 'no known threat to the public at this time,' but FBI and local police are actively investigating.

Concerns have heightened over the proximity of these drone-like UFOs to President-elect Donald Trump's Bedminster golf course, US military research facility Picatinny Arsenal and critical local infrastructure.

'Water reservoirs, electric transmission lines, rail stations, police departments, and military installations' have all had the UFOs roaming above them in recent weeks, according to the chief of police for the New Jersey borough of Florham Park.

'Their presence appears nefarious in nature,' the police chief added.

'Seems like they want them to be seen,' NJ native and TikTok creator @_bucky13 commented under his phone footage of the eerie drones (still image above), captioned 'Mysterious drones spotted all over New Jersey.' At least five drone-like UFOs are seen in his 50-second clip

One of the UFO drones, whose engines can be heard roaring from the ground, appeared to have a cluster of white lights on its underbelly with red lights blinking at its wingtips and tail (above)

But the New Jersian who posted the new footage of these drones online maintains the answer lies within America's own classified world of black budget projects. 

'Seems like they want them to be seen,' TikTok user @_bucky13 commented under his phone video of the eerie UFOs, captioned 

'Mysterious drones spotted all over New Jersey.'

'I think they are trying to scare Russia by demonstrating some secret weapons,' he wrote. 

The camera was pointed to the sky when the drones came into view. 

'There they are! There are more in New Jersey!,' he can be heard shouting in his handheld video — as an unsettled woman off-camera says, 'We shouldn't be outside.'

'They look like an f***ing triangle! They look like a triangle,' he said in disbelief, as je spotted a triangular-shaped drone cruising into the night.

A later UFO or drone seemed to hover stationary beyond the tree line, lit up with multiple lights that pulsed bright enough to produce a lens flare effect. 

'Are you freaking kidding me right now,' one woman can be heard saying of the craft. 

Commenters of UFO video joined him in his suspicion that the objects may ultimately prove to be top secret US military craft, even as the TikToker can be heard marveling in his video that 'an F-16 just flew over' in hot pursuit of the unidentified craft.  

According to one NJ local, this image depicts roughly nine of the unidentified drones flying in to the Garden State from the Atlantic Ocean on Thursday night, December 5

A later UFO or drone in the new video looks like it might have hovered stationary beyond the tree line, lit up with multiple lights that pulsed bright enough to produce a lens flare effect

'Looks like a military drone,' one Tik Tok user said, with another chiming in 'Definitely government made drones.'

Many stated with confidence that the triangle craft was the legendary and still unconfirmed TR-3B 'Black Manta' anti-gravity spy plane, the alleged follow-up to the equally unconfirmed TR-3A, both claimed to have been made by defense contractor Northrop in the early 1990s.

'Those are TR-3B government drones,' one poster said. 'Look them up, they're pretty cool.'

A December 1991 cover story in Popular Mechanics was one of the first mainstream media reports to allege that the TR-3A existed as a highly advanced 'tactical reconnaissance vehicle' eyewitnesses said was 42-feet long with a 60-foot wingspan. 

The magazine even suggested that this alleged 'black budget' surveillance plane 'may have seen action during Operation Desert Storm.'

Aerospace illustrator, Mark McCandlish, who contributed art for a 1991 Popular Mechanics article on the alleged TR-3A 'Black Manta' would go on to claim that the US had covertly reverse engineered a crashed UFO

The article also described a much largerm even more incredible and 'highly maneuverable' black triangle aircraft — as big as a B-2 bomber's 150-foot wingspan and capable of turning '90 degrees on its wingtip.'

A decade later at the National Press Club in Washington DC, May 9, 2001, the aerospace illustrator who contributed art for that PopMech article, Mark McCandlish, claimed that US covert anti-gravity propulsion research had actually reverse engineered a crashed UFO.

Others have speculated that the UFOs above New Jersey might be an update to US defense contractor Lockheed Martin’s original 'Darkstar'  that flew in 1996. 

The RQ-3 DarkStar was a highly-advanced remotely piloted aircraft intended for stealth reconnaissance, but officially the firm says that Darkstar 'never entered production' due to 'cost and aerodynamic stability problems.'

But, if the craft really are 'above top secret' American innovations, few other branches of the federal government appear to be in the loop, with many worrying about rival foreign powers like Russia or China being the culprits. 

This past November 22, the FAA banned drone flights over the Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey until Friday, December 6, as well as above the Picatinny Arsenal Military Base in Rockaway until December 26. 

Above: US defense contractor Lockheed Martin’s original 'Darkstar' which flew in 1996. The RQ-3 DarkStar was a highly-advanced, stealthy reconnaissance remotely piloted aircraft that the firm says 'never entered production' due to 'cost and aerodynamic stability problems' 

'We look into all reports of unauthorized drone operations,' FAA officials in a statement, 'and investigate when appropriate.'

The administration warned drone operators that any unmanned flights that endanger aircraft or pedestrians down below could lead to fines up to $75,000 —plus a loss of their drone operators' pilot certificates.

Local digital news site NJ.com spoke with a spokesman for Picatinny Arsenal, Eric Kowal, who repeated that it is illegal to fly drones over the base without prior authorization. But he does not believe the drones pose an immediate threat. 

'From our standpoint we're not alarming our residents and employees,' he said. 

'The FBI are the experts on the threat. We don't believe there to be a threat at this juncture.' 

{https://www.dailymail.co.uk/ }

Humans on Mars could conduct far better science than any machine

Related: 

• NASA establishes 'Moon to Mars' office to help get astronauts to Red Planet

"Our partnerships with industry, academia, and the international community are helping NASA define an architecture that empowers us to boldly explore the moon, Mars, and beyond," Merancy explains.

Tale of the tiger team

Arguably, the science conducted on the surface of Mars by astronauts will have the most impact on the scope and scale of that architecture. Therefore, deciding on science priorities warrant early attention. 

Recent history demonstrates the issue of shoe-horning in science tasks for astronauts too late.

That is a central message from a recent study for the Mars Exploration Program Analysis Group (MEPAG), one that suggests how and where on the Red Planet humans can maximize exploration and science output. 

A MEPAG Tiger Team on Mars Human-Mission Science Objectives was led by Bruce Jakosky, a senior research scientist at the University of Colorado's Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics in Boulder, Colorado. Their report was transmitted to NASA late last year.

Proactive, not reactive

"I think the real value of this report is if we can get NASA to pay attention," Jakosky told Space.com in an exclusive interview. "We see a lot of work going on in planning the architecture for human Mars missions. But science isn't on the table at all. My goal as chair of the Tiger Team is trying to get science into the discussion," he said.

Fitting science in around the edges is not the way to do world class science, Jakosky said. NASA needs to be proactive, not reactive in incorporating science, he said.

NASA's Apollo program of the 1960s into the early 1970s, noted Jakosky, had scientists, engineers, and astronauts working hand-in-hand, shoulder to shoulder to make sure science was done.

"And that's something that I don't think we see today in Artemis or in Mars," Jakosky said. "It's got to be an iterative process in order to make sure that the science and the engineering will work together," he said.

Science-based landing sites

Jim Head, a noted planetary researcher at Brown University, was a member of the Tiger Team report group. 

"NASA is currently updating the objectives for the Moon-to-Mars initiative with the strategy of 'architect from the right/execute from the left,'" Head said. That translates into, he added, "work backwards from the defined goal to establish the complete set of elements that will be required for success. Execute development of all elements in regular fashion, integrating as you move right according to the established architecture."

Head said that the MEPAG Tiger Team report was designed to be a part of NASA strategy, in that the group considered things like the optimum science-based Mars landing sites, the types of activities and stay-times required to accomplish goals and objectives, and potential robotic partnerships. 

"These types of considerations provide significant insights into feed-forward for the lunar component of NASA's Moon-to-Mars initiative, the Artemis phase," Head said.

Real-time interaction and adaptability 

Mars holds many clues to early solar system history and how terrestrial planets sustain habitats and life, said Bethany Ehlmann, a member the Tiger Team report group. She is a professor of planetary science at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) and director of the Keck Institute for Space Studies in Pasadena, California.

For many types of geologic science, especially those involving lots of interaction with terrain like sample collection or deep coring, Ehlmann said that human capabilities are "uniquely enabling" because of real-time interaction and adaptability. 

"Humans on an EVA activity can accomplish in a few hours data acquisitions and sample collections that have taken rovers years," Ehlmann told Space.com. "With NASA's Moon-Mars initiative underway, it is important to think about what supporting instruments and technologies need to be developed now to equip our astronauts for doing outstanding science at Mars."

Ehlmann flags the reference missions called out in the study report that exemplify a range of possibilities, like astronauts investigating icy locales, accessing cliffs, exploring higher altitudes on Mars or having expeditions investigate caves. 

Those example cases underscore how individual, specific missions can achieve high-value science. 

Catalyze discussion

Jakosky as the Tiger Team chair notes that the list of cases called out in the report do not represent all potential missions, but "should serve to catalyze discussions within and between the science and exploration communities." 

Missions suggested included projected astronaut treks to Utopia Planitia, Valles Marineris, as well as Cerberus Fossae.

"Any landing site is going to provide spectacular science results. I think that's clear," Jakosky said. "Mars is a very diverse, geologically complex planet. One site isn't going to tell us everything we want to know about Mars."

One scenario involves crews going au naturel on Mars. That is subsurface study of natural caves — with many Mars caves already previously spotted. 

There's need to characterize the habitability conditions of a cave environment, be it the availability of water, energy sources and chemical potential. But also to determine if signatures of life are present in the cave environment, the report adds.

Human explorers could land near a target cave and remain within the habitat for much or most of the mission. They would teleoperate sample retrieving robots deployed to a cave floor. Doing so would eliminate the operations time lag compared to running a robotic investigation from Earth, "a multiple orders of magnitude decrease in decision time," says the report.

Why humans on Mars? 

The report spells out how humans can advance a valuable palette of science objectives at the Red Planet. Clearly, crews can conduct on-the-spot field measurements, execute local area mapping, and gain, below their boots, subsurface access. 

Selection of the highest value samples for return from the surface, subsurface, and atmosphere and getting those specimens into labs on Earth is crucial, the report explains.

First of all, explorers on Mars can emplace local and regional networks of info-gathering devices to capture processes operating on Mars during and between missions. 

From orbit or on the surface of Mars, teleoperating robotic assets as precursors to human struts across Mars can probe sites out-of-reach of a human landing site, or to assess a rich diversity of terrains and habitats.

Back here on Earth, there's need for ground controllers to operate the infrastructure needed to ensure human safety and efficient operations at Mars. It's also vital to loop in the enhanced capabilities for doing science thanks to teams of on-the-Earth specialists.

High-priority science

One key signal from the study is site selection to do science with humans at Mars. 

"Given the complexity of Mars' evolutionary history and the tremendous diversity of environments on Mars, no single site can address all of the high-priority science goals," the report stresses.

A central study finding is that vital science can be accomplished by humans on Mars "that would be much harder or impossible to do with robotic spacecraft; the capabilities of human missions have the potential to change both the objectives and the priorities — and can definitely accelerate the pace — for Mars scientific exploration."

As for science work on Mars, the Tiger Team flagged a trio of high-level objectives:

• Astrobiology - Determine if life ever developed on Mars and the nature of habitability;
• Climate and volatiles – Unravel the processes and history of water and climate change on Mars; and
• Geology/Geophysics/Geochemistry - Understand the physical record of planetary evolution from planetary formation until today and the processes driving the evolution of the surface, crust, and interior of Mars

"What sets Mars apart from the rest of the solar system is the potential for life, the history of water, and the nature of the geological processes and similarities to Earth," said Jakosky. "Secondly, it is the relative closeness of Mars and the relative ease with which we can explore it," he said.

Community input

Very familiar with the report findings is Scott Hubbard, a former director of the NASA Ames Research Center, now an affiliate in the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics at Stanford University. 

Hubbard served as NASA's first Mars exploration program director in 2000, earning him the title of "Mars Czar" as he restructured the space agency's Mars program in the wake of several failures to explore the planet.

In Hubbard's view, the MEPAG Tiger Team report is an "excellent example of science objectives-based human exploration goals for Mars," Hubbard told Space.com. 

Hubbard said it is his hope that both NASA and the forthcoming National Academies study will utilize the Tiger Team report as "important community input."

The full text of the "Report Of MEPAG Tiger Team On Mars Human-Mission Science Objectives" can be read online.

{ https://www.space.com/ }

EXCLUSIVE: Marine vet breaks 14-year silence to make astonishing claim that his six-man unit saw a hovering octagonal UFO being loaded with WEAPONS by unmarked US forces who threatened them at gunpoint while serving in Indonesia in 2009

• Former Marine Michael Herrera tells DailyMail.com that he saw a UFO being loaded with weapons while serving in Indonesia in 2009 
• Herrera claims an Air Force lieutenant colonel told him, 'You're not allowed to talk about what happened. You will go to prison, or you will die' 
• He says he was emboldened to break his 14-year silence by new UFO whistleblower protections and in April testified under oath about his wild story 

By JOSH BOSWELL FOR DAILYMAIL.COM

A former Marine claims he and five comrades saw a flying saucer being loaded with weapons while serving in Indonesia in 2009 – and was threatened at gunpoint by unmarked US forces at the scene.

The wild story comes after an Air Force whistleblower from the government's UFO office joined growing numbers of intelligence officials claiming the US has recovered and is even reverse-engineering crashed or landed 'non-human' spacecraft.

Michael Herrera was a 20-year-old rifleman sent on a Navy humanitarian mission during the 2009 Sumatra earthquake and tsunami that devastated the region.

In an exclusive interview with DailyMail.com, he claims that while guarding an airdrop of aid supplies outside the city of Padang in October that year, his six-man unit stumbled across a hovering octagonal craft in apparent use by clandestine US forces.

Former Marine Michael Herrera tells DailyMail.com that he saw a UFO being loaded with weapons while serving in Indonesia in 2009. He was just 20 at the time 

'The craft was rotating in a clockwise motion while changing colors. It had an audible hum to it, like the sound of a transformer or a guitar amp. It was an octagonal shape with a pyramid at the top of it that was black,' Herrera said 

After 14 years of silence, Herrera was emboldened by new UFO whistleblower protections and in April testified under oath to the government's UFO investigation team, the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO), as well as a Senate committee.

He provided his unblemished four-year service record, and texts about the incident with an alleged fellow witness – who refused to talk, saying it was 'not worth my life or jeopardizing my family'.

Peripheral aspects of his account were verified by DailyMail.com using military sources. But Herrera, 33, does not have documentation or photos of the incident itself.

Herrera says he was emboldened to break his 14-year silence by new UFO whistleblower protections and in April testified under oath about his wild story

The Denver native joined the Marines fresh out of high school. He had been serving for less than two years when he was deployed to the Philippines as a member of the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit to help distribute aid in the wake of a typhoon.

When a 7.6 magnitude earthquake struck Sumatra on September 30, 2009, his 2nd Battalion, 5th Marines, Echo Co. 2nd Platoon was rerouted to help guard helicopter aid drops around Padang City, beset by violence from local insurgents.

Around October 8 he and five marines were dropped off at a clearing in the north eastern part of the city by a CH-53 chopper, and hiked 900ft up a ridge to take their positions for the incoming supply drop, Herrera said.

It was then he spotted a strange object in the jungle on the other side of the hill.

'I could see something moving and rotating. It was changing colors between a very light matte gray to a very dark matte black,' he said. 'It stuck out like a sore thumb.'

Oddly, he said, they had not been given radios, so instead of calling it in they edged down the hill in formation to investigate, while Herrera snapped photos and video on his Panasonic camera.

'The thing was massive, the size of a football field,' Herrera told DailyMail.com.

'The craft was rotating in a clockwise motion while changing colors. It had an audible hum to it, like the sound of a transformer or a guitar amp. It was an octagonal shape with a pyramid at the top of it that was black.

'It had 'scales' that were on the outside of the craft that covered the whole craft. It had seams and sharp edges which I suspect to be man-made. Nothing on it was smooth. It had some panels on the vertical edges that were like Vantablack.'

He claims that his six-man unit stumbled across a hovering octagonal craft and they were threatened at gunpoint by unmarked US forces at the scene. A rendering of the scene is above

Herrera claims an Air Force lieutenant colonel told him, 'You're not allowed to talk about what happened. You will go to prison, or you will die'

An aerial view of the damage from a 7.6 magnitude earthquake that  struck Sumatra, Indonesia, on September 30, 2009,. Herrera's unit was rerouted to help guard helicopter aid drops around Padang City, beset by violence from local insurgents

According to AARO's statistics of UFO reports between 1996 and 2023, only 1% are polygons (like an octagon), 2% disk-shaped, while 52% are orbs or spherical.

However, an object shot down in February over Lake Huron, Michigan by F-16 fighter jets – after their first missile missed – was described as 'octagonal' by congress members briefed on the incident.

Herrera claimed that when he and his five comrades got within 150 feet of the craft, they were ambushed by eight men wearing all-black camouflage, bullet-proof vests, wielding M4 rifles with high-end night vision attachments given to elite US troops.

'They had their weapons drawn on us,' he said. 'We could audibly hear their weapon safety levers flipping off safe.'

'Who the f*** are you guys? What are you doing here?' two of them yelled with American accents, he said.

'They said we weren't supposed to be there, and that they could kill us.'

As the men continued to threaten them, took the marines' weapons, dumped their ammunition and scanned their military IDs, Herrera said he saw others loading 'large weapon cases' and other containers from modified Ford F350 trucks onto a platform beneath the craft.

'When the last two trucks finished unloading and drove off, the lower part of the platform rose off the ground to about 10 feet and the craft lowered to meet it and it came together into one piece,' he said.

'On the corners of the craft, it had lights that were changing between blue, red, yellow and green.

'It rose off the ground and a little past the trees, then shot off to our left towards the ocean at around 4,000mph.

'We can't believe this is f***ing happening. From a dead stop, it didn't make any sound like a sonic boom, it didn't disturb the trees like rotor wash would. We could see coconuts on the trees and none of them were disturbed.'

Herrera said the eight unmarked soldiers gave them back their unloaded guns and marched them back over the hill, 'still telling us how they could kill us.'

'Once we got over the hill they told us to get the f*** away from here and don't look back.'

Herrera left the Navy in October 2011, his certificate of release showing four years of active duty and medals for 'national defense service', 'global war on terrorism service', 'humanitarian service', 'sea service deployment' and a 'sharpshooter rifle badge'

The six marines ran back to the aid drop site and were scolded by their gunnery sergeant for returning early, Herrera said, adding that they all kept quiet about the disturbing encounter.

'I was f***ing scared,' the veteran said. 'I was thinking: I could have been killed, how the hell am I going to explain this?'

Back on the USS Denver, Herrera's unit were debriefed by a rear admiral he didn't recognize. He said it was odd to have such a high-ranking officer there, and again none of them mentioned the saucer and unmarked troops.

A few days later they were docked in Subic Bay in the Philippines, the marine said. After an evening of drinking with his colleagues, he returned to find his camera's card and battery removed from his locked locker, along with his five comrades' phones missing.

In early December 2009 he was back at Camp Hansen in Okinawa, Japan. He was told to report to the office, where he found an Air Force lieutenant colonel in full uniform but no name tag.

'He starts telling me, 'You're not allowed to talk about what happened, not to your chain of command, not even a general,' Herrera said. 'You will go to prison, or you will die.'

'He told me to keep my mouth shut and slid a paper to me which was an NDA. The only thing I can recall is that it said 'TS/SCI', Top Secret/Sensitive Compartmented Information. And it had Indonesia on it.'

The rifleman said he signed and was told to 'get the f*** out of there'.

'I ran back to the barracks and haven't talked about it ever since. It's something I've kept secret for almost 14 years. But I've thought about it every single day.'

He left the Navy in October 2011, his certificate of release showing four years of active duty and medals for 'national defense service', 'global war on terrorism service', 'humanitarian service', 'sea service deployment' and a 'sharpshooter rifle badge'.

Herrera made several million dollars as an entrepreneur and now runs a private security company called Valkyrie Eye.

New UFO whistleblower protections enacted in December prompted the ex-marine to finally tell his story.

Former senior Air Force intelligence officer David Grusch gave an on-camera interview alleging that the US government possesses multiple crashed 'non-human' craft

New UFO whistleblower protections enacted in December prompted the ex-marine to finally tell his story. A Pentagon chief told a first-of-its-kind NASA hearing that unidentified metallic orb UFOs have been spotted 'all over the world'

Last year's annual military funding bill, the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), included a new clause allowing whistleblowers to report previously undisclosed UFO 'material retrieval, material analysis, [and] reverse engineering' programs to the Pentagon's AARO team without fear of prosecution for violating their security oaths and non-disclosure agreements.

Herrera said in 2017 he met UFO activist Dr. Steven Greer at a conference, and Greer helped persuade him to talk and connected him with congressional and AARO staffers earlier this year.

Herrera is also planning to tell his story at a press conference at the National Press Club in Washington DC on Monday organized by Greer, alongside four other UFO witnesses.

The ex-marine claims his five former comrades are too scared to come forward.

In a May 3 text message, one wrote: 'this is asking to[o] much of me and it's not worth the risk.'

'It's not worth my life or jeopardizing my family. I know we go way back, but this is asking to[o] much. You need to get out of whatever you are in and don't get me involved with this mess. My career isn't worth helping you. Don't ask me to do this s**t ever again.'

DailyMail.com verified the sender was a marine serving in the same unit in 2009.

'It sounds a bit like science fiction, but it actually is science fact,' Greer told DailyMail.com. 'These breakthroughs have been kept very, very secret, much to the detriment of the American people and the planet.

'We feel it's very important that the public understand this is not just a silly story about Little Green Men. This has very significant implications for the environment, for energy independence, for global poverty.'

Greer and his organization, the Disclosure Project, gained international attention as well as derision in 2001 when he gathered 20 retired Air Force, Federal Aviation Administration and intelligence officers at the National Press Club to tell their stories of extraordinary UFO and alien encounters. 

The 2001 conference did not spark congressional hearings as Greer hoped.

Leslie Kean, an investigative journalist who was the first to bring Air Force whistleblower David Grusch forward to make his bombshell claims in her story in engineering news site The Debrief this week, said she was skeptical of Greer's approach in an interview with the New Yorker in 2021.

'There were some good people at that conference, but some of them were making outrageous, grandiose claims,' Kean said. 'I knew then that I had to walk away.'

Grusch has also reportedly released a statement distancing himself from Greer, after Greer claimed that he met with the senior military intelligence official in March 2022 in Culpeper, Virginia.

'I took my job very seriously, and early on, I allowed various individuals that alleged they had information to speak their truth as part of my evaluation process,' Grush reportedly said in a statement published on Twitter by UFO researcher Vinnie Adams this week. 

'I emphatically request that Steven Greer cease using my name to promote his personal agenda.'

The former ER doctor spent the two decades following his 2001 press conference collecting UFO witnesses, and has now assembled a database of 746 people in or related to the US government.

Some have detailed and compelling stories and have even testified to AARO. Others are merely senior officials who made public statements acknowledging the possibility of UFOs having non-human origins. According to the database, 76 have passed away.

He will also be unveiling a 'Disclosure Project Intelligence Archive' with 'over 5 terabytes of government documents, whistleblower testimony and specific locations of illegally operated UFO projects,' according to a press release.

Greer has become a controversial figure even among UFO enthusiasts, making disputed claims and charging up to $3,500 for group sessions where he purports to teach and perform summonings of extraterrestrials using psychic powers.

A video of one of his 'contact' events in Vero Beach, Florida on January 27 2015 shows a light appearing over the Atlantic ocean which Greer attributed to aliens.

A July 2020 article by the Washington Examiner questioned whether it was in fact faked with a flare dropped from a Beech 76 Duchess plane that was flying offshore at that time. 

Prominent figures have chided Greer over his statements, including late sixth man on the moon Edgar Mitchell who said Greer would 'overreach his data continuously', and former CIA director James Woolsey who wrote that a 1993 'briefing' Greer claimed he gave Woolsey was merely a 'distorted account of a dinner party'.

Greer called the allegations 'ridiculous and untrue', and said his Monday press conference was about the witnesses, not him.

'I would give anything to have someone else do this so I don't have to. But I don't see that happening,' he said.

'I just say the track record of what we've done over 30 years stands on its own.'

{ https://www.dailymail.co.uk/ }

Ex-US Marine Saw Massive UFO Being Loaded With Weapons By Secret Military In Indonesia Jungle

On June 12, 2023, Dr. Steven M. Greer, a renowned founder of the Disclosure Project, presented a compelling three-hour UFO conference. This conference featured whistleblowers who shared their astonishing testimonies. For 33 years, Dr. Greer has dedicated himself as a volunteer to the Disclosure Project. His most recent event before this was held 22 years ago on May 9, 2001, where 22 individuals from various government sectors participated.

In this long disclosure event, Dr. Greer presented his investigations on secret programs, and he was joined by six courageous whistleblowers who shared compelling information about covert operations. Among them was Michael Herrera, a former United States Marine, who shared an astonishing account from 2009 where he and five comrades saw a giant UFO being loaded with weapons while serving in Indonesia. During this incident, they were threatened at gunpoint by unmarked US forces at the scene.

Herrera was assigned to the 2nd Battalion 5th Marines, described as the most decorated infantry battalion within the Marine Corps. This battalion was part of Operation Ketsana, a humanitarian mission in the Philippines in 2009. Herrera’s unit was affiliated with the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, primarily conducting maritime operations across Southeast Asia in partnership with the seventh naval fleet.

Herrera was on the USS Denver and went to help after a big tsunami and earthquake hit Padang City in Indonesia. It was surprising because it was Herrera’s first time doing a mission like this. When Herrera and his team got there on October 8, they got some important information. They found out that some of President Obama’s family might be there. They knew it was a dangerous place because of the threat from terrorist activities prevalent in Indonesia.

Their job was to keep the area safe and give people things they needed like medical supplies, food, water, and shelter. Herrera was picked to be one of the main people for this job. When they landed in Padang, it was all broken and damaged. Everything looked bad with fires and floods everywhere. They quickly went to a higher place so they could see better and plan. They had to be ready for anything.

Herrera and his team, armed with M16A4 rifles, advanced about 300 meters, maintaining a tactical column formation. Their primary goal was to maintain situational awareness, be prepared for potential engagements, and execute their mission amidst the harrowing conditions.

The Mystery Craft in the Jungle

Herrera had a camera and was taking pictures of a damaged area from a high spot. But he noticed something strange: a weird object in the jungle. This thing looked different from the trees around it. It changed colors from light gray to dark black and spun around. This was so memorable for Herrera that he could not forget it for 14 years. He and his team took pictures and videos of this odd object.

‘The craft was rotating in a clockwise motion while changing colors. It had an audible hum to it, like the sound of a transformer or a guitar amp. It was an octagonal shape with a pyramid at the top of it that was black,’ Herrera said

As they got closer to the strange object, Herrera and his team saw a group of soldiers. These soldiers looked American — a group of soldiers or, as Herrera described them, a “Rogue military force.” What made this encounter even more unsettling was their distinctly American appearance and gear. These were not just any soldiers; they were equipped similarly to elite Special Operations units, dressed in black camouflage and donning OTVs.

Finding these soldiers made things even more confusing. Why were they there? Were they part of a secret mission? Or something even stranger? Herrera’s story made people think a lot about what really happened that day. His story mixed a strange flying object, its odd behavior, and meeting mysterious soldiers. This made people wonder about secret things happening in the world.

As the tension escalated, Herrera and his team were on high alert. These soldiers looked like U.S. Special Forces but acted differently. Their clothes, weapons, and tools showed they were well-trained. Even though Herrera and his team were outnumbered, they stayed calm. They did not talk to the strange soldiers and moved away carefully. Their main goal was to keep safe and learn more about the unknown flying object and the mysterious soldiers.

Many questions arise about this strange meeting. Maybe these soldiers were doing secret missions without permission? Or were they guarding the strange flying object? Herrera thought maybe they were there to protect the craft and was curious about where it came from.

The flying object Herrera saw had unique features. He noticed its color changes and its pyramid-like top. It also made a sound like a guitar amp or a machine.

“They had no insignias on, they had no ranks,” Herrera began, describing the unidentified soldiers who confronted him and his team. The soldiers’ attire and equipment far surpassed the standard-issue gear Herrera and his unit possessed. Their M4A4 rifles were enhanced with Advanced Combat Optical Gunsights (ACOGs) and PEC 16 IR illumination devices, indicating advanced capabilities and possibly specialized training.

Things got intense quickly. Herrera remembered these soldiers yelling at him and his team. They made scary threats, suggesting they could harm them severely or even make them disappear. The soldiers were very thorough. They checked everyone’s identity carefully, using devices that looked like they were scanning their military cards. This made Herrera believe they were very organized and knew what they were doing.

Herrera also saw some trucks that looked suspicious. The trucks had special containers, and there were rumors that these might be used for illegal activities, like smuggling people. This worried Herrera because the area was already facing many problems.

The strangest part was when Herrera saw an odd flying object. It appeared suddenly and then left quickly without making any noise or causing any disturbance. Herrera and his team were shocked and did not know what to make of it.

“So as we’re going back between these guys, as well as what’s going on in the background at that time, there were four of these trucks which were f-350s.” However, it was what these trucks were transporting that took center stage in Herrera’s recounting.

He described the craft in vivid detail: “It floated right above the tree line.” He emphasized its unique shape, stating, “On each corner, it emanated a light. It was either red, yellow, green, or blue – only those four colors. I can distinctly remember.” This octagonal craft, with its mesmerizing lights, seemed to defy conventional understanding, as Herrera continued to describe its departure.

“As soon as it was able to break that tree line,” Herrera recounted, “it shot over to the left, basically where the ocean was, at a speed so fast I would estimate probably three, four, five thousand miles an hour – instantaneous like that.” The craft’s rapid movement, devoid of any discernible sonic boom or disturbance, left Herrera and his team in a state of shock and bewilderment.

From Herrera’s story, it sounded like he saw something very strange and unexpected. He did not understand what it was, and it left him with many questions. His story highlights the mystery of what he saw and suggests that there is a lot more to learn about such strange occurrences.

After this weird encounter, Herrera was approached by someone from the Air Force. This person, even though not wearing a name tag, made Herrera sign a paper promising not to talk about what happened. The paper had confusing terms on it, and Herrera was left puzzled and scared about what might happen if he spoke up.

Read also:

• Former US Army Colonel Warns Of Catastrophic UFO Disclosure That May Spark Social Unrest
• Lue Elizondo’s Attorney Reveals World-Changing UFO Disclosure News: There Is a Video Interview of an Extraterrestrial Being

As Herrera concluded his account, he made a compelling plea to Washington, urging political figures to address the situation. “There are people who are either being hurt or killed by this,” he emphasized, highlighting the gravity of the events he witnessed.

According to DailyMail, Herrera left the Navy in October 2011, his certificate of release showing four years of active duty and medals for “national defense service,” “global war on terrorism service,” “humanitarian service,” “sea service deployment” and a “sharpshooter rifle badge.” He made several million dollars as an entrepreneur and now runs a private security company called Valkyrie Eye.

Video/Photo Evidence

In this interview with Jimmy Chruch on FADE TO BLACK Radio, Herrera said that during the operation, he had a Panasonic camera capable of capturing both stills and videos. Throughout their mission, he took several photographs and videos, capturing the devastation and potentially more. Herrera concealed this vital evidence in his dump pouch, which seemed to go unnoticed by the individuals overseeing the mission.

When Herrera and his team got back to their ship, strange things started happening. As they gave back their weapons, they felt worried. They were scared about what might happen if their bosses found out about their strange experiences.

After their tough trip, Herrera and his team went to Subic Bay in the Philippines for a break. They tried to relax and have fun. But when Herrera went back to his ship, he found his camera in his locker. Sadly, the battery and memory card were gone. When he tried to use it again, it did not work. Herrera felt upset because he realized how important the missing camera parts were to his story.

Herrera shared more about what he learned from his experience. He talked to people who told him about secret groups that do bad things. These groups hurt people and try to keep their actions hidden. But Herrera also met some good people who wanted to tell the truth about these secret operations.

During an event with Dr. Greer, Herrera thought the containers they saw might have drugs. But someone from the group told him they were not drugs. This new information made everyone wonder: What were they really hiding? Why was it so secret? And how does this affect Herrera and his team?

Herrera said that these mysterious people have been doing secret stuff since the 1990s. Most of them come from JSOC, which is like the top experts in the military. He was careful when talking about them to keep things secret and protect people’s identities.

He remembered when these mysterious folks reached out to him. Instead of asking for his contact details, they gave him theirs. This made Herrera curious. He wanted to know why they did not harm him during a mission in 2009.

Herrera met these secretive people in a safe place out West. When he got there, they had strict rules to make sure no one was listening in on their talk. What Herrera learned surprised him.

He originally thought their main thing was illegal drug deals. But it turned out to be something even stranger. They seemed interested in people from certain backgrounds or groups, like the Bureau of Indian Affairs. These people were seen as spiritually wise and not influenced by mainstream beliefs, making them important for what the group was doing.

“They screen individuals with specific conscious abilities and higher consciousness. They particularly focus on people from third-world countries since these individuals haven’t been indoctrinated by television and lack certain resources. Consequently, their minds aren’t as clouded, making them more spiritually adept. Additionally, they recruit individuals from the Bureau of Indian Affairs for similar reasons: these individuals are spiritually more adept and have a higher level of consciousness, making them suitable participants for these programs.”

Herrera describes a group that works everywhere, not just in one country. They keep their actions hidden and use very advanced machines. To most people, these machines might look like they come from outer space, but they’ are made by humans. Because no one knows much about them, they can act fast and quietly.

A surprising thing Herrera says is that this group sometimes shoots down crafts that seem to be from outer space. They do this a few times every year. They also have strong weapons that can destroy other countries’ copied machines. Herrera tells stories of private planes that accidentally go into their area and get shot down. No one knows what happened to these planes or the people inside.

“They shoot down two to three ET crafts a year, retrieve them, and then take them away for analysis or whatever they do with them. Additionally, they shoot down aircraft from other agencies for reverse engineering purposes. Most of the time, these retrieved crafts are destroyed; they don’t return them. They often blow them up or discard them.

The airspace isn’t always open 24/7; it’s restricted, especially during operations or testing. When restricted, it’s limited up to 60,000 feet. Regrettably, some private aircraft have suffered tragic consequences because they didn’t divert their course. These planes were targeted with advanced weapons, which aren’t just experimental — they’re regularly used. After such incidents, they dispose of the wreckage, and bodies, and issue missing persons reports. They are adept at keeping their secrets, and that’s how their operations function.”

Herrera talks about a building that looks normal from the outside but is full of secret work inside. Even though it looks old and worn out, inside, it is busy with top-secret tasks. Most people working there come from places with lots of problems, like war or poverty. For them, the place might seem like a dream compared to what they had before.

{ https://howandwhys.com/ }

Water is een cruciaal ingrediënt voor het ontstaan van leven op andere planeten, net als op Aarde, en dan het liefst in een waterkringloop waarbij het goedje in vloeibare vorm bij een aangename temperatuur rondstroomt. Australische wetenschappers waren dan ook erg enthousiast toen ze in een beroemde Marsmeteoriet oeroud bewijs vonden van waterhoudende vloeistoffen.

De onderzoekers uit Perth hebben mogelijk het oudste directe bewijs van heet water op Mars gevonden. De ontdekking toont aan dat de rode planeet in een ver verleden leefbaar moet zijn geweest. Het team bestudeerde een zeldzaam zirkoonkorreltje van 4,45 miljard jaar oud, afkomstig uit de beroemde Marsmeteoriet NWA7034, beter bekend als Black Beauty.

Zirkoon
Het mineraal zirkoon is een zirkonium-silicaat met de molecuulformule ZrSiO4. De natuurlijke kleur van zirkoon varieert van kleurloos, goudgeel en rood tot bruin. Het mineraal wordt vaak verward met de synthetische edelsteen zirkonia, een geliefde imitatie van diamant, maar schijn bedriegt. Zirkonen zijn bijzonder goed bestand tegen verwering. Ze bevatten kleine hoeveelheden radioactieve isotopen van uranium en thorium, die op den duur vervallen tot een isotoop van lood. Door de verhoudingen van deze isotopen te bepalen is het mogelijk om de kristallisatietijd van het kristal te bepalen, en daarmee de ouderdom van het gesteente waarin het zich bevindt.

4,45 miljard jaar oude sporen
In het piepkleine korreltje vonden de onderzoekers oeroud bewijs van geochemische ‘vingerafdrukken’ van waterhoudende vloeistoffen, zo schrijven ze in hun studie. Volgens onderzoeker Aaron Cavosie geeft deze ontdekking de mensheid nieuwe inzichten in de hydrothermale systemen van Mars en de mogelijkheid dat de planeet vroeger leefbaar was. “Met behulp van nanogeochemie hebben we bewijs gevonden van heet water op Mars, zo’n 4,45 miljard jaar geleden”, maakt de onderzoeker duidelijk. “Hydrothermale systemen speelden een cruciale rol in het ontstaan van leven op aarde. Ons onderzoek laat zien dat ook onze buurplaneet Mars water had tijdens de vroege vorming van zijn korst – een essentiële voorwaarde voor een leefbare omgeving.”

Een fragment van de Mars-meteoriet Black Beauty. Foto: Curtin University/Aaron Cavosie

Nanogeochemie
Door middel van hypermoderne beeldvormingstechnieken en spectroscopie op nanoschaal ontdekte het team patronen van elementen zoals ijzer, aluminium, yttrium en natrium in het zirkoon. Deze elementen zijn indertijd aan het mineraal toegevoegd tijdens de vorming van het kristal. Dit wijst erop dat er water aanwezig was op de rode planeet tijdens deze periode van vroege magmatische activiteit. Cavosie legt uit dat het water rondspoot op een moment in de planetaire geschiedenis, toen gigantische meteorietinslagen het oppervlak van Mars geselden en ontwrichtten. Dit spectaculaire proces vond plaats in de vroege Pre-Noachiaanse periode – een Martiaans tijdsgewricht meer dan 4,1 miljard jaar geleden.

Schokbestendig korreltje
Een eerder onderzoek in 2022 van hetzelfde zirkoonkorreltje toonde aan dat het een meteorietinslag had doorstaan. Dat was een unieke vondst. Tot nu toe is het de eerste en enige bekende ‘geschokte’ zirkoon van Mars. “Door onze bevindingen zijn we een flinke stap verder gekomen in onze kennis over het vroege Mars”, vertelt Cavosie. “We hebben nu duidelijke aanwijzingen van waterhoudende vloeistoffen uit de tijd dat het korreltje zich vormde. We kunnen de geochemische markers van water in de oudste bekende korst van Mars nu aanwijzen en hierop kunnen we verder bouwen in onze vervolgonderzoeken.”

Deze ontdekking geeft een fascinerend kijkje in de vroege geschiedenis van Mars en levert nieuw bewijs dat onze buurplaneet ooit omstandigheden kende die vergelijkbaar waren met een jonge versie van de Aarde.

Bronmateriaal

• "Zircon trace element evidence for early hydrothermal activity on Mars" - Science Advances
• Afbeelding bovenaan dit artikel: Kindel Media

{ https://scientias.nl/ }

700 miljoen jaar geleden veranderde de Aarde in een gigantische ijsbal. Eindelijk weten onderzoekers waarom

Jeannette Kras

Je hebt ijstijden en ijstijden en die van ruim 700 miljoen jaar geleden was me er eentje. De Aarde veranderde in één grote ijzige bol, zelfs de oceanen waren dichtgevroren. Tot nu toe begrepen onderzoekers niet goed hoe dat kon, maar nu hebben ze een verklaring: de vulkanen stootten extreem weinig CO2 uit.

“Stel je voor dat de Aarde compleet bevroren is, want dat is wat er zo’n 700 miljoen jaar geleden gewoon is gebeurd. De planeet was bedekt met ijs van de polen tot de evenaar en de temperaturen doken naar beneden”, zegt hoofdonderzoeker Adriana Dutkiewicz. “Wat dit heeft veroorzaakt, was tot nu toe echter een open vraag.”

Maar ze denkt dat het mysterie van de zogenoemde Sneeuwbalaarde nu is opgelost. “Waarschijnlijk was er een historisch lage uitstoot van vulkanische CO2 in combinatie met de verwering van een enorme berg vulkanisch gesteente in wat nu Canada heet, een proces waarbij de basaltstenen CO2 uit de atmosfeer absorberen.” Dat werkt als volgt: regen slaat CO2 op uit de lucht. Die regen reageert met het verpulverde basalt, die de CO2 opslaat.

Inspiratie uit het zuiden van Australië
De Australische geologen werden geïnspireerd door overblijfselen uit de ijstijd, die geweldig goed te zien zijn in de Flinders Ranges in Zuid-Australië. Een recente trip daarheen, bracht de wetenschappers op het idee om met behulp van een supercomputer van de University of Sydney tektonische plaatmodellen te bestuderen om te achterhalen wat de oorzaak is van de extreem lange en hevige ijstijd. De studie helpt bovendien om de natuurlijke thermostaat van de Aarde beter te begrijpen, die voorkomt dat onze planeet oververhit raakt. Het toont ook aan hoe gevoelig ons klimaat is voor de hoeveelheid CO2 in de atmosfeer.

Gletsjerafzettingen uit de ijstijd in de Flinders Ranges. Foto: professor Dietmar Müller/University of Sydney

Aan de slag met de computer
De extreme ijstijd duurde van ongeveer 717 tot 550 miljoen jaar geleden. In die tijd bestond er geen complex leven. “Er zijn verschillende oorzaken genoemd voor het begin en het einde van deze ijstijd, maar het meest mysterieuze is waarom hij tientallen miljoenen jaren duurde, een lengte die wij ons nauwelijks kunnen voorstellen”, aldus Dutkiewicz.

De onderzoekers wendden zich tot een tektonisch plaatmodel dat de evolutie van continenten en oceanen laat zien in de periode na het uiteenvallen van supercontinent Rodina. Dat verbonden ze met een computermodel dat de CO2-ontgassing van onderwatervulkanen berekende langs de breuklijnen waar de tektonische platen uit elkaar drijven en nieuwe oceaanbodem ontstaat.

Kalme vulkanen
Zo zagen ze al snel dat het begin van de ijstijd precies overeenkwam met een ongezien dieptepunt aan vulkanische CO2-uitstoot. Daarbij bleef de uitstroom van CO2 relatief laag gedurende de hele ijstijd. “In die tijd waren er geen meercellige dieren of landplanten op Aarde. De broeikasgasconcentratie in de atmosfeer werd bijna volledig bepaald door de CO2-uitstoot van vulkanen en de CO2-opslag van verpulverd vulkanisch gesteente.”

Met andere woorden, vulkanen bepaalden het klimaat op Aarde. “We denken dat de ijstijd begon door een dubbele klap: een opschudding van de tektonische platen bracht de ontgassing van vulkanen tot een minimum, terwijl tegelijkertijd een vulkanische provincie in Canada begon te eroderen. Die sloeg dus een enorme berg CO2 op”, legt professor Dietmar Müller van de University of Sydney uit. “Het gevolg was dat het CO2-niveau in de atmosfeer zo laag werd dat de ijstijd begon. De schatting is dat dit gebeurt bij minder dan 200 CO2-deeltjes per miljoen, minder dan de helft van wat er nu in de atmosfeer zit.”

De toekomst
Het onderzoek roept interessante vragen op over de toekomst van de Aarde. Volgens een recente theorie zou onze planeet in de komende 250 miljoen jaar kunnen evolueren tot Pangea Ultima, een supercontinent, dat zo heet is dat zoogdieren mogelijk uitsterven.
De CO2-uitstoot van vulkanen wordt echter op de lange termijn minder is de verwachting, dus misschien verandert Pangea Ultima ook weer in een ijsbal. “Wat de toekomst ook brengt, het is belangrijk om te weten dat geologische klimaatverandering, zoals we die hier beschrijven, extreem langzaam gaat. Volgens de NASA gaat door mensen veroorzaakte klimaatverandering tien keer sneller dan we tot nu toe hebben gezien”, klinkt het tot besluit.

Bronmateriaal

• "Duration of Sturtian 'Snowball Earth' glaciation linked to exceptionally low mid-ocean ridge outgassing" - Geology
  
• Afbeelding bovenaan dit artikel: NASA

VIDEO'S

How Snowball Earth Leveled Mountains and Created the Great Unconformity

From Ice Age to Snowball Earth: Our Frozen Planet's History

How Volcanoes Froze the Earth (Twice)

{ https://scientias.nl/ }

December 2024 MUFON eNewsletter- with the Monthly Sighting Statistics!

COUNTRIES OF THE WORLD UNITED STATES 432 CANADA 30 UNITED KINGDOM 28 FRANCE 7 GERMANY 6 AUSTRALIA 6 SOUTH AFRICA 5 BRAZIL 5 IRELAND 5 SPAIN 4 NETHERLANDS 4 ITALY 4 MEXICO 4 TURKEY 3 PUERTO RICO 2 KENYA 2 ESTONIA 2 AUSTRIA 2 PORTUGAL 2 SWEDEN 1 COLOMBIA 1 PERU 1 MOLDOVA 1 UZBEKISTAN 1 MOROCCO 1 FINLAND 1 POLAND 1 BELGIUM 1 GREENLAND 1 SAINT KITTS AND NEVIS 1 IRAN 1 BOLIVIA 1 BELIZE 1 GREECE 1   TOTAL: 568 SHAPE Circle 112 Sphere 70 Other 52 Unknown 44 Triangle 42 Disc 37 Star-like 35 Oval 24 N/A 17 Cigar 15 Square/Rectangular 11 Cylinder11 Tic Tac9 Fireball8 Diamond8 Saturn-like6 Boomerang6 Chevron3 Flash2 Cone2 Bullet/Missile2 Teardrop2 Blimp1 Egg1 STATES OF THE USA California 45 Florida 33 Texas 26 New York 21 Michigan 20 Arizona 19 Ohio 17 Missouri 16 Washington 15 Indiana 14 Illinois 13 Pennsylvania 13 Oregon 12 Virginia 12 Colorado 10 Oklahoma 10 Massachusetts 9 New Jersey 9 North Carolina 9 Maryland 8 Wisconsin 8 Nevada 7 Minnesota 7 Arkansas 6 Alabama 6 South Carolina 5 Iowa 5 Georgia 5 Idaho 4 West Virginia 4 Kansas 4 Utah 4 New Hampshire 3 Connecticut 3 Tennessee 3 Kentucky 3 Maine 3 South Dakota 2 Wyoming 2 Delaware 2 North Dakota 2 Louisiana 2 Montana 2 Alaska 2 Nebraska 2 Vermont 2 Mississippi 1 DISTANCE < 100 ft 70 101-500 ft 68 501 ft - 1 Mile 72 Over 1 Mile 106 Unknown 137 NO VALUE 34 ERT Most impressively there were 20 Landings, Hovering, or Takeoffs reported, and 15 Entities observed.

{ https://mufon.com/ }

New details about impact of massive asteroid that hit the US revealed

• READ MORE:  Incredible moment asteroid crashes into Earth's atmosphere

ByELLYN LAPOINTE FOR DAILYMAIL.COM

Scientists have revealed new details about the impact of a massive asteroid that hit the US roughly 35 million years ago. 

The asteroid, between three and five miles wide, created a giant 25-mile-wide crater in what now lies beneath Chesapeake Bay, with the center located at the southern end of Northampton County near Cape Charles, Virginia.

While slightly smaller than the event that killed the dinosaurs 66 million years ago, researchers expected it to alter Earth's global climate similarly.

Instead, they found 'our planet seemed to carry on as usual,' according to study co-author Bridget Wade with University College London (UCL).

What's more, the researchers found another giant asteroid collided with what is now Russia some 25,000 years prior and only disrupted Earth's climate for a brief period. 

That impact left a 60-mile-wide crater - known today as the Popigai crater - in northern Siberia.  

These two asteroid strikes formed the fourth and fifth largest known craters on Earth, and yet, they did not trigger any measurable climate changes over the following 150,000 years, the researchers concluded. 

'However, our study would not have picked up shorter-term changes over tens or hundreds of years, as the samples were every 11,000 years,' Wade explained.

'Over a human time scale, these asteroid impacts would be a disaster. They would create a massive shockwave and tsunami, there would be widespread fires, and large amounts of dust would be sent into the air, blocking out sunlight.' 

Roughly 35 million years ago, an enormous asteroid slammed into the ocean off the eastern coast the North American continent, but didn't cause climactic changes (STOCK)

The asteroid, between three and five miles wide, created a giant 25-mile crater in what now lies beneath Chesapeake Bay, with the center located at the southern end of Northampton County near Cape Charles, Virginia

Evidence of the asteroid impacts were found in tiny droplets of silica, which appeared like small balls of glass. 

The formations were created by the intense heat released as the asteroid impacts vaporized rocks on. 

The team inferred what Earth's climate looked like after the asteroid strikes by analyzing carbon and oxygen isotopes in more than 1,500 fossils of shelled, single-celled organisms called foraminifera.

These tiny sea creatures lived near the ocean surface or on the sea floor between 35.5 and 35.9 million years ago, and served as a record of how warm Earth's oceans were at that time. 

The fossils were found embedded within 10 feet of a rock core drilled from underneath the Gulf of Mexico by the scientific Deep Sea Drilling Project. 

The researchers found shifts in isotopes 100,000 years prior to the two asteroid impacts that suggested the ocean surface warmed 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit, and the deep ocean cooled 1.8 degrees Fahrenheit. 

But they did not find evidence of any climactic shifts around the time of the impacts or afterwards.  

Another giant asteroid that collided with what is now Russia some 25,000 years prior similarly did not disrupt Earth's climate for more than a brief period

Read More

• Scientists come up with a way to save Earth from a catastrophic asteroid collision 

'What is remarkable about our results is that there was no real change following the impacts,' Wade said in the statement.

'We expected the isotopes to shift in one direction or another, indicating warmer or cooler waters, but this did not happen.'

The researchers published their findings in the journal Communications Earth & Environment today. 

The isotope samples collected were over intervals of 11,000 years, and therefore do not reflect the short-term affects of these massive asteroid impacts, which would have been a 'disaster' over a human time scale, Wade said. 

The Chicxulub impact, for example, caused a shift in climate on a much smaller timescale of less than 25 years. But it was so extreme that it triggered the extinction of the dinosaurs.

'So we still need to know what is coming and fund missions to prevent future collisions,' Wade said.

NASA's Planetary Defense Coordination Office (PDCO) is developing strategies and protocols to prevent a catastrophic asteroid strike.

Evidence of the asteroid impacts were found in tiny droplets of silica, which appeared like small balls of glass. The formations were created by the intense heat released as the asteroid impacts vaporized rocks on

The PDCO's primary mission is finding, tracking and better understanding asteroids that could pose a threat to Earth. But it also launched the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission in November 2021. 

This mission rammed a spacecraft into the near-Earth asteroid Dimorphos to alter its trajectory - a strategy NASA could one day use to save the planet from an oncoming asteroid. 

Even though Wade and Cheng's study did note capture the more immediate affects of the strikes, they did create a more precise timeline of climactic change, as previous studies used fossils samples over intervals longer than 11,000 years. 

What's more, using fossils that lived at different ocean depths provided a more complete picture of how the oceans responded to the asteroid strikes. 

'It was fascinating to read Earth's climate history from the chemistry preserved in microfossils,' Cheng said.

{ https://www.dailymail.co.uk/ }

• READ MORE: FBI probes 'car-sized' UFOs over Trump's New Jersey golf course

By MATTHEW PHELAN SENIOR SCIENCE REPORTER FOR DAILYMAIL.COM

The conversation of baffled pilots tracking 'super bright' UFOs 'moving real quick' above their planes in Texas has been revealed.

The short audio heard flight crews on American Airlines and Spirit planes speaking with air traffic control (ATC) on the night of November 30, as they were both flying into the Dallas-Fort Worth airport.

The American Airlines pilot was the first to contact ATC, saying: 'We are following these two lights that are up above us that are kind of jogging back-and-forth, left and right, for the past, like, half hour.'

A Spirit Airlines pilot was then heard describing a similar experience, noting their flight crew was 'watching them for about an hour or two in the northwest sky.'

He continued to explain that he saw the same phenomenon a week earlier.

ATC relayed that nothing was showing up on the radar, adding more mystery to what was seen in the skies above Texas.

The American Airlines pilot, flying from Louisville, Kentucky to Dallas-Fort Worth, said that the odd lights were above his cruising altitude of 34,000 feet.

'The lights were quite a bit above us on the horizon,' the pilot later explained.

'My first thought was satellites, but they kept getting super bright and [going] away over and over.'

Fort Worth ATC checked in with the US Air Force about possible activity over two, nearby 'military operations areas' (MOAs) — at the pilot's behest — but neither MOA had craft in the skies that night, as confirmed on radar.

Baffled pilots with American Airlines and Spirit tracked two unexplained, 'super bright' UFOs 'kinda jogging back and forth, left and right,' over Dallas, Texas. And at least one motorist in the Dallas-Fort Worth area also noted the UFOs that night, posting video to TikTok (pictured above)

The video (screencapture above), taken near Dallas Fort Worth International Airport on November 30th, appears to corroborate the two aircrew reports, based on the poster's independent account. 'They would disappear and reappear in different formations,' the TikToker wrote

'It's gonna sound a little weird,' the pilot about the American Airlines aboard flight ENY3413 can be heard telling Fort Worth air traffic control (ATC) in real time, 'but [...] they get super bright and then go completely dim also.'

While the pilot for the budget passenger airliner Spirit on flight NKS1757 did not mention a change in brightness, he did report getting a much longer look at the two mysterious aerial lights up to two hours of flight time. 

And, he explained, the UFOs were moving 'real quick' and about '100 miles out in space.'

The Spirit pilot also added that the odd lights appeared to be independent of each other, not fixed to one object, whether it was terrestrial aircraft, alien flying saucers or something else.

'They split positions,' he told ATC. 'It's the first time I've seen them change relative position.'

The American Airlines pilot explicitly asked ATC whether or not the US military had activity in the Rivers, Oklahoma 'military operations area' (MOA) to the north, which is used by the Air Force's 138th Fighter Group.

'I asked if the RIVERS MOA was hot and they said 'no' with nobody on radar,' the pilot told the YouTube flight-tracking channel VISAviation. 

'Do you know if the Rivers MOA is hot? You got anybody messing around over there?' the pilot of AA flight ENY3413 can be heard asking on radio.

'It is cold,' ATC replied. 'I am curious why you ask?'

The American Airlines pilot, who was flying from Louisville, Kentucky that night, said that the odd UFO lights were above his own cruising altitude of 34,000 feet: 'The lights were quite a bit above us on the horizon [...] they kept getting super bright and [going] away over and over' 

Another Tik Tok user in the area, who posts as @godandtruth777, might have also captured the UFOs on film (above), commenting: 'Seen in DFW! And they didn't look like planes!'

The pilot also enquired about Shirley MOA north of Little Rock, Arkansas, used by Arkansas Air National Guard's 188th Fighter Wing, but this MOA was 'cold' that night as well.

'Nobody on the radar,' the pilot noted. 'It was super odd because they were high and fast and kept with us for a long time.'

'They kept the same 1-2 o'clock position on us for about 250 miles,' as he wrote in his email to VASAviation.

'And would be moving in formation, sometimes really fast on the horizon.'

After their half-hour long UFO encounter, this American Airlines flight landed in Dallas-Fort Worth around 9:42pm local time.

A third passenger jet, American Airlines flight AA2800, was also nearby in the sky that night but it is unclear whether anyone on board also caught a glimpse of the strange, blinking and fast-moving lights. 

And at least one motorist in the Dallas-Fort Worth area also captured UFOs in the sky that night, posting video to TikTok under her handle @laurenallison45 — and claiming 'No they arent airplanes. Positive of that!'

'I've lived here my entire life, and I have never seen anything like this,' Lauren Allison said in her post. 'What is that?!' she can be heard wondering in her clip.

The citizen video, taken near Dallas Fort Worth International Airport on November 30, appears to corroborate the two aircrew reports, based on the poster's independent account.

'They would disappear and reappear in different formations,' the TikToker noted, identifying a distinct feature of the UFO lights that were also reported by the American Airlines pilot flying in from Louisville aboard flight ENY3413. 

Another Tik Tok user in the area, who posts as @godandtruth777, might have also captured the UFOs on film, commenting: 'Seen in DFW! And they didn't look like planes!'

People are hooked on finding out what is going on in the sky. So far, answers remain limited, and the government has admitted it has zero explanation for some sightings.

Listen to the audio below, and let me know your thoughts at David.Hookstead@outkick.com.

{ https://www.dailymail.co.uk/ }

Researchers Create Smallest Walking Robot Yet

A team of researchers at Cornell University has created a new class of magnetically controlled microscopic robots (microbots) that operate at the visible-light diffraction limit. Termed diffractive robots, these microbots can interact with waves of visible light and still move independently, so that they can maneuver to specific locations to take images and measure forces at the scale of some of the body’s smallest structures.

A diffractive robot.

Image credit: Smart et al., doi: 10.1126/science.adr2177.

Diffractive robotics connects, for the first time, untethered robots with imaging techniques that depend on visible light diffraction — the bending of a light wave when it passes through an opening or around something.

The imaging technique requires an opening of a size comparable to the light’s wavelength.

For the optics to work, robots must be on that scale, and for the robots to reach targets to image, they have to be able to move on their own.

Itai Cohen, professor of physics, in his lab in the Physical Sciences Building.

Controlled by magnets making a pinching motion, the robots can inch-worm forward on a solid surface. They can also ‘swim’ through fluids using the same motion.

The combination of maneuverability, flexibility and sub-diffractive optical technology create a significant advance in the field of robotics.

“A walking robot that’s small enough to interact with and shape light effectively takes a microscope’s lens and puts it directly into the microworld,” said Cornell University’s Professor Paul McEuen.

“It can perform up-close imaging in ways that a regular microscope never could.”

“These robots are between 2 and 5 microns. They’re tiny. And we can get them to do whatever we want by controlling the magnetic fields driving their motions.”

A magnified view of the tiny crab robot, standing on the edge of a coin.

Credit: Northwestern University

“I’m really excited by this convergence of microrobotics and microoptics,” said Cornell University’s Dr. Francesco Monticone.

“The miniaturization of robotics has finally reached a point where these actuating mechanical systems can interact with and actively shape light at the scale of just a few wavelengths — a million times smaller than a meter.”

To magnetically drive robots at this scale, the team patterned the bots with hundreds of nanometer-scale magnets that have an equal volume of material but two different shapes — long and thin, or short and stubby.

Itai Cohen, center, professor of Physics and Design Tech, works with Melody Lim, left, and Zexi Liang, right, at Cohen’s lab in the Physical Sciences Building.

“The long, thin ones need a larger magnetic field to flip them from pointing one way to pointing the other, while the short, stubby ones need a smaller field,” said Cornell University’s Professor Itai Cohen.

“That means you can apply a big magnetic field to get them all aligned, but if you apply a smaller magnetic field, you only flip the short, stubby ones.”

To create the robots, the authors combined this principle with very thin films.

“One of the main optical engineering challenges was figuring out the most suitable approach for three tasks — tuning light, focusing, and super-resolution imaging — for this specific platform, because “different approaches have different performance trade-offs depending on how the microrobot can move and change shape,” Dr. Monticone said.

“There’s a benefit to being able to mechanically move the diffracting elements in order to enhance imaging,” Professor Cohen said.

The robot itself can be used as a diffraction grading, or a diffractive lens can be added. In this way, the robots can act as a local extension of the microscope lens looking down from above.

The robots measure forces by using the same magnet-driven pinching motion that enables them to walk to push against structures.

“These robots are very compliant springs. So as something pushes against them, the robot can squeeze,” Professor Cohen said.

“That changes the diffraction pattern, and we can measure that quite nicely.”

Force-measurement and optical abilities can be applied in basic research, as in explorations of the structure of DNA; or they might be deployed in a clinical setting.

“Looking to the future, I can imagine swarms of diffractive microbots performing super-resolution microscopy and other sensing tasks while walking across the surface of a sample,” Professor Monticone said.

“I think we are really just scratching the surface of what is possible with this new paradigm marrying robotic and optical engineering at the microscale.”

• The study was published in the journal Science.
• Conrad L. Smart et al. 2024. Magnetically programmed diffractive robotics. Science 386 (6725): 1031-1037; doi: 10.1126/science.adr2177

{ https://www.sci.news/ }

Posted by Matt Williams

China Plans to Retrieve Mars Samples by 2031

China’s growing presence in space has been undeniable since the turn of the century. Between sending the first “taikonaut” to space in 2003 (Yang Liwei), launching the first Chinese robotic mission to the Moon (Chang’e-1) in 2007, and the deployment of their Tiangong space station between 2021-2022, China has emerged as a major power in space. Accordingly, they have bold plans for the future, like the proposed expansion of their Tiangong space station and the creation of the International Lunar Research Station (ILRS) by 2035.

In their desire to become a space power that can rival NASA, China also has its sights on Mars. In addition to crewed missions that will culminate in a “permanent base,” they intend to conduct a sample-return mission in the near future. This will be performed by the Tianwen-3 mission, which is currently scheduled to launch in 2028 and return samples to Earth by 2031. In a recent article, the Tianwen-3 science team outlined their exploration strategy, including the methods used to retrieve the samples, the target locations, and how they’ll be analyzed for biosignatures that could indicate the presence of past life.

Zengqian Hou was the article’s lead author, a geologist with the Deep Space Exploration Laboratory (DSEL) and the Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences (CAGS), and the mission team supervisor. His fellow team members included the mission’s chief designer, Liu Jizhong, and colleagues from the DSEL, the Lunar Exploration and Space Engineering Center, the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), and the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC). The article was recently published in the November edition of National Science Review.

This image was taken by a small camera jettisoned from China’s Tianwen-1 spacecraft to photograph the spacecraft in orbit above the Martian north pole. Credit: CNSA/PEC

This mission is the third in China’s Tianwen (Chinese for “questions to heaven”) exploration program. The previous mission (Tianwen-1) included an orbiter, a lander, and the Zhurong rover, which reached Mars in February 2021. The successful deployment of this mission made China the third nation (after the Soviet Union and the U.S.) to land on Mars. Highlights of the mission include the mapping of the entire Martian surface by the orbiter and the discovery of hydrated minerals by Zhurong, further confirming that Mars once had liquid water on its surface.

News of this latest mission was first shared by Jizhong at the 2nd International Deep Space Exploration Conference, which took place from September 4th to 7th in Huangshan City, China. However, few details were shared at the time, though a concurrently published paper suggested that the mission could include a helicopter similar to NASA’s Ingenuity. According to the latest from Jizhong, the Tianwen-3 will consist of two launches sometime in 2028 using the Long March 5 (CZ-5) rocket. While one CZ-5 will send the orbiter/return vehicle, the second will send the lander/ascent vehicle. As Liu told the state-owned news agency Xinhua:

“China has retrieved the first-ever samples from the far side of the moon with the Chang’e-6 mission this year. Since Mars is much farther away than the moon, it will take two launches to carry out the Mars sample-return mission due to the limited carrying capacities of our current rockets. Two Long March-5 carrier rockets will be used for the mission.”

Other details include the 86 potential landing sites proposed by the team, which are primarily concentrated in the ancient Chryse Planitia and Utopia Planitia regions. These areas are considered good places to search for potential biosignatures that could be preserved remains of ancient life. This includes features that indicate the presence of past water, including delta fans, lake beds, and the coastline, suggesting the presence of a past ocean in the Northern Lowlands. The team also stated that Tianwen-3 will carry payloads developed with international partners.

A wireless camera took this ‘group photo’ of China’s Tianwen-1 lander and rover on Mars’ surface. Credit: CNSA

They also stressed the necessity for new instruments specifically designed to detect biosignatures. To this end, they have developed a 13-phase mission plan that leverages in-situ and remote-sensing detection technologies. Liu also disclosed that the mission will rely on multi-point surface sampling, fixed-point in-depth drilling, and in-flight vehicle sampling to obtain diverse samples. They also state that China will conduct joint research with scientists worldwide on Mars samples and detection data.

What is clear from this latest news is that China intends to preempt NASA and the ESA’s proposed Mars Sample Return (MSR) mission. Due to budget cuts announced earlier this year, this mission is currently stuck in the design phase. Similarly, China has indicated that the Tianwen-4 mission will explore the Jupiter system to learn more about its moons and their evolutionary history. This mission is scheduled to launch in September 2029 and will follow on the heels of NASA’s Europa Clipper and the ESA’s JUpiter Icy Moons Explorer (JUICE).

This is in keeping with China’s pattern of following in NASA’s footsteps, catching up with them and surpassing them as the leader in space exploration. If they manage to return Martian samples to Earth before either NASA or the ESA, they will have accomplished a task no other space agency has. However, given the scientific value of these samples and the international cooperation that will go into their analysis will be to the benefit of all.

Further Reading: 

• CGTN, 
• Xinhua

{ https://www.universetoday.com/ }

{ https://www.universetoday.com/ }

Former NASA Scientist Says UFO Pilots Could Be Living Beneath Earth’s Oceans In Secret Bases

For years, NASA whistleblowers have been claiming that they saw evidence of extraterrestrials. They believe Earth is in regular contact with intelligent beings of other worlds. How true are these claims? Are there really artificial structures on Moon, secret colonies on Mars, Apollo 11 alleged UFO encounter, etc.? Well, these conspiracies shaped the field of UFOlogy which have come to an extent that now NASA officially joined hands in the UFO investigation. The agency finally admitted the gravity of the situation.

Moreover, a big revelation on UFOs and extraterrestrial life was made by former NASA research scientist Kevin Knuth in 2018 on his personal blog that probably went unnoticed. Knuth shared the UFO evidence he collected in his professional career that intentionally was covered by the government around the world.

Note: Kevin Knuth is an Associate Professor in the Department of Physics at the University at Albany. He is the Editor-in-Chief of the journal Entropy. He is a former NASA research scientist having worked for four years at NASA Ames Research Center in the Intelligent Systems Division.

Kevin Knuth described two personal stories about the speculation of extraterrestrials. The first one came at a 2002 NASA Contact Conference, which focused on serious speculation about extraterrestrials. During the meeting, a concerned participant said loudly in a sinister tone, “You have absolutely no idea what is out there!” The silence was palpable as the truth of this statement sunk in.

His second story is from 1988. During his graduation from Montana State University, his physics professor told the class that he had colleagues working at Malmstrom Air Force Base in Great Falls, Montana, where they were having problems with UFOs shutting down nuclear missiles. This very news was later confirmed when Knuth saw a recording of the press conference featuring several former US Air Force personnel, with a couple from Malmstrom AFB, describing similar occurrences in the 1960s

Professor Knuth firmly believes in the alien life and non-terrestrial nature of UFOs. He is inspired by the theory given by nuclear physicist Enrico Fermi about contact with intelligent civilizations. Fermi estimated there were about 300 billion stars in the galaxy, many of them billions of years older than the Sun, with a large percentage of them likely to host habitable planets. Even if intelligent life developed on a very small percentage of these planets, then there should be a number of intelligent civilizations in the galaxy. Depending on the assumptions, one should expect anywhere from tens to tens of thousands of civilizations.

In 1961, American scientist Frank Drake took the first steps to quantify the field by developing the now-famous “Drake Equation,” a simple algebraic expression that provides an estimate for the number of communicating civilizations in the Milky Way.

Professor Knuth estimated that it would take somewhere around 5 and 50 million years for a civilization like us to colonize the Milky Way. According to him, this should have happened in the history of our galaxy. But where is the evidence? This discrepancy between the expectation that there should be evidence of alien civilizations or visitations and the presumption that no visitations have been observed has been dubbed the Fermi Paradox.

Governments’ cover-up

Professor Knuth said that the topic of UFOs is considered taboo in the scientific community, with many organizations finding excuses for various UFO sightings. For example, there are times when the weather or human activities are excuses for alien sightings. The result is that UFOs are largely not included as a possibility for scientific study and discussions.

Further, he stated, the situation is worsened by the fact that many governments around the world have covered up and classified information about such encounters. But there are enough scraps of evidence that suggest that the problem needs to be open to scientific study (which has already begun).

Strong UFO evidence from the past

Professor Knuth says there have been documented cases of UFO sightings, including through telescopes. He said that sightings go all the way back to the 1700s which are well-documented in the book “Wonders in the Sky” by Jacques Vallée. He discussed one study performed by an astrophysicist at Stanford University named Peter Sturrock, when the professor found out that 5 percent of UFO sightings were never explained.

He also said that numerous countries had declassified UFO files, including Canada, France, Ecuador, and the United Kingdom. There are cases when the United States even funded alien probes, but some findings have not been declassified yet. Knuth argues that these cases should encourage scientific research.

Read also:

• This Woman Saw a UFO Landing & Three Aliens Abducted Calvin Parker & Charles Hickson
• Lue Elizondo’s Attorney Discloses We Have Working Teleportation & Anti-Gravity Technology

He considered the footage released by the Chilean government in 2017 as the most convincing observations that came from government officials. Former NASA research scientists asked the scientific community to begin investigation on UFOs four years earlier, which hints at how much the scientists lost as the UFO topic was taboo for them.

Alien life underwater

Professor Knuth believes the pilots of UFOs could be living underneath our oceans. In 2021, he provided a logical reason behind this theory in this informative interview on Theories of Everything with Curt Jaimungal.

Curt asked Professor Knuth if he thought aliens might be hiding in places like our oceans. Knuth thought it could be possible. He said that oceans cover most of Earth, making them a good hiding spot. Kevin also said that if aliens came from a place with lots of water, living in Earth’s oceans would be easy for them.

“If you live in an ocean, going to another planet with an ocean is actually a pretty good thing,” Knuth explained. He detailed how water, being non-compressible, would provide consistent pressure, and the temperature variations in aquatic environments on different planets would be relatively moderate compared to the extreme conditions on planetary surfaces.

“If you come from an aquatic environment, aquatic environments on planets are going to be much better to live in than atmospheric environments. Atmospheres have a low heat capacity, so the temperature varies a lot …you get huge temperature variations…And then going from planet to planet, you have huge temperature variations in the atmosphere: go to Mars, and you’re looking at 100 degrees below zero Fahrenheit. You go to Venus, and you’re looking at 800 degrees Fahrenheit. It’s dramatic. And the air pressure is dramatically different, too, from planet to planet.”

The interview got even more interesting when they talked about where these aliens might live. Curt wondered if they were hiding underground or in small spaceships. Knuth thought it depended on how many aliens there were. He said, “Depends on how many people you have in there.”

Curt shared that he wasn’t usually into wild stories or mysteries. But this topic was too interesting to ignore. He wondered if maybe humans are just an experiment by these aliens. Knuth had a thought about this. He said, “If they’re DNA-based… then it’s hard to imagine that we’re not related in some way.” He meant that if aliens are like us in some biological ways, then maybe we’re connected somehow.

What if these aliens are so different from us that meeting them could be dangerous? Knuth mentioned a scientist named Stuart Kaufman who had ideas about this. He said, “You wouldn’t want to come in contact with their organic molecules because you don’t know what kind of reactions you’d have.” In simpler terms, if aliens have different chemicals in their bodies, touching them might not be safe for us.

Considering Professor Knuth’s speculations on underwater alien life. There are numerous recorded incidents of spotting UFOs going in and out of oceans.

In 2021, a retired British police officer Gary Heseltine who is the vice president of the new International Coalition for Extraterrestrial Research (ICER) told The Sun that UFOs may not be coming from space – but rather from beneath the sea amid a string of strange encounters involving US warships.

“That sounds crazy but if you think about it we only know 5 percent of the ocean, we know more about the surface of the moon or Mars than our own oceans – so that would seem to me why UFOs are seen regularly coming in and out of water.”

Drawing together the nuclear and underwater theories, Mr Heseltine said: “If you think about it if there was World War 3 and we made toxic all the water then that would affect their habitat. “That’s why I think there’s a correlation with water – they have bases and we only know 5% of the ocean.”

Scientist Bob McGwier has provided great insight into underwater UFO sightings. He disclosed two incidents about underwater UFOs or USOs, that he saw while performing covert operations. This claim was made several months after a video had been made public by the United States military, in which it appeared to show an unidentified flying object moving from the sky into the water in the year 2019. (Click here to read the full article)

{ https://howandwhys.com/ }

A Glimpse into Catastrophic Disclosure – Webinar Highlights

On February 03, 2024 Dr. MIchael Salla held his first webinar for 2024 that analyzed the consequences of the failed UAP Disclosure Act of 2023. The “Controlled Disclosure” initiative contained in the Act was gutted. In the webinar Dr Salla presents a compelling case for Catastrophic Disclosure and prepares us for what lies ahead for the Earth Experience. The following highlights offer a glimpse into the webinar.

Watch on YouTube, Rumble, & Odysee

Audio Podcast on Apple, Spotify, or Google

The full version (without Q&A)  is available on Vimeo at:

• https://vimeo.com/ondemand/whatscomingin2024

The full version (with Q&A)  is available on Crowdcast at: 

• https://www.crowdcast.io/c/whatscoming2024

{ https://exopolitics.org/ }

Jacques Vallee On Footage Of UFO Landing At Holloman AFB: Occupant Carried Vertical Staff With Spiral Antenna

Holloman Air Force Base is infamous for the most debated UFO landing footage that was in the possession of the United States Air Force as claimed by Robert Emmenegger and Allan Sandler. The director of “Moment of Contact” James Fox has recently discussed the Holloman AFB UFO/alien controversy on a podcast, adding valuable information to the legendary case.

Interestingly, there are other credible people in the UFO community who have given credence to the authenticity of this case. There is more to the Holloman AFB UFO story. Joe Murgia, an avid UFO researcher revealed that Dr. Eric Davis (a former Pentagon physicist) met with George Bush Sr. to talk about Holloman AFB Incident.

The UFO phenomenon has long been a subject of fascination and controversy, with countless reports of sightings and encounters over the years. However, the truth behind these mysterious incidents has remained elusive, with government agencies often accused of covering up information and discrediting witnesses.

According to Murgia, on March 26, 2004, he met Hal Putoff (an American physicist who has co-authored several books on gravitational and paranormal research) at the Fiesta Rancho Casino Hotel, Las Vegas after taking an early flight to the airport. Upon meeting, Hal wasted no time and shared with him the story of Dr. Eric Davis. It turns out that Dr. Davis was the one who conducted the interview with Wilson at the EG&G parking lot. Dr. Davis had reached out to the admiral about his project to revive a local chapter of AFIO (Association of Former Intelligence Officers) in Las Vegas, but the conversation eventually shifted to the topic of ufology.(Source)

Murgia stated that Former President George Bush Sr. had taken an interest in Dr. Davis’ discussion and spoke to him twice on the phone, expressing his belief that the German secrets had been filed away and not used as a cover for anything else. However, he did show interest in pursuing the topic and requested Dr. Davis’ recent physics papers.

During the second phone call, Bush revealed that he was aware of the Holloman film, which Hal, Dr. Davis, and Murgia were fixated on. “The former President was aware of it. Was it a training film, a special ops exercise? No, he replied, ‘it was “the real thing.”’ There was a secret project, and the security was obscene,” writes Joe Murgia.

Moreover, the Holloman AFB UFO landing incident was also discussed by Dr. Jacques Vallée in his book “Forbidden Science – Volume II.” He writes:

Kit [Green] just left, along with Hal, Russell and two of his kids. We had a long discussion after a demo of my landing catalogue. Kit has dropped out of Sams’ covert “Group of Twelve.”

Emenegger tells me that Colonel Bill Coleman, who represented the Air Force in the film, had been retired for three weeks when he got the job. For nine years he’d served as the Air Force’s spokesman and had been intimately linked to the UFO question. More games: One of his men, a Captain Horner, confiscated the Holloman movie just before Sandler could get his hands on it.

The Holloman sequence is based on a bluff by Emenegger. He couldn’t find anyone on the Base who recalled such an event. There was only a rumor that in 1971 a helicopter had filmed three objects, one of which landed.

Three occupants had supposedly come out. They had Assyrian noses, a rope twisted on their head for a hat, bluegreen skin, eyes like ping-pong balls with a hole in the middle. One of them had a wire in one ear and carried a vertical staff with a spiral antenna. The Aliens were taken to Building 830, then to building 930 on Mars Avenue. They remained there two or three years, allegedly “helping the United States decode space messages from another Alien civilization.”

A biologist named Alfred Lorenzo is supposed to have worked with them. None of this makes any sense. When Allan was here I asked him if he still had his clearance. He said yes, theoretically he did, but he didn’t think it was active, yet Kit has found Allan’s clearances active. “Do you know there are 800 reports of foreign UFOs in the CIRCOL files?” he asked. “Why didn’t Hynek ever look into that?”

He warned me that a new experimental device was being tested. It is known lovingly as a “flying bathtub.” It is a flying triangle with a rounded front, but it could look strikingly like a saucer when seen from the side, and will surely be mistaken for one.

On Julian Dorey Podcast, Mr. Fox recounted a phone call from Allan Sandler, who claimed to have seen three unidentified flying objects (UFOs) escorted by a military jet. Sandler said that two of the UFOs peeled away while one wobbled to the ground, and he witnessed the beings with unique features emerge from the grounded UFO before the footage abruptly cut off.

Read also:

• Man Who Ran Area 51 Claimed They Had Alien Crafts & Non-Human Beings: So Bob Lazar Is telling Truth
• Footage Of UFO Landing At Holloman AFB With Aliens Walking Out Exists, Producer Told James Fox
• James Fox On Brazil 1996 UFO Crash: Creature Contacted Telepathically & Left Message
• Ex-Apollo Astronaut Claimed Humans Are Ancient Aliens, Visited Earth From Space

Paul Shartle, an official at Norton Air Force Base, allegedly confirmed that the object was not of Earth origin. Mr. Fox did not make any claims about the veracity of the story, only reporting what he had been told.

During a recent Reddit AMA, journalist Christopher Sharp expressed interest in finding more information about the number of alien species visiting Earth. He mentioned that he had heard from multiple sources that the visitation at Holloman Air Force Base was real, but was unsure if the beings were extraterrestrial, interdimensional, or ultra-terrestrial. Sharp shared a link to the interview with Grant Cameron for further information.

In 1974, Robert Emenegger released his documentary “UFOs: Past, Present, and Future,” which was nominated for a Golden Globe. While he had originally been granted permission to use real footage, the Department of Defense later withdrew that permission.

Emenegger was forced to add animated footage of the alleged Holloman UFO landing. He claimed that some frames from the original footage were used in the reconstruction during editing, which was authorized by the USAF. Viewers spotted a genuine bright disc coming down slowly in the distance against the backdrop of Holloman’s surrounding landscape.

The documentary was re-released in 1979, with additional footage and narration by Dr. Vallée, who discussed ancient astronaut theory.

{ https://howandwhys.com/ }

Arizona has 4th most UFO sightings in the US. See the rankings

Laura Daniella Sepulveda -  Arizona Republic

Arizona is known to be a UFO hotspot, and a new interactive map showing it as one of the states with most UFO sightings confirms it.

UFOs have been part of the state's folktales for a long time, with some of the most infamous ones making headlines and video highlights across the nation. The map from the National UFO Reporting Center, which allows people to explore when and where people report UFO sightings shows these events are a common thing in the state.

Arizona appears to have the fourth most reported UFO sightings of all U.S. states, according to the map.

By clicking on the dots on the map, people can see a description of the reported sightings in that location. The green dots are recent reports. Most of the reports come from the United States, as that is where the reporting center is based.

"UFOs are seen literally everywhere, and that the distribution of sighting reports closely matches the distribution of the population," the organization said in a news release announcing the new map.

The reporting center said it plans to add new features to the new map in the future to improve user experience.

View |16 Photos

15 Arizona UFO stories from the Project Blue Book

State breakdown of UFO sightings

• Alaska: 642
• Alabama: 1,403
• Arkansas: 1,289
• Arizona: 4,981
• California: 16,238
• Colorado: 3,281
• Connecticut: 2,033
• Delaware: 419
• Florida: 8,303
• Georgia: 2,730
• Hawaii: 672
• Iowa: 1,225
• Idaho: 1,357
• Illinois: 4,298
• Indiana: 2,732
• Kansas: 1,191
• Kentucky: 1,689
• Louisiana: 1,127
• Massachusetts: 2,709
• Maryland: 1,856
• Maine: 1,189
• Michigan: 3,668
• Minnesota: 2,111
• Missouri: 2,813
• Mississippi: 788
• Montana: 1,004
• North Carolina: 3,679
• North Dakota: 277
• Nebraska: 701
• New Hampshire: 1,196
• New Jersey: 2,894
• New Mexico: 1,672
• Nevada: 1,703
• New York: 5,900
• Ohio: 4,466
• Oklahoma: 1,501
• Oregon: 3,561
• Pennsylvania: 5,047
• Rhode Island: 599
• South Carolina: 2,246
• South Dakota: 396
• Tennessee: 2,315
• Texas: 6,202
• Utah: 1,528
• Virginia: 2,705
• Vermont: 610
• Washington: 7,230
• Wisconsin: 2,453
• West Virginia: 907
• Wyoming: 416
• Unspecified: 115

Phoenix Lights: The Valley's most famous UFO story

Metro Phoenix's most famous UFO story

On March 13, 1997, what is considered to be Arizona's most infamous UFO story happened.

On a mild springlike evening the string of amber orbs appeared as if by magic, a celestial sleight of hand that would in the coming weeks make headlines across the nation.

Although little more than an atmospheric curiosity at the time, the hovering and evenly spaced balls of light would soon become known as the Phoenix Lights.

Those who accepted the explanation that it was military flares dismissed the controversy with logical precision, while people who saw it as an otherworldly encounter claimed the truth has been shrouded in lies and disinformation.

In the ensuing years, the Phoenix Lights would change outlooks, minds and even a few lives. What hasn't changed is the mystery that still hovers.

Lynne Kitei, a Phoenix resident, could barely believe what she saw when she witnessed and recorded the lights, six evenly spaced orbs moving in a direct line over Phoenix.

Kitei, who worked as a physician at the Arizona Heart Institute, dedicated herself to investigating the phenomenon after this experience and eventually resigned from her medical career to devote herself to researching and discussing the Phoenix Lights full-time.

Over seven years, Kitei compiled extensive notes and interviews, eventually publishing a book detailing her findings. Yet, she didn't find a definitive answer to the lights' origin other than educated speculation.

"It's never been about me; it's about the data," Kitei said. "To present it I had to come forward, to tell people what I know."

The sighting, witnessed by hundreds if not thousands, prompted widespread speculation and media attention. Even government officials became involved, though their responses ranged from ridicule to dismissal.

While the military eventually attributed the lights to flares dropped during training exercises, some remain skeptical of this explanation, including Kitei and other experts who analyzed the footage. The enduring mystery of the Phoenix Lights continues to intrigue and divide opinions, leaving questions unanswered about what truly occurred that night.

• Former Republic reporter Scott Craven contributed to this article.

{ https://eu.azcentral.com/ }

'We are approaching the tipping point': Marker for the collapse of key Atlantic current discovered

Related: 

• SpaceX launches NASA's PACE satellite to study Earth's oceans, air and climate (video)

Related: 

• Controversial climate change study claims we'll breach 2 C before 2030

"We are approaching the tipping point, but we cannot deduce the distance to the tipping point," study first author René M. van Westen, a postdoctoral researcher in marine and atmospheric science at Utrecht University, told Live Science. 

Because the rising and sinking of the AMOC depends on the salinity of the water, this circulation is very sensitive to influxes of fresh water, van Westen said. As the climate warms and precipitation patterns change, the patterns of freshwater flow into the ocean change, too. 

It's difficult to predict the outcomes, though, and finding the AMOC's tipping point requires simulating a gradual increase in freshwater flow in the northern Atlantic over more than 2,000 years, van Westen said. This is a long and computationally expensive process, but trying to cut corners by simulating large freshwater pulses is not as realistic or precise. 

The researchers modeled this gradual freshwater increase using state-of-the-art climate models. They found a long negative trend in freshwater flow at 34 degrees south — the southern border of the Atlantic Ocean — reaching a minimum about 25 years before the AMOC collapses. The minimum is not tied to a specific salinity value, but rather is relative to the patterns that came before, so researchers aren't sure how these conditions compare to today's. The AMOC collapse led to a complete lack of circulation and a loss of about 75% of the heat transport from south to north. 

If the AMOC were to collapse in the near future, the consequences would be dire. Without the AMOC, the Northern Hemisphere would get colder, and the southern hemisphere would get warmer, though by a lesser degree . The effects vary by region, but Europe would be hard hit, van Westen said, cooling between 9 and 18 degrees Fahrenheit (5 to 10 degrees Celsius) within a century. That's a huge swing, even compared with the current level of climate change, which is already having impacts. 

"On average, the global climate warms by about 0.2 degrees C [0.36 F] per decade," van Westen said. 

The collapse of the AMOC would also lead to changes in precipitation around the globe. For example, the wet and dry seasons in the Amazon rainforest would swap places, leading to major ecological impacts, the researchers wrote in the paper. 

"We know under climate change that this AMOC will gradually weaken and this [freshwater] parameter will become more negative, so it will destabilize the AMOC further," van Westen says. The message, he added, is that the need to halt climate change is urgent: "We need to stop emitting as a global society." 

{ https://www.space.com/ }

 UAP disclosure not ‘a sprint. It’s a marathon’: Ex-Pentagon official

{ https://www.newsnationnow.com/ }

Lue Elizondo’s Attorney Reveals World-Changing UFO Disclosure News: There Is a Video Interview of an Extraterrestrial Being

The members of the UFO community are demanding UAP disclosure, which could be ‘catastrophic’ if the government remains tight-lipped. Ross Coutlhart and Former US Army Colonel Karl Nell warn that withholding such crucial information from the public and Congress might lead to unforeseen consequences. To avoid these unfortunate scenarios, Col. Nell hopes for the disclosure by October 1, 2030.

Moreover, according to the information received by Axios, the members of the House Oversight Committee will receive a classified briefing on unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP). The publication is informed that a classified briefing on UAP will be held in the Office of House Security next week.

NewsNation writes, “This can be the beginning of Disclosure as the UAP issue has become serious in the US Congress. David Grusch’s claims sparked a congressional hearing led by a bipartisan group of lawmakers from the House Oversight Committee. There has been at least one classified briefing as well, though Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., said lawmakers learned nothing new, and he believed the Defense Department was siloing information to keep secrets.”

David Grusch told Tucker Carlson about Rep. Mike Turner’s efforts to block the UAP Disclosure Act and destroy Tim Burchett’s career. “Mike Rogers & Mike Turner, two of the dumbest people in Washington. Pure tools of the national security state.” Additionally on NewsNation, he said, “Mike Turner probably has no business being the (House Intelligence Committee) Chairman… Mike Turner has never been an intelligence officer. He’s never served in the military.” “We need to get these people out of office.”

World-Changing Evidence

For most people, the ideal UAP/Alien disclosure is Hollywood-type alien exposure. This is the only way people will believe the presence of non-human intelligence presence on our planet. But there might be something similar hidden that attorney Daniel Sheehan mentioned in his interview with Clint Weldon of Night Shift.

Clint Weldon starts by talking about how many people feel overwhelmed with the recent events. He says that for regular people doing daily tasks like paying bills or raising kids, this added news is a lot. He asks Sheehan, “Could you describe for us what you anticipate will happen during the disclosure moment? I believe there will be an ‘aha’ moment where there’s a clear distinction between what happened before this revelation and what comes after. From that point onward, everything will change, and the world as we know it will transform. However, I’m uncertain about the specifics of that transformation.”

In response to this, Sheehan revealed that it is world-changing news if comes true. He speaks of the existence of a video capturing an “actual interview of an actual extraterrestrial being.” Sheehan describes this video as a critical piece of evidence, likening it to “crown jewels” that authorities might be hesitant to unveil.

When Clint Weldon seeks clarification, questioning whether such groundbreaking evidence might indeed see the light, Sheehan’s response is suggestive. He claims to have firsthand knowledge from an individual associated with this video evidence. Sheehan underscores the potential impact, stating that its release would be a game-changer, compelling even the most skeptical to acknowledge its authenticity with a resounding “Katy bar the door.”

“Well, what I’m saying is that I’ve spoken to the person who was there, and they have this on film. So, if you really want to get to the crux of the matter, once it’s shown to the American public, all bets are off. There’s nothing that can be denied anymore. Up until now, even with David Grusch, who is from the National Reconnaissance Office and is assigned to the UFO task force inside the Office of Naval Intelligence, coming forward under oath and testifying to a house committee—all on video—it only resonates with about two to three or 4% of the people in the country because they’re preoccupied with other matters. So, the question arises: How specific and graphic does the information need to be? You often hear, ‘Why don’t they land on the White House lawn?’ or ‘Why don’t they land in Central Park, like in the movies?’ The goal here is to gradually reveal the information so that more and more people can have that ‘aha’ moment and say, ‘Okay, now I know it’s true.'”

Sheehan provides an analogy for why extraterrestrials do not just land in Central Park and how they might view humanity. He suggests that these beings might be observing humanity’s conflicts and lack of unity. While humans are engaged in wars and conflicts, the extraterrestrials might perceive Earth as a volatile place. They might be waiting for humanity to evolve, cultivate unity, and develop a shared consciousness before revealing themselves more openly.

Sheehan further elaborates on the challenges faced by those trying to bring these matters to public attention. He acknowledges the threats made to individuals in positions of power who might attempt to push the disclosure agenda. He describes his involvement with the New Paradigm Institute, an initiative aimed at educating the public about these matters.

Read also:

• Former US Army Colonel Warns Of Catastrophic UFO Disclosure That May Spark Social Unrest
• US Military Has Machine That Can Levitate UFO Metal, Confirms Stanford Top Scientist

Drawing from his background at Harvard University, Harvard Law School, and a prominent law firm, Sheehan emphasizes the importance of citizen diplomacy. He speaks about efforts to prepare individuals for potential encounters with extraterrestrial beings, highlighting the work he started with John Mack before his unfortunate death.

There is certainty that many people would consider his claims “radical,” but he is not a UFO investigator whose claims sound unbelievable to many. Lue Elizondo in many of these interviews subtly hinted at the presence of Non-human Intelligence and Grusch’s testimony shed light on it.

During a podcast with former Fox News anchor Clayton Morris on his show Redacted, Joshua Reid, a former United States Navy serviceman with a background in missile weapons defense systems, brought a wealth of knowledge and experience to the table.

It is worth noting that Joshua Reid’s extensive research in the field of UAPs and classified information has led him to the inner workings of certain government activities. His extensive four-year investigation revealed a disconcerting pattern. It appeared that military technology, particularly in special access programs, was unintentionally making its way to foreign adversaries, including China. This exchange of classified information seemed to involve universities and professors who were receiving grants to reverse engineer technologies from these programs.

The remarkable twist in this story was that Hillary Clinton’s emails were potentially facilitating the sale of this classified information to China and other foreign entities. China would fund universities, enticing professors to divulge information on special access programs. This enabled them to advance their technology rapidly, potentially reaching parity with the United States.

Former Inspector General I. Charles McCullough III, well-versed in these special access programs, played a crucial role in this unfolding drama. He represented David Grusch and became a central figure in the whistleblower saga. According to Reid, multiple whistleblowers were involved, with two possessing firsthand information and tangible evidence. The fear of repercussions led these individuals to testify in front of congressmen, notably, Indiana Congressman André Carson. However, it was not until these whistleblowers presented video evidence of intelligence community members communicating with extraterrestrials that congressmen took their claims seriously.

The impact of these videos was profound. Congressmen were visibly shaken, with one trembling and another drinking water profusely. This sudden shift in demeanor signified that the evidence was both extraordinary and unsettling. The whistleblowers were introduced to Inspector General McCullough, who had an extensive background in the very special access programs at the center of the controversy. (Сlick here to read the full article)

Sheehan was involved in the Pentagon Papers case, the Watergate break-in case, and various other cases. A lot of his work has directly dealt with situations where the American government was covering up cases they were involved in. So, could this lead him to obtain the UAP knowledge hidden for years?

{ https://howandwhys.com/ }

• READ MORE: NASA detects asteroid that's due to hit Earth's atmosphere

By NIKKI MAIN SCIENCE REPORTER FOR DAILYMAIL.COM

Incredible footage has captured the moment an asteroid smashed through Earth's atmosphere over Siberia.

The space rock, designated COWECP5, appeared in the night sky at 11:14pm local time (11:14am ET) hours after NASA's asteroid detection system put out the warning.

Locals posted videos on social media showing the asteroid streaking through the night sky and bursting into a ball of flames before disappearing into the abyss.

The space rock exploded in a stunning red light over Yakutia, soaring over the bright city lights and was seen firing off flames as it flew over Olekminsk.

The emergencies ministry in Yakutia said all official had been placed on alert as the asteroid approached, but noted that no damage had been reported after its descent.

'Residents of Olekminsk and Lensk districts were able to observe in the night a tail similar to a comet and a flash,' it said.

A NASA-funded telescope in Arizona identified the asteroid about seven hours prior to impact, revealing it measured about 27 inches in diameter.

The asteroid was discovered early Tuesday morning by a NASA-funded telescope. Astronomers predicted the space rock would hit Earth's atmosphere at 11:14am ET

The small size meant that it would likely burn up in the atmosphere and posed no threat to people on the ground.

COWECP5 is only the 12th time scientists have accurately reported an asteroid before it struck and the fourth to hit our planet this year. 

The last space rock to make impact was in October over the Pacific Ocean, which followed others in September and January. 

Residents in the Olekminsky and Lensk districts 'observed a comet-like tail and flares,' sharing some of the first videos of the event.

The Main Directorate of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Russia reported that it went on high alert after reports of the asteroid were released.

The agency reported the space rock didn't cause any damages or casualties, writing on Telegram: 'Fortunately, the asteroid passed over the atmosphere. 

'The safety of the population's life was not compromised.'

The NASA-funded Kitt Peak National Observatory, a project that tracks near-Earth objects, also spotted the asteroid early Tuesday. 

Richard Moissl, the head of planetary defense office with the ESA, said Kitt Peak's Aegis system had calculated the asteroid's 'impact corridor' and narrowed it down to 125 miles east of Lensk.

The Aegis system is used by the US Navy to identify air and surface threats through radar technology and computer programs and is 'the most capable multi-mission combat system deployed in the world today,' according to Lockheed Martin.

Many locals in Siberia captured amazing footage of the asteroid breaking through Earth's atmosphere

Locals in Siberia captured the asteroid as it streaked through the night sky at the time NASA predicted 

Read More

• Chunks of asteroid from NASA's deflection test could smash into Earth in the next 10 years 

Ahead of the asteroid's entrance, Alan Fitzsimmons at Queen's University Belfast in Ireland had explained to New Scientist that the asteroid wouldn't pose a risk to people on the ground.

'It's a small one, but it will still be quite spectacular,' Fitzsimmons said. 

'It will be dark over the impact site and for several hundreds of kilometers around there'll be a very impressive, very bright fireball in the sky.'

According to a 2017 study, only asteroids that span at least nearly 60 feet in diameter are potentially lethal if they head toward Earth.

The early sighting of the incoming asteroid was unique in that very few have been spotted before they entered Earth's atmosphere, but Fitzsimmons reported that it is a positive sign that astronomers were able to identify the asteroid so early.

The Main Directorate of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Russia reported that it went on high alert after reports of the asteroid was released

'It's a win for science, and [for] anybody who happens to be in Siberia this evening,' Fitzsimmons told New Scientist, adding: 'There's something to take your mind away from the no doubt quite chilly temperatures.'

These asteroids are categorized as Near-Earth Objects (NEOs) because they come within 120 million miles of the Sun thanks to the gravitational pull of other nearby planets. 

As more asteroids are observed, the accuracy with which astronomers can predict where an object will be years or decades in the future improves dramatically.

{ https://www.dailymail.co.uk/ }

• READ MORE: UFO swarms filmed buzzing over Area 51 and US military sites

By ELLYN LAPOINTE FOR DAILYMAIL.COM

The FBI has launched an investigation into mysterious glowing lights that have been spotted over New Jersey for the last few weeks. 

Eyewitnesses reported unexplained 'car-sized' drones over the Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster and the Picatinny Arsenal Military Base in Rockaway, among other locations throughout northern New Jersey. 

Video footage revealed the drones featured green and red lights on their wings and multiple eyewitness described them as large as a small car.

However, the flying objects are larger than drones used by hobbyists, raising questions about their proximity to those specific locations. 

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) was first alerted about the strange activity in Morris County, where the military base is located, on November 18, but sights also surfaced in nearby Menham, Chester and Morristown.

The drone flights have alarmed residents throughout northern New Jersey, who said that they only appear at night and hover above their homes daily, remaining active for hours at a time.

'We're all completely unnerved. I didn't sleep last night. When I would get up and look out my window, at 2am, 4am, they were still hovering,' Julie Shavalier, a Morris County resident, said.

Others have raised concerns that the objects are not drones, but UFOs.

The FBI has launched an investigation into mysterious, 'car-sized' drones seen flying over over New Jersey at night in the last several weeks

Sightings have been reported over Donald Trump's golf course in Bedminster

The sightings have gained attention on social media, prompting speculation about where the drones came from and what they are doing. 

'False flag alien invasion. That’s what they want, to induce fear,' one person posted on X. 

Others suggested the drones are being used to spy on President-elect Donald Trump, who has been known to vacation at his Bedminster golf club and typically flies into Morristown Airport.

Trump was the target of a failed Iranian assassination attempt in November.

Farhad Shakeri, 51, was revealed to have admitted to orchestrating the terrifying scheme which was thwarted by the FBI and involved three alleged hitmen who were hired by the feared Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to carry out a hit on the president-elect.

And earlier last month, Chinese spies were said to have hacked the smartphones of Trumps' lawyer and campaign staff.

The attacks have raised concerns about America's adversaries spying on the president-elect. 

Eyewitnesses have reported spotting the unexplained drones over the Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster and the Picatinny Arsenal Military Base in Rockaway, among other locations 

But it is not clear whether he has been at the golf course recently or who is behind the drones. 

X users also speculatively attributed the drones to Amazon's new Prime Air delivery service or, worryingly, to surveillance from a foreign power.

Morris County Sheriff, James Gannon, told NBC News: 'There is no advisable immediate danger to the public at this time.'

The drone sightings first began in mid-November and have continued almost every night since, residents have reported. 

But strangely, they appeared to 'take the night off' on Thanksgiving, Mike Walsh, a Morris County resident, told NBC New York. 

The flying objects are larger than drones used by hobbyists, raising questions about their proximity to those specific locations

Read More

• Mysterious lights over Capitol Hill sparks fears of UFOs in Washington DC 

On November 22, the FAA banned drone flights over the Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster until December 6, and the Picatinny Arsenal Military Base in Rockaway until December 26. 

'We look into all reports of unauthorized drone operations and investigate when appropriate,' the FAA said in a statement. 

The agency also noted that drone operators who endanger aircraft of pedestrians could be fined up to $75,000 and lose their drone operators' pilot certificates. 

Days later, the FBI confirmed they were investigating the drone activity. 

The digital news site NJ.com spoke with Eric Kowal, a spokesman for Picatinny Arsenal, who said it is illegal to fly drones over the base without prior authorization. But he does not believe the drones pose an immediate threat. 

'From our standpoint we're not alarming our residents and employees,' he said. 

'The FBI are the experts on the threat. We don't believe there to be a threat at this juncture.' 

New Jersians are 'unnerved' by the incidents, telling reporters that they have seen drones hovering near their homes for hours at a time, sometimes in groups. 

Walsh stated that he has seen up to eight drones at once. 

Christian Kalweit, a small business owner from Mendham, said one of the drones he was was as big as a Cessna airplane.

'All somebody needs to do is see the size... you're not buying that off of Amazon or some hobby store,' he told NJ.com.

He believes that the size is indicative of a military-grade aircraft. 

For now, New Jersey residents can only guess who or what is behind the strange activity, as officials have not released any new information to explain their presence.

{ https://www.dailymail.co.uk/ }

Since late November 2024 there is something is going on and no one has the answer to why there are ongoing incursions of unidentified drones over U.S. and U.K. military bases, nuclear installations and areas such as New Jersey and Manchester Airport.

For example, over the past 72 hours, again there have been numerous reports of large, car-sized drones or UFOs seen in the US (New Jersey, Arizona, North Carolina, Texas) and the UK too. 

These drones often flying in formations displaying advanced capabilities such as coordination, range, endurance, and the ability to evade detection and interception. Despite multiple sightings, none have been recovered or identified, and no physical descriptions or origins have been confirmed. 

Key details: 

• Activity: 

The drones have penetrated restricted airspace repeatedly, often in swarms of a dozen or more. 

• Capabilities: 

The drones exhibit advanced coordination and endurance, suggesting sophisticated technology.  

• Response: 

The U.S. Air Force acknowledges the incursions but states that they have not disrupted operations. Investigations are ongoing in collaboration with U.K. authorities. 

• Speculation: 

Potential origins range from Russia or China to commercial or recreational sources. However, their behavior and capabilities seem to exceed typical drone technology. Even there is speculation about an upcoming false flag alien/UFO invasion.

• Government Inaction: 

Criticism is directed at the Pentagon and other authorities for not addressing the issue or taking action to remove the objects, especially given their proximity to critical infrastructure. 

The FBI and other authorities are reportedly focused on potential UFO or drone activities, particularly on or around December 3rd, which some claim was predicted to be significant by an individual known for accurately forecasting the 2003 Indonesian tsunami. 

• Media Suppression: 

Reports indicate that some footage and discussions about the sightings have been censored or removed. 

• Historical Context: 

The events resemble past UFO sightings at military installations, such as the 1975 U.S. military base incursions, where objects displayed extraordinary flight capabilities and eluded interception. 

The situation remains unresolved, raising questions about the drones' origins, purpose, and implications for military security. 

Whether they are advanced foreign drones or something more extraordinary, the lack of evidence and official explanations fuels speculation whether these sightings represent a security threat. 

More information is awaited from ongoing investigations and official responses. 

Several links/discussions of reported drone/UFO sightings: 

• Manchester Airport UFO sighting from inside the cockpit plus Clear shot of Airport UAP

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6zkZ3x1T0QU 

• Drones? UFOs? What's flying over the UK Bases? 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zy4feLBNQq8 

• UFO Invasion?! "They're the size of cars spotted over New Jersey 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iBLa6lUi5fg 

• Drone/ UFO sighting over the Duke Nuclear Power Plant

https://x.com/digijordan/status/1862721088544772434

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

6 watershed moments in science from 2024 that will shape the future

From oceans found on distant planets to a detailed map of a fly’s brain, these findings deepened our understanding of the world.

By Robin George Andrews

It’s easy to reflect on 2024 as a tumultuous year, but there is some comfort in knowing that  humanity can now claim to know more about the universe than ever before. As a species, we have never been more enlightened, because scientists are always learning more, and because science is always unfinished.

But which scientific discoveries of 2024 proved to be the most thrilling and revelatory? 

Making this determination is a somewhat difficult task. Sometimes, there is an obvious eureka moment, one whose paradigm-shifting implications for humanity, the wider world, or the cosmos itself, are immediately evident. But often, what may seem like a small step forward in our scientific understanding of something in the present is just another domino falling on the way to something unimaginably epic and game-changing. 

Whether it’s expanding our knowledge of the microscopic world, or transforming the way we perceive our galactic neighborhood, every advance is noteworthy. 

But, for our money, these are the most astonishing scientific discoveries of 2024.

1. Astronomers discover hidden oceans in the outer solar system

Earth’s oceans were long thought to be unique. As far as scientists could tell, Mars was a radioactive desert, Venus was an arid volcanic hellscape, and the myriad icy moons of Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune were frozen balls of ice. But in the 1980s, strange electrical signals coming from Jupiter’s moon Europa strongly suggested that an ancient, warm, salty liquid-water ocean was hiding beneath its ice shell. 

This revelation precipitated the launch of NASA’s Europa Clipper mission, a spacecraft that left Earth this October with the hope of remotely studying that ocean and determining if it’s amenable to life.

Nowadays, scientists cannot stop finding compelling evidence for oceans in the outer solar system.

Saturn’s Enceladus is certain to contain another watery ocean, but several others are extremely promising candidates—and this year, we got several more. In February, astronomers announced that they had found evidence of an ocean hidden on Saturn’s moon Mimas. Then, in October, convincing data pointed to yet another ocean buried within Miranda, a Uranian moon.

Finding evidence that oceans are common in the solar system matters.

Life as we know it loves water and, although we do not know if these aquatic moons contain life (whether that’s microbial of something fishier), we now have so many more places to search for it in our own cosmic backyard than scientists could have ever dreamt of. 

2. Fruit fly brain mapped out

You probably haven’t given much thought to the humble, sometimes irritatingly persistent, fruit fly. But to many scientists, this little critter—Drosophila melanogaster—is one of the most important species on the planet. It may have a tiny brain, but it performs many of the same basic neurological processes as a human’s, whether that’s when the fly is searching for food or when it’s “socializing” with another member of its species. That means its minuscule brain can tell us about every type of brain, including our own.

In October, the brain of an adult fruit fly was comprehensively mapped out, with 50 million connections between around 140,000 individual neurons placed upon a special sort of map.

Cerebral cartography of any organism is as difficult as it is promising.

What does a healthy or an unhealthy connection between brain cells looks like? How is 3D navigation wired into the brain? Where does behavior come from? What exactly is a thought, or a memory? 

A fruit fly’s brain is considerably less complex than a human’s, but this map will provide clues that can help neuroscientists understand what makes you, well, you.

3. The 1.5°C global warming limit will (almost certainly) be breached

In some ways, this isn’t surprising at all: the world’s most prolific greenhouse gas emitters have comprehensively failed to stem their output, and the planet has continued to warm at a breakneck pace, bringing with it all sorts of climatic chaos. But this year, for the first time, global average temperatures were extremely likely to jump to more than 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels. 

The oft-cited 1.5°C boundary is somewhat arbitrary; nothing dramatic (other than the extreme weather and climatic convulsions we are already witnessing today) is suddenly going to happen the moment we cross this Rubicon. But that boundary still matters.

Under the Paris Agreement, nearly 200 countries agreed to prevent Earth’s temperature from rising above 2°C above pre-industrial levels, but ideally, they wanted to keep it below 1.5°C. The warmer the planet gets, the more deleterious effects of climate change we will experience; every 0.1°C increase in the average global temperature raises the risk of more potent storms, lengthier heatwaves, catastrophic flooding, and so on. 

1.5°C was an aspirational target. Crossing it marks this as a grim discovery, but an important one. Alarm bells are ringing louder than ever before: if this temperature rise isn’t reversed, or at the very least stopped, all our futures will be increasingly troubled by the wrath of climate change. 

4. Humans age in bursts 

It’s not uncommon to wake up one day, try to tie a shoelace, painfully pull something in our lower backs, and suddenly feel much older than you were yesterday. 

Weirdly, although we do indeed age on a daily basis, scientists discovered in August that the human body appears to go through two rapid aging bursts: once around the age of 44, and again when we reach 60.

Using 108 volunteers, who handed researchers all sorts of biological samples, scientists tracked the changing inventory of various biochemicals and microbes across different ages. For reasons unclear to scientists, both men and women seem to undergo a major shift in their mid-40s: the way our bodies handle cardiovascular disease, and how we break down things like alcohol, fats, and caffeine, changes. Then, when we enter our 60s, our bodies undergo shifts in (among other things) immune regulation and carbohydrate metabolism. 

Although it’s not yet clear how many of these shifts are influenced by lifestyle changes (people tend to drink a lot more during their oft-stressful 40s, for example), as opposed to being purely biological, the fact that we age in spurts is still fascinating and downright unexpected.

In 2020, the Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, and Security-Regolith Explorer spacecraft managed to briefly touchdown on the asteroid Bennu, steal some of its pristine material, then drop it off back on Earth in September 2023. This isn’t the first time a spacecraft has stolen matter from an asteroid (Japan has accomplished this twice), but OSIRIS-REx’s 121.6 grams of asteroidal grains is by far the largest sample of pristine matter ever retrieved.

Asteroids are the debris left over from the violent formation of the solar system. These building blocks not only contain the minerals that went into making the planets_—including Earth—but also the chemistry that created our seas and oceans, and perhaps even the compounds that seeded the very first lifeforms.

This year, scientists got their very first look at OSIRIS-REx’s sample, and they are in awe at what it’s telling them: the Sun was forged via the deaths of multiple stars, from low-mass ones to those big enough to detonate as powerful supernovae; strange molecules in the sample suggest it came from a destroyed geologically active world; and an array of prebiotic compounds, including all sorts of amino acids, were found within that primeval asteroid. 

In short, this sample is already rewriting what we know about the solar system’s origins—and scientists have only studied one percent of it. Who knows what else it has in store? 

6. Artificial Intelligence unravels the secrets of proteins

As AI becomes more visibly part of our lives, it’s regarded with more suspicion, but this year, it became clear that it was going to help reveal how life itself works.

Proteins are crucial to almost every fundamental biological process necessary for life. They do everything from create and maintain the shape of cells to serving as both signal and receiver for cellular communications. Proteins are composed on long chains of amino acids and they perform their varied tasks by folding themselves into precise 3D structures that determine how they function and interact with other molecules.

In October, the Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded to several researchers involved in studying proteins, the squiggle-like machines that underpin much of biochemistry. 

Understanding how proteins work means (among other things) knowing how diseases—from Malaria to Parkinson’s—proliferate, then identifying ways to stop them. 

Notably, two of the three recipients of the prize—Demis Hassabis and John Jumper, both at Google DeepMind—owe their revelations  to their AI model, named AlphaFold2. 

With ruthless efficiency, this AI was able predict the structure of pretty much all the 200 million proteins that scientists have found to exist—meaning that scientists now have a tool that can quickly and accurately work out what sorts of proteins will be involved in, or result from, all sorts of chemical reactions or sets of starting conditions. 

The ability of scientists to decode so many puzzling aspects of biochemistry, from antibiotic resistance to neurological illnesses, has never been more acute.

{ https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science }

7 exciting archaeological discoveries that stunned us in 2024

From mysterious cities hidden by dense jungle to reading ancient scrolls with artificial intelligence, this year’s top findings showcase how modern and old school techniques are shaping the future of archaeology.

By Tom Metcalfe