Look What NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Just Spotted Lurking in the Red Planet’s Arbot Hills
A tiny green dot appearing in an image taken by NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) captures a historic tale of Red Planet exploration by one of its first Earthling visitors.
That visitor—a robotic rover named Perseverance—has been conducting investigations on Mars since February 18, 2021, and the new aerial images reveal its current location in an area that mission specialists have dubbed “Arbot.”
While Perseverance’s latest appearance reveals little more than a greenish spec on the planet’s rust-colored surface, also visible in the new images are the long path its formidable tires have left in the Martian soil as the robotic explorer has trekked west of its initial landing site.
The new images, captured on June 13, 2026, were taken just one day before Perseverance broke the previous distance record held by a robotic explorer on Mars: NASA’s Opportunity rover.
However, Perseverance completed this phase of its journey in record time compared to its predecessor, which took more than 11 years to traverse a similar distance. Perseverance, by contrast, covered the same distance in less than half that time, with just five years and four months of travel now behind it.
In the image above, NASA’s Perseverance Rover appears in the center of the image as a small, greyish-green reflective spot. Also visible are the impressions left by its all-terrain tires, revealing the robotic rover’s long path over the last several years of Martian exploration
(Image Credit: Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona)
The images were made possible by the MROs’ High-Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera, which also captured surface features in the Arbot area that include ridges and windswept areas along Mars’ rugged exterior.
Built and operated by the University of Arizona, HiRISE captures images with resolutions as fine as about 25 centimeters (10 inches) per pixel, allowing researchers to distinguish features roughly the size of a kitchen table from orbit. The camera has returned hundreds of thousands of detailed images since the MRO arrived at Mars two decades ago, contributing to a growing data set that has transformed scientists’ understanding of the Red Planet.
Documenting everything from active dust avalanches and shifting dunes to fresh impact craters, the unprecedented resolution its imagery provides has made HiRISE one of the most powerful planetary imaging instruments ever deployed.
Last year, the MRO’s HiRISE camera also successfully captured images of the interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS as it made its way past Mars during its trip through our Solar System. Although the HiRISE images weren’t the clearest images of the interstellar visitor obtained during its visit, they did help demonstrate just how formidable NASA’s MRO and its suite of instruments are.
Additional details about Perseverance and its mission can be found at NASA’s official web page, and information about the MRO can be found here.
Archaeologists stumble upon ancient Mexican ruins unlike anything seen before
COATEPEC, June 20 — Mexican archaeologists unearthed ancient ruins with signs of Mayan culture as well as “never before seen” characteristics in the eastern state of Veracruz.
President Claudia Sheinbaum called the discovery “very relevant” during her morning press conference yesterday, saying her government would allocate resources for the investigation and restoration of the site.
The site includes a circular stone platform unlike any other unearthed in that part of Mexico.
Researchers also discovered a monolith depicting a figure with potential Mayan features, the National Institute of Archaeology and History (INAH) said.
“It’s a unique, unprecedented finding,” said Lino Espinoza Garcia, an archaeologist for the INAH and one of the coordinators for the Campo Viejo site near the town of Coatepec.
Dating back to the Early Classic period between 200 and 600 AD, the pre-Hispanic ruins include a flagstone and limestone platform adorned with almost squared lines or figures as well as the circular stones.
These attributes have never been recorded in this region of Mexico, the INAH said in a statement.
It’s “a very particular structure,” said Alberto Vazquez, the other archaeologist responsible for the site.
“We don’t have any records so far of a correlation with other (ancient) sites.”
The monolith stands 1.88m (6.16 feet) high, 1.47m (4.82 feet) wide at its broadest point and 68cm (2.23 feet) at the narrowest.
The stone depicts a scene of a symbolic character, according to experts.
“They are two characters who are requesting something, they have a bowl and are receiving something, we think it’s a liquid. Obviously, in that context, it’s a divine liquid, we think it would be water,” Espinoza detailed.
The archaeologist believes the image could reflect the era of a great drought in the region, which could explain why two members of the elite, one of them with Mayan traits, are depicted receiving the fluid from a divine entity. — AFP
“We Don’t Have Any Records So Far”: Archaeologists Discover Ancient ‘Monolith’ in Mexico Unlike Anything Previously Seen
Archaeologists in Mexico report “a unique, unprecedented” discovery in the country’s state of Veracruz, including a monolith bearing unique features and pre-Hispanic ruins unlike others found in the region.
The ancient ruins are believed to display motifs that archaeologists have linked to early Maya culture, according to recent reporting by Agence France-Presse.
The monolithic sculpture, which stands taller than six feet and features an engraving that depicts a pair of individuals engaged in what may be a ritual activity, was accompanied by a large stone platform positioned nearby, and is believed to date to between A.D. 200 and 600. This falls within the Maya Early Classic period, a foundational era of the ancient civilization during which the proliferation of its hieroglyphic writing and calendar systems occurred, as well as the onset of massive stone pyramid construction.
Alberto Vazquez, one of the principal archaeologists at the site, called the discovery “a very particular structure,” adding that archaeologists in Mexico presently “don’t have any records so far of a correlation with other sites.”
The site layout during recent excavations, which shows the position of the monolith in-situ
(Image Credit: INAH)
Monumental construction was a hallmark of the Maya Early Classic period, an era that was also partially defined by the widespread use of sculpted stone stelae and altars that often bore historical significance related to political events.
These stelae and altars preserved a record of events from the period using the Maya Long Count calendar, as rulership governed by hereditary dynasties was believed to leverage religious ceremonies to help legitimize their positions in power.
Several aspects of the recent discovery align with such known components of Early Classic period structures, although some elements about the site remain outliers, such as the circular stone platform, which bears little resemblance to others found throughout Mexico.
The most intriguing component of the site is its monolith, which stands slightly taller than six feet and is under five feet across at its broadest point. The sculpture also features a pair of individuals that researchers say is likely related to symbolism associated with the period in question.
An artistic rendering of the imagery depicted on the monolith, which features two individuals receiving what archaeologists interpret as a “divine liquid”
(Image Credit: Lino Espinoza)
Lino Espinoza Garcia, an archaeologist with Mexico’s National Institute of Archaeology and History (INAH), described the imagery on the monolith as depicting “two characters who are requesting something,” adding that the individuals “have a bowl and are receiving something.”
“[W]e think it’s a liquid,” said Garcia, who also serves as a coordinator at the nearby Campo Viejo site near Coatepec, Mexico. “Obviously, in that context, it’s a divine liquid, we think it would be water.”
Additional discoveries at the site include a flagstone and a large platform made of limestone, which features a series of square-lined patterns, which INAH archaeologists say are unlike those found at nearby sites.
One possible interpretation of the discovery is that the figures depicted with a possible “divine liquid” may document a period of drought that struck the region, which could account for the depiction of two individuals receiving water from a God or other divine figure. Garcia and his colleagues also suggest the two recipients of the liquid may have been members of the ruling class from the period.
During a press conference last week, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum called the discovery “very relevant” and added that investigations would continue with support from her administration.
For Garcia and others, the monolith and its surrounding features offer a unique look at features unlike those they have worked with in the past and may help to deepen our understanding of ancient cultural and political dynamics in Mexico’s pre-Hispanic past.
“It’s a unique, unprecedented finding,” Garcia said.
Nun warns that aliens are 'fallen angels' invading Earth to cast doubt on the existence of God
by Liam Randall / News Reporter
A Catholic nun has warned that alleged alien encounters are actually demons
(Image: Getty Images/Science Photo Library RF)
A Catholic nun has dropped a bombshell claim about UFOs, warning that alleged alien encounters are actually a sinister invasion by "fallen angels." Mother Miriam claims that the spooky phenomena people see in the skies are rooted in a dark spiritual realm, rather than coming from distant planets.
Speaking out on her podcast after a listener asked if ETs were real or spiritual, she didn't hold back. Mother Miriam said: "I think sooner look at the demonic side than the extraterrestrial."
While the Catholic Church doesn't have an official stance on aliens, the holy woman believes the truth is far more terrifying.
Mother Miriam claims that the spooky phenomena people see in the skies are rooted in a dark spiritual realm(
Image: @MotherMiriamHighlights/Youtube)
Channelling the teachings of medieval theologian St Thomas Aquinas, she argued that angels are the original extraterrestrials because they come from another world.
She said: "The Catholic position, there is such a thing as extraterrestrial intelligence. These creatures really are from another world, the spiritual world. They're what we call angels."
But she warned that not all of these cosmic beings come in peace. "Some of these angels are ministers of light. Others are ministers of deception and destruction," she said in a YouTube video.
Mother Miriam argued that angels are the original extraterrestrials because they come from another world
(Image: Getty Images)
Mother Miriam, who was born Rosalind Moss in Brooklyn before converting and leading a monastery in Oklahoma, believes these entities are playing a dangerous game with humanity.
She claims their ultimate goal is to steer people away from God, using UFO obsession as the perfect smoke screen.
She said: "They do all they can to deceive human beings and draw them into a belief system without God, without faith, and without the necessary graces for their salvation."
She added that if these forces "can get people wrapped up in theories of alien visitations and extraterrestrial visitors to Earth, if they can get them absorbed and fascinated by any number of paranormal phenomena and distracted from God, they will have succeeded in their diabolical mission to deceive and to destroy."
The nun claims we are right in the thick of a supernatural battle for the universe.
She said: "These extraterrestrial forces are involved in a great cosmic war. And human beings are a part of a conflict. Once that is understood, all that remains is for you to decide on which side you plan to do battle."
Mother Miriam isn't alone in her wild theories. US Vice President JD Vance previously made headlines on a podcast by suggesting UFOs are actually "demons."
TV host Tucker Carlson has also pushed the theory that celestial phenomena are demonic entities. Even movie legend Steven Spielberg previously admitted that finding real aliens could rock humanity to its core.
Speaking ahead of the release of his film Disclosure Day, he said: "What does this do to the fundamental beliefs that many of us have? Is God our God only on this planet? Or is God a god for every system where there's civilisation and intelligent life, and even developing life?"
Despite her terrifying warnings, Mother Miriam hasn't completely ruled out the idea of actual aliens existing.
She said: "It's possible there are other planets. The church is not definitive on that. If we find out one day that there is truly life on other planets, well, we'll know then. But so far, our Lord hasn't shown us that."
Strange formation in NASA's Mars photo fuels claims of extraterrestrial life on the Red Planet
A strangely shaped object photographed on the Martian surface has reignited bizarre theories about extraterrestrial life on the Red Planet.
The picture, captured by NASA's Opportunity rover in 2014, recently resurfaced online after social media users claimed the object resembles an 'alien gun.'
Scott C Waring, a Martian researcher from 'UFO Sighting Daily,' suggested the 'gun' is evidence of why NASA sent a rover to Mars to retrieve alien technology.
'Alien gun on Mars photos, only one still exists, others deleted by NASA,' Waring shared on X on Tuesday.
The image was first circulated by Waring in 2016, writing in a blog post that the supposed weapon was 'about one foot long.'
'I have to admit... It's incredible,' he shared. 'The exact location of the gun is at SOL 3773, which is between Mt Edgecumbe and Wdowiak Ridge.'
NASA's Opportunity rover landed on Mars on January 25, 2004, touching down in a small impact crater known as Eagle Crater on the Meridiani Planum.
However, the robot fell silent in June 2018 during a severe, planet-wide dust storm that blocked sunlight from reaching its panels. After spending months attempting to re-establish contact, NASA officially declared the mission complete in February 2019.
The picture, captured by NASA's Opportunity rover in 2014, recently resurfaced online after social media users claimed the object resembles an ' alien gun.'
However, it seems the UFO researchers' claims are nothing more than a case of pareidolia, a psychological response to seeing faces and other significant and everyday items.
While Waring is sure Opportunity spotted a gun on the Martian landscape, others believe otherwise.
One X user commented: 'I'm not an expert, but I believe this is a rock....'
While another joked: 'Why would aliens have guns designed for human hands and fingers? lol.'
Waring has been sharing bizarrely shaped rocks on the Red Planet for about a decade now, with one in 2016 that he claimed was a shoe.
'While looking through some Mars rover photos, I found a lone shoe on the edge of the crater,' he wrote on his website.
‘This is probably a shoe of a species that was at war long ago, the shoe being the lone evidence that the person had ever existed.’
The discovery was spotted on August 24, 2016, however, the original photo from the Opportunity was taken in 2013.
The image was first circulated by Warning in 2016, writing in a blog post that the supposed weapon was 'about one foot long'
Waring has been sharing bizarrely shaped rocks on the Red Planet for about a decade now, with one in 2016 that he claimed was a shoe
The NASA image shows a cluster of rocks spread out on the dusty planet, and the lone shoe can be seen to the right among the rubble, which may also just be another rock.
However, Waring is sure this ‘shoe’ is all that is left of a soldier who lost their life on the battlefield.
‘How many times on a battlefield or at a catastrophic event have we seen photos in the newspaper of the shoes of victims…alone…evidence of how hard they were hit, how fast they were taken from us? Well, this is such evidence,’ he wrote.
The chilling visions of hell that a doctor says reveal we're living in God's simulation
A doctor who studies near-death experiences says that there is now a strange overlap between the Christian vision of hell and the theory that the world is a giant simulation.
Dr Orson Wedgwood is a New Zealand-based scientist and author who works in healthcare research. He told the Daily Mail that dark experiences involving visions of the afterlife often have many things in common, such as a stench, dark figures described as demons and violence.
According to Wedgwood, these similarities point to hell-like near-death experiences being more than just hallucinations: they could be real experiences that occur within a God-created 'simulation,' serving as warnings for those who have rejected God.
In Wedgwood's view, as a scientist and devout Christian, NDEs are directly connected to the controversial simulation theory because the simulation’s purpose is to sort out souls based on their life choices.
The doctor said: 'We are in a created environment, or a “simulation” in which we are being tested. Our consciousness, how we behave, and the experiences we have are real, but the rest is not.'
'The simulation is designed to sort us into those who will be with God after the simulation is over versus those who won’t, all in a safe environment where we can’t do any damage.'
The simulation theory suggests that what humans perceive as reality is actually a computer-generated 'video game' of some sort - a premise which was depicted in the blockbuster film series The Matrix.
Believers have claimed that humans are unknowingly being fed this simulated consciousness either for their own good or for nefarious means, with the world's first trillionaire, Elon Musk, suggesting a creator being of the universe runs the simulation.
Pictured: A common depiction of hell, inhabited by demons and fiery landscapes (Stock Image
In December, Musk appeared on The Katie Miller Podcast and speculated that our world could be an 'alien Netflix series,' saying that the purpose of life would therefore be to keep humanity excited to increase our 'ratings' and prevent our creator from turning the computer off.
As for the link between this theory and the claims of many who said they saw a vision of hell instead of heaven, Wedgwood claimed that those who do not show interest in God either lose the eternal part of themselves and die or find themselves in a dark place.
'Most of this is in line with the Bible, and it is also somewhat in line with simulation theory expounded by people like Elon Musk who have concluded that life is not a random act of nature,' Wedgwood explained.
However, the NDE researcher noted that human souls in this alleged simulation can still be rescued if they find themselves in a hellish realm, but only if they call out to God.
'One of the ones that I heard about years and years ago, and it resonated because I’m a Christian, was Ian McCormack; he was a New Zealander who was surfing.'
In 1982, McCormack had been stung by a jellyfish and claimed he descended into hell, saying: 'I could feel the evil; it was all around me.'
McCormack said he had a vision of his mother, who told him to cry out to God and he would hear and forgive the surfer.
He was reported as saying: 'I felt like a speck of dust being drawn up into a radiant light and delivered out of the kingdom of darkness.'
In the blockbuster movie The Matrix, protagonist Neo, played by Keanu Reeves, discovered the human race lives in a simulated reality hundreds of years from now (Pictured)
Dr Orson Wedgwood (Pictured) is a medical scientist who works in healthcare research and says that ‘dark’ near-death experiences often have many things in common
Wedgwood said the feeling of hopelessness is typical in NDEs involving visions of hell, which are also among the rarest sorts of near-death experiences reported.
Studies have suggested that only 14 percent of patients claiming they had an out-of-body experience said it was negative. Of those, around half featured demonic imagery in a realm they suspected was hell.
However, a study published in 2019 in the journal Memory, which compared positive and negative near-death experiences (NDEs), claimed there is little difference between these events and that they basically display the same type of brain activity, just with varying emotional tones.
Study authors said this helps explain why some people come back from the brink of death with terrifying stories that feel just as vivid and life-changing as the peaceful ones.
Wedgwood’s book, ‘Near Death Experience and AWARE studies: Proof Of The Soul and God?’ explored the controversial world of negative near-death experiences, including some truly horrifying testimonials.
In one account by a 42-year-old woman, cited in a 2019 study, she described entities surrounding her as she neared death.
'I am beginning to distinguish forms in this incredibly thick fog. Human, bestial, monstrous. I am swimming in a stinking stench filled with horrible and furtive creatures and I am feeling overwhelmed with pain,' the woman recalled.
Wedgwood said his research has revealed that people who have such experiences often become acutely aware that they are in hell, adding that scientific research often dismisses such experiences as not genuine NDEs.
'Many colleagues I've worked with over the years, PhDs, doctors, and many of them will agree, perhaps more privately than publicly, that they cannot provide explanations of the origin of the universe, the origin of life, and where consciousness comes from,' the doctor said.
'A lot of them now are adopting this simulation theory that we're living in a simulation, and this is like serious PhDs.'
Catch me if you can! Inside NASA's daring plan to save a space telescope from plunging back to Earth
3 is preparing to launch a daring mission to save a precious space telescope from plunging back to Earth.
The Swift Observatory - NASA's 'multitool' for studying the cosmos - was launched in 2004 but has been falling rapidly due to intense solar weather.
To save it, the space agency has hired startup Katalyst Space Technologies to boost the tumbling telescope back into a stable orbit.
And the ambitious 'high-risk, high-reward mission' could blast off as soon as tomorrow.
The $30 million (£22.7 million) salvage operation will launch a fridge-sized robot into orbit, docking with Swift and gently carrying it out into space.
The rescue robot, dubbed Link, sports three arms just over three feet (one metre) in length that end in two finger-like pinchers resembling the hands of a Lego minifigure.
Once these arms grab hold of Swift, Link will spend several months raising its altitude from a dangerously low 224 miles (360 km) to a more stable 373 miles (600 km) above Earth.
If all goes according to plan, this could extend Swift's lifetime by at least a year and pave the way for a mission to save the Hubble Space Telescope in the future.
The Swift Observatory is a critical instrument because, as its name suggests, it is able to turn quickly and catch fleeting events like supernova explosions.
However, in 2024, the sun reached the peak of its 11-year solar cycle, triggering a period of intense space weather that was far more severe than expected.
This space weather caused Earth's atmosphere to slightly expand, increasing the drag on satellites and pulling them back down to Earth.
Soon it became clear that, unless something was done almost immediately, Swift could burn up in the atmosphere by the end of 2026.
Nicky Fox, NASA's science mission chief, told The Associated Press: 'If we let Swift re-enter, we would lose that telescope. We would lose a lot of capability.
'We don't currently have the budget to build another one to replace that.'
In September last year, NASA hired Katalyst Space Technologies to find a way to preserve Swift into the future.
But to save the observatory, they needed to start boosting its orbit before it hit the point of no return at 185 miles (300 km) above Earth.
The $30 million (£22.7 million) salvage operation will launch a fridge-sized robot (pictured) into orbit, docking with Swift and gently carrying it out into space
The Swift Observatory was launched in 2004, but intense space weather has degraded its orbit and it could crash back to Earth by the end of this year unless action is taken
NASA hired the US-based startup Katalyst Space Technologies to design a spacecraft (pictured) that could push Swift back into a stable orbit before it passed a point of no return
With Swift expected to pass that critical altitude in November, there was less than a year to design, build, and launch the new robot.
However, against all odds, Link is now ready to launch and attempt to save NASA's precious space telescope.
Shawn Domagal-Goldman, NASA's astrophysics director, says: 'I have to be honest. No one thought it was going to be possible. No one thought we would get as far as we've already gotten today.'
The robot will be launched from an atoll in the Pacific Ocean's Marshall Islands aboard a Northrop Grumman Pegasus rocket strapped to the belly of a plane.
Once the plane reaches around 40,000 feet (12,190 metres), the rocket will detach and free-fall for a few seconds before firing its three-stage motors and taking Link into orbit within 10 minutes.
The spacecraft will need to travel for about a month to rendezvous with Swift and catch it, and a few more months to gently push it back into orbit.
That means Swift could be back at full operational capacity by September, extending the observatory's lifetime by years.
While the mission is not without its risks and success is not guaranteed, the potential savings for NASA make this risky task worth the danger.
The robot, dubbed Link (pictured), is now ready to launch and will soon be on its way to rendezvous with Swift
Link will be launched on a Northrop Grumman Pegasus rocket that will be taken to 40,000 feet strapped to the belly of a plane (pictured)
Swift originally cost $250 million (£189.2 million), and with NASA's science mission budget having been slashed by 47 per cent, there simply isn't the money to replace it.
Mr Domagal-Goldman says: 'This is a high-risk, high-reward mission. We have much to gain by attempting this boost, which is more affordable than trying to replace Swift’s capabilities.'
This will also be an important test for Katalyst Space Technologies' ability to salvage and preserve doomed spacecraft.
Those are capabilities that may soon be needed to save the Hubble Space Telescope, which has also been affected by the intense solar weather.
The 36-year-old telescope was serviced five times during the shuttle era, with spacewalking astronauts making repairs and fixing a critical optical issue in the main mirror.
However, the ageing observatory is now slipping out of its stable orbit and could need to be boosted in 2028 to remain operational.
Any lessons learned while moving Swift this year could be key to ensuring that this critical piece of technology isn't damaged in the process.
Ghonhee Lee, CEO of Katalyst, says: 'Swift wasn't designed to be serviced. By demonstrating we can quickly and cost-effectively extend its lifetime, we're creating a blueprint for servicing spacecraft that were never designed for on-orbit maintenance.
The Hubble telescope was launched on April 24, 1990, via the space shuttle Discovery from Kennedy Space Centre in Florida.
It is named after famed astronomer Edwin Hubble who was born in Missouri in 1889.
He is arguably most famous for discovering that the universe is expanding and the rate at which is does so - now coined the Hubble constant.
The Hubble telescope is named after famed astronomer Edwin Hubble who was born in Missouri in 1889 (pictured)
Hubble has made more than 1.5 million observations since its mission began in 1990 and helped publish some 18,000 scientific papers.
It circles the Earth at a speed of about 17,000mph (27,300kph) in low Earth orbit at about 340 miles in altitude.
Hubble has the pointing accuracy of .007 arc seconds, which is like being able to shine a laser beam focused on Franklin D. Roosevelt's head on a dime roughly 200 miles (320km) away.
The Hubble telescope is named after Edwin Hubble who was responsible for coming up with the Hubble constant and is one of the greatest astronomers of all-time
Hubble's primary mirror is 2.4 meters (7 feet, 10.5 inches) across and in total is 13.3 meters (43.5 feet) long - the length of a large school bus.
Hubble's launch and deployment in April 1990 marked the most significant advance in astronomy since Galileo's telescope.
Thanks to five servicing missions and more than 25 years of operation, our view of the universe and our place within it has never been the same.
Catholic nun issues chilling warning about aliens amid religious conflict
A Catholic nun has issued a chilling warning about aliens, suggesting that many alleged extraterrestrial encounters may have a far more sinister explanation.
Responding to a question from a listener named Connor, Mother Miriam said she leans toward the belief that the UFO phenomenon is rooted in the spiritual realm rather than in visitors from distant planets.
'I think sooner look at the demonic side than the extraterrestrial,' Mother Miriam said during a recent discussion on her podcast.
Connor had written to the nun asking whether she believed alleged alien encounters were the result of classic extraterrestrial visitors or something more spiritual in nature.
The Catholic Church has never taken an official position on the existence of extraterrestrial life, leaving the question open to scientific inquiry and personal speculation.
However, Mother Miriam said she believes the 'best explanation' for many UFO sightings and alleged alien encounters may be the work of fallen angels.
Citing the teachings of St Thomas Aquinas, she noted that the medieval theologian described angels as extraterrestrial beings because they originate from another world, the spiritual realm.
'The Catholic position, there is such a thing as extraterrestrial intelligence,' she said. 'These creatures really are from another world, the spiritual world. They're what we call angels.'
Vice President JD Vance also made headlines after stating on a conservative podcast that he believes UFOs and unexplained aerial phenomena are actually 'demons' rather than extraterrestrial aliens.
Prominent conservative political commentator and television host Tucker Carlson has also discussed his belief on his shows and podcasts that celestial phenomena or aliens may actually be spiritual, demonic entities.
The idea that aliens may exist has also created religious conflict, as even Steven Spielberg suggested the confirmation could shake people's faith.
''What does this do to the fundamental beliefs that many of us have? Is God our God only on this planet?' he said in an interview leading up to the release of his film Disclosure Day.
'Or is God a god for every system where there's civilization and intelligent life, and even developing life?'
According to Mother Miriam, not all of these spiritual beings are benevolent.
'Some of these angels are ministers of light. Others are ministers of deception and destruction,' she said in a YouTube video.
Mother Miriam, born as Rosalind Moss, was raised in a Jewish home in Brooklyn, New York, but converted to Catholicism as an adult.
Mother Miriam said she leans toward the belief that the UFO phenomenon is rooted in the spiritual realm rather than in visitors from distant planets
She served as the head of the Daughters of Mary, Mother of Israel's Hope monastery in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
She warned that fallen angels work to deceive humanity and distract people from God and faith.
'They do all they can to deceive human beings and draw them into a belief system without God, without faith, and without the necessary graces for their salvation,' she said.
Mother Miriam suggested that an obsession with UFOs, extraterrestrial visitors and paranormal phenomena could serve as a spiritual distraction.
'If they can get people wrapped up in theories of alien visitations and extraterrestrial visitors to Earth, if they can get them absorbed and fascinated by any number of paranormal phenomena and distracted from God, they will have succeeded in their diabolical mission to deceive and to destroy,' she said.
The nun went on to describe what she called a 'great cosmic war' involving these spiritual forces and humanity itself.
'These extraterrestrial forces are involved in a great cosmic war. And human beings are a part of a conflict,' she said.
'Once that is understood, all that remains is for you to decide on which side you plan to do battle.'
Despite her comments, Mother Miriam acknowledged that the possibility of life on other planets cannot be entirely ruled out.
'It's possible there are other planets,' she said. 'The church is not definitive on that.'
She added that if humanity one day discovers genuine extraterrestrial life, then believers will have to grapple with that reality.
'If we find out one day that there is truly life on other planets, well, we'll know then,' she said. 'But so far, our Lord hasn't shown us that.'
The remarks come at a time of renewed public fascination with UFOs and alleged non-human intelligence, fueled by congressional hearings, declassified government documents and a growing number of military encounters with unexplained objects in the sky.
De Noord-Atlantische koudevlek: toeval of teken van een groter klimaatprobleem?
©The Daily Digest
Afbeelding: NASA Scientific Visualization Studio/Goddard Space Flight Center
Een belangrijk raadsel dat opgelost moet worden
In de Noord-Atlantische Oceaan, ten zuiden van IJsland en Groenland, is een raadselachtige 'koude zone' ontstaan. In dit uitgestrekte zeegebied daalt de temperatuur continu, wat in contrast staat met de algehele opwarming van de oceaan.
©The Daily Digest
Snel afkoelingsproces
Volgens CNN zeggen experts dat dit belangrijke Atlantische gebied al meer dan een eeuw aan het afkoelen is, in die mate dat de temperatuur van het water volgens de beschikbare gegevens sinds 1900 met ongeveer één graad Celsius is gedaald.
©The Daily Digest
Twee theorieën over wat er gaande is
In deze context wordt er binnen de wetenschap gedebatteerd over twee theorieën over de mogelijke oorzaak van deze 'koude plek'. Enerzijds zou het te wijten kunnen zijn aan warmteverlies van het oceaanoppervlak als gevolg van veranderingen in wind en bewolking; anderzijds aan de verzwakking van het systeem dat de oceaanstromingen in de Atlantische Oceaan transporteert.
©The Daily Digest
Cruciaal kantelpunt in het klimaat
Nieuw onderzoek, waarover CNN bericht, neigt nu naar de tweede optie om dit mysterie te verklaren. Het suggereert tevens dat het een teken zou kunnen zijn dat we op het punt staan een alarmerend kantelpunt in het klimaat te bereiken, met catastrofale gevolgen voor de toekomst.
©The Daily Digest
Atlantische Meridionale Omwentelingscirculatie
De studie verwijst naar het cruciale systeem van oceaanstromingen, de AMOC (Atlantische Meridionale Omwentelingscirculatie), dat volgens experts functioneert als een gigantische transportband die warm water vanuit de tropen naar het noordelijk halfrond voert, waar het afkoelt, zinkt en weer naar het zuiden terugkeert.
©The Daily Digest
Vingerafdruk van veranderingen in de AMOC
Gezien het bestaan van de AMOC kan de 'koude zone' die we vandaag de dag in de Noord-Atlantische Oceaan zien, volgens de auteurs van de studie worden beschouwd als een vingerafdruk waarop de veranderingen binnen het systeem te zien zijn, aangezien het daar is waar de meeste waterkwaliteit die het met zich meebrengt, aankomt.
©The Daily Digest
Opwarming van de aarde en zoet water
Naast dit onderzoek hebben talrijke andere studies al gewaarschuwd voor de verzwakking van de AMOC. De reden hiervoor is dat door het smeltende ijs als gevolg van de opwarming van de aarde een enorme hoeveelheid zoet water de oceaan instroomt, waardoor het evenwicht tussen zoutgehalte en warmte verstoord raakt en de werking van dit stromingssysteem wordt beïnvloed.
©The Daily Digest
Ineenstorten in het aangezicht van de toekomst
Deze verzwakking zal blijven toenemen totdat het klimaatkantelpunt is bereikt waar wetenschappers naar verwijzen, wat onvermijdelijk zou leiden tot de ineenstorting van de AMOC, iets wat, benadrukken zij, al in deze eeuw zou kunnen gebeuren.
©The Daily Digest
Wereldwijde catastrofe
En wat zou er gebeuren in geval van een ineenstorting? De gevolgen zouden verwoestend zijn en een wereldwijde catastrofe veroorzaken, die zich zou manifesteren in een aanzienlijke stijging van de zeespiegel aan de oostkust van de Verenigde Staten of langdurige droogtes in Afrika als gevolg van de verstoring van de moesson, en bovendien het Europese continent in een permanente ijskoude winter zou storten.
©The Daily Digest
Afkoeling zowel aan de oppervlakte als op grotere diepte
Een van de ontdekkingen van deze recente studie naar de 'koude zone' in de Noord-Atlantische Oceaan, die de neiging versterkt om te denken dat het probleem ligt in de verzwakking van de AMOC, is dat de afkoeling van het water niet alleen aan de oppervlakte plaatsvond, maar ook in de diepte van de oceaan.
©The Daily Digest
Gegevens uit veldmetingen versus klimaatmodellen
Om dit te analyseren, vergeleek het team van wetenschappers dat bij het onderzoek betrokken was, de daadwerkelijke gegevens over de oceaanwarmte, verkregen via satellietonderzoek en met specifieke instrumenten die uit het water waren gehaald, met de gebruikelijke klimaatmodellen. Op basis hiervan konden ze de verandering in de trend van dit uitgestrekte watergebied in de Atlantische Oceaan waarnemen.
©The Daily Digest
Invloed van AMOC
Volgens de auteur van de studie, Stefan Rahmstorf, hoogleraar natuurkunde en oceanografie aan de Universiteit van Potsdam (Duitsland), is de AMOC duidelijk de boosdoener achter de afkoeling van deze watermassa, omdat deze, zoals hij aan CNN vertelde, "het transport van oceanische warmte beïnvloedt".
©The Daily Digest
Afbeelding: Wikipedia
Het zwakste punt in 1000 jaar
Rahmstorf benadrukte verder dat, afgezien van deze 'koude plek', ze al voldoende bewijs hadden uit talrijke eerdere studies die wezen op de verzwakking van de AMOC, in die mate dat, zo benadrukte hij, deze zich momenteel op het zwakste punt in 1000 jaar zou kunnen bevinden.
©The Daily Digest
Heeft niets te maken met atmosferische omstandigheden
Onderzoeker René van Westen van de Universiteit Utrecht (Nederland) benadrukte ook dat de resultaten van Rahmstorfs onderzoek het idee versterken dat de afkoeling van deze enorme watermassa niet wordt beïnvloed door atmosferische omstandigheden, hoewel is aangetoond dat deze wel degelijk via die weg kan plaatsvinden.
©The Daily Digest
Gebieden waar wind en bewolking weinig invloed hebben
Van Westen verwijst in dit geval naar de bijzonderheid dat het diepe water in dit specifieke gebied ook afkoelt, ondanks het feit dat elementen zoals wind of wolken hier weinig invloed hebben.
©The Daily Digest
Eenvoudige benaderingen?
Andere deskundigen, zoals David Thornally, hoogleraar oceaan- en klimaatwetenschappen aan University College London, wijzen erop dat het nog te vroeg is om definitieve uitspraken over deze kwesties te doen. Hoewel hij erkent dat de studie het bewijs voor een verband tussen de 'koude zone' en de AMOC versterkt, stelt hij dat de gegevens slechts benaderingen zijn en geen absolute waarheid weergeven.
©The Daily Digest
De noodzaak van verder onderzoek
In een gesprek met CNN waarschuwde Thornally dat er onder wetenschappers nog steeds veel onzekerheid bestaat over wat er met deze massa koud water zou kunnen gebeuren, en benadrukte hij de noodzaak van verder onderzoek: "Ik denk niet dat (deze studie) het laatste woord over dit onderwerp is", verklaarde hij.
©The Daily Digest
Er zijn nog steeds problemen die opgelost moeten worden
In dezelfde trant maakte Jonathan Baker, klimaatwetenschapper bij het Britse meteorologische instituut Met Office, duidelijk dat verder onderzoek naar dit onderwerp nodig is: "Deze studie levert aanvullend bewijs voor de bijdrage van de AMOC aan de koude luchtmassa, maar lost de kwestie niet definitief op", vertelde hij aan CNN.
{ The Daily Digest }
Top 10: Which Asteroids Impacted Earth Following the Extinction of the Dinosaurs?
Sixty-five million years ago, a colossal asteroid impacted the region near the Yucatán Peninsula in Mexico. The scientific community continues to debate whether this event led to the extinction of the dinosaurs. Nevertheless, it is certain that, subsequent to this event, the Earth persisted in being impacted by extraterrestrial objects.
Asteroids persisted in striking Earth even after the extinction of the dinosaurs.
Source: www.newscientist.com
June 30 is observed globally as Asteroid Day. This occasion typically marks the peak of public interest in asteroid-related developments. During this period, scientists actively disseminate the latest discoveries in this domain to interested parties.
However, the primary concern for many individuals pertains to whether an asteroid impact on Earth 65 million years ago genuinely resulted in the extinction of the dinosaurs, and whether a similar outcome may befall humanity.
Scientists have long debated the answer to the first part of the question over several decades. The Chicxulub crater, located on the Yucatán Peninsula in Mexico, is an established geological feature. It measures approximately 180 km in diameter and 20 km in depth. Nevertheless, the asteroid responsible for its formation was merely 10 km in diameter.
It is widely acknowledged that the crater’s estimated age of 66 million years closely corresponds to the period during which many large groups of animals, including the non-avian dinosaurs, became extinct on our planet.
The Chicxulub crater immediately following its formation.
Source: www.skyatnightmagazine.com
However, there is no consensus on whether this was the primary — let alone the sole — cause of such a significant extinction event. This issue is intricately linked to the question of the extent to which collisions with large asteroids contributed to shaping the contemporary biosphere of our planet.
In fact, the Chicxulub asteroid was not the largest asteroid to have impacted our planet. Researchers have identified craters that are substantially larger; however, they have been unable to establish a connection between these craters and any mass extinctions.
Furthermore, even after the extinction of the dinosaurs, asteroids continued to impact the Earth. The craters resulting from these impacts are indeed remarkable. Below are the ten largest such craters.
The largest crater formed on Earth following the extinction of the dinosaurs is Popigai. It is situated in northern russia, near the border between krasnoyarsk krai and Yakutia. Studies have demonstrated that this structure, approximately 100 kilometers in diameter, was formed roughly 35.7 million years ago. The asteroid responsible for its formation was comparable in size to the Chicxulub asteroid — approximately 8 kilometers in diameter.
Popigai impact structure.
Source: www.smithsonianmag.com
Interestingly, there are also efforts to associate the Popigai event with a significant mass extinction of species on our planet. This is referred to as the Eocene-Oligocene extinction event, which is considerably less recognized than the Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction event.
That said, there exists a considerably more plausible candidate for the cause of its extinction: a cooling trend. The climate experienced a significant decrease in temperature and dryness. In certain regions, glaciation commenced; in others, ecosystems underwent transformations. Furthermore, this event transpired more than one and a half million years subsequent to the formation of Popigai, specifically between 33.9 and 33.4 million years ago.
The second-largest impact crater resulting from a collision between Earth and an asteroid during the Cenozoic Era is Karakul. This crater, with a diameter of 52 km, is situated in one of the highest-altitude regions on our planet — the Pamir Mountains.
Within the crater lies a lake measuring 25 km in diameter. It is the largest lake in Tajikistan and is situated at an elevation of 3,960 meters. However, there exist some discrepancies concerning its age. Certain studies estimate the crater’s age at 23 to 25 million years, whereas others suggest an age of 2.6 to 5.3 million years. Consequently, it is quite plausible that this feature represents the most recent of all those listed herein.
Karakul lake.
Source: Wikipedia
The third-largest impact structure of the Cenozoic is Montagnais. This impact crater, measuring 45 km in diameter, is situated on the seafloor — specifically, on the Atlantic Ocean shelf near the Canadian province of Nova Scotia.
The age of the crater has been estimated at approximately 50.5 million years. Nonetheless, despite its size, it remains challenging to associate it with any significant event in the history of Earth’s biosphere. During that period, the Eocene epoch was ongoing, and mammals were gradually increasing in size.
Another significant crater is situated in proximity to the most populous cities along the eastern coast of the United States. This impact structure represents the formation of the mouth of Chesapeake Bay, which serves as the estuary of the Susquehanna River.
The Chesapeake Bay impact crater.
Source: Wikipedia
Approximately 35.5 million years ago, an asteroid measuring several kilometers in diameter impacted this region at a velocity of 17.8 km/s. This impact resulted in the formation of a crater with a diameter of 38 km. Notably, this event transpired merely a few hundred thousand years subsequent to the Popigai asteroid impact.
This has prompted numerous scientists to hypothesize that multiple asteroid impacts could have potentially initiated climate change processes, resulting in mass extinction. However, once again, over a million years elapsed between these events and the subsequent alterations within the biosphere.
For an extended period, the Hiawatha crater remained concealed from scientists beneath the glacier bearing the same name in Greenland. It was not until 2016, through the use of aerial photography, that researchers were able to ascertain that an impact structure measuring 31 km in diameter was concealed beneath the ice mass.
The topography of the Hiawatha crater is concealed beneath the Greenland ice sheet.
Source: Wikipedia
The crater is estimated to be 58 million years old. This period corresponds to the Paleogene epoch, specifically its initial phase. During this time, mammals were commencing significant growth, displacing large flightless birds from their predominant ecological roles. The asteroid impact did not have a discernible effect on the biosphere.
Mistastin is a crater measuring 28 km in diameter situated in eastern Canada. It bears similarities to Karakul, as it contains a lake at its center that measures 16 km in diameter and has a depth of 338 meters. This geological formation was created approximately 36.4 million years ago during the late Eocene epoch.
The Kamensk crater is situated in the rostov region of russia, in proximity to the city of Kamensk-Shakhtinsky. It possesses a diameter of 25 kilometers and is estimated to be 49 million years old. At the moment of impact, the energy released by the asteroid was still well beyond the levels of the most powerful nuclear detonations. Nevertheless, no evidence of its influence on the planet’s biosphere has been discovered.
One of the largest craters to form on Earth following the extinction of the dinosaurs is situated in Ukraine. It is a depression located near the village of Bovtyshka in the Kirovohrad Oblast.
Boltysh crater.
Source: uain.press
The crater is enveloped by a substantial deposit of sedimentary rock; however, its characteristic features remain discernible. It measures 24 km in diameter, with its floor situated 600 meters beneath the adjacent terrain. At its core, there exists an elevation with a diameter of 6 km and a height reaching up to 550 meters.
The age of the Boltysh crater is estimated at 65.39 million years ago. This indicates that the asteroid responsible for its formation impacted Earth approximately a few hundred thousand years subsequent to the Chicxulub event. Consequently, at the time of this impact, the remaining dinosaurs may still have been inhabiting the Earth.
The Haughton crater is situated on the expansive Arctic island of Devon, which is part of Canada. The crater measures 23 km in diameter, and the asteroid responsible for its formation was approximately 2 km across. The geological structure is estimated to be between 31 and 32 million years old. It was formed subsequent to the most significant mass extinction event of the Cenozoic Era, occurring during the predominantly dry and cool Oligocene period on Earth.
Location of the Haughton impact crater.
Source: Wikipedia
The smallest among the significant craters formed following the extinction of the dinosaurs is situated in the Spanish province of Almería. Nonetheless, ascertaining its precise dimensions presents considerable challenges. The crater itself has a diameter of merely 4 km; however, the ring structures encircling it extend between 20 and 22 km in diameter.
It is also quite possible that this is the youngest among all ten largest craters (assuming Karakul is indeed 25 million years old). It was formed at a time when hominid primates were already inhabiting the planet.
NBC News: Catching Up with Whistleblowers on Secret Government UFO ProgramsNBC News correspondent Gadi Schwartz reports from the Disclosure Forum and speaks with Leslie Kean, Luis Elizondo, and Christopher Mellon about UAP transparency, declassified records, and the modern disclosure movement.
Christopher K. Mellon - Chairman of the Board
News correspondent Gadi Schwartz reported from Washington, D.C. following the Disclosure Forum 2026 national security panel, which he moderated in the Kennedy Caucus Room of the Russell Senate Office Building. The segment captured the central message from the day: unidentified anomalous phenomena are being treated seriously by lawmakers, national security professionals, journalists, and former government officials, even as major questions remain unresolved.
The report includes moments from the national security discussion, including references to recurring UAP incidents near sensitive military areas, alleged radar interference, and reports of anomalous health effects. Participants emphasized that the issue remains unsettled, but that the public record has expanded substantially through declassified documents, official videos, and congressional attention.
Schwartz also sat down with three figures closely associated with the modern public UAP disclosure movement: journalist Leslie Kean, former Pentagon official Luis Elizondo, and former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Intelligence Christopher Mellon. Their work helped bring public attention to the Pentagon's secret UAP-related programs through the 2017 New York Times reporting that reshaped the national conversation.
In the conversation, the group reflected on how far the issue has moved since that first reporting. Elizondo described the early period as frightening and said the public now has thousands of pages of declassified reports and a growing body of video to examine. Mellon said that some individuals may have direct experience that gives them first hand insight, while the larger institutional question is whether government agencies have been able to process and acknowledge the information they hold.
The segment returned repeatedly to the question of evidence quality. Elizondo said there are efforts underway to compel agencies to strip sensitive metadata from videos and release more of what certain officials have already seen. Kean noted that the more sophisticated or compelling a video is, the harder it can be to declassify.
The report also touched on NASA material released through recent government file drops, including Apollo-era photographs and audio records that renewed questions about what additional historical records may exist. The discussion did not present those materials as a final answer. Instead, it underscored the need for better data, clearer context, and a more serious public process for reviewing official records.
The NBC News segment matters because it connects three strands of the current public conversation: the Disclosure Forum's national security discussion, the journalists and officials who helped bring the issue into the mainstream, and the continuing demand for higher quality evidence from government agencies.
No one in the segment claims the issue is resolved. The through line is more modest and more important: the public record is growing, the government has more information than has been released, and the next phase of disclosure will depend on whether agencies provide data that scientists, Congress, and the public can actually evaluate.
Black Disk Seen Near Mercury mission while in orbit, 1961, UFO UAP Sighting News.
US military stumped by UFO sightings over bases: Ex-defense official(NewsNation) — Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP) disclosure advocate Christopher Mellon says a large part of the discussion about UFOs hinges on incursions over American military bases and the possibility that adversaries are using drones or another tech to surveil the U.S.
“I’m sorry to say these kind of incursions have been happening at bases all over the United States and overseas. It isn’t as widely known as it ought to be,” Mellon, a former senior official in the Defense Department, told “Elizabeth Vargas Reports” on Thursday.
He estimates hundreds of incidents occur annually that baffle military leaders. In one series of events, Mellon said, UAP violated airspace over Langley Air Force Base in Virginia for 17 days straight, prompting officials to move a squadron of jets.
“If the air combat command at Langley can’t control its own airspace, then you wonder how effectively they could protect Washington,” he noted.
Mellon was the keynote speaker Thursday at a UFO public disclosure forum, in which he said, “Some objects were deliberately trying to provoke us. It’s happened with our navy ships at sea.”
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (D-Fla.) says credible people want the public to know about recovered, non-human spacecraft and biologics, but they are worried about retribution, so she’s working to get them immunity.
“We know there have been credible whistleblowers … but they are worried about losing their clearances,” she said.
She will provide a list to Congress of people who should be granted immunity.
Mellon says it’s only a matter of time until the public gets the full disclosure.
In some cases, the unidentified objects could be drones, and in some cases, they could be more advanced technology, Mellon says. It’s been going on for decades, dating back to World War II. “It was not as much in our face as we’ve been experiencing lately,” he says.
The Pentagon, which has released some files tied to UAPs at the direction of President Trump, is seemingly mystified.
{ https://thehill.com/policy/defense/ }The U.S. Air Force once paid CU Boulder to study UFOs. Here’s what it found.
Richard Sigismond, shown here in 1983, was a Boulder resident who believed that UFOs are piloted by extraterrestrials.
Carnegie Library for Local History/Daily Camera Collection
In 1966, the U.S. Air Force funded a study at the University of Colorado Boulder to determine whether unidentified flying objects (UFOs) were extraterrestrial. CU astrophysicist Dr. Edward U. Condon studied reports of flying saucers and other mysterious airborne objects and declared them largely unfounded. A few years later, Boulder resident and social psychologist Richard Sigismond refuted Condon’s conclusions.
UFOs now are called unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAPs). They face new scrutiny by the U.S. Department of Defense, as well as the general public. Now is a good time to look up — and look back — to see how Boulder fits into this “twilight zone” mystery.
For centuries, people have questioned unidentified objects seen in the sky. Nearly a century ago, in 1938, announcer Orson Welles caused a nationwide panic when he breathlessly interrupted his own radio show with descriptions of creatures emerging from an alien spacecraft on a farm in New Jersey. Although he prefaced his show with a statement that the following program was science fiction, his “War of the Worlds” episode caused panic among many listeners who believed that alien invaders had even taken over the streets of New York City.
It wasn’t until July 8, 1947, however, that the Daily Camera published multiple reports of “mysterious flying discs” in Boulder County. The objects were said to have been very bright and to move erratically. Some had pulsating red lights.
Prompting the reports was a questionable (and later refuted) report that personnel from the Roswell Army Airfield, in Roswell, New Mexico, had captured a “flying saucer” on a local ranch. Like Welles’ radio show, the “news” was splashed all over the country.
The day of the “capture” in Roswell, a Boulder newspaper writer stated, “The first report of a ‘flying disc’ over Boulder was made today. Mrs. Ernestine Pettengill, of 1354 Arapahoe, and a friend, Mrs. Ruth Bradley of Los Angeles, were walking near 15th and Grove streets at 10:30 Monday night when they saw one of the mysterious objects which have aroused nationwide curiosity.”
According to Mrs. Pettengill’s description, the object was “blue in the center and white around the edge. It was round, flat, and quite bright.” She then added, “I had been very skeptical of the talk about flying discs until I saw one myself.”
The local press, for years, continued to publish similar accounts. In 1960, Boulder County resident Ray Hawks was driving a tractor in Left Hand Canyon and watched a “flying saucer” hover for about 15 minutes. Hawks claimed that his tractor suddenly didn’t work, and the “saucer” made an “off-beat humming noise and exuded a kind of bluish smoke.”
He then told a newspaper writer, “I thought the reports of these strange aircraft were a lot of hogwash. I know better now. I was really shaken by this experience.”
In 1966, the U.S. Air Force commissioned a formal investigation headed by astrophysicist Dr. Edward U. Condon at the University of Colorado, in Boulder. The study’s purpose was to produce an unbiased scientific investigation into the possibility that unidentified flying objects may be of extraterrestrial origin.
Look magazine came out with two articles critical of Condon’s research. The first writer, in 1967, stated, “The UFO conflict long since has escalated into a religious war, with ‘believers’ on one side and ‘nonbelievers’ on the other, and Heaven help the agnostics like Dr. Condon, who say they don’t know what to believe and try to find out through logic and inquiry.”
Condon’s $500,000 “Scientific Study of Unidentified Flying Objects” was released in 1968. “Our general conclusion,” he stated, “is that nothing has come from the study of UFOs in the past 21 years that has added to science knowledge.” Another Look magazine article in 1968 called the study a “fiasco” and claimed that it was not objective.
Watching Condon’s study unfold was Boulder resident Richard Sigismond, who stated in a 1985 interview with the Daily Camera that he was a social scientist, a ufologist, and a senior investigator with CUFOS (Center for UFO Studies). He explained that his job was to “seek intelligent life — elsewhere.” He traveled (at his own expense) to sighting locations and often hypnotized individuals who claimed to have been abducted by aliens.
Sigismond said he had examined cattle mutilations, listened to traumatized witnesses and personally experienced two “close encounters,” but he had never met an extraterrestrial. Of that possibility, he told his interviewer, “I cannot help but feel that I would be in awe of them, respectful of their advances in physics that we haven’t quite yet dreamed of.” He died in 2018 at the age of 89.
Today, the controversy continues, with new sightings still being reported, and “little green men” perpetuated in pop culture. Perhaps a new generation of “believers” and “nonbelievers” will come up with some answers. Some would say that the answer is still up in the air.
Graffiti Wall at Mauerpark in Berlin, Germany, plays on the image of “little green men.” 2020.
Wikimedia, public domain
Garnets are found in a Martian meteorite
Garnets are found in a Martian meteorite
On Earth, garnet is best known as the bright red birthstone for January—widely used in jewelry since the Bronze Age and highly valued by the ancient Egyptians. A team of scientists has now identified a new type of rock containing garnet within a fragment of a meteorite originating from Mars.
Garnet crystal. Source: Wikipedia
Although garnet is relatively common on Earth, its existence on Mars had previously only been hypothesized, with rare microscopic inclusions found in Martian meteorites formed during their ejection from the planet. This is the first time the mineral has been identified in a rock that may have formed directly within the Martian crust.
Mars has been the target of numerous exploration missions since the 1960s, using orbiters, landers, and rovers. While the search for signs of past life has driven much of this effort, it is the planet’s inorganic components—its rocks and minerals—that preserve a record of its 4.5-billion-year history.
Minerals and rocks form through complex interactions between the geosphere, atmosphere, hydrosphere, and even biological activity. Detailed analysis of newly discovered rocks and minerals can help scientists understand how the planet’s geological processes, climate, and potential habitability have evolved over time.
Garnets are a group of minerals that share the same crystal structure but have a wide range of chemical compositions. Some of the most common varieties in this group include almandine and pyrope (deep red January birthstones), as well as andradite and grossular.
The rock identified by researchers contains the garnet variety andradite. It can occur in different colors, but is most commonly yellow or green. It has also been used as a gemstone, sometimes referred to as “demantoid.” On Earth, andradite garnets are typically found in metamorphic rocks known as skarns, which form through intense heating and fluid–rock interaction.
Metamorphic environments on Earth are widespread and diverse due to active plate tectonics, which subjects rocks to extreme pressure and temperature during mountain-building and subduction processes. Mars, by contrast, lacks plate tectonics, and therefore the extent and nature of Martian metamorphism remain largely speculative and limited.
The garnet-bearing fragment of rock that was discovered may indicate a previously unknown metamorphic process on Mars, challenging our current understanding of the range of geological conditions on the Red Planet. It could also have formed in a new type of igneous rock, crystallizing from lava or magma that has never been observed on Mars before. However, despite these exciting possibilities, many uncertainties regarding the origin and formation of the garnet still remain.
The meteorite containing andradite garnet, known as NWA 8171, was found in the Sahara Desert in northwestern Africa (NWA) in 2013.
Several pieces of this meteorite are now housed in the collection of the Royal Ontario Museum, including the fragment analyzed by scientists. NWA 8171 is one of 18 Martian meteorites that all originate from the same impact event. The most famous of these is NWA 7034, informally known as “Black Beauty.”
All 18 paired fragments have been confirmed as Martian based on matching trapped noble gases with the Martian atmosphere, as well as their mineral chemistry and overall oxygen isotopic compositions. Oxygen isotopic signatures act like unique planetary fingerprints and are widely used to determine the origin of planetary materials.
NWA 8171 also belongs to a class of meteorites known as Martian polymict regolith breccias. In essence, these meteorites are composed of a mixture of different rock fragments that were broken apart and reassembled on or near the surface of Mars as a result of ancient impact events.
Although it has been confirmed that NWA 8171 originates from Mars, determining whether the garnet-bearing fragment also formed on Mars is more challenging. However, the evidence for a Martian origin is fairly strong and includes:
However, as mentioned above, NWA 8171 is composed of a mixture of rock components, likely assembled on or near the surface of ancient Mars as a result of meteorite impacts. Some of these components could technically include preserved fragments of exotic “non-Martian” meteorites originating elsewhere.
Because of these complexities and the novelty of this garnet-rich rock type, it will likely be necessary to measure oxygen isotopes directly within the fragment to confirm its origin. This type of analysis is destructive, so it has been avoided while other investigations are ongoing.
Regardless of its origin, the discovery of garnet in this meteorite sample will provide new insights into geological processes on Mars and/or into meteorite impacts and material transport within the inner Solar System.
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Look What NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Just Spotted Lurking in the Red Planet’s Arbot Hills
A tiny green dot appearing in an image taken by NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) captures a historic tale of Red Planet exploration by one of its first Earthling visitors.
That visitor—a robotic rover named Perseverance—has been conducting investigations on Mars since February 18, 2021, and the new aerial images reveal its current location in an area that mission specialists have dubbed “Arbot.”
While Perseverance’s latest appearance reveals little more than a greenish spec on the planet’s rust-colored surface, also visible in the new images are the long path its formidable tires have left in the Martian soil as the robotic explorer has trekked west of its initial landing site.
The new images, captured on June 13, 2026, were taken just one day before Perseverance broke the previous distance record held by a robotic explorer on Mars: NASA’s Opportunity rover.
However, Perseverance completed this phase of its journey in record time compared to its predecessor, which took more than 11 years to traverse a similar distance. Perseverance, by contrast, covered the same distance in less than half that time, with just five years and four months of travel now behind it.
In the image above, NASA’s Perseverance Rover appears in the center of the image as a small, greyish-green reflective spot. Also visible are the impressions left by its all-terrain tires, revealing the robotic rover’s long path over the last several years of Martian exploration
(Image Credit: Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona)
The images were made possible by the MROs’ High-Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera, which also captured surface features in the Arbot area that include ridges and windswept areas along Mars’ rugged exterior.
Built and operated by the University of Arizona, HiRISE captures images with resolutions as fine as about 25 centimeters (10 inches) per pixel, allowing researchers to distinguish features roughly the size of a kitchen table from orbit. The camera has returned hundreds of thousands of detailed images since the MRO arrived at Mars two decades ago, contributing to a growing data set that has transformed scientists’ understanding of the Red Planet.
Documenting everything from active dust avalanches and shifting dunes to fresh impact craters, the unprecedented resolution its imagery provides has made HiRISE one of the most powerful planetary imaging instruments ever deployed.
Last year, the MRO’s HiRISE camera also successfully captured images of the interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS as it made its way past Mars during its trip through our Solar System. Although the HiRISE images weren’t the clearest images of the interstellar visitor obtained during its visit, they did help demonstrate just how formidable NASA’s MRO and its suite of instruments are.
Additional details about Perseverance and its mission can be found at NASA’s official web page, and information about the MRO can be found here.
NASA Has a Major Problem Threatening Its Entire Moon Plans
SpaceX / NASA
To get SpaceX’s mammoth Starship all the way to the Moon and back with astronauts on board will require an enormous amount of fuel.
Over a period of eight days, Elon Musk’s space company will need to launch at least 15 of them to fully load a fuel depot in low-Earth orbit. That fuel will then have to be transferred into a separately-launched Human Landing System variant of the spacecraft that astronauts will board before descending to the lunar surface.
Needless to say, SpaceX certainly has its work cut out to have its Starship ready for NASA’s Artemis 4 mission in 2028, the first crewed attempt to land on the Moon since 1972 — let alone dramatically increasing its launch cadence, as it has yet to launch and safely land the rocket.
It gets worse. Now, the space agency’s watchdog says there’s an even bigger problem that could threaten NASA’s ambitious plans. According to a new report by the Office of the Inspector General (OIG), “NASA’s launch infrastructure is dated and lacks the capacity to meet the growing demands of the Agency and government and commercial partners.”
A major surge in commercial launches has put the launch pads at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida and Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia under major strain. And simply building more pads is far easier said than done. Growing “demand for super heavy-lift launch vehicles” is “driving the need for additional launch pads that can accommodate these vehicles, but locations for new launch pads are limited and will require extensive time and resources to develop,” the OIG frets.
Meanwhile, electrical power distribution is “being used beyond its design life and needs to be upgraded,” while the infrastructure for fuel components, like nitrogen and helium, could also “lead to delays.” Even the roadways around Kennedy were “not designed to accommodate the volume, frequency, and weight of modern heavy transport operations.” And declining budgets for maintenance and construction have resulted in lagging infrastructure that exacerbate it all.
The news comes after the Federal Aviation Administration approved SpaceX to launch its Starship from launch complex 39A, from which many Apollo and Space Shuttle program missions launched starting in the 1960s. Musk’s company is hoping to greatly expand the complex for its enormous spacecraft, including the addition of the many necessary structures on top of the launch pad, like towers and fuel tanks.
Meanwhile, Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin, which NASA has also selected to develop a competing Human Landing Systems spacecraft for the Moon landing, will also need plenty of space and capacity for launching its powerful New Glenn rocket, further complicating matters.
In short, as the OIG notes in its report, NASA and its commercial partners need to make some major changes to ensure that the Artemis Moon program remains on track.
And that certainly doesn’t bode well, considering the development of both New Glenn and Starship are already running into numerous delays and failed test launches.
More on Artemis:
a secret meeting in the Tennessee mountains. We prayed after seeing what these 'humanoid beings' did... the world is not prepared
EXCLUSIVE - I saw unreleased UFO files at a secret meeting in the Tennessee mountains. We prayed after seeing what these 'humanoid beings' did... the world is not prepared
A pastor who claims he was whisked away to a secret UFO disclosure gathering in the Tennessee mountains has revealed chilling new details about the evidence he was shown.
Last month, the Daily Mail first reported that private meeting of intelligence insiders, former military and faith leaders was said to have taken place in February ahead of the government's release of its 'UFO files', a collection of declassified records concerning unidentified flying objects.
One of the supposed attendees, Pastor Joseph Zupetz, has disclosed vivid new details about what he saw, warning that the UFO files released by the Trump administration so far are nothing compared to what is still to come.
Far removed from the grainy, blurry UFO footage previously released by the government, Zupetz said he and five other Christian influencers were shown images of non-human beings that were startlingly clear and sent chills down his spine.
The pastor said the secretive meeting, whose attendees he declined to identify, was organized by 'personnel now working within groups that investigate non-human intelligence issues involving UAPs (Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena) and reverse-engineered craft.'
'I was shown images that some of the people who were presenting to us had on their devices of real entities that they personally took photos of,' Zupetz told the Daily Mail.
'They took images of entities standing in the woods. They were very tall, they had very long appendages, some of them almost looked, and this is a crude way of saying it, almost like humanoid squid-type things.'
Congress recently requested 46 UFO videos from the Department of War, including one that viewers have claimed shows an angel flapping its wings
He claimed that other images featured 'tall, lanky, light beings,' with some completely see-through.
Then, after leaving the two-hour meeting and boarding his flight back to Colorado, he noticed several glowing orbs hovering in the sky in the distance.
He recorded the strange encounter and shared the footage with the Daily Mail.
UAP UFO disclosure
©US DEPARTMENT OF WAR / FBI FILES© IBTimes
Zupetz said that during the flight, the plane was shaken so violently that he and other passengers began to pray.
When they looked back out the window, the orbs were gone from their view.
'We were flying in an aircraft, and we truly had an encounter with six orbs right outside the plane,' he said.
'We began to pray, and it stopped trembling. I thought that was very interesting. Now, maybe it was just turbulence, and we had a psychosomatic episode.'
But, according to the pastor, he is convinced it was demonic and fears the encounter was linked to the meeting he had just attended.
'Here I am, a faith-filled believer, and I'm seeing this, and it's making me question, like, okay, what is this? Is this demons? Is this angels? Is it high-level tech?' the pastor said.
Zupetz was one of several influential faith leaders who claimed to have attended private meetings held in Tennessee in February, where former government officials warned that information expected to be released this year could have profound implications for Christian beliefs.
The Daily Mail could not confirm that the meetings took place. But the evangelist Tony Merkel told us that he helped organize the meeting and was also in attendance.
Pastor Joseph Zuptz says he attended one of three secret meetings between faith leaders and former intelligence officials who believe UFO disclosure will shake the Christian faith
Faith leaders at multiple secret meetings throughout the US were allegedly shown images of real extraterrestrials, including a squid-like being with long limbs (Stock Image)
Merkel said the idea was to bring in key ministers who have a large reach within the Christian community to prepare people of faith for the potential disclosure of aliens.
On June 12, the third tranche of declassified files was released to the public, containing hundreds of pages of documents, images, videos and even audio recordings from NASA space flights.
However, Zupetz has admitted that he and his followers have not been shocked or convinced that extraterrestrial life existed after seeing these initial releases.
To this point, only a handful of videos disclosed by the Pentagon have shown clear footage of alleged UFOs, mostly metallic orbs, flying over the planet in great detail.
However, after attending the meeting in Tennessee, Zupetz and others were convinced the slow drip of UFO content from the government is designed to build a 'normalcy bias,' making strange things seem ordinary, to set up for a potentially Earth-shattering reveal in future.
'They're going to continue to drip these things, drop them slowly, and it's not going to be shock and awe in the beginning. And this is what we were told,' Zupetz explained.
'Eventually, they will bring out an entity, a non-human biologic that they will either have speaking or communicating with, and when they do this, then it's going to be a little more shaking.'
The Pentagon's main UFO investigative unit has claimed that most reports of mysterious phenomena in the sky have been caused by explainable things, including balloons, drones and even bird sightings.
A video released in the first wave of UFO files appeared to show a glowing object resembling an 'eight-pointed star' with uneven arms that has been compared to a craft from biblical times
Despite the ongoing file dumps from the Pentagon and multiple members of Congress saying more evidence of real UFOs exists, the US government has maintained that there is no physical proof that aliens exist.
However, Zupetz and other faith leaders have presented an alternative theory, calling the appearance of strange craft, glowing orbs and non-human figures evidence of 'fallen angel technology.'
The theory argues that UFO sightings that cannot be explained as advanced human technology or natural phenomena may actually be interdimensional beings described in the Bible and the controversial Book of Enoch.
'I believe that they are fallen angel tech, or it is interdimensional abilities afforded to angels, rogue spirits or demonic powers that can manifest and appear,' Zupetz said, referring to the origins of the unexplained phenomena in our skies.
'I believe that is the big false flag thing, and the agenda they'll bring forward is saying, we originally are the ones that [seeded] you here.
'The Bible you read is close, but it's not perfectly accurate, because now we're here to enlighten humanity, raise your consciousness, and bring you higher.'
Zupetz shared images of six orbs that surrounded his plane while leaving the secret meeting in Tennessee
Zupetz said his plane began shaking as the orbs surrounded the aircraft, and only stopped when the passengers began praying
Zupetz said believers who find themselves faced with similar sightings and questioning their faith should speak the name of Jesus during their encounters.
The pastor claimed that genuine good entities would respond positively, while deceptive ones would be triggered negatively.
The pastor also cited Steven Spielberg's latest film, 'Disclosure Day,' and the famed director's comments regarding believers in Jesus as more evidence of an ominous narrative being formed, which aligns with the Bible's darkest chapters.
During a CBS News interview, Spielberg reflected on how confirmation of intelligent life beyond Earth could affect religious faith, saying, 'The movie also takes the position of the church.
'What does this do to the fundamental beliefs that many of us have? Is God our God only on this planet? Or is God a god for every system where there's civilization and intelligent life, and even developing life?'
Zupetz said: 'When this disclosure happens, it's the narrative attached to it that'll become more and more negative towards Christianity.'
A Dyson sphere in shape of a cube found near Ursa Minor, historical first! UFO UAP Sighting News.
Date of discovery: June 26, 2026
NASA’s Mars rover just found more evidence the planet may have sustained life
NASA’s Mars rover just found more evidence the planet may have sustained life
The stones were found in the same location where the rover previously found potential biosignatures
NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover just found further evidence the Red Planet may have supported life billions of years ago.
A pair of Martian mudstones the rover collected from the planet’s Bright Angel rock formation in the Jezero crater have complex carbon, one of the building blocks of life, scientists say.
“Measurements of two mudstones show hundreds of organic detections, making this the most robust organic detection in Jezero crater thus far, and, to our knowledge, the only detection of macromolecular carbon on a natural rock surface on Mars,” the researchers wrote in a new study sharing the findings.
The stones were collected in the same location where the rover previously found evidence of ancient microbial life.
Earlier this year, NASA’s Curiosity rover also found never-before-seen organic molecules that the space agency’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory said “renewed confirmation that ancient Mars had the right chemistry to support life.”
Curiosity previously found carbon signatures in powdered rock samples it collected on Mars, too. But those were some 2,000 miles away in Mars' Gale Crater.
The researchers explain that understanding the origin of organic carbon in the Mars rocks is crucial to determining if there was life on the planet.
"Carbon is the primary building block for life on Earth, and all living things are made up of complex organic macromolecules," co-lead author Ashley Murphy, a researcher at the Planetary Science Institute, told Space.com on Wednesday. "On Earth, [macromolecular carbon] is often found in extremely old rocks and in some cases it is the only organic evidence of past microbial life.”
But they don’t yet know if the carbon in the mudstones was produced by something living or non-living.
The new carbon “could be from meteorites or cosmic dust; abiological processes like hydrothermal reactions; or they could be biological in nature,” planetary scientist Paul Byrne, of Washington University in St. Louis, told Science News.
The researchers used the Perseverance rover’s chemical-analyzing Raman spectrometer instrument to map where carbon was throughout the samples.
“One mudstone’s interior contained organic carbon within a primary silicate-dominated matrix; the other mudstone held organic carbon with secondary carbonate and sulfate minerals. The carbon in both rocks was not too weathered, indicating it may be recently exposed to Mars’ surface – or may be somewhat resistant to radiation and oxidation,” a release from the American Academy of Sciences said.
To understand if samples collected by Perseverance are signs of ancient life, they need to be studied back on Earth. The rover can identify the chemical and mineral makeup of areas on Mars, but it doesn’t have the ability to characterize the organic carbon’s make-up.
The stones are a part of dozens of samples Perseverance has collected to be sent home.
When that could happen is anyone’s guess because NASA’s Mars Sample Return program has been overhauled in favor of two cheaper strategies.
A sky crane or a commercial lander could come to collect the samples. Former NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said last year that the return would be set in motion as soon 2035 and as late as 2039.
Scans reveal mysterious buried structure near Great Pyramid
©Getty Images
Hidden Giza anomaly: A 2024 survey revealed an L-shaped structure and deeper resistive feature beneath the Western Cemetery near the Great Pyramid.
Advanced scanning tools: Researchers used ground-penetrating radar and electrical resistivity tomography to map subsurface shapes without excavation.
Unresolved mystery: The anomalies may be archaeological but their purpose and composition remain unknown until further investigation.
References
©NECROPOLIS OF SAQQARA, GIZA, EGYPT -- MARCH 9, 2020: Maxar overview satellite imagery of the Necropolis of Saqqara. Please use: Satellite Image (c) 2022 Maxar Technologies.
References
©Photo by Mohamed El Raai/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images. GIZA, EGYPT - AUGUST 31: Egyptian archeologists and Waseda Universtiy's archeologists research the ruins of 2nd full-size vessel, which is predicted to be belonging to Pharaoh Khufu's era, at Pyramids region in Giza, Egypt on August 31, 2016.
(Photo by Mohamed El Raai/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)
The newly discovered underground structure is situated on the Giza Plateau, an area that has been extensively studied for decades. Its presence in such a well-documented archaeological zone underscores the potential for significant undiscovered features even in heavily researched sites.
References
©Photo by Ali Moustafa/Getty Images. GIZA, EGYPT - NOVEMBER 7:A general view of the Pyramid of Menkaure at the Giza Pyramids necropolis in Giza on November 7, 2025 in Giza, Egypt.
(Photo by Ali Moustafa/Getty Images)
2024 Archaeological Prospection paper documents Giza anomalies
©Photo by mark peterson/Corbis via Getty Images. Cemetery near Pyramids of Giza
(Photo by mark peterson/Corbis via Getty Images)
References
©Photo by Ali Moustafa/Getty Images. GIZA, EGYPT - NOVEMBER 7: A general view of the Great Pyramid of Khufu at the Giza Pyramids necropolis in Giza on November 7, 2025 in Giza, Egypt.
(Photo by Ali Moustafa/Getty Images)
References
©Photo by Hulton-Deutsch Collection/CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images. (Original Caption) Great Pyramid.
(Photo by © Hulton-Deutsch Collection/CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images)
©Photo by Archive Photos/Archive Photos/Getty Images. A view of the Great Pyramid of Giza Egypt.
(Photo by Archive Photos/Archive Photos/Getty Images)
References
©Photo by Universal History Archive/Getty Images. UNSPECIFIED - CIRCA 1754: Sahara Desert (satellite image)
(Photo by Universal History Archive/Getty Images)
References
Huge asteroid a MILE wide will zoom past Earth tomorrow – here’s how to spot it
A huge asteroid measuring a mile across will zoom past Earth in an exceptionally close pass tomorrow.
The space rock, measuring twice the size of the Burj Khalifa, will pass so close to Earth that it will be visible with large binoculars or a small telescope.
At its closest point at 12:14 BST on Saturday, the asteroid will pass within 1,590,000 miles (2,560,000 km) of Earth.
While it is a near miss in astronomical terms, that is over six times the distance between the Earth and the moon.
Astronomers say that the asteroid, named 1997 NC1, poses no threat to Earth and there is no chance of a dangerous collision.
However, it will present a rare treat for stargazers, who should be able to see light bouncing off the rock's surface as it whizzes by at 5.6 miles (9 km) per second.
According to the European Space Agency (ESA), people in the Northern Hemisphere will be able to see 1997 NC1 as it approaches Earth and passes Earth.
Meanwhile, those in the Southern Hemisphere will get a good look at this alien visitor once it has safely passed Earth's orbit.
A mile-long asteroid will zoom past Earth tomorrow night, passing so close that it will be visible to anyone with a decent pair of binoculars. Pictured: The asteroid 1997 NC1 as seen from the Northolt Branch Observatory, on the night of June 25
A mile-long asteroid will zoom past Earth tomorrow night, passing so close that it will be visible to anyone with a decent pair of binoculars. Pictured: The asteroid's location at 4:00 am BST
Based on the light reflected by 1997 NC1, astronomers estimate that it is between 750 and 1,650 metres across.
However, ESA also suggests that it could prove to be more reflective and smaller than currently thought.
Yet this still makes 1997 NC1 roughly 60 times bigger than the Chelyabinsk meteor, which exploded in the atmosphere over Russia and injured 1,491 people in 2013.
If an object this large were to collide with Earth, it would be considered a 'city killer', with the potential to cause catastrophic damage.
Luckily for us, the world's space agencies have been carefully tracking this object since it was discovered in 1997, and any chance of an impact has been ruled out.
Guy Wells, founder of Northolt Branch Observatories, told the Daily Mail: 'Whilst this is a fairly large near-Earth asteroid, there's absolutely no need for concern.'
What that leaves is an amazing opportunity to learn more about asteroids drifting through the solar system and to see a real extraterrestrial object with your own eyes.
Juan Luis Cano, of the ESA's Planetary Defence Office, says: 'A close approach to Earth by an object this size only occurs every few years.'
The asteroid, named 1997 NC1, will pass within 1,590,000 miles (2,560,000 kilometres) of Earth on Saturday
This will help create a 3D model of the rock, revealing whether it is a loose pile of rubble that would break up in the atmosphere or a more dangerous solid rock.
But the astronomy action isn't limited to the professionals, as anyone with a decent pair of binoculars will be able to see 1997 NC1 as it passes.
Dr Ed Bloomer, Senior Astronomer at Royal Observatory Greenwich, told the Daily Mail: 'Factoring in the local horizon and sunset, between about 10:30 and 11:30 is the best window of opportunity for UK residents.
'Tonight, as the sun sets, it is near the constellation Bootes towards the West and will race eastwards over the next few hours towards Aquarius before dropping below the horizon.'
However, Dr Bloomer cautions that even a one-mile-long asteroid is quite small in astronomical terms, so it will be 'intrinsically very challenging to see properly.'
To give yourself the best chance, you can use a sky map app such as Stellarium to help track down the moving object.
Additionally, it is always advisable to try to avoid light pollution by heading to a dark, quiet area and give your eyes at least 20 minutes to adjust.
The best way to find the 1997 NC1 will be to use a sky map app such as Stellarium (pictured), which will help to find the moving object
Unfortunately, the weather forecast for Saturday night predicts fairly heavy cloud cover that will make it difficult to see the asteroid
Unfortunately, this space rock's arrival is poorly timed with the phases of the moon, as the moon will be waxing gibbous and approximately 94 per cent illuminated.
This will add a lot of additional light to the sky that will make the faint glow from 1997 NC1 much harder to spot.
Likewise, the weather looks far from ideal for stargazing, with the Met Office forecasting fairly heavy cloud cover settling in over Scotland and the east of England.
However, the passing asteroid will be visible tonight, although not as brightly, when weather conditions look to be clearer.
And if you don't have any equipment, there's no need to miss out.
The Virtual Telescope Project will be livestreaming their observations of 1997 NC1's close encounter from their professional telescopes.
You can find those streams and more information about how to watch by following this link.
There will be two streams while the asteroid is at its brightest, both starting at 23:00 BST tonight and tomorrow night.
China's secretive space plane releases an unidentified object into orbit - and experts say it could be a spy satellite
A secretive Chinese space plane has released an unidentified object into orbit, a US-based surveillance company has revealed.
China's 'Reusable Experimental Spacecraft' is one of the China National Space Administration's (CNSA) most closely guarded secrets.
However, this elusive craft has now been spotted releasing something into orbit above Earth.
Meanwhile, Chinese authorities have remained silent about what this craft's intended purpose might be.
This was spotted by Leo Labs, an American space tracking firm, which detected the appearance of a new object from their radar station in New Zealand.
It posted on X: 'At 02:30 UTC on 22 June 2026, LeoLabs detected an unknown object in the vicinity of the Chinese Shenlong reusable space plane.'
The company added: 'Following additional observations across our global network and analysis via LeoLabs Delta, we have independently catalogued this object and assessed with high confidence that it was released from the Chinese space plane.
'This activity is consistent with sub-satellite deployments conducted by the space plane in previous missions.'
A secretive Chinese space plane has been spotted launching a 'mystery object' into orbit by a US surveillance company
The Reusable Experimental Spacecraft launched aboard a Long March 2F rocket from China's Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the Gobi Desert on February 6.
As with its previous launches, the objective of the mission was not made public, but the release of this unknown object offers a tantalising clue.
According to Professor Jonathan McDowell, of the Durham University Space Research Centre, this object has now been logged by the American Space Force.
However, what the object is or why it has been deployed remains something of a mystery.
Professor McDowell told the Daily Mail: 'It's hard to say at the moment, it might just be a cubesat (a small satellite commonly used to conduct research), but it could be a very small spy satellite - nothing fancy.
'Previous things ejected from earlier flights of the space plane have not manoeuvred or done anything particularly interesting.'
This suggests that the space plane is more likely to be for 'doing experiments and testing advanced technology', rather than active missions in space.
What will be more revealing, Professor McDowell suggests, is whether the space plane later attempts to collect the satellite with a robot arm.
US-based space tracking firm Leo Labs spotted 'an unknown object in the vicinity of the Chinese Shenlong reusable space plane' on June 22
Even by the standards of the CNSA, the Reusable Experimental Spacecraft is exceptionally secretive, and almost nothing is known about its design or function.
It is believed to be similar to the USA's own secretive space plane, the X-37, or NASA's space shuttle.
However, besides a few digital renders, there are no official images of what the craft might look like.
The best publicly available images of the space plane were taken by amateur astronomer Felix Schöfbänker using a ground-based telescope.
In 2024, a series of images captured by Mr Schöfbänker showed that the space plane was apparently fitted with a pair of solar panels that had not appeared in any of the renderings.
The Reusable Experimental Spacecraft has already completed three prior missions, spending around 500 days in space, and has a track record of unusual behaviour.
In 2024, observers noted that the space plane may have ejected a small satellite or piece of unwanted equipment as it reached the end of its scheduled mission.
Six months earlier, the craft caused alarm when it appeared to release three sub-satellites at once, but these were later found to be leftover debris from launch.
Almost nothing is known about China's 'Reusable Experimental Spacecraft', but it is believed to be similar in design to NASA's X-37. Pictured: Digital render of the space plane's design
The best images of the mysterious spacecraft come from amateur astronomer Felix Schöfbänker, who managed to photograph the space plane from a ground-based telescope
More concerningly, observers have noted the space plane making so-called 'rendezvous and proximity operations', in which a craft practices getting as close as possible to another object.
Rendezvous and proximity operations can be used for entirely peaceful means, such as refuelling and repairing damaged satellites.
But there are concerns that the US, China, and Russia are all preparing spacecraft that have the ability to interfere or tamper with adversary satellites.
This could include knocking spy satellites out of orbit, turning communication satellites to face the wrong way, or simply grabbing a spacecraft with a robotic arm.
The US Space Force is almost certainly developing its own rendezvous and proximity operations capability, and even commissioned an illustration of a space plane intercepting a satellite as its first-ever piece of official artwork.
Likewise, two Russian 'inspector' satellites came within ten feet (three metres) of each other in May as the country ramps up its space warfare research.
Professor McDowell suggests that China's investment in this technology could have been prompted by similar research from its American counterparts.
However, for now, it is impossible to say whether the Reusable Experimental Spacecraft has a benign or military application.
There are an estimated 170 million pieces of so-called 'space junk' - left behind after missions that can be as big as spent rocket stages or as small as paint flakes - in orbit alongside some US$700 billion (£555bn) of space infrastructure.
But only 27,000 are tracked, and with the fragments able to travel at speeds above 16,777 mph (27,000kmh), even tiny pieces could seriously damage or destroy satellites.
However, traditional gripping methods don't work in space, as suction cups do not function in a vacuum and temperatures are too cold for substances like tape and glue.
Grippers based around magnets are useless because most of the debris in orbit around Earth is not magnetic.
Around 500,000 pieces of human-made debris (artist's impression) currently orbit our planet, made up of disused satellites, bits of spacecraft and spent rockets
Most proposed solutions, including debris harpoons, either require or cause forceful interaction with the debris, which could push those objects in unintended, unpredictable directions.
Scientists point to two events that have badly worsened the problem of space junk.
The first was in February 2009, when an Iridium telecoms satellite and Kosmos-2251, a Russian military satellite, accidentally collided.
The second was in January 2007, when China tested an anti-satellite weapon on an old Fengyun weather satellite.
Experts also pointed to two sites that have become worryingly cluttered.
One is low Earth orbit which is used by satnav satellites, the ISS, China's manned missions and the Hubble telescope, among others.
The other is in geostationary orbit, and is used by communications, weather and surveillance satellites that must maintain a fixed position relative to Earth.
Lost Christian text hidden for centuries reveals new insight into the Bible's most chilling mystery
Hidden within the pages of an ancient manuscript in a Polish library were lost sermons of a saint who attempted to tackle one of the Bible's most chilling encounters.
The 12th-century Latin texts were written by St Augustine, the theologian whose ideas helped shape Western Christianity and who is often regarded as the most important Christian thinker after the Apostle Paul.
Researchers found that the newly identified sermons focus on King Saul's visit to the Witch of Endor, one of the Bible's most mysterious episodes, in which the dead prophet Samuel appears and foretells the king's death.
The story, recorded in 1 Samuel 28, has troubled Jewish and Christian scholars for centuries because it appears to suggest that a medium successfully summoned a dead prophet.
St Augustine wrestled with that possibility in the newly discovered sermons, questioning whether the figure Saul encountered was truly Samuel or some form of supernatural illusion.
Ultimately, St Augustine argued that the Witch of Endor held no power over the dead. If Samuel genuinely appeared, he believed it was because God allowed it, not because the medium had summoned him through magic.
Professor Christian Tornau, a Latin scholar at the University of Würzburg, said: 'The first was preached during the Sunday service and ends with the theodicy question and the interpretations.
'It was not until the second sermon on the following Wednesday that the options were weighed up.'
Researchers found that the newly identified sermons focus on King Saul's visit to the Witch of Endor, one of the Bible's most mysterious episodes, in which the dead prophet Samuel appears and foretells the king's death
St Augustine lived from 354AD to 430AD. Born in North Africa to a pagan father and a devout Christian mother, Augustine lived a worldly and intellectually restless early life.
He initially rejected Christianity, exploring hedonism and the dualistic religion of Manichaeism before embracing Neoplatonism.
Following a profound spiritual crisis, he converted to Christianity and was baptized in Milan in 387.
The discovery was made in 2024, when Tornau was asked to decipher six sermons written by the saint. He found that two were previously undiscovered.
The newly discovered sermons were focused on the Old Testament story.
'Saul believes himself to be in a hopeless situation shortly before a battle against the Philistines. God does not listen to his prayers. He turns to a witch,' Tornau said in a statement.
At Saul's request, she conjures up the supposed spirit of the deceased prophet Samuel, who predicts his death in battle. According to the Bible, Samuel anointed the first two kings of Israel, Saul and David, at the order of God.
The story has long baffled theologians, raising questions about how a witch could summon the spirit of a prophet.
St Augustine wrestled with that possibility in the newly discovered sermons, questioning whether the figure Saul encountered was truly Samuel or some form of supernatural illusion
Latin scholars have also asked 'How can an omnipotent God allow this or is he not really omnipotent?'
For centuries, theologians have debated whether the apparition was a deception created by the witch or a genuine appearance of Samuel permitted by God to warn Saul of his impending death.
The researchers noted that after St Augustine presented the two sermons, the church audience was to form their own opinion on the biblical passage.
Tornau suggested that this didactic and rhetorical approach is typical of St Augustine, as the saint was known for presenting options for interpretation, omitting a final judgement and allowing the audience to think for themselves.
'The style, humor and content also clearly indicate that the sermons in the manuscripts were actually written by Augustine,' he said.
However, there have been cases where others presented writings attributed to the saint, but were later found to be forgeries.
Tornau and his colleague, Dr Clemens Weidmann of the Corpus Scriptorum Ecclesiasticorum Latinorum (CSEL), got to work and invited 20 other Latin scholars to verify the authenticity of the text.
Reconstructing the transmission history of the sermons was not an easy feat.
'Firstly, the creation of such a manuscript in the 12th century is unusual. A copy at the beginning of the 8th or 9th century would be more typical,' said Tornau.
Researchers believe the newly discovered sermons survived because a medieval scribe copied them from an older manuscript that has since been lost to history.
'An old catalogue from the monastery mentions a text with the same headings and the same sequence of contents as our manuscript,' Tornau explained.
'It could have served as a model.' However, the researcher noted that he cannot confirm this assumption 100 percent, as the entire library collection was burnt during the Thirty Years' War from 1618 to 1648.
Shocking memo reveals missing UFO-linked scientist was trying to escape a secret Pentagon network before vanishing
New revelations about the missing UFO-linked Air Force general reveal he attempted to leave the Pentagon's secret research programs days before vanishing.
Newly released police reports from New Mexico authorities state that retired Major General William Neil McCasland was attempting to step down from several high-level advisory positions at government-connected research laboratories across the US in the lead-up to his February 27 disappearance.
The new clues were released in a Freedom of Information Act request by Sara Bondink, a self-proclaimed historical researcher and author who has been following the McCasland investigation, revealing previously unseen details about the case.
The information, documented during a March 3 interview, shows communications between the general's wife, Susan Wilkerson, and a member of the Bernalillo County Sheriff's Ghost Unit, which specializes in anti-gang and human trafficking operations.
While Wilkerson had previously claimed on social media that her husband no longer possessed any top-secret clearances with the US government, it was revealed during the interview that he was still an active member of at least four different groups with deep ties to national defense secrets.
In the report, Wilkerson told authorities that McCasland was making a desperate attempt to resign from several and possibly all of these secretive projects over fears the 68-year-old was suffering from severe mental decline.
All of the groups McCasland was reportedly connected to, including Sandia National Laboratories, Riverside Research, the Kirtland Partnership and a University Affiliated Research Center, are involved in high-level research for the Department of War, engaging in projects focused on national security and advanced technology.
McCasland's disappearance has been at the heart of the so-called missing scientist investigation, with the general's career appearing to overlap with several NASA scientists, nuclear lab workers and military personnel who either died or vanished without a trace in recent years.
A new surveillance image shows retired Air Force general William Neil McCasland the day before he vanished without a trace on February 27
McCasland was last seen leaving his New Mexico home without his phone, wearable devices or glasses less than two months ago.
He was only carrying a pistol, and his wife told 911 dispatchers that it appeared he was trying 'not to be found.'
Just days before he vanished, according to the police report, McCasland flew by himself to Washington DC to officially resign from Riverside Research.
The nonprofit provides scientific research, engineering and advisory services on advanced technology projects through contracts with the Pentagon, US intelligence community and the Air Force, which are worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
Authorities wrote in their report: 'Upon returning to New Mexico, Neil told Susan that he resigned from the board of Riverside Research because he could not keep up, mentally, with the conversation.'
He was still a paid consultant for Sandia National Laboratories, a major US government-owned research lab that develops advanced technology for national security, including nuclear weapons, before his disappearance.
Sandia primarily works under the Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration and supports the Air Force research and development work at multiple facilities, including Kirtland Air Force Base.
McCasland was also deeply tied to Kirtland through his work with the Air Force Research Lab.
He had been in charge of AFRL's Phillips Research Site at Kirtland before becoming the research unit's commanding officer from 2011 to 2013.
The veteran officer continued to maintain a key role with the New Mexico base even after retiring, becoming a member of the Kirtland Partnership, a nonprofit working to protect and expand the military research facility and nuclear weapons lab.
William Neil McCasland, 68, was last seen around 11am Friday near Quail Run Court NE in Albuquerque, the Bernalillo County Sheriff's Office said
The item seen in McCasland's hand on February 26 has been compared to a waterproof first aid kit by viewers on social media
Wilkerson confirmed previously released bodycam recordings, which revealed an anonymous caller to police who claimed General McCasland had a concerning meeting with the Kirtland Partnership and members of the US Space Force on February 26, just hours before he disappeared.
The unidentified female witness who claimed she was at the dinner with McCasland told police: 'I was shocked this morning when I saw the alert because what I noticed Thursday evening [February 26] is that he wasn't his usual self.
'[McCasland] was kind of spacey and quiet and you know that that happens with people.'
'He was the head of Air Force Research Lab to the point the man's names are in the UFO documents that are fixed to be released,' the witness claimed during a phone call with police, obtained by the Law&Crime Network.
'He's in that depth, so he has a very high security clearance.'
According to the interview with Wilkerson, the former general had also attempted with resign from his position with a University Affiliated Research Center (UARC) tied to an unnamed school.
UARCs are special, long-term research partnerships between a university and the Pentagon that allow the military to get independent help on advanced science and technology projects that universities are uniquely skilled at providing.
The police report noted that McCasland was attempting to quit his role with UARC due to the same fears of mental decline, however, 'the leadership was trying to convince him otherwise.'
The day before his disappearance, McCasland was seen alert and aware as he exited a local sporting goods store in New Mexico with a mysterious parcel and what appeared to be a portable first aid kit.
Despite his wife's claims of potential mental decline, government officials have revealed that McCasland was still being looked at as a key witness in the ongoing effort to declassify decades-old secrets related to UFOs and extraterrestrials.
In early May, Air Force veteran and UFO whistleblower David Grusch specifically named McCasland as one of the officers who had been in charge of classified programs related to non-human craft recovery and reverse-engineering.
Grusch alleged that the general had not been cooperative with recent efforts by lawmakers looking to interview him over his knowledge of America's suspected contact with extraterrestrials.
The White House has tasked the FBI with investigating McCasland's mysterious disappearance and the disappearances of several other individuals tied to US nuclear secrets in the New Mexico area over the last year.
So far, only one person has been found. The remains of Los Alamos National Lab worker Melissa Casias were discovered in a New Mexico park on May 28.
There has been no sign of McCasland since he vanished four months ago. He reportedly only took a pair of boots and his .38-caliber revolver with him after changing into a set of clothes Wilkerson did not know he owned.
Swarm of orbs Over Islamabad, Pakistan June 2026, UFO UAP Paranormal Alien Sighting News.
Ancient Alien Face, Looks Human In Eye of Hurricane, UFO Sighting News, A sign from aliens.
Baba Vanga's prophecy of 'alien invasion at sporting event' revived by self-styled psychic - 'I saw so much screaming'. UFO UAP Sighting News.
Date of prediction: June 25, 2026
As much as I want a UFO to reveal itself over tomorrows sporting event, I do have to say, why would only one person get the message from aliens? If such a thing was to be announced by aliens it is most likely going to be announced to a large group of individuals that do not know each other and can all relay a similar message to the world. This way, those that do want to be taken, would be at the event. Yes, aliens might want volunteers rather than taking people against their will. So many people would attend this event just to be taken and meet them, I being one of them. I have only met with a plasmoid (energy entity) sphere two meters from me, and as far as I know, I have no new information given to me from it, other than me being allowed to see its true form close up, which is what I asked for. As for the sports game having a mass abduction by a huge UFO tomorrow. I sure hope so, the world really needs so distraction from boring political fights.
"I have to tell you that I dreamed again about aliens invading the soccer field in Miami. And I clearly saw the players being carried off by the first ship that arrived," Bahiana said with tears in her eyes in an Instagram post. She claims that she was inside a spaceship in the dream. Later, the mothership came and took in thousands of people from the field. "I saw so much screaming, so much crying, so many tears, suffering," the self-proclaimed psychic said.Scott C. Waring - UFO Sightings Daily
Will something supernatural appear at the Brazil vs. Scotland World Cup Match?
Ancient King Head On Mars With Diamond The size of a Baseball on Its head! June 24, 2026, UFO Sighting News.
New UFO Files Paint a ‘Very Clear’ Picture of Alien Contact, Researcher Claims
The debate over unidentified flying objects, now officially referred to as Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAPs), has intensified once again following the release of a new batch of previously classified U.S. government documents. The latest disclosure includes 72 files, six videos, and historical audio recordings, providing fresh material for researchers, skeptics, and believers alike.
While many expected groundbreaking revelations, some UFO experts argue that the newly released files offer something equally significant: a clearer picture of how governments have investigated the phenomenon for decades.
The latest release marks the third major batch of UFO-related documents made available to the public. Among the most discussed materials are several videos captured by civilians that reportedly show unusual aerial phenomena.
One video, recorded using an iPhone 14 Pro Max in July, appears to show two bright objects moving together across the sky. Another video depicts a glowing, plasma-like object hovering above a pond. According to reports, these recordings were examined as part of official investigations into unexplained aerial sightings.
Although the footage does not provide definitive proof of extraterrestrial life, it continues to fuel public interest in one of the most enduring mysteries of modern times.
The release also includes an audio recording from 1962 featuring veteran journalist Walter Cronkite interviewing astronaut Gordon Cooper.
Cooper, one of the original Mercury astronauts, discussed the possibility of intelligent life elsewhere in the universe and acknowledged that many highly qualified individuals had witnessed aerial objects that lacked a clear explanation.
His comments are particularly noteworthy because Cooper was among the most respected figures in the early U.S. space program. For UFO researchers, historical testimony from astronauts remains an important part of the broader discussion surrounding unidentified aerial phenomena.
According to UFO researcher Joshua Golembeske, the newly released documents may seem ordinary on the surface, but they contain details that support long-standing claims about government interest in UFOs.
Rather than viewing the release as full disclosure, Golembeske describes it as a gradual process of information being revealed to the public.
He points to one particular document, reportedly identified as CIA Document 19, which references an assessment produced by the Australian Department of Defense. The document allegedly suggests that governments have taken UFO reports far more seriously than the public has been led to believe.
Claims within the document reportedly include discussions about military investigations, secret recovery operations, and attempts to study advanced technologies associated with unexplained aerial craft.
While such claims remain controversial and unproven, they continue to attract significant attention from both researchers and the public.
One of the recurring themes in the UFO community is the role of Project Blue Book, the U.S. Air Force program that investigated UFO sightings between 1952 and 1969.
Officially, the project concluded that most sightings could be explained through conventional means and found no evidence of extraterrestrial visitation. However, some researchers believe the program served a dual purpose: publicly downplaying UFO reports while privately continuing investigations into unexplained cases.
The newly released files have renewed discussion about whether governments have always been more interested in the phenomenon than they publicly admitted.
Among the most intriguing aspects of the latest disclosure are references to glowing, plasma-like phenomena.
Numerous reports in the newly released files describe unusual lights and orb-shaped objects observed by both civilians and military personnel. Similar descriptions have appeared throughout UFO history, including reports of mysterious “green fireballs” observed in the late 1940s.
Some researchers suggest these objects may represent a distinct category of unidentified phenomena. Others argue they could be atmospheric effects, classified military technology, or natural plasma formations that are not yet fully understood.
Regardless of their origin, recurring reports of luminous objects continue to be one of the most consistent elements in UFO investigations worldwide.
Another topic highlighted by researchers is the apparent connection between UFO sightings and nuclear installations.
For decades, military personnel and former officials have reported unusual aerial activity near missile silos, nuclear power plants, and weapons storage facilities. Several well-known cases involve unidentified objects allegedly interfering with military systems or appearing near sensitive strategic locations.
The newly released documents reportedly contain additional references to this pattern, adding fuel to a debate that has persisted since the beginning of the Cold War.
Whether these incidents represent advanced surveillance technology, natural phenomena, or something more exotic remains unknown.
Public interest in UFOs has reached levels not seen in decades. Congressional hearings, whistleblower testimony, military encounters, and government reports have transformed what was once considered a fringe topic into a mainstream discussion.
Many advocates argue that greater transparency is necessary to understand the true nature of the phenomenon. Others caution that extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence and that many questions remain unanswered.
The latest document release is unlikely to settle the debate. Instead, it appears to be another chapter in a story that continues to evolve.
Whether the recent files represent meaningful disclosure or simply another incremental release depends largely on one’s perspective.
For believers, the documents reinforce decades of testimony suggesting that governments know more than they have publicly admitted. For skeptics, the files remain far from proving the existence of extraterrestrial visitors.
What is clear is that official interest in unidentified aerial phenomena has not disappeared. As more information becomes available and public curiosity continues to grow, the mystery surrounding UFOs may become one of the defining scientific and cultural questions of the 21st century.
For now, the newly released files offer more questions than answers—but they ensure that the conversation about UFOs, UAPs, and the possibility of alien contact is far from over.
World's oldest known asteroid impact: Crater in Western Australia was created when a space rock smashed into Earth 3 BILLION years ago, study reveals
The world's oldest recorded asteroid impact has been discovered, revealing new evidence of Earth's violent history.
Scientists have long suspected that the North Pole Dome in Western Australia's Pilbara region was the site of an ancient catastrophe.
Now, researchers have uncovered the first rock–solid evidence that provides an exact date for the impact.
Using advanced mineral dating techniques, they show that the crater was formed when a space rock smashed into Earth 3.02 billion years ago.
While billions of years of erosion have wiped away much of the evidence, this impact was substantial enough to leave a lasting legacy on Earth.
Lead author Professor Chris Kirkland told the Daily Mail that this meteor could have been a 'kilometre–scale' object, although its precise size is impossible to determine.
He said: 'At North Pole Dome, the impact appears to have generated a long–lived fractured system that was later reused by fluids.
'On the early Earth, that kind of process could have influenced chemical exchange between rocks and an early ocean, causing mineral alteration and potentially modifying the environments available for microbial life.'
Scientists have revealed that the North Pole Dome in Western Australia's Pilbara region (pictured) is the oldest asteroid impact crater on Earth
Although scientists believe space rocks have battered Earth throughout most of its history, evidence of these ancient impacts is nearly impossible to trace.
Big enough asteroid impacts cause geological changes in the surrounding rocks, but billions of years of heat, pressure, and fluid movements obscure or reset these changes.
This is why scientists have previously found it so difficult to pin down the exact age of the North Pole Dome crater.
However, Professor Kirkland and his team have now been able to track down a 'mineral clock', left behind in the damaged rocks.
The key piece of evidence was zircon, an extraordinarily resilient mineral that can hold its shape for billions of years.
When the researchers took samples from the rocks around North Pole Dome, they found that some zircon crystals had strange branching or 'skeletal' shapes.
Professor Kirkland believes that these are 'impact–modified crystals' formed when old zircon in the rocks was disrupted and partially recrystallised by the intense heat of an impact.
Critically, they were also able to date the formation of these crystals to an event around three billion years ago.
Scientists uncovered tiny zircon crystals in the rock, which were disturbed and reset by a massive asteroid collision
Since there isn't anything else in the geological history that could explain the crystal's dramatic transformation, they are very likely to be the signature of a meteor impact.
The team then analysed a second mineral, apatite, which formed as hot fluids moved through the shock–damaged rocks – also producing a similar age estimate.
'The agreement between two different mineral systems gives us confidence that we are seeing the signature of a single major event — a meteorite impact,' says Professor Kirkland.
This is an exciting discovery for geologists since it dates the crater back to the 'Archean aeon', a time when the planet's earliest continents were forming.
The moon's surface, which provides a much more stable record, suggests that the inner solar system was heavily bombarded by meteors around this time.
Although the theory is not universally accepted, some geologists believe that this could have been part of a cataclysmic event known as the Late Heavy Bombardment.
According to this theory, a sudden change in the orbits of the giant planets – Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune – destabilised the asteroid belt and sent thousands of rocks flying in Earth's direction.
These impacts could have helped to shape Earth's early crust, creating basins, melting rocks, building deep fractures, and driving hydrothermal systems.
Scientists say that the rocks around North Pole Dome (pictured) would have been formed when Earth's first continents were just being created
However, scientists have struggled to find any evidence on Earth of craters dating back to this period.
'Earth must also have experienced that bombardment, but most of the evidence has been destroyed,' explains Professor Kirkland.
'That is why the North Pole Dome discovery is so important.
'At 3 billion years, it is the oldest recognised impact structure on Earth and one of the very few windows into how impacts affected the Archean Earth.'
Around 66 million years ago non-avian dinosaurs were wiped out and more than half the world's species were obliterated.
This mass extinction paved the way for the rise of mammals and the appearance of humans.
The Chicxulub asteroid is often cited as a potential cause of the Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction event.
The asteroid slammed into a shallow sea in what is now the Gulf of Mexico.
The collision released a huge dust and soot cloud that triggered global climate change, wiping out 75 per cent of all animal and plant species.
Researchers claim that the soot necessary for such a global catastrophe could only have come from a direct impact on rocks in shallow water around Mexico, which are especially rich in hydrocarbons.
Within 10 hours of the impact, a massive tsunami waved ripped through the Gulf coast, experts believe.
Around 66 million years ago non-avian dinosaurs were wiped out and more than half the world's species were obliterated. The Chicxulub asteroid is often cited as a potential cause of the Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction event
(stock image)
This caused earthquakes and landslides in areas as far as Argentina.
While investigating the event researchers found small particles of rock and other debris that was shot into the air when the asteroid crashed.
Called spherules, these small particles covered the planet with a thick layer of soot.
Experts explain that losing the light from the sun caused a complete collapse in the aquatic system.
This is because the phytoplankton base of almost all aquatic food chains would have been eliminated.
It's believed that the more than 180 million years of evolution that brought the world to the Cretaceous point was destroyed in less than the lifetime of a Tyrannosaurus rex, which is about 20 to 30 years.
'These don't occur naturally': Radio signals linked to alien life may be passing Earth by undetected, new study hints
New research suggests that alien radio signals may be transformed by plasma from their home stars — and scientists on Earth could be overlooking prime evidence of alien intelligence.
Humans have been searching the stars for alien radio signals for decades — and so far, E.T. has not phoned home. But that doesn’t mean intelligent life isn’t out there, a new study hints. Rather, something else could be interfering: according to the research, space weather surrounding alien planets could be preventing us from detecting technological signals from extraterrestrial civilizations.
The findings, published March 5 in The Astrophysical Journal, offer a potential answer to the Fermi paradox: Given the size of the universe, there are many potentially habitable planets that could support life, and yet we have not detected technosignatures from any of them — so, "Where is everyone?" physicist Enrico Fermi famously posited in 1950.
In the new study, researchers found that space weather caused by a planet's star could broaden hypothetical technosignals, dissipating their power over a larger range of frequencies and making them more difficult to detect.
"If a signal gets broadened by its own star's environment, it can slip below our detection thresholds, even if it's there, potentially helping explain some of the radio silence we've seen in technosignature searches," Vishal Gajjar, an astronomer at the SETI Institute and first author of the paper, said in a statement.
One way astronomers search for alien life is by looking for very narrowband signals, which are sharp spikes in the power of a radio emission. This spike usually only covers a few hertz.
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"These don't occur naturally," Evan Keane, an astronomer at Trinity College Dublin who was not involved in the research, told Live Science. "So, if you see something very narrowband, you know that it is from something of interest." Astronomers would, for example, be able to easily detect some narrowband technosignatures on Mars, coming from the Mars rovers. But they have not observed any such signals from a clearly non-human origin.
The new research argues that astronomers may have been looking for the wrong signal shape. In the new study, the researchers found that alien signals could be distorted by stellar space weather surrounding their home stars, which could explain why they have not been detected.
Space weather refers to changes in the space environment caused by charged particles, radiation and giant lumps of plasma called coronal mass ejections emitted by the sun. Other stars also generate space weather in their vicinity.
Gajjar and SETI colleague Grayce Brown investigated how space weather has historically impacted communications between Earth and spacecraft such as Mariner IV, which flew by Mars in the 1960s, and the Viking probes, which launched in 1977 for a voyage through the solar system and beyond. They created one of the largest collections of signal broadening examples and used that information to determine how other sunlike stars would affect the environment around their exoplanets. From this, the team calculated what would happen to a hypothetical alien narrowband signal that originated on one of them.
A planet’s radio signal may begin as a sharp tone (left, white) but can be spread out by the star’s plasma winds into a wider, fainter signal (right, green). The new study suggests radio astronomers may be missing signals by mostly looking for the sharp white shape instead of the broader green one.
(Image credit: Vishal Gajjar)
Then, they turned their attention to M dwarf stars, the most common type in the Milky Way. These stars account for three out of four stars in our galaxy, and some have been around since the early universe. That gives them a lot of time to have developed technologically advanced life, according to the paper.
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There are no actual measurements of space weather around these stars, so Gajjar and Brown modeled what might happen to a narrowband technosignal that emerged from exoplanets and had to travel through interplanetary plasma. They found that hypothetical narrowband signals from these exoplanets were more likely to be smeared by space weather, making them even harder to detect.
In the paper, the authors propose a framework to estimate how much broadening would happen to a signal, given its frequency and the type of star its exoplanet was orbiting.
This new framework doesn’t totally answer Fermi’s infamous question, but it does give us a potential reason for the silence. The Fermi paradox "is not solely evidence for the absence of transmitters, but also a reflection of our detection limitations arising from a mismatch between the assumed signal morphology" and shape, the researchers wrote.
Michael Garrett, an astrophysicist at the University of Manchester in the U.K. who was not involved in the study, welcomed the research.
"It is a solid contribution that SETI researchers and signal-processing teams should pay attention to," he told Live Science. "One of the strengths of the paper is that it's grounded in real measurements too, drawing on decades of spacecraft observations."
However, he emphasized that the paper focused on narrowband radio signals, which was only one way of potentially detecting an alien civilization. By contrast, Garrett's work explores the possible combined radio leakage from a technological civilization across a large range of frequencies.
Andrew Siemion, director of Breakthrough Listen Oxford Hub in the U.K. who was not involved in the research but collaborates with the SETI Institute, said this is the first paper to explore the space around exoplanets and its impact on detectability.
"The work offers a very concrete mechanism through which a candidate signal might ultimately be validated as having a likely origin with a distant planetary system," he told Live Science.
The authors recommended that future searches, especially with sensitive next-generation telescopes such as SKA-Low, take note of signal broadening when searching for civilizations beyond Earth.
NASA satellite captures wave of warm water hundreds of miles long that signals a devastatingly strong El NiñoA massive wave of warm water is making its way across the Pacific Ocean as the newly declared El Niño gets into full swing, satellite images show.
The band, called a Kelvin wave, marks a swell of higher-than-average sea levels that stretches hundreds of miles along the equator. The anomaly is caused by warmer waters linked to El Niño — the warm phase of a natural climate pattern whose current iteration could become one of the strongest ever recorded.
The Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich satellite captured the deviations from average sea surface height on June 8. Red areas indicate higher sea surfaces than usual, while blue areas mark areas with lower surface heights.
Developed and launched in 2020 by NASA and the European Space Agency and operated by the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT), Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich measures changes in sea surface height down to fractions of an inch every 10 days.
The data complements measurements of sea surface temperature that have shown Pacific waters warming at unpreceded rates over the past several months, leading scientists to declare the start of a new El Niño on June 11. When ocean water warms, it expands and takes up more space. That translates to an increase in the height of the water relative to the satellite and the center of Earth, which is then picked up by the satellite's sensitive equipment. At some points along the equator, sea surfaces are now more than 6 inches (15 centimeters) higher than usual.
Kelvin waves like this one form when winds in the western Pacific near the equator weaken and temporarily reverse, blowing from west to east instead of east to west. That lets warm water gradually build up in the east, deepening the layer of warm surface waters and preventing colder waters from rising from below. The wave has now reached the western coast of South America.
NASA had already observed a few other Kelvin waves this year, suggesting an El Niño event was soon to follow. In January, Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich detected one near Micronesia that dissipated around mid-February. Another emerged in March and elevated sea levels near Peru by mid-May.
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Changes in sea surface temperature or height can alter atmospheric circulation patterns and affect the weather. El Niño often increases rainfall in the southwestern U.S., Colombia, Peru and Ecuador, while rainfall in the western Pacific tends to decrease. The most recent El Niño, which lasted from June 2023 to April 2024, boosted global mean temperatures that made 2024 the hottest year on record and the first to breach the 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) warming limit — a guardrail set by the Paris Agreement beyond which the effects of climate change become more and more catastrophic.
The June 8 conditions in the western Pacific were similar to those that occurred 1997 during a particularly strong El Niño, according to a statement from NASA. 2026 has seen fewer Kelvin waves so far than 1997, but this year's El Niño is still ramping up.
Een fotoanalyse van MUFON: Communiceert deze groene bol? Een forensische beeldanalyse van een virale bewering over een UAP door Seth H. Feinstein, fotoanalist bij MUFON.
8 januari 2026 Samenvatting
Een afbeelding van een groene bol, afkomstig uit een viraal filmpje op sociale media dat aan Chris Bledsoe wordt toegeschreven, leidde tot wijdverspreide speculatie dat het object interne letters of symbolen bevatte en een communicerende, niet-menselijke intelligentie vertegenwoordigde. Dit artikel presenteert een forensische beeldanalyse van het stilstaande beeld van de groene bol met behulp van gevestigde digitale forensische technieken, waaronder kanaalisolatie, randdetectie, HSV-analyse en principale componentenanalyse (PCA). De resultaten wijzen erop dat de waargenomen structuren consistent zijn met artefacten van computerfotografie, compressie-effecten en perceptuele illusies, in plaats van een fysiek object of communicatief signaal. Deze casus laat zien hoe beeldverwerkingsprocessen van smartphones en compressie op sociale media overtuigende, maar misleidende visuele anomalieën kunnen produceren.
Achtergrond van de zaak
In december 2025 begon een afbeelding van een groene bol te circuleren op sociale media, na een bericht van Chris Bledsoe. Hij beschreef de afbeelding als een stilbeeld uit 4K-video-opnamen die waren gemaakt tijdens een World Forum-evenement in Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina. In het bericht werd gesuggereerd dat de bol letters of symbolen bevatte en een vorm van communicatie impliceerde.
Volgens beschikbare verklaringen bestaat er meer dan 20 GB aan videogegevens in hoge resolutie, naar verluidt opgenomen met een Apple iPhone Pro. Er waren echter alleen gecomprimeerde versies van de beelden beschikbaar voor analyse, die op sociale media werden gedeeld. Metadata ontbrak in de geanalyseerde bestanden, omdat sociale mediaplatformen standaard EXIF- en tijdsinformatie verwijderen tijdens het uploaden. Hierdoor konden de datum, tijd en precieze opnameparameters niet onafhankelijk worden geverifieerd.
Opvallend is dat de vermeende belettering tot nu toe slechts in vier geïdentificeerde frames voorkomt.
Visueel bewijsmateriaal beoordeeld
Er werden drie verwante visuele bronnen onderzocht:
Analytische methoden
De stilstaande afbeelding van de groene bol werd geïmporteerd in GIMP en Forensically beta voor forensische analyse. De volgende processen werden toegepast:
Elke methode werd gekozen om te bepalen of de waargenomen interne structuren fysieke randen, oppervlakken of coherente geometrie vertegenwoordigen, of dat ze producten zijn van digitale verwerking.
Resultaten
Door de rode, groene en blauwe kanalen te isoleren, bleek dat de waargenomen structuur vrijwel uitsluitend in het groene kanaal aanwezig was. Bij versterking van de rode en blauwe kanalen kwamen geen overeenkomstige structurele details naar voren. Dit gedrag wijst op een door de sensor gestuurde kanaaloverleving in plaats van een object dat van nature groen licht uitzendt.
Bij alle Sobel-, gradiënt- en standaardranddetectiealgoritmen bleef de buitenste grens van het object consistent en vormde een vloeiend cirkelvormig profiel. De interne "letters" leverden echter bij geen enkel algoritme stabiele randen op. Dit wijst erop dat de interne vormen geen fysieke randgeometrie hebben en geen solide of op oppervlakken gebaseerde kenmerken zijn.
Bij HSV-randdetectie ontstond een verspreid veld van willekeurige witte pixels in plaats van doorlopende randlijnen. In forensische analyses duidt dit patroon op chromatische ruis en artefacten door beeldverbetering, en niet op een fysieke structuur. Dergelijke resultaten worden routinematig gebruikt om vaste objecten, oppervlakken en vaartuigen uit te sluiten.
Hoofdcomponentenanalyse (PCA)
PCA-component 3 onthulde vierkante en trapvormige patronen die consistent waren met macroblokken van videocodecs en digitale zoomartefacten. De analyse benadrukte kunstmatige segmentatie die leek op organische membranen, een bekende perceptuele illusie veroorzaakt door overmatige verscherping, ruisinteractie en scheiding van eigenvectoren.
Deze effecten worden vaak waargenomen bij de analyse van:
Overwegingen bij computerfotografie
De camera die naar verluidt werd gebruikt, was een Apple iPhone Pro. Apple's workflow voor computergestuurde fotografie geeft prioriteit aan esthetische helderheid boven wetenschappelijke nauwkeurigheid, vooral bij weinig licht. Bekende processen zijn onder andere:
Bij het filmen van geïsoleerde, heldere objecten tegen een donkere hemel introduceren deze processen vaak kunstmatige kleurverschuivingen, interne structuren en geometrische patronen. Groene bollen, plasma-achtige sferen en 'gestructureerde' lichten zijn bijzonder veelvoorkomende resultaten.
Groene bollen zijn een bekend en herhaalbaar resultaat van:
Ze vormen op zichzelf geen bewijs van gestructureerde vaartuigen, energievelden of communicatie. Een gedegen forensische analyse is essentieel voordat buitengewone verklaringen worden toegekend aan visueel aantrekkelijke beelden.
Atmosferische en sensoreffecten
Verstrooiing in de atmosfeer, inclusief Rayleigh-verstrooiing, draagt bij aan:
Sensorblooming was ook duidelijk zichtbaar, waarbij intens licht in aangrenzende pixels lekt, wat halo's en mistachtige structuren veroorzaakt. Het stapelen van frames met lange belichtingstijd versterkt deze effecten nog verder, vooral in combinatie met beweging en compressie.
Discussie: Communiceert de bol?
Het verschijnen van interne symbolen of letters kan het best worden verklaard door pareidolie – de menselijke neiging om betekenisvolle patronen te zien in willekeurige of ambigue gegevens – versterkt door AI-gestuurde beeldverbetering. Het feit dat de "letters" slechts in vier frames voorkomen, ondersteunt sterk een algoritmische oorsprong in plaats van opzettelijke signalering.
Er zijn geen forensische aanwijzingen die de aanwezigheid van:
In plaats daarvan leiden alle analytische resultaten tot een onjuiste interpretatie.
Conclusie
De afbeelding van de groene bol komt het meest overeen met een verre puntlichtbron – zoals een heldere ster, planeet of vliegtuiglicht – die door extreme digitale zoom, computergestuurde verbetering van beelden bij weinig licht, atmosferische effecten en videocompressie als afwijkend wordt weergegeven. Hoewel het object visueel aantrekkelijk is, vertegenwoordigt het geen communicerende entiteit of gestructureerd UAP.
Deze zaak onderstreept de cruciale noodzaak van forensische beeldanalyse bij onderzoek naar UAP's en laat zien hoe moderne smartphonecamera's onbedoeld buitengewone beelden kunnen produceren uit ogenschijnlijk gewone bronnen.
Over de auteur
The McMinnville, Oregon UFO Festival
Dean Fassnidge, State Director, MUFON Oregon
The McMinnville, Oregon UFO Festival began in 2000 to commemorate an important event in local UFO history, the Trent farm photos. It is celebrated each year around the date of the sighting with parades, social events, and scientific presentations.
Speakers this year included Dr. Matthew Szydagis, Dr. Rebecca Charbonneau (SETI), Kelly
Chase, Jason Martell (Ancient Aliens), George Knapp, and Jeremy Corbell.
A little background history. It can be argued that the first documented UFO case in Oregon history is known as the Trent Sighting, occurring on May 11, 1950, above the Trent family farm located between McMinnville and Sheridan, Oregon.
Evelyn Trent observed a disc-shaped object maneuvering in the sky above their farm.
She alerted her husband, Paul, and they saw an object and estimated it to be about 20 to 30 feet in diameter. Paul went back into the house, grabbed his Kodak camera, and took two photographs before the object flew off to the west. Immediately, they alerted their in-laws, who lived next to the property, and their father-in-law observed the object as well.
Paul Trent initially thought it was a secret military aircraft and kept the sighting to himself. He finished his roll of film, containing previously taken pictures around the farm, including pictures of his family’s Mother’s Day picnic celebration.
This action in itself indirectly bolsters the legitimacy of the event, and that there was no intent to fabricate the images – they were in the middle of the film roll.
A month later, while talking with his banker, Frank Wortman, and encouraged by his brother Ralph, he mentioned the sighting and his photographs. Mr. Wortman was excited and displayed the photos in his bank’s window in McMinnville.
Shortly thereafter, local reporter Bill Powell convinced Trent to loan him the negatives and ran an article in the McMinnville Telephone-Register newspaper.
On June 9 and 10, 1950, The Oregonian published the photographs. On June 12, the story aired on national news broadcasts, followed by reprints of the photographs in the June 26 issue of Life magazine. The Trents were even flown to New York to appear on the television show,
We The People.
Following this national exposure, an investigator from Project Blue Book came to the
farm to interview the Trents, in addition to investigators from the FBI.
In 1969, as we know, the Air Force’s Condon Commission published a report, claiming an exhaustive UFO study and easily dismissing many accounts. However, it was stated that the Trent photographs were “difficult to explain conventionally” and concluded that the photographs were genuine. Following the conclusion of the Condon report, the negatives were returned to UPI, and in 1970, they were sent back to the
News-Register (formerly the Telephone Register) in McMinnville. When they arrived back at the paper, 20 years later, the negatives had been tampered with considerably.
Someone had cropped the negatives, trimming down the edges and reducing their overall size so that parts of the original image were missing. Despite ongoing attempts by Philip Klass and others to debunk the photos, in 1975, Dr. Bruce Maccabee of MUFON, a renowned optical-photo analyst, made an intensive study of the negatives and concluded that they were not the result of some kind of trickery.
Interesting Side Note:
In 1999, a longtime resident of McMinnville saw the pictures and articles commemorating the Trent UFO sighting at the newly opened Hotel Oregon. Wishing to remain anonymous, she validated the sighting by telling her story. On May 11, 1950, she and a group of her fellow Linfield College students heard stories of a recent UFO encounter nearby. They went to the area of the present site of the McMinnville airport and saw dozens of cars pulled off the road, presently on Three Mile Lane. Following the direction people were looking, they too observed a “steel gray, metal saucer” floating just above tree level.
Their encounter went unreported.
Lawmaker UFO Talk with Private Contractor
Rep. Eric Burlison, R-Mo., is broadening his inquiry into alleged UAP-related government secrecy by turning to private defense contractors, specifically MIT Lincoln Laboratory. In a social media post, Burlison said he had sent a letter seeking a classified 1952 briefing video described as a “flying saucer talk,” adding that the laboratory’s attorneys responded quickly and indicated they would comply within 30 days. The move comes as lawmakers continue pressing for transparency around alleged secret UFO-related programs they believe may sit outside traditional Pentagon records.
Burlison framed the effort as part of a larger strategy to follow information wherever it may be stored. “Congressional letters carry weight. We’re going to keep sending them,” he said, signaling that the inquiry is likely to continue beyond this single request. The congressman’s comments reflect a growing frustration among some lawmakers that key records may not be held directly by federal agencies but instead by outside entities that work with the government under classified arrangements.
MIT Lincoln Laboratory is not a typical contractor. Founded in 1951 to help build the SAGE air defense network, it is one of the country’s oldest Federally Funded Research and Development Centers (FFRDCs). These centers occupy a unique position in the defense ecosystem: they are funded by the government, work on long-term national security projects, and can access classified and proprietary information that many commercial contractors cannot legally see. Over decades, Lincoln Lab has been involved in sensitive work ranging from ballistic missile defense to electronic warfare.
That structure is central to Burlison’s argument. In his view, if lawmakers want to understand whether hidden programs exist, they must examine the network of nonprofit research institutions and laboratories that operate one step removed from the executive branch. He said his investigation is following “the trail into RAND, MITRE, Aerospace Corp, MIT Lincoln Labs, and the Northrop Grummans of the world,” underscoring his belief that information may be dispersed across multiple private-sector institutions rather than stored in a single government archive.
The latest move also fits into a broader wave of congressional scrutiny sparked by testimony from David Grusch, the former intelligence officer whose allegations of secret UFO-retrieval and reverse-engineering programs helped drive a series of hearings. Grusch has argued that private contractors may be used to shield sensitive programs from congressional oversight, making it harder for lawmakers to verify what the government knows about UAPs or how taxpayer money may be spent.
That view has found support among some members of Congress. Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., one of the most vocal advocates for disclosure, has repeatedly said the Defense Department appears to silo information in ways that frustrate oversight. He compared the dynamic to the secrecy surrounding World War II-era efforts such as the Manhattan Project, noting that large numbers of people may work on a program without knowing its true purpose. For advocates of disclosure, the issue is therefore not only whether UFO programs exist, but who controls the records and who can be asked to account for them.
The Pentagon has consistently denied claims that it is hiding evidence of recovered UFO craft or covert retrieval programs, and officials have maintained that many UAP reports are explainable through conventional means, incomplete data, or misidentification. Still, Burlison’s request suggests lawmakers are not limiting themselves to government agencies alone. By targeting a federally funded laboratory with long-standing classified access, he is testing whether records tied to historical UAP claims may exist outside normal public-facing channels.
If Lincoln Laboratory does provide a response within the stated 30-day window, it could become another data point in a growing congressional record that includes hearings, whistleblower testimony, and requests to defense-linked institutions. For now, Burlison’s outreach illustrates how the UAP debate has shifted from speculation about sightings to a more concrete fight over where information is kept, who controls it, and whether Congress can get access to it.
New Horizons is heading beyond the Solar System
The New Horizons spacecraft could cross the boundary of the heliosphere in as little as three years — or it may take as long as fourteen. That range comes from new forecasts built by combining solar-wind prediction methods with numerical models of the heliosphere.
Modeling the structure of the heliosphere and its interaction with the interstellar medium. Solar-wind data and pressure forecasts help predict when New Horizons will encounter the termination shock on its way toward interstellar space.
Credit: NASA / IBEX / Adler Planetarium / SwRI
Researchers at the Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) in Texas used existing numerical simulations to reconstruct the structure of the heliosphere and its interaction with the interstellar medium. They added solar-wind data and forecasts of its pressure to the models. This made it possible to estimate the position of the termination shock — the first plasma boundary the spacecraft will encounter beyond Pluto’s orbit.
The heliosphere does not have a static boundary. It constantly expands and contracts in response to changes in solar activity. During solar maximum, the stronger solar wind expands it; during solar minimum, it shrinks. This dynamic behavior is what makes forecasting so difficult and produces such a wide range of possible timelines.
Two scientific papers by Dr. Jonathan Gasser of SwRI describe the forecasting method. The first, published in the peer-reviewed journal Advances in Space Research, focuses directly on predicting when the spacecraft will cross the termination shock. The second, published in The Astrophysical Journal, examines long-term variations in the global heliosphere based on solar-wind forecasts.
According to the team’s estimates, New Horizons will reach the boundary no earlier than 2029 and no later than 2040. The spacecraft may cross it not just once, but several times, if the heliosphere contracts and then expands again as New Horizons continues its journey. New Horizons will become only the third spacecraft in history to cross this boundary. The first two were Voyager 1 and Voyager 2.
Scientists do not agree on the exact shape of the heliosphere. Some models depict it as comet-like, with a rounded nose and an elongated tail. Other calculations suggest a croissant-like shape. The distance to the boundary in any given direction depends on which model is closer to reality.
That is why researchers emphasize the need for direct measurements. As New Horizons approaches the termination shock, the team will need to prepare in advance to collect and downlink data from this region. New Horizons has already completed historic flybys of Pluto and the Kuiper Belt object Arrokoth. Now it is approaching the forward region of the heliosphere.
Did Gravitational Tides Cause Earth's Extinctions?
Life on Earth took a long evolutionary journey that eventually created us, the purportedly intelligent species that dominates the planet. But there was no grand plan or design, only happenstance, nature, and luck. Life on Earth suffered multiple extinctions, but got up, dusted itself off, and continued on its long march to complexity.
The Chicxulub impact that wiped out the dinosaurs and set the stage for the ascension of mammals grabs plenty of headlines. But there may have been more subtle events that also led to extinctions. Gravitational tides generated by the flybys of planetary mass objects or dwarf planets may have played a role.
That's according to a new paper by Daniele Fargion, a research professor from Rome University and the Osservatorio Astronomico di Capodimonte in Naples. It's a conference proceedings paper titled "Mass Extinctions by Gravitational Tides" and it was presented at the 'Multi-frequency Behaviour of High Energy Cosmic Sources' conference in Palermo, June 2025. It's currently available at arxiv.org.
Fargion points out that there's ample evidence for a population of dwarf planet sized objects in the outer Solar System, of which Pluto may be the most well-known member. There could be thousands of tens of thousands of these objects on elliptical orbits. Gravitational perturbations could send some of these objects into the inner Solar System, where collisions like the one between Earth and Theia created the Moon. But far more likely than head-on collisions are flybys.
"Such passages may have left strong tidal signatures: giant waves, large volcanic episodes, sea regressions, coherent meteor showers, and major climatic perturbations," Fargion writes. "These mechanisms could have contributed to several major biological mass extinctions over the past 600 million years, as suggested by peculiar correlations in the geological record."
Fargion explains that Earth's major mass extinctions correlate in time with huge changes in the planetary climate, meteoric impacts, and enormous volcanic eruptions. Correlation is one thing, but finding the definitive links between them is more difficult. "The reason for that is not clear. Meteoritic impacts alone, volcanic eruptions alone or sea regressions alone could not have caused all the major mass extinctions," he writes.
While there's plenty of evidence, including the iridium anomaly, that an impact wiped out the dinosaurs and created a mass extinction about 64 million years ago, the causes of other mass extinctions aren't so clear.
The largest known extinction occurred 251 million years ago, and pinpointing its cause continues to be difficult. "But, neither an iridium anomaly, nor a large meteoritic crater have been dated back to the Permian/Triassic (P/T) mass extinction, 251 𝑀 𝑦 ago, which was the largest known extinction in the history of life, where global species extinction ranged between 80% to 95%," the author explains.
"Here we suggest that tidal effects of planetary-mass objects which pass near Earth could have caused all of these and can explain the complex geological records of the major biological mass extinctions," Fargion explains.
There are many anomalies in the inner Solar System that can be attributed to flybys of, collisions with, or captures of planetary mass objects from the outer Solar System. Uranus is tilted on its side, and that could be from a collision. Triton, Neptune's largest moon, appears to be a captured Kuiper Belt Object. And the Late Heavy Bombardment may have been caused by perturbations from a planetary mass flyby. The Solar System also features several retrograde orbit moons, a feature which still waits for an explanation.
*The author says that collisions with planetary mass objects could've created the off-axis spins of the planets. Multiple collisions may have been responsible. Image Credit: Fargion 2026. PoS*
It's unreasonable to think that Earth was unaffected by similar events.
"Passage of such objects near Earth could have generated on it gigantic tidal waves, large volcanic eruptions and drastic changes in global climate and sea level," writes Fargion. "Moreover, upon crossing the asteroids and Kuiper belts these planetary mass objects could have diverted large meteorites and asteroids into a collision course with Earth. Thus visits of distant planets may be the common cause for the various catastrophes that were jointly responsible for the major biological mass extinctions."
Some evidence for past flybys can be seen in the Earth-Moon system, according to the author. "Fossil corals show that the rate of decrease in the number of diurnal rings during annual cycles, i.e. the rate of decrease in the number of days in a year, has changed suddenly into a slower rate at the end Devonian," Fargion writes. "Since the lengthening of the day is due to slowing of the rotation of Earth by the well understood Moon’s tidal forces, it implies that at the end Devonian the moon-Earth distance increased suddenly by a significant fraction."
A collision couldn't do that because it's so sudden and would create an instantaneous change. But a flyby could. "Such an increase could have been induced by a tidal pull in a nearby passage of a visiting planet/moon," Fargion explains. That tidal pull could also generate global tsunamis, and generate powerful tides that lasted years. It would also deform the crust and generate tidal heating in the planet's interior, which could have triggered massive volcanic eruptions.
These events were all a long time ago, and it's challenging to estimate how many flybys there were and how massive the objects were. "A reliable estimate of the masses and the flux of the visiting planets/planetesimals is not possible yet," writes Fargion.
But Jupiter may provide a way to understand. Jupiter is slightly tilted on its axis, and also seems to have an unaccounted for energy source that helps it have such a high surface temperature. Fargion calculates that Jupiter has suffered 16 collisions with objects of 0.5 Earth masses in its history. "Similar estimates for other planets, although yielding the correct order of magnitude for the tilts of their spins, are less reliable because the inferred number of accreted planets is too small," Fargion explains. "We note, however that the past dwarf planet population, four billion years ago, could be more heavier than present one, which is mostly dominated by lighter Moon-like dwarf planet mass."
The Solar System's history is a puzzle, and Earth's history is likewise puzzling. Ongoing discoveries of massive objects in the outer Solar System show that they're a part of the puzzle, too. If they visited the inner Solar System, they could've triggered extinctions. And if it happened in the past, it could happen again in the future.
*These are some of the planetary mass objects in our Solar System. During flybys, objects with this much mass could've triggered extinctions on Earth.
Image Credit: Fargion 2026. PoS*
"The consequent lessons for us humans, to overcome such an eventual extinctions are: deep sky inspection to seek weakest far dwarf planet sources, once found, alert the incoming events as soon as possible," the author writes. If it's asteroid sized, try to divert it.
But if it's larger than an asteroid and is a planetary mass object, then we need to prepare differently. The main danger, according to Fargion, would be from massive tidal waves that swept around the planet and persisted for years. In this case, there's only one thing we can do.
"A prevention might be also to organize, on the top of mountains chains (at 2-3 km altitude), secure refuge for human and life for surviving such (rare but not, impossible) events," Fargion writes.
The author also entertains the idea that flybys like this could help explain the Fermi Paradox. "The tidal mass extinction, its rate and form, may also explain the famous Fermi Paradox: Where is everybody, or, why they are not yet here? The answer could be, that life is unstable and short," the author writes.
"Astrophysical tidal extinctions could more rarely cancel any advanced civilization, making a life reset toward a lower, primordial, silent level," Fargion concludes.
Scientists Warn Extraterrestrial Encounters Could Endanger Earth—a Quarantine Facility on the Moon May Be Our Last Line of Defense
During future space missions, humans may finally encounter extraterrestrial life forms, settling the age-old question of whether we are alone in the cosmos. But what if alien biology is so different from that of Earthlings that its presence could become a potential global hazard?
This is the concern raised by researchers Frederick I. Moxley and Anthony Ricciardi in a new study, which argues that in an era of sample return missions and space missions that are carrying humans and our robotic probes farther into the cosmos than ever before, we need to be prepared to enact measures to protect our planet against the unforeseen consequences of any potential alien encounters the future may hold.
“The advancement of space exploration into an era of sample return missions from Mars, asteroids, and icy moons raises the potential for biological contamination either to or from Earth,” the authors write in their recent study, published in the journal Ambio. Given the potential for such contamination, Moxley and Ricciardi approach the question of alien contact from the perspective of past examples where invasive species on Earth have caused major disturbances to the environments they encounter.
“We consider the possibility that extraterrestrial organisms introduced to Earth could behave analogously to invasive species by destabilizing ecosystems or interacting unpredictably with their new environment,” the authors write, pointing to the multitude of examples known to science, many of which involve the introduction of microbial organisms into new environments—often with devastating consequences.
In many cases, such organisms not only can survive in new environments, but can often adapt with remarkable speed, even in some of the most extreme environments.
This, the authors say, challenges the idea that extraterrestrial life might not even be capable of surviving on Earth, as expressed by some past research.
“The plausibility of encountering extraterrestrial life warrants stringent planetary protection measures grounded in biosafety and biosecurity principles,” the authors warn.
So how do they suggest protecting Earth against such potentially catastrophic events involving future encounters with extraterrestrials?
According to Moxley and Ricciardi, building a quarantine facility on the Moon could serve as Earth’s last line of defense against any unintended alien invasions that could radically disrupt Earth’s fragile ecosystems.
“Due to its proximity, natural isolation, and apparent lack of a biosphere, the Moon can serve as a secure site for biocontainment of extraterrestrial samples,” the authors write. In their study, they examine historical instances where biological invasions have led to catastrophic environmental changes and argue that constructing a biocontainment facility on the Moon “should form the cornerstone of modern astrobiological risk mitigation strategies.”
What the researchers propose falls in line with current plans NASA has for a permanent lunar base, which is one of the many ambitious efforts under its Artemis Mission. Such a lunar outpost, which will serve as the official Artemis Base Camp, is planned for construction near the Moon’s South Pole.
At a cost of close to $30 billion, the effort will help to facilitate an ongoing human presence on the Moon by as soon as 2028, according to current mission timelines, and will serve as a science hub in support of future lunar exploration.
For Moxley and Ricciardi, incorporating a quarantine facility within our future lunar infrastructure that can house any extraterrestrial life forms we may encounter could prove to be vital. Ultimately, having such a facility may play the important role of shielding Earth against unintentional contamination by a potentially invasive alien species.
The team’s recent paper, “Protecting earth from extraterrestrial contamination: The case for a lunar biocontainment facility,” was published in Ambio.
Missing scientist found dead after 11 months took two shocking items with her that cast doubt on suicide theory
The case of a missing nuclear lab employee who was found dead nearly a year after vanishing has taken a troubling turn, with new details raising questions about the suicide theory.
Melissa Casias, 53, a former administrative assistant at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), disappeared from her home in Ranchos de Taos, New Mexico, on June 26, 2025.
Her skeletal remains, along with a reported gunshot wound to the head, were discovered in New Mexico's Carson National Forest on May 28, lying next to a handgun that her family insists did not belong to the wife and mother.
Now, new details about her final moments have been released, revealing Casias took her toothbrush and thyroid medication before walking out the door of her Ranchos de Taos home for the last time.
Los Angeles Magazine contributor Lauren Conlin, who has been following Casias' case closely and first reported on the items, told NewsNation that they are 'things that might indicate you're planning to stay alive.'
Morgan Wright, founder and CEO of the National Center for Open and Unsolved Cases, also said that there are key aspects of Casias' disappearance and the discovery of her remains that do not add up.
'You don't get slumped up on a tree,' said Wright.
'Most of the time, in every crime scene I've worked on, there are skeletonized remains, and there's no connective tissue left. Everything's on the ground in pieces.'
The final image of Melissa Casias alive came from a surveillance camera near State Road 518 in New Mexico, approximately three miles from her home
Although Casias' remains have been in the custody of authorities since June 1, the New Mexico Office of the Medical Investigator has yet to announce an official cause of death.
Earlier this month, authorities told the Daily Mail that an initial CT scan of the remains did not reveal any projectiles in the skull, meaning no bullet was recovered alongside the skull fragments found in the woods.
Police have not publicly confirmed that Casias suffered a gunshot wound to the head.
Those details were first disclosed to the Daily Mail by Arizona-based investigator Thomas McNally, who had been working on the case on behalf of Casias' parents, Joe and Joanne Mondragon.
The absence of a recovered bullet has raised questions among independent investigators.
Wright said the type of ammunition allegedly used could be a key factor, telling NewsNation that some bullets expand upon impact and are often recovered from a body, while others are more likely to pass completely through.
He argued that determining the type of ammunition involved could help investigators understand why no projectile was found.
Casias vanished after dropping off her husband, Mark, another LANL employee, at the facility that morning, approximately 70 miles from their home.
Melissa Casias worked at the Los Alamos National Laboratory, a long-running nuclear research facility, before disappearing on June 26, 2025
Melissa Casias (Left) pictured with her husband Mark Casias
She then claimed she had to return home after forgetting the badge needed to access the nuclear lab.
According to Mark, Casias had the security badge with her when she dropped him off that morning, as she would have needed the badge to get past the security checkpoints to drop him off.
When Casias arrived in Ranchos de Taos, the couple's daughter, Sierra, reportedly told investigators that her mother visited the teen's place of work to drop off a sandwich and then said she planned to work from home after forgetting the badge.
Despite what Casias reportedly told both her daughter and husband, she returned home to drop off her work and personal phones, which the family would later find inside the house, wiped clean of all data.
Surveillance cameras last spotted Casias walking alone eastward on State Road 518, roughly three miles from her home around 2.20pm local time.
Melissa Casias (Left) pictured with her daughter, Sierra. Her daughter is believed to be the last family member is see Casias alive on June 26, 2025
Former FBI Assistant Director Chris Swecker told the Daily Mail in March he was concerned her disappearance was part of a much larger pattern involving individuals who had access to top secret government research.
Swecker explained that Casias's work at LANL may have made her a target for abduction, since an administrative assistant often has access to the same sensitive files their supervisors have.
'In a classified lab, or just a high clearance lab, they would basically be in the know on what's going on,' Swecker said. 'And it wouldn't be the first time their administrative assistant has been targeted.'
However, the woman's family and private investigators have disputed how much access Casias really had, claiming that the LANL employee lost her security clearance due to financial troubles she and her husband were having.
Scientists found the optimal robot body, and it has 20 legs — watch it scale walls and move through trees
A sea-urchin-like robot could offer a new blueprint for making more versatile robots, research suggests.
A weird 20-legged machine could change how scientists think about the ideal robot form.
For decades, roboticists have been inspired by the natural world, building machines that resemble humans, dogs, insects and even horses. But new research suggests that the most useful robot body may look less like a human and more like a sea urchin.
The robot has no front or back. Its 20 telescoping legs, each costing $300, radiate from a central body, with a depth camera at each leg tip, leading the researchers to name it Argus, after the all-seeing monster of Greek mythology. This design results in a machine that can move in any direction, stabilize itself after being pushed, cross rough terrain, carry a 10-pound (4.5 kilograms) payload and even climb up walls.
"Watching Argus move is unlike watching any other robot we've worked with," Jiaxun Liu, a doctoral student in Duke's General Robotics Lab and co-author of the study, said in a statement. "The first time we saw it navigate among trees and rough terrain, even under heavy collisions [when someone pushed it], we knew this was something different."
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The team arrived at Argus' design after running more than 1,500 simulations of different robot shapes. Instead of asking what animal the robot should resemble, the researchers focused on how symmetrical a machine could be in all directions — a mathematical concept called dynamic isotropy.
The dynamic isotropy score ranges from 0 to 1 and measures how evenly a robot can accelerate its body, or center of mass, in every direction. A score of 1 means a robot can react or move nearly identically in all directions.
"When a robot can accelerate equally well in every direction, it stops needing to face the world in any particular way," Boyuan Chen, director of Duke's General Robotics Lab and co-author of the study, said in the statement. "Forward and backward become the same. Left and right become the same. The whole problem of robot control changes character."
According to the researchers, most robots today — including advanced four-legged robots, humanoids and conventional drones — score below 0.6, meaning they're better at moving or reacting in some directions than others. With its 20 legs, Argus scored a 0.91, close to the theoretical maximum.
To achieve this high score, the team arranged Argus' body around a shape called a regular dodecahedron, a three-dimensional form with 12 pentagonal faces. The arrangement gives the robot a nearly uniform field of view and allows it to move without needing to orient itself the way a conventional robot would.
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Chen said that based on these findings, robots don't need to imitate humans or dogs to boost their agility, and instead are designed from deeper mathematical principles.
To test whether Argus' design was truly optimal, the team took the robot out on the Duke campus, where it rolled across concrete, grass, dense foliage, soft sand, wet surfaces and bark. It handled obstacles up to 5 inches (12.7 centimeters) tall, kept moving even after three of its legs were broken, and pushed a 3-foot (1 meter) cube while rolling.
Argus, the 20-legged robot, rolls across a sandy beach.
Argus is a proof of concept and not the final answer on the optimal robot design, the researchers wrote in the study. Its broader importance may be in how it was designed rather than where or how it can be used in real-world scenarios — it could be a mathematical way to compare different robot bodies and design new form factors from scratch.
"It shows that designing for dynamic symmetry isn't just a theoretical curiosity," Boxi Xia, a postdoctoral researcher at Duke's General Robotics Lab and co-author of the study, said in the statement. "It produces a robot you can deploy in the wild, on uneven ground and in clutter, even in low-gravity settings. It changes what's possible."
Article Sources
Science Robotics, 11(114). https://doi.org/10.1126/scirobotics.aec1725
Humans May Soon Be Able to Regrow Body Parts—Including Fingers and Limbs—Thanks to a Groundbreaking Serum
The key to regeneration has been inside you all along, new research suggests.
Imagine losing a finger in a kitchen mishap or an entire limb in an accident. Instead of learning to adapt to a prosthetic, your doctor prescribes you a serum. A few months later, your bone, muscle, nerves, and skin have perfectly knit themselves back together. Your limb is entirely regrown.
It sounds like pure science fiction, but scientists are currently working to unlock the secrets of limb regeneration in mammals, drawing inspiration from salamanders. Axolotls, a type of salamander, can take roughly 40 to 50 days to regrow lost limbs, which is a flash compared to humans and other mammals who lack the ability all together. But a new treatment could change that shortcoming.
In a recent study published in Nature Communications, researchers from Texas A&M University used a specially-formulated serum that encouraged mice to form a blastema—the temporary cellular structure that helps organisms like axolotls regenerate structures.
Hw were they able to do this? According to study author Ken Muneoka, PhD, professor of veterinary physiology and pharmacology at Texas A&M, he and his team amputated part of a mouse’s finger. From there, researchers followed three steps to regrow the digit:
So, could someone who is born with, say, an underdeveloped limb be able to grow a new one using this treatment—or does the human body lack the blueprint? According to Muneoka, it depends on the reason for the underdeveloped limb.
“The human body uses the ‘blueprint’ to form the limb in the embryo, and we found evidence that this ‘blueprint’ is re-utilized when regeneration is stimulated by our treatment,” Muneoka says. In other words, someone whose limb was underdeveloped because of external factors in vivo, such as alcohol or drug exposure, might see better results than someone whose underdeveloped limb was caused by a genetic modification—or a damaged blueprint. “If the ‘blueprint’ is intact, then the expectation is that the regeneration should be possible,” he says. The amount of time this would take isn’t yet known.
If this treatment has the potential to regrow human limbs, what else could it do? Could it eventually be used to regrow more complex structures, like organs? There are studies—such as one published in Nature Genetics and another in PNAS—that show lung formation and limb formation share similar genetic requirements, according to Muneoka. There’s also research in salamanders that show that two proteins that are important for limb regeneration are also important for regeneration of other structures, such as gills.
“This suggests that the regenerative process may have universal characteristics, which gives us hope that our strategy for stimulating digit regeneration could have broad application,” Muneoka says. “We believe that our study outlines a general strategy for enhancing regenerative capabilities in humans. The specific details for this strategy will likely differ between organ systems, and that needs to be determined empirically.”
The tricky part, Muneoka says, is that organ regeneration requires time that may not be possible if the organ’s use is required to stay alive. So depending on the extent of the organ’s damage, a transplant from a donor may still be necessary.
Regeneration of body parts is unlikely to lead to immortality, though, according to Muneoka. “If individuals could regenerate organs throughout their lives, it would improve the quality of life, and it may enhance lifespan,” he says. But he points to a 2021 mouse study that he worked on, which found that blastema formation and the quality of the regenerative response declines with age.
So while we won’t be able to live forever or sprout a new pair of lungs overnight, the blueprint for human regeneration is already coded inside us—an exciting step forward for what’s possible when it comes to human healing.
Archaeologists Found an ‘Anomaly’ Near the Pyramids That May Reveal an Ancient PortalExperts Find 'Anomaly' Near the Great Pyramids
Nick Brundle Photography - Getty Images
Ground-penetrating radar has enabled archaeologists to identify hidden structures beneath the surface. A new study conducted by Japanese and Egyptian researchers has revealed an L-shaped structure accompanied by a nearby anomaly next to the Great Pyramids of Giza. While the precise nature of the anomaly is unknown, the researchers speculate that the L-shaped feature could potentially be an entrance to a deeper structure.
In archaeology, ground-penetrating radar (GPR) has transformed the way sites are studied. This geophysical technique sends radar pulses into the ground to create subsurface images. Similar methods have previously uncovered Viking longships in Norway, revealed lost civilizations within the Amazon rainforest, and even mapped entire Roman cities without any excavation.
Once again, GPR has yielded discoveries near one of the world’s most thoroughly explored sites—the Great Pyramids of Giza. The research team, led by Motoyuki Sato of Tohoku University, combined GPR with electrical resistivity tomography (ERT), a method that uses variations in electrical resistance to map underground features. Using these techniques, they detected what they describe as an “L-shaped anomaly” in the western cemetery close to the pyramids.
Darren Orf
In the world of archeology, few tools have revolutionized the field as much as ground-penetrating radar (GPR). This geophysical technique uses radar pulses to image the subsurface. Similar techniques have uncovered Viking longships in Norway, revealed lost civilizations in the Amazonian jungle, and even entire Roman cities without ever putting a shovel into dirt.
In 2024, GPR once again delivered near one of the most well-excavated sites in the world—the Great Pyramids of Giza.
Researchers led by Tohoku University's Motoyuki Sato used GPR, along with electrical resistivity tomography, or ERT, to survey a "blank" patch of the Western Cemetery, the elite burial zone west of the Great Pyramid. The scans showed an L-shaped structure near the surface, with a deeper anomaly below it.
GPR sends radar pulses into the ground. ERT maps how strongly buried materials resist electrical current. Together, the methods gave the team a look at shapes and contrasts below the sand without opening the ground.
According to the team's research paper, published in the journal Archeological Prospection, the structure is roughly 6.5 feet from the surface, measures 33 feet in length, and was backfilled after construction.
"The Western Cemetery at Giza is known as an important burial place of members of the royal family and high-class officers," the paper reads. "In the initial survey by GPR and ERT we found an anomaly in the north of the survey site. The area of the anomaly could be established approximately, but the structure and the location were unclear."
Below the L-shaped feature, the team reported a deeper anomaly 16 to 33 feet underground and described it as "highly electrically resistive." That could mean a few things. The paper pointed to two possibilities: a mixture of sand and gravel, or sparse spacing with air voids. The cemetery around it is packed with mastabas, the flat-roofed tombs associated with elite burials at Giza. This particular patch drew less attention because it did not have the kind of visible surface architecture that usually pulls archaeologists in.
Later research and heritage-science literature treats the 2024 paper as an example of integrated GPR/ERT work in Egypt, but the Western Cemetery anomaly has not been upgraded into a solved archaeological case.
So, what exactly could this L-shape structure and its lower anomaly represent? Speaking with Live Science, Sato said the structure is likely not natural, as the shape is too sharp.
"It may have been an entrance to the deeper structure," Sato and his colleagues wrote in the paper. But "may" is doing real work here. The scan doesn't identify what is below the L-shaped feature, and the researchers didn't claim they had found a tomb. "From the survey results, we cannot determine the material causing the anomaly," they wrote, "but it may be a large subsurface archaeological structure."
The paper called for excavation to establish the anomaly's purpose. Until that happens publicly, the cleanest version of the story is that something unusual showed up in the scans beside the Great Pyramid, and archaeologists still don't know exactly what it is.
This Western Cemetery study is separate from viral claims about enormous hidden structures beneath the Pyramid of Khafre, which Egyptian archaeologist Zahi Hawass publicly rejected in 2025. The GPR/ERT study near the Great Pyramid is peer-reviewed and real—but it's also unresolved.
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Astrophysicist Avi Loeb explains government secrecy on UAPsAstrophysicist Avi Loeb, lead advisor to the new Trump-era UAP Governance Board, discusses why the government previously maintained secrecy regarding unidentified aerial phenomena. Loeb explains that some objects are unidentified and could pose national security risks from adversarial nations. He advocates for transparency, noting his council seeks to collect unclassified data to better understand these UAPs and potentially make groundbreaking discoveries.
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“It Was Completely Shocking to Me”: Archaeologists Discover the Earliest Monumental Egyptian Hieroglyphs Written 1,000 Years Before the Pyramids
A joint expedition to the ancient Egyptian city of Elkab has unearthed several previously unknown ancient rock art inscriptions, including what the team believes are the earliest known monumental Egyptian hieroglyphs.
Written over 1,000 years before the Great Pyramid of Giza was constructed, these ancient Egyptian writings, discovered by archaeologists from Yale University and the Royal Museums of Art and History (Brussels), laid the foundation for the later, better-known hieroglyphic writing system.
Yale Professor John Coleman Darnell, the expedition’s leader and the co-director of the Elkab Desert Survey Project, said the newly discovered inscriptions, which were not recorded by any previous scientific expedition, include samples as far back as 4,000 BCE.
Although the team concedes that these are not the first examples of this specific style of rock art, they are the first of this ancient age and “monumental” scale, making them of great significance in the history of ancient Egyptian writing systems.
“This was not what I was expecting to find when I set out on this period of work on the expedition,” Professor Darnell said of the historic find. “It was completely shocking to me.”
The expedition, which was directed by Darnell and Dirk Huyge, was undertaken in cooperation with the Ministry of Antiquities and the Aswan and Edfu inspectorates.
After photographing the newly discovered inscription, Darnell and Alberto Urcia, a digital archaeologist and associate research scientist in the University’s Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, created a series of three-dimensional (3D) images. Darnell said the new technology allows archaeologists to record ancient sites and artworks “at a level of accuracy and detail that was absolutely impossible before.”
“It also means that we can record the site as a place, or a location, and not just as a series of inscriptions,” the professor added.
The newly discovered panel of signs features images of a bull’s head on a short pole followed by two back-to-back saddlebill storks with a bald ibis bird above and between them. This arrangement of symbols is common in later Egyptian representations of the solar cycle and with the concept of luminosity.
Image Credit: Yale University, Royal Museums of Art and History (Brussels).
One of the more noteworthy examples of ancient monumental hieroglyphs, carved sometime between 4,000 and 3,500 BCE, depicted a herd of elephants. A closer examination also revealed that one of the elephants had an image of a smaller elephant inside of it, which Professor Darnell described as “an incredibly rare way of representing a pregnant female animal.”
A second discovery detailed by the joint expedition, which consists of four separate panels, was likely created sometime around 3,250 BCE. Written right to left, which ultimately became the dominant writing form in later Egyptian hieroglyphic languages, the panels show animal images of a bull’s head on a short pole, followed by two back-to-back saddlebill storks with a bald ‘ibis’ bird above and between them.
The research team said this arrangement of symbols is common in Egyptian representations created centuries after the newly discovered panels depicting the solar cycle. These same depictions typically include imagery of luminosity. Darnell suggested that the images may also express “the concept of royal authority over the ordered cosmos.”
When discussing the importance of the new find, Professor Darnell noted the immense size of the individual tableaus and their elements. For example, each individual hieroglyph identified by the Yale-led team measures over half a meter in height. The professor also noted that the entire tableau “is about 70 centimeters (27.5 inches) in height,” whereas previously discovered signs of early Egyptian hieroglyphs were “only one or two centimeters in size.”
“This discovery isn’t new in the sense that this is the first time that anyone has seen these hieroglyphs,” Darnell explained, “this is the first time that anyone has seen them on such a massive scale.”
To offer a perspective on the discovery’s significance, the professor said a modern-world equivalent would be seeing smaller text displayed on your computer screen, “and then suddenly seeing very large ones made the same way,” only displayed up on a highway billboard.
When discussing the site’s location in the northeastern desert hinterland of Elkab, Darnell noted that it was a “very important” center in ancient Egypt, which demonstrates that the area’s budding communicative system “is not limited to the more commonly found small tokens or labels.”
The professor also said the study shows that ancient writing did not develop slowly “for bureaucratic use,” as researchers had previously believed. Instead, Darnell suggested that the discovery shows hieroglyphic-style writing “was more geographically widespread and topically diverse at the time of or shortly after its development.”
Where is the 3I/ATLAS Now? Harvard Physicist Claims 12-Billion-Year-Old Relic Is an Alien Probe
An interstellar comet known as 3I/ATLAS, which swept past the Sun in 2024, could be a 12‑billion‑year‑old relic from deep space and has even been described by a Harvard physicist as a possible alien probe, according to new research and long-running controversy over its origins. The object, only the third confirmed interstellar visitor ever seen in our solar system, was tracked as it brightened dramatically before heading back out towards the dark between the stars.
3I/ATLAS first appeared in telescopes in July 2024, immediately drawing attention because its orbit made clear it did not originate in our own planetary system. Its steep, hyperbolic trajectory marked it out as a true interstellar interloper, following in the footsteps of 1I/ʻOumuamua in 2017 and 2I/Borisov in 2019. Those earlier objects were too faint and fleeting to yield much detail. This time, astronomers had a rare opportunity: a comparatively bright comet, passing close enough to the Sun for the world's most powerful observatories to pick it apart.
The attention on 3I/ATLAS did not come only from astronomers quietly poring over data. Almost as soon as it was announced, Harvard astrophysicist Avi Loeb began speculating publicly that the object might be artificial, suggesting it could be some form of alien spacecraft or probe. Loeb has spent years arguing that ʻOumuamua might have been engineered technology rather than a natural rock or comet, and he saw echoes of that debate in 3I/ATLAS.
NASA, though, moved quickly to shut that line of thought down. The space agency rejected the alien spacecraft suggestion, pointing instead to the emerging science that painted 3I/ATLAS as an unusually old, but natural, fragment of ice and dust. The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence Institute, better known as Seti, later backed that assessment, saying it had found 'no evidence of extraterrestrial technology' associated with the comet.
Nothing in the publicly released data confirms Loeb's more provocative claims and, at this stage, any talk of alien probes remains firmly in the realm of speculation. Without direct signatures of technology, the balance of evidence lies heavily on the side of an exotic but natural object, and all such suggestions should be taken with a grain of salt.
Behind the headlines, the real story of 3I/ATLAS lies in the painstaking work done with the James Webb Space Telescope and the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (Alma) in Chile. These instruments allowed scientists to analyse the comet's chemical make-up in unprecedented detail.
In a study published in Nature, a team led by Martin Cordiner of Nasa's Goddard Space Flight Center reported that 3I/ATLAS contains around ten times more deuterium a heavy form of hydrogen than is typically found in comets and other icy bodies in our own solar system. That excess deuterium shows up in 'heavy water,' where deuterium replaces normal hydrogen.
Cordiner said this chemical fingerprint could only be explained if 3I/ATLAS formed in an environment that was extraordinarily cold. According to the team's interpretation of astrochemical models, the comet's building blocks must have condensed at temperatures close to absolute zero, around –243C. That places its birth in some frigid region of a long‑vanished protoplanetary cloud, far from the warming influence of any young star.
Taken together with its inferred age of up to 12 billion years, the object looks less like a curiosity and more like a fossil. Cordiner described 3I/ATLAS as 'maybe the oldest object to have been observed in our solar system' and suggested it could be a relic from 'cosmic noon', the era when star formation across the universe was near its peak.
If that age estimate holds, 3I/ATLAS predates our own solar system by more than seven billion years. For billions of those years, it may have drifted on 'vast unimaginable trajectories around our galaxy', as Cordiner put it, slowly circling the Milky Way before a chance gravitational nudge flung it through our neighbourhood.
The scientific community is treating 3I/ATLAS as a one‑off opportunity. Astronomer Peter Veres, who helped confirm the comet's interstellar status at the International Astronomical Union's Minor Planet Center, called the research 'exciting' but cautioned that the clock is ticking. The comet is already receding, moving back out of the solar system and onto an escape path that means it 'will never return.' As its distance grows, fresh observations will become steadily harder, then effectively impossible.
It is precisely that sense of fleeting contact that makes 3I/ATLAS feel both mundane and profound. On one hand, the data points towards a perfectly natural explanation anchored in chemistry, not science fiction. On the other, this is tangible material from a different stellar nursery, older than the Sun, briefly lighting our skies before vanishing into the dark.
Claims that it might be an alien probe remain unproven and are contradicted by current observational evidence. For now, 3I/ATLAS looks like what the data says it is: an ancient, icy fragment from somewhere else in the Milky Way, glimpsed once and then lost to interstellar space again.
5 real UFO coverups you missed in 'Disclosure Day'Steven Spielberg has captivated audiences for decades with cinematic masterpieces like Close Encounters of the Third Kind and E.T., but his film Disclosure Day marks a sharp turn toward historical reality. Inspired by the groundbreaking 2017 New York Times exposé on the Pentagon's secret UAP task force, the film blurs the lines between Hollywood entertainment and genuine ufology. This comprehensive breakdown explores the five real-world historical pillars anchoring the plot, evaluating the actual declassified documents, congressional testimonies, and folklore that Spielberg used to piece together his narrative.
Two plasmoid orbs over guys neighborhood, June 5, 2026, UFO UAP Sighting News.
Scientists propose radical new theory of consciousness – and claim it doesn't depend on flesh and blood
Human consciousness is one of the strangest and most stubbornly elusive phenomena in nature.
Now, researchers have proposed a radical theory that suggests consciousness doesn't depend on flesh and blood.
According to their 'Copernican Principle', consciousness isn't some special property that is only found in humans and a handful of creatures with similar biology.
That means brains and bodies radically different from our own should be able to experience the universe just like we do.
This has huge implications for our search for life amongst the stars, since conscious beings might be nothing like life as we know it.
This bold theory opens the door to conscious aliens with entirely different biological chemistry from our own, like 'Rocky' from Project Hail Mary.
And it might mean that there's nothing preventing an artificial intelligence from becoming conscious.
Co–author Professor Eric Schwitzgebel, of the University of California, says: 'The universe may contain minds stranger than we can imagine.'
Researchers have proposed a bold new theory of consciousness, which says that it doesn't rely on flesh and blood
Very roughly, we can define consciousness as the 'what it is like' aspect of existence.
The big question scientists and philosophers have spent years debating is whether this property is 'substrate flexible'.
This means that it can be 'realised' by lots of different types of things, just like the property of 'being a cup' can be realised by something made of glass or plastic.
Recently, some researchers have made the case that consciousness isn't substrate–flexible at all, meaning it can only arise in very specific types of biological systems.
This essentially narrows down the range of creatures that could be conscious to a very small slice of possible life that includes creatures on Earth and those with Earth–like biology.
That might seem like a harmless assumption until we start to think about the baffling variety of life that could exist out in the wider universe.
Professor Schwitzgebel and his co–author Dr Jeremy Pober, from the University of Lisbon, suggest that if advanced civilisations arise in just one galaxy in every billion, there would still be over 1,000 scattered over time and space.
The authors say that consciousness shouldn't be unique to things with human–like biology. This means that silicon–based life, like Rocky from Project Hail Mary, could also be conscious
Given the wide variety of possible environments in which they might flourish, it should be no surprise that many of these creatures would be very different to us.
Dr Pober told the Daily Mail that aliens could have 'high level' differences in terms of their functional architecture, but could also differ at the 'much lower level' of basic biochemistry.
'Astrobiologists and biochemists have shown that carbon–based life, which is nonetheless significantly different in biochemical composition from ours, is possible,' says Dr Pober.
For example, life that evolved in the sulphuric acid clouds of Venus might have silicon take the role that sulphur plays in our biochemistry.
However, no matter how advanced or intelligent these creatures might be, some theorists suggest that these differences rule them out from being considered conscious.
To Dr Pober and Professor Schwitzgebel, this is an obvious mistake.
Instead, they propose something called the 'Copernican Principle of Consciousness'.
The idea is that we shouldn't simply assume that humans and our particular type of conscious experience are special or unique.
Their ideas are inspired by the work of Nicolaus Copernicus (pictured), who showed that Earth wasn't in a special place in the universe. Likewise, they argue that we shouldn't think of human consciousness as special
This draws inspiration from the so–called 'Copernican Revolution' in astronomy, in which astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus realised Earth wasn't at the centre of the universe.
Before Copernicus, people thought that Earth occupied a special or privileged position in the universe.
However, better scientific understanding has shown that it is better to assume that there is nothing special about Earth or humans until proven otherwise.
Dr Pober says: 'The spirit of the Copernican Principle is: we should believe that we as humans are special when we have evidence that says so, but not when we don't.
For example, we have plenty of evidence to suggest that humans are the most intelligent species on Earth, but absolutely no reason to think we are even nearly the most intelligent in the universe.
Once we apply this idea to consciousness, Dr Pober says there's no reason to think that consciousness needs to rely on flesh and blood.
The big consequence of that idea is that it vastly expands the possible range of life forms that could be having conscious experiences out in the wider universe.
The researchers are dubious that silicon–based lifeforms like Rocky or the Horta from Star Trek are biologically viable.
The researchers are divided over whether this means artificial intelligences, like Skynet from The Terminator, could be conscious in the future
But if they did exist, there is no reason to think that they wouldn't be conscious.
However, Dr Pober and Professor Schwitzgebel don't agree on what this means for AI.
On the one hand, Dr Pober isn't convinced that we shouldn't be so flexible with what can be considered conscious.
'There is good reason to think some aliens with biochemistries are conscious,' he says.
'The extent of this difference – the degree of substrate flexibility of consciousness, if you will – does not extend to stuff as different from us as silicon chips.'
However, Professor Schwitzgebel argues that we should be even more flexible about what sorts of systems can be considered conscious.
Once the idea that consciousness requires human biology is abandoned, he argues, it becomes harder to justify excluding silicon–based systems solely because they are made of silicon.
Professor Schwitzgebel adds that philosophers have 'focused too much on whether silicon can duplicate a human brain and not enough on the broader question of what kinds of systems can be conscious.'
Brain and memory preservation has been explored at length by futurists, scientists and science fiction junkies alike.
Many say it falls under the category of 'transhumanism.'
Transhumanism is the belief that the human body can evolve beyond its current form with the help of scientists and technology.
The practice of mind uploading has been promoted by many people, including Ray Kurzweil, Google's director of engineering, who believes we will be able to upload our entire brains to computers by 2045.
Similar technologies have been depicted in science fiction dramas, ranging from Netflix's Altered Carbon, to the popular series Black Mirror.
Another prominent futurist, Dr Michio Kaku, believes virtual reality can be used to keep our loved ones' personalities and memories alive even after they die.
Scientists and futurists have different theories about how we might be able to preserve the human brain, ranging from uploading our memories to a computer to Nectome's high-tech embalming process, which can keep it intact for thousands of years
'Imagine being able to speak to your loved one after they die ... it is possible if their personality has been downloaded onto a computer as an avatar,' he explained.
These ideas haven't been met without criticism.
McGill University Neuroscientist Michael Hendricks told MIT that these technologies are a 'joke.'
'I hope future people are appalled that in the 21st century, the richest and most comfortable people in history spent their money and resources trying to live forever on the backs of their descendants. I mean, it’s a joke, right? They are cartoon bad guys,' he said.
Meanwhile, neuroscientist Miguel Nicolelis said recently that such technologies would be virtually impossible.
'The brain is not computable and no engineering can reproduce it,' he said.
'You can have all the computer chips in the world and you won't create a consciousness.'
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See Stonehenge's construction like NEVER before: Incredible visual reveals the vast manpower needed to haul the 25–tonne stones into position 5,000 years ago
An incredible new visual has revealed Stonehenge's construction like never before.
Created by English Heritage based on laser scan data and archaeological research, this is the most accurate and detailed reconstruction ever made.
The monument we see today took around 1,500 years to build, from about 3100 BC to 1600 BC, although the visual focuses on the the main phase of construction, which took place around 2500 BC.
Hundreds of people would have come together to pull, hoist, and set the enormous sarsen stones that form the iconic stone circle, according to experts.
Its builders also used surprisingly ingenious devices and techniques to make this mammoth task a little easier.
This transformed Stonehenge from a simple ring of ditches and wooden posts to the most sophisticated ritual site in ancient Britain.
Dr Susan Greaney, an archaeologist from the University of Exeter, who worked on the reconstruction, told the Daily Mail: 'In this new reconstruction, the sarsens are being raised into place by chocking them up on a pile of boulders, smaller sarsens and hammerstones, rather than the A–frame and weights seen in other reconstructions.
'This is based on some evidence for how the Easter Island statues were raised, which are a similar weight and size.'
Created by English Heritage based on laser scan data and archaeological research, this is the most accurate and detailed reconstruction ever made
New research suggests that the large sarsen stones were raised by propping them up with piles of rubble
This stunning reconstruction, created for the book Stonehenge: The Story of an Icon, shows the builders transporting the enormous 'sarsen' stones to the site on the Salisbury Plain.
These are the largest and most recognisable stones in Stonehenge, forming both the standing pillars and the horizontal 'lintels' that cap the arches.
Archaeologists believe that they would have been taken from the edge of the Marlborough Downs, located about 15 miles to the North.
With the largest of these stones weighing over 36 tonnes and measuring seven metres long, moving these would have been an enormous task.
More than 150 people might have worked together to pull a single stone along a track made of timber greased with animal fat.
However, researchers say this is not necessarily because the task was so difficult, but because pulling the stones was part of a celebration.
Professor Duncan Garrow, an archaeologist from Durham University, co–curated a new digital exhibition on the monument with the British Museum, called The Virtual World of Stonehenge.
He told the Daily Mail: 'People get really into building monuments in the Neolithic period, and Stonehenge is the peak of that.
Archaeologists believe that the building of Stonehenge might have been even more important than the finished project, serving as a way of bringing the community together. Illustrated: A Neolithic man explains Stonehenge's construction to children
It helped the community come together, so building it was very much part of the meaning and the purpose.'
Once the stones made it to the site, they still needed to be expertly shaped.
The ground at Salisbury Plain isn't exactly level, so each stone had to be precisely cut to the right height, and archaeologists have found piles of waste stone chips nearby.
Finally, the outer circle was topped with the lintels that formed a smooth, continuous ring around the entire structure.
While the Neolithic is known as the Stone Age, the people of this time were actually far more familiar with woodworking than stone carving.
This expertise can be seen in the traditional woodworking techniques used to fasten the lintels, with each massive stone being secured with dovetail joints and mortise and tenon fittings.
Archaeologists believe that building Stonehenge would have taken around five and a half million hours of labour – with four and a half million of those spent on the large sarsen stones.
Of course, the most impressive aspect of this gargantuan construction project is that Stonehenge aligns perfectly with the movements of the sun.
The large lintels were lifted into position by building timber platforms. Each lintel was then fitted with a mortise and tenon joint
The summer solstice sunrise perfectly aligns with the outlying Heel Stone, while the winter solstice sun sets directly between the uprights of the tallest Trilithon.
While earlier structures such as long barrows were built to align with the sunrise or sunset, this is the first structure that 'points' at the solstice.
Professor Garrow says: 'Once people started farming during the Neolithic period, they had more invested in planting crops, so it was a bigger deal if the harvest failed.
'So, good weather and a good year of sunshine and rain to make the crops grow become more important, and that escalated into a kind of religious focus on the sunshine.'
It is thought that this was centred around enormous gatherings around the summer and winter solstice, involving hundreds to thousands of people from all around the country.
Archaeologists believe that the Stonehenge builders stayed at the nearby site of Durrington Walls, one of the largest henges in Britain, measuring 500 metres across.
Excavations have evidence of mass feasting, with chemical analysis of pig bones and animal teeth revealing that these animals had been transported from as far as Scotland and west Wales.
Dr Matt Leivers, senior research manager, Wessex Archaeology, told the Daily Mail: 'Further away, very large numbers of people gathered for feasts, and we can imagine opportunities for things like exchange of foreign objects, marriage partners, settling of disputes, competition, games, all that sort of thing.'
However, while the gatherings near Stonehenge would have been 'seasonal fairs', the focus at the circle itself would have been religious.
'It was essentially a cathedral,' says Dr Leivers.
'Imagine Salisbury Cathedral or Westminster Abbey. It's the single crowning achievement of the expression of Neolithic religion in the English south.'
Exactly what those ritual gatherings would have looked like is hard to say, but researchers are now beginning to piece together a few scant clues.
Dr Leivers says: 'The evidence from Stonehenge tells us that there probably wasn't a lot done inside the circles that left a lot of material behind – so imagine that as a sacred centre.
'Most people would have been gathered outside the circles, watching, praying, celebrating – maybe singing, drumming, or maybe in silence.'
Stonehenge is one of the most prominent prehistoric monuments in Britain. The Stonehenge that can be seen today is the final stage that was completed about 3,500 years ago.
According to the monument's website, Stonehenge was built in four stages:
First stage: The first version of Stonehenge was a large earthwork or Henge, comprising a ditch, bank and the Aubrey holes, all probably built around 3100 BC.
The Aubrey holes are round pits in the chalk, about one metre (3.3 feet) wide and deep, with steep sides and flat bottoms.
Stonehenge (pictured) is one of the most prominent prehistoric monuments in Britain
They form a circle about 86.6 metres (284 feet) in diameter.
Excavations revealed cremated human bones in some of the chalk filling, but the holes themselves were likely not made to be used as graves, but as part of a religious ceremony.
After this first stage, Stonehenge was abandoned and left untouched for more than 1,000 years.
Second stage: The second and most dramatic stage of Stonehenge started around 2150 years BC, when about 82 bluestones from the Preseli mountains in south-west Wales were transported to the site. It's thought that the stones, some of which weigh four tonnes each, were dragged on rollers and sledges to the waters at Milford Haven, where they were loaded onto rafts.
They were carried on water along the south coast of Wales and up the rivers Avon and Frome, before being dragged overland again near Warminster and Wiltshire.
The final stage of the journey was mainly by water, down the river Wylye to Salisbury, then the Salisbury Avon to west Amesbury.
The journey spanned nearly 240 miles, and once at the site, the stones were set up in the centre to form an incomplete double circle.
During the same period, the original entrance was widened and a pair of Heel Stones were erected. The nearer part of the Avenue, connecting Stonehenge with the River Avon, was built aligned with the midsummer sunrise.
Third stage: The third stage of Stonehenge, which took place about 2000 years BC, saw the arrival of the sarsen stones (a type of sandstone), which were larger than the bluestones.
They were likely brought from the Marlborough Downs (40 kilometres, or 25 miles, north of Stonehenge).
The largest of the sarsen stones transported to Stonehenge weighs 50 tonnes, and transportation by water would not have been possible, so it's suspected that they were transported using sledges and ropes.
Calculations have shown that it would have taken 500 men using leather ropes to pull one stone, with an extra 100 men needed to lay the rollers in front of the sledge.
These stones were arranged in an outer circle with a continuous run of lintels - horizontal supports.
Inside the circle, five trilithons - structures consisting of two upright stones and a third across the top as a lintel - were placed in a horseshoe arrangement, which can still be seen today.
Final stage: The fourth and final stage took place just after 1500 years BC, when the smaller bluestones were rearranged in the horseshoe and circle that can be seen today.
The original number of stones in the bluestone circle was probably around 60, but these have since been removed or broken up. Some remain as stumps below ground level.
Source: Stonehenge.co.uk
Scientists predict how the world will end – and say Earth may NOT be swallowed by the sun after all
It's a rather grisly topic for a Monday – how will the world end?
For years, it's been believed that the sun will start to expand in around five billion years, swallowing our planet in the process.
However, a new study suggests that this might not be the case after all.
Instead, scientists think that the sun's death throes will push Earth out into space, narrowly avoiding destruction.
Mars will also be spared from a fiery fate, scientists say, but Mercury and Venus won't be so lucky, as the two innermost planets will inevitably be swallowed by the sun.
Lead author Mats Esseldeurs, a PhD student at the University of Leuven, explains that Earth's fate 'depends on a delicate balance' between two forces.
These are the 'tidal' forces of gravity that will pull the Earth into the sun and the outward push of enormous solar winds caused by the sun losing mass as it expands.
'If tidal interactions predominate, Earth is engulfed by the sun,' says Mr Esseldeurs.
'If the sun's mass loss predominates, Earth escapes into an orbit larger than the radius of its star.'
Scientists have predicted that the Earth will not be swallowed by the sun as it expands into a red giant in five billion years
Using computer simulations, researchers found that Earth (red line) will be pushed just beyond the edge of the expanding sun (blue line)
Stars like our sun can only remain stable for as long as they have a steady supply of hydrogen to burn as fuel.
When hydrogen is abundant, the immense force of gravity is held in check by the outward push from nuclear fusion in their core.
But when the hydrogen starts to run out at the end of a star's lifetime, that balance is upset, and the star begins to collapse.
This collapse makes the core hot enough to fuse helium atoms into carbon, releasing a surge of energy that kickstarts nuclear fusion in the outer layers, which then expand and cool.
The expanding star will then grow into a red giant, becoming anywhere from 100 to 1,000 times larger.
Scientists don't know exactly how big the sun will become, but even if it doesn't expand beyond Earth's current orbit, many researchers believe we are doomed.
This is due to an effect called tidal dissipation that will slowly drag our planet down into the sun.
As the sun expands, Earth's gravitational tug will raise a small bump or wave on the solar surface – just as the moon causes Earth's oceans to swell with the tides.
Scientists previously believed that a gravitational effect called tidal dissipation would slowly pull the Earth out of orbit, until it was swallowed by the sun (artist's impression)
This wave will lag behind the planet like a brake on its orbit, slowly draining its energy and dissipating it into the sun.
Until very recently, scientists assumed that these tidal forces would overwhelm the outward push of stellar wind from the sun's mass loss, leading to the Earth being engulfed.
However, Mr Esseldeurs and his co–authors now argue that this is based on a poor understanding of tidal dissipation in stars.
Using advanced models, the researchers show that the tug of these tidal effects is actually a lot smaller than previously expected.
They combined these gravitational predictions with observations of mass loss in a nearby star called L2 Puppis, which they describe as the sun's 'old cousin'.
That allowed the scientists to estimate how much solar wind our own sun might produce as it transitions into a red giant.
By comparing the push and pull of these competing forces, the researchers now believe that the Earth may well survive.
Co–author Dr Stephane Mathis, of the CEA Paris–Saclay centre in France, says: 'A better understanding of tidal physics and the most advanced constraints we have on mass loss allow us to say that—in the current state of knowledge—Earth could move away from the sun, contrary to what was predicted before.'
Scientists now think the solar wind created as the sun loses mass during its expansion will push the Earth away, counteracting the gravitational pull. Pictured: Artist's impression of the Earth in 5.7 billion years
However, the researchers warn that Earth's fate is still not entirely certain.
They point out that the difference between survival and fiery annihilation is extremely dependent on the fine balance of gravitational dissipation and mass loss.
In simulations, even a small change in these estimates was enough to send the planet tumbling into the sun or soaring safely out into space.
In their paper, published in Astronomy & Astrophysics, the researchers warn: 'Given the current observational uncertainties in AGB mass–loss rates, the ultimate fate of the Earth remains uncertain.'
Likewise, even if Earth does survive the initial transformation, life on the planet may not be able to last much longer.
After becoming a red giant, the sun will gradually burn through the last of its fuel and shrink into an extremely dense star called a white dwarf.
No longer capable of fusion reactions, it will slowly become dimmer and cooler over time, and Earth will be left as a freezing, lifeless husk.
The good news is that this won't be for at least seven or eight billion years from today.
Five billion years from now, it's said the Sun will have grown into a red giant star, more than a hundred times larger than its current size.
Eventually, it will eject gas and dust to create an 'envelope' accounting for as much as half its mass.
The core will become a tiny white dwarf star. This will shine for thousands of years, illuminating the envelope to create a ring-shaped planetary nebula.
Five billion years from now, it's said the Sun will have grown into a red giant star, more than a hundred times larger than its current size
While this metamorphosis will change the solar system, scientists are unsure what will happen to the third rock from the Sun.
We already know that our Sun will be bigger and brighter, so that it will probably destroy any form of life on our planet.
But whether the Earth's rocky core will survive is uncertain.
If 'Disclosure Day' Comes, How Can We Trust Evidence of UFOs?
Steven Spielberg's new blockbuster coincides with real-world disclosures about the government's investigation of unidentified phenomena. But there's no proof of aliens yet.
Julian Dossett
Artist depiction of flying saucers.
Getty Images
Steven Spielberg's new sci-fi blockbuster Disclosure Day, which hit theaters June 12, explores what might happen when the world gets undeniable proof that we're not alone in the universe. While the film is pure Hollywood, the possibility that we may one day see real evidence of UFOs is moving from science fiction toward scientific plausibility.
For the past couple of months, the federal government has been declassifying and publishing reports of UAPs, or unidentified anomalous phenomena, on a website operated by the Department of Defense.
While the government's disclosures haven't provided any actual evidence of extraterrestrial life or alien spacecraft, they signal a shift from its previous stance of secrecy on the subject. The Pentagon's real-world releases of strange sightings draw an obvious parallel to the movie's plot.
Without spoiling too much, Disclosure Day starts in the middle of the action: A whistleblower played by Josh O'Connor has already stolen proof of the cover-up of alien contact, while a Kansas City TV anchor played by Emily Blunt suddenly gains strange new abilities. The pair spends much of the 2.5-hour movie on the run from a shadowy government organization that wants to keep the truth hidden.
Spielberg was inspired to make Disclosure Day following a groundbreaking 2017 New York Times story, which published military videos of UAP sightings and alleged a secret UAP program in the Pentagon. According to some government officials and experts, the NYT report helped reduce the stigma of sharing UFO incident reports, especially among service members.
In subsequent Congressional hearings, former Navy pilots gave eye-witness accounts of UAPs in the sky, and a former intelligence officer testified to the existence of a secret UAP crash-retrieval program, where nonhuman "biologics" were retrieved from crash sites.
The US House Oversight Committee's Task Force on the Declassification of Federal Secrets held a hearing in September 2025 with witnesses who testified on UAPs, including the video shown here in the background.
Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images
I've looked through many of the UAP files released so far, and I haven't found any proof of alien life, but they're still interesting to read. Some of the documents date back to the Roswell crash era of the 1940s, one of the most famous alleged cases of a flying saucer recovery. Aliens or not, official military correspondence from 1948 that mentions "flying discs" remains a fascinating historical record.
The media's interest, along with the government's acknowledgment that it has long investigated UFOs, has helped move the topic beyond conspiracy books and online forums. In recent years, NASA commissioned an independent study team to examine UAPs, which produced a report (PDF) noting that the agency "should contribute to a comprehensive, government-wide approach to collecting future data." Even the late Pope Francis addressed the idea that the discovery of aliens and religious faith need not contradict one another.
While the videos, documents and testimonies on UAP sightings are intriguing to watch and read, the materials still lack the empirical data to conclusively prove that extraterrestrial life has visited Earth. Still, the sightings continue to be debated, with some scientists pointing to other possible explanations, such as drones, satellites or weather phenomena -- or even optical and infrared distortions. Many of the cases seem to point to more mundane, earthly origins.
As Carl Sagan wrote in The Demon-Haunted World, his 1995 book on critical thinking and the scientific method: "Everything hinges on the matter of evidence. The more we want it to be true, the more careful we have to be. No witness's say-so is good enough."
Disclosure Day imagines what would happen if we were to definitely know that aliens are here. In the real world, the SETI Institute has been studying the stars for traces of life since 1984. Sagan briefly served on the board before he died in 1996. He even wrote the novel that inspired the 1997 sci-fi film Contact starring Jodie Foster, which popularized SETI. The institute has been taking the question of extraterrestrial life seriously for a long time, but hasn't found any evidence of it yet.
A previously confidential 1948 memorandum that mentions flying discs.
Department of Defense
On June 5, the International Academy of Astronautics ratified an updated set of post-detection protocols, developed with input from SETI members, to address modern challenges in evaluating and verifying evidence of extraterrestrial intelligence. The new protocols will help govern how scientists announce evidence of extraterrestrial intelligence in today's global media environment, which is far more complex than it was when the original protocols were last revised 15 years ago.
Astrophysicist Michael Garrett, chair of the IAA SETI post-detection committee, told CNET that misinformation is one of the key reasons the protocols were updated. Artificial intelligence, deepfakes and social media engagement algorithms have made it harder than ever to tell what's true from false on the internet.
"Today, rumors, conspiracy theories, fabricated documents, and AI-generated images, audio and video can spread extremely quickly," Garrett says. "Independent verification by the global scientific community remains the most effective way to establish credibility and maintain public trust."
Garrett also said two common misconceptions he hears are that the protocols assume extraterrestrial civilizations would be hostile or that researchers would try to keep a discovery secret.
"Neither is true," Garrett said. "The protocols do not make assumptions about the intentions of extraterrestrial intelligence. Nor do they create any mechanism for secrecy."
Instead, Garrett says the protocols emphasize openness and public accountability.
"The updated protocols encourage researchers to make observational data, analysis methods and software tools publicly available wherever possible once a candidate signal has been verified," Garrett said. So if scientists ever discover alien life in the real world, hopefully we won't need a government whistleblower to get the word out.
It's entirely possible, maybe even likely, that we'll never know what's really out there. That hasn't stopped decades of rampant speculation and a deep fascination with the topic. Sagan argued that many people believe in aliens because humans have historically looked for ways to fill gaps in mysteries and phenomena that go unexplained.
An archival photograph depicting the lunar surface as seen from the Apollo 12 landing site. The image has been modified to highlight unidentified phenomena near the right edge of the frame.
Department of Defense
In 2021, Pew Research reported that 65% of Americans believe that intelligent life exists on other planets. In 2023, an Ipsos poll found that 42% of Americans believe in UFOs, and that 10% say they've actually seen one. Now that the government is releasing decades' worth of UAP reports and sightings, it seems more likely than before that we might get proof we're not alone. Or maybe not.
Sagan long warned about the dangers of ignoring scientific rigor and how seductive pseudoscience can be. Even when mundane reasoning can explain the fantastic, we're often inclined to abandon our skepticism and ignore the boring explanation.
"We've not yet found compelling evidence for life beyond the Earth," Sagan wrote in The Demon-Haunted World over three decades ago. "We're only at the very beginning of the search, though. New and better information might emerge, for all we know, tomorrow."
Skeptic on UAP panel? That’s fine, up to a point, Ross Coulthart says
Hena Doba, Michael Ramsey, Batya Ungar-Sargon
(NewsNation) — A new UAP advisory panel’s inclusion of a devil’s advocate could strengthen the group’s mission, investigative journalist Ross Coulthart says, but he has some reservations about Michael Shermer, the skeptic who has been tapped.
Coulthart suggests Shermer, founder of The Skeptics Society, may be too skewed against the topic. He cited “pejorative” comments Shermer has made about David Grusch, the UAP whistleblower who told members of Congress the government has a secret program to retrieve alien technology.
“I don’t think there’s any harm in having a skeptic, so long as they are a skeptic and not a debunker,” Coulthart told “NewsNation Prime” on Saturday. “Skepticism is good. We need skepticism. It’s important that we’re skeptical.”
Shermer has been named to the newly created UAP Science Advisory Council, a private-sector team that will help the federal government research and evaluate “unidentified anomalous phenomena” now that the topic has gained traction in Washington, D.C.
The council includes Harvard University theoretical physicist Avi Loeb, whose Galileo Project has searched for signs of extraterrestrial technology.
Reached by email Saturday evening, Shermer responded to some of Coulthart’s comments. He said he generally tries to be “non-disparaging” but says whistleblower Grusch “deflects” when asked for evidence of his claims by saying details are classified and cannot be shared.
UAP disclosure advocates, including Coulthart have urged Congress to enact greater whistleblower protections.
Appearing over the weekend on “Batya!”, Shermer, founder of “Skeptic” magazine, referred to himself as a “debunker” as he shared his thoughts on the UFO-related materials, including videos, that have become publicly available.
“Even the hardcore UFOlogists say 90 to 95% of all sightings are ordinary terrestrial phenomena that we can explain. So, we’re really left with a residue of anomalies,” he said.
“Let’s get to the bottom of this,” Shermer added. “Enough stories, enough grainy videos and blurry photographs and anecdotes about spooky things in the night sky. Let’s get some detailed data that we can actually analyze.”
Like Loeb, Shermer says redacted videos released by the Pentagon do not offer context to properly evaluate the moving objects that are seen within them. Loeb says his panel can recommend ways to collect better data about UAP, which could then help the government determine whether the objects are man-made and pose a national security threat.
Loeb says there’s also the possibility that better data could identify something that is not human.
Does Shermer think aliens exist? He said it’s feasible there is other life in the galaxy but expressed doubt that extraterrestrials have visited Earth.
“Have they come here? I think, very probably, no, because of the vast distances of interstellar space. I think the chances of them getting here is very low,” he told “Batya!”
In his email Saturday, Shermer said he would love to join Coulthart on his podcast, “Reality Check,” for a “thoughtful conversation” about the topic.
Avi Loeb to Lead New Federal UAP Science Panel
Harvard astrophysicist and frequent Newsmax contributor Avi Loeb will lead a new UAP Science Advisory Council assembled at the request of the White House, the Pentagon's All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the FBI, and the broader intelligence community, the scientific arm of President Trump's push to declassify federal files on unidentified anomalous phenomena.
The council will report to a higher-level UAP Governance Board that met for the first time the week of June 15.
An ODNI official said the agency established the board with the FBI and War Department "to provide guidance, recommendations, and coordination at the interagency level, bringing together military, law enforcement, the intelligence community, and other civilian agencies."
The program carries no budget and will work only with declassified material.
Loeb's mandate is to advise the government on how to resolve the nature of UAP.
The roster spans physics, oceanography, AI, statistics, biology, anthropology, and psychology, and includes retired Navy Rear Adm. Tim Gallaudet, the former acting NOAA administrator; Stanford immunologist Garry Nolan; SUNY Albany physicists Kevin Knuth and Matthew Szydagis; and Michael Shermer, founder of Skeptic magazine, whose inclusion has drawn pushback from some disclosure advocates.
"I am very pleased and not surprised as I have been calling on the executive branch to prioritize UAP for years," Gallaudet said.
The panel's focus includes a June 5 AARO report, signed by Director Jon Kosloski and released June 12, documenting phenomena observed by law enforcement over two days in October 2023 near Cheyenne Mountain in Colorado, including an orange "mother" orb that appeared to launch smaller red orbs.
Roughly 40% of the reported events lacked a reasonable explanation.
"The simplest explanation would be to say that these orbs might be drones that are capable of producing smaller drones," Loeb told the New York Post. "But [AARO] is saying that 40% of the phenomena that were observed cannot be explained by technologies the U.S. possesses or that we know about from adversary nations."
Loeb cast the panel as outside scientific support for an agency apparatus he says lacks in-house capacity.
"The government is not a scientific organization. They don't have first-class scientists. So we can help them figure things out," he told the Post, adding the council will tell agencies "what needs to be collected in the future" if existing data falls short.
He said the panel would track evidence over attention: "We should keep our eyes on the orbs, not on the audience."
In a June 13 Newsmax interview, Loeb said the latest files highlight a national security concern and confirmed he was assembling the council.
He has been a recurring guest on Newsmax, including February and April appearances tied to Trump's directive on UAP records.
Loeb told NewsNation's "Elizabeth Vargas Reports" the new structure marks a shift in federal posture.
"There is a completely different mindset following President Trump's directive," he said. "We are trying to figure it out together, in cooperation, and I hope that all the suspicion against government hiding things will be forgotten once we get to the bottom of this."
The council is set to surface publicly again at the Disclosure Forum in Washington on Thursday.
Earthlings on Europa? Provocative Study Explores ‘Reverse Panspermia’ Scenario Where Earth Life May Have Invaded an Alien Moon
Astronomers have long wondered whether life on Earth might have had origins somewhere else in the cosmos. The idea that the key ingredients for life, or even simple organisms, might be carried through space by non-animate objects—a concept known as panspermia—has been proposed as one way such “seeding” of life on Earth might have occurred.
But what if it could also happen in reverse? In other words, what if life were one day found on an alien moon, which could later be traced back to Earth?
This is the very idea presented in a new study that explores the provocative idea that Jupiter’s frozen moon Europa may not only be hospitable, but that life from Earth could be thriving there.
In the new study, published in the International Journal of Astrobiology, astrophysicist Zaza Osmanov of the Free University of Tbilisi explored whether Earthly bacteria might have been able to escape our planet by traveling on microscopic dust particles, which, after escaping Earth’s gravity, could have drifted through space until they reached Europa.
There, a vast subsurface ocean is believed to exist beneath the moon’s icy crust, meaning that any simple organisms capable of escaping from Earth on tiny spacefaring rafts of dust might have found their way to a new home, and one that could support life.
The long-debated idea of panspermia already presents the general idea for how this might work. However, Osmanov’s study investigates this idea in reverse order: not only might life on Earth have originated from elsewhere, but our planet could also hypothetically be the source of similar “seeding” events that might occur on alien worlds.
Based on mathematical models, Osmanov calculated how bacteria-rich dust grains could be launched into space, resulting from collisions with incoming dust in Earth’s upper atmosphere. Upon escaping the planet’s gravity, some of these bacteria might be able to sail along toward distant locales like Europa with the help of pressure generated by solar radiation—essentially the same concept as a solar light sail spacecraft, albeit much smaller.
With the help of solar radiation and occasional gravitational interactions, Osmanov theorizes that some particles might eventually be “steered” by such natural processes over time, eventually making their way to Jupiter.
Based on Osmanov’s estimates, there could potentially be as many as hundreds of millions of Earth-originating dust particles that might make their way to Europa every second. That’s a significant number, and although he estimates that the majority would be destroyed on impact, a small fraction could arrive at extremely shallow angles, which he believes may be able to survive landing on Europa’s surface.
However, even if a few bacterial invaders managed to survive, the next challenge they would face would be to reach the moon’s ocean that astronomers believe to be concealed beneath its icy exterior. Based on past studies, tidal forces generated by the massive host planet Jupiter offer a solution: such events are believed to likely cause fractures in Europa’s icy shell, which lead to the creation of entry points where surface materials might be capable of migrating downward.
Adding to this, Osmanov also points to instances where ice melting may also provide a means for the movement of material from the surface down into the moon’s hidden ocean. Over periods of thousands of years, some of these tiny bacterial invaders might make their way past the harsh surface environment and down into the moon’s far more hospitable subsurface ocean.
Osmanov estimates that there may be considerable numbers of Earth-derived particles that could reach Europa’s ocean over geological timescales. This could mean that terrestrial particles, Earthly microbes that have made the journey, may have had time to establish themselves as microbial colonists—if, of course, current presumptions about the moon’s conditions for supporting life are correct.
While the theory remains speculative, and Osmanov concedes that it cannot be tested directly at present, it suggests something fascinating: that the eventual discovery of life on an alien world could have ancestral links to our own planetary home.
Osmanov’s recent study, “Earth as a potential source of life for Europa’s subsurface ocean,” appeared in the journal International Journal of Astrobiology.
NASA’s JPL Is Testing the Next Generation of Autonomous Martian and Lunar Technology
NASA is developing the next generation of surface exploration technology with its Exploration Rover for Navigating Extreme Sloped Terrain (ERNEST), designed with advanced mobility and autonomy capabilities to enable access to previously off-limits regions on the Moon and Mars.
In Southern California’s Colorado Desert, NASA’s ERNEST prototype is traversing rough patches of terrain as the design team at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) continues to dial in the rover’s advanced mobility technology.
The four-wheeled, four-foot-long rover can readily handle landscapes that would be impassable for its six-wheeled predecessors, such as Curiosity and Perseverance.
ERNEST features mesh wheels for physically traversing difficult ground, as well as an intelligent decision-making system that determines the best route to its destination. As plans for humanity’s return to the lunar surface grow more ambitious, a rover capable of traveling longer distances at higher speeds will become a necessity. This is what ERNEST is accomplishing for NASA, already showing improvement over the performance of earlier rovers by an order of magnitude, as demonstrated in one test by traveling 16 miles in 37 hours.
The ERNEST prototype is less than half the size that the JPL team expects the final build to be. Since the project began in 2022, this is the third ERNEST prototype, with the other two being only two feet long and built primarily to test various suspension iterations over simulated lunar regolith packed at various slopes. They completed fabrication of the current prototype in September 2024 and operated it remotely via joystick control.
“You could do a science road trip across the Moon — or Mars — with this vehicle,” said James Keane, a JPL planetary scientist working on lunar missions.
NASA JPL conducted ERNEST times at all times of day to determine if darkness or shadow would confuse the autonomous system.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Powered joints in front of the rover allow it to switch between squirming, wheel-walking, and obstacle-climbing gaits to adapt to changing surface conditions. For less challenging terrain, a clutch allows the system to switch to a more energy-efficient passive suspension, conserving power for longer journeys. Each wheel is articulated to allow movement in any direction, allowing the vehicle to move completely sideways.
These major mobility advances will be a boon to mission planners, who have struggled to reach hard-to-access areas on Mars and the Moon that were previously inaccessible with previous technology.
“This testing is helping us refine the mobility hardware and autonomy software to navigate extreme distances across a wide range of terrain and lighting conditions anticipated on the Moon,” said Issa Nesnas, a principal technologist at JPL.
To move beyond operator control to autonomous decision-making, the team used an artificial intelligence technique called reinforcement learning, in which a model learns through interactions with the environment.
A virtual testing environment, running multiple simultaneous instances for months, allowed the researchers to have the rover ready to meet its environmental challenges from its first real-world test. Conducted at JPL’s Mars Yard, the initial tests featured an obstacle course of steps, slopes, ripples, and rubble. From this, and in many subsequent tests, ERNEST proved successful in navigating a range of very difficult environments
Further improvements to the rover’s autonomy are being pursued with an eye on intelligent long-distance travel, with the rover independently switching between suspension settings.
A massive Mars impact led scientists to an even bigger discovery
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Photo: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizonat
A huge meteorite strikes Mars
NASA revealed, during a press conference, that a meteorite struck Mars on December 24, 2021. The American space agency unveiled images of the crater formed following the collision.
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A crater of 492 feet in diameter
The InSigh mission's seismometer detected two major impacts on the surface of Mars. The larger of the two formed a crater of 150 meters (492 feet) in diameter and 21 meters (69 feet) deep.
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Photo: GooKingSword/Pixabay
One of the largest impacts ever observed
In its press release, the space agency said this was "one of the largest impacts ever observed on Mars since NASA began exploring the cosmos."
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Photo:NASA/JPL-Caltech/UA/USGS
An even bigger discovery: ice inside Mars
However, what's thrilled scientists more than the recorded seismic activity is what the meteor uncovered when it slammed into Mars: boulder-size chunks of ice blasted inside the crater.
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Ice in the poles of Mars
Scientists were well aware of the ice on the poles on Mars, but they didn’t know that ice existed under the ice cap.
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Ice can be converted into water, oxygen or hydrogen
"In planning for future human exploration of Mars, we'd want to land the astronauts as near to the equator as possible, and having access to ice at these lower latitudes, that ice can be converted into water, oxygen, or hydrogen. That could be really useful", said Lori Glaze, NASA's director of planetary science.
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Photo: NASA/JPL-Caltech
The red planet
Mars is the planet in our Solar System that has the most similarities with Earth. This is mainly why the red planet is NASA’s favorite destination to explore.
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Photos that depict the red planet
So the recent discovery and amazing photos can be added to the collection NASA has of the red planet. Here are some of them:
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Photo: NASA, ESA, and STScI
Mars’s two small moons
This image of Mars was taken by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope on July 18, 2018, when Earth, Mars and the Sun were aligned. Mars' two small moons, Phobos and Deimos are visible in this shot.
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Photo: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona
Arabia Terra
Arabia Terra is a vast region located on the northern hemisphere of Mars. It is characterized by its craters dating back approximately 4 billion years. Also seen in this photo are dark dunes, which the HIRISE team is monitoring closely for any wind activity.
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Photo: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona
Danielson Crater
Danielson is an impact crater measuring approximately 67 kilometers (41 miles) in diameter, located in the southwest of the Arabia Terra region. This image taken by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft shows the sand and sedimentary rocks that make it up.
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Photo: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona
A wonderful contrast of colors
In this image, there’s channels filled with shiny ice, which contrast with the red soil of Mars. The photo was taken at the planet's seasonal polar caps.
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Photo: NASA/JPL/LaRC
A sunrise on the planet Mars
An intriguing Martian sunrise was captured by the Viking 2 exploration probe on June 14, 1978.
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Photo: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona
Candor Chasma
This is Candor Chasma, one of the valleys that are part of the Valles Marineris canyons, located close to the equator of the red planet. Its light-colored stratified deposits could be an area made up of sandstone, potentially habitable according to scientists.
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Photo: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona
A spring avalanche
This is an avalanche captured by the HiRISE camera, near the north pole of Mars. Every spring, the sun shines on this area of the planet. The heat of its rays causes the detachment of blocks of ice. When reaching the bottom of the cliff, which is more than 500 meters high, these blocks raise a cloud of dust.
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Rock formations
This image was captured in December 2018 by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. The ripples that can be seen in the sand tell us which way the wind has moved around these rock formations.
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Photo: NASA, ESA, and Z. Levay (STScI)
Phobos
Phobos is one of the two natural satellites of Mars. This small moon rises west of Mars and circles the Red Planet three times in a Martian day, which lasts about 24 hours and 40 minutes.
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Photo: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona
A very young impact crater
This remarkable image shows us an impact crater formed between July and September 2018. This impact occurred in the seasonal southern ice sheet, and visibly pierced it, creating an incredible blast pattern.
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Photo: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS/JHUAPL
Jezero Crater
The Jezero crater is thought to have formed about 3.7 billion years ago. It is located to the west of Isidis Planitia, and it was chosen by NASA as the landing site for the "Mars 2020" mission, launched on July 30, 2020, and currently in progress.
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Photo: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona
Steep dunes
These dunes were photographed on the slopes of Nectaris Montes, in the canyons of Valles Marineris. The sand dunes that make up these giant canyons can be impressively large, with seemingly very steep slopes, as seen in the image.
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Photo: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
Mount Sharp
This image was taken by the Curiosity rover, deployed on Mars since 2012, on Mount Sharp, a mountain that stands in the middle of the Gale crater. In the center of the image, you can see clay rocks that NASA scientists are eager to study.
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Photo: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
Curiosity selfie
This is Curiosity, the car-size rover sent to Mars for an exploration mission in 2012. One of its objectives is to explore the Gale crater, on which it landed. The "Mars Science Laboratory" mission is still ongoing today.
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Photo: NASA/JPL-Caltech
The canyons of Valles Marineris
At the center of this mosaic, which is a compilation of images captured by the Viking Orbiter 1 spacecraft, is a broader view of the Valles Marineris canyons. They stretch over 3,000 kilometers long and 600 kilometers wide.
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Photo: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona
Aram Chaos Crater
In this image, uplifted blocks of light-colored layers can be seen, composed largely of hematite and water-weathered silicates. These elements tell us that the Aram Chaos crater once contained a lake. Its diameter is about 284 kilometers (176 miles).
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Photo: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona
Crater Crisp
The Crisp crater is located in the Sirenum Fossae. According to NASA scientists, this crater would be relatively recent, because its edge is still very sharp.
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Photo: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona
Spider shaped cracks
These spider-shaped cracks are located in the surface of the south polar region of Mars. They were caused by the evaporation of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
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Photo: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Another Martian sunset
This sunset was captured by NASA's InSight lander on April 25, 2019 at 6:30 p.m. local Mars time.
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Photo: NASA, ESA, J.-Y. Li (PSI), CM Lisse (JHU/APL), and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)
The passage of a comet near Mars
Finally, this is an image captured by the Hubble Space Telescope, which shows the closeness between a Comet and Mars on October 19, 2014.
Inside a Martian Meteorite, These Grains of an Unexpected Gemstone Hold Clues to a Hidden Past
A Martian meteorite fragment containing unexpected grains of mineral could hold clues to the Red Planet’s geological history, according to an international team of researchers.
Prior to the team’s new paper, which was published in Geochemical Perspectives Letters, the red mineral garnet had never been observed in any martian rock sample. Now, the meteorite discovery provides scientists with new clues to Mars‘ extreme past conditions, over its 4.5 billion-year history, which could include hidden magma sources or ancient impact events.
Although the gemstone garnet can come in many colors, it is best known for its dark red varieties, which were historically popular in ancient Egypt, Rome, and Victorian England. Beyond its beauty, the rock is important for the record it keeps of its birth, providing Earth’s geologists with information on our planet’s tectonic forces, ore-forming processes, and the fluid-rock interactions of the crust and mantle.
Similarly, the small grains of garnet discovered in the meteorite sample contain important data for reconstructing the forces that forged the Red Planet long ago.
“The findings add a striking new dimension to our understanding of the geology of Mars and open an exciting new window into the evolution of our planetary neighbour,” said co-author Professor James Darling.
“This discovery is going to expand our knowledge of the geologic processes that are possible on this planet,” said lead author Tanya Kizovski, Assistant Professor of Earth Sciences, from Brock University in Canada. “This new garnet-bearing rock type could give us clues to how Mars has changed throughout its history and new insights into the ancient environments that could have formed the garnet and related minerals.”
The garnet fragments were discovered in a tiny Martian meteorite sample held in the Royal Ontario Museum’s collection, designated NWA 8171, discovered in northwest Africa. Kizovski led the team in analyzing the sample’s mineral and chemical composition after identifying it as a unique piece within the collection.
“This little section of the meteorite looked really interesting, and the chemistry was a bit odd,” Kizovski said. “At first, we assumed it was a mineral called pyroxene, which is very common, but then we decided to take a second look.”
The international effort brought in researchers from Italy’s University di Trieste and the UK’s Open University, utilizing the Royal Ontario Museum’s laser equipment and the University of Portsmouth’s Electron Microscopy and Microanalysis Unit.
Having never been observed in any previous Martian sample, the researchers were surprised to identify garnet in the meteorite’s composition. From their analysis of the sample’s chemistry and mineralogy, the researchers began to consider how the unexpected garnet could have formed.
“Garnet is a classic example of a mineral often found in metamorphic rocks on Earth,” Kizovski said. “The process of metamorphism transforms igneous or sedimentary rocks into a new form through exposure to extreme heat, high pressure, or hot fluids.”
“On Mars, the heat and pressure needed to produce garnet through metamorphism could have come from the impact of a meteorite hitting the surface of Mars, magma rising up into the Martian crust, or both,” Kizovski continued.
While garnet provided geologists with some data about how it formed, this is not like the point of origin stamped on a manufactured good. It is possible that the garnet was deposited on Mars during an earlier meteorite impact, only to later travel through the solar system again, or that it was created by a heretofore unknown magma source on Mars.
Only further analysis of the garnet’s isotopic signatures will allow the researchers to determine whether the mineral formed on Mars or elsewhere. Unfortunately, to do so, the team would have to destroy a portion of this rare and precious sample, which measures only 0.8 by 0.5 millimeters to begin with.
“Measuring oxygen isotopes from the garnet-bearing rock type itself would help to confirm if it is Martian in origin or from an exotic meteorite impactor,” Kizovski said.
“Isotopes are a collection of atoms with equal numbers of protons and electrons, but different numbers of neutrons,” she added, “which was avoided thus far due to its rarity, as it may be the only garnet-bearing Martian rock we have for study.”
A few members of the team are continuing their study of the sample by comparing their findings to Martian data collected by rovers and orbital platforms. Further insights, they hope, may help them discover more about how the garnet could have formed, and what its presence means for the deeper history of the Red Planet.
The paper, “Expanding Mars’ Lithologic Diversity: Discovery of a Garnet-Bearing Clast in NWA 8171,” appeared in Geochemical Perspectives Letters on June 16, 2026.
Astronomers Observing a Supermassive Black Hole Just Had an Unexpected UFO Sighting
It’s not the kind of thing astronomers expect to see while observing the powerful effects of a distant supermassive black hole: an unprecedented UFO sighting.
However, that’s precisely what one group of scientists now reports in a preprint paper, who detail the successful detection of one of the strongest UFOs—a black hole phenomenon otherwise known as “ultra-fast outflows”—that astronomers may have ever seen.
The landmark detection was made possible with the XMM-Newton space observatory and NuSTAR X-ray telescope, which allowed the researchers behind the discovery to observe a luminous quasar with origins that date back to “cosmic noon,” revealing a pair of outflow wind components being blasted from the black hole in question.
Black holes have more than just large appetites for cosmic material: they also produce significant gas-driven winds from around their accretion disk.
These winds become known as ultra-fast outflows (UFOs) when their strength propels them to greater than ten percent of light speed, and astronomers currently believe they are an important part of what helps black holes regulate their growth, which may also hold for their host galaxies.
One way this occurs is that UFOs help to heat galactic gases that give rise to star formation, a quenching process that most astronomers believe occurred during a period called “cosmic noon,” which occurred between 1.6 and 3.5 billion years after the birth of the universe.
Astronomers can detect ultra-fast outflows based on the “dips” they create in their powerful gusts, which are caused by ionized iron present in their outflow gases. These gases also absorb X-rays along their path away from their black hole originators, which leave “fingerprints” in the form of absorption features that are detectable using X-ray telescopes.
Significantly, these “dips” manifest as a blueshift since they are shifted to higher energies as they move at such high speeds (again, roughly 10% of the speed of light). From the blueshifted energy signatures they comprise, astronomers can determine not only the presence of UFOs, but also the wind speed of their gusty outflows.
In the past, most detections of these high-powered cosmic phenomena have relied on gravitationally lensed quasars. These celestial objects occur when a galaxy or similar feature closer to Earth appears in front of them, magnifying the quasar’s light and significantly brightening its luminosity from our Earthly perspective.
However, lensing of this variety can also present problems, and so astronomers led by Giorgio Lanzuisi of INAF Bologna designed a special system to target more than a dozen hyper-luminous quasars at cosmic noon, as a means of getting a better feel for the dynamics of non-lensed quasars.
WISSHFUL is an XMM-Newton multi-year heritage program that Lanzuisi and his colleagues designed for this purpose, whose initial target became a quasar designated WISSH13, whose redshift at 3.294 marks the object’s existence as it appeared approximately 2 billion years after the Big Bang.
The WISSHFUL program: the highest redshift UFO discovered in a non-lensed QSO
Credit: arXiv
WISH13’s black hole also weighs in at close to 2 billion times that of our Sun, which causes it to shine far brighter than normally expected for an object of its estimated mass.
Their work began in the autumn of 2024 by combining observations from XMM-Newton and NuSTAR initially obtained in 2017. From these X-ray images of WISSH12, a pair of distinctive absorption features became evident, which the team determined to have been generated by two separate sources from within the same ultra-fast outflow.
These components were found to travel at different speeds: one moving at close to 30% of the speed of light, while the other at only about 10% of light speed. The slower of these two appears to have been an enduring component of the UFO, while the faster one showed signatures that indicated a more recent appearance. This could mean that it emanates from events that are shorter in duration.
By matching theoretical predictions of a layered wind structure surrounding the black hole, the researchers say their observations align with models that indicate a fast-moving inner “spine” launched from the accretion disk’s innermost regions. Meanwhile, a slower outer “sheath” is also believed to emanate farther from the black hole. The combined outflow components produce an estimated 21 to 24 solar masses of material annually.
Artistic view of multiphase AGN-driven winds highlighting the different phases and scales that are involved in the outflow.
Credit: University of Bologna
Such figures, the team says, represent what is believed to be among the most massive and energetic ultrafast outflows ever observed, a discovery which also marks the highest-redshift ultrafast outflow yet detected in a non-lensed quasar.
Despite their remarkable energetic output, the team says these outflow winds seem to conform to the same essential relationships observed in active galaxies much closer to Earth, suggesting that the processes driving these outflows have remained remarkably consistent across cosmic time.
Going forward, the team says they hope to make additional observations of these powerful cosmic phenomena with help from the new Athena X-ray mission, which they say could help uncover similar winds in even more distant quasars.
The team’s discoveries were detailed in a recent paper, “The WISSHFUL program: the highest redshift UFO discovered in a non-lensed QSO,” which appeared at the preprint arXiv.org server.
The Search for ET: What Do the Best Scientists in the Milky Way Know?
Albert Einstein is probably not the smartest scientist that ever lived since the Big Bang happened, 13.8 billion years ago. Most stars formed billions of years before the Sun. There had probably been a better scientist on another habitable planet a billion years ago.
The civilization which benefited from this ET genius could have populated the entire Milky Way galaxy with advanced probes by now. Perhaps we will find one of them.
The Galileo Project searches for extraterrestrial equipment using telescopes on the ground and in space. If we find an extraordinary interstellar vehicle, I will be delighted to hop on it and seek exceptional scientists throughout the Milky Way. We have many pressing questions for them: What happened before the Big Bang? Is there a way to create a baby universe in the laboratory? What is inside a black hole? What is the nature of dark matter and dark energy? Is it possible to travel faster than light? How widespread is intelligent life throughout the cosmos? And many more.
The importance of these questions – also echoed in my book Extraterrestrial, will bring more people to my funeral if I return some answers to Earth. When I made this point to the Smithsonian Magazine journalist, Jennie Rothenberg Gritz, she noted: “Your funeral will be a great interstellar celebration of your life – but I hope it doesn’t happen for a while!”
The exploration of space is currently popular from its commercial incentives. These include space tourism, novel industries at low-gravity on the Moon or Mars, and mining rare minerals on asteroids such as `Psyche’. But there is no business plan for leaving the Solar system towards other stars because of the vast distance and long duration of such journeys. The motivation for such expeditions must be spiritual, namely: exploring the unknown. If interstellar travelers arrive at our doorstep, it will be because we are unknown to them.
In the search for ET, humanity must prepare for the challenges of meeting a civilization potentially far more advanced than ours (credit: Unsplash).
An encounter with an ET culture would be a humbling experience, since we will have to admit that our modern science was developed only over the past century out of the 4.5-billion-years-long history of Earth. Just over a hundred years ago, Albert Einstein pioneered general relativity – the foundation for our current understanding of the Universe, and quantum mechanics – the knowledge base for our electronic gadgets. But we still do not know the answers to many foundational questions about our cosmic neighborhood, as listed above.
Most of human history is shaped by the illusion of superiority that some people had relative to other people when the reality is that all humans are fundamentally so fragile that even a tiny virus-like COVID-19 can wipe them out in two weeks.
In today’s WORLD.MINDS forum coordinated by Rolf Dobelli, I asked Thomas Zurbuchen, the Associate Administrator for the Science Mission Directorate at NASA, “Do you believe that we will find evidence for intelligent ET life in our lifetime?”
Thomas replied that we might likely find such evidence, but the timeframe is highly uncertain. He then asked me in return, “And what do you think, Avi? I do not know how old you are, as that would affect your likelihood to witness it.”
My answer was short: “I will be sixty years old at the end of this week, and I do believe we will find such evidence during my lifetime.” Then, I jokingly added, “My only doubt is whether we will ever find intelligent life in Washington, DC.”
By that, I only meant to say that “extraordinary evidence requires extraordinary funding”, which often rests on strategic decisions by policymakers.
Thomas then raised his foot towards the camera and showed his socks. They had alien images on them.
“This is especially for you,” he said smiling. “Happy Birthday!”
Here’s hoping that we will find a message in an “extraterrestrial bottle” that will offer salvation from our weaknesses through the broader perspective of the cosmos. There is tension between the damage that our new technologies bring to Earth and the opportunity to avoid a single-planet catastrophe by venturing into space. Perhaps the wake-up call will come from interstellar space in the form of an unusual technological object that will be discovered by the Galileo Project.
De Noord-Atlantische koudevlek: toeval of teken van een groter klimaatprobleem?
©The Daily Digest
Afbeelding: NASA Scientific Visualization Studio/Goddard Space Flight Center
Een belangrijk raadsel dat opgelost moet worden
In de Noord-Atlantische Oceaan, ten zuiden van IJsland en Groenland, is een raadselachtige 'koude zone' ontstaan. In dit uitgestrekte zeegebied daalt de temperatuur continu, wat in contrast staat met de algehele opwarming van de oceaan.
©The Daily Digest
Snel afkoelingsproces
Volgens CNN zeggen experts dat dit belangrijke Atlantische gebied al meer dan een eeuw aan het afkoelen is, in die mate dat de temperatuur van het water volgens de beschikbare gegevens sinds 1900 met ongeveer één graad Celsius is gedaald.
©The Daily Digest
Twee theorieën over wat er gaande is
In deze context wordt er binnen de wetenschap gedebatteerd over twee theorieën over de mogelijke oorzaak van deze 'koude plek'. Enerzijds zou het te wijten kunnen zijn aan warmteverlies van het oceaanoppervlak als gevolg van veranderingen in wind en bewolking; anderzijds aan de verzwakking van het systeem dat de oceaanstromingen in de Atlantische Oceaan transporteert.
©The Daily Digest
Cruciaal kantelpunt in het klimaat
Nieuw onderzoek, waarover CNN bericht, neigt nu naar de tweede optie om dit mysterie te verklaren. Het suggereert tevens dat het een teken zou kunnen zijn dat we op het punt staan een alarmerend kantelpunt in het klimaat te bereiken, met catastrofale gevolgen voor de toekomst.
©The Daily Digest
Atlantische Meridionale Omwentelingscirculatie
De studie verwijst naar het cruciale systeem van oceaanstromingen, de AMOC (Atlantische Meridionale Omwentelingscirculatie), dat volgens experts functioneert als een gigantische transportband die warm water vanuit de tropen naar het noordelijk halfrond voert, waar het afkoelt, zinkt en weer naar het zuiden terugkeert.
©The Daily Digest
Vingerafdruk van veranderingen in de AMOC
Gezien het bestaan van de AMOC kan de 'koude zone' die we vandaag de dag in de Noord-Atlantische Oceaan zien, volgens de auteurs van de studie worden beschouwd als een vingerafdruk waarop de veranderingen binnen het systeem te zien zijn, aangezien het daar is waar de meeste waterkwaliteit die het met zich meebrengt, aankomt.
©The Daily Digest
Opwarming van de aarde en zoet water
Naast dit onderzoek hebben talrijke andere studies al gewaarschuwd voor de verzwakking van de AMOC. De reden hiervoor is dat door het smeltende ijs als gevolg van de opwarming van de aarde een enorme hoeveelheid zoet water de oceaan instroomt, waardoor het evenwicht tussen zoutgehalte en warmte verstoord raakt en de werking van dit stromingssysteem wordt beïnvloed.
©The Daily Digest
Ineenstorten in het aangezicht van de toekomst
Deze verzwakking zal blijven toenemen totdat het klimaatkantelpunt is bereikt waar wetenschappers naar verwijzen, wat onvermijdelijk zou leiden tot de ineenstorting van de AMOC, iets wat, benadrukken zij, al in deze eeuw zou kunnen gebeuren.
©The Daily Digest
Wereldwijde catastrofe
En wat zou er gebeuren in geval van een ineenstorting? De gevolgen zouden verwoestend zijn en een wereldwijde catastrofe veroorzaken, die zich zou manifesteren in een aanzienlijke stijging van de zeespiegel aan de oostkust van de Verenigde Staten of langdurige droogtes in Afrika als gevolg van de verstoring van de moesson, en bovendien het Europese continent in een permanente ijskoude winter zou storten.
©The Daily Digest
Afkoeling zowel aan de oppervlakte als op grotere diepte
Een van de ontdekkingen van deze recente studie naar de 'koude zone' in de Noord-Atlantische Oceaan, die de neiging versterkt om te denken dat het probleem ligt in de verzwakking van de AMOC, is dat de afkoeling van het water niet alleen aan de oppervlakte plaatsvond, maar ook in de diepte van de oceaan.
©The Daily Digest
Gegevens uit veldmetingen versus klimaatmodellen
Om dit te analyseren, vergeleek het team van wetenschappers dat bij het onderzoek betrokken was, de daadwerkelijke gegevens over de oceaanwarmte, verkregen via satellietonderzoek en met specifieke instrumenten die uit het water waren gehaald, met de gebruikelijke klimaatmodellen. Op basis hiervan konden ze de verandering in de trend van dit uitgestrekte watergebied in de Atlantische Oceaan waarnemen.
©The Daily Digest
Invloed van AMOC
Volgens de auteur van de studie, Stefan Rahmstorf, hoogleraar natuurkunde en oceanografie aan de Universiteit van Potsdam (Duitsland), is de AMOC duidelijk de boosdoener achter de afkoeling van deze watermassa, omdat deze, zoals hij aan CNN vertelde, "het transport van oceanische warmte beïnvloedt".
©The Daily Digest
Afbeelding: Wikipedia
Het zwakste punt in 1000 jaar
Rahmstorf benadrukte verder dat, afgezien van deze 'koude plek', ze al voldoende bewijs hadden uit talrijke eerdere studies die wezen op de verzwakking van de AMOC, in die mate dat, zo benadrukte hij, deze zich momenteel op het zwakste punt in 1000 jaar zou kunnen bevinden.
©The Daily Digest
Heeft niets te maken met atmosferische omstandigheden
Onderzoeker René van Westen van de Universiteit Utrecht (Nederland) benadrukte ook dat de resultaten van Rahmstorfs onderzoek het idee versterken dat de afkoeling van deze enorme watermassa niet wordt beïnvloed door atmosferische omstandigheden, hoewel is aangetoond dat deze wel degelijk via die weg kan plaatsvinden.
©The Daily Digest
Gebieden waar wind en bewolking weinig invloed hebben
Van Westen verwijst in dit geval naar de bijzonderheid dat het diepe water in dit specifieke gebied ook afkoelt, ondanks het feit dat elementen zoals wind of wolken hier weinig invloed hebben.
©The Daily Digest
Eenvoudige benaderingen?
Andere deskundigen, zoals David Thornally, hoogleraar oceaan- en klimaatwetenschappen aan University College London, wijzen erop dat het nog te vroeg is om definitieve uitspraken over deze kwesties te doen. Hoewel hij erkent dat de studie het bewijs voor een verband tussen de 'koude zone' en de AMOC versterkt, stelt hij dat de gegevens slechts benaderingen zijn en geen absolute waarheid weergeven.
©The Daily Digest
De noodzaak van verder onderzoek
In een gesprek met CNN waarschuwde Thornally dat er onder wetenschappers nog steeds veel onzekerheid bestaat over wat er met deze massa koud water zou kunnen gebeuren, en benadrukte hij de noodzaak van verder onderzoek: "Ik denk niet dat (deze studie) het laatste woord over dit onderwerp is", verklaarde hij.
Ancient Roman records offer fresh evidence Jesus was a real person
Ancient writings of two Roman historians have been highlighted as some of the strongest evidence that Jesus was a real person.
The records come from Tacitus, one of Rome's most respected historians, and Flavius Josephus, a Jewish aristocrat and historian who lived just decades after Jesus' death.
Neither man was a Christian, and neither was trying to prove the claims of the New Testament.
Yet both left behind accounts that place Jesus in Judea, connect him to the origins of Christianity and link his death to the Roman governor Pontius Pilate.
In one of the texts, Tacitus wrote that a man called Christus was executed during the reign of Emperor Tiberius.
In another, Josephus referred to James as 'the brother of Jesus-who-is-called-Messiah,' identifying Jesus as a real person known to his readers.
The references have drawn renewed attention as historians continue examining evidence for Jesus that exists outside the Bible.
For many scholars, the accounts represent some of the clearest non-Christian evidence that Jesus was a historical figure rather than a legend.
Ancient writings of two Roman historians have been highlighted as some of the strongest evidence that Jesus was a real person
The evidence was recently reviewed on Thursday by biblical scholar Lawrence Mykytiuk, who examined ancient Roman and Jewish sources that mention Jesus, as reported in the Biblical Archaeology Society.
Most historians already accept that Jesus was a real historical figure, with debate focusing less on whether he existed and more on the details of his life and teachings.
That is why the ancient writings of Roman historian Tacitus and Jewish historian Flavius Josephus remain so important; they provide some of the earliest non-Christian references to Jesus, placing him in first-century Judea and linking his death to Pontius Pilate.
While the New Testament remains the primary source for information about Jesus' life, many skeptics have long argued that writings produced by Christians cannot be considered independent evidence.
That is why historians often focus on references written by people outside the faith.
One of the most important comes from Tacitus, a Roman senator, historian and one of the ancient world's most respected chroniclers.
Writing around 116 AD in his work Annals, Tacitus described Emperor Nero's efforts to blame Christians for the Great Fire of Rome in 64 AD.
According to Tacitus, Nero targeted a group known as Christians, whose name came from a man called Christus.
The highlighted passage contains Tacitus' reference to Christians, stating that their founder, Christ, was executed during the reign of Emperor Tiberius by the Roman governor Pontius Pilate
Tacitus wrote that Christus had been executed during the reign of Emperor Tiberius by Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor of Judea.
The passage is significant because Tacitus was openly hostile toward Christians.
Far from promoting their beliefs, he described Christianity as a dangerous superstition and expressed contempt for its followers.
Historians argue that this makes his reference to Jesus particularly valuable because he had no reason to invent details that supported the movement.
The account independently confirms several details found in the Gospels, including that Jesus was executed under Roman authority and that his followers continued spreading his teachings after his death.
Another major source comes from Josephus, a Jewish historian born only a few years after Jesus is believed to have been crucified.
Josephus fought against Rome during the First Jewish Revolt before eventually settling in Rome under imperial protection, where he wrote extensive histories of the Jewish people.
In his work Jewish Antiquities, Josephus referred to the execution of James, a leader of the early church.
To explain which James he meant, he identified him as 'the brother of Jesus-who-is-called-Messiah.'
The reference appears almost casually in the text, but historians say that is precisely what makes it important.
Jesus is not the focus of the passage, but is mentioned only to identify another person.
The 15th-century manuscript, now housed at the Bibliothèque Nationale de France, contains one of the most famous references to Jesus outside the Bible. In the highlighted passage, the Jewish historian Josephus describes Jesus as a wise man, writing: "Around this time there lived Jesus, a wise man, if indeed one ought to call him a man.
Scholars argue that such a reference would make little sense unless Jesus was already recognized as a real historical figure.
Josephus also included a longer passage describing Jesus as a wise teacher who attracted followers and performed remarkable deeds.
That section remains the subject of debate because many scholars believe later Christian scribes altered parts of the text.
However, the majority still conclude that the passage was based on an original reference to Jesus written by Josephus himself.
Taken together, the writings of Tacitus and Josephus support several key details about Jesus' life.
They indicate that he existed as a real person, was known by the name Jesus, gathered followers in Judea and was executed under Pontius Pilate.
The sources also show that his followers continued to spread his teachings long after his death and that the Christian movement had already reached Rome within a few decades.
Perhaps most strikingly, historians note that ancient critics of Christianity attacked Jesus in many ways but rarely questioned whether he existed.
Jewish and pagan writers accused him of false teaching, deception and even sorcery.
However, according to the historical record, virtually none argued that he was entirely fictional
EXCLUSIVE - The UFO files the government won't ever release: I've read them all. They fear a full-blown national crisis and destruction of religious faith... but it's time for the REAL disclosure day. Here's what you deserve to know
EXCLUSIVE - The UFO files the government won't ever release: I've read them all. They fear a full-blown national crisis and destruction of religious faith... but it's time for the REAL disclosure day. Here's what you deserve to know
By STACY LIBERATORE, US SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY EDITOR
After weeks of anticipation, the latest UFO file dump left many Americans underwhelmed.
While the Trump administration unveiled a third batch of documents, photos and videos tied to unexplained sightings on Friday, critics argue the files stopped well short of addressing the allegations at the heart of the UFO mystery.
Now, one of the few people who claims to have seen some of the hidden UFO files has spoken to the Daily Mail, revealing what he says is inside them – including references to alleged crash-retrieval programs, secret government investigations and 'non-human biologics.'
Investigative journalist Jeremy Corbell said the material has only strengthened his belief that the US government has recovered unidentified craft and biological evidence linked to the UFO mystery.
Corbell has spent years collecting documents, testimony and other material related to the claims, some of which appeared briefly in Sleeping Dog, the documentary he produced with veteran investigative journalist George Knapp.
The film shows a list of files, including one referencing 'non-human biologics,' a term used to describe alleged extraterrestrial tissue or bodies.
Another file is labeled 'Kona Blue,' the name of a proposed Department of Homeland Security program that would have investigated claims involving recovered unidentified craft, advanced technology and other UFO-related allegations.
The program was never formally established, according to government records.
Years worth of files, testimony and other material that Corbell collected, some of which were featured in Sleeping Dog
Corbell argued that the material is now circulating far beyond the handful of researchers who first obtained it, raising the prospect that additional details could be leaked regardless of whether the government releases the files.
'I can't stop that information from coming out. I am unable to stop it,' he said, adding that 'over 100 journalists already have everything that I have.
'That's not just in my hands anymore. That's not just in George Knapp's hands anymore.'
However, the US government maintains that it has found no verifiable evidence that extraterrestrial life or alien technology has visited Earth.
Despite decades of public fascination with UFOs, major Pentagon investigations and declassified government reviews have repeatedly concluded that no case of unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP) has been confirmed.
The Trump administration released the third batch of UFO files on Friday, which Corbell said was 'historic,' as more information on the topic 'is always a win.'
However, he added that again, the government has only shared 'low-hanging fruit.'
'Our government has long known about Non-Human Intelligence, their vehicles, reverse-engineering programs, and biological study of their pilots and occupants. These releases are provoked - not offered,' Corbell said.
David Grusch giving congressional testimony in 2023, during which he claimed the US government had spent decades attempting to recover and reverse-engineer craft of non-human origin. Investigative journalist Jeremy Corbell (circled) listens from behind
'The pressure of journalism, whistleblowers, and congressional oversight forced this door open. Unresolved cases are a start. But complacency is our enemy. If you want the truth, demand it.
'Full transparency on our government’s continued relationship and correspondence with the UAP phenomenon - nothing less.'
Representative Tim Burchett, who has seen videos of craft that 'defy any reason,' has suggested that government agencies are using the excuse that UFO disclosure will 'disrupt religion' to withhold files from the public.
Corbell said the files shown in his documentary touch on allegations involving non-human biologics, government UFO programs, intelligence assessments and unexplained aerial incidents that have remained largely hidden from public view.
One of the files is named 'ImCon Originals,' he claimed, referring to Immaculate Constellation – which is described in a whistleblower report as a secret, unauthorized Pentagon program created to collect and hide UFO evidence.
Matt Brown, a former US national security official, came forward in 2025 with details about Immaculate Constellation, revealing the alleged secret program to Corbell.
Brown said he discovered references to the program in 2018 while reviewing classified materials at the Pentagon.
Corbell alleged that it is a special access program designed to quarantine high-quality UFO imagery and testimonies from congressional oversight.
The file 'Pilfer & Pickpocket' also appears in the list, which Corbell has previously claimed are names of UFO crash retrieval programs. However, he stressed that he has not been able to confirm the details.
When asked why he does not release the files himself, Corbell told the Daily Mail that some of the information would cause a national security crisis.
But his 'number one reason' is that the government has made a promise of 'disclosure and transparency' to the American people. 'They deserve a chance to perform that function,' he said.
'Additionally,' Corbell continued, 'every time George and I obtain and release something, it puts sources at risk. Why do that when the government has said it will do it? We don't want to.'
The journalist has become a central player in the UFO disclosure movement, with his work bringing military and intelligence witnesses into the public eye and pressuring the US government into the disclosure process.
Corbell also told the Daily Mail that he personally provided officials with access to several of the UFO videos that were released to the public on May 22.
He did so in what he described as classified 'intel links' connected to hidden government servers, after unknown sources leaked the clips to him.
'Not just file names; if you put the underscores in, they're linked,' Corbell said, claiming the material led directly to classified systems that 'you and I can't access.'
While Corbell has released UFO videos that ended up in the Trump administration's file dump, he has championed other footage of unknown craft that was later explained or challenged by investigators, scientists and the military.
His comments come as the Trump administration has released hundreds of UFO-related records, a move Corbell said falls far short of addressing the questions that have fueled the disclosure movement for years.
Corbell pointed to David Grusch's 2023 congressional testimony, in which the former Air Force intelligence officer alleged the government had spent decades recovering and studying craft of non-human origin and had obtained what he described as 'biologics' from some crash sites.
'Now, if that's true, and if you believe him, our government in parts has that information,' Corbell said. 'It is time to tell the American public the truth.'
Neither Corbell nor Grusch has publicly released evidence proving the existence of non-human intelligence.
A handout from the Department of War that they said shows a UAP near Japan
Grusch's testimony marked a turning point in the modern UFO disclosure movement, transforming what had long been considered fringe speculation into a topic debated openly on Capitol Hill.
He told lawmakers that he had interviewed numerous current and former government officials who claimed the US was operating secret programs dedicated to retrieving and studying unidentified craft.
His testimony prompted renewed calls for oversight and transparency from members of Congress on both sides of the aisle.
Several lawmakers have since argued that the government should release additional records related to UAPs.
Corbell said public interest in the issue continues to grow as more military personnel, intelligence officials and defense insiders come forward with accounts of encounters involving unexplained objects.
He argued that the administration's recent document releases have heightened expectations that more significant information could eventually emerge.
The Trump administration released the first batch of UFO files on May 8, with a second on May 22.
They include military reports, FBI accounts and videos showing unexplained objects streaking across the sky. But rather than providing answers, the files have only deepened the mystery.
Corbell suggested reporters may ultimately force the issue if officials fail to provide further disclosure. 'If they don't, journalism will,' he said.
He stressed he was not claiming to possess definitive proof of alien life or recovered extraterrestrial technology, but argued investigators have uncovered information that warrants further scrutiny.
'What I have obtained over the years is not definitive proof of the things you want,' he said. 'But it's a start. It's a good start.'
He added that disclosure should proceed in stages, beginning with government acknowledgment of alleged craft-retrieval and reverse-engineering programs.
From there, he said, officials should address claims involving 'biologics' before eventually answering what he called the next major question: whether there has ever been direct communication with a non-human intelligence.
'Have there been any agreements? Have there been any direct communications?' Corbell posited.
'After they begin with reverse engineering of craft, because we all know craft exists, biologics, because we're almost there, then the third step will be communications,' he declared.
'And I have evidence of all.'
5,000-Year-Old ‘Prototype’ for Stonehenge Solar Alignment Discovered
As thousands prepare to flock to Stonehenge ahead of summer solstice celebrations this weekend, a team from Wessex Archaeology led by Phil Harding has announced the discovery of an ancient structure that may have served as an early ‘prototype’ for the alignment with the solstice at Stonehenge. Radiocarbon dated to around 5,000 years ago, the discovery reveals evidence for the earliest known alignment with the solstice in the Stonehenge landscape, showing that ancient people were using this feat of astronomical engineering to celebrate the solstice here at least 500 years before the alignment of the stones at Stonehenge.
Located 5km (3.1 miles) from Stonehenge in Bulford, Wiltshire, the site is contemporary with the earliest phase of Stonehenge when the first earthworks were built. Excavated as part of the Ministry of Defence’s Army Basing Programme, the site was likely a focus for major religious gatherings, with extensive evidence of feasting and large-scale gatherings as people came together to celebrate the solstices much as they still do today at Stonehenge.
A reconstruction of summer solstice celebrations as they might have appeared at Bulford 5000 years ago
The structure at the heart of the discovery would have consisted of two wooden poles 120 meters apart, which ancient builders positioned to form a line pointing directly at the rising sun during the summer solstice and at the setting sun during winter solstice. Little is now left of the structure except the pits in which the poles once stood, which are not accessible to the public, but their alignment with the solstice was confirmed in analysis conducted for Wessex Archaeology by leading skyscape archaeologist, Dr Fabio Silva, who used reconstructions of the ancient sky, landscape, and horizon to show how the structure would have aligned with the solstices to within an accuracy of one degree.
One of the pits in which the poles once stood at Bulford.
This relatively simple construction would have served as a place for ancient peoples to celebrate the solstices before more permanent, complex monuments could be built. The team suggests that a similar structure may have been present during the earliest phase of Stonehenge, although any traces would have been erased by later work. Dr Phil Harding, Archaeologist at Wessex Archaeology who led the excavations, stated that:
"this discovery is probably one of the greatest finds of my career and what makes it so important is just how early it is. Up till now, our knowledge of this ancient feat of astronomy was based on Stonehenge and other monuments of a similar period, but what we’ve discovered at Bulford is 500 years earlier than the famous stones we know so well."
Disc shaped flint knife found at Bulford by Phil Harding of Wessex Archaeology
The original excavations at Bulford, conducted between 2015 and 2017, revealed 48 pits that were radiocarbon dated to around 2950 BC. Artifacts uncovered included pottery, animal bone, worked flints, and charcoal, suggesting that large numbers of people gathered here over a relatively short period of time to celebrate the solar cycle. One of the pits, which may have been part of a ‘viewing station’, contained an extremely rare disc shaped knife, which was deliberately placed here possibly as a symbolic reference to the sun disc.
Dr Matt Leivers, Senior Research Manager at Wessex Archaeology, noted that:
"what we see at Bulford, and later at Stonehenge, is a way of celebrating and marking the passage of time, but it’s also about making sure the world keeps working as it should. It’s likely their way of saying to their deities, please keep us in mind, keep us warm and safe. It’s a religious event. That’s why it’s so important."
This aligns with other discoveries in the region that point to complex religious and social structures among the Neolithic communities of Britain.
Timeline showing solstice alignment at Bulford and Stonehenge
Dr Fabio Silva, Skyscape Archaeologist at Stone x Sky and the Skyscape Academy, who conducted the analysis that confirmed the alignment, explained that:
"this discovery helps us understand Stonehenge not as a singular creation, but as part of a much longer conversation between people, the land, and the sky. The alignment shows that communities were already engaging with both the summer and winter solstices in the Stonehenge landscape, centuries before the sarsen stones were raised."
The ceremonial site was uncovered during excavations south of the Salisbury Plain Training Area ahead of development to provide accommodation for service personnel. Richard Osgood, Senior Archaeologist at the MoD’s Defence Infrastructure Organisation, said:
“When we started working on the necessary excavations ahead of the construction of new accommodation for soldiers returning from Germany, none of us could have guessed what we would find. Following deeper study, what at first seemed innocuous has completely re-written our understanding of the ceremonial landscape around Stonehenge."
By Gary Manners
{ https://www.ancient-origins.net/news-history-archaeology }
Plutonium in Earth Rocks Signals Long-ago Cosmic Collision
A neutron star merger ends in a massive outburst called a kilonova. Astronomers who study these events suggest that heavy elements such plutonium are created in these massive explosions. Now, atoms of a plutonium isotope found in a deep-sea rock are helping them understand when it occurred.
Courtesy LIGO/Caltech
A small lump of rock pulled up from the Pacific Ocean seafloor in 1976 is giving scientists new clues about an ancient cosmic event. More than a hundred million years ago, two neutron stars collided. The resulting energetic kilonova sent a rain of long-lived elements, such as isotopes of plutonium, through space. Eventually, this stellar "debris" settled onto Earth. Some sank to the bottom of the ocean and got incorporated into a chunk of ferromanganese rock. Hidden inside were a few hundred atoms of plutonium radioisotopes. They provide the strongest clues about what created them in the merger and how long ago it happened.
The plutonium is in the form of Pu-244, which has a half-life of 81.3 million years. That helped a team of scientists from the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf institution in Germany and researchers at Australia's Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO), put the epoch of the explosion a near 100 million years ago. They also found that the sample lacked another element related to the collision: curium 247. It has a half-life of 16 million years.
“The absence of the curium radioisotope Cm-247, which was also produced in the explosion, tells us it happened a very long time ago," said ANSTO's Dr. Michael Hotchkis. "But not more than about 1 billion years ago; otherwise the Pu-244 would also be undetectable."
Research team member Dominic Koll holds a sample of the rocky crust recovered from the Pacific Ocean.
Courtesy ANSTO.
To get to the hidden PU-244 and figure out the age of the neutron star merger debris, the science team drilled out three cores in the rock. Then they began a careful chemical analysis. The cores were dated using the beryllium isotope Be-10, which has a half-life of 1.5 million years. They also found traces of the iron isotope Fe-60 in one core. Earth's crust grows so slowly that each core, measuring up to 3 cm, spanned more than ten million years.
The remaining crust was imaged with computed x-ray tomography and encased in resin. This allowed the scientists to cut thin layers that each corresponded to ~1 million years of growth. Then, each sample was divided up and processed to extract the plutonium. During this analysis, the team also found traces of material from known supernova events that occurred 2 and 7 million years ago. They also found some curium, but not the specific isotope that would have been created in the neutron star collision, according to Hotchkis. "The only possible explanation is that the cosmic explosion responsible for the plutonium happened so long ago that the curium has already decayed away to practically nothing,” he said.
We all know that elements such as helium, carbon, nitrogen, oxygen — all the way up to iron — are made inside stars, a process called stellar nucleosynthesis. The Sun, for example, is fusing hydrogen in its core to make helium. In a few billion years, it will start to fuse helium to make carbon, and then continues on to make carbon and oxygen. When the Sun begins the transition to become a white dwarf, it will release all the elements to space. In stars much more massive than the Sun, the process is more complex, but basically, it continues up to the creation of iron. Since it takes more energy to make iron and anything heavier, the process stops, the core collapses and the star explodes all its elements to space. Elements such as gold, platinum, uranium, nickel, and zinc get created in such events.
About half the heaviest elements are made in colossal events such as neutron star collisions that result in kilonova events. That process is called the "r-process" and includes such elements as thorium and uranium, and transuranics, such as plutonium and curium. Theories of r-process nucleosynthesis suggest that both Cm-247 and Pu-244 are produced simultaneously, in roughly equal proportions in such an event. Since the curium decays more rapidly than the plutonium, that puts a lower bound on the age of the neutron star merger, while the Pu-244 helps define the upper bound.
*The periodic table of the elements with the origin of each element highlighted. Elements heavier than iron are created in supernovae, while some are created only in neutron star mergers.
Courtesy Cmglee. CC BY-SA 3.0*
The detailed study of these isotopes, plus others found in the ocean-bottom rock sample, show the debris from cosmic events can arrive at Earth in pulses. Some are linked to nearby supernova explosions. However, the tiny sample of Pu-244 existed throughout all layers of the rock slices. That means the plutonium very likely came from the neutron-star merger/kilonova. It has been showing up at Earth as a continuous flux throughout the 100 million years since the event.
The research team is looking for other samples to bolster the neutron-star merger discovery using radioisotope samples. There should be more pieces of ancient crust on Earth that contain the products of the r-process that occurred. The dust from that long-ago event could well have settled onto the Moon and other worlds. The Apollo rocks could be fair game for study, and future missions could provide another way to access dust from the ancient past.
Space-based missions such as the Chandra X-ray Observatory, James Webb Space Telescope, and others have seen neutron star mergers in various wavelengths. So, scientists knew they took place. However, this "chemical analysis" of debris from such events is a big step forward in dating the events and observing the results of r-process nucleosynthesis.
An artist's view of a neutron star merger, accompanied by two views taken by the Chandra X-ray Observatory. This type of event results in extremely high-energy conditions conducive to the creation of some of the heavier elements such as plutonium.
Strange incidents happening across the globe
Child genius claims he was recruited into a secret program to mentally pilot UFOs
A former gifted child has come forward with claims that he was removed from public school and secretly trained to develop psychic abilities for military and UFO-related applications.
Speaking on the American Alchemy podcast, Jordan Jozak said he spent years being pulled out of class by psychologists before being transferred to a specialized facility in western New York. There he claimed he underwent experiments involving remote viewing, altered states of consciousness and attempts to control technology using the mind.
According to Jozak, the goal was not simply to study gifted children but to identify those with unusual cognitive abilities and train them for future roles in classified programs.
Jozak alleged he was recruited through a Gifted and Talented Education program, commonly known as GATE, after testing exceptionally high in certain academic categories as a child.
'I was in the GATE classroom. I drank the pink drink. It's just that there was a progression of more,' he told podcast host Jesse Michels, adding that he was trained to fly UFOs with his mind.
GATE was established by state departments of education, beginning in California in the 1960s, to provide an advanced or specialized curriculum for high-achieving students.
Many former students have claimed online that they were actually part of a secret CIA initiative to test the supernatural abilities of children with above-average intelligence. However, Jozak did not name the CIA as being involved, and there is no evidence linking the CIA to America's schools.
Jozak said the memories of the experiments remained buried for years before resurfacing through severe flashbacks and nightmares in 2023, when he recalled being in labs.
Jordan Jozak said he spent years being pulled out of class before being transferred to a specialized facility in western New York where he claimed he underwent experiments
The claims, which have not been independently verified, are among the most unusual to emerge from the growing world of UFO and consciousness-related whistleblower accounts.
In 2025, dozens of people claiming to have had similar experiences took to social media.
One woman, who said she was part of the program in the 1990s, shared a workbook she purportedly used during class, showing she was cracking codes and learning Russian.
In a document dated January 1985, the CIA discussed how young boys and girls of the nation were 'capable of extraordinary physical feats, including the ability to emerge unscathed when struck on the chest with the blade of a sword.'
A young boy mentioned in the report 'peered' inside the womb of a pregnant woman, only to announce that the fetus had no head.' And the diagnosis turned out to be correct.
According to Jozak, his story began around 2004 and 2005 when he was tested through his school's gifted education program in Springville, New York.
He said it started around age nine when psychologists became interested in his ability to visualize information and solve certain academic tasks in unusual ways.
'I could picture a word in my mind and then break apart the letters piece by piece,' Jozak said. 'One of the things that these psychologists were fascinated about was my ability to spell because I was spelling at like a college level.'
Many former students have claimed online that they were actually part of a secret CIA initiative to test the supernatural abilities of children with above-average intelligence. However, Jozak did not name the CIA as being involved
At first, Jozak described the experience as a series of meetings with psychologists who would remove him from class for hours at a time.
'I was being told that I was a very special kid. I had a very special brain, and no one else would understand,' he said, adding that the situation escalated when he was around 12 years old.
Jozak said his parents were informed that he had become psychologically unstable and needed to leave the public school system.
He disputed that characterization, telling podcast host Jesse Michels that he was fine and that his parents attempted to move him from the school system without any luck.
'I was refusing to go to school at one point, and people from the school district were actually showing up and removing me from the house. Like it was Stranger Things-level stuff,' Jozak claimed.
According to Jozak, he was then enrolled in a program operated through Baker Victory Services, a New York organization that provided services for children with developmental, behavioral and mental health needs.
'Baker Victory Services still exists today. It's a much larger organization serving a lot of other purposes, which are good,' he said.
'The organization itself was not the problem. It was the exact location and the element that I was in.'
He described the facility as a highly controlled environment where he attended classes several days a week while spending the rest of his time working with psychologists and researchers.
'I would attend school like a normal kid for like two to three days a week, and then for the other two to three days a week, depending on that, I was working heavily with a team of psychologists, researchers, psychiatrists,' he said.
According to Jozak, he was then enrolled in a program operated through Baker Victory Services, a New York organization that provided services for children with developmental, behavioral and mental health needs
The most dramatic allegations involved what Jozak described as psychic training exercises.
He claimed researchers taught him techniques similar to remote viewing, a controversial practice that involves attempting to gather information about distant people, places or objects through mental concentration alone.
'I had the ability to get out of my body, see in the other room, see things from a distance. And kind of shift my awareness visually,' he said.
According to Jozak, he would enter deep meditative states while listening to audio stimulation designed to alter brain activity.
Researchers allegedly monitored his brain waves and encouraged him to repeat mental exercises that produced certain neurological patterns.
Some former GATE students have argued that the program was tied to the CIA's Gateway Program that was developed in the 1980s to explore the limitations of human consciousness using sound, meditation and other techniques.
A document released by the CIA explains that these recordings typically featured a series of 'non-verbal audio patterns' masked by sounds like crashing waves or wind blowing through the trees.
Many alumni of GATE programs recalled being subjected to the same audio 'tests' at school.
Jozak claimed the training he experienced was intended to develop abilities that could eventually be used for intelligence gathering, advanced technology programs and UFO-related research.
'I was in a psionic development pipeline for legacy program development,' he said.
A psionic development pipeline represents the systematic approach to awakening, training, and applying extraordinary mental abilities, including telepathy, clairvoyance, or psychokinesis.
According to him, researchers believed some UFOs or other exotic vehicles could be operated through consciousness rather than conventional controls.
'I would lie in a deep meditation. I would have some type of sedative and shift my consciousness into a set object or some vehicle and become it,' he said.
According to Jozak, he was then instructed to manipulate the object mentally.
'Pilot it up and down, move it left and right,' he said, claiming that UFOs were not flown with joysticks, but with the mind.
He claimed researchers monitored his brain activity throughout the process in hopes of replicating the neurological signals involved.
'From what I understand, what they were trying to do is build a brain neural interface that would reproduce the brain wave signals that I was sending out,' he said.
Another extraordinary claim centers on what Jozak described as a mysterious crystal orb that researchers referred to as a 'relic.'
The object, he said, appeared to contain a swirling white structure that seemed alive and responsive.
'As I locked eye contact with it, the inside structure, it adapts and it likes changes,' Jozak said.
He claimed the object appeared to react to his presence and later became a central part of his training.
Jozak said he has provided names, locations and other details to members of the intelligence community and government officials.
To date, no public evidence has emerged to substantiate his allegations, and no documentation has been released showing that such a program existed.
However, Jozak insisted the experiences were real and said they explain the traumatic memories that resurfaced decades later.
Astronomers Observing a Supermassive Black Hole Just Had an Unexpected UFO Sighting
It’s not the kind of thing astronomers expect to see while observing the powerful effects of a distant supermassive black hole: an unprecedented UFO sighting.
However, that’s precisely what one group of scientists now reports in a preprint paper, who detail the successful detection of one of the strongest UFOs—a black hole phenomenon otherwise known as “ultra-fast outflows”—that astronomers may have ever seen.
The landmark detection was made possible with the XMM-Newton space observatory and NuSTAR X-ray telescope, which allowed the researchers behind the discovery to observe a luminous quasar with origins that date back to “cosmic noon,” revealing a pair of outflow wind components being blasted from the black hole in question.
Black holes have more than just large appetites for cosmic material: they also produce significant gas-driven winds from around their accretion disk.
These winds become known as ultra-fast outflows (UFOs) when their strength propels them to greater than ten percent of light speed, and astronomers currently believe they are an important part of what helps black holes regulate their growth, which may also hold for their host galaxies.
One way this occurs is that UFOs help to heat galactic gases that give rise to star formation, a quenching process that most astronomers believe occurred during a period called “cosmic noon,” which occurred between 1.6 and 3.5 billion years after the birth of the universe.
Astronomers can detect ultra-fast outflows based on the “dips” they create in their powerful gusts, which are caused by ionized iron present in their outflow gases. These gases also absorb X-rays along their path away from their black hole originators, which leave “fingerprints” in the form of absorption features that are detectable using X-ray telescopes.
Significantly, these “dips” manifest as a blueshift since they are shifted to higher energies as they move at such high speeds (again, roughly 10% of the speed of light). From the blueshifted energy signatures they comprise, astronomers can determine not only the presence of UFOs, but also the wind speed of their gusty outflows.
In the past, most detections of these high-powered cosmic phenomena have relied on gravitationally lensed quasars. These celestial objects occur when a galaxy or similar feature closer to Earth appears in front of them, magnifying the quasar’s light and significantly brightening its luminosity from our Earthly perspective.
However, lensing of this variety can also present problems, and so astronomers led by Giorgio Lanzuisi of INAF Bologna designed a special system to target more than a dozen hyper-luminous quasars at cosmic noon, as a means of getting a better feel for the dynamics of non-lensed quasars.
WISSHFUL is an XMM-Newton multi-year heritage program that Lanzuisi and his colleagues designed for this purpose, whose initial target became a quasar designated WISSH13, whose redshift at 3.294 marks the object’s existence as it appeared approximately 2 billion years after the Big Bang.
WISH13’s black hole also weighs in at close to 2 billion times that of our Sun, which causes it to shine far brighter than normally expected for an object of its estimated mass.
Their work began in the autumn of 2024 by combining observations from XMM-Newton and NuSTAR initially obtained in 2017. From these X-ray images of WISSH12, a pair of distinctive absorption features became evident, which the team determined to have been generated by two separate sources from within the same ultra-fast outflow.
These components were found to travel at different speeds: one moving at close to 30% of the speed of light, while the other at only about 10% of light speed. The slower of these two appears to have been an enduring component of the UFO, while the faster one showed signatures that indicated a more recent appearance. This could mean that it emanates from events that are shorter in duration.
By matching theoretical predictions of a layered wind structure surrounding the black hole, the researchers say their observations align with models that indicate a fast-moving inner “spine” launched from the accretion disk’s innermost regions. Meanwhile, a slower outer “sheath” is also believed to emanate farther from the black hole. The combined outflow components produce an estimated 21 to 24 solar masses of material annually.
Such figures, the team says, represent what is believed to be among the most massive and energetic ultrafast outflows ever observed, a discovery which also marks the highest-redshift ultrafast outflow yet detected in a non-lensed quasar.
Despite their remarkable energetic output, the team says these outflow winds seem to conform to the same essential relationships observed in active galaxies much closer to Earth, suggesting that the processes driving these outflows have remained remarkably consistent across cosmic time.
Going forward, the team says they hope to make additional observations of these powerful cosmic phenomena with help from the new Athena X-ray mission, which they say could help uncover similar winds in even more distant quasars.
The team’s discoveries were detailed in a recent paper, “The WISSHFUL program: the highest redshift UFO discovered in a non-lensed QSO,” which appeared at the preprint arXiv.org server.
Recordbreaking ultrafast outflow (UFO) cosmic winds from a supermassive black hole flung matter across the universe at one-fifth the speed of light, according to new XMM-Newton and XRISM X-ray space telescope observations.
Renowned scientist Neil deGrasse Tyson tells US government to 'Show the alien!' after latest UFO disclosure
Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson wants the US government to 'Show the alien!' after the latest UFO disclosure from the Trump administration.
Tyson, 67, joined The Fox News Rundown on Monday, explaining how the overwhelming amount of irrefutable evidence should finally be topped off with a picture of an extraterrestrial being.
'Is it too much to ask at this point for them to just show the alien? That's all, I don't think I'm asking too much here,' Tyson said.
The astrophysicist's request comes after the Trump administration released a third tranche of previously classified UAP files on Friday.
The materials were uploaded to the Department of War's website that morning and include a series of cases that investigators were unable to explain, leaving the nature of the phenomena unresolved.
'We've already been told this, so to say if they rolled out an alien, we'd somehow freak out given the century of alien movies we'd been treated to and alien stories… I don't see that we'd freak out at all,' Tyson said.
'It might even be anticlimactic, given our anticipation for what it could be.'
The astrophysicist continued to explain: 'I would only be shocked if the alien were in fact humanoid because of just the statistics of biological variation on Earth, where we have DNA in common with all other life, and most life is not humanoid on Earth.'
Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, 67, joined The Fox News Rundown on Monday, demanding the US government to 'Show the alien!' after the latest UFO disclosure from the Trump administration
One video released on Friday shows what officials described as a 'plasma-like sphere' hovering above a pond at an undisclosed location in the US, appearing to shift shape and brightness as it moved. The incident was captured in 2025
He argued that any alien visitor from another planet would likely look very different from humans and may not even share the same DNA structure.
'So I would be shocked if it was humanoid,' Tyson said. 'But otherwise, I think we're ready for it. Of course, we're ready. We've been ready.'
Among the newly released records is a 2025 FBI report describing a video captured by a citizen in the northeastern US.
According to the witness, a bright object hovered over their backyard as a 'brilliant red sphere' roughly the size of a basketball.
Another never-before-seen video shows what officials described as a 'plasma-like sphere' hovering above a pond at an undisclosed location in the US, appearing to shift shape and brightness as it moved.
Friday's release also includes dozens of long-hidden CIA files about mysterious sightings, revealing that the agency assembled a panel of top scientists to investigate 'flying saucers' amid fears the reports could clog military warning systems and spark mass hysteria.
The materials were quietly uploaded to the Department of War's website on Friday morning and include a series of cases that investigators were unable to definitively explain, leaving the nature of the phenomena unresolved
This image is an artistic interpretation of a reported incident near a sensitive national security site in the western US involving unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP) over a period of two days in October 2023
Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said in a statement: 'The Department of War is in lockstep with President Trump to bring unprecedented transparency regarding our government's understanding of Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP).
'These files, hidden behind classifications, have long fueled justified speculation, and it's time the American people see it for themselves. This release of declassified documents demonstrates the Trump Administration's earnest commitment to unprecedented transparency.'
According to the Pentagon, there have been 'unprecedented levels of interest' in the UFO files, and the Department of War's website has received over 1.7 billion hits worldwide since its launch on May 8.
A second release took place two weeks later.
Many of the images and videos in today's release were submitted by American citizens, with officials noting that footage was captured using iPhones.
Stonehenge's secret SISTER: Archaeologists discover an ancient monument just three miles away that may have served as a 'prototype' for the famous stones
Archaeologists have discovered a secret sister monument to Stonehenge that might have served as a 'prototype' for the famous stones.
This ancient site is just three miles away from Stonehenge itself, located in the village of Bulford, Wiltshire.
Consisting of two wooden poles placed 400 feet (120 metres) apart, this long–lost monument might appear rather basic at first glance.
However, scientists say the poles would have formed a perfect line pointing to the rising sun during the summer solstice and the setting sun on the winter solstice.
In fact, reconstructions of the ancient sky and landscape show that the deceptively simple structure was built to align with the solstice within one degree of accuracy.
More impressively, archaeologists have dated this structure back to around 5,000 years ago.
That predates the monument we see at Stonehenge by 500 years, making this one of the very oldest examples of a structure built to align with the sun in the British Isles.
Dr Fabio Silva, an archaeologist from Stone x Sky and the Skyscape Academy, says: 'Rather than marking the beginning of a story, Stonehenge now more clearly appears to have emerged from traditions and practices with much deeper roots in this landscape.'
Archaeologists have discovered a secret sister monument to Stonehenge that might have served as a 'prototype' for the famous stones (artist's impression)
Since any wood has long since rotted away, almost nothing is left of the Bulford ritual site today besides the pits where the poles once stood.
However, these scant clues are already giving archaeologists a fascinating glimpse into Britain's ancient past.
The site of the Bulford poles was first uncovered in 2015, when archaeologists found a network of 48 pits dated to around 2950 BC.
Excavations found that these pits were filled with the remains of pottery, animal bones, flint tools, and charcoal.
It was clear that large numbers of people gathered in this area over a relatively short period of time, but archaeologists weren't sure what they were gathering for.
Now, the alignment of the poles suggests that people likely gathered by this simple monument to celebrate the solstices before more complex, permanent structures could be built.
While Stonehenge and the Bulford site have different layouts, this shows that the 'technology' of tracing the sun's alignment on the horizon existed long before the more famous structure was built.
In fact, the researchers suggest that Bulford and Stonehenge might have had an even closer connection.
The site, located in Bulford, Wiltshire, consisted of two wooden poles (illustrated in red) that were placed to align with the sun on the summer and winter solstices
Archaeologist Phil Harding (pictured) says that this earlier site would have served as a 'prototype' for Stonehenge, using the same ancient technology of tracking the sun's alignment
Phil Harding, Archaeologist at Wessex Archaeology and former host of Time Team, told the Daily Mail that some of the people who built Bulford might have been buried in the 'Aubrey Holes' at Stonehenge, where cremated remains have been found.
He said: 'Even if the people who visited Bulford are not buried at Stonehenge, there is every possibility that the people who visited Bulford may have also visited Stonehenge, and may even have been involved in the construction of Stonehenge.'
The pits at Bulford date back to almost the exact same period that the first simple earthworks were being put up at the site of Stonehenge.
Mr Harding even suggests that a similar pole structure might have been part of the earliest phases of Stonehenge, but later developments would have erased any trace of the pits.
'These people lived in a world that was controlled by the heavens, by climate, by natural circumstances,' he says.
'They cared about their world and the natural processes of the sun... this [the solstice] must have been such a major event in their lifetimes.'
This discovery also helps to solve the mystery of an extremely rare disc–shaped knife found in one of the pits.
Mr Harding found this round knife buried vertically in a pit located almost exactly on the line of the solstice.
Archaeologists found an 'exquisite' circular stone knife (pictured) in line with the poles, which could have been buried as a symbolic representation of the disc of the sun
'It's an absolutely exquisite object,' Mr Harding says.
'That is a difficult craft to exercise to that level of perfection. It's almost inconceivable that you would just throw it away.'
Now, Mr Harding says the disc could have been a symbolic reference to the disk of the sun, deliberately placed in a sort of 'viewing station' for the solstice.
Archaeologists still debate exactly what Stonehenge and similar sites, like the Bulford poles, would have been used for.
However, their alignment with the solstice is a strong indication that they had a spiritual or religious function besides simple timekeeping.
Dr Matt Leivers, Senior Research Manager at Wessex Archaeology, says: 'When we talk about the solstice, we're talking about religion. About how prehistoric peoples understood the cosmos, the world, and their place in it.
'What we see at Bulford, and later at Stonehenge, is a way of celebrating and marking the passage of time, but it's also about making sure the world keeps working as it should.'
'It's likely their way of saying to their deities, please keep us in mind, keep us warm and safe. It's a religious event. That's why it's so important'
Stonehenge is one of the most prominent prehistoric monuments in Britain. The Stonehenge that can be seen today is the final stage that was completed about 3,500 years ago.
According to the monument's website, Stonehenge was built in four stages:
First stage: The first version of Stonehenge was a large earthwork or Henge, comprising a ditch, bank and the Aubrey holes, all probably built around 3100 BC.
The Aubrey holes are round pits in the chalk, about one metre (3.3 feet) wide and deep, with steep sides and flat bottoms.
Stonehenge (pictured) is one of the most prominent prehistoric monuments in Britain
They form a circle about 86.6 metres (284 feet) in diameter.
Excavations revealed cremated human bones in some of the chalk filling, but the holes themselves were likely not made to be used as graves, but as part of a religious ceremony.
After this first stage, Stonehenge was abandoned and left untouched for more than 1,000 years.
Second stage: The second and most dramatic stage of Stonehenge started around 2150 years BC, when about 82 bluestones from the Preseli mountains in south-west Wales were transported to the site. It's thought that the stones, some of which weigh four tonnes each, were dragged on rollers and sledges to the waters at Milford Haven, where they were loaded onto rafts.
They were carried on water along the south coast of Wales and up the rivers Avon and Frome, before being dragged overland again near Warminster and Wiltshire.
The final stage of the journey was mainly by water, down the river Wylye to Salisbury, then the Salisbury Avon to west Amesbury.
The journey spanned nearly 240 miles, and once at the site, the stones were set up in the centre to form an incomplete double circle.
During the same period, the original entrance was widened and a pair of Heel Stones were erected. The nearer part of the Avenue, connecting Stonehenge with the River Avon, was built aligned with the midsummer sunrise.
Third stage: The third stage of Stonehenge, which took place about 2000 years BC, saw the arrival of the sarsen stones (a type of sandstone), which were larger than the bluestones.
They were likely brought from the Marlborough Downs (40 kilometres, or 25 miles, north of Stonehenge).
The largest of the sarsen stones transported to Stonehenge weighs 50 tonnes, and transportation by water would not have been possible, so it's suspected that they were transported using sledges and ropes.
Calculations have shown that it would have taken 500 men using leather ropes to pull one stone, with an extra 100 men needed to lay the rollers in front of the sledge.
These stones were arranged in an outer circle with a continuous run of lintels - horizontal supports.
Inside the circle, five trilithons - structures consisting of two upright stones and a third across the top as a lintel - were placed in a horseshoe arrangement, which can still be seen today.
Final stage: The fourth and final stage took place just after 1500 years BC, when the smaller bluestones were rearranged in the horseshoe and circle that can be seen today.
The original number of stones in the bluestone circle was probably around 60, but these have since been removed or broken up. Some remain as stumps below ground level.
Source: Stonehenge.co.uk
What would happen if aliens invaded Earth: Terrifying report reveals how extraterrestrials could trigger political, economic and spiritual CHAOS
An alien invasion might sound like science fiction, but a scientist has now revealed what the terrifying consequences of an encounter might be.
Professor Avi Loeb, head of Harvard University's Galileo Project, claims our first encounter with an alien invader won't resemble sci–fi movies like E.T or War of the Worlds.
Rather than a biological, flesh and blood alien, Professor Loeb explains that we are more likely to be met by a 'technological device guided by AI'.
The arrival of such a device would pose a 'potential threat to all earthlings', he claims – sparking political, economic, and spiritual chaos around the world.
Professor Loeb told the Daily Mail that 'the stock market may crash due to the uncertainty about the impact of the encounter on the future of humanity.'
Likewise, the fact that the aliens' technology would likely outclass our own would not only be humbling for human intelligence – but would also make their technology a grave threat to humanity.
Professor Loeb said in a blog post: 'It would be foolish of me to forecast what this blind date of interstellar proportions might look like.
'One thing is clear: we must observe our dating partner to learn more about their qualities and intent and make sure that it is not a serial killer.'
A scientist says that the arrival of an alien craft in our solar system would trigger global chaos, with the stock markets collapsing due to instability. Pictured: The 1996 sci–fi film Independence Day
Professor Loeb suggests that aliens won't invade Earth in biological form, partly due to the vast distances between our planet and the nearest habitable worlds.
Even the very closest habitable world, Proxima Centauri b, is located a staggering 4.2 light–years from Earth.
The preference for technology over living organisms also reflects trends in our own space exploration efforts, which tend to use robotic probes instead of human crews.
If one of these artificial emissaries arrived on Earth, Professor Loeb suggests that its very presence would send shockwaves through human society.
Just as astronomers rattled the world by showing that Earth wasn't at the centre of the cosmos, an encounter with aliens would shift humanity's sense of importance.
'I would not regard it as a crisis but rather as a realization that we are not at the top of the food chain, cosmologically speaking,' Professor Loeb told the Daily Mail.
It wouldn't just be religious believers who would be psychologically shaken by this revelation.
Secular individuals will also be shaken by the realisation that alien technology is far more advanced than our own.
Experts say that our first encounter with aliens won't be with biological creatures, but with an AI–controlled technological artefact like a probe or robot
(stock image)
Professor Loeb says this will come from an understanding that 'there is a more accomplished sibling in our family in intelligent civilizations.'
Similarly, meeting our technologically advanced cosmic siblings would have a 'profound effect' on international geopolitics.
'It would pose a potential threat to all earthlings because we are all in the same boat,' says Professor Loeb.
However, this common threat could actually help bring Earth's divided nations together in collective self defence.
Professor Loeb says: 'An encounter with alien technology could bring together all humans on Earth in the same way that a knock on the door by a stranger quiets down arguments among family members within the room.
'It will definitely bring us to a better place by delivering a much needed sense of humility and a change of priorities towards space exploration and cooperation among humans, since we are all in the boat.'
However, exactly what aliens would want with us or how they would treat our civilisation depends on the nature of the aliens involved.
Professor Loeb has previously suggested that alien civilisations might send technological probes to our solar system as a 'reconnaissance mission'.
Professor Avi Loeb, an expert on the hunt for extraterrestrial intelligence from Harvard University, says that an alien invasion would pose a 'potential threat to all earthlings'
Professor Loeb previously suggested that the interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS, photographed as it passed 190 million miles (305 million km) from Earth, was a technological probe sent by aliens to investigate Earth
Since Earth has a stable atmosphere, liquid water, and sits in its star's habitable zone, it is natural that civilisations would want to investigate.
In exactly the same way that human astronomers study exoplanets from Earth, alien scientists might simply examine Earth out of curiosity or in the search for a new home.
But it is also possible that an alien civilisation might have more malicious plans for our planet.
For example, Professor Loeb has put forward the idea that ancient visitors might have polluted the atmosphere enough to trigger the Permian Extinction, the largest extinction event in Earth's history.
About 252 million years ago, 96 per cent of marine species were killed by a global warming event that left ocean creatures unable to breathe.
While the majority of scientists agree that this was caused by the greenhouse gases from volcanic eruptions, Professor Loeb suggests there could be a technological explanation instead.
While these ideas might seem far–fetched, Professor Loeb insists that these theories should be treated like any other scientific hypothesis and put to the test with rigorous investigation.
The Fermi Paradox questions why, given the estimated 200-400 billion stars and at least 100 billion planets in our galaxy, there have been no signs of alien life.
The contradiction is named after its creator, Italian physicist Enrico Fermi.
He first posed the question back in 1950.
Fermi believed it was too extraordinary that a single extra-terrestrial signal or engineering project has yet to be detected in the universe — despite its immense vastness.
Fermi concluded there must a barrier that limits the rise of intelligent, self-aware, technologically advanced space-colonising civilisations.
This barrier is sometimes referred to as the 'Great Filter'.
Italian physicist Enrico Fermi devised the so-called Fermi Paradox in the 1950s, which explores why there is no sign of alien life, despite the 100 billion planets in our galaxy
If the main obstacle preventing the colonisation of other planets is not in our past, then the barrier that will stop humanity's prospects of reaching other worlds must lie in our future, scientists have theorised.
Professor Brian Cox believes the advances in science and engineering required by a civilisation to start conquering the stars will ultimately lead to its destruction.
He said: 'One solution to the Fermi Paradox is that it is not possible to run a world that has the power to destroy itself.
‘It may be that the growth of science and engineering inevitably outstrips the development of political expertise, leading to disaster.'
Other possible explanations for the Fermi Paradox include that intelligent alien species are out there, but lack the necessary technology to communicate with Earth.
Some believe that the distances between intelligent civilisations are too great to allow any kind of two-way communication.
If two worlds are separated by several thousand light years, it's possible that one or both civilisations would become extinct before a dialogue can be established.
The so-called Zoo hypothesis claims intelligent alien life is out there, but deliberately avoids any contact with life on Earth to allow its natural evolution.
What do aliens EAT? Scientist reveals the foods extraterrestrials would go for on Earth – and why E.T.'s favourite Reese's Pieces are off the cards
In the 1982 blockbuster, E.T. the Extra–Terrestrial, E.T. is lured out of hiding using a trail of Reese's Pieces.
But what would aliens really eat if they visited our planet?
According to Professor José Miguel Soriano del Castillo, a nutritionist from the University of Valencia, our planet would serve a 'risky buffet' for alien life.
Even if aliens have similar basic biology to us, there is no guarantee that foods that are safe for humans to eat would be compatible with their digestive systems.
Instead of snacking on human foods, this means aliens would be more likely to feast on the 'raw materials' found on Earth.
Writing in The Conversation, Professor del Castillo claims that aliens would sustain themselves on 'water, nitrogen, phosphorus, iron, salts, lipids, microbial biomass or simple organic molecules'.
Unfortunately, this means E.T.'s Reese's Pieces are off the cards.
However, Professor del Castillo suggests the classic UFO cow abduction might not be so far–fetched.
In the 1982 blockbuster, E.T. the Extra–Terrestrial, E.T. is lured out of hiding using a trail of Reese's Pieces. But what would aliens really eat if they visited out planet?
While E.T.'s Reese's Pieces are off the cards, the classic UFO cow abduction might not be so far–fetched
(stock image)
Animals across our planet have developed a baffling array of unique digestive systems.
Cows, for example, are entirely dependent on the bacteria living in their stomachs to break down and digest cellulose in grass.
As Professor del Castillo points out, this means it is extremely difficult to say what an alien's natural diet might look like.
However, there are a few basic facts common to all forms of life that can give us a basic understanding.
Scientists generally believe that life needs three things: a source of energy, a liquid in which chemical reactions can occur, and suitable chemical elements.
Since these components are readily available on Earth, there's no reason that a visiting alien would need to go hungry.
A sufficiently advanced extraterrestrial might simply be able to hoover up organic matter from Earth and process it into something that suits their own digestive system.
However, Professor del Castillo warns that any interstellar tourists will need to be careful.
Alongside salts, fats and sugars that are essential to life, Earth's environment is packed with potential toxins, pathogens, and allergens.
'Earth's food would not necessarily be edible for them,' Professor del Castillo says.
'Terrestrial protein might be of no use if their digestive systems used different amino acids. Our sugars might prove useless if their metabolism could not handle them.'
This is why sensible alien travellers would be well advised to sample some of the local produce, perhaps by abducting a cow or two, before eating anything from Earth.
In the distant future, if humans ever really did meet an extraterrestrial civilisation, Professor del Castillo says Earth would need to train alien nutritionists.
He says: 'We would also need experts who could figure out what molecules these life forms tolerate, what energy they require, what poisons them, what microorganisms they carry, and what resources they could use without destroying the planet's ecosystems.'
While much of that information will depend on the specific organism, scientists can already start to estimate how much energy these aliens might need to consume.
In land animals, the amount of calories something needs to consume increases with its size, but not proportionally.
If UFOs really have visited Earth, our planet's biology would make eating human or animal food quite dangerous. Instead, aliens would need to feed themselves with the raw materials found on this planet. Pictured: An image of a UAP submitted by the FB to the All–domain Anomaly Resolution Office
That means an elephant needs more fuel than a mouse, but uses fewer calories per gram of body mass.
An alien weighing 70 kilograms would require around 1,700 kcal per day, while a massive 150–kilogram extraterrestrial would need over 3,000 kcal just to sustain itself without moving around a lot.
That is just the very basic amount needed to sustain life, and doesn't include all the extra energy that organisms need to move, think, operate machinery, fly a UFO, or abduct farmers.
However, an even stranger possibility is that alien life won't need any food at all.
Many scientists believe our first visit from an extraterrestrial civilisation won't be in the form of a biological visitor, but a robotic probe.
There is also the possibility that truly advanced aliens might have transcended their fleshy forms to become a 'post–biological entity' with a synthetic body.
Professor del Castillo says: 'In this case, "food" would no longer consist of proteins, fats or carbohydrates, but electricity, heat, chemical fuel or nuclear energy.
'An alien robot wouldn't eat rice or pasta, it would simply need to recharge its batteries.'
The Fermi Paradox questions why, given the estimated 200-400 billion stars and at least 100 billion planets in our galaxy, there have been no signs of alien life.
The contradiction is named after its creator, Italian physicist Enrico Fermi.
He first posed the question back in 1950.
Fermi believed it was too extraordinary that a single extra-terrestrial signal or engineering project has yet to be detected in the universe — despite its immense vastness.
Fermi concluded there must a barrier that limits the rise of intelligent, self-aware, technologically advanced space-colonising civilisations.
This barrier is sometimes referred to as the 'Great Filter'.
Italian physicist Enrico Fermi devised the so-called Fermi Paradox in the 1950s, which explores why there is no sign of alien life, despite the 100 billion planets in our galaxy
If the main obstacle preventing the colonisation of other planets is not in our past, then the barrier that will stop humanity's prospects of reaching other worlds must lie in our future, scientists have theorised.
Professor Brian Cox believes the advances in science and engineering required by a civilisation to start conquering the stars will ultimately lead to its destruction.
He said: 'One solution to the Fermi Paradox is that it is not possible to run a world that has the power to destroy itself.
‘It may be that the growth of science and engineering inevitably outstrips the development of political expertise, leading to disaster.'
Other possible explanations for the Fermi Paradox include that intelligent alien species are out there, but lack the necessary technology to communicate with Earth.
Some believe that the distances between intelligent civilisations are too great to allow any kind of two-way communication.
If two worlds are separated by several thousand light years, it's possible that one or both civilisations would become extinct before a dialogue can be established.
The so-called Zoo hypothesis claims intelligent alien life is out there, but deliberately avoids any contact with life on Earth to allow its natural evolution.
Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena Disclosure Is a Story About People
Much of the public conversation surrounding disclosure focuses on a single question: What are unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP)?
Are they advanced technology? Non-human intelligence? Something we have not yet imagined?
These questions are important. The mystery itself is compelling, and the search for answers is a worthy scientific endeavor. Yet there is another dimension of disclosure that often receives far less attention. Disclosure is not only a story about unidentified objects, hidden information, or unexplained phenomena. It is also a story about people.
The most profound consequences of disclosure may not emerge from what is discovered in the sky but from what happens within us when we are asked to reconsider what we believe to be true.
Throughout history, humanity has repeatedly encountered information that challenged deeply held assumptions. We learned that the Earth is not the center of the cosmos. We discovered that life evolves through natural processes. We realized that our galaxy is only one among billions. Each revelation required us to revise our understanding of reality and our place within it. History suggests that people are capable of integrating even profound revisions to their worldview, although the process is often gradual rather than immediate.(1)
The history of these discoveries is often told as a story about science. But it is equally a story about psychology. New information enters a world of existing beliefs, identities, institutions, relationships, hopes, and fears. People must make sense of it. They must decide what it means and how it fits into the narrative of their lives.
Disclosure, if it continues to unfold, will be no different.
Some individuals may experience wonder, curiosity, and excitement. Others may feel uncertainty, skepticism, anxiety, or resistance. Some may feel anger. Many will move through several of these reactions at different times. The most important question may not be whether people react but how they adapt.
Human beings are meaning-making creatures. We do not simply receive information; we interpret it. We integrate it into stories about who we are, where we came from, and what kind of future we imagine for ourselves. Whenever new information challenges those stories, a process of adjustment begins. Research suggests that restoring coherence and meaning is one of the primary ways people adapt to disruptive life events and major challenges to their assumptions.(2)
That adjustment is evidence of one of humanity's greatest strengths.
Psychological adaptation is among the most remarkable capacities our species possesses. People survive wars, economic upheaval, natural disasters, technological revolutions, and personal tragedies. We grieve, question, learn, and eventually find ways to move forward. The human mind is not designed to avoid change. It is designed to adapt to it. Decades of resilience research suggest that adaptation, rather than lasting dysfunction, is the most common long-term outcome following significant adversity.(3)
This is why the question of disclosure extends far beyond proving or disproving the existence of non-human intelligence. Even if definitive answers emerge, the larger challenge will be helping individuals and societies integrate what those answers mean.
The public conversation often assumes that disclosure is primarily about information. In reality, it is also about trust, communication, resilience, and understanding. It is about whether institutions can communicate honestly during periods of uncertainty. It is about whether communities can discuss difficult topics without polarization and fear. It is about whether individuals can remain grounded while navigating questions that may not have immediate answers.
If disclosure confirms that humanity is not alone, it will undoubtedly be a historic scientific discovery. But it will also reveal something about us. It will show how we respond when confronted with a reality larger than the one we previously understood. It will demonstrate whether we retreat into fear and division or lean into curiosity, humility, and growth.
In that sense, disclosure is not merely a story about what may be out there. It is a story about who we are.
The mystery of UAP may eventually be resolved. The data will accumulate. Evidence will be evaluated. Scientific conclusions will emerge. Those questions, however significant, are ultimately finite.
The human story is not.
The lasting legacy of disclosure may not be the discovery itself, but the way humanity chooses to meet it. Our capacity for adaptation, cooperation, meaning-making, and resilience may prove just as important as any revelation that emerges.
Because, in the end, disclosure is not only about understanding a larger reality.
It is about understanding ourselves.
References
Are we witnessing the end of UFO Secrecy?
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Dozens of active dust devils caught swirling across Mars canyon system
The European Space Agency's Mars Express has captured part of Mars's Mamers Valles, a fascinating valley system speckled with brief, tornado-like whirlwinds known as dust devils.
Dust devils form as parts of Mars warm in the sun, causing the air just above the surface to swirl upward and carry dust with it. Mars's dust devils are similar to those seen in dry, dusty landscapes on Earth, but far larger. They tower up to 8 kilometers (5 miles) high, rove about for kilometers at a time, and reach top speeds of 45 meters per second. They play a key role in moving dust across the planet.
Mars Express is uniquely equipped to spot these mini whirlwinds. To form a single image using its High Resolution Stereo Camera—the instrument responsible for these new snapshots—the spacecraft combines sequential views from up to nine separate camera channels (which look at Mars in a different color, from a different direction, or a mix of the two). If nothing changes on the Martian surface while these are being taken, the multiple perspectives align—but if something is moving about, it stands out clearly from its surroundings.
In this new set of images, Mars Express captures not one but dozens of active dust devils. Click on the image below to see more than 30 circled, each visible as a small yellow dot with a pinkish trailing "shadow."
The alignment and combination of Mars Express's various camera channels also allow scientists to figure out the direction and speed of Mars's dust devils. This is something scientists have done using data from both Mars Express and ESA's ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter, revealing how more than 1,000 of these tornado-like storms move—and tracing how winds sweep around the planet.
Mamers Valles is a vast, broken-up, labyrinthine system of canyons and valleys etched into Mars's surface. The feature was named in 1976 based on the ancient Oscan language of pre-Roman Italy, with "Mamers" meaning "Mars" and "Valles" meaning "Valley."
These channels stretch out for around 1,000 km, crossing from Mars's ancient southern highlands into the planet's northern lowlands, and in places measure up to 25 km wide and 1.2 km deep (as shown most clearly in the associated topographical map below).
Surrounding these channels are various features: steep, flat hills known as mesas, sheer cliffs, and debris-covered glaciers. These glaciers contain water ice buried beneath a cover of rock and dust, and can be seen building up at the base of the steep slopes pictured here. All of these landforms come together to form fragmented or "fretted" terrain.
Patches of dark material can also be seen lining a couple of the valleys—likely volcanic sands that either formed in place or were swept in by winds.
Many of the features seen here are signs of past activity related to water, lava or ice, all of which once flowed across this terrain and carved out telltale marks.
For instance, the valley floors are marked by long ridges and textures that formed as debris-covered glaciers slid down both sides of the valley, ultimately meeting in the middle. These same icy signatures line the steep cliffs and hillsides, too. Although water ice isn't stable on Mars's surface today, it has managed to survive here because it was covered by rocky material, which has stopped it from escaping to the Martian atmosphere.
Mars Express has visited this region of Mars before, imaging the areas surrounding both Mamers Valles (2008) and the neighboring Deuteronilus Mensae (2019).
The region dates to around 3.8 billion years ago, to a part of Martian history known as the late Noachian period. This era is significant because it marks when Mars began to transition from a warmer, wetter, more geologically active world to the cold, arid one seen today.
This image comes courtesy of the HRSC camera, one of eight instruments aboard Mars Express. Mars Express has been capturing and exploring Mars's many landscapes since it launched in 2003. The orbiter has mapped the planet's surface at unprecedented resolution, in color and in three dimensions for more than two decades, returning insights that have drastically changed understanding of our planetary neighbor.
Who's behind this story?
Plasmoid Orb Entity Recorded Over Pond, FBI Investigated, 3 File Drop, UFO UAP Paranormal Alien Sighting News
Dept of War,
https://www.war.gov/ufo/?releaseDate=Release+03&release=03#FBI-UAP-PR003-Orbs-Over-the-Pond-2024
Two Red Orbs! Dept of War 3rd Drop! July 2025, UFO UAP Paranormal Alien Sighting News.
What do Charles Dellschau and Ingersoll Lockwood have in common?
Noah's Ark could finally be found after historic deal promises 'irrefutable proof'
A mysterious formation high in the mountains of eastern Turkey has long fueled speculation that it could be the final resting place of Noah's Ark.
Now, researchers who believe they have identified signs of a massive man-made structure buried beneath the site have received official approval to put their theory to the test.
The team behind Noah's Ark Scans announced that its Turkish partner has secured government permits to conduct what it describes as the most comprehensive scientific investigation ever undertaken at the Durupinar Formation near Mount Ararat.
The expedition will include non-destructive core drilling, advanced remote-sensing technology, next-generation imaging systems and an underground drone named 'Gopher' designed to map what lies beneath the surface.
In a statement announcing the approval, the group said it hopes to provide the world with 'irrefutable proof' that the formation is the authentic resting place of Noah's Ark.
The researchers have previously used ground-penetrating radar to scan more than 20 feet below the site, identifying what they describe as angular structures and hidden voids that they believe are inconsistent with a natural geological formation.
Noah's Ark Scans fundraiser Lauren Witzke said: 'This is not merely a scientific expedition; this is confirmation that one of the most scoffed-at stories in history, Noah's Ark, is real, as is the God who inspired it and, in His wrath and mercy, sent the flood for which it was needed.'
The expedition is scheduled to begin later this year, with preliminary findings expected to be released as data is processed and verified.
Just 18 miles south of Mount Ararat, Turkey's tallest peak, the Durupinar Formation emerged less than a century ago
The radar captured 'a series of right angles' about 20 feet down, which researchers believe could be the rooms that held animals on the ark
'This historic authorization marks the first time in modern history that a dedicated international team has been officially cleared to perform extensive, non-destructive investigations at the site using revolutionary new scanning and imaging technologies never before applied to this site,' the team shared in the release.
Located just 18 miles south of Mount Ararat, Turkey's highest peak, the Durupinar Formation has only been known to the modern world for less than a century.
According to local reports, heavy rains and earthquakes in May 1948 washed away the surrounding mud, revealing the mysterious formation. It was then discovered by a Kurdish shepherd.
The Bible states that Noah's Ark came to rest on the 'mountains of Ararat' after a 150-day flood that drowned the Earth and every living creature not sheltered inside the wooden vessel.
What is intriguing is that the formation sits near a mountain with a peak that some believe matches the ark's shape and dimensions.
The idea that the ark landed on Mount Ararat has long sparked debate.
While many scientists argue that the formation is a naturally occurring geological feature, others are convinced it points to something far more extraordinary.
The team at Noah's Ark Scans firmly believes the latter.
Jones previously told the Daily Mail: 'Naturally, an object would not form this way with the pointed end uphill,' said Jones.
'Per fluid dynamics, if this was an obstruction naturally forming around a rock in the earth or mud flow, then the pointed end would be downhill and the rounded end would be uphill.'
A mysterious geological formation perched high in the mountains of Turkey could be the site where Noah's Ark landed around 4,300 years ago
The Bible recounts Noah's Ark resting on the 'mountains of Ararat' after a 150-day flood submerged the Earth, sparing only those aboard the wooden vessel
Jones added that he and his team have uncovered a tunnel that is not filled in, which leads to a big central void, a room that goes much further down that is square shaped.'
'Some people have theorized that Noah's Ark had a multi-level big atrium to let the light and air circulate between the three decks,' said the researcher.
He noted that a key development in the investigation was the discovery of different soil inside the mysterious formation.
Inside, the soil is less alkaline, has more organic matter and contains more potassium, which is what would be expected from decaying wood, like an ancient wooden boat, which lowers pH and adds carbon and potassium, said Jones.
'Tests show these soil differences (pH, organic matter and potassium) are real, with less than a five percent chance they're random, giving 95 percent confidence that something like a decayed wooden ship is causing them,' he added.
Biblical measurements describe the ark as 300 cubits long, 50 cubits wide and 30 cubits high - that's approximately 515 feet long, 86 feet wide and 52 feet tall.
The measurements of the formation in Turkey appear to match those given in the Bible.
Using ground-penetrating radar, the team uncovered what looks like long hallways traveling through the middle and either side of what they say could be a massive boat
He and his team at Noah's Ark Scans have been exploring the mysterious mound since 2019, using modern technology to peer deep below the surface.
The void first appears about 14 feet below the surface and stretches more than 39 feet, according to the scans.
Jones explained that the space extends from the center of the boat-like structure toward its tip, ending where a large boulder was detected.
'The tunnel then drops another 26 feet, connecting to a massive central room that we're seeing in the radar scans,' he said.
'Our assumption is that this could be part of Noah's Ark, possibly the central hall and some of the decks. There's definitely something preserved underground.'
Jones suggested the tunnel may have served as a main hallway, providing access to rooms meant for the animals brought aboard the vessel.
'In the Biblical account, it doesn't say Noah's Ark landed on Mount Ararat; it says the mountains, plural, of Ararat,' Jones explained.
'Back in those days, Ararat was an ancient kingdom. So it would be like saying today that Noah's Ark landed in the mountains of Colorado. It's referring to a region of mountains, not one specific peak, and our site fits within that location.'
The other leading possible spot is on top of Mount Ararat, though there hasn't been any evidence found.
From as early as the 4th century, Christian tradition began identifying Mount Ararat in modern-day Turkey as the ark’s resting place.
Josephus, a 1st-century Jewish historian, also wrote that remains of the ark were still visible in the mountains of Armenia, further solidifying the association with Mount Ararat.
Spielberg’s ‘Disclosure Day’ blends UFO lore with real cases
©Getty Images
Fact meets fiction: The film incorporates real UFO cases such as Roswell, Kecksburg, and modern military encounters into its narrative, blurring lines between entertainment and alleged history.
Cultural and spiritual lens: Spielberg weaves themes of empathy and transcendence, echoing spiritual interpretations of past works like 'Close Encounters' and 'E.T.' while grounding aliens in reported sightings.
Timely release: The debut aligns with new U.S. government UAP file releases, amplifying public discourse on transparency and the possibility of extraterrestrial contact.
Reference
©Photo by Celal Gunes/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images. WASHINGTON, UNITED STATES- NOVEMBER 29: Federal Bureau of Investigation headquarters building in Washington D.C., United States, on November 29, 2022.
(Photo by Celal Gunes/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
©Photo credit should read CFOTO/Future Publishing via Getty Images. SHANGHAI, CHINA - JUNE 11, 2026 - The promotional video of the sci-fi film "Disclosure Day", produced by the legendary American director Steven Spielberg, was looped in the CMG cinema in Shanghai, China on June 11, 2026.
(Photo credit should read CFOTO/Future Publishing via Getty Images)
The film 'Disclosure Day' incorporates the Roswell UFO crash as part of its narrative. This event is one of the well-known UFO incidents used to build the movie's fictional archive.
References
©Photo by Screen Archives/Getty Images. UFO spacecraft approaching Devil's Tower in scene from Steven Spielberg's 'Close Encounters of the Third Kind' 1977.
(Photo by Screen Archives/Getty Images)
References
©Photo by Michael Loccisano/Getty Images. NEW YORK, NEW YORK - JUNE 08: (L-R) Jeff Small, Kristie Macosko Krieger, Holly Bario, Steven Spielberg, Darryl Frank, Justin Falvey, Chris Leotis and Michelle Brattson attend the "Disclosure Day" New York Premiere at David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center on June 08, 2026 in New York City.
(Photo by Michael Loccisano/Getty Images)
RELATED
Webb and Hubble reveal the history of a relic of Milky Way's formation
Researchers using two of humanity's most powerful observatories—NASA's James Webb and Hubble Space Telescopes—have definitively shown that Terzan 5 is not a globular star cluster, as it was once classified, offering new insight into how galaxies like our own form and evolve over time.
A globular star cluster typically has only one ancient star population. New data not only confirm the existence of two distinct populations of stars in Terzan 5, but also provide evidence for two more recent rounds of star formation. Although located within the crowded bulge of our Milky Way, our galaxy's central spherical region of older stars, Terzan 5 was massive enough to maintain its separate identity while lightweight systems spread out and mixed to form the bulge billions of years ago. It's like a lump in an otherwise well-mixed cake batter.
"Webb's new near-infrared observations, cross-referenced with Hubble's archival observations, have given us a much clearer picture of the history of Terzan 5," said Giorgia Zullo, who led the research and is a Ph.D. student at the University of Bologna in Italy.
These results were presented at a press conference Tuesday at the 248th meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Pasadena and were published in Astronomy & Astrophysics.
Peering through the thick dust clouds of our galaxy’s central parts (the “bulge”) with an amazing amount of detail, a team of astronomers has revealed an unusual mix of stars in the stellar grouping known as Terzan 5. Never observed anywhere in the bulge before, this peculiar cocktail of stars suggests that Terzan 5 is in fact one of the bulge’s primordial building blocks, most likely the relic of a proto-galaxy that merged with the Milky Way during its very early days.
This video zooms in onto the cluster, starting from a wide view of the central parts of our home galaxy, and finishing with an amazing near-infrared image obtained with the Multi-conjugate Adaptive Optics Demonstrator (MAD) instrument on ESO’s Very Large Telescope.
Discovered in 1968 by astronomer Agop Terzan, Terzan 5 resembles a globular cluster in many ways. However, in 2009, this system was discovered to harbor two distinct populations of stars. In 2016, Hubble provided the first estimate of their ages, showing that one formed roughly 12 billion years ago—as the Milky Way itself was assembling—and the other about 5 billion years ago, just before Earth started forming. This pointed to a more complex history than a typical globular cluster.
Studying Terzan 5 is complicated by its location in a region of our galaxy crowded with stars and heavily obscured by dust. This is where Webb stepped in. Its infrared view allowed the research team to peer through the dust and catalog many more stars, and fainter stars, than previous work. By measuring star colors and brightness, astronomers can classify them into populations of different ages and chemistries.
Webb was able to measure these key properties for every star within the field of view in the sky—both stars within Terzan 5 and unrelated foreground stars. To isolate the stars of Terzan 5, the team relied on the power and longevity of Hubble. The 12-year separation allowed the team to measure very small movements of individual stars, known as proper motions, to determine which stars belong to Terzan 5 and which are part of the Milky Way bulge.
By combining data from both Webb and Hubble, the researchers found strong evidence for two more stellar populations, one that formed 3.8 billion years ago and another only 2.5 billion years ago. They were also able to determine the ages of the previously known stellar populations with unprecedented precision, finding that they formed 12.5 billion and 4.7 billion years ago.
With the previously known two generations of stars, astronomers could not rule out the possibility that Terzan 5 interacted with another object, like a globular cluster or a giant molecular cloud, becoming enriched with new gas and dust that set off a second round of star formation. With four stellar generations, those explanations are ruled out.
Measurements of the stellar composition of Terzan 5 populations made at the W. M. Keck Observatory and European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope also point to very distinct populations.
"Along with the ages of these populations, the cluster preserves a fossil record of progressive enrichment of heavy elements by supernovae," said co-author R. Michael Rich, a research astronomer at the University of California, Los Angeles.
Terzan 5 formed multiple generations of stars because it was able to retain the necessary raw materials. There is evidence of powerful supernova explosions in Terzan 5 that forged heavier elements that were swept up by subsequent generations of stars. In lightweight systems, the force of the explosions themselves could have ejected the resulting elements as well as swept out leftover gas and dust. The progenitor of Terzan 5 had enough mass to retain those stars' ejections, allowing new generations of stars to form over billions of years.
Feds left baffled by sighting of ‘orbs launching other orbs’ in western US, new UFO files reveal
WASHINGTON — A series of UFO sightings by federal officials in the western US is detailed in striking illustrations made public by the War Department Friday.
The artist renderings of the encounters “near a sensitive national security site” over a two-day period in October 2023 were released as part of the third drop of UFO files by the Trump administration.
A June 5 summary report by the Pentagon’s All-Domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) describes what the agents saw as “orbs launching other orbs,” including “a luminous orange ‘mother orb’ appear[ing] to produce smaller red ‘orbs,’ one after another, multiple times over a period of several hours.
“Reporters described the orange ‘mother orbs’ as appearing for one or two seconds, releasing a cluster of two to four red ‘orbs,’ and subsequently disappearing,” the summary added. “The reporters characterized the behavior of the red ‘orbs’ as anomalous, describing varied kinematic profiles including seemingly coordinated horizontal motion and apparent changes in altitude.”
The summary assessed that what the agents saw was “sufficiently anomalous to warrant continued investigation” — but noted that they”did not collect video footage, photographic imagery, or other technical data during the incident.”
Subsequent FBI interviews noted the incident took place over Cheyenne Mountain near Colorado Springs, Colo.
One “brilliant and beautiful” red sphere appeared to be one meter (just over three feet) in diameter, according to two observers who spoke with a bureau agent about the encounter.
Neither witness said they had “seen anything that color of red before” and added that its center glowed like a “‘white plasma sun’ about the size of a basketball,” the forensic sketch noted.
AARO listed plausible explanations for the phenomena, including that it may have been a military aircraft dispensing flares, and added the witnesses’ accounts “align with those of certain US military technologies.”
Theories deemed less likely included whether the objects were the result of military aircraft exhaust (which was ruled out); an unmanned aerial vehicle (discounted due to the “loitering” nature of the orbs); or some kind of foreign intelligence activity (considered highly unlikely given the known capacities of US adversaries), per AARO’s report.
Meteorological, atmospheric, and space-based anomalies were also considered but determined to be unlikely.
In February, President Trump announced that he would order Secretary of War Pete Hegseth as well as other department heads, to identify and release government files related to UFOs and aliens, calling the disclosures “highly complex, but extremely interesting and important.”
Dr. Steven Greer’s Strange Claim About Time Travelers From 500,000 Years in the Future
Dr. Steven Greer made a strange and powerful claim while speaking with Alex Jones. He said that some beings connected to UFO encounters may not be aliens from another planet. According to him, some of them could be humans from the far future.
Greer claimed that in the 1980s, U.S. military personnel met beings who said they were descendants of humanity from 500,000 years in the future. He described them as tall, luminous white beings who were highly evolved, spiritual, and capable of moving through the shell of a craft.
This is an extraordinary claim, and it should be treated as a claim, not as proven fact. But it becomes more interesting when it is compared with the older Rendlesham Forest UFO case, where some witnesses also later suggested that the visitors may not have been extraterrestrials in the normal sense. They may have been connected to humanity’s future.
Greer says that if advanced aliens wanted to kill humans, they would not need to fight us like people fight wars on Earth. A civilization that can travel between stars would likely have technology far beyond anything humans understand today.
In his view, if such technology were weaponized, humanity could be destroyed almost instantly. He talks about interstellar technology and quantum-level technology, and says that if beings with that level of power wanted us gone, it could happen in a nanosecond.
Because that has not happened, Greer believes these beings are not hostile. He argues that they are peaceful and concerned about what humans are doing to Earth and to each other. He thinks they are not here to invade us, but to warn us.
Greer also says Earth is a beautiful part of creation. In his view, humanity is not some meaningless accident. Humans may have a larger role in the universe, and Earth may be important not only to us, but also to other advanced intelligences.
Then he goes even further. He says some of these beings may be our own descendants. In other words, they are not coming from a distant star system, but from Earth’s future.
According to Greer, these future humans came back because their own existence is in danger. If modern humans destroy civilization through nuclear war, environmental destruction, or endless conflict, then the future timeline that produced those beings may never happen.
This is where Greer connects his claim to the Rendlesham Forest incident, one of the most famous UFO cases in modern history.
The Rendlesham Forest incident happened in late December 1980 near RAF Woodbridge and RAF Bentwaters in Suffolk, England. At the time, these were military bases used by the United States Air Force. The case is often called “Britain’s Roswell” because it involved trained military witnesses, strange lights, alleged physical traces, official documents, and decades of debate.
The basic story begins when U.S. Air Force personnel reported strange lights near the forest. Airman First Class John Burroughs was one of the first men connected to the sighting. He and others saw unusual lights near the East Gate area and went to investigate.
At first, the men thought they might be dealing with a crashed aircraft. That would make sense from a military point of view. They were not expecting a “UFO encounter.” They were responding to something strange near a sensitive military area.
Staff Sergeant Jim Penniston later became one of the most important witnesses in the case. He claimed he went into the forest and came close to a triangular craft. According to his later account, the object was not like any normal aircraft. It had no wings, no visible engine, no ordinary landing gear, and no clear method of propulsion.
Penniston said the craft looked dark, smooth, and solid. He described strange symbols on its surface, which he said reminded him of ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs. He also claimed he was close enough to touch it.
That detail became one of the strongest parts of the Rendlesham legend. Penniston did not just say he saw lights in the sky. He later said he touched a physical object.
According to his account, the surface felt smooth and warm. He also said that when he touched the craft, something happened to his mind. He felt as if information had been placed inside him.
The next day, Penniston said he felt compelled to write down a long series of ones and zeros. Years later, this became known as the Rendlesham binary code. A computer programmer reportedly translated the numbers, and one of the messages was said to include the phrase “origin year 8100.”
This is one reason the future-human theory became attached to Rendlesham. If the “origin year” was 8100, some people wondered if the craft was not from another planet, but from another time.
Penniston later said something even more striking. In a History Channel discussion, he suggested the visitors were not aliens. He said, “They were us.”
That short statement is very important for understanding why Greer’s new claim catches attention. Greer says luminous beings told military personnel they were our descendants from 500,000 years in the future. Penniston’s later claim is not exactly the same, but it points in the same general direction. Both ideas suggest that at least some UFO encounters may involve future humans, not extraterrestrials.
In Penniston’s version, the visitors may have been time travelers trying to correct something from Earth’s past. In Greer’s version, they came to warn us not to destroy the future through nuclear war and global destruction.
Greer’s version adds another dramatic layer. He says that senior U.S. military and Air Force personnel at Rendlesham encountered very tall glowing white beings. He says these beings moved through the shell of a black pyramid-shaped craft, as if solid material did not stop them.
He describes the craft as black and pyramid-shaped, almost like black onyx. He says the beings communicated with the military people and told them they were humans from 500,000 years in the future.
Their message, according to Greer, was simple and terrifying. If humanity continues on the path of nuclear war, endless war, and planetary destruction, then those future descendants will not exist.
This means the warning was not only about saving us. It was also about saving them. If we destroy ourselves now, their future disappears.
This idea sounds like science fiction, but it is not new in UFO lore. There have long been theories that some UFOs may be connected to time travel, parallel realities, or future versions of humanity. Rendlesham is one of the rare cases where this idea became connected to named military witnesses.
Still, it is important to be careful. The strongest public records of Rendlesham do not clearly prove Greer’s full version about tall luminous beings from 500,000 years in the future. The official records support that strange lights were reported, that U.S. Air Force personnel investigated, and that the case became serious enough to be written up by Lt. Col. Charles Halt.
Halt was the deputy base commander. He later wrote a memo titled “Unexplained Lights.” That memo is one of the main official documents connected to the case. It did not prove aliens, but it did show that the incident was not just a campfire story told by random people.
Halt also went into the forest with others after the first events. He reportedly took radiation readings and recorded audio while investigating the area. The Halt tape, as it is often called, became another famous part of the case.
Witnesses said they found marks on the ground, broken branches, and possible burn marks. Some accounts describe round impressions in the soil, as if something heavy had rested there. There were also claims of unusual radiation readings in the area.
John Burroughs later said there was missing time connected to the incident. According to accounts, he and others were unaccounted for, and their watches were reportedly behind by about 45 minutes. Some witnesses also described strange silence, difficulty moving, and a feeling that time itself was behaving oddly.
That time-distortion angle matters because it fits the larger idea of a craft connected to time travel. If witnesses felt time slowing down or experienced missing time, believers argue that this may point to technology affecting time or perception.
But skeptics have other explanations. They have suggested that the lights may have been caused by a lighthouse, bright stars, a meteor, military activity, or confusion in the dark forest. Some also argue that later details, like the binary code and time-travel ideas, came years after the original reports and should be treated with caution.
This is where the case becomes complicated. Rendlesham is not a simple story. The early reports, later witness memories, official documents, media interviews, books, and theories do not always match perfectly.
For example, Penniston’s later story about touching a triangular craft and receiving binary code is much more detailed than some earlier public records. That does not automatically mean he invented it, but it does mean readers should understand the difference between the early documented case and the later expanded testimony.
Nick Pope, who worked for the UK Ministry of Defence on UFO files, has called Rendlesham one of the most compelling UFO cases because it involved military witnesses, physical evidence claims, and official documents. But even Pope’s interest in the case does not prove that the beings were future humans. It only shows that the case has enough serious elements to deserve attention.
Another strange part of the case is John Burroughs’ later health battle. Burroughs said he suffered health problems after the incident and believed he had been exposed to something harmful. His medical records reportedly became difficult to access, and he later fought for treatment through official channels.
Greer’s claim is therefore best understood as one layer added to a much older mystery. Rendlesham already had strange lights, military witnesses, a reported craft, ground marks, radiation claims, missing time, and the binary-code story. Greer adds the claim that beings at the site directly told senior military people they were future humans.
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That is the most extraordinary part, and also the hardest part to verify.
The future-human idea is powerful because it gives the UFO mystery a different meaning. If these beings are aliens, then they may be outsiders studying Earth. But if they are future humans, then they are family. They are what humanity could become if it survives.
That makes their warning more emotional. They are not just saying, “Do not destroy your planet.” They are saying, “Do not destroy us before we are born.”
Greer’s message also fits a theme often found in UFO stories, especially around nuclear weapons. Many witnesses and researchers have claimed that UFOs often appear near nuclear bases, missile sites, or places connected to military power. In this view, advanced beings are worried that humans have developed weapons before developing enough wisdom to use them responsibly.
Rendlesham happened during the Cold War. The world was still living under the fear of nuclear conflict between the United States and the Soviet Union. If any advanced intelligence were watching Earth, nuclear weapons would be one of the most obvious dangers.
This is why Greer’s claim has a spiritual and moral side. He is not only talking about technology. He is saying humanity must change its direction. The real danger, in his view, is not aliens. The real danger is human violence, secrecy, and self-destruction.
What if they are not here to conquer Earth, but to make sure Earth survives long enough to create them?
The Pentagon Just Released Its Third Batch of UAP Files—What Have We Learned from the PURSUE Releases So Far?
A disc-like object observed producing “beams” while it hovered above an airport in Zimbabwe in 2008, an object resembling a flying “potato” over the Cheyenne Mountains in 2022, and alleged “orbs” observed by U.S. personnel are all among the sightings included in the Pentagon’s latest release of files related to UAP encounters.
The documents, which appeared on the Department of War’s website on Friday, are just the latest in a series of rolling releases by the Pentagon under the Trump Administration.
“As the unprecedented levels of interest in both this topic and the Trump administration’s historic transparency effort continue, WAR.GOV/UFO has received over 1.7 billion hits worldwide since the site’s launch on May 8, 2026,” read a statement provided by Assistant to the Secretary of War for Public Affairs and Chief Pentagon Spokesman Sean Parnell that accompanied Friday’s release.
“The Department of War and our agency partners are actively working on the next release of UAP files,” Parnell added.
However, as more videos and documents continue to surface, a fundamental question arises: what, if anything, do they reveal about UAP, and how the United States intelligence community collects and processes information about these objects, whatever their origins may be?
Within the latest batch of files from what the Pentagon characterizes as the Presidential Unsealing and Reporting System for UAP Encounters (PURSUE), a previously unreleased file from the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) describes an unusual observation of an object that reportedly hovered above the Harare International Airport in Zimbabwe in 2008.
“Individuals debated if the sighting was an advanced reconnaissance device of a foreign government or of extraterrestrial origins,” a short description provided with the document states. Although no video or other supplemental data is provided, the written account that the document contains, which features partial redactions, states that observers described a “disc-like” object possessing a hollow center and “a series of rotating lights on the underside of the airframe.” As the lighting shifted colors, the object reportedly ascended quickly and was soon out of sight.
“Regardless of the origins,” the document states, the incident reportedly “resulted in the decision to place the Zimbabwe [redacted] on high alert.”
Another series of documents describes an observation of an object shaped like a “potato” that was seen near Colorado Springs in 2024.
Witnesses at the time described seeing “distinct edges” on the object, which “appeared to look painted in a creamy/whitish opalescent color.”
“It was somewhat translucent with a slight shimmer,” the report states. “The object was made up of what can best be described as articulating fish scales or panels that were non-symmetrical, non-overlapping, and irregular shaped. The object itself was perfectly still but each panel on the object shifted in slow waves starting at different points of origin but at the same time.”
According to an assessment of the sighting by the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office, which currently leads the Pentagon’s investigations into UAP, “Analysis possibly indicates that the positioning on the sun in relation to Cheyenne Mountain would allow for backscattering of sunlight reflecting off snow-covered ground.”
In a posting on his X account, prominent skeptic Mick West noted that in advance of the Pentagon’s second PURSUE release, “ufologists (myself included) were hopeful we’d get some amazing evidence.”
“All 46 videos have been released,” West wrote. “None of them are amazing. Maybe it’s time to consider that this might be the best they have.”
Whether or not the videos we’ve now seen are indeed among the best examples of UAP in the Pentagon’s holdings, West isn’t wrong to point out the obvious: the current examples the Pentagon has provided fail to establish that there is anything truly extraordinary about the objects these videos convey.
West places himself in the commendable position of being among the hopeful “ufologists” that he says are eager to see better data on these phenomena. I can affirm that this author is among those ranks as well, having followed the subject for decades; beyond that, and reporting on the subject for The Debrief, I have also managed an independent UAP sightings reporting website for the last two years, as a self-funded citizen science effort to collect data on possible UAP observations and make it freely available to the public. Unlike a few similar sites and apps that crowd-source data on possible UAP sightings, I also work to assess the data and resolve cases whenever enough information has been provided to make that feasible.
Like West would probably also tell you, I can confirm that the majority of UAP sightings have prosaic explanations, which can often be determined using resources that include weather data, aviation tracking sites, astronomical software, rocket launch data, and other online resources that are generally free to the public. After attempting to resolve UAP sighting reports, there is, however, a residuum of unresolved cases that remain intriguing.
Assessing UAP videos in this way, in order to determine whether they document real anomalous phenomena or simply misidentifications of known objects, often carries a very negative stigma, partially because it has an equally negative term attached to it: “debunking.” The negative association here is unfortunate, since the careful study and interpretation of purported UAP imagery and, when warranted by evidence, its classification as either misidentified known phenomena or genuine unresolved cases, is one of the most beneficial ways we can work toward advancing our understanding of the UAP issue.
Equally unfortunate is the fact that, all too often, what we get instead when it comes to UAP releases is just the opposite: imagery and other data (sometimes including official U.S. government materials released through unauthorized channels) that have undergone virtually no assessment, and which feature scant accompanying details required to help contextualize the sightings.
What we are left with are usually blurry videos and images of objects that end up seeing wide circulation, often with the help of the most ardent promoters of UAP (many of whom also happen to be equally skilled at self-promotion). Beyond making a poor case for the legitimate study of UAP, such instances invite criticism—although not so much from the hopeful, skeptically-minded “ufologists” genuinely interested in viewing quality UAP data. Rather, the most frequent attacks originate from ideological, self-branded “skeptics” whose real focus appears to be aimed at superficially undermining the topic and its proponents using rhetoric heavily dipped in ad hominem, all as a means of driving engagement through their social media accounts.
Who can really blame them? Such high-traffic social media engagement can reportedly be quite profitable these days, and let’s face it: few among the most active voices in the online UAP fracas these days appear to be above engaging in a bit of good old-fashioned grifting—including the ones who often complain the loudest when they see others doing it.
Fundamentally, though, none of this helps to advance our knowledge about UAP. Answers to questions about what these objects are, as well as what they aren’t, and whether any good evidence exists for truly “anomalous” behaviors often associated with these objects by those who witness them, remain void from such contentious prattling—just as it apparently remains absent from the vast majority of the new records released by the Pentagon.
However, that isn’t to say there aren’t at least a few intriguing data points that have emerged from the recent releases.
In the second batch of videos released by the Department of War, one potentially intriguing example of an unidentified flying object seems to have gone mostly overlooked.
The case involves imagery from the holdings of the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office that was originally captured on April 12, 2021. Labeled “Spherical UAP [CALLSIGN] 2021/04/12 vid 0,” the footage, according to details provided at the time of its release, “is likely derived from a full-motion video camera and an infrared sensor aboard a U.S. military platform operating within the United States Central Command area of responsibility in 2021. A user uploaded this video to a classified network in June 2024.”
According to a short description provided by the Department of War, “An area of contrast enters the sensor field-of-view from the upper right corner of the frame, exiting in the bottom right corner of the screen. The sensor pans to track the area of contrast, centering it within the sensor field-of-view.”
“The sensor changes modes as the area of contrast becomes indistinct against the background,” the summary concludes.
However, viewing the footage reveals something slightly more intriguing than this description alone conveys. The footage appears to show a small, light-colored object moving above a rugged desert terrain, presumably somewhere in the Middle East. As the object is being filmed using the electro-optical system on board a United States military drone, at one point, the object can be seen as it begins to descend in altitude, an elevation change made apparent by the shadow the object casts against the terrain below it (as can be seen in the still frame from the footage featured below). At this point, the object engages in a sudden change in direction and appears to enter a shadowed area of the landscape, at which time its brightness (seemingly due to reflectivity of its surface) is significantly diminished by the surrounding shadow, and the object becomes indiscernible.
The most intriguing aspect of this behavior is the object’s apparent movement into what we might interpret as a position of concealment. In doing so, the object not only appears to “hide,” but it also demonstrates an obvious change in direction that is suggestive of controlled motion. This is significant for a few reasons: one is that in many purported UAP videos, a phenomenon known as the parallax effect can (and often does) lead to an optical illusion where a slow-moving or even stationary object can have the appearance of moving. This illusion is caused by differences in relative speed between objects closer to the camera and those further distant, causing any closer objects to appear to be moving faster than those in the background (a good explainer on parallax effect and its relationship to UAP sightings can be read here, made available at the website of the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office).
In the case of the “Spherical UAP” featured in the video from the second PURSUE release, perhaps some degree of motion parallax cannot be ruled out. However, the object’s descent just before changing direction and entering the rugged portion of terrain cast in shadow appears to clearly demonstrate in this case that the object is engaged in movement, which equally appears to convey intelligent control. Finally, an interpretation that the object may be taking a position of concealment, if correct, may indicate that the object and/or its operators had been aware that it was being observed.
Does anything conveyed in this video offer proof of extraterrestrial technology? Absolutely not. Are there any obvious signs of extraordinary capabilities being demonstrated by this object? No, there aren’t. What this video does demonstrate, however, is footage of an object that appears to be engaged in behaviors that clearly show movement beyond the capabilities of most simple balloons, and one that may fit the general description of objects the Pentagon’s All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office has characterized as its general “target” description for UAP it investigates (more on that in a moment).
In the case of the DOW-UAP-PR061, “Spherical UAP [CALLSIGN] 2021/04/12 vid 0” footage, the object not only demonstrates changes in its direction of motion, but also appears to conceal itself. Obviously, a better interpretation than “balloon” in this instance might be some kind of unmanned aerial system, although what limited information the footage conveys is simply too indistinct to be able to tell. Altogether, it simply remains “unidentified” in the purest sense: some kind of object engaging in what appears to be controlled flight, while not exhibiting any otherwise extraordinary capabilities.
However, all of this raises another important question about UAP reports: why do we always have to assume that an object must display “otherworldly” or otherwise extraordinary capabilities for it to qualify as a “genuine” UAP?
Another intriguing phenomenon related to the recent release of UAP information by the Pentagon involves the similarity in responses to these releases from both UAP advocates and UAP skeptics.
Some proponents of genuine anomalous UAP have expressed frustration over the Department of War’s release of several dozens of videos, all of which fail to reveal any “classic” UFO shapes like flying saucers or giant black triangles, nor any confirmation of extraterrestrial technologies detailed in the troves of formerly classified documents included with the releases.
Meanwhile, skeptics essentially argue the same thing: so far, these videos show nothing particularly remarkable, and clearly fail to prove that extraterrestrials have visited Earth.
In short, the fundamental premise of most “believers” and “skeptics” appears to be the same: “UAPs either must represent evidence of extraterrestrials, or else they are unimportant.”
This premise fails to acknowledge several important issues, such as 1) that many ideas about how UAP are supposed to look and behave are based on presumptions about how we expect any technologies produced by extraterrestrials advanced enough to traverse interstellar distances would appear to us, 2) that UAP could still represent a genuine mystery, even if they aren’t evidence of extraterrestrial technologies, and 3) that even if most UAP turned out to be technologies of earthly origin, they could still represent a security concern, and hence warrant U.S. government investigation.
Clearly, it should be acknowledged that there is also witness testimony—some of it quite compelling—that describes unusual characteristics associated with UAP, such as extreme acceleration, erratic movement, exceptional agility/maneuverability, environmental effects, and other capabilities which could only be characterized as “anomalous.” Such descriptions are also part of what informs many of our expectations about how UAPs are supposed to behave. However, it is important to recognize that just because such eyewitness descriptions exist, it does not necessarily mean that we can—or should—attribute such capabilities to all UAP observations, and thereby use such presumptions as a gauge for their credibility on a case-by-case basis.
A careful review of resources made available by the Pentagon’s All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) helps to shed further light on the attributes of what it characterizes as UAP.
A page dedicated to education and resources at AARO’s website lists a small collection of studies detailing current state-of-the-art technologies related to spherical drones, novel propulsion systems, and other technologies, which it says represent “advanced propulsion systems that are consistent with UAP observations.” The obvious implication of providing such resources involves the consideration that at least some UAP appear to operate in ways consistent with known earthly technologies, albeit ones that are still in their emergent stages.
AARO also gives us the following definition of UAP, according to an AARO Mission Brief featured at its website: “Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP) are sources of anomalous detections in one or more domains (i.e., airborne, seaborne, spaceborne, and/or transmedium) that are not yet attributable to known actors and that demonstrate behaviors that are not readily understood by sensors or observers.”
The brief goes on to define “anomalous detections” as “phenomena appearing to demonstrate capabilities or material properties exceeding the known state-of-the-art,” adding that UAP “may consist of one or more objects and may persist over an extended period,” are mainly “attributable to domain-awareness gaps, and in at least some cases “may represent advanced capabilities operating in domain awareness gaps.”
The AARO Mission Brief also separates the misidentification of known objects such as balloons and drones, as well as developmental or experimental platforms, from “genuine” UAP, which it clearly defines as AARO’s designated mission area.
According to past information produced by AARO under the tenure of its inaugural director, Dr. Sean Kirkpatrick, typically reported UAP characteristics include appearances of generally round objects roughly 1-4 meters in size, possessing white, silver, or translucent coloration. Performance altitudes, on average, fall within 10,000 to 30,000 feet, and velocities of the objects range from hovering in a stationary position to movement at speeds of up to Mach 2 (1534.54 miles per hour).
Above: Table featuring commonly attributed UAP characteristics based on AARO data available in 2023
(Image Credit: U.S. Department of War/All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office).
Despite such capabilities, no kind of thermal exhaust has been associated with these objects, and their propulsion systems remain unknown. Additional signatures associated with such genuinely anomalous UAP, according to AARO, include “intermittent, X-Band (8-12 GHz)” radar, as well as radio frequency emissions in the 1-3 GHz and 8-12 GHZ ranges. While no thermal exhaust evidencing propulsion is evident, intermittent shortwave infrared and medium-wave infrared thermal signatures are occasionally detectable.
“That’s what we’re looking for and trying to understand what that is,” Kirkpatrick told U.S. Senators during an April 2023 hearing that first revealed the AARO technical data described above.
Given the specificity of such technical information (all of which, as cited above, relates to AARO materials produced in 2023 during its early period in operation), one must wonder how such details could be derived from any of the videos or other materials the Department of War has released under the recent PURSUE initiative.
GLEN KEOGH: Will Trump’s family connection to UFO obsessed geek Gary McKinnon finally free him from threat of a US supermax prison
It would be fair to say that President Donald Trump has a lot on his plate, not least the wars in Iran and Ukraine and the looming midterm elections later this year.
Despite this, however, Mr Trump has devoted at least some of his time to matters much further afield. From different galaxies.
With the President’s blessing, the Pentagon has released hundreds of previously secret files on Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP) – better known as UFOs – from the likes of Nasa and the CIA.
They include videos purporting to show unknown flying objects in destinations from the Persian Gulf to Syria – including a suspected UFO being destroyed in gunfire.
There are grainy black-and-white images and videos of suspected alien phenomena stretching back decades.
One ‘senior US intelligence officer’ said he witnessed ‘orange orbs flaring up and down’ from a military helicopter last year after inspecting a suspected UFO site in the western United States. ‘They were oval-shaped, orange with a white or yellow centre, and emitted light in all directions,’ the officer noted in the declassified files.
A state department cable from the US embassy in Tajikistan in 1994 detailed how one Tajik pilot and three Americans witnessed a brightly lit UAP ‘making 90-degree turns, doing corkscrews and manoeuvring in circles at great rates of speed’.
Watching all this unfold almost 4,000 miles away from his home near Leicester, was one Gary McKinnon.
Gary McKinnon in 2009 with mum Janis, who passed died from cancer in March
Twenty-four years have passed since Mr McKinnon was arrested in a north London flat by officers from the now-defunct National Hi-Tech Crime Unit
Twenty-four years have passed since Mr McKinnon, then a 36-year-old computer geek with an interest in UFOs bordering on the obsessive, was arrested in a north London flat by officers from the now-defunct National Hi-Tech Crime Unit.
Handcuffed in his pyjamas at dawn, the unemployed programmer suspected why the squad searching the property might be there – but reasoned that if he had committed a crime, it was deserving of little more than a slap on the wrist.
In the months before the police showed up, Mr McKinnon, who has autism (formerly known as Asperger’s syndrome), had been spending 12 hours each day looking for ‘proof’ of extraterrestrial life on the internet – then in its infancy – in the kitchen of a flat in Crouch End belonging to his then girlfriend’s aunt.
Using the codename ‘Solo’, he had decided the best way to find evidence of UFOs was ‘from the horse’s mouth’, he told me in his first newspaper interview for years. So he hacked into dozens of Nasa and military computers in what the US authorities would later brand ‘the biggest military computer hack of all time’.
It wasn’t the typical work of a cyber terrorist: Mr McKinnon was on a cheap desktop computer, and found that many of the supposedly elite databases used easily breakable codes – like ‘password’ as the computer password – allowing him to infiltrate the devices. ‘It wasn’t particularly clever,’ he recalls. Indeed, as a 1970s classic rock fan and something of a hippy, his UFO ‘research’ while hunched over the monitor on his kitchen table would often be accompanied by a beer and marijuana ‘joint’.
Yes, he did wrong – but master villain he was not.
That did not stop the US Justice Department indicting him on eight counts of computer-related crimes and accusing him of more than £370,000 worth of damage to their military systems as he looked for evidence of little green men between February 2001 and March 2002.
Rather than six months’ community service, as Mr McKinnon had been warned he might receive if prosecuted in the UK, he was now facing extradition to America and up to 70 years in a US supermax prison.
That this all took place against the backdrop of 9/11 only made matters worse, as he was accused of using the cover of UFO-hunting for more nefarious activities at a time when the terror threat was at a critical level.
Mr McKinnon was, at the very least, naive. He used his own email address and left digital ‘notes’ on the US systems warning them that their ‘security was crap’ or, more unwisely, ‘I am Solo and I will continue to disrupt at the highest levels’.
What followed was a ten-year diplomatic row after successive British Home Secretaries refused to block Mr McKinnon’s extradition. In 2005, as the process rumbled on, he was arrested on the street in London and whisked by police to Brixton Prison.
He became a cause celebre, with the US attempting to make an example of him after he had exposed its lax military cybersecurity. His supporters insisted he had not caused any real damage and his autism was not being properly considered. ‘They were the big bully in the playground,’ Mr McKinnon, now 60, says of the US’s conduct back then.
Sir Keir Starmer, then Director of Public Prosecutions, backed sending him to the US, according to Mr McKinnon’s late mother.
It was only after countless High Court hearings and high-profile campaigns – spearheaded by the Daily Mail – and the backing of MPs and musicians such as Sting and Pink Floyd’s David Gilmour, that Mr McKinnon was finally spared extradition in 2012 on the orders of then Home Secretary Theresa May. It was then decided he would not be prosecuted in the UK, either.
Now, Mr McKinnon’s story is set to grip the public once more with a television dramatisation of his life in the pipeline based on the memoir of his beloved mother, Janis Sharp, who was so prominent in the campaign to free her son and sadly died from cancer in March.
Even now, 14 years after he was finally told he would not be extradited to the US, the Daily Mail can reveal that Mr McKinnon continues to be punished by his harrowing ordeal – today, he still cannot leave England or Wales for fear of arrest.
Should he set foot in a foreign jurisdiction, he risks immediate extradition to the States and prosecution. He could not even go to his father’s 2016 funeral in Scotland, where Mr McKinnon was born. As his lawyers pointed out, the Scottish legal system is different and could facilitate extradition. His mum, in her book Saving Gary McKinnon: A Mother’s Story, said the threat of extradition hangs over him ‘like the sword of Damocles’.
So how does he feel today given that Mr Trump has now released the very information he was searching for, supposedly in the interests of ‘transparency’? ‘I guess it does [vindicate me],’ he says. ‘It proves that they’ve known about them [UFOs] for a long time, but I already knew that.’
Mr McKinnon, pictured aged 6, believes he and the President may be distantly related
He believes the US pursued him with such fervour because, in the wake of 9/11, they ‘needed a poster boy . . . and I almost offered myself up.’ But shouldn’t the US now drop its threat of arrest? ‘I would love to be able to travel abroad,’ Mr McKinnon replies. ‘It’s up to the President. He does seem unpredictable but he might be supportive.’
In an unusual twist, Mr McKinnon believes the President may have another reason for coming to his assistance: the two could be distantly related. Mr McKinnon’s grandfather, Donald MacLeod, was born in Stornoway on the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland.
Mr Trump’s mother Mary had the same surname of MacLeod and was born just four miles from Stornoway in the village of Tong. A coincidence? Perhaps.
The psychological scars from Mr McKinnon’s ordeal continue to run deep. ‘I was very depressed for a long time,’ he says. ‘It modifies your behaviour. It makes you more withdrawn. It took me a while to get out of that but I’m OK now.’
He admits to being less obsessed with the extraterrestrial today than he used to be.
For a number of years, he has run his own internet search engine optimisation company, helping businesses gain prominence on Google. Does his infamous background help or hinder him?
‘Some customers are aware of my background but I never mention it,’ he says. ‘They say: “If you can get into the Pentagon, you can probably help with my website!” ’
He has also set up his own store on Etsy selling handmade and quirkily hand-painted vases and coasters, under the name Fablicious.
Today, he is a man content, living a quiet life with his long-term partner Lucy, away from the glare of the media spotlight which followed him for a decade.
Surely, Mr Trump, the time has come to remove the threat of arrest and prosecution from your fellow UFO enthusiast?
CIA-UAP-017 Cable Reveals 2008 Harare Airport UFO Sighting
The CIA placed assets on high alert in 2008 after a UAP hovered over Harare International Airport, according to a newly declassified PURSUE cable.
A recently declassified document, known as the CIA-UAP-017 cable, has shed new light on a significant aerial encounter at Zimbabwe’s primary aviation hub. Released as part of the PURSUE (Presidential Unsealing and Reporting System for UAP Encounters) program, the record details a Zimbabwe 2008 UAP sighting that occurred on July 2, 2008, at what is now known as Robert Mugabe International Airport. The document reveals that the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) placed its regional assets on high alert following reports of an unidentified craft hovering at an undetermined altitude directly over the facility.
According to the Department of War PURSUE Release 03, which included 72 UAP-related files declassified on June 12, 2026, observers described the object as disc-like with a hollow center and rotating lights on its underside. The cable notes that the object emitted beams before shifting colors and ascending rapidly out of visual range. This incident triggered an intense internal debate among intelligence officials regarding whether the craft represented an advanced reconnaissance device from a foreign government or an unexplained phenomenon of unknown origin.
The disclosure of the Harare International Airport UFO sighting highlights a broader shift in how aviation authorities handle anomalous aerial activity. Under the current February 2026 UAP Declassification Directive, the U.S. government has mandated a more transparent approach to historical airspace incursions. This policy shift is reflected in modern FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) guidelines, such as Notice JO 7210.970 / JO 7110.800, which formalize the reporting process for air traffic controllers. These protocols ensure that unidentified targets are escalated to the National Tactical Security Operations (NTSO) and the AARO (All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office) to maintain safety in controlled airspace.
The 2008 event bears a thematic resemblance to the 1994 Ariel School UFO incident, where 62 students in Ruwa, Zimbabwe, reported a close encounter with a silver craft. While skeptical investigators have argued that the school incident may be attributed to mass psychogenic illness, the persistence of such reports has compelled defense agencies to dedicate resources to the systematic review of historical records. The following table compares the 2008 Harare incident with other notable aviation-related UAP events.
| Metric | 2008 Harare Incident | 2006 O'Hare Incident | 2010 Hangzhou Incident |
|---|---|---|---|
| Primary Location | Harare Airport | O'Hare Airport | Hangzhou Airport |
| Reported Object | Disc-like craft | Metallic disc | Unidentified target |
| Operational Impact | High alert status | None (dismissed) | Grounded flights |
This development indicates a fundamental change in the institutional treatment of UAP data. Historically, incidents like the 2006 O'Hare sighting were often met with regulatory dismissiveness or attribution to meteorological phenomena, such as hole-punch clouds. The current trajectory, driven by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) and the Department of War, suggests that aviation safety is increasingly viewed through the lens of comprehensive airspace awareness. By integrating AARO protocols into standard FAA Orders & Notices, the industry is moving away from the stigmatization of sightings and toward a data-driven model of airspace security. This shift supports the broader goal of characterizing unauthorized incursions—whether they are drones, classified military hardware, or genuine anomalies—to mitigate collision risks and operational disruptions.
The PURSUE UAP files release is expected to continue throughout the remainder of 2026. Defense officials have indicated that further tranches of documents will be processed to address the backlog of intelligence reports. As the Department of War continues its review, stakeholders in civil aviation and defense are tracking the following milestones:
For commercial pilots, air traffic controllers, and airport operators, the formalization of UAP reporting represents a critical step toward reducing professional stigma and enhancing situational awareness. By treating these sightings as legitimate data points rather than anomalies, regulators are better positioned to protect controlled airspace from unauthorized incursions. The transparency mandated by the current administration ensures that the aviation community can rely on a structured, scientific framework to address the complexities of modern airspace management.
UFO over Zimbabwe in summer 2008 had CIA on 'high alert'
Giant potato-shaped UFO sighting revealed in new batch of government files
Rory McKeown | Assistant editor (news)
The truth is out there – and it could be shaped like a vegetable.
A mysterious object resembling a giant floating potato has emerged as one of the stranger potential alien sightings detailed in a new batch of UFO files released by the Trump administration.
The object was reportedly spotted over Cheyenne Mountain in Colorado in February 2022 by an Army intelligence officer and four members of his unit stationed at Fort Carson, according to newly disclosed government documents.
Witnesses said the object was seen hovering motionless above the mountain range on a clear winter morning before apparently changing shape and then disappearing.
‘The witnesses describe the object as roughly the size of a large jet and resembling an angular, non-symmetrical potato made of uneven panels,’ according to the documents.
The reports state that the object ‘was completely stationary about 300-500 feet above’ the mountains but ‘slowly appeared to change shape’ and ‘had a slightly translucent, shimmering white appearance, with defined edges and a milky shimmer that reflected sunlight.’
The object subsequently vanished from view. Two years later, one of the witnesses was interviewed at an FBI field office in New York.
During the meeting, the witness worked with a forensic sketch artist to produce an illustration of the object, which appeared to depict a potato-shaped form floating above a mountainous landscape.
An FBI summary of the interview included additional details. It stated that the sighting occurred at ‘approximately 11:25 am’ and described the object as being ‘made up of what can best be described as articulating fish scales or panels that were non-symmetrical, non-overlapping, and irregular shaped’.
According to the witness account, the object was ‘perfectly still’ while its surface appeared to shift in patterns, with panels moving in ‘slow waves starting at different points of origin but at the same time’.
The documents form part of a wider release of UFO-related records ordered by US president Donald Trump.
Announcing the disclosure programme last month, Mr Trump said previous administrations had ‘failed to be transparent on this subject’.
While the latest sighting has attracted attention for its unusual appearance, it is not the first time a potato-shaped object has featured in UFO reports.
Declassified US Department of Defense records show that in 1950, a witness in the Arkansas town of Piggott reported seeing an object resembling a ‘100-pound sack of potatoes’ drifting at an altitude of about 8,000 feet. An investigator at the time suggested it may have been a balloon.
The newly released files also contain details of another unexplained incident. According to the official report, six federal law enforcement agents observed ‘orbs launching other orbs’ near a sensitive national security site in the western United States over two days in October 2023.
An assessment by the Pentagon’s All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office was unable to reach a definitive conclusion on the sighting – though it did not rule out military testing.
The report stated that ‘the characteristics described in the agents’ narrative account align with those of certain U.S. military technologies’ but that no single system ‘fully accounts for all the phenomena’s reported characteristics.’
Self-proclaimed psychic issues chilling warning after visions of World Cup catastrophe: 'I saw thousands taken'
A self-proclaimed psychic has claimed that an alien invasion is just days away, with thousands of people at risk of being abducted on live television during the World Cup.
Vó Bahiana, a Brazilian spiritualist with over 23 million followers on social media, has made a public prediction that UFOs will descend on the June 24 World Cup match between Brazil and Scotland with hostile intentions.
FIFA World Cup 2026 // Aliens.
(Shutterstock images)
According to Bahiana, she had two dreams this month about the match at the Hard Rock Stadium in Florida's Miami Gardens.
In each, the popular clairvoyant claimed that multiple extraterrestrial craft would approach the stadium, including a giant mothership, and carry away both superstar athletes and fans in the crowd, leading to mass human suffering.
No government, including the US, has ever revealed definitive proof that alien life or UFOs exist. Bahiana also has a spotty history when it comes to making predictions, including an incorrect prediction of a tsunami striking Brazil in 2024.
In an Instagram post translated to English, Bahiana cried as she said: 'I have to tell you that I dreamed again about aliens invading the soccer field in Miami. And I clearly saw the players being carried off by the first ship that arrived.'
'I was inside that ship. When the ship rose, the mothership arrived, a much larger ship, and took in thousands of people from the soccer field. I saw so much screaming, so much crying, so many tears, suffering,' the alleged psychic warned.
Bahiana's claims come amid renewed public interest in UFOs following the release of previously classified government files, although none of the documents provide definitive evidence of extraterrestrial visitors.
Self-proclaimed Brazilian psychic Vó Bahiana was seen weeping as see revealed her vision of a mass alien abduction at the World Cup on June 24
A Brazilian psychic claimed she saw at least two UFOs over Hard Rock Stadium in Florida's Miami Gardens
(Stock Image)
Bahiana has gained a widespread following, especially in her home country, where she claims to have accurately predicted events involving natural disasters, celebrity deaths and political unrest.
Among the predictions her supporters point to are warnings about the devastating floods that affected more than two million people in Brazil's Rio Grande do Sul state, as well as the deaths of musicians Chrystian and João Carneiro.
Her latest vision centers on an alleged alien invasion at the June 24 World Cup match in Miami.
According to Bahiana, monstrous extraterrestrials would emerge from a giant spacecraft hovering above the stadium and use devices resembling enormous mechanical arms to abduct players and spectators.
She also claimed a second craft would arrive carrying so-called 'Reptilians,' a race of alleged extraterrestrials frequently discussed in UFO and conspiracy theory circles.
There is no evidence that Reptilians exist, and claims that they secretly infiltrate governments or human society remain unproven.
'I am very terrified because it is the second time I am dreaming about this,' Bahiana said.
'They are saying that on the 24th, something very bad is about to happen at this game, at this soccer field in Miami.'
She said, "I must tell you that I dreamed again about an alien invasion at the Miami football stadium. I clearly saw players being taken aboard the first ship that arrived. I was inside that ship, and when it ascended, the mothership appeared—a much larger vessel that took in thousands of people from the stadium."
The seer continued with her prediction by saying, "I saw a lot of screaming, crying, tears, and suffering. I must tell you I am very terrified because, well, this is the second time I have dreamed of this. They say that on the 24th (25th Greenwich Mean Time), something very bad will happen at this football match in Miami, United States."
Previously, Fô Bahiana allegedly said two massive spacecraft would arrive at the football match stadium and take players and fans directly from the grass live on cameras.
The Scottish Sun copied the Brazilian seer, who claimed, "I saw a huge spaceship from which aliens emerged, and they began using something like giant arms to pick up players from the field and place them inside the ship. Then a second spaceship appeared, containing creatures I identified as reptiles. Their appearance was terrifying, and they seemed to enjoy watching people, flicking a very large tongue over their lips as if savoring something. These beings captured hundreds of people and took them inside their ship."
Self-proclaimed psychic Vó Bahiana claimed the alien attack she saw in multiple dreams would be carried out by a race known as the Reptilians
More than 250 million are expected to be watching the match featuring Team Brazil (Pictured) on June 24 in Miami
Bahiana did not clarify who she believed was warning that the Florida venue would be unsafe next week.
Security has been heightened for the tournament, as is standard for major international sporting events.
However, the FBI and Department of Homeland Security have said there are currently no credible threats linked to the event.
The details of Bahiana's dreams also resemble predictions attributed to Baba Vanga, a Bulgarian mystic who died in 1996 and is often credited with forecasting major world events.
One prophecy frequently linked to Vanga claims a 'new light in the sky' will appear during a major sporting event watched by millions around the world.
However, many predictions attributed to Vanga were published years after her death and remain impossible to independently verify.
Bahiana claimed thousands of people would be abducted by aliens at the Brazil-Scotland World Cup match on June 24 (Stock Image)
Baba Vanga's visions were never written down and have only been carried on and documented by her family and followers after her death, but this prediction was said to take place by the end of 2025.
Six months later, the World Cup is expected to be viewed by more than five billion people worldwide. The match on June 24 is expected to be one of the most-watched group-stage matches of the tournament because of Brazil's massive global fanbase.
The country's last World Cup game against Morocco was reportedly seen by 250 million people, meaning any type of contact with alien life on the 24th would be a world-changing event seen by people around the globe.
Powerful UFO spotted blasting from a distant black hole
Astronomers have detected one of the most powerful ultra-fast outflows ever seen from a distant supermassive black hole. Using XMM-Newton and NuSTAR, a team studied a hyper-luminous quasar at cosmic noon and found two distinct wind components blasting away from the black hole, details of which are outlined in a paper submitted to the arXiv preprint server on June 3. The study has been submitted to the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics and is currently under minor revision.
Black holes consuming large amounts of material tend to lash out, driving powerful winds of gas outward from the vicinity of the accretion disk. These winds are known as ultra-fast outflows, or UFOs, when they exceed 10% of the speed of light. They are thought to be a key mechanism by which black holes regulate both their own growth and that of their host galaxies. By depositing energy into the surrounding gas, they heat it, slow star formation and can eventually quench the galaxy entirely. This kind of regulation is thought to typically take place during cosmic noon—roughly 1.6 to 3.5 billion years after the Big Bang—when both black holes and galaxies are growing at their peak rates.
UFOs leave their fingerprints in X-ray spectra as absorption features. They create dips caused by highly ionized iron in the outflowing gas absorbing X-rays as they travel toward us. Because the gas is moving outward at a significant fraction of the speed of light, these features appear shifted to higher energies than expected—a blueshift that reveals both the presence and the speed of the wind.
Most previous detections at high redshift relied on gravitationally lensed quasars—objects whose light is magnified by a foreground galaxy, boosting the luminosity. While useful, lensing can introduce some uncertainties.
NGC 3783, as recorded by the Hubble Space Telescope.
(ESA/Hubble & NASA, M. C. Bentz, D. J. V. Rosario)
To study these winds in non-lensed, ordinary quasars, a team led by Giorgio Lanzuisi of INAF Bologna designed a dedicated observing program called WISSHFUL—an XMM-Newton multi-year heritage program targeting 15 hyper-luminous quasars at cosmic noon.
The first target, WISSH13, is a quasar at redshift 3.294, seen as it was roughly 2 billion years after the Big Bang. The central black hole weighs about 2 billion times the sun's mass and is feasting on matter at an exceptional rate, shining about three times brighter than astronomers would normally expect for a black hole of its mass.
In this new study, the team combined XMM-Newton and NuSTAR observations from October 2024 with an archival XMM-Newton observation from 2017 and produced a high-quality X-ray spectrum of WISSH13. It showed two clear absorption features. Modeling showed that these features arise from two different components of the same UFO, traveling at roughly 10% and 30% of the speed of light.
An artist's impression of the colossal eruption.
(ESA)
The slower component was detected in both the 2017 and 2024 observations, suggesting it is a long-lived feature of the system. The faster component appeared only in the newer data, indicating it may be launched in short-lived episodes. "The detection of two distinct velocity components (∼0.1c and ∼0.3c) with different variability patterns suggests a complex, stratified outflow," the team writes.
The researchers explain that the observations are consistent with a layered wind structure predicted by theoretical models, in which a faster "spine" launched from the innermost regions of the accretion disk is surrounded by a slower "sheath" originating farther out.
Together, the two components eject around 21 and 24 solar masses of material per year, respectively. This ranks them among the most massive and powerful UFOs known. This is also the highest-redshift UFO detected from a non-lensed quasar to date.
Interestingly, despite their enormous power, the team found that the winds follow the same scaling relations observed in lower-redshift active galaxies. The team notes that future instruments, particularly the planned NewAthena X-ray observatory, will be able to identify such winds in distant quasars.
Scientists spot powerful UFOs blasting out of a monster black hole
Astronomers have detected the most powerful 'UFOs' ever seen blasting from a supermassive black hole in deep space.
Known as ultra-fast outflows, or UFOs, the streams of superheated gas were recorded racing through the cosmos at up to 670 million mph.
The colossal winds were launched by a black hole that is consuming matter at an extraordinary rate and lies more than 11 billion light-years from Earth. One light year is equal to 5.88 trillion miles.
Scientists said the outflows are so powerful that they can reshape entire galaxies by heating and expelling the gas needed to create new stars.
Over time, these violent blasts can slow or even halt a galaxy's growth altogether.
The discovery was made after researchers used two space telescopes to study a distant quasar known as WISSH13, a monster black hole seen as it existed when the universe was just two billion years old.
They found two separate UFOs erupting from the object, one traveling at 10 percent of the speed of light and another reaching 30 percent - the speed of light is 186,282 miles per second.
Researchers said it ranks among the most extreme black hole winds ever detected and offers a rare glimpse into how galaxies evolved during the universe's most active era.
Astronomers captured two ultra-fast outflows, or UFOs, shooting out of a supermassive black hole
Scientists detected the UFO by spotting unusual dips in X-ray light coming from the quasar.
Those telltale signatures were created when streams of superheated gas rich in ionized iron absorbed some of the X-rays on their journey toward Earth.
Because the gas was racing away from the black hole at a significant fraction of the speed of light, the signals appeared shifted to higher energies, allowing researchers to calculate just how fast the outflow was moving.
Most previous discoveries of these distant UFOs relied on a cosmic magnifying effect known as gravitational lensing, where the light from a quasar is amplified by a galaxy sitting between it and Earth.
While that makes the objects easier to study, it can also introduce uncertainties, making this latest detection particularly significant.
To make the discovery, astronomers combined fresh observations from the XMM-Newton and NuSTAR space telescopes with data collected seven years earlier, creating the most detailed X-ray view yet of the distant quasar known as WISSH13.
Researchers found that the slower outflow appeared in both the 2017 and 2024 observations, suggesting it is a permanent feature of the black hole.
The faster UFO, however, only appeared in the newer data, indicating it may erupt in powerful bursts before disappearing again.
The colossal winds were launched by a black hole that is consuming matter at an extraordinary rate and lies more than 11 billion light-years from Earth
The team believes the black hole is producing a layered wind structure, with a blazing-fast core stream, or 'spine,' surrounded by a slower outer shell known as a 'sheath.'
Together, the two outflows are ejecting the equivalent of more than 40 suns' worth of material every year, making them among the most powerful UFOs ever detected.
Scientists said the discovery marks the most distant UFO ever identified around a non-lensed quasar, offering a rare glimpse into how supermassive black holes shaped galaxies when the universe was still young.
Future observatories are expected to uncover many more of these extreme cosmic winds lurking across the early universe.
Plasmoid Orb Entity Recorded Over Pond, FBI Investigated, 3 File Drop, UFO UAP Paranormal Alien Sighting NewsAstrobotic Unveils Griffin-1 Lunar Lander for NASA Moon Base MissionOn June 15, Pittsburgh-based Astrobotic officially unveiled its next-generation lunar lander Griffin-1. Selected by NASA for the Moon Base II mission, the lander is scheduled to launch aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket in late 2026. CEO John Thornton described it as the first infrastructure-class lander to reach the lunar surface.
Griffin Mission One is targeting a launch no earlier than late 2026 aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket. It is the second lunar mission from Astrobotic, following the Peregrine lander’s January 2024 attempt, which ended prematurely after a propellant leak prevented the vehicle from reaching the Moon.
Griffin-1 is a significantly larger vehicle than its predecessor. Both landers stand roughly 6 feet (2 meters) tall, but Griffin is nearly twice as wide, measuring approximately 15 feet (4.5 meters) across. Its payload capacity to the lunar surface is rated at 1,377 pounds (625 kilograms), with a commercial pricing of $544,000 per pound of cargo delivered.
NASA selected Griffin as the lander for its Moon Base II mission — part of the agency’s phased effort to establish a permanent lunar outpost near the south pole. Astrobotic CEO John Thornton described the vehicle’s significance in direct terms at the unveiling event.
“This is the first infrastructure-class lander going to the surface of the moon,” Thornton said. “This lander will be part of the cornerstone of building the moon base on the surface of the moon, so I’m just so excited for it to be here today, and to wish it good travels as it heads out to JPL for environmental testing.”
Griffin-1 will carry 10 payloads from six separate nations, plus four additional NASA payloads aboard the FLIP (Flex Lunar Innovation Platform) rover built by California-based Astrolab — the mission’s marquee scientific platform.
FLIP will be integrated onto the lander in Florida ahead of launch, after the lander itself completes environmental testing at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California, where it is scheduled to arrive next week.
Payloads already integrated onto the lander include Astrobotic’s own BEACON CubeRover, developed in coordination with Mission Control Space Services, and the European Space Agency’s LandCam-X — a camera system designed to improve the precision and reliability of lunar landings for future missions.
Among the smaller cultural payloads: a plaque from the Nippon Travel Agency carrying messages from children in Japan; the Galactic Library to Preserve Humanity from Nanofiche, a micro-miniaturized archive of literature and art; and a MoonBox capsule delivering items from around the world on micro SD cards.
“So, this is going to be chock full of interesting science and data that’s going to be coming back from the moon, and some of the best imagery we have seen yet coming back from the surface,” Thornton said.
An ancient piece of the moon found in Africa hints at a long-ago collision that turned the lunar surface molten
A meteorite shows evidence that an ancient crash on the moon 3.5 billion years ago was so powerful, it turned the surface molten.
A rare lunar meteorite that fell to Earth holds evidence of a previously unknown "impact event" that rocked the moon roughly 3.5 billion years ago, researchers say. Studying this ancient impact provides fresh insight into how the solar system was behaving in those early days — about the same time life on Earth began to appear.
In the new study, scientists looked at a lunar meteorite found in northwest Africa. The meteorite, called NWA 12593, contains information about three separate lunar impacts, but the researchers focused on the earliest of these crashes, the team reported in the journal Geology.
"On Earth, the first fossil evidence of life shows up around 3.5 billion years ago, meaning that life is emerging and evolving before then, " Carolyn Crow, first author of the study and a planetary scientist at the University of Colorado Boulder, said in a statement. "The question that we often have, even going back further, is what was the impact record when life was emerging? It is important for understanding how life is taking hold… The cadence of these catastrophic events is an important part of the equation."
In the study, the scientists used radiometric dating on the meteorite. This method charts the decay rate of radioactive materials in the sample, allowing the team to estimate the first impact at 3.5 billion years ago — roughly 1 billion years after the solar system formed.
The meteorite contained cubic zirconia, best known on Earth for its resemblance to diamond. But in the ancient meteorite, this material tells a different story: that the moon's surface became molten through the impact, because cubic zirconia forms only at extremely high temperatures. While the material dissipates at the ultracold temperatures found on the moon, the scientists found its presence through traces of its recrystallized products.
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A large lunar impact crater snapped by NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter.
(Image credit: NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University)
The impact occurred at roughly the same time as other huge impacts, both on Earth and on a very large asteroid called Vesta, that have been identified in independent research. To find three impacts on three different worlds so long ago is rare, because erosion and other processes tend to erase the evidence.
"It's not very common, which is why we're very excited about it," Crow said. "It's pretty rare to have all three records line up like this." The team expects that making deeper comparisons between the impacts will show more about how the solar system was changing 3.5 billion years ago, as the number of asteroids in the neighborhood diminished along with impacts.
Scientists often say the early solar system was a collection of gas and dust that gradually grew into smaller, comet-like and asteroid-like bodies. Over time, a subset of those bodies got even larger (through collisions and accretions) to become today's planets and moons.
The other two impacts on the meteorite were a breccia (rock melt) formed after the big collision 3.5 billion years ago and a third collision that sent the meteorite blasting off the moon and into an Earthbound trajectory.
EXCLUSIVE - The UFO files the government won't ever release: I've read them all. They fear a full-blown national crisis and destruction of religious faith... but it's time for the REAL disclosure day. Here's what you deserve to knowAfter weeks of anticipation, the latest UFO file dump left many Americans underwhelmed.
While the Trump administration unveiled a third batch of documents, photos and videos tied to unexplained sightings on Friday, critics argue the files stopped well short of addressing the allegations at the heart of the UFO mystery.
Now, one of the few people who claims to have seen some of the hidden UFO files has spoken to the Daily Mail, revealing what he says is inside them – including references to alleged crash-retrieval programs, secret government investigations and 'non-human biologics.'
Investigative journalist Jeremy Corbell said the material has only strengthened his belief that the US government has recovered unidentified craft and biological evidence linked to the UFO mystery.
Corbell has spent years collecting documents, testimony and other material related to the claims, some of which appeared briefly in Sleeping Dog, the documentary he produced with veteran investigative journalist George Knapp.
The film shows a list of files, including one referencing 'non-human biologics,' a term used to describe alleged extraterrestrial tissue or bodies.
Another file is labeled 'Kona Blue,' the name of a proposed Department of Homeland Security program that would have investigated claims involving recovered unidentified craft, advanced technology and other UFO-related allegations.
The program was never formally established, according to government records.
Years worth of files, testimony and other material that Corbell collected, some of which were featured in Sleeping Dog
Corbell argued that the material is now circulating far beyond the handful of researchers who first obtained it, raising the prospect that additional details could be leaked regardless of whether the government releases the files.
'I can't stop that information from coming out. I am unable to stop it,' he said, adding that 'over 100 journalists already have everything that I have.
'That's not just in my hands anymore. That's not just in George Knapp's hands anymore.'
However, the US government maintains that it has found no verifiable evidence that extraterrestrial life or alien technology has visited Earth.
Despite decades of public fascination with UFOs, major Pentagon investigations and declassified government reviews have repeatedly concluded that no case of unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP) has been confirmed.
The Trump administration released the third batch of UFO files on Friday, which Corbell said was 'historic,' as more information on the topic 'is always a win.'
However, he added that again, the government has only shared 'low-hanging fruit.'
'Our government has long known about Non-Human Intelligence, their vehicles, reverse-engineering programs, and biological study of their pilots and occupants. These releases are provoked - not offered,' Corbell said.
David Grusch giving congressional testimony in 2023, during which he claimed the US government had spent decades attempting to recover and reverse-engineer craft of non-human origin. Investigative journalist Jeremy Corbell (circled) listens from behind
'The pressure of journalism, whistleblowers, and congressional oversight forced this door open. Unresolved cases are a start. But complacency is our enemy. If you want the truth, demand it.
'Full transparency on our government’s continued relationship and correspondence with the UAP phenomenon - nothing less.'
Representative Tim Burchett, who has seen videos of craft that 'defy any reason,' has suggested that government agencies are using the excuse that UFO disclosure will 'disrupt religion' to withhold files from the public.
Corbell said the files shown in his documentary touch on allegations involving non-human biologics, government UFO programs, intelligence assessments and unexplained aerial incidents that have remained largely hidden from public view.
One of the files is named 'ImCon Originals,' he claimed, referring to Immaculate Constellation – which is described in a whistleblower report as a secret, unauthorized Pentagon program created to collect and hide UFO evidence.
Matt Brown, a former US national security official, came forward in 2025 with details about Immaculate Constellation, revealing the alleged secret program to Corbell.
Brown said he discovered references to the program in 2018 while reviewing classified materials at the Pentagon.
Corbell alleged that it is a special access program designed to quarantine high-quality UFO imagery and testimonies from congressional oversight.
The file 'Pilfer & Pickpocket' also appears in the list, which Corbell has previously claimed are names of UFO crash retrieval programs. However, he stressed that he has not been able to confirm the details.
When asked why he does not release the files himself, Corbell told the Daily Mail that some of the information would cause a national security crisis.
But his 'number one reason' is that the government has made a promise of 'disclosure and transparency' to the American people. 'They deserve a chance to perform that function,' he said.
'Additionally,' Corbell continued, 'every time George and I obtain and release something, it puts sources at risk. Why do that when the government has said it will do it? We don't want to.'
The journalist has become a central player in the UFO disclosure movement, with his work bringing military and intelligence witnesses into the public eye and pressuring the US government into the disclosure process.
Corbell also told the Daily Mail that he personally provided officials with access to several of the UFO videos that were released to the public on May 22.
He did so in what he described as classified 'intel links' connected to hidden government servers, after unknown sources leaked the clips to him.
'Not just file names; if you put the underscores in, they're linked,' Corbell said, claiming the material led directly to classified systems that 'you and I can't access.'
While Corbell has released UFO videos that ended up in the Trump administration's file dump, he has championed other footage of unknown craft that was later explained or challenged by investigators, scientists and the military.
His comments come as the Trump administration has released hundreds of UFO-related records, a move Corbell said falls far short of addressing the questions that have fueled the disclosure movement for years.
Corbell pointed to David Grusch's 2023 congressional testimony, in which the former Air Force intelligence officer alleged the government had spent decades recovering and studying craft of non-human origin and had obtained what he described as 'biologics' from some crash sites.
'Now, if that's true, and if you believe him, our government in parts has that information,' Corbell said. 'It is time to tell the American public the truth.'
Neither Corbell nor Grusch has publicly released evidence proving the existence of non-human intelligence.
A handout from the Department of War that they said shows a UAP near Japan
Grusch's testimony marked a turning point in the modern UFO disclosure movement, transforming what had long been considered fringe speculation into a topic debated openly on Capitol Hill.
He told lawmakers that he had interviewed numerous current and former government officials who claimed the US was operating secret programs dedicated to retrieving and studying unidentified craft.
His testimony prompted renewed calls for oversight and transparency from members of Congress on both sides of the aisle.
Several lawmakers have since argued that the government should release additional records related to UAPs.
Corbell said public interest in the issue continues to grow as more military personnel, intelligence officials and defense insiders come forward with accounts of encounters involving unexplained objects.
He argued that the administration's recent document releases have heightened expectations that more significant information could eventually emerge.
The Trump administration released the first batch of UFO files on May 8, with a second on May 22.
They include military reports, FBI accounts and videos showing unexplained objects streaking across the sky. But rather than providing answers, the files have only deepened the mystery.
Corbell suggested reporters may ultimately force the issue if officials fail to provide further disclosure. 'If they don't, journalism will,' he said.
He stressed he was not claiming to possess definitive proof of alien life or recovered extraterrestrial technology, but argued investigators have uncovered information that warrants further scrutiny.
'What I have obtained over the years is not definitive proof of the things you want,' he said. 'But it's a start. It's a good start.'
He added that disclosure should proceed in stages, beginning with government acknowledgment of alleged craft-retrieval and reverse-engineering programs.
From there, he said, officials should address claims involving 'biologics' before eventually answering what he called the next major question: whether there has ever been direct communication with a non-human intelligence.
'Have there been any agreements? Have there been any direct communications?' Corbell posited.
'After they begin with reverse engineering of craft, because we all know craft exists, biologics, because we're almost there, then the third step will be communications,' he declared.
'And I have evidence of all.'
Glowing 'mother orb' launched swarm of mystery objects near secret US site, Pentagon files reveal
A glowing 'mother orb' seen near a secret US site is at the center of a newly released Pentagon report.
The document was among a fresh tranche of UFO records released by the Trump administration on Friday, shedding new light on one of the government's still-unsolved aerial mysteries.
Written by the director of the Pentagon's All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO), the memo details a bizarre two-day encounter in October 2023 during which six federal agents reported witnessing luminous objects behaving in ways investigators have yet to explain.
AARO concluded that 40 percent of the reported activity remains unresolved after its initial analysis.
'The phenomena's most distinctive reported feature was the repeating nature of their pattern of behavior, in which a luminous orange "mother orb" appeared to produce smaller red "orbs," one after another, multiple times over a period of several hours,' reads the memo signed by AARO director Jon T Kosloski.
Witnesses said the glowing orange sphere would appear for one to two seconds, release a cluster of two to four smaller red lights and then vanish.
The smaller objects were reported to move horizontally, change altitude and, in at least one case, remain suspended above a ridgeline for hours before disappearing.
Despite reviewing radar data, flight records and other available information, investigators were unable to fully account for a significant portion of the sightings.
Pictured is an artistic impression of the "mother orb" releasing the smaller "orbs" as reported by the federal agents
Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said in a Friday statement: 'The Department of War is in lockstep with President Trump to bring unprecedented transparency regarding our government’s understanding of Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP).
'These files, hidden behind classifications, have long fueled justified speculation, and it’s time the American people see it for themselves.
'This release of declassified documents demonstrates the Trump Administration’s earnest commitment to unprecedented transparency.'
READ MORE
While the new report does not provide a location of the incident, subsequent FBI interviews noted it took place over Cheyenne Mountain near Colorado Springs, Colorado.
Cheyenne Mountain Complex is a fortified underground bunker located in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Buried beneath 2,000 feet of granite.
It serves as the Alternate Command Center for North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) and US Northern Command (USNORTHCOM), one of eleven unified combatant commands, tasked with protecting the continental US, Alaska, Canada, Mexico and the Bahamas.
The document noted that agents reported the phenomena as 'silent' and provided consistent witness testimonies to characterize their experiences.
While AARO was unable to resolve the case, it noted that the characteristics reported 'do not align with those of military aircraft exhaust.'
The document was among a fresh tranche of UFO records released by the Trump administration on Friday, shedding new light on one of the government's still-unsolved aerial mysteries
It added that military aircraft were present at the time of the strange sighting, but the altitudes of the mysterious objects were far too high for standard exhaust to appear as orange orbs.
After excluding most explanations, AARO’s preliminary assessment is that unrecognized technology could account for up to 40 percent of the phenomena associated with this incident.
This conclusion is based solely on witness narratives and the elimination of other hypotheses. It is not yet supported by technical data or physical evidence.
The analysis, however, noted that military aircraft in the area 'were equipped with, and actively deployed, infrared countermeasure flares as a component of a standard exercise.'
'The reported morphology and behavior of these phenomena align with known characteristics of certain military infrared flares,' the report stated.
That suggested that 'approximately 60 percent of reported activity is plausible attributable to military aircraft.'
Consultations with Intelligence Community partners led AARO to assess the possibility of foreign intelligence activity as highly unlikely.
Although analysts cannot completely rule out the use of entirely novel foreign collection platforms, the reported flight characteristics and kinematics of the object diverged significantly from those of any known adversary systems.
AARO also consulted subject-matter experts on possible natural phenomena. One potential explanation examined was meteorological activity, but weather conditions at the time were inconsistent with rare events such as ball lightning or sprites.
Continuing its detailed assessment of a reported UAP incident involving persistent red 'orbs,' the AARO has largely dismissed common environmental and celestial explanations.
AARO examined whether temperature inversions, refractive effects, or other atmospheric conditions could account for the sightings.
Weather records indicated generally clear skies, seasonable temperatures, and typical light pollution levels for the area. Analysts concluded these conditions were unlikely to produce the reported physical or kinematic features.
Investigators also evaluated misidentification of stars, planets, meteors, satellite flaring, or rocket launches.
The diverse viewing angles of multiple witnesses made celestial misidentification improbable.
While stationary 'loitering' behavior could theoretically align with stars or planets in rare cases, it remains unlikely.
Attribution to meteors or satellite flares was ruled inconsistent with the reported persistence of at least one red orb for several hours. Bolides (bright meteors) typically show characteristic tails, which did not match the described “mother orbs” morphology.
AARO considers the reported features sufficiently anomalous to justify continued study.
Steven Spielberg claims aliens have already visited Earth - now scientists say he might be right
While Steven Spielberg has created some of the best aliens in cinema, the 79–year–old director now claims he also knows a thing or two about real–life extraterrestrials.
In an interview promoting his latest sci–fi blockbuster, Disclosure Day, Mr Spielberg says he is certain that aliens have already visited our planet.
Speaking to CBS News, he said: 'I absolutely think that they have been here, and they are here. And who knows, maybe they've always been here.'
The director of Close Encounters of the Third Kind added that this view is 'based on the circumstantial evidence of everything that I've gathered throughout my whole life, everybody I've listened to and every documentary I've ever watched and all the testimonies in Congress that I've heard.'
Now, some scientists say there could be a kernel of truth behind Mr Spielberg's wacky claims.
Dr Jacco van Loon, an astrophysicist from Keele University, told the Daily Mail: 'It is a possibility.'
He added: 'If they visited a billion years ago, they would have encountered seas with microbial life, and bare land.
'While they may not have left artefacts on Earth, one interesting possibility that has been considered is that they may have left artefacts on the Moon or elsewhere in the Solar System, to monitor Earth or simply as waste.'
In an interview promoting his latest sci–fi blockbuster, Disclosure Day, Steven Spielberg says he is certain that aliens have already visited our planet
While it is widely considered likely that life exists somewhere in the universe, the biggest barrier to any advanced civilisation visiting Earth is the enormous distances between stars.
For many scientists, this is an insurmountable barrier to any chance of an alien civilisation travelling to Earth.
Dr Thomas Haworth, an astrophysicist from Queen Mary University, told the Daily Mail: 'We have a feeling that the term "astronomical" means large, but it's quite hard to convey just how large distances are in space.
'To get to the nearest known star with planets, Proxima Centauri, would take the Parker Solar Probe – the fastest spacecraft humans have launched – 6,500 years.
'Although I am sure that life is out there, the odds of life being on the planets next door are low. When we look to other planets, the distances and timescales just get larger and larger, making it harder and harder to travel.'
In science fiction, writers have found a way around this problem by introducing the concept of 'faster than light' travel through wormholes or other exotic technologies.
By jumping faster than the speed of light, alien civilisations would theoretically be able to reduce the vast distances between habitable worlds to manageable trips.
However, in the real world, these modes of transportation remain a total fantasy.
Scientists dispute Mr Spielberg's claims, pointing out that it would take over 6,500 years to reach Earth from Proxima Centauri (pictured), the nearest star with planets
Dr William Alston, an astronomer from University of Hertfordshire, told the Daily Mail: 'The speed of light appears to be the ultimate speed limit in the Universe.
'Nothing with mass can accelerate up to or beyond it, so even the most advanced spacecraft would take a long time to cross interstellar distances. This means that visiting other worlds is not just an engineering challenge, but limited by fundamental physics.'
The only way for an alien civilisation to visit our planet would be for extraterrestrials to settle in for a journey that could take thousands of years to complete.
Even for a civilisation with abundant resources, this would take colossal amounts of energy and resources while achieving very little.
Dr van Loon points out that this massive journey could be made a little easier by the relativistic effects which kick in as a spacecraft approaches near–light–speed.
'Time for the traveller then slows down, which means that they can get to their destination much quicker than someone left behind would see them move,' he says.
'The problem is that the traveller would lose connection with their home, since those left behind would age a lot more than they would.'
However, assuming that a civilisation didn't care about these consequences and had some way of extending their lives for the journey, that means it is at least somewhat theoretically plausible for an alien civilisation to travel to Earth.
The director of Disclosure Day (pictured) says that his UFO claims are 'based on the circumstantial evidence of everything that I've gathered throughout my whole life'
The big problem for Spielberg is that there is no reason that they would, or any evidence to suggest that they have.
Professor Michael Garrett, a leading expert on the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) from the University of Manchester, told the Daily Mail: 'Spielberg makes wonderful films, and Disclosure Day is a brilliant slice of cinema, but it's storytelling, not science.
'Earth is a beautiful little blue dot. But in cosmic terms, we are just one of hundreds of billions of planets in our own Milky Way Galaxy.
'The notion that aliens would single us out, cross trillions of miles of space, and then mostly buzz around airbases and farmers' fields rather than introducing themselves to a head of state is a bit far–fetched.'
Despite decades of investigation, scientists have yet to come up with any convincing proof for the existence of alien life.
Radio telescopes have failed to find 'technosignatures' of advanced civilisations, and the 'evidence' for the alien origins of UFO sightings is poor at best.
'If aliens had genuinely visited Earth, we'd have more than blurry video clips and bar–room anecdotes to work with,' says Professor Garrett.
Likewise, Professor Carol Oliver, of UNSW Sydney, told the Daily Mail: 'Steven Spielberg and other people have a need to not be alone.
Scientists point out that there is 'not a shred of credible evidence' for the existence of aliens, and that the world's radio telescopes have not managed to pick up a signal from another civilisation. Pictured: The Green Bank Observatory, West Virginia, USA
Scientists question why aliens would travel for thousands of years just to 'buzz around airbases and farmers' fields'. Pictured: A still from Disclosure Day
'But there is not a single shred of credible evidence that they [aliens] are visiting us now or have visited us in the past.'
Professor Oliver says that people are 'undoubtedly' seeing lights in the sky and that UAPs (Unidentified Aerial Phenomena) do need to be investigated.
However, she says that people should 'apply a little bit of critical thinking' when considering the possibility of aliens visiting Earth.
Even if a light in the sky is hard to explain right away, the impossible distances between the stars simply make almost any other non–alien explanation more likely.
Professor Oliver adds: 'You can't just simply give it an alien explanation, because you don't understand it.'
RELATED VIDEOSNASA's 'Son of Concorde' breaks the sound barrier: $247 million supersonic jet hits 713mph during test flight - paving the way for flights from London to New York in under 4 hours
NASA's 'Son of Concorde' supersonic aircraft has broken the sound barrier for the first time, paving the way for ultra–fast air travel.
The $247 million jet, dubbed X–59, hit a top speed of Mach 1.1, or 713 miles per hour (1,150 km/h), during a test flight on Friday, June 5.
Test pilot Jim 'Clue' Less took off and landed from Edwards Air Force Base, California, soaring to 43,400 feet (13,200m) before setting the new speed record
While the flight lasted just 81 minutes, this is the first step towards supersonic flights from London to New York in under four hours since Concorde was retired.
However, the space agency has plans to push its experimental aeroplane even further.
NASA administrator Jared Isaacman says that X–59 will fly again and hit Mach 1.4, or 925 miles per hour (1,490 km/h), within 'the coming days'.
These flights will test whether the jet's unconventional design really does reduce the sonic boom to a quiet 'thump' as NASA hopes.
Mr Isaacman says: 'X–59 is getting ready for its quiet supersonic debut.'
NASA's 'Son of Concorde' supersonic jet (pictured) has broken the sound barrier for the first time, hitting a top speed of 713 miles per hour (1,150 km/h)
The X–59 has been designed to solve one of the big problems with supersonic flights, which is the intolerable volume of the deafening sonic boom.
As a jet moves through the sky, it pushes the air out of the way like a boat moving through water, creating ripples in the form of sound waves.
At supersonic speeds, the plane outruns this wake of sound waves, causing the ripples to bunch up and compress into a single massive shockwave.
That means supersonic jets, like the Concorde, are constantly trailing a wake of powerful shockwaves, which are heard as a 'boom' when the craft passes overhead.
Because these booms can be as loud as 110 decibels – similar to a loud rock concert – supersonic flights are generally banned over populated areas.
To solve this problem, NASA has been working to develop 'Quiet SuperSonic Technology (Quesst)' that would muffle the boom into a muted 'thump'.
The X–59 supersonic jet is the culmination of that effort, and should make supersonic flight quiet enough to pass over populated areas.
The aircraft has been developed by American aerospace firm Lockheed Martin's 'Skunk Works' division after being awarded the $247.5 million design contract by NASA in 2016.
Test pilot Jim 'Clue' Less took off and landed from Edwards Air Force Base, California, soaring to 43,400 feet (13,200m) before setting the new speed record. Pictured: The pilot's view from inside the cockpit
It features a radically redesigned geometry in which every feature is designed to diffuse and muffle the sonic boom.
The most obvious difference from a normal jet is the thin, tapered nose, which accounts for almost a third of the plane's entire length and is shaped to break up the shockwave.
The downside of this novel design is that the cockpit is located around halfway down the length of the vehicle and doesn't have any forward–facing windows.
Instead, the single pilot uses a system of cameras and augmented reality displays, known as the eXternal Vision System, to see out the front.
According to NASA, this reduces the volume of the shockwave heard at the ground to something between distant thunder and a car door shutting 20 feet (six metres) away.
Mr Isaacman says: 'I'm grateful to the NASA team and Lockheed Martin Skunk Works for their help getting us to this point, and I hope this is the first of many collaborations as we rebuild NASA's X–plane portfolio.'
Since its first flight in October 2025, the Son of Concorde has already undergone dozens of increasingly demanding tests in a process known as 'envelope expansion'.
This first supersonic flight is just the latest milestone in that gradual process, taking NASA's quiet jet into its next phase of testing.
Part of the reason that Concorde was eventually discontinued was that the sonic boom produced by breaking the sound barrier could be extremely loud for people on the ground
During the test, the experimental aircraft was chased by a supersonic F15 jet equipped with a probe to record the shockwave
During the test, the X–59 was monitored by a NASA F 15 chase plane, which flew nearby to monitor its progress.
The loud sonic boom from the F15 covered up the sound produced by the X–59, meaning that NASA couldn't be sure how quiet it was.
However, the chase jet is equipped with a specialised probe to take initial measurements of the X–59's shock waves.
Michael Kratsios, Assistant to the President for Science and Technology and Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy, says: 'The X–59's first supersonic flight is a testament to America's enduring leadership in science, engineering.'
In the next few days, NASA will send the X–59 on its first 'mission conditions' flight, reaching a cruising speed of Mach 1.4 at 55,000 feet (16,764 metres).
While these flights will also be accompanied by a chase plane, it will be a major step towards testing the quiet sonic boom.
This test is important because those speeds and altitudes are what the X–59 will be tested at when it is allowed to fly over several US communities.
Finally, test pilots will push the jet to its absolute limit, reaching a top speed of Mach 1.6 at 60,000 feet – around twice the height and speed of a commercial airline.
According to NASA, the sonic thump produced by X–59 passing overhead will be quieter than the sound of a car door shutting 20 feet away
The X–59's aerodynamic profile has been designed so that it breaks up the shockwave formed by passing the sound barrier and is much quieter in flight. Pictured: The sonic boom from a scale model of the aircraft during wind tunnel tests
After that flight, NASA will move into the next stage of testing, focusing on its sound profile in order to verify its quiet thump capability.
The plane will be flown over populated areas of the US to see how people perceive the thump of X–59 passing overhead.
NASA says that it will share this data with US and international regulators to 'help establish new data–driven noise standards to enable a future viable market for supersonic commercial flight over land'.
In the future, that could open the door to commercial supersonic flights that don't cause major inconveniences for those on the ground.
Concorde was a turbojet–powered supersonic passenger jet that was operated from 1976 until 2003.
It had a maximum speed over twice the speed of sound at Mach 2.04 (1,354mph or 2,180k per hour at cruise altitude) and could seat 92 to 128 passengers.
It was first flown in 1969, but needed further tests to establish it as viable as a commercial aircraft. Concorde entered service in 1976.
It is one of only two supersonic transports to have been operated commercially. The other is the Soviet–built Tupolev Tu–144, which ran as a passenger aircraft only for a few years in the 1970s due to safety issues.
Concorde was the world's first supersonic airliner and operated for 27 years, but it was grounded in October 2003. Pictured is British Airways Concorde G–BOAB taking off with its landing gear still extended over the Cotswolds town of Fairford, Gloucestershire on July 20, 1996, during the annual RAF Fairford airshow
Concorde was jointly developed and manufactured by Aérospatiale and the British Aircraft Corporation (BAC) under an Anglo–French treaty. Concorde's name, meaning harmony or union, reflected the cooperation on the project between the UK and France.
Concorde was retired in 2003 due to a general downturn in the commercial aviation industry after its only crash in 2000, the September 11 attacks in 2001, and a decision by Airbus, the successor to Aérospatiale and BAC, to discontinue maintenance support.
It wasn't the first plane to break the sound barrier, however; that achievement was managed by the Bell X–1, piloted by Chuck Yeager, in October 1947.
The legendary rocket engine–powered aircraft, designed and built in 1945, achieved a speed of 700 miles (1,127 kilometers) per hour.
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NASA Study Challenges Theories on Where the Ingredients for Life Came From
Scientists have found new evidence of how the ingredients for life came to Earth.
Credit: NASA
The question of how life began here on Earth, or how simple organisms emerged from chemical compounds, remains a bit of a mystery. While scientists have confirmed through fossil evidence and the geological record that life began roughly 4 billion years ago on the seafloor (around hydrothermal vents), it is still unclear how the ingredients for life came to Earth. The generally-held view is that they were brought here by comets and asteroids from the outer Solar System, which also delivered Earth's surface water.
This theory states that planetesimals delivered these elements to the inner Solar System during the Late Heavy Bombardment, thought to have occurred between 4.1 and 3.8 billion years ago. However, a new NASA-supported study is providing new information about how primordial Earth acquired life-essential elements (LEEs). Their findings, published in the journal Science Advances, indicate that Jupiter likely played a key role in the process.
The research team hails from Rice University's Department of Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences. As they indicate, the timing of the deliver of LEEs to Earth remains debated, as does the geochemistry of the planetesimals involved. Traditional models attribute it to outer Solar System chondrites, stony meteorites that formed two to four million years after the first solids formed in the Solar System. However, as the team noted, this accretion age rules them out as the earliest source of LEEs.
*Artist's impression of a circumsolar debris disk, from which systems of planets form.
Credit: NASA*
To break it down, all life on Earth requires the same basic elements, known by the acronym CHNOPS: carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, phosphorus, and sulfur. These elements formed through the fusion of hydrogen and helium in the first generation of stars (Population III), which were then dispersed throughout the cosmos as clouds of gas and dust when these massive stars went supernova at the end of their short lifespans (tens of millions of years). These and other heavy elements (including silica, iron, and various metals) then coalesced to form subsequent generations of stars and planets.
Roughly 4.6 billion years ago, the Sun formed from a collection of this gas and dust (nebula), experiencing gravitational collapse at the center. The remaining material formed a disk around the new star, slowly accreting to form the Solar planets and planetesimals. What material remained, in the form of asteroids and comets, settled into different orbits, most into the Main Asteroid Belt and the Kuiper Belt. Others, meanwhile, fell into the orbits of planets - like Near-Earth Asteroids (NEAs) or Jupiter's Trojan and Greek populations.
Over time, many of these objects have crossed Earth's orbit, impacted the surface, and were recovered as meteorites. The study of these objects provides a window into the early Solar System, a much more chaotic time when Earth was still in formation. Meteorites fall into two categories, both of which originated from planetesimals that formed at different times in our system. These include dense metallic objects (iron meteorites) and stony chondrites, the latter of which constitute the majority of those found on Earth.
The oldest planetesimals are the source of iron meteorites, while chondrites originate from the second generation that formed 2-3 million years later. While some evidence points to chondrites from the outer Solar System delivering the ingredients for life late in Earth's formation, scientists continue to debate which type of meteorites delivered Earth's stock of LEEs. The new study suggests that things might have happened differently than traditional models suggest.
Using laboratory experiments and geochemical models, the team reconstructed a map of phosphorus-nitrogen (P/N) ratios across the early Solar System. Their results showed that during the first generation of planetesimals (iron), objects had a higher ratio of P/N in the outer Solar System, which decreased toward the inner Solar System. This trend was reversed in the second generation, where chondrites had higher P/N ratios in the inner Solar System.
*An illustration of our solar system. The asteroid belt lies between Mars and Jupiter, separating our system into the inner and outer regions.
NASA/JPL-Caltech*
The team theorized that during the first generation, an outward flow of material raised the P/N ratio in the outer Solar System. This changed with the arrival of Jupiter, whose gravitational influence restricted the movement of phosphorus and nitrogen from the inner to outer Solar System. This meant that when the second generation of planetesimals appeared, those that orbited within the inner Solar System were left with a higher P/N ratio than their counterparts that orbited farther from the Sun.
These results suggest that, contrary to previous models, Earth acquired its phosphorus and nitrogen (both essential to life) primarily from the inner Solar System, without additional contributions from the outer Solar System. Their findings are reinforced by geochemical accretion models showing that Earth’s present-day P/N signature is best reproduced by inner Solar System planetesimals, regardless of whether they are related to iron or chondrite meteorites. As Rajdeep Dasgupta of Rice University, the senior author on the study, said in a NASA press release:
For our own solar system, Jupiter's presence and growth history, indeed, seem to have played a critical role in determining the distribution of the basic chemical ingredients necessary for habitable worlds. It remains an open question whether a life-essential element budget similar to Earth's can be established without a Jupiter-like planet in the population.
“The study suggests that Earth acquired its inventory of the life-essential elements phosphorus and nitrogen primarily from the inner solar system, without requiring a significant contribution from outer solar system chondrites,” added Pathak. As for the other LEEs, the means through which they were delivered to Earth billions of years ago remain to be seen and will be the subject of future research.
Further Reading:
The Pentagon Just Released Its Third Batch of UAP Files—What Have We Learned from the PURSUE Releases So Far?
A disc-like object observed producing “beams” while it hovered above an airport in Zimbabwe in 2008, an object resembling a flying “potato” over the Cheyenne Mountains in 2022, and alleged “orbs” observed by U.S. personnel are all among the sightings included in the Pentagon’s latest release of files related to UAP encounters.
The documents, which appeared on the Department of War’s website on Friday, are just the latest in a series of rolling releases by the Pentagon under the Trump Administration.
“As the unprecedented levels of interest in both this topic and the Trump administration’s historic transparency effort continue, WAR.GOV/UFO has received over 1.7 billion hits worldwide since the site’s launch on May 8, 2026,” read a statement provided by Assistant to the Secretary of War for Public Affairs and Chief Pentagon Spokesman Sean Parnell.
“The Department of War and our agency partners are actively working on the next release of UAP files,” Parnell said.
However, as more videos and documents continue to surface, a fundamental question arises: what, if anything, do they reveal about UAP, and how the United States intelligence community collects and processes information about these objects, whatever their origins may be?
Within the latest batch of files from what the Pentagon characterizes as the Presidential Unsealing and Reporting System for UAP Encounters (PURSUE), a previously unreleased file from the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) describes an unusual observation of an object that reportedly hovered above the Harare International Airport in Zimbabwe in 2008.
“Individuals debated if the sighting was an advanced reconnaissance device of a foreign government or of extraterrestrial origins,” a short description provided with the document states. Although no video or other supplemental data is provided, the written account that the document contains, which features partial redactions, states that observers described a “disc-like” object possessing a hollow center and “a series of rotating lights on the underside of the airframe.” As the lighting shifted colors, the object reportedly ascended quickly and was soon out of sight.
“Regardless of the origins,” the document states, the incident reportedly “resulted in the decision to place the Zimbabwe [redacted] on high alert.”
Another series of documents describes an observation of an object shaped like a “potato” that was observed near Colorado Springs in 2024.
Witnesses at the time described seeing “distinct edges” on the object, which “appeared to look painted in a creamy/whitish opalescent color.”
A digital rendering of an unresolved UAP Report from Colorado Springs in 2022
(Image Credit: U.S. Department of War).
“It was somewhat translucent with a slight shimmer,” the report states. “The object was made up of what can best be described as articulating fish scales or panels that were non-symmetrical, non-overlapping, and irregular shaped. The object itself was perfectly still but each panel on the object shifted in slow waves starting at different points of origin but at the same time.”
According to an assessment of the sighting by the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office, which currently leads the Pentagon’s investigations into UAP, “Analysis possibly indicates that the positioning on the sun in relation to Cheyenne Mountain would allow for backscattering of sunlight reflecting off snow-covered ground.”
“This reflection could illuminate low-level clouds in the vicinity,” according to the assessment, which was produced by one of AARO’s intelligence community (IC) partners, adding that such conditions “might account for the visibility of the object followed by its sudden disappearance.”
The report concedes that the analyst had “low confidence in this assessment” based on limited information made available about witnesses at the time, such as their individual field of view, as well as the level of cloud cover over the area at the time.
Another pair of documents describes what sounds like a very intriguing observation of an “intense bright light” seen hovering below the tree line near the observer’s backyard. Emerging from their vehicle, the witness observed a “strange light” that they estimated to be approximately one meter in diameter. The object was described as a “brilliant and beautiful” reddish color the observer had never seen before, adding that “inside the red sphere, at the center, there appeared to be what [redacted] described as a ‘white plasma sun’ about the size of a basketball.”
In this instance, the written accounts were not alone: a supplemental video indeed shows a pair of objects matching the description provided, which look suspiciously like candle balloons, also known as “sky lanterns,” drifting along with the breeze. Additionally, the footage bears a resemblance to a video released by an aviation safety advocacy group last year (and in fact, it may be the same video), which was also quickly assessed to have been sky lanterns, rather than anomalous UAP “orbs.”
In short, the latest Pentagon releases—as with most other recent releases of government data related to UAP—feature some interesting stories, though the majority of the “new” data remains underwhelming.
Screen capture from the Pentagon UAP video titled DOW-UAP-PR061, “Spherical UAP [CALLSIGN] 2021/04/12 vid 0”, where the object’s shadow can be discerned against the nearby landscape (to the left of the small white object, seen just above and to the right of the center of the frame
(Image Credit: U.S. Department of War).
The most intriguing aspect of this behavior is the object’s apparent movement into what we might interpret as a position of concealment. In doing so, the object not only appears to “hide,” but it also demonstrates an obvious change in direction that is suggestive of controlled motion. This is significant for a few reasons: one is that in many purported UAP videos, a phenomenon known as the parallax effect can (and often does) lead to an optical illusion where a slow-moving or even stationary object can have the appearance of moving. This illusion is caused by differences in relative speed between objects closer to the camera and those further distant, causing any closer objects to appear to be moving faster than those in the background (a good explainer on parallax effect and its relationship to UAP sightings can be read here, made available at the website of the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office).
In the case of the “Spherical UAP” featured in the video from the second PURSUE release, perhaps some degree of motion parallax cannot be ruled out. However, the object’s descent just before changing direction and entering the rugged portion of terrain cast in shadow appears to clearly demonstrate in this case that the object is engaged in movement, which equally appears to convey intelligent control. Finally, an interpretation that the object may be taking a position of concealment, if correct, may indicate that the object and/or its operators had been aware that it was being observed.
Does anything conveyed in this video offer proof of extraterrestrial technology? Absolutely not. Are there any obvious signs of extraordinary capabilities being demonstrated by this object? No, there aren’t. What this video does demonstrate, however, is footage of an object that appears to be engaged in behaviors that clearly show movement beyond the capabilities of most simple balloons.
In the case of the DOW-UAP-PR061, “Spherical UAP [CALLSIGN] 2021/04/12 vid 0” footage, the object not only demonstrates changes in its direction of motion, but also appears to conceal itself. Obviously, a better interpretation than “balloon” in this instance might be some kind of unmanned aerial system, although what limited information the footage conveys is simply too indistinct to be able to tell. Altogether, it simply remains “unidentified anomalous phenomena” in the purest sense: some kind of object engaging in what appears to be controlled flight, while not exhibiting any otherwise extraordinary capabilities.
However, all of this raises another important question about UAP reports: why do we always have to assume that an object must display “otherworldly” or otherwise extraordinary capabilities for it to qualify as a “genuine” UAP?
Another intriguing phenomenon related to the recent release of UAP information by the Pentagon involves the similarity in responses to these releases from both UAP advocates and UAP skeptics.
Some proponents of genuine anomalous UAP have expressed frustration over the Department of War’s release of several dozens of videos, all of which all fail to reveal any “classic” UFO shapes like flying saucers or giant black triangles, nor any confirmation of extraterrestrial technologies detailed in the troves of formerly classified documents included with the releases.
Meanwhile, skeptics essentially argue the same thing: so far, these videos show nothing particularly remarkable, and clearly fail to prove that extraterrestrials have visited Earth.
In short, the fundamental premise of most “believers” and “skeptics” appears to be the same: “UAPs either must represent evidence of extraterrestrials, or else they are unimportant.”
This premise fails to acknowledge several important issues, such as 1) that many ideas about how UAP are supposed to look and behave are based on presumptions about how we expect any technologies produced by extraterrestrials advanced enough to traverse interstellar distances would appear to us, 2) that UAP could still represent a genuine mystery, even if they aren’t evidence of extraterrestrial technologies, and 3) that even if most UAP turned out to be technologies of earthly origin, they could still represent a security concern, and hence warrant U.S. government investigation.
Clearly, it should be acknowledged that there is also witness testimony—some of it quite compelling—that describes unusual characteristics associated with UAP, such as extreme acceleration, erratic movement, exceptional agility/maneuverability, environmental effects, and other capabilities which could only be characterized as “anomalous.” Such descriptions are also part of what informs many of our expectations about how UAPs are supposed to behave. However, it is important to recognize that just because such eyewitness descriptions exist, it does not necessarily mean that we can—or should—attribute such capabilities to all UAP observations, and thereby use such presumptions as a gauge for their credibility on a case-by-case basis.
A careful review of resources made available by the Pentagon’s All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) helps to shed further light on the attributes of what it characterizes as UAP.
A page dedicated to education and resources at AARO’s website lists a small collection of studies detailing current state-of-the-art technologies related to spherical drones, novel propulsion systems, and other technologies, which it says represent “advanced propulsion systems that are consistent with UAP observations.” The obvious implication of providing such resources involves the consideration that at least some UAP appear to operate in ways consistent with known earthly technologies, albeit ones that are still in their emergent stages.
AARO also gives us the following definition of UAP, according to an AARO Mission Brief featured at its website: “Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP) are sources of anomalous detections in one or more domains (i.e., airborne, seaborne, spaceborne, and/or transmedium) that are not yet attributable to known actors and that demonstrate behaviors that are not readily understood by sensors or observers.”
The brief goes on to define “anomalous detections” as “phenomena appearing to demonstrate capabilities or material properties exceeding the known state-of-the-art,” adding that UAP “may consist of one or more objects and may persist over an extended period,” are mainly “attributable to domain-awareness gaps, and in at least some cases “may represent advanced capabilities operating in domain awareness gaps.”
The AARO Mission Brief also separates the misidentification of known objects such as balloons and drones, as well as developmental or experimental platforms, from “genuine” UAP, which it clearly defines as AARO’s designated mission area.
According to past information produced by AARO under the tenure of its inaugural director, Dr. Sean Kirkpatrick, typically reported UAP characteristics include appearances of generally round objects roughly 1-4 meters in size, possessing white, silver, or translucent coloration. Performance altitudes, on average, fall within 10,000 to 30,000 feet, and velocities of the objects range from hovering in a stationary position to movement at speeds of up to Mach 2 (1534.54 miles per hour).
Above: Table featuring commonly attributed UAP characteristics based on AARO data available in 2023
(Image Credit: U.S. Department of War/All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office).
Despite such capabilities, no kind of thermal exhaust has been associated with these objects, and their propulsion systems remain unknown. Additional signatures associated with such genuinely anomalous UAP, according to AARO, include “intermittent, X-Band (8-12 GHz)” radar, as well as radio frequency emissions in the 1-3 GHz and 8-12 GHZ ranges. While no thermal exhaust evidencing propulsion is evident, intermittent shortwave infrared and medium-wave infrared thermal signatures are occasionally detectable.
“That’s what we’re looking for and trying to understand what that is,” Kirkpatrick told U.S. Senators during an April 2023 hearing that first revealed the AARO technical data described above.
Given the specificity of such technical information (all of which, as cited above, relates to AARO materials produced in 2023 during its early period in operation), one must wonder how such details could be derived from any of the videos or other materials the Department of War has released under the recent PURSUE initiative. The obvious implication is that the data described above must have other, better-quality sources, which have not yet been released by AARO or the Department of War.
If it ends up being true that additional, higher-quality UAP data exists in U.S. government holdings—data from which AARO’s own technical attributes for genuinely “anomalous” UAP are derived—it therefore stands to reason that the recent batches of imagery fall significantly short of being the “best data” that has been obtained about these objects. Still, some of the videos, such as DOW-UAP-PR061 (described earlier in this article), nonetheless appear to match the so-called “target package” for genuine UAP first characterized by Kirkpatrick in 2023, even if they aren’t the most astonishing UAP videos in existence. Again, we should consider the conditioning outlined earlier, which has helped to encourage the public’s never-ending expectation for “extraordinary” revelations, most of which end up falling flat once they do finally come to light.
The bigger questions, for now, are whether such examples of higher-quality UAP data do indeed exist, and if so, whether they will be made public in any future releases.
“We are collecting as much data as possible, following the data where it leads, and sharing our findings whenever possible,” AARO states on its website. “We will not rush to conclusions in our analysis. In many cases, observed phenomena are classified as ‘unidentified’ simply because sensors were not able to collect enough information to make a positive attribution.”
Arguably, if there are better quality UAP materials in AARO’s holdings, there are probably very reasonable considerations for why that information has not yet been released, which may include uncertainty about whether some data could involve potentially sensitive information about experimental U.S. technologies or those of foreign adversaries, the release of which could have implications that, for now, may warrant secrecy.
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The 20 best Alien & UFO documentaries for those who want to believe and to freak You out tonight
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After seeing Steven Spielberg's "Disclosure Day," check out these real-life accounts of strange aerial sightings.
What is it about UFOs that we humans find so fascinating? Is it the desire to know that there may be life beyond our planet? Is there something about these flying objects being unidentified that makes us feel like amateur detectives? Is it the conspiracy element that drives us to seek answers that the government may be covering up?
No matter what drives our interest, it's the intangible mystery of it all that connects UFO enthusiasts. For decades, documentarians have been intrigued by stories of UFO sightings, from centuries-spanning intros to the subject like UFOs: The Secret History (2010), to character-driven pieces such as Curse of the Man Who Sees UFOs (2016), to the prolific works of James Fox.
Ahead, we're looking at some of the best UFO documentaries that explore what may be out there, for those of us who want to believe.
Director Randall Nickerson spent more than a decade gathering material for this documentary, which tells the story of a massive otherworldly sighting and the psychological effects of not being believed. On Sept. 16, 1994, 60 children claimed they saw a UFO on their school grounds in rural Zimbabwe; their accounts were dismissed, but the group is still sticking to their story nearly 30 years later. Ariel Phenomenon follows one of those witnesses as she returns to the site of the event as an adult, bringing in a BBC reporter and a Harvard professor to corroborate her story — and those of her classmates — for the first time. —Katie Rife
If the title of this documentary isn't enough to sell you on it, the highly entertaining story therein surely will. The cursed man who sees UFOs is Christo Roppolo, an eccentric Californian who claims to have videotaped multiple sightings over the years. Director Justin Gaar joins him on various pursuits to capture more footage, and he (and most viewers) find it impossible not to be charmed by Roppolo's enthusiasm. As the film shifts to a more poignant meditation on Roppolo's life beyond his hunt for aliens, Gaar shows how investigating the human observer is just as fascinating as what they observe. —Kevin Jacobsen
James Fox is a mainstay of the UFO sighting scene, and his film for the History Channel is considered one of the most thorough and well-researched documentaries on the “nuts and bolts” side of extraterrestrial research. Fox’s focus here is on the link between the U.S. military and the UFO phenomenon: What do they know, how long have they known it, and why aren’t they sharing this information with the public? His approach is straightforward and fact-based, utilizing footage from congressional hearings and press conferences, along with interviews with retired military and government officials, to lend an air of legitimacy to the subject. —K.R.
David Huggins, a New Jersey-based artist who claims to have had a consensual sexual relationship with a female alien that lasted for several years, could be nothing more than a joke. What makes this documentary about Huggins so good, though, is that it doesn’t treat him as one, instead using his story as a jumping-off point into an earnest exploration of the nature of belief and, indeed, of reality itself. Sequences of Huggins explaining his artwork — a series of paintings depicting his encounters that numbers in the hundreds — to skeptical gallery-hoppers skillfully strike a tricky tonal balance, and the addition of a religious studies professor who compares Huggins’ experiences to those of medieval saints brings a fresh, fascinating perspective. —K.R.
Bill Ryan in 'Mirage Men'
Credit: Perception Management Productions/ Youtube
This provocative documentary, based on the book of the same name by Mark Pilkington and John Lundberg, presents a radical alternative theory of UFOs: that they’re all lies. What the directors posit is that, 60 years ago, the U.S. military deliberately concocted the extraterrestrial phenomenon as a way to distract the public from classified weapons research, and that the government has been manipulating belief in aliens ever since. Interviews with former members of the AFOSI (Air Force Office of Special Investigations) officers support Pilkington and Lundberg’s case, and the film has a spooky aura that makes you feel as if you’re being watched. But by whom? —K.R.
Another documentary investigation of a global extraterrestrial event, this film focuses on the Varginha UFO Incident, which began in the winter of 1996 when three teenage girls saw a four-foot-tall creature with a huge head and red eyes they described as “the devil” in Varginha, Brazil. Things get even weirder from there as documentarian James Fox shines a light on a lesser-known example of a so-called UFO “flap” in his deep-dive, interview-based style. —K.R.
Billing itself as “the definitive investigation of the UFO phenomenon,” this 2003 film was originally produced for the Sci-Fi Channel, and its reputation has only grown in the years since its release. It also marked the directorial debut of James Fox, a name that appears multiple times on this list. Fans praise the documentary for the depth of its research and its level-headed approach to what can be a very out-there topic. It’s convinced of the existence of UFOs, and argues this point passionately, which was a risky stance to take 20-plus years ago — but, given revelations since, it’s a stance that’s aged as well as the documentary itself. —K.R.
Documentarian and UFO expert James Fox’s 2020 follow-up to I Know What I Saw incorporates new information that’s come to light in the decade since that previous film’s release, creating an informative overview of what we know about what the U.S. government knows about UFOs (or, to use the more official term, UAPs — unidentified anomalous phenomena). The documentary covers revelations from The New York Times’ bombshell 2017 investigation into the Pentagon’s clandestine UFO program, pairing it with new evidence for a movie that comes with the endorsement of both Jacques Vallée (a scientist/UFOlogist) and now-deceased U.S. Senator Harry Reid. —K.R.
If you're looking for a primer on the history of unidentified flying objects and our cultural understanding of them, this is where to start. Director David Cherniack doesn't resort to sensationalist storytelling; rather, he treats the subject with earnest sincerity as we learn about 19th-century sightings, explore what might really have happened in Roswell, and hear modern-day accounts. Bolstered by expert analysis, the film provides a fascinating look into governmental cover-ups over the years and humanity's natural curiosity for what may be out there. —K.J.
UFOlogist Steven M. Greer is the founder of the Disclosure Project, a group that advocates for classified information on extraterrestrials to be made available to the public. This crowdfunded 2017 documentary is part of that mission, collecting theories and stories from the early-‘60s through the present day that all point toward a government cover-up of the truth about aliens. Like I Know What I Saw, this film relies heavily on interviews with retired military personnel to give it credibility, along with archival footage to bolster Greer’s convincing case. —K.R.
The long-running newsmagazine show has performed dozens of investigations into extraterrestrial encounters, but this 2022 episode, part of the revival series on Netflix, is among the best. Its focus is on the UFO sightings that occurred all over West Michigan in 1994, where multiple people — including a National Weather Service meteorologist — saw what they described as clusters of lights flying over Lake Michigan before abruptly disappearing. This episode, the second episode of Volume 3, is structured around first-person interviews, and while it offers no clear answers, it’s pretty darn compelling. —K.R.
Like Ariel Phenomenon and Love & Saucers, this UFO documentary from director Alan Stivelman focuses on the human consequences of extraterrestrial contact. The film follows Juan, an Argentinian gaucho whose life was so shattered by an alien encounter that he still lives as a hermit and refuses to talk about what happened to him even 30 years later. Astronomer and UFOlogist Jacques Vallée appears to shed additional light on Juan’s story, and dramatic effects sequences dramatize the emotional impact of his close encounter. —K.R.
13. The Age of Disclosure (2026)
What makes The Age of Disclosure so unique is that it’s told from the perspective of government and military officials. Instead of interviewing the usual crackpot weirdos that so many UFO documentaries do, The Age of Disclosure features interviews with senators like Kirsten Gillibrand, ex-CIA officials, Navy pilots, and former NORAD director James D. Cobb.
The major point that The Age of Disclosure wants to reveal is how deep the US government and military truly are in the search for aliens and UFO technology, and how desperate both are to keep American citizens in the dark. Whether it’s to protect secret info from foreign governments or to keep society from devolving into panic, the documentary claims there is a lot that the average person doesn’t know. It’s a seriously compelling and shocking documentary purely because of the number of big-name figures it was able to attract. If you liked the conspiracy aspect of Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977), you’ll love the alleged real conspiracies happening in our government right now that The Age of Disclosure uncovers.
14. The Manhattan Alien Abduction ( 2024 )
The three-part docuseries The Manhattan Alien Abduction tells the wild story of Linda Napolitano, who claims that in 1989 aliens abducted her in the middle of Manhattan. The story also purports that dozens of witnesses have stepped forward to corroborate her claims.
But there are cracks in the tale, like how none of the witnesses have ever publicly identified themselves, and one woman who claims to know for certain that Napolitano is making it all up. That makes this Netflix docuseries so gripping because it isn’t just an abduction story; it also examines whether there’s a potential hoax and scam behind it all. If you loved Hulu’s crypto-turned-cartel docuseries Sasquatch (2021), you’re going to love all the questions, conflicts, and mysteries in The Manhattan Alien Abduction.
15. The Mothman of Point Pleasant ( 2017 )
The Mothman is one of the wildest and strangest stories in American history. Here are the facts: Starting in late 1966, in Point Pleasant, West Virginia, dozens of locals started seeing a strange winged creature. Soon after, UFO sightings spiked, residents claimed ominous men in black visited them, and some even got phone calls from a strange man who identified himself as Indrid Cold. The hysteria continued to grow for a year until December 1967, when the Silver Bridge connecting Point Pleasant to Gallipolis, Ohio, collapsed into the river below, killing 46 people, all while the Mothman allegedly flew overhead.
Was the Mothman a cryptid, an alien, or just a sandhill crane? Why so many UFO sightings? Who were the men in black? Were they from the government or aliens themselves? Or was the entire thing a case of mass hysteria? If so, how could it all culminate in a very real disaster? Nobody knows for sure, but everyone has theories. For a complete timeline of events, including interviews with locals, newspaper transcripts, and more, The Mothman of Point Pleasant is a great documentary to watch. If you loved 2002’s The Mothman Prophecies, check out this doc to discover the true story that inspired it.
16. The Program ( 2024 )
In 2017, The New York Times broke a story about how the US government had secretly been looking into the possibilities of UFOs. Since then, we’ve found ourselves in a new era of alien obsession and ufology. The main difference is that this time, members of Congress and the military are also asking these questions.
The Program is a documentary about the alleged government/military cover-up of UFOs and alien encounters. It shows real footage from congressional hearings with people who claim to have in-depth knowledge that, until recently, was purposefully being suppressed. For fans who loved The Age of Disclosure and its deep dive into the government’s potential knowledge of UFOs, The Program will be an engrossing watch you don’t want to miss.
17. Travis: The True Story of Travis Walton ( 2015 )
One of the most famous alien abduction stories ever is that of Travis Walton. In 1975, he and a group of workers were driving through the forest when they reported a bright light in the sky. Walton allegedly ran toward the light and was beamed up. He then went missing for six days before returning to society and giving an in-depth abduction story that involved alien probing and more. His story became the basis for the 1993 film Fire in the Sky.
Travis: The Trust Story of Travis Walton pulls back the Hollywood glamour and presents the timeline of events told by Walton himself, as well as numerous paranormal researchers and skeptics. It also dives into the mental struggles that Walton has had throughout his life, dealing with the fame and scrutiny that came with his story. If you’re a fan of Fire in the Sky, you’ll want to check out the true story behind it.
18. The Rendlesham UFO: The British Roswell (2025 )
In 1980, a well-documented UFO sighting happened at the RAF Woodbridge base in England’s Rendlesham Forest. Military personnel reported seeing strange lights in the forest, and when they investigated, it turned out to be a UFO. The official report from the RAF says the lights were able to break apart and fly off in different directions, and the areas they touched tested positive for radiation.
The Rendlesham UFO - The British Roswell sees a group of investigators travel to the forest to commune with whatever entity caused the ordeal. The film mixes mysticism with ufology to create a unique, new-age alien documentary unlike any other. For enthusiasts who believe that UFOs and metaphysics are intertwined, this is a great watch.
19. The Phoenix Lights - Beyond Top Secret - Expanded and Updated (2018 )
One of the most well-documented UFO encounters ever happened in 1997 over Phoenix, Arizona. For almost two hours, residents of Phoenix saw strange glowing orbs in the sky, all moving synchronously. With dozens of eye-witness videos and thousands of reports made to the police (including one by Kurt Russell), there’s no denying that something was over the Arizona skies that night.
Even wilder, there’s still no formal explanation for the events. Skeptics point to the large number of Air Force bases near Phoenix and say it could have been the Air Force flying jets… but the military has never said it was flying jets that evening, especially completely silent ones (and if you live near an Air Force base like me, you know how loud fighter jets are). For a documentary that explores one of the wildest mass UFO sightings in human history, you need to watch The Phoenix Lights - Beyond Top Secret. If you love the historical inspiration behind the film Battle: Los Angeles (2011), but want something more rooted in history, this documentary will definitely make your jaw drop.
20. Moment of Contact ( 2022 )
In 1996, an alleged alien encounter happened in Varginha, Brazil, where a group of girls said they spotted some kind of injured creature, and shortly after, witnessed tons of military personnel throughout the town. Skeptics say it was all a misunderstanding and that the girls likely saw a disabled homeless man covered in dirt. But believers say it’s the biggest alien cover-up since Roswell.
Moment of Contact sheds light on this story and follows a team of filmmakers as they head to Brazil and search for answers. If you’ve ever seen The Cove (2009) and love the way it’s filmed like a real movie following the documentary crew on their journey, you’ll enjoy the similar vibe of Moment of Contact. Even for non-believers, it’s a fun adventure to watch the crew search for clues and information from the infamous 1996 event.
Secret NASA audio captures 'alien base' comment during moon mission debrief
A third batch of UFO files was released by the Pentagon on Friday morning.
The document drop included recorded NASA briefings after Apollo 16, which referred to an 'alien starbase' on the dark side of the moon. The comments were not included in the official transcript from the 1972 mission.
Among the most bizarre releases was a 1958 CIA memorandum discussing a phone conversation with a scientist regarding concerns about a destroyed 'space message and its transmitter.'
The scientist, Dr Leon Davidson, was a chemical engineer who worked on the Manhattan Project and at Los Alamos, and studied UFOs.
The third set of documents was quietly uploaded to the Department of War's website on the same day as the release of the Hollywood blockbuster Disclosure Day.
According to the Pentagon, there have been 'unprecedented levels of interest' in the UFO files, with the website receiving more than 1.7 billion hits worldwide since it launched in May.
The latest trove adds dozens of documents, photographs and videos to the government's rapidly expanding public archive of unexplained sightings.
Follow along for the latest updates.
Explore more
Trump releases THIRD bombshell tranche of UFO files
The Trump administration on Friday opened another chapter in its UFO disclosure campaign, releasing a third wave of previously hidden files.
UFO leakers expose disturbing government tactics used to keep America's alien cover-up a secret
Americans have been told that anyone with knowledge of secret UFO programs should come forward.
Members of Congress have urged witnesses to testify, government agencies have established official reporting channels and advocacy groups have promised support and protection. Public interest in UFOs has surged to levels not seen in decades.
Yet behind the growing push for disclosure, a very different story is emerging from the people who say they answered the call to step forward.
A trio of whistleblowers and witnesses recently took the stage at Contact in the Desert, the world's largest UFO-themed gathering, claiming they have paid a devastating personal price for sharing what they know.
Air Force veteran Dylan Borland, who testified before Congress last year about encountering a 100-foot triangular craft near Langley Air Force Base, painted a troubling picture of life after coming forward.
'Somebody... falsified classified information and lied to the government to persuade the government and is threatening me with treason,' Borland said.
'You want to know how my life is? The rest of my life that will be hung over my head. Statute of limitations for treason is life.'
Former national security official Matthew Brown described a disturbing home intrusion that he believes was meant as intimidation, while US Navy Senior Chief Petty Officer Alexandro Wiggins said he fears his involvement in the UFO issue could jeopardize his retirement and future career prospects.
A trio of whistleblowers and witnesses recently took the stage at Contact in the Desert, the world's largest UFO-themed gathering, claiming they have paid a devastating personal price for sharing what they know
The Daily Mail has not independently verified the allegations made by Borland, Brown or Wiggins.
The Pentagon has repeatedly stated that service members and government employees can report UFO incidents through official channels, while the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) has said it is committed to gathering information from witnesses and whistleblowers.
Investigative journalist Jeremy Corbell, who joined the three men on stage last weekend, told the Daily Mail: 'You heard Senior Chief Wiggins. He is an active-duty Navy servicemember, a single father and just one year away from retirement.
They pressured him, saying they would get the Secretary of Defense to force him to sit for a deposition, even though he had already publicly stated that he respectfully declined,' Corbell said.
'Borland, threatened with treason, Brown, threatened with counter-espionage against American assets. It is character assassination.'
Borland said he initially reported his concerns through congressional channels and later met with officials from the government's UFO investigation offices.
He said he never intended to become a public figure and only came forward after exhausting official avenues.
Since then, Borland claimed his family has also been targeted.
Air Force veteran Dylan Borland testified before Congress in 2025 about encountering a 100-foot triangular craft near Langley Air Force Base in Virginia while stationed there
'My wife has been threatened disgustingly,' he said. 'I have been doxxed. They have shown pictures of the inside of my house. I've been threatened with treason.'
He added that both he and his wife are now unemployed, saying: 'It's been miserable.'
When asked if he regretted coming forward, Borland told the Daily Mail: 'I do not wish I had stayed quiet as I swore an oath to protect the US Constitution.
'I fulfilled that oath by becoming a whistleblower. Unfortunately, upon doing so, I was put into the position where I needed to become public.
'If the truth is known and people and agencies are held accountable, then I can justify my actions. Without that, I am another sacrifice in the coverup.'
Brown said at the conference that he also never intended to become a public whistleblower.
He initially came forward through official channels after discovering information related to an alleged program known as 'Immaculate Constellation.'
The program is described as a secret, unauthorized Pentagon program created to collect and hide UFO evidence, which allegedly acts as an unacknowledged special access program designed to quarantine high-quality UFO imagery and testimonies from congressional oversight.
The Department of Defense (DoD) officially denies the existence of Immaculate Constellation. A DoD spokesperson has stated that there is no historical or present record of any such Unacknowledged Special Access Program (USAP).
'I was a UAP whistleblower to Congress,' he explained at the conference, saying he responded after lawmakers invited intelligence personnel to provide information behind closed doors.
According to Brown, the consequences have been severe. 'I have lost my career,' he said. 'I spent over a decade building it.'
Brown said the fallout has affected every aspect of his life, including plans he and his wife once had for the future.
'I'm 35,' he said. 'This started for me five years ago. My wife and I wanted a family. Seems very remote now. It's very difficult to imagine a future at this moment. It has been hell.'
He also described a disturbing incident in which someone allegedly entered his home while he and his wife were sleeping.
According to Brown, nothing of value was stolen despite expensive electronics being left untouched. Instead, personal items were moved around the house and his grandfather's ashes were allegedly removed and left outside.
'The only thing taken out of the house is, as you said, my grandfather's ashes,' Brown said. 'They took away from me and left as a message in the street next to the garbage.'
US Navy Senior Chief Petty Officer Alexandro Wiggins said he fears his involvement in the UFO issue could jeopardize his retirement and future career prospects.
Brown believes the incident was intended as intimidation, saying: 'It's meant to mess with your brain. It's meant to mess with your life.'
Even though he said his life has fallen apart since coming forward, Brown told the Daily Mail that he does not wish he had stayed silent.
'There was a clear moral imperative then, just as there is now, to disclose the truth about UAP to the public,' he continued.
'I do wish my government had protected the whistleblowers. I do wish there had been help for the people who told the truth. I do wish I had never been forced to go public.
'Most of all, I wish there were a way to protect our families from the pain caused by our sacrifices.'
Wiggins' story is different from the two whistleblowers, as he is still on active duty.
The 23-year veteran testified alongside Borland last year, describing a strange encounter while aboard the USS Jackson off the Southern California coast on February 15, 2023.
Wiggins said he witnessed a Tic-Tac craft emerge from the Pacific and join three other Tic-Tacs in a flying formation over the Navy vessel.
Leaked military video from 2012 revealed three orbs captured flying over the Persian Gulf
All of the Tic-Tacs shot off at the same time with incredible speed, without creating a sonic boom or making the typical engine trails of a plane or drone.
Wiggins explained what he viewed as pressure from government investigators after he had already shared his account with Congress.
He testified that representatives from the All-Domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) repeatedly contacted him and eventually reached out to his chain of command.
After declining further interviews, Wiggins said he was surprised by the response.
'They said, "Well, we're gonna let you know that we'd like to push back and tell you that if we have to get Pete Hegseth ... to get him to come in, that's what we're going to have to do,"' Wiggins stated. 'I was surprised to hear that.'
As an active-duty service member nearing retirement, Wiggins said he worried about the potential impact on his career.
'I can see this becoming an issue for my retirement,' he said. 'I can see this being an issue as a father retiring and attempting to get jobs and such.'
Wiggins told the Daily Mail that he wrestled with telling the public about what he witnessed in 2023.
'I knew back then, just like I know now, that staying silent wasn't the answer. I am proud of my service to the US armed forces, and I am proud of my decision I made,' he said.
Corbell argued that such stories explain why many potential whistleblowers remain reluctant to come forward despite public calls for transparency.
'None of these guys asked to testify,' Corbell said. 'They did everything right. Reported up the chain of command.'
He described what he sees as a pattern of retaliation against individuals connected to the UFO issue.
'Our wives get threatened, our moms get threatened, we lose jobs,' Corbell said.
Is the Gulf Stream about to collapse? Mysterious 'cold blob' in the Atlantic suggests key current is weakening, scientists warn
A mysterious 'cold blob' has emerged in the North Atlantic – and scientists say it indicates a critical ocean current is on the verge of collapsing.
While the rest of the Earth's oceans have grown warmer amid the building El Niño, one patch of sea southeast of Greenland has remained stubbornly chilly.
For decades, scientists have been baffled over why this 'hole' is cooling down while everywhere else heats up.
Now, a group of researchers argue that it is because the critical Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) is slowing down.
AMOC is a vast network of ocean currents carrying warmth from the tropics to Europe, of which the Gulf Stream is one small part.
However, recent data suggests that human–caused climate change could be driving this system to a tipping point that could trigger its total collapse.
Were AMOC to collapse, it would plunge northern Europe into a 'new Ice Age' and trigger famines by disrupting crucial monsoon rains in Africa and Asia.
Lead author Professor Stefan Rahmstorf, of Potsdam University, told New Scientist: 'Even if, in some modelling approaches, it seems possible that the cold blob is caused by the atmosphere, in fact, the data show it is caused by the ocean.'
A 'cold blob' in the North Atlantic could be a sign that the crucial Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) is slowing down
AMOC plays a crucial role in keeping the planet's current climate stable by moving heat, nutrients, and carbon around the world.
The 'engine' driving this global conveyor belt is the cold, salty waters that form in the North Atlantic around Greenland.
As this dense water sinks towards the bottom of the ocean, warm water from the Tropics is pulled northwards, and the cycle keeps the current moving.
However, scientists are concerned that fresh water from Greenland's melting glaciers is disrupting this process by diluting the water and making it less dense.
Studies have shown that AMOC has already slowed by about 15 per cent since the mid–20th century due to climate change, and could be driven into total collapse in the future.
Since a slowing AMOC would result in less warm water arriving in the North Atlantic, scientists had suggested that it could be part of the explanation for the cold blob.
However, our direct observations of AMOC only date back around 20 years, which makes drawing a strong connection challenging.
Likewise, other researchers have proposed a competing theory, arguing that the cold blob is actually being caused by changing wind conditions.
The North Atlantic 'cold blob' or 'warming hole' is a region of ocean that has been getting cooler even while the rest of the planet gets hotter
In 2022, scientists claimed that the rapid warming in the Arctic has shifted the jet stream over the cold blob region and that these strong westerly winds are drawing more heat out of the ocean.
However, a group of researchers led by Professor Rahmstorf now say they have found strong evidence linking the cold blob to AMOC's decline.
Instead of using computer–based climate models, the researchers used 'climate reanalyses', which are based on direct measurements from satellites, buoys and ships.
They found that surface heat loss has actually decreased in the cold blob since 1995, meaning that the wind is not taking more heat away.
Likewise, they discovered that the cold blob is not just cooling at the surface, but also at 3,280 feet (1,000 m) below the waves.
According to the researchers, this clearly shows that the warming hole is being caused by a change in the way ocean currents distribute heat and not by the wind.
This is vitally important because it would make the North Atlantic cold blob one of the 'early warning signals' that AMOC is weakening.
In their paper, published in Geophysical Research Letters, the researchers conclude: 'Our analysis supports the interpretation of the observed "cold blob" as a sign of a weakening AMOC.'
Scientists found that the amount of heat being lost from the surface has actually decreased over time (illustrated), meaning that it is not wind–driven heat loss causing the cooling
Researchers found that the cool spot is also getting colder beneath the surface, which suggests that it is being driven by changes in ocean currents, such as the AMOC
More immediately, this means that the cold blob could also threaten the 'subpolar gyre', a massive swirling current that surrounds the North Atlantic.
This current helps to bring salty water to the surface to feed the process of cooling and sinking that drives AMOC.
However, if the subpolar gyre failed, it would actually cool the UK and northern Europe even faster than a full AMOC collapse.
A recent Parliamentary report warned that the collapse of the subpolar gyre could create 2°C (3.6°F) and 3°C (5.4°F) of cooling over the North Atlantic, threatening the viability of agriculture in the UK.
Professor Rahmstorf warns: 'The subpolar gyre passing this tipping point could already lead to serious climate impacts in western Europe as early as in the 2040s'
When it comes to regulating global climate, the circulation of the Atlantic Ocean plays a key role.
This is due to a constantly moving system of deep-water circulation often referred to as the Global Ocean Conveyor Belt which sends warm, salty Gulf Stream water to the North Atlantic where it releases heat to the atmosphere and warms Western Europe.
The cooler water then sinks to great depths and travels all the way to Antarctica and eventually circulates back up to the Gulf Stream.
When it comes to regulating global climate, the circulation of the Atlantic Ocean plays a key role
This motion is fuelled by thermohaline currents – a combination of temperature and salt.
It takes thousands of years for water to complete a continuous journey around the world.
Researchers believe that as the North Atlantic began to warm near the end of the Little Ice Age, freshwater disrupted the system, called the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC).
Arctic sea ice, and ice sheets and glaciers surrounding the Arctic began to melt, forming a huge natural tap of fresh water that gushed into the North Atlantic.
This huge influx of freshwater diluted the surface seawater, making it lighter and less able to sink deep, slowing down the AMOC system.
Researchers found the AMOC has been weakening more rapidly since 1950 in response to recent global warming.
Atlantic 'cold blob' caused by weakening ocean current system that's likely nearing a tipping point, reanalysis finds
A part of the Atlantic Ocean, just south of Greenland and Iceland, has been cooling off while the rest of the world gets hotter. This enigmatic patch is often referred to as the "cold blob" and scientists have been trying to figure out the mechanisms behind its cooling. While some studies have blamed increased heat loss at the sea surface, others suggest weaker currents are bringing less heat to the area. Now, a new study, published in Geophysical Research Letters, provides additional support for the latter—now using reanalysis data based on direct weather observations instead of just modeling.
The Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) is a system of ocean currents that acts as a planetary "conveyor belt," moving warm surface water from the tropics northward and cold, dense water southward. This ocean circulation plays an important role in regulating Earth's climate and redistributing heat. Many previous studies have linked the Atlantic cold blob to the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC). They indicate that a weakening of this system may be bringing less warm water to the area.
The authors of the new study say that this makes sense since the cold blob region is where the AMOC delivers its heat and passes it to the atmosphere. They note that other studies have used observed sea surface salinity changes and paleoclimatic proxy data to suggest that the AMOC has been slowing down since preindustrial time.
"A further weakening of the AMOC could have major repercussions for future climate for millennia, given that the AMOC is known to have a tipping point beyond which it is likely to shut down," the study authors write.
Still, some think that the cold blob is caused by surface heat loss and atmospheric effects, but models and proxies have not reached consensus.
The research team decided to back up modeling with observational data to attempt to settle the debate. They used observation-based reanalysis data for ocean heat content and surface fluxes, including satellite and temperature measurements and combined this with climate models. They also conducted a heat budget analysis, which quantified the balance between incoming and outgoing heat in the cold blob region. The data for quality reanalysis goes back to 1955 and the satellite data goes back to 1993, allowing the team to determine changes over many decades.
Their results indicated that the cooling in the "cold blob" is a deep ocean phenomenon, driven by changes in ocean heat transport, not just surface temperature changes. The data indicated that surface heat loss has actually decreased in the cold blob area, contradicting the idea that increased surface cooling is responsible.
The team writes, "To explain a cooling trend in the cold blob region by surface heat loss while the AMOC is steady, this heat loss would need to increase to outcompete the AMOC's heat supply. The opposite is seen in the ERA5 data: surface heat loss has in fact decreased (since 1993 significantly, since 1955 slightly) over the cold blob. The latter is to be expected when the AMOC supplies less heat to the region and thus less is released to the atmosphere."
Further weakening of this crucial current system could have far-reaching effects on weather, sea level and ecosystems, according to many climate models. The researchers urge policymakers to think of risk management strategies to lessen the impact that the AMOC tipping point might bring.
They write, "Given the well‐established existence of a tipping point of the AMOC, as well as recent studies finding a range of different 'early warning signals' of the ocean circulation approaching such a tipping point, the strong evidence for a weakening AMOC is a serious concern for society and policy. While large uncertainty remains over how close Earth is to this tipping point, standard CMIP6 simulations of future global warming scenarios suggest it is crossed in a substantial subset of these model simulations around the middle of this century."
Written for you by our author Krystal Kasal, edited by Gaby Clark, and fact-checked and reviewed by Robert Egan—this article is the result of careful human work. We rely on readers like you to keep independent science journalism alive. If this reporting matters to you, please consider a donation (especially monthly). You'll get an ad-free account as a thank-you.
Journal information: Geophysical Research Letters
Mysterious ‘cold blob’ in the Atlantic suggests the AMOC is weakening
A patch of ocean south-east of Greenland is the only place on Earth that is cooling, and it could be a sign that the warm water "conveyor belt" in the Atlantic is slowing down
By Alec Luhn
The “cold blob” appears in a data visualisation showing average temperatures in 2015, relative to the 1951-80 average
NASA Scientific Visualization Studio/Goddard Space Flight Center
Over the past 150 years, Earth’s entire surface has been warming, except for one patch of the north Atlantic. Located south-east of Greenland, this area has cooled by as much as 1°C and is known as the “warming hole” or the “cold blob”.
The swath of ocean — dubbed the “cold blob” or “warming hole” — has cooled by nearly 1 degree Celsius (1.8 Fahrenheit) since 1900.
Scientists have long debated whether this anomaly is driven by heat loss from the ocean surface due to changes to winds and clouds, or whether it’s a signal of the weakening of a critical system of ocean currents, which transports heat. The new research concludes it’s the latter, and the finding points to a worrying future.
The Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation, or AMOC, works like a vast ocean conveyor belt, pulling warm water from the tropics to the Northern Hemisphere, where it cools, sinks and flows back south.
A raft of research suggests this system is weakening as human-driven global warming melts ice and causes a surge of freshwater into the ocean, disrupting the AMOC’s delicate balance of heat and salinity. Some scientists warn the AMOC is heading toward a tipping point, potentially as early at this century, which would mean a future collapse is locked in.
An AMOC shutdown would be a global catastrophe, causing accelerated sea level rise on the US East Coast, plunging Europe into a winter deep freeze and shifting the monsoon in Africa, driving prolonged droughts.
The cold blob has been interpreted by some as a fingerprint of AMOC change, because it’s the region to which the AMOC brings much of its heat.
To better unravel what’s happening in this part of the Atlantic, the study scientists combined real-world ocean heat data from instruments and satellites with climate models.
They found that cooling in the cold blob was not just happening on the surface but also deep in the ocean, where atmospheric conditions like winds and clouds have a much weaker influence.
All signs point to the influence of the AMOC, the study found. “It is changing ocean heat transport” which is driving the cooling of the cold blob, said Stefan Rahmstorf, a study author and a physics and oceans professor at Potsdam University, Germany.
There is also plenty of other evidence the AMOC is weakening, independent of the cold blob, he added, with some studies suggesting it’s at the weakest it’s been in around 1,000 years.
Previous studies have demonstrated it’s possible to generate a cold blob through atmospheric conditions alone, said René van Westen, a marine and atmospheric researcher at Utrecht University, who was not involved in the research. But the fact the new study found consistent results across different datasets “strengthens the robustness of the conclusions,” he said.
David Thornally, a professor of ocean and climate science at University College London, also not involved in the research, said that the study bolsters evidence of a link between the cold blob and a weakening AMOC, but cautioned that the sparseness of real-world data means the available datasets “are best viewed as good approximations rather than perfect representations of reality.”
Uncertainties remain, he told CNN, and “I don’t think (this study) will be the final word on the issue.”
Jonathan Baker, a senior climate scientist at the UK Met Office, agreed, telling CNN “I would view this study as adding evidence for an AMOC contribution to the cold blob, rather than definitively settling the question.”
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New UFO files describe spinning discs, glowing orbs and one object shaped like a potato
WASHINGTON (AP) - One was a rotating disc that sent out beams of light. Another was a shining red orb of a hue the observer had never seen before. Then there was the one compared to a potato, and also a bean, but with a coat of shimmering, fish-like scales.
Those were some of the UFOs described in documents released Friday by the Pentagon, the third release since President Donald Trump directed his administration to give the public full disclosure around what it knows about alien life and mysterious objects in the sky.
The 72 files released on Friday don´t include the kind of blockbuster revelation that Trump has teased. There´s no conclusive evidence of alien life or government cover-ups. But the files reveal new details about some recent sightings, along with the government's efforts to explain what many find inexplicable.
Take, for instance, the potato.
It happened in 2022, on a brisk February morning in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Five U.S. Army members at Fort Carson walked out of an office building and saw something strange hovering over Cheyenne Mountain, a few miles to the west.
"The object was `potato´ shaped with distinct edges and appeared to look painted in a creamy/whitish opalescent color," according to an account in an FBI document. It was made up of "articulating fish scales or panels that were non-symmetrical, non-overlapping and irregular shaped."
FILE - A patron passes a painting inside the International UFO Museum and Research Center in Roswell, N.M., on June 10, 1997.
(AP Photo/Eric Draper, File)
It stayed motionless, shimmering, for about two minutes, the men recounted to the FBI. Then it vanished in the blink of an eye. None of the men had phones on them. There's no video, no photos.
Authorities tasked with investigating the episode said they couldn't explain it easily. Their report found - with "low confidence" - that it may have been "backscattering of sunlight." Low light from the rising sun could have reflected off the mountain's snow and illuminated low clouds above, it said.
The men insisted it was a clear, cloudless day. No aircraft or balloons were believed to be in the area. The four-page report, heavily redacted and attributed only to an "intelligence community partner," said it didn't appear to be technology from a foreign adversary. An FBI rendering looks just like one might imagine - like a scaly, pale potato above a low mountain.
The case remains unsolved.
A similarly inclusive report examined a series of sightings in October 2023, this time by six federal law enforcement agents. Multiple times, the agents said, they saw a bright orange orb appear above a ridgeline and spawn two to four smaller red orbs.
The orbs disappeared quickly most of the time, but in one instance, the agents said an orb hovered motionless in the sky for several hours. There's no video or photo evidence of the sightings, the report said.
An analysis dated this month goes through a series of possible explanations. Military aircraft were conducting exercises in the area, and some deployed flares. There could have been other testing of developmental U.S. technology nearby, the report said. It listed those as "plausible" but not conclusive explanations.
Yet it didn't rule out the possibility that it was some "unrecognized technology." With relatively little evidence to work from, it called for more investigation into the case.
The analysis was conducted by the Pentagon´s All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office, which Congress created in 2022 to investigate reports of unidentified anomalous phenomena, also known as UAP. Previous reports from the agency say it has not found any evidence of extraterrestrial life.
Among the most recent files is an FBI report from February detailing a sighting in an undisclosed part of the Northeast United States. A person whose name is blacked out reported coming home and seeing an intense light hovering below the trees in their backyard. It was described as a sphere of a "brilliant and beautiful" red, which the person had never seen.
"Inside the red sphere, at the center, there appeared to be what (redacted) described as a `white plasma sun´ about the size of a basketball," according to the FBI file.
A second sphere appeared, and both silently flew out of sight, the file says. Cellphone footage shows two glowing red orbs floating across the sky. The White House shared the video on social media on Friday with no message beyond the file´s name: "`NORTHEASTERN ORB SIGHTING,´ 2025."
So far, the Trump administration's transparency campaign has led to the release of about 300 files dating to the 1940s, some brand-new to the public and some adding detail on previously known cases.
The newest batch includes a 2008 CIA report from Zimbabwe labeled as "never before released." On a July day above the country´s main airport, observers reportedly saw something straight out of a Hollywood movie: It was "disc-like in shape with a hollow center, and had a series of rotating lights on the underside of the airframe."
"At one point during observation, `beams´ were observed emanating from the object," the CIA report said.
The lights changed colors, and the aircraft ascended high out of view, the report says. There was debate about where it came from, according to the report, with some suggesting a foreign government and some positing "extraterrestrial origins."
The Pentagon is pictured in Washington, Thursday, June 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
Mystery of missing UFO-linked Air Force general deepens as new photo reveals final moments before vanishing
A new picture of the missing Air Force general allegedly tied to UFO secrets has opened up an even greater mystery about the final hours before he vanished.
The photo captured retired Major General William Neil McCasland exiting a local sporting goods store in New Mexico with a mysterious parcel just a day before he walked out of his Albuquerque home on February 27.
The new clue was released by the Bernalillo County Sheriff's Office after a Freedom of Information Act request by Lauren Conlin, a reporter at Los Angeles Magazine.
McCasland was seen during the day wearing sunglasses and appearing alert and composed as he walked out of REI with the large white shipping bag and another smaller item tucked under his left arm.
It is not known what was in the mystery package, although such soft and malleable bags are often used for mailing clothing. The smaller, yellow item in McCasland's hand has been theorized to be a lightweight first aid kit by viewers online.
According to McCasland's wife, Susan Wilkerson, the Air Force veteran left behind his phone, wallet, wearable devices and prescription glasses when he left their home around 11am local time. She also claimed her husband 'planned not to be found.'
McCasland had also changed his clothes, leaving his normal attire behind, and only took a pair of boots and his .38-caliber revolver with him.
The general's disappearance has become a national talking point after it was revealed that he possessed both US nuclear and UFO-related secrets and his career allegedly connected him to several other scientists and nuclear workers who died or disappeared.
A new surveillance image shows retired Air Force general William Neil McCasland the day before he vanished without a trace on February 27
The item seen in McCasland's hand on February 26 has been compared to a waterproof first aid kit by viewers on social media
In a post on X, revealing the newly obtained photo, Conlin speculated that McCasland may have been picking up previously ordered items from the camping and hiking store.
'McCasland doesn't appear to be carrying a traditional REI shopping bag. However, REI does allow customers to place orders online and pick them up in-store, leaving open the possibility that what he's carrying may have been retrieved rather than purchased during that visit,' she explained Friday.
In May, chilling bodycam and 911 recordings seemed to suggest that the general had a set of clothes his wife did not know about when he vanished.
Wilkerson was heard telling a 911 dispatcher in February: 'He's left his phone, he changed his clothes into I don't know what. I think he's on foot.'
Those recently released recordings also seemed to dispute Wilkerson's claims on social media that her husband did not possess any up-to-date classified information.
Police were seen speaking to an unidentified female witness on the phone who claimed she and members of the US Space Force had dinner with McCasland the night before he vanished.
The unnamed caller claimed she worked with McCasland, who was still a member of the Kirtland Partnership, a nonprofit working to protect and expand Kirtland Air Force Base, a major military research facility and nuclear weapons lab in New Mexico.
The retired general reportedly met with the group at a restaurant in Albuquerque around 6pm local time, possibly minutes or hours after the photo in REI was taken.
William Neil McCasland, 68, was last seen around 11am on Friday, February 27 near Quail Run Court NE in Albuquerque, the Bernalillo County Sheriff's Office said
'He was the head of Air Force Research Lab to the point the man's names are in the UFO documents that are fixed to be released,' the witness claimed. 'He's in that depth, so he has a very high security clearance.'
The new photo of McCasland also appeared to show the general, known to be an avid hiker, in good health and active at the time of his disappearance.
However, the woman who allegedly met with McCasland said something seemed wrong during the meeting with Space Force and the retired general was not acting like himself that night.
'I was shocked this morning when I saw the alert because what I noticed Thursday evening [February 26] is that he wasn't his usual self. He was kind of spacey and quiet and you know that that happens with people.'
According to Wilkerson's statement to police, McCasland was just prescribed a new medication hours before he vanished, which was supposed to battle several symptoms he was allegedly having that the couple feared were signs of cognitive decline.
McCasland was reportedly seeing doctors for his physical and mental difficulties, including brain fog and trouble sleeping.
Before police arrived at the home, Wilkerson had told 911 dispatchers the military veteran feared his brain was 'deteriorating.'
Trump releases THIRD bombshell tranche of UFO files revealing shape-shifting orbs over the US and CIA reports hidden for decades
The Trump administration has released a third tranche of previously classified UAP files, adding dozens of new documents, photographs and videos to the government's rapidly expanding archive of unexplained sightings.
The materials were uploaded to the Department of War's website on Friday morning and include a series of cases that investigators were unable to explain, leaving the nature of the phenomena unresolved definitively.
Among the newly released records is a 2025 FBI report describing a video captured by a citizen in the northeastern US.
According to the witness, a bright object hovered over their backyard as a 'brilliant red sphere' roughly the size of a basketball.
Another never-before-seen video shows what officials described as a 'plasma-like sphere' hovering above a pond at an undisclosed location in the US, appearing to shift shape and brightness as it moved.
Friday's release also includes dozens of long-hidden CIA files about mysterious sightings, revealing that the agency assembled a panel of top scientists to investigate 'flying saucers' amid fears the reports could clog military warning systems and spark mass hysteria.
Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said in a statement: 'The Department of War is in lockstep with President Trump to bring unprecedented transparency regarding our government’s understanding of Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP).
'These files, hidden behind classifications, have long fueled justified speculation, and it’s time the American people see it for themselves. This release of declassified documents demonstrates the Trump Administration’s earnest commitment to unprecedented transparency.'
One video released on Friday shows what officials described as a 'plasma-like sphere' hovering above a pond at an undisclosed location in the US, appearing to shift shape and brightness as it moved. The incident was captured in 2025
Another video released on Friday, was taken by Americans in 2024. The footage shows glowing lights hanging over a pond in the northeastern region of the US
According to the Pentagon, there have been 'unprecedented levels of interest' in the UFO files, and the Department of War's website has received over 1.7 billion hits worldwide since its launch on May 8.
A second release took place two weeks later.
Many of the images and videos in today's release were submitted by American citizens, with officials noting that footage was captured using iPhones.
The FBI report describes the July 2025 sighting from a witness who parked their car after returning from work.
READ MORE
EXCLUSIVE
'The light was hovering approximately 25 feet off the ground, below a tree line near the center of their backyard, at an estimated distance of 90 feet,' officials stated.
The witness briefly stepped out of their vehicle before grabbing their phone to record the strange sight. Their spouse soon joined them outside to see what was happening.
'The spouse also witnessed the light, describing it as a “brilliant red sphere” about one meter in diameter. The center of the red sphere appeared to be a white plasma “sun” about the size of a basketball,' the report continued.
The FBI assessment explained that the object slowly rose into the air and drifted left, prompting both witnesses to notice a second identical orb hovering directly above it.
The witness then pulled out an iPhone 14 Pro Max and began recording as the two glowing objects moved westward over a nearby tree line. According to the report, the orbs traveled silently and smoothly, appearing to move in lockstep as if flying in formation or connected to one another.
As they disappeared from view, both witnesses said the objects appeared to merge into a single orb. They estimated the phenomenon traveled roughly 75 yards from its original position before vanishing.
The materials were quietly uploaded to the Department of War's website on Friday morning and include a series of cases that investigators were unable to definitively explain, leaving the nature of the phenomena unresolved
This image is an artistic interpretation of a reported incident near a sensitive national security site in the western US involving unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP) over a period of two days in October 2023
Above is an artistic interpretation of a sighting described by law enforcement in the western US three years ago
The sighting occurred within 25 miles of several other unexplained encounters, including the so-called 'Triangle Orbs,' 'Red Orb Rotation' and 'Orbs Over the Pond' incidents, in a sparsely populated area familiar to both witnesses.
The other unresolved video, also filmed in the northeastern US, is reported as showing a light source hovering over a pond at an estimated distance of 2,700 feet.
'The luminous object resembled a “plasma-like sphere” intermittently changing shape and luminosity,' the FBI description stated.
'At times, the primary light source appeared to separate into smaller luminous points.'
A smaller luminous object could be seen hovering just above the water beneath the primary light source, appearing distinct from any reflection on the surface.
Pictured is an artistic interpretation of a 2022 incident potentially involving a UFO reported near Colorado Springs, Colorado
Above is another artistic impression of a UFO sighting in 2023 submitted to the FBI from law enfrocement
According to the report, the object remained largely stationary for about 45 minutes before suddenly disappearing. The witness reported hearing no sound at any point during the encounter.
The footage was captured by a private citizen using an iPhone and was later analyzed and authenticated by the US government. Officials said the video was cropped to protect the witness's identity, but stressed that no other edits, enhancements or alterations were made to the footage.
Officials had previously indicated that the next UFO file release would include newly declassified CIA records, an agency that some whistleblowers have accused of playing a central role in concealing evidence of extraterrestrial activity.
However, the documents released Friday do not substantiate those allegations.
In one newly released CIA file labeled 'Scientific Advisory Panel on Unidentified Flying Objects, Report, 1952-1953,' officials warned that growing public fascination with flying saucers could become a national security risk by overwhelming military reporting channels and distracting personnel from genuine threats.
Among the cases discussed by the panel were the so-called 'Foo Fighters,' mysterious glowing objects reported by Allied pilots during World War II that appeared to fly alongside aircraft and perform unusual maneuvers.
The batch also includes a 1958 CIA memorandum detailing a conversation with Dr Leon Davidson about the alleged destruction of a mysterious 'space message,' and the device said to have transmitted it.
A censored version of the memo has long been publicly available.
Another newly released CIA record details a far more recent incident that reportedly triggered alarm within the intelligence community.
According to a cable dated July 2, 2008, CIA assets in Zimbabwe were placed on high alert after an unidentified object was spotted hovering above the country's main airport in Harare.
The cable, which was circulated throughout the US government and military during the final months of the George W. Bush administration, described a craft that 'hovered at an undetermined altitude directly over the Harare airport.'
RELATED
Pentagon releases 3rd batch of UFO files, detailing mysterious orb sightings:
Washington — The Pentagon on Friday released a new group of documents and videos related to UFOs, or UAPs, the third release since the government began a wave of new disclosures last month.
The latest batch includes 53 documents and 10 images from the CIA, FBI, NASA, the Department of Defense and other unspecified agencies, along with six videos and three NASA audio recordings. The videos show orb-like objects in the sky, while a set of images and clips offer "artistic interpretations" of reported sightings.
Several of the documents detail encounters reported by federal law enforcement officers in 2023, in which five agents reported seeing strange orbs on the horizon. One agent recounted their partner asking, "Are you seeing this?" as a glowing orb lit up the sky.
The Pentagon uploaded the files to its UFO website. Four of the videos show eyewitness footage of strange encounters, a shift from previous releases, which were dominated by military footage. The new videos, which were collected by the FBI, include details from interviews with the witnesses.
One encounter happened in July 2025. The video, titled "Northeastern Orb Sighting," shows two bright lights moving through the sky.
"The witnesses described the orbs' motion as silent and smooth, and as moving in tandem as though they were flying in formation or tethered together," the video description said, citing the FBI's interviews.
Another video, called "Orbs Over the Pond," shows an encounter from October 2024, which occurred within 25 miles of the Northeastern Orb Sighting. The footage shows "a light source below the horizon, hovering above a pond at an estimated distance of 2,700 feet," the Pentagon's description said.
"The luminous object resembled a 'plasma-like sphere' intermittently changing shape and luminosity. At times, the primary light source appeared to separate into smaller luminous points," the Pentagon said. "A luminous point below the primary source hovered just above the water and did not appear consistent with a surface reflection. The object remained generally stationary for approximately 45 minutes before disappearing."
One of the files includes documents from a panel convened by the CIA in 1952 and 1953, dubbed the "Scientific Advisory Panel on Unidentified Flying Objects." The panel concluded that flying saucers did not pose a physical threat, but recommended an official policy of "debunking" the issue to "strip the UFO subject of its mystery." The group warned that a "morbid national psychology" around UFOs could be exploited by adversaries.
Another intriguing disclosure centers around a series of strange events in the Western U.S. that occurred over the course of two days in October 2023. Five "federal law enforcement special agents" provided their accounts to the Pentagon's All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office, and each narrative is included in the files.
One agent said the sightings began with "weird lights moving along in groups miles away." Another said red lights "accelerated instantly and maneuvered with perfect, smooth coordination into a horizontal formation." A person identified as Witness 4 described smaller orbs "being hatched from the larger very bright orange light" multiple times, losing count "after five occurrences." Witness 3 said the discharged orbs were like "grapes being expelled from a basketball," and recalled their partner saying, "Are you seeing this?"
The FBI produced digital renderings of the agents' accounts to recreate the sightings. The Pentagon said that the renderings were prepared in 2026:
The files also include a July 2008 CIA report of a UFO sighting above the Harare International Airport in Zimbabwe that was transmitted to the White House Situation Room and the intelligence community. Individuals aware of the incident didn't know if the hovering object, which appeared to emanate "beams," was a reconnaissance device of a foreign government or extraterrestrial in nature.
According to observers, "the object was disc-like in shape with a hollow center, and had a series of rotating lights on the underside of the airframe." Its presence put the area on high alert.
A more recent sighting in 2022 near Colorado Springs, Colorado, describes a "potato"-shaped object that appeared painted in a "creamy/whitish opalescent color" that was "somewhat translucent with a slight shimmer." The FBI created an artistic interpretation based on the description:
After the object was reported to the Defense Department, an intelligence partner conducted an analysis that assessed with "low confidence" the sighting could have been attributed to "sunlight backscattering," where sunlight reflecting from snow on Cheyenne Mountain illuminated the underside of low-altitude clouds. Even with that analysis, the case remains unresolved as of this month.
The recent releases of files were prompted by an executive order President Trump signed earlier this year mandating the Pentagon to disclose more documents related to UFOs. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the move "demonstrates the Trump Administration's earnest commitment to unprecedented transparency."
The fungal network hidden beneath our feet: Secret web of fungi could circle Earth 2.7 TRILLION times
It might sound like something out of The Last of Us, but scientists have uncovered a hidden fungal network lurking beneath our feet.
Almost every part of the Earth's surface is criss–crossed by tiny living threads known as arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi.
Now, a study has calculated just how colossal this secret web really is.
Placed end–to–end, scientists say Earth's fungi network stretches over 68.35 quadrillion miles (110 quadrillion km).
That's long enough to circle the planet 2.7 trillion times, or to cover the distance from the Earth to the sun one billion times over.
Researchers also found that the network contains approximately 300 megatonnes of carbon – about five times the weight of all living humans on Earth put together.
Lead author Dr Justin Stewart, with the Society for the Protection of Underground Networks (SPUN), says: 'It is hard to overstate the importance and enormity of these fungi.
'There could be up to 10 meters (33 feet) of mycorrhizal network in just a teaspoon of soil.'
Scientists have mapped a vast hidden network of fungi beneath our feet, which could stretch 2.7 trillion times around the Earth
Stretched end to end, these complex networks would cover the distance from the Earth to the sun over one billion times over
Besides frozen ice caps, AM fungi can be found in almost every corner of the world.
They live among plant roots and thrive in the first 15 inches (40 cm) of soil, but can be found even in the deepest soil layers up to 26 feet (eight metres) beneath the surface.
These networks might be totally invisible to the naked eye, but they are one of the most important aspects of the world's ecosystem.
Threadlike structures called hyphae fill the soil, connecting to plants via their roots and creating complex symbiotic relationships.
Scientists estimate that these fungi form 'trade relationships' with 70 per cent of all plant species on Earth, exchanging nutrients like nitrogen and phosphorus for carbon.
Studies have shown that plants get up to 80 per cent of their phosphorus from these relationships, as well as 20 per cent of their nitrogen.
To see exactly where these fungal threads can be found, scientists from SPUN attempted to calculate the biomass of the entire world–spanning network.
They started by gathering over 1,600 soil samples from 4,000 sites around the world, measuring the length of all the hyphae in a given amount of soil.
AM fungi consist of thread–like structures called hyphae, which burrow into plant roots to establish complex 'trading relationships', exchanging nutrients for carbon
Researchers found that the network contains approximately 300 megatonnes of carbon – about five times the weight of all living humans on Earth put together
This information was combined with global data on climate, soil chemistry, and vegetation and used to train machine learning models to predict fungal density across every terrestrial ecosystem.
To work out how much biomass this translates to, the team also needed to work out the radius of the tubular hyphae strands.
This was done by using a robotic imaging system to measure over 300,000 living hyphae across fungal systems grown in the lab.
The result is an interactive map that reveals the incredibly dense networks of fungi thriving right beneath your feet, which you can find on the SPUN website.
Dr Stewart compares these findings to discovering a vast web of 'transport infrastructure' beneath the soil.
He says: 'Roads may not cover most of Earth’s surface, but they enable the movement of people, food, energy, and materials that society depends on.
'Mycorrhizal fungi do something similar underground, as they build hyper–efficient supply chains that move carbon and nutrients between plants and soils.'
Farmland had mycorrhizal densities that were approximately half as high as in wild ecosystems.
Tiny living threads known as arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi can be found in almost every environment on Earth. This map is the first attempt to work out just how big their network really is
Grasslands such as the Tibetan Plateau are home to 40 per cent of the world's AM fungi, despite being some of the least protected ecosystems on Earth
Wild grassland ecosystems such as the Sud Wetlands in South Sudan and the Tibetan Plateau were home to 40 per cent of the world's AM fungi.
Dr Stewart says: 'Wild grasses in particular appear to support very high densities of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal networks.
'In some observational studies, more than 100 metres of fungal hyphae were found in a single gram of soil.'
That is a particularly important finding because grasslands are some of the world's least protected ecosystems, being converted into farms four times faster than woodlands.
If the network of mycorrhizal fungi in the soil were degraded or lost, it could have enormous consequences for the world above ground.
Co–author Dr Toby Kiers, executive director of SPUN, told the Daily Mail: 'Without these fungi, we lose the living infrastructure that holds ecosystems together.
'Degraded soils lose their ability to recover because the fungal workforce that rebuilds them is gone.
'These fungal communities are a foundation for ecosystem resilience. Lose the fungi, and much of what grows above ground becomes far more fragile.'
For many years, fungi were grouped with, or mistaken for plants.
Not until 1969 were they officially granted their own 'kingdom', alongside animals and plants, though their distinct characteristics had been recognised long before that.
Yeast, mildew and molds are all fungi, as are many forms of large, mushroom-looking organisms that grow in moist forest environments and absorb nutrients from dead or living organic matter.
Unlike plants, fungi do not photosynthesise, and their cell walls are devoid of cellulose.
Geologists studying lava samples taken from a drill site in South Africa discovered fossilised gas bubbles, which contained what could be the first fossil traces (pictured) of the branch of life to which humans belong ever unearthed
Geologists studying lava samples taken from a drill site in South Africa discovered fossilised gas bubbles 800 metres (2,600 feet) underground.
In April 2017, they revealed that they are believed to contain the oldest fungi ever found.
Researchers were examining samples taken from drill-holes of rocks buried deep underground, when they found the 2.4 billion-year-old microscopic creatures.
They are believed to be the oldest fungi ever found by around 1.2 billion years.
Earth itself is about 4.6 billion years old.
Earth itself is about 4.6 billion years old and the previous earliest examples of eukaryotes - the 'superkingdom' of life that includes plants, animals and fungi, but not bacteria - dates to 1.9 billion years ago. The fossils have slender filaments bundled together like brooms (pictured)
They could be the earliest evidence of eukaryotes - the 'superkingdom' of life that includes plants, animals and fungi, but not bacteria.
The previous earliest examples of eukaryotes - the 'superkingdom' of life that includes plants, animals and fungi, but not bacteria - dates to 1.9 billion years ago. That makes this sample 500 million years older.
It was believed that fungi first emerged on land, but the newly-found organisms lived and thrived under an ancient ocean seabed.
And the dating of the find suggests that not only did these fungus-like creatures live in a dark and cavernous world devoid of light, but they also lacked oxygen.
Billy Meier’s UFO Photos: Real Evidence or Elaborate Hoax?
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Pentagon drops 72 new UFO files with spinning discs, glowing orbs and a potato craft
by Kelly Williams - Content Editor
new UFO Files have been released
(Image: Getty Images)
Fresh UFO documents have been unveiled by the Trump administration, featuring several striking accounts of enigmatic aerial phenomena. One involved a spinning disc that emitted beams of light.
Another described a glowing red sphere of a colour the witness had never encountered before. Then there was the object likened to a potato, and also a bean, but covered in glistening, fish-like scales.
These were amongst the UFOs detailed in papers published on Friday by the Pentagon, marking the third disclosure since President Donald Trump instructed his administration to provide the public with complete transparency regarding what it understands about extraterrestrial life and puzzling sky objects.
The 72 documents unveiled on Friday
The 72 documents unveiled on Friday don't contain the sort of bombshell revelation that Mr Trump has hinted at. There's no definitive proof of alien existence or governmental conspiracies.
However, the papers unveil fresh particulars about some recent encounters, alongside the government's attempts to clarify what many consider baffling.
Consider, for example, the potato. It occurred in 2022, during a crisp February morning in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
Five US Army personnel at Fort Carson emerged from an office building and spotted something peculiar suspended above Cheyenne Mountain, several miles to the west.
The papers unveil fresh particulars about some recent encounters
(Image: Getty Images/iStockphoto)
"The object was 'potato' shaped with distinct edges and appeared to look painted in a creamy/whitish opalescent color," according to an account in an FBI document. It comprised "articulating fish scales or panels that were non-symmetrical, non-overlapping and irregular shaped".
It remained stationary, glistening, for approximately two minutes, the men recalled to the FBI. Then it disappeared in an instant.
None of the men carried phones with them. There is no footage and there are no photographs.
Officials charged with examining the incident stated they couldn't account for it readily. Their report concluded – with "low confidence" – that it might have been "backscattering of sunlight".
Dim light from the emerging sun could have bounced off the mountain's snow and lit up low clouds overhead, it suggested.
There's no definitive proof of alien existence or governmental conspiracies
(Image: Getty Images/Science Photo Library RF)
The men maintained it was a bright, cloudless day. No aircraft or balloons were thought to be in the vicinity.
The four-page report, extensively censored and credited only to an "intelligence community partner", stated it didn't seem to be technology from a foreign adversary.
An FBI illustration appears exactly as one might expect – resembling a scaly, pale potato hovering above a low mountain. The case remains unresolved.
A similarly inconclusive report scrutinised a sequence of sightings in October 2023, this time by six federal law enforcement officers.
On multiple occasions, the officers reported, they witnessed a brilliant orange orb materialise above a ridgeline and produce two to four smaller red orbs.
The files have been released under the Trump administration
(Image: AFP via Getty Images)
The orbs vanished rapidly most of the time, but in one instance, the officers claimed an orb remained suspended motionless in the sky for several hours. The report stated there is no video or photographic evidence of the sightings.
An assessment dated this month examines a range of potential explanations. Military aircraft were carrying out training exercises in the region, with some deploying flares.
There may have been additional testing of experimental US technology in the vicinity, the report noted. It described these as "plausible" though not definitive explanations.
However, it didn't dismiss the possibility that it involved some "unrecognised technology".
With comparatively scant evidence available, it urged further investigation into the incident. The assessment was carried out by the Pentagon's All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office, established by Congress in 2022 to examine reports of unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP).
Earlier reports from the agency indicate it has discovered no evidence of extraterrestrial life. Amongst the latest files is an FBI report from February outlining a sighting in an undisclosed location in the north east United States.
An individual whose identity is redacted reported returning home to witness an intense light hovering beneath the trees in their rear garden. It was characterised as a sphere of "brilliant and beautiful" red, unlike anything the person had previously observed.
"Inside the red sphere, at the centre, there appeared to be what (redacted) described as a 'white plasma sun' about the size of a basketball," according to the FBI file.
A second sphere materialised, and both silently departed from view, the file states. Mobile phone footage captures two glowing red orbs drifting across the heavens.
The White House posted the video on social media on Friday with no accompanying message beyond the file's title: "'NORTHEASTERN ORB SIGHTING,' 2025."
Thus far, the Trump administration's openness initiative has resulted in the publication of roughly 300 files spanning back to the 1940s, some entirely fresh to the public and others providing additional details on previously known incidents.
The latest collection features a 2008 CIA document from Zimbabwe marked as "never before released".
On a July afternoon above the nation's primary airport, witnesses allegedly observed something resembling a scene from a Hollywood blockbuster: it was "disc-like in shape with a hollow center, and had a series of rotating lights on the underside of the airframe".
"At one point during observation, 'beams' were observed emanating from the object," the CIA document stated.
The illumination shifted colours, and the craft climbed high beyond sight, the document reveals.
Discussion arose regarding its origins, according to the document, with some proposing a foreign government while others suggested "extraterrestrial origins".
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David Kipping Has a New Take on the Existence of Advanced Life in the Universe... and the Numbers are Not Encouraging!
The Cosmological Hart-Tipler Conjecture offers a new take on "Where is Everybody?"
Credit: NASA
Between the mid-70s and early 80s, two physicists (Michael Hart and Frank Tipler) published a controversial series of papers arguing that extraterrestrial intelligence didn't exist. As they argued, the likelihood that extraterrestrial civilizations (ETCs) would have had enough time to develop advanced computing, spaceflight, and self-replicating machines (Von Neumann probes) means they would have colonized the galaxy (and come to Earth) long ago. Since there was no evidence of this, they reasoned that ETCs must not exist and humanity was alone in the Universe.
This came to be known as "Fermi's Paradox," or more accurately, the Hart-Tipler Conjecture (H-TC). Their arguments have since inspired countless proposed explanations, not the least of which was "Sagan's Response." In a recent study, Professor David Kipping of Columbia University (and the head of its Cool Worlds Lab) offers a new take on this hypothesis known as the "Cosmological Hart-Tipler Conjecture" (CH-TC). This new model employs a simple equation involving emergence, propagation, and time and accounts for cosmic expansion, with potentially disturbing implications.
The Hart-Tipler Conjecture, or "Fermi's Paradox," was inspired by a story involving famed Italian-American physicist Enrico Fermi. In 1950, while having a "lunchtime conversation" with friends at the Los Alamos National Laboratory, Fermi allegedly asked out of nowhere, "Where is Everybody?" His colleagues laughed, knowing he was referring to their earlier discussion of the recent spate of UFO sightings. According to the story, Fermi and his colleagues did some calculations and determined that (assuming interstellar transit was feasible) extraterrestrials should have visited Earth several times by now.
As noted, this inspired numerous counter-proposals, including the 1983 paper authored by Carl Sagan and William Newman, "The Solipsist Approach to Extraterrestrial Intelligence." For starters, Sagan and Newman criticized the calculations used by Hart and Tipler, including propagation rates, the time required to expand across the entire galaxy, and several underlying assumptions in their models. These included the belief that ETCs would pursue unlimited expansion and that their colonies would last for millions or even billions of years.
Nevertheless, as Kipping argues, the H-TC has experienced something of a renaissance in recent years, thanks to advances in additive manufacturing (3-D printing), artificial intelligence, and commercial spaceflight. These advances have led many commentators to suggest that the types of probes Von Neumann envisioned (what he called "Universal Constructors") are inevitable, and even "imminent." In addition, all proposed resolutions to the Fermi Paradox that don't argue for the non-existence of ETCs require special explanations for why humanity has not heard from any.
These include the theory that extraterrestrial civilizations are very rare (the Rare Earth or [Great Filter Hypothesis), that they are avoiding detection (the Zoo Hypothesis or Dark Forest Hypothesis), and that interstellar travel and settlement are very difficult (the Percolation Hypothesis). The main flaws in these arguments are that they generally assume uniformity of motivation, in which all intelligent life is expected to follow similar patterns of development and behavior. They also tend to favor the idea that exploration will involve self-replicating probes.
As Kipping explained to Universe Today via email, he chose to adopt a different approach:
In my paper, I try to move away from the specific notion of self-replicating probes and more generally speak of an artificial infection. That could be a scifi-esque colonization program, some kind of interstellar biological pathogens, AI-powered self-reproducing machines, or something we’ve never even imagined yet. Even so, one might question whether the notion of an infection is plausible.
To paraphrase Feynman, in science you start with a guess (destructive infections spawn at some rate), calculate the consequences of that guess (the Universe should be largely infected by now), and then compare those consequences to observations or experience (we exist, so this scenario seems incompatible).
Addressing this, Kipping presents a bare-bones model of "artificial infections" (à la Von Neumann Probes and any other means of expansion across space) on a cosmological scale that accounts for cosmic expansion. The model has only three parameters: a spontaneous rate of intelligent life emerging (λ), a propagation rate (u), and a start time for the calculation (t). Cosmic expansion (the Hubble-Lemaitre Constant) is key, since all previous proposed resolutions to the Fermi Paradox (including the H-TC) focus on our galaxy alone.
But as Kipping argues, if we take seriously Hart and Tipler's proposition that probes could traverse the Milky Way in a short period of cosmic time (300,000 to 20 million years), it naturally follows that they could "infect" other galaxies as well. And considering the rate of cosmic expansion (73.5 km/s per megaparsec, faster than the speed of light), the consequences for spacecraft capable only of sub-light travel (Hart and Tipler considered velocities of 1 to 10% of the speed of light) cannot be ignored. Said Kipping:
Cosmic expansion acts against infection waves; it’s almost like a friction that makes universe-scale infections harder to achieve. My intuition before starting the project was that this would be sufficient to decouple most galaxies from each other, so I was surprised how probe speeds of even 10% the speed of light led to infected universes. Of course, the key thing to remember is that infections spawn randomly across the cosmos in this model, so it’s not as if a single infection seed takes over the universe at 0.1c - it’s a cohort of them sprinkled across the Universe.
His model assumes that each galaxy can transition from an uninfected state (U) to an infected state (I) in one of two ways: either an ETC can emerge within the galaxy (i.e., via the spawn rate) and begin sending out probes or other means of exploration/settlement, or by external infection from another galaxy (via propagation). Rather than producing detectable technosignatures, Kippen's model assumes that "infection" would entail the nullification of local habitability - which is not to say "sterilization," but that they would cease showing signs of activity we would recognize as being indicative of life.
When computing the expected fraction of galaxies infected at cosmic time, several implications emerge. However, none of them are definitive or conclusive. Nevertheless, it does establish some very tight constraints on the possible existence of technological civilizations in our Universe. As Kipping explained, the spawn rate has to be dialed down to staggeringly tiny values, of order 1 in a million galaxies over cosmic history; otherwise, we are left with the disturbing possibility that humanity is alone in the Universe:
The firmest conclusion we can say is that if infections spawn more frequently than 1-in-100,000 galaxies, then 99.9% of the Universe would be infected for a 0.1c infection wave speed. If we take it as a given that this is inconsistent with observation/experience, then this requires that less than 1 in 10 quadrillion star systems have ever spawned an infection. That’s a staggeringly tight observational constraint on alien behavior; it’s by far the strongest statistical statement we can make in all of SETI.
There are possible explanations for this that don't involve the non-existence of intelligent life beyond Earth, as Kipping notes. For what Sagan described as "Contact Optimists," a natural explanation would be that despite there being a large population of ETCs in our Universe, the odds of them ever spawning an infection (i.e., sending out probes or ships) are astronomically small. However, this is difficult to consider if one rejects the idea of uniformity in behavior and motivation. As David Brin argued in his 1983 paper, "The 'Great Silence': the Controversy Concerning Extraterrestrial Intelligent Life," it only takes one species to break the pattern for a proposed resolution to become untenable.
In contrast, the contact pessimist has a much easier job explaining the apparent lack of evidence for ETCs, either by stating that they don't exist or employing the Great Filter argument. But as Kipping stated, this explanation is also difficult to maintain:
If the filter is behind us, then where? Life started so early that it strongly indicates abiogenesis is a rapid and easy process. Perhaps some evolutionary steps are hard and very rarely transpire, but evolutionary biologists have argued against this recently. Or perhaps it’s ahead of us, and we won’t last another century needed to develop infection technologies.
But then it’s hard to imagine how such a future Great Filter is so potent that it can suppress the odds at the level needed here. We can imagine many ways in which humanity continues, so surely someone, somewhere, especially those civilizations with greater wisdom than our own, would sail past the challenges we face today without annihilation.
Consider A Canticle for Leibowitz, the famous science fiction tale that chronicles the collapse of human civilization, its rebirth, and (spoilers!) its imminent collapse again towards the end. Or Foundation, where the collapse of the Galactic Empire (à la The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire) is inevitable, but is not a permanent condition. In short, the data supports no conclusions, something that Kipping acknowledges.
"Frankly, I don’t have a good answer for this," he tells us. "I suspect I will be wrestling with this question for the rest of my life in frustration and wonder." The same may apply to the rest of us, and humanity as a whole!
US government aware of several kinds of alien life, whistleblower claims
Government whistleblower David Grusch previously told Congress that the federal government had recovered non-human ‘biologics’ and technology from wrecked vehicles of non-human origin
Graig Graziosi in Washington, D.C.
David Grusch — a former U.S. Air Force officer who testified before Congress in 2023 that the federal government was running secret UFO programs and had recovered non-human "biologics" and materials from crashes — is back again with new claims that Uncle Sam is hiding a aliens from the public's eye.
He was among Unidentified Aerial Phenomena whistleblowers and like-minded lawmakers who gathered at the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday to call for more transparency from the government on the subject.
He claimed that the U.S. government is aware of “several” types of alien life that ranges in complexity, but did not provide further details, according to NewsNation.
The demonstration comes just three days before the worldwide release of Stephen Spielberg's new film, Disclosure Day, which is a fictional story about the day when humanity learns that extraterrestrials are real.
The group demanded the government release files it reportedly has that detail encounters between humans and nonhuman, extraterrestrial life.
David Grusch, a former United States Air Force officer and member of National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, speaks during a news conference on the declassification of federal secrets related to unidentified aerial phenomena on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C
(Reuters)
The demonstrators asked for the release of a number of files, including those pertaining to the 1996 Varginha incident, in which people from Varginha, Brazil, claim they had contact with non-human, sentient beings that were later taken to the U.S.
Some current and former lawmakers have given full-throated support to the disclosure movement. Republican representative Anna Paulina Luna said that lawmakers were requesting that the White House grant whistleblowers immunity to freely share what they know about UAPs and UFOs without fear of retribution.
“Disclosure today, disclosure tomorrow,” Congressman Jared Moskowitz, a Democrat, said during the event. “The American people deserve to know.”
The subject of disclosure has become something of a bipartisan issue, at least among a handful of lawmakers.
“For decades, the American people have been treated like children, told there are government secrets they just don’t get to know,” Congressman Eric Burlison, a Republican, said.
While the possibility that the government is hiding away secrets about aliens and nonhuman spacecraft is enticing, lawmakers also noted that their push for transparency also focuses on the Pentagon coming clean about where and how it spends its money.
During Grusch's 2023 testimony, the subject of Special Access Programs — which are classified beyond Top Secret and are hidden away even from members of Congress — became a point of interest for lawmakers receiving his report.
“The topics that we’re discussing here today go beyond life in the universe,” Grusch said during Tuesday's gathering. “Political appointees have not complied with the disclosure law.”
Reuters
In May, the Pentagon launched a website collecting a variety of images that may or may not show aerial phenomena. The site leans hard into imagery meant to entice those with an interest in UFOs and aliens.
In 2023, Grusch told lawmakers numerous times that he would be willing to talk to them about classified information and provide details of some of his more enticing claims in a secure environment, but it's unclear if those meetings ever actually happened.
Grusch's claims prompted a 2024 review by the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office — which was established to examine UAP and UFO claims — that found no evidence of recovered extraterrestrials or extraterrestrial technology by the U.S. government.
While some lawmakers have lent their voices to demand more transparency, others — especially those aligned with the MAGA movement — have suggested that the aliens aren't aliens at all, but demons.
During a recent episode of The Benny Show podcast, Vice President JD Vance said he believes aliens are actually spiritual entities.
“I don’t think they’re aliens, I think they’re demons anyway, but that’s a longer discussion," he said.
Republican congresswoman Lauren Boebert made similar comments during a podcast interview in early May.
“There’s nothing that says that fallen angels, that Nephilim just disappeared. I do believe that this is more spiritual, and, if you really want to go there, demonic,” she said while discussing the Pentagon's new UFO website.
The Nephilim are a supposed race of hybrids created from humans reproducing with fallen angels.
FBI 302: senior U.S. intel official reports seeing “super-hot” orb-like UAP
A newly circulated FBI 302 interview report is drawing attention in UFO/UAP circles after it described an alleged late-2025 encounter involving orb-like aerial objects at a U.S. military site in the Western United States. According to the document, a senior U.S. intelligence official—identified in the source as USPER—gave a first-hand account of seeing a “super-hot” orb hovering near the ground before it accelerated away at a speed that reportedly outpaced a helicopter sent to track it. The report has begun circulating through recent declassified-intelligence discussions, adding another case to the growing archive of government-sourced UAP material.
This is an FBI 302 interview conducted with a senior US intelligence official regarding his first-hand account of a UAP encounter at a US military facility. USPER relayed to FBI agents that he and other federal and state personnel conducted searches to where orbs had been searching the area with a helicopter, they found a “super-hot” orb hovering over the ground. The orb is reported to have travelled for 20 miles at a speed too fast for the helicopter in pursuit.
An additional “swarm” of lights were seen moving in all directions. A total of four or five additional orbs were seen shortly thereafter for a short time, flaring up and then down. This pattern of four or five orbs flaring up, then down continued over the next thirty minutes across the area. Redactions have been made to protect the identity of eyewitnesses, the location of government facilities, or potentially sensitive information about military sites not related to UAP.
No redactions have been made to any files released under President Trump's directive concerning information about the nature or existence of any encounter reported as a UAP or related phenomena.
The source material, hosted in a UAP-focused archive and presented as an FBI-collected statement, says the official and other federal and state personnel searched an area where orb-like objects had previously been seen. After that search, a helicopter was deployed and the team reportedly located a high-temperature orb positioned low over the ground. The account says the object then traveled roughly 20 miles, moving too quickly for the helicopter in pursuit. The same statement also describes an additional “swarm” of lights moving in multiple directions, suggesting a broader, multi-object event rather than a single isolated sighting.
The report further states that four or five additional orbs appeared shortly afterward, briefly flaring up and then dimming down, with that pattern repeating over a period of about 30 minutes across the area. According to the document, the encounter involved multiple government personnel and a range of observation methods, including night-vision equipment, ground observers, and personnel in aircraft. The source also says other pilots in separate aircraft observed the objects, while some of the linked images in the archive allegedly come from the same incident and were captured through night-vision devices.
What makes the case notable is not simply the presence of unusual lights, but the provenance of the account. The document is presented as an FBI 302 interview, a format used to record witness statements and investigative interviews. In the UAP field, that makes the report relevant as a piece of primary-source documentation, even as the underlying explanation for the observations remains unresolved. For researchers, the key issue is separating what was reported from what was concluded. The document describes sighting conditions, perceived movement, and apparent heat signatures, but it does not by itself establish the nature of the objects.
The account also comes amid broader public interest in recently released and declassified intelligence-related UAP material, much of which has fueled debate about how military and intelligence agencies record unexplained events. Cases involving multiple witnesses, sensor overlap, and night-vision imagery are especially significant because they offer more data points than a single anecdotal report. Still, even in such cases, unusual aerial behavior can stem from a range of possibilities, including misidentification, sensor artifacts, classified technology, or genuinely unexplained phenomena.
As with many UAP disclosures, the document is likely to be scrutinized for timing, chain of custody, and corroborating evidence. The archive identifies the file as USPER-Statement-Redacted.pdf and notes it as a late-2025 incident connected to a sensitive government testing installation. For now, the report adds to the record of government personnel describing orb-like UAP in ways that suggest speed, heat, and coordinated movement—details that continue to keep the case in the center of ongoing UAP investigations and public discussion.
UFO FILES: Search for answers returns to earliest UAP sightings
Fox News aired a special report, “Unexplained Encounters,” that revisited the United States’ longest‑standing mystery: unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP). Anchored by Bret Baier, the segment linked contemporary congressional efforts to protect whistleblowers with a historical record of sightings that stretches back to World War II. The program highlighted recent legislative talks, declassified documents from the Trump administration, and testimonies from former military officials, underscoring a shift from routine dismissal toward systematic inquiry.
House leaders are preparing to meet White House officials to request explicit immunity for individuals who disclose classified information about UAP. Senator Mark Kelly (D‑AZ) stressed that “scientific research must be free from retaliation if these phenomena represent advanced technologies, possibly from foreign adversaries.” The proposed safeguards aim to encourage pilots, intelligence analysts, and other insiders to come forward without fear of career repercussions. Lawmakers argue that a transparent pipeline of data is essential for national‑security assessments and for evaluating any potential technological threats.
The report devoted considerable attention to the “Foo Fighters” reported by Allied aircrews in the 1940s. One of the most detailed accounts came from Polish Air Force Flight Lieutenant Roman Sobinski, who, on a 1942 bombing run over Germany, described an object “almost the size of the moon” that remained unmoved when his rear gunner fired. After landing, Sobinski’s crew was initially mocked by military officials, who suggested the pilot might have been intoxicated. Subsequent declassified records, released during the Trump administration, catalogued fourteen similar incidents between December 1944 and January 1945, describing orange‑colored, cylinder‑shaped lights that followed aircraft with “perfect control.” These documents reveal that the phenomenon was not isolated to a single squadron but was reported across multiple units.
Former Army Director for the UAP Task Force, Col. Karl Nell (Ret.), appeared on the program to assert that the phenomenon is “100 % real.” He recounted how wartime reports reached the White House, prompting the Office of Scientific Research and Development to launch investigations—efforts that later discovered German pilots were observing comparable lights. Anthropologist Peter Skafish, co‑founder of the SOL Foundation, traced the post‑war surge in sightings to 1947, noting that reports became “near‑daily” across the United States. Skafish characterized the Air Force’s Project Blue Book as largely a public‑relations operation designed to “mollify” the public by offering conventional explanations such as weather balloons or cosmic‑ray research, rather than conducting a rigorous scientific analysis.
The Fox News segment concluded that the convergence of historic eyewitness accounts, newly released government documents, and growing legislative interest marks a turning point in how the United States addresses UAP. While past administrations often dismissed or “debunked” sightings, the consistency of reports from trained military personnel now compels a more serious scientific and security‑focused approach. Experts cited in the report suggest that, statistically, the existence of intelligent life elsewhere in the universe is increasingly plausible. As Congress moves toward protecting whistleblowers and as intelligence agencies continue to evaluate the data, the nation appears poised to transition from speculation to structured investigation—potentially reshaping both defense policy and our broader understanding of the skies.
Scientists Have Detected Something Deeply Alarming at the Bottom of the Ocean
Shutterstock / Futurism
Something is stirring in the waters off the coast of Greenland, and it isn’t a submarine fleet sent by Donald Trump.
According to reporting by the New Scientist, evidence is mounting that the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation — a massive system of deep sea currents that acts like a conveyor belt for the world’s oceans known as AMOC — is starting to slow its gears. As it does, cold waters from the Greenland ice sheet are allowed to pool in the North-Atlantic, creating a “cold blob” that’s only getting colder as the rest of the world warms up.
This in turn has a major impact on jet streams, fueling extreme weather across the world. Should it collapse, the New Scientist notes that the AMOC could act as a climate tipping point, setting off a chain reaction resulting in much colder weather for some, and much drier weather for others by as early as 2040.
“The cold blob can disturb the atmospheric jet stream and storm activities, so it has implications for extreme weather events in North America and Europe,” Laifang Li, assistant professor of meteorology and atmospheric science at Penn State explained in a press release announcing an earlier study on the AMOC.
Identifying how severe this cold blob ends up being may depend on the cause for the weakening AMOC — a topic which has researchers split. Some, like Li, say it’s caused by atmospheric forces, while others have identified oceanic conditions as the culprit.
In the latter camp is Stefan Rahmstorf, researcher at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, whose team found evidence that heat loss from the ocean surface has been slowly shrinking since 1955, meaning whatever’s happening is driven by ocean currents. As Rahmstorf plainly told the New Scientist: “even if, in some modelling approaches, it seems possible that the cold blob is caused by the atmosphere, in fact, the data show it is caused by the ocean.”
One thing that’s sure is that the AMOC is definitely weakening, as troubling data from deep-ocean buoys shows crucial ocean currents slow at various points throughout the Atlantic. What this ultimately means remains to be seen — but rest assured, it isn’t good.
More on climate change:
NASA aircraft quietly broke the sound barrier
NASA has taken a step toward quiet supersonic flight. The X-59 experimental aircraft broke the sound barrier for the first time without producing the deafening sonic boom typically associated with supersonic aircraft. This confirmed that the concept works and that the mission is proceeding according to plan.
The NASA X-59 aircraft completed its first supersonic flight as part of the Quest mission.
Credit: NASA / Lori Losey
Pilot Jim Less took off from Edwards Air Force Base in California and accelerated the X-59 to approximately 1,148 km/h, which is 1.1 Mach—ten percent faster than the speed of sound. The flight altitude was about 13,230 m. The test lasted 81 minutes, during which the team evaluated flight characteristics in subsonic and supersonic modes.
An F-15 fighter jet flew alongside for observation. Its loud sonic boom drowned out any sounds from the X-59, so it was not possible to assess the aircraft’s quietness during this flight.
NASA’s X-59 aircraft completed its first supersonic flight as part of the Quest mission.
Source: NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center
The next step will be a flight under mission conditions. The X-59 is scheduled to reach a speed of Mach 1.4, or approximately 1,489 km/h, and climb to an altitude of about 16,760 meters. These parameters form the basis for the final phase of testing.
Following this, the X-59 will conduct test flights over several communities in the United States. NASA will collect data on how people perceive the noise from the aircraft and will share it with U.S. and international regulators to help develop new noise standards.
The X-59 aircraft is central to the Quest mission, which aims to demonstrate that supersonic commercial flights over cities are possible without causing noise pollution for people on the ground.
As part of the program, NASA is developing methodologies and technologies for designing supersonic airliners. American manufacturers will be able to build new aircraft with the confidence that they will meet quiet flight requirements, and passengers on international routes will reach their destinations faster.
Aliens or Demons: Church expels exorcist over UFO theory
On Wednesday, the Archdiocese of Washington removed Father Stephen Rossetti from his position as exorcist due to his public statements claiming that unidentified flying objects (UFOs) are demonic in nature. From now on, the only demons he will have to contend with are his own.
UFO Phenomenon.
Stock photo: Unsplash
The decision to revoke the decree was made by the Archbishop of Washington, Cardinal Robert McElroy. He emphasized that Rossetti’s statements contradict the official doctrine of the Catholic Church.
According to The New York Times, the archbishop emphasized in his statement that Rossetti’s attempts to link UFOs to demonic activity, as well as his recent posts on social media, are causing serious harm to the Church’s clear teachings on the devil, evil spirits, and the rite of exorcism.
Stephen Rossetti is an ordained priest, a licensed psychologist, and the author of several books detailing his experiences with exorcism. This time, however, his public reflections went too far.
Monsignor Stephen Rossetti.
Photo from the AP archives
During his live streams on Facebook and YouTube, he told viewers about the “dangers” of UFO sightings and speculated on their demonic undertones.
According to The Associated Press, Rossetti said, “As an exorcist, I’ve tried to warn people about this threat. The thing is, demons love to hide. They don’t want to reveal their actions, because they’re much more effective when we don’t even suspect they’re there.”
“I am personally convinced,” added the exorcist, “that a significant portion—and perhaps even the majority—of UFO sightings are actually manifestations of demons.”
It is worth noting that the idea that aliens have a demonic origin is becoming increasingly widespread among Christians.
According to Christopher Baglow, director of the Science and Religion Initiative at the University of Notre Dame, the Church does not formally have an official position on the possibility of extraterrestrial life. However, as Baglow explained to the NYT, Rossetti crossed a line by attempting to present his own views as a new doctrine that all Catholic believers are supposedly required to accept.
After his dismissal, a dejected Rossetti reacted in the traditional Catholic spirit: he felt deeply guilty and asked for forgiveness.
“I ask forgiveness for any ways that I have not been faithful to the teachings of the Church’s Magisterium,” said the exorcist in his final statement.
El Nino has arrived: Scientists warn global phenomenon is primed to match catastrophic event that killed 50 million
El Nino has arrived, and weather experts fear the global climate phenomenon may be primed to match a deadly event that led to the deaths of more than 50 million people.
The natural climate pattern occurs when warmer-than-usual waters in the Pacific change the weather around the world for a minimum of several months.
Ocean conditions have now warmed to the point where El Nino is active and will likely continue well into next year, officials declared on Thursday.
A spokesman for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said: 'El Nino conditions are present and expected to strengthen into the Northern Hemisphere winter 2026-27.'
The declaration means the agency has found that sea surface temperatures are at least +0.9°F above average and are expected to stay that way for the foreseeable future.
Climate scientists fear this frequent weather event will become a 'Godzilla' or 'Super' El Nino by the end of the year, meaning sea surface temperatures rise to 3.6°F above normal or even higher - which NOAA classifies as 'strong.'
The agency confirmed those fears on Thursday, stating that there is a 63 percent chance of El Nino becoming 'very strong' between November 2026 and January 2027.
Climate officials added that this El Nino will likely be one of the strongest since 1950, and there is a fear it could match an event from 1877, which triggered severe droughts and crop failures around the world, contributing to more than 50 million deaths globally.
Scientists warn that a so–called 'super El Nino' could push global temperatures (above) to record–breaking highs
Many climate historians think the 1877 event reshaped world history, and some consider it one of the first 'truly global climate disasters.'
Just a 4.86°F increase in sea surface temperatures in the Pacific Ocean wreaked havoc across several continents.
Parts of Africa, Southeast Asia and Australia experienced severe drought and forest fires. India saw its normal monsoon rains disappear, while Northern China suffered devastating dry spells that led to harvest failures. In Brazil, rivers dried up and agriculture collapsed.
There were also outbreaks of malaria, plague, dysentery, smallpox and cholera across already weakened populations.
Researchers have estimated that the resulting scarcity of food and disease outbreaks killed up to 4 percent of the Earth's population at the time. That would be the equivalent of at least 250 million people dying if El Nino caused that to happen today.
While every El Nino is different, in the US, it typically brings warmer-than-normal temperatures across the northern half of the country and parts of Alaska. Cooler conditions are more common across the southern states, especially from Texas through the Southeast.
The climate pattern also tends to shift storm tracks, increasing the chances of wetter-than-average weather across California, the Southwest, the Gulf Coast and much of the Southeast.
Meanwhile, drier conditions are often seen in parts of the northern Rockies, the Ohio Valley, the Great Lakes and sections of the Mississippi Valley.
Drought-stressed wheat plants near parched ground in a field in Kansas last month. Scientists fear El Nino will lead to more droughts, especially in the northern US
Thursday's announcement revealed that the area of the central Pacific where scientists actively monitor sea surface temperatures for El Nino was 1.3°F above normal - breaking the El Nino threshold of 0.9°F.
However, NOAA also revealed that ocean waters in the eastern Pacific have already risen to 3.8°F above average. This pattern, where warmer water is detected in the east, is typical when a strong El Nino is developing.
AccuWeather senior meteorologist Chad Merrill said in a statement: 'Most El Ninos begin in the fall, so this is developing much earlier and faster than expected.'
El Nino often disrupts global rain patterns, making the climate wetter in the southern US and drier in the north
(stock image)
In the US, El Nino has a major impact on the natural jet stream, which flows from west to east over the middle of the country.
As El Nino heats the Pacific, this pushes the jet stream farther south, so it flows over the southern and Gulf states.
This brings wetter weather to the South, drier weather to the Midwest and warmer weather to the Pacific Northwest and Northern Plains.
'It will intensify drought in the Northwest and northern Rockies and lessen drought intensity and coverage in the Southwest,' Merrill added.
'It won’t do anything to eliminate the long-term drought in the Southeast and mid-Atlantic until we get to late fall and early winter.'
Deepti Singh, associate professor at Washington State University, told the Washington Post: 'Simultaneous multiyear droughts similar to those in the 1870s could happen again.'
'What is different now is that our atmosphere and oceans are substantially warmer than they were in the 1870s, which means the associated extremes could be more extreme.'
Climate forecasts show that 2026's temperatures in the Pacific Ocean are already well above average - triggering El Nino
While Super El Ninos have had a catastrophic impact on the globe in past years, meteorologists have noted that it may help the East Coast avoid a devastating Atlantic hurricane season.
Overall, AccuWeather is now predicting a below-average hurricane season, with fewer named storms and fewer tropical cyclones developing into major hurricanes.
However, AccuWeather's Lead Long Range Forecaster Paul Pastelok told the Daily Mail that this does not mean Americans should let down their guard in 2026, as a major hurricane can still reach land despite the presence of El Nino.
'It only takes one storm, and then boom! We're not saying that El Nino is going to weaken and dampen the Atlantic Basin season completely,' he said.
'There's still a lot of warm water, a lot of potential there. So, [I] just wanted to make sure [if] people were saying, "Oh, we don't have to worry about anything this year." That's not true. It only takes one storm.'
Pastelok noted that the devastating Hurricane Andrew, which made landfall in Southern Florida as a Category 5 storm in 1992 and killed 65 people globally, developed during an El Nino summer.
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Half a century after “Close Encounters of the Third Kind,” the director returns to the subject of UFOs with “Disclosure Day.” His science fiction films are informed by his fascination with alien encounters in American suburbia
Jake New |
Director Steven Spielberg on the set of Disclosure Day, his latest UFO-inspired film Niko Tavernise / Universal Pictures and Amblin Entertainment
Two deputies were hot off a coffee run when they first crossed paths with the cosmic unknown.
Near the end of a late-night patrol in Portage County, Ohio, the men stumbled across an abandoned vehicle facing the wrong direction. One of them cautiously approached the driver’s side before scanning the nearby woods. Nothing. Suddenly, a bright light emerged directly above the treetops, filling the air with a heavy electric hum.
The glow appeared to come from a strange egg-shaped object as “big as a house,” the officers later recalled. Back in their cruiser, they radioed the sheriff’s office. A sergeant instructed them not to let the unidentified flying object out of their sight.
The pair chased the UFO across some 70 miles of eastern Ohio and Pennsylvania. Two more officers from neighboring towns joined the pursuit, which lasted nearly an hour. At daybreak, the four men stood together outside a gas station in Conway, Pennsylvania, watching in disbelief as the craft shot into the sky and vanished from view.
If this scene sounds familiar, that’s because Steven Spielberg borrowed it for an early sequence in his 1977 film, Close Encounters of the Third Kind. The Portage County incident was one of several purported UFO encounters that inspired the movie, for which Spielberg drew on decades of reports and research.
“If you believe, it’s science fact; if you don’t believe, it’s science fiction,” Spielberg told Sight and Sound ahead of the film’s release. “I’m an agnostic between the two beliefs, so for me it’s science speculation. It’s not ten light-years away. It’s right in the heart of American suburbia.”
Close Encounters cemented Spielberg as one of Hollywood’s pre-eminent directors and laid the foundation for his lasting association with stories about aliens and UFOs. Nearly 50 years later, he has built one of the most successful careers in American cinema—and it’s populated with visitors from the stars.
Now, Spielberg’s latest project, Disclosure Day, revisits the subject once again. Arriving in theaters on June 12, the director’s new movie imagines humanity receiving definitive proof of alien life and discovering the measures that powerful groups have taken to keep this fact hidden.
“He wanted to make a film about What’s the truth, and how does it come out?” David Koepp, the film’s screenwriter, tells Smithsonian magazine. “He viewed this as the summation of what he had to say on what is perhaps the single most important subject to him.”
June 14, 1947. Morning.
America’s most famous UFO case began just after a spring storm swept across the high plains outside Roswell, New Mexico. Rancher W.W. Brazel had driven out to inspect his property for damage, but what he found scattered across the sand didn’t look like storm debris.
Brazel decided that the expansive pile of metallic scrap might be worth reporting to the nearby Roswell Army Air Field (RAAF). On July 8, the Roswell Daily Record published the Army’s assessment under the headline “RAAF Captures Flying Saucer on Ranch in Roswell Region.”
The military ultimately concluded that the wreckage was a weather balloon. But the Roswell incident was far from the only UFO encounter reported that summer. On June 24, a pilot spotted nine objects in the skies near Washington’s Mount Rainier, setting off a frenzy of similar reports. Newspapers called them “flying saucers.”
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A 1947 newspaper article about flying saucers Cincinnati Enquirer via Newspapers.com
Spielberg had been born just six months earlier, in December 1946. During the first year of his life, Americans reported more than 800 UFO sightings.
“Carl Jung suggested that a belief in UFOs stems from ‘an emotional tension having its cause in a situation of collective distress or danger, or in a vital psychic need,’” film historian Joseph McBride writes in Steven Spielberg: A Biography. “The Cold War and collective anxieties about the dangers of nuclear war helped stimulate that tension in Spielberg’s formative years.”
McBride also points to other tensions that may help explain Spielberg’s affinity for aliens. The director’s father, Arnold, was a workaholic electrical engineer who helped design early computers. His mother, Leah, was an eccentric concert pianist with a love of the arts. Both were the children of Jewish immigrants. More than a dozen of Arnold’s relatives died during the Holocaust.
“Spielberg is always interested in the rewards and problems involved in the meeting of cultures,” McBride tells Smithsonian. “With his immigrant family background, that comes naturally to him, and growing up Jewish in progressively more WASPish communities heightened that concern for him. UFOs and other forms of aliens fascinate him for that reason.”
For a kid growing up in the 1950s, those anxieties came packaged as flying saucer movies. Spielberg devoured UFO classics like The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951) and It Came From Outer Space (1953). But for the would-be director, movies weren’t simply something to be watched. After seeing Cecil B. DeMille’s The Greatest Show on Earth (1952) in theaters, he began making his own films with his father’s eight-millimeter camera. Arnold often assisted behind the scenes, building miniature sets and designing lighting rigs.
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Steven Spielberg (right) and his father, Arnold Spielberg (left), in 1988
Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images
When Spielberg was 17, he produced his first feature-length film, Firelight. Made on a budget of about $500, the science fiction thriller follows a group of scientists investigating strange lights in the skies above Arizona. Spielberg screened the movie during a sold-out, one-night run at a local theater, ultimately earning $1 in profit.
After graduating from high school, Spielberg enrolled at California State University, Long Beach, but grew restless and dropped out before earning a degree. Soon after, in 1969, he became the youngest director ever signed to a long-term studio contract.
October 18, 1973. Night.
As far as UFO witnesses go, the men inside the helicopter were unusually credible: four United States Army reservists, all experienced air crewmen and self-described flying saucer skeptics.
Captain Lawrence Coyne was flying the crew to Cleveland when he nearly collided with a cigar-shaped craft with a red light on its nose. The object stopped directly above the helicopter, bathing the cockpit in an eerie green glow. The crew attempted to descend but instead found themselves rising more than 3,500 feet into the sky. Then, the object released the helicopter and vanished.
By the early 1970s, UFO reports had fallen sharply in the U.S. Aliens had become the domain of amateur investigators and sensationalist tabloid publications like the National Enquirer. In a 1971 essay for the Saturday Evening Post, science fiction author Arthur C. Clarke, who co-wrote the screenplay for the Stanley Kubrick film 2001: A Space Odyssey, declared that “flying saucers are dead.”
As it turns out, Clarke’s assertion arrived too early. The Coyne incident was part of a wave of UFO reports in 1973 that revived interest in the strange events.
“There’s this absolutely stunning spate of sightings that comes out of nowhere and kind of shocks everybody,” says Greg Eghigian, a historian at the Pennsylvania State University and the author of After the Flying Saucers Came: A Global History of the UFO Phenomenon. “That ushers in a renaissance in the UFO world. There’s this generation of young people starting to get into UFOs.”
Spielberg was an enthusiastic member of this new generation of UFO devotees. By then a professional filmmaker, he hoped to return to the ideas he’d first explored in Firelight. But he found that, wunderkind or not, he lacked the clout to get such an unusual movie off the ground. Even after striking a deal with Columbia Pictures in 1973 to direct a science fiction feature, he struggled to secure the creative freedom required to make a serious-minded UFO film. “Everybody thought, ‘What, you want to make a movie about the National Enquirer?’” Spielberg recalled earlier this year.
The studio changed its tune after Spielberg released Jaws (1975), a movie so successful that it created the summer blockbuster. Columbia gave the director free rein to make his passion project.
Spielberg pored over magazine and newspaper articles about UFOs and interviewed people who claimed to have seen them. He also sought access to the classified archives of Project Blue Book, a government program tasked with investigating reports of UFOs, and studied the work of J. Allen Hynek, the project’s famous defector.
Quick facts: The government’s take on Close Encounters of the Third Kind
Hynek, an astronomer, had joined the program as a skeptic, but he grew increasingly troubled by how easily the military dismissed cases that he believed were credible. He went public with his doubts, publishing The UFO Experience in 1972. The book describes the Portage County chase as “a fine example … of a Close Encounter of the First Kind.”
Under Hynek’s system, a First Kind encounter refers to a UFO observed at close range. A Second Kind encounter involves a UFO that leaves behind physical evidence. Close Encounters of the Third Kind concern sightings that feature “animated creatures.” Spielberg cribbed the phrase for the title of his new UFO film.
When Hynek learned that his work was being used without permission, he wrote to the director. Spielberg apologized and pledged to make The UFO Experience required reading for his creative team. The production later hired the astronomer as a technical consultant and gave him a cameo in the film.
“That shows that Spielberg’s heart was in the right place,” says Mark O’Connell, Hynek’s biographer. “I strongly believe that Hynek perceived Spielberg as a fellow traveler, a kindred seeker of truth.”
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J. Allen Hynek on the set of Close Encounters of the Third Kind
Columbia Tristar / Getty Images
August 21, 1955. Dusk.
After spending an evening playing cards with family and friends near Kelly, Kentucky, Billy Ray Taylor stepped outside to gather some water from the backyard well. When he returned, he claimed that he’d seen something “real bright, with an exhaust all the colors of the rainbow,” pass over the farmhouse.
Taylor and his companions later said that they saw a small figure emerge from the thick darkness outside. About three and a half feet tall, it had long arms and large, luminous eyes. Another followed. And then another. The creatures circled the property, appearing at the farmhouse’s windows, floating among the trees and easily avoiding gunfire.
During a break in the chaos, the group fled to the nearby Hopkinsville police station to report what they’d seen. But officers found no evidence of the so-called Hopkinsville goblins.
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An artist's rendering of a so-called Hopkinsville goblin
Tim Bertelink via Wikimedia Commons under CC BY-SA 4.0
“The Kelly-Hopkinsville case, if considered entirely apart from the total pattern of UFO sightings, seems clearly preposterous, even to offend common sense,” Hynek wrote in The UFO Experience. “The latter, however, has not proved a sure guide in the past history of science.”
When Columbia Pictures asked for a follow-up to Close Encounters, Spielberg once again mined Hynek’s case files for inspiration, gravitating toward the Hopkinsville incident. The proposed sequel, titled Night Skies, would have focused on a group of aliens terrorizing a rural family.
An emphasis on families in peril was emerging as a recurring motif in the director’s films. When Spielberg was a teenager, his parents’ marriage began to unravel, and they divorced in 1966.
In a 1999 interview on “Inside the Actors Studio,” host James Lipton theorized that Close Encounters’ famous musical exchange between humans and aliens was an attempt to resolve the tensions within Spielberg’s own family. “Your father was a computer scientist. Your mother was a musician,” Lipton said. “When the spaceship lands, how do they communicate? They make music on their computers, and they are able to speak to each other.”
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Spielberg poses with E.T. in 1982.
Mark Sennet / Getty Images
Spielberg eventually abandoned the sequel to Close Encounters—but he salvaged one major element. The cadre of evil aliens included a gentle being named Buddee who befriended the family’s son. Buddee became the basis for E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982), which would prove to be another hit for Spielberg.
E.T. stars a lonely boy named Elliott who helps a stranded alien find his way home. The plot follows a family in peril, but this time, the danger comes from something more personal: the fallout of a divorce. The movie begins with Elliott and his siblings mourning the collapse of their family. The audience never meets the children’s father, but his presence looms large, haunting conversations around the dinner table.
“How do you fill the heart of a lonely child, and what extraordinary event would it take to fill Elliott’s heart after losing his dad?” Spielberg said in a 2017 documentary. “It would take something as extraordinary as an extraterrestrial coming into his life.”
3500 B.C.E. The dawn of civilization.
In Mesopotamia, the Sumerians told stories of benevolent gods who emerged from a cosmic ocean to share their knowledge. Ancient Indian texts described surreal encounters with flying machines powered by quicksilver.
In his 1968 book, Chariots of the Gods? Unsolved Mysteries of the Past, Swiss author Erich von Däniken argued that such myths were the consequence of encounters with aliens. He proposed that these beings were responsible for much of human progress, from the construction of Egypt’s pyramids to the creation of Peru’s Nazca Lines. Mainstream scientists, including Carl Sagan, dismissed von Däniken’s theories. Nevertheless, his pseudoscientific books sold nearly 70 million copies.
When Spielberg and fellow filmmaker George Lucas started developing the Indiana Jones movie Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), they briefly considered drawing from von Däniken’s book. What if the Ark of the Covenant was not a biblical miracle, Lucas mused during early story sessions, but rather “some kind of super high-powered radio from one of Erich von Däniken’s flying saucers?”
The pair scrapped the concept but returned to it decades later, with Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008). In the film’s mythology, the titular skull once sat inside the head of an ancient interdimensional alien. Spielberg had flirted with the idea elsewhere. War of the Worlds (2005), his adaptation of the 1898 H.G. Wells novel of the same name, features alien machines buried beneath the earth long before modern civilization arose.
But a deeper connection links Spielberg’s alien films beyond von Däniken’s theories and Hynek’s research.
Fractured families and distant fathers continued to haunt the director’s filmography. When Spielberg’s parents announced their separation, Arnold claimed responsibility for the breakup. Years later, Spielberg realized that the gesture was meant to protect Leah from her children’s anger. “I simply took him at his word when he said, ‘It’s my idea that we separate,’” Spielberg recalled in 2022. “And I lived with that, and I blamed my dad for that, for years.”
In Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford), an archaeologist who was once estranged from his father, discovers that he has unwittingly repeated the pattern with his own son. In War of the Worlds, Tom Cruise plays a divorced dad named Ray who tries to keep his children alive during an alien invasion. In both films, the fathers make amends.
Close Encounters’ protagonist (Richard Dreyfus) abandons his family to explore the stars, whereas Indy builds a relationship with his son, and Ray goes to great lengths to keep his children safe. These artistic choices reflected events in Spielberg’s own life: In the intervening decades, he’d married and become a father himself.
“Today, I would never have the guy leaving his family and go on the mothership,” Spielberg said in 2005. “I would have the guy doing everything he could to protect his children.”
July 26, 2023. Morning.
In a packed hearing on Capitol Hill, lawmakers listened to witnesses describe the existence of “nonhuman biologics” and objects in the sky that could outfly any American jet. Another 100 people crowded into the overflow room, gasping at each revelation.
The House Oversight Committee had convened the hearing to examine what the U.S. government refers to as unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP). The Senate and NASA were conducting similar inquiries. For decades, UFO reports had been treated as fodder for tabloids and trade paperbacks. Now, they were the subject of sworn testimony before Congress and front-page headlines in the New York Times.
Eghigian, of the Pennsylvania State University, credits the heightened attention to a 2017 Times article about a secret government program investigating UAPs. The article helped kick off an “age of disclosure,” in which UFO truthers anticipate that the U.S. government will finally reveal what it knows. Spielberg has said that the same story rekindled his own interest in UFOs after years spent working on other projects.
“We’ve gone in a straight line back to the beginning,” Eghigian says. “It’s very much akin to the late 1940s and early ’50s, a time in which you get a lot of discussion about the military knowing this information but not sharing it with us.”
/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer_public/b0/a5/b0a5dc5a-9896-42c7-86e3-906e33f711aa/86487_049_nv_r6v33p2_x02_260311_dcp_review0000087.jpg)
L to R: Colman Domingo, Tommy Martinez, Emily Blunt and Josh O'Connor in Disclosure Day
Universal Pictures and Amblin Entertainment
Disclosure Day builds on this renewed interest, following a whistleblower (Josh O’Connor) running from a shadowy government contractor while carrying a backpack filled with evidence that aliens have visited Earth. A TV weather reporter in Kansas City (Emily Blunt) is pulled into the conspiracy after she inexplicably begins speaking an alien language live on air.
The film mines 70 years of UFO mythology, including famous episodes like the 1947 Roswell crash. But it also features deeper cuts, such as a supposed incident in which President Richard Nixon showed actor Jackie Gleason the recovered bodies of dead aliens.
“We were looking for a unified theory of the UAP phenomenon,” says screenwriter Koepp, who also wrote War of the Worlds and Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. “So we decided consciously to include as much of the lore as possible and not debunk or cherry-pick, but figure out, ‘How does this all go together?’”
Much of the material was drawn from Spielberg’s lifelong study of the subject. As he tells Empire magazine, he has “seven solid decades of a vast personal interest in what lies beyond our atmosphere, in the cosmos, and what is within our atmosphere right here on planet Earth.”
The director’s thinking about UFOs has evolved over those decades. During a 2023 episode of “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert,” the television host pressed Spielberg to theorize what these mysterious objects could be. “What if they’re not from an advanced civilization 300 million light-years from here,” the director mused, but rather human anthropologists from the future who are exploring the past?
Spielberg could very well have been describing his own career. Throughout his filmography, he has used cinema to revisit moments in history, from the abolishment of slavery to the horrors of the Holocaust. In 2022, he turned this anthropological lens toward himself in the semi-autobiographical film The Fabelmans, a project he has described as “$40 million of therapy.”
But Spielberg hardly needed a biopic to excavate his past. His UFO films have always given this impulse a particularly vivid form, pairing broken families and absent fathers with the realization—as terrifying as it is comforting—that we are not alone in the universe.
The 1950s. Before dawn.
Depending on the telling, the story sometimes takes place in a field in New Jersey. Other times, it’s a desert outside Phoenix. Sometimes Spielberg is 5 or 6. Other times, he’s 10 or 11. But the emotion of the moment is always the same.
Spielberg’s father wakes him in the middle of the night and rushes him to their car without explanation. This wasn’t like his dad. Arnold was a reserved man, a calm counterpoint to his free-spirited wife. “My heart was beating,” Spielberg told critic Roger Ebert in 1998. “I didn’t know what he wanted to do. He wouldn’t tell me, and he put me in the car and we went off.”
The pair drove until the warm lights of the suburbs faded into darkness. At their destination, Arnold spread a blanket on the ground, and the two lay down. He pointed to the stars as a meteor shower streaked across the sky. Suddenly, the young Spielberg was aware of the vastness of outer space. Before him stretched a universe of immense scale and endless possibility.
“I think he was just overcome with wonderment, and that influenced his storytelling—not just in this film, but in all his films,” Koepp says. “Nobody captures wonderment quite the way he does.”
Many have speculated about Spielberg’s lifelong fascination with UFOs. With the impending release of Disclosure Day, online conspiracy theorists have added to the pile, proposing that the director is quietly working with the government to “soft launch” the existence of aliens to a public that might otherwise panic. But the real reason may be simpler.
Perhaps Spielberg returns to stories about aliens and UFOs not because he’s in on an intergalactic secret, but because they transport him to a powerful moment from his childhood—the night his father told him to look up and handed him a key to the cosmos.
Steven Spielberg says 'we are not alone' as ET director shares alien belief
BY Yasmin Vince - TV Reporter and Claudia Trotman - Assistant Showbiz Editor
Steven Spielberg has shared his thoughts on aliens
(Image: AFP via Getty Images)
Steven Spielberg has declared he genuinely believes in extraterrestrial life ahead of launching his newest sci-fi blockbuster. The Oscar-winning filmmaker, responsible for beloved classics E. T. the Extra-Terrestrial and Close Encounters of the Third Kind, insisted "we are not alone".
The 79-year-old director's fresh offering Disclosure Day centres on a weather presenter, portrayed by Emily Blunt, who encounters a baffling alien incident while on air. The conspiracy thriller also features Pride And Prejudice star Colin Firth, Euphoria's Colman Domingo and Challengers actor Josh O'Connor, who takes on the role of a tech-savvy whistleblower attempting to leak classified government documents about extraterrestrial existence to the masses.
The picture arrives nearly five decades following the debut of Oscar-nominated Close Encounters, which linked three individuals who encounter alien experiences, reports the Mirror.
Steven Spielberg has opened up
(Image: Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic)
Prior to Disclosure Day's arrival, Spielberg revealed his conviction that aliens exist somewhere out there. He revealed: "I do believe that we are not alone in the cosmos, in the universe. As far as whether I believe that aliens are here and have been here, 50 years ago, when I made Close Encounters, I would have said seeing is believing.
"And I haven't seen one. I've not even seen a UFO. But today, with all the smartphones that are out there, and all the things that I've seen, and all the people who I believe, I believe the believers. I am absolutely ready to say that I do believe we are not alone here on this planet," he told the The Rest is Entertainment podcast.
At the UK premiere of the film, the director told the BBC that he reckons aliens will be uncovered during our lifetime. He explained: "I've become more optimistic that people are going to be able to discover things that we have not been allowed to discover."
His leading man Josh O'Connor concurred that there was "something out there" but insisted he didn't reckon we'd be encountering extra-terrestrial life anytime soon. Meanwhile Emily Blunt declared it was "mathematically insane to imagine we are the only civilisation".
Spielberg is renowned for his alien-focused films. In 1982, he unleashed E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, chronicling a young lad who assists an alien marooned on Earth to return home.
Just like Close Encounters, that picture secured Spielberg a best director nod at the Oscars, plus a nomination for best picture. ET became his most successful box office triumph after 1993's Jurassic Park.
Elsewhere in the podcast, the filmmaker disclosed his repeated efforts to helm a James Bond film over the years, confessing his rejection ultimately led him to another enormously successful franchise in Indiana Jones.
A new trailer was unveiled for Disclosure Day
(Image: Universal Pictures)
He explained he approached Albert 'Cubby' Broccoli, the iconic American producer who co-founded and developed the James Bond franchise following Jaws becoming a smash hit for him in 1975.
"I'd always wanted to make a James Bond film from the day I saw Dr. No, so I called Cubby after Jaws and volunteered. I said, 'If you need a director, I would love to direct one.' And he said no. Then Cubby called me again after Close Encounters came out, which was another big hit. A few years later, he said, 'We'd like to use the five notes in Moonraker.' And I said, 'I'll make you a deal. I'll give you permission to use the five notes if you let me direct a Bond film.' And he said no. But I gave him the five notes anyway.
"So they consistently turned me down - at least, Broccoli did. He never explained why he wasn't letting me into the Bond family. But when I told that story to George Lucas in 1977, when we were in Hawaii together getting ready for the release of Star Wars: A New Hope, he said, 'I have something better than Bond. It's called Indiana Smith,' which is what it was called at the time. He told me the premise of the Indiana Jones series, and that's how I got that job. So if they ever asked me to make a Bond film now, my answer would be: 'You can't afford me.'"
RELATED
CBS News poll finds most Americans believe extraterrestrial life exists – and some think it's already here
We are not alone in space – and maybe not even on Earth. At least that's what the public believes.
Most Americans believe intelligent life exists on other planets, and one in five think they've already made contact with us.
For those who don't think that's happened yet, many expect contact at some point in the future.
If such face-to-face encounters were to take place on Earth, Americans say they would greet the alien visitors with more fascination than fear, along with some unease.
The government's recent release of UFO files has some Americans saying we've already been visited by extraterrestrial life. This is especially the case among those who have watched the videos in the UFO files.
And people suspect there's still more to come. Eight in 10 think the government knows more about UFOs than it is telling.
The percentage who believe intelligent life exists on other planets has become more widespread in recent years. Looking back just to 2010, fewer than half of Americans believed that. Since that time, higher numbers of men, women and people across age groups and education levels now believe in the existence of intelligent life.
People say they would be more curious than scared about the prospect of meeting extraterrestrials should they come to Earth. But such contact also generates some anxiety — more would be nervous than calm.
The debate about whether UFOs have visited Earth continues.
Seventeen percent of Americans report having personally seen something they thought was a UFO. This is similar to what Gallup polling has shown in recent years, but a higher percentage than what their polling found in the 1970s.
More men than women report having seen a UFO.
People who say they have seen what they believe was a UFO overwhelmingly think intelligent life exists, and most would be curious upon meeting such beings, with many also saying they would feel nervous and excited about the prospect.
Americans are split on whether reports of UFOs might sometimes be caused by alien spacecrafts visiting Earth, or are always the result of human or natural activity that comes from Earth.
Those who believe intelligent life exists out there overwhelmingly think reports of UFOs are at least sometimes the result of alien spacecraft visiting. But those who don't believe in intelligent life think the more likely explanation is human or natural activity.
Most Americans have heard or read at least something about the federal government's release of files and videos related to Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena, or UAP, also known as Unidentified Flying Objects, and four in 10 report watching videos that were released.
Three in 10 say this material has made them more likely to believe that aliens visited Earth, a figure that rises to four in 10 among those who have watched videos.
Americans still think the U.S. government knows more.
A big majority says the government is not telling all it knows about UFOs. It's the predominant opinion among those who believe in extraterrestrial life, as well as those who do not. And there is agreement across party lines on this: Most Democrats, Republicans and independents don't think the government is telling the public all it knows.
This CBS News/YouGov survey was conducted with a nationally representative sample of 2,023 U.S. adults interviewed between June 2-4, 2026. The sample was weighted to be representative of adults nationwide according to gender, age, race, and education, based on the U.S. Census American Community Survey and Current Population Survey, as well as 2024 presidential vote. The margin of error is ±2.8 points. CBS News polls cited in this analysis from 1997, 2010, 2017 and 2021 were conducted by phone.
link CBS News poll - June 2-4
Can You Find the UFOs in These Newly Released Pentagon Videos? - PART II
“Whereas previous Administrations have failed to be transparent on this subject, with these new Documents and Videos, the people can decide for themselves, ‘WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?’ Have Fun and Enjoy!” wrote Trump.
Needless to say, if he or his advisors believed there was anything significant in here, he wouldn’t be treating it in such a relaxed manner. Have fun? With the prospect of extraterrestrial life visiting our planet?
The buzz on social media in recent weeks was that the upcoming UAP revelations would be Earth-shattering and even lead some people to question their religious faith. But that’s obviously ridiculous propaganda and a transparent effort to hype the content in a way to distract from all of the Trump regime’s failures right now.
Trump has started a needless war in Iran, gas prices are through the roof, and consumer sentiment just hit a record low on Friday. But at least there are some new UAP videos. The complete collection of videos released on Friday is below. See if you can spot the mysterious dots.
Date taken: June 1, 2024
From the Department of Defense description:
The United States Northern Command submitted a report of an unidentified anomalous phenomenon (UAP) to the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) consisting of 21 seconds of video footage from an infrared sensor aboard a U.S. military platform in 2024. An accompanying mission report, DoW-UAP-D8, described the UAP as consisting of an object with a vertical pole or bar attached to the bottom of the object. The observer also reported that the UAP may instead be a reflection from an object in the water.
Video Description:
00:00-00:21: An area of contrast visually resembling an inverted teardrop with a vertically linear trailing mass suspended below remains generally within the center of the sensor field-of-view throughout the video
Date taken: January 1, 2024
From the Department of Defense description:
The United States Central Command submitted a report of an unidentified anomalous phenomenon (UAP) to the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) consisting of one minute and five seconds of video footage captured via multiple sensor modalities aboard a U.S. military platform in 2024. An accompanying mission report, DoW-UAP-D7, described the UAP as “diamond-shaped” and moving at approximately 434 knots. The observer also reported that the UAP was only detectable via short-wave infrared (SWIR) sensor.
Video Description: The screen is split into two viewing areas for the first ten seconds of the video, with the right side displaying electro-optical footage and the left side displaying SWIR footage.
00:04: An area of contrast becomes distinguishable against the background in the center of the right frame.
00:10: The display shifts to a full-screen view of the SWIR feed to better focus on the area of contrast.
00:55: The area of contrast remains generally within the center of the sensor field-of-view. The area of contrast visually resembles an inverted teardrop with a vertically linear trailing mass suspended below.
00:56: The operator switches the sensor modality to visible spectrum, losing the subject against the background.
00:57-01:05: The operator switches the sensor modality to SWIR (Black-Hot) but does not reacquire the area of contrast.
Date taken: October 1, 2023
From the Department of Defense description:
The United States Central Command submitted a report of an unidentified anomalous phenomenon to the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) consisting of four minutes and 57 seconds of video footage from an infrared (IR) sensor aboard a U.S. military platform in 2023. An accompanying mission report, DoW-UAP-D23, mentions a UAP was observed during the mission.
Video Description:
00:00-01:55: No content.
01:56: An area of contrast becomes distinguishable against the background in the center of the right side of the display.
02:04: The IR sensor pans to center on the area of contrast.
02:14: The sensor field-of-view narrows to zoom in on the area of contrast.
02:15-03:26: The area of contrast remains generally in the center of the sensor field-of-view.
03:27-04:57: The sensor motion causes the area of contrast to move erratically across the display. Due to this motion, the sensor system repeatedly loses and reacquires the area of contrast within the center area of the display.
Date taken: October 1, 2023
From the Department of Defense description:
The United States Central Command submitted a report of an unidentified anomalous phenomenon to the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) consisting of 43 seconds of video footage from an infrared sensor aboard a U.S. military platform in 2023. An accompanying mission report, DoW-UAP-D23, mentions a UAP was observed during the mission.
Video Description:
00:00-00:17: An area of contrast remains generally within the top left quarter of the display.
00:17-00:18: The sensor pans from right to left, causing the area of contrast to pass through the center of the display. The sensor then pans from left to right, causing the area of contrast to return to its approximate initial position within the sensor field-of-view.
00:29: The sensor stops tracking the area of contrast, causing it to leave the sensor field-of-view on the left side of the screen.
00:30-00:43: The sensor resumes its motion relative to the background but does not reacquire the area of contrast.
Date taken: December 1, 2022
The United States Central Command submitted a report of an unidentified anomalous phenomenon to the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) consisting of ten seconds of video footage from an infrared sensor aboard a U.S. military platform in 2022. An accompanying mission report, DoW-UAP-D18, described the UAP as “flying west to east.”
Video Description: The video depicts an area of contrast moving from the bottom left to the top right of the sensor field-of-view. At approximately six seconds, the area of contrast leaves the sensor field-of-view near the top right corner of the frame.
Date taken: July 1, 20224
From the Department of Defense description:
The United States Central Command submitted a report of an unidentified anomalous phenomenon (UAP) to the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) consisting of 14 seconds of video footage from an infrared (left) and electro-optical (right) sensor aboard a U.S. military platform in 2022. An accompanying mission report, DoW-UAP-D16, described the UAP as “moving from north to south.”
Video Description: At the five second mark, the video depicts an object moving from right to left across the top right quarter of the sensor field-of-view.
Date taken: May 1, 2022
From the Department of Defense description:
The United States Central Command submitted a report of an unidentified anomalous phenomenon (UAP) to the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) consisting of ten seconds of video footage from an infrared sensor aboard a U.S. military platform in 2022. An accompanying mission report, DoW-UAP-D14, described the UAP as a “probable SU-27/35.”
Video Description: The video depicts two areas of contrast moving together near the center of the field-of-view throughout the runtime.
AARO Comment: SU-27 and SU-35 are designations for military aircraft operated by the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation.
Date taken: May 1, 2022
From the Department of Defense description:
The United States Central Command submitted a report of an unidentified anomalous phenomenon to the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) consisting of five seconds of video footage from an infrared sensor aboard a U.S. military platform in 2022. An accompanying mission report, DoW-UAP-D10, described the observation as a “possible missile” moving across the field-of-view. The report also described four other objects not depicted in the video as “possible birds.”
Video Description: At the two second mark, the video depicts an area of contrast moving from left to right across the bottom third of the sensor field-of-view.
File number: DOD_111688723
Date taken: December 5, 1965
From the Department of Defense description:
This audio recording contains air to ground communications and the NASA Public Affairs audio feed with commentary, recorded during the flight of the Gemini 7 mission. In this excerpted segment of audio, Astronaut Frank Borman reports to NASA mission control in Houston his sighting of an unidentified object, which he referred to as a “bogey.” This sighting occurred on December 5, 1965. The dialogue includes Borman’s initial report, as well as additional comments by Astronaut Jim Lovell, Borman’s fellow crew member.
File number: DOD_111689232
Can You Find the UFOs in These Newly Released Pentagon Videos? -PART I“Whereas previous Administrations have failed to be transparent on this subject, with these new Documents and Videos, the people can decide for themselves, ‘WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?’ Have Fun and Enjoy!” wrote Trump.
Needless to say, if he or his advisors believed there was anything significant in here, he wouldn’t be treating it in such a relaxed manner. Have fun? With the prospect of extraterrestrial life visiting our planet?
The buzz on social media in recent weeks was that the upcoming UAP revelations would be Earth-shattering and even lead some people to question their religious faith. But that’s obviously ridiculous propaganda and a transparent effort to hype the content in a way to distract from all of the Trump regime’s failures right now.
Trump has started a needless war in Iran, gas prices are through the roof, and consumer sentiment just hit a record low on Friday. But at least there are some new UAP videos. The complete collection of videos released on Friday is below. See if you can spot the mysterious dots.
Date taken: January 1, 2026
From the Department of Defense description:
The Department of the Army submitted a report of an unidentified anomalous phenomenon to the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) consisting of one minute and 49 seconds of video from an infrared sensor aboard a U.S. military platform in 2026. The reporter did not provide any oral or written description of the observation.
Video Description:
00:00-00:08: The sensor tracks an initial area of interest.
00:09-00:16: The sensor disengages from its previous area of focus and pans from right to left to track two areas of contrast, narrowing the field-of-view to zoom in while panning to maintain the objects’ positions generally within the center of the frame.
00:17-01:03: The sensor widens its field-of-view to zoom out, keeping the areas of contrast generally centered within the display.
01:04-01:08: The sensor field-of-view rapidly cycles between levels of zoom, causing the areas of contrast to appear to rapidly increase and decrease in size.
01:09-01:48: The sensor tracks the areas of contrast while maintaining a generally centered position, intermittently cycling between contrast settings
Date taken: January 1, 2024
From the Department of Defense description:
The United States Indo-Pacific Command submitted a report of an unidentified anomalous phenomenon to the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) consisting of one minute and 39 seconds of video footage from an infrared sensor aboard a U.S. military platform in 2024. The reporter did not provide any oral or written description of the observation.
Video Description:
00:00-01:39: The sensor tracks an area of contrast, maintaining its position generally within the center of the frame
Date taken: January 1, 2023
From the Department of Defense description:
The United States Indo-Pacific Command submitted a report of an unidentified anomalous phenomenon to the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) consisting of one minute and 59 seconds of video footage from an infrared sensor aboard a U.S. military platform in 2023. The reporter did not provide any oral or written description of the observation.
Video Description:
00:00-01:59: The sensor tracks three distinct areas of contrast, maintaining their positions generally within the center of the frame. The areas of contrast appear to maintain a fixed position and orientation relative to one another.
Date taken: January 1, 2024
From the Department of Defense description:
The United States Indo-Pacific Command submitted a report of an unidentified anomalous phenomenon to the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) consisting of nine seconds of video footage from an infrared sensor aboard a U.S. military platform in 2024. The reporter did not provide any oral or written description of the observation.
Video Description:
00:00-00:09: The sensor focuses on an area of contrast that resembles a football-shaped body with three radial projections: one oriented vertically, and two oriented downward at a 45-degree angle relative to the major axis of the main mass
Date taken: January 1, 2020
From the Department of Defense description:
The Department of the Air Force submitted a report of an unidentified anomalous phenomenon to the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) consisting of 58 seconds of video footage from an infrared sensor aboard a U.S. military platform in 2020. The reporter did not provide any oral or written description of the observation.
Video Description:
00:00-00:03: The sensor tracks an area of contrast acquiring a reticle lock.
00:04-00:30: The area of contrast gradually increases in distinctiveness against the background.
00:31: The sensor narrows its field-of-view to zoom in on the area of contrast.
00:32-00:56: The area of contrast increases in apparent size and distinctiveness.
00:57-00:58: The area of contrast leaves the center of the frame and passes out of the sensor field-of-view, exiting the scene in the bottom right corner of the screen.
AARO Comment: The area of contrast’s apparent increase in size is likely to be at least partially attributable to the U.S. platform closing the distance between itself and the source of the detection.
Date taken: January 1, 2020
From the Department of Defense description:
The United States Central Command submitted a report of an unidentified anomalous phenomenon (UAP) to the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) consisting of five minutes and 11 seconds of video footage from an infrared sensor aboard a U.S. military platform in 2020. The reporter did not provide any oral or written description of the observation.
Video Description: This video features incidentally recorded audio, which does not relate to the visual content described below.
00:00-00:30: No content.
00:31-03:24: The sensor pans down and to the right to focus on an area of contrast. The sensor tracks the area of contrast against the background for approximately three minutes, panning to maintain its position generally within the center of the frame. The sensor cycles contrast and zoom levels several times throughout, appearing as brief, bright white flashes across the frame.
03:25-04:23: The sensor cycles through reticles of various sizes while continuing to track the area of contrast. Between 04:20 and 04:23, the area of contrast briefly leaves the center of the sensor field-of-view.
04:24-04:50: The sensor field-of-view widens to zoom out from the scene, continuing to track the area of contrast.
04:50-04:54: The sensor stops tracking the area of contrast, at which point it exits the frame from the top left quadrant of the screen.
04:55-05:11: No content
Date taken: January 1, 2025
From the Department of Defense description:
The United States Africa Command submitted a report of an unidentified anomalous phenomenon to the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) consisting of two seconds of video footage from an infrared sensor aboard a U.S. military platform in 2025. The reporter did not provide any oral or written description of the observation.
Video Description:
00:00-00:02: A small, barely distinguishable area of contrast moves from the left side of the sensor field-of-view to the right side, exiting the scene from the bottom right quarter of the screen.
This video description is provided for informational purposes only. Readers should not interpret any part of this description as reflecting an analytical judgment, investigative conclusion, or factual determination regarding the described event’s validity, nature, or significance. The video is looped for viewing purposes.
Redactions have been made to protect the identity of eyewitnesses, the location of government facilities, or potentially sensitive information about military sites not related to UAP. No redactions have been made to any files released under President Trump’s directive concerning information about the nature or existence of any encounter reported as a UAP or related phenomena.
Date taken: January 1, 2020
From the Department of Defense description:
The United States Central Command submitted a report of an unidentified anomalous phenomenon to the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) consisting of four minutes and 53 seconds of video footage from an infrared sensor aboard a U.S. military platform in 2020. The reporter did not provide any oral or written description of the observation.
Video Description:
00:00-00:12: An area of contrast enters the sensor field-of-view from the bottom left corner of the frame. The sensor pans to track the area of contrast, keeping it generally within the lower left quadrant of the frame.
00:13-00:40: The area of contrast intermittently loses distinctiveness against the background, seeming to disappear and reappear irregularly.
00:41: The sensor narrows its field-of-view to zoom in on the area of contrast.
00:42-00:52: An area of contrast exits the sensor field-of-view from the left half of the top of the frame, after which the sensor pans up and to the left.
00:53-02:09: The sensor pans erratically, with an area of contrast appearing in a relatively fixed position to the left and slightly below the center of the frame.
02:09-02:29: The sensor switches imaging modalities, and the area of contrast appears to the right and slightly above the center of the frame.
02:30-04:53: The sensor switches imaging modalities again, and the area of contrast returns to its previous position to the left and slightly below the center of the frame
Date taken: January 1, 2020
From the Department of Defense description:
The United States Central Command submitted a report of an unidentified anomalous phenomenon to the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) consisting of one minute and 34 seconds of video footage from an infrared sensor aboard a U.S. military platform in 2020. The reporter did not provide any oral or written description of the observation.
Video Description:
00:01: An area of contrast enters the sensor field-of-view from the bottom third of the left side of the screen.
00:02-01:34: The sensor pans from left to right, tracking the area of contrast and keeping it generally centered within the field-of-view.
Date taken: January 1, 2020
From the Department of Defense description:
The United States Central Command submitted a report of an unidentified anomalous phenomenon to the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) consisting of one minute and three seconds of video footage from an infrared sensor aboard a U.S. military platform in 2020. The original reporter digitally altered the imagery by pausing the video playback and adding a white line encircling an area of interest at timestamp 00:10, annotated with the phrase “U/I SMALL THERMAL SIGNATURE.” AARO did not edit the originally reported material, and this media is presented as received.
Video Description:
00:00-00:09: An area of contrast brightens within the sensor field-of-view, becoming increasingly distinct against the background.
00:10-00:14: Playback pauses to display a white line encircling an area of interest, annotated with the phrase “U/I SMALL THERMAL SIGNATURE.”
00:15-01:03: Playback resumes, with the sensor panning to track the area of contrast against the background, generally maintaining the area of contrast’s position within the top third of the display area. During this period, the sensor cycles through several contrast and zoom settings.
Date taken: January 1, 2020
From the Department of Defense description:
The United States Central Command submitted a report of an unidentified anomalous phenomenon to the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) consisting of five seconds of video footage from an infrared sensor aboard a U.S. military platform in 2020. The reporter did not provide any oral or written description of the observation.
Video Description:
00:03-00:05: A faint area of contrast enters the sensor field-of-view from the bottom half of the right edge of the screen, proceeds from right to left across the corner of the frame, and exits the scene from near the center of the bottom edge of the screen.
Date taken: January 1, 2013
From the Department of Defense description:
The United States Central Command submitted a report of an unidentified anomalous phenomenon to the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) consisting of one minute and 46 seconds of video footage from an infrared sensor aboard a U.S. military platform in 2013. The reporter did not provide any oral or written description of the observation.
Video Description: This video depicts an area of contrast resembling an eight-pointed star with arms of alternating length.
00:10: The sensor field-of-view narrows to zoom in on the area of contrast.
00:11-00:29: The area of contrast moves within the sensor field-of-view, followed by a visible trail.
00:30: The area of contrast leaves the sensor field-of-view at the bottom right of the screen.
00:35-01:44: Following an apparent cut, the area of contrast generally remains within the sensor field-of-view before exiting the frame from the top left quarter of the screen.
Date taken: January 1, 2020
From the Department of Defense description:
The United States Central Command submitted a report of an unidentified anomalous phenomenon to the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) consisting of nine seconds of video footage from an infrared sensor aboard a U.S. military platform in 2020. The reporter did not provide any oral or written description of the observation.
Video Description:
00:06-00:08: An area of contrast enters the sensor field-of-view from the bottom left quarter of the screen, follows a generally linear path from the bottom of the screen to the top, and exits from the top left quarter.
Date taken: May 1, 2020
From the Department of Defense description:
The United States Central Command submitted a report of an unidentified anomalous phenomenon (UAP) to the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) consisting of two minutes and 17 seconds of video footage from an infrared sensor aboard a U.S. military platform in 2020. An accompanying Range Fouler report, DoW-UAP-D38, described the UAP as a solid white object making erratic movements above the water.
Video Description:
00:05: An area of contrast briefly enters the sensor field-of-view from the left side of the screen.
00:06-00:18: The sensor pans away from the scene’s initial subject matter while cycling contrast settings and zoom levels.
00:19: The area of contrast re-enters the sensor field-of-view from near the center of the top edge of the screen.
00:20-01:15: The area of contrast remains generally within the sensor field-of-view.
01:16: The sensor narrows its field-of-view to zoom in on the area of contrast.
01:56: The sensor further narrows its field-of-view to zoom in on the area of contrast.
02:10: A blue reticle briefly appears on screen but does not acquire a lock on the area of contrast.
02:15-02:17: The sensor switches to a different modality and loses track of the area of contrast.
DOW-UAP-PR35, Unresolved UAP Report, Greece, October 2023
Date taken: October 1, 2023
From the Department of Defense description:
The United States Central Command submitted a report of an unidentified anomalous phenomenon (UAP) to the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) consisting of 24 seconds of video footage from an infrared sensor aboard a U.S. military platform in 2023. An accompanying mission report, DoW-UAP-D35, described the UAP as small and circular, flying near the surface of the ocean toward land.
Video Description:
00:02: The sensor narrows its field-of-view to zoom in on an area of contrast near the center of the screen.
00:03-00:19: The sensor tracks the area of contrast as it moves against the ocean background.
00:20: As the background scene transitions from being predominantly water to land, the area of contrast becomes indistinguishable.
Date taken: October 1, 2023
From the Department of Defense description:
The United States Central Command submitted a report of an unidentified anomalous phenomenon (UAP) to the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) consisting of two minutes and 57 seconds of video footage from an infrared sensor aboard a U.S. military platform in 2023. An accompanying mission report, DoW-UAP-D33, described the UAP as flying near the surface of the ocean and making multiple “90-degree turns” at approximately 80 miles per hour.
Video Description:
00:04: An area of contrast enters the sensor field-of-view from the bottom left quarter of the screen.
00:07-00:19: The area of contrast moves back and forth horizontally across the field-of-view as the sensor pans to track it.
00:20-01:00: The area of contrast remains generally centered within the sensor field-of-view.
01:00-02:01: The sensor designates the area of contrast with a blue reticle, synchronizing its motion with the area of contrast’s relative position.
02:02-02:21: The sensor engages a contrast filter to better differentiate the area of contrast from the background.
02:22: The area of contrast becomes indistinguishable against the background, and the reticle drops its lock.
02:27-02:57: After losing lock, the sensor rapidly cycles zoom levels and contrast thresholds.
Date taken: October 1, 2024
From the Department of Defense description:
The United States Central Command submitted a report of an unidentified anomalous phenomenon (UAP) to the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) consisting of five seconds of video footage from a full-motion video (FMV) camera aboard a U.S. military platform in 2024. An accompanying mission report, DoW-UAP-D32, described the UAP as consisting of a “misshapen and uneven ball of white light,” and reported that a “light/glare halo effect” occurred at the top of the FMV feed.
Video Description:
00:01-00:03: Two semi-transparent, irregularly shaped orange areas overlay the background imagery, persisting for less than two seconds each
Date taken: October 1, 2024
From the Department of Defense description:
The United States Central Command submitted a report of an unidentified anomalous phenomenon (UAP) to the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) consisting of six seconds of video footage from a full-motion video (FMV) camera aboard a U.S. military platform in 2024. An accompanying mission report, DoW-UAP-D32, described the UAP as consisting of a “misshapen and uneven ball of white light,” and reported that a “light/glare halo effect” occurred at the top of the FMV feed.
Video Description:
00:02-00:04: An area of irregular color and brightness, mainly consisting of white and red highlights, appears near the center of the top edge of the sensor display. The area extends to a width of approximately one-third of the horizontal frame, with a vertical area comprising approximately one-sixth of the viewing area. Overall, its shape is best described as a horizontally-oriented half-oval bisected along its major axis
Date taken: October 1, 2024
From the Department of Defense description:
The United States Central Command submitted a report of an unidentified anomalous phenomenon (UAP) to the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) consisting of five seconds of video footage from a full-motion video (FMV) camera aboard a U.S. military platform in 2024. An accompanying mission report, DoW-UAP-D32, described the UAP as consisting of a “misshapen and uneven ball of white light,” and reported that a “light/glare halo effect” occurred at the top of the FMV feed.
Video Description:
00:00-00:01: An indistinctly shaped multi-colored area moves from right to left across the top edge of the sensor display within the first second of the video
Bombshell UFO report exposed by famed whistleblower reveals CIA's ties to alien technology
A UFO whistleblower pointed to a declassified intelligence assessment that he said contains evidence of a decades-long government effort to conceal the truth.
Air Force veteran David Grusch stood on the steps of Capitol Hill on Tuesday and called on the White House to release what he described as the 'smoking gun' proving UFOs are real.
During his speech, Grusch was asked which documents people should study to better understand what he calls the American Legacy UFO Program.
He pointed to a 1971 Australian intelligence review, which argued that US officials believed some UFOs may have been extraterrestrial craft and secretly sought to understand their propulsion systems.
'I encourage people to read pages seven through 16, and that was the nuclear branch chief of the Australian government discussing the US cover-up and involvement of the CIA back in the 70s,' he said.
The report states that between 1948 and 1952, a government agency staffed by rocket, nuclear and intelligence specialists studied UFO reports in an effort to gather information about the design and propulsion of what investigators believed could be 'interplanetary spaceships.'
The document repeatedly suggests that the agency was 'almost certainly the CIA.'
The report argues that the government's interest in UFO propulsion systems reflected a belief among some intelligence officials that the objects were not Soviet technology, but vehicles of possible extraterrestrial origin.
Air Force veteran David Grusch stood on the steps of Capitol Hill on Tuesday and called on the White House to release what he described as the 'smoking gun' proving UFOs are real
Grusch spent 14 years in the Air Force before working as an intelligence officer for the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), which builds and launches surveillance satellites for the Pentagon.
From 2019 to 2021, he represented NRO on the UAP Task Force, but eventually became a whistleblower after allegedly learning that elements of the US government had prevented Congressional oversight on matters related to extraterrestrials.
In 2023, he testified before Congress, claiming that secret government departments had been running UFO retrieval and reverse-engineering programs for decades.
On Tuesday, Grusch stood in Washington DC to pressure officials to tell the American people the truth about UFOs, and used the Australian document to argue that intelligence agencies had long believed some sightings could be extraterrestrial in origin.
The report was prepared by O H Turner, Head of the Nuclear Branch in Australia's Joint Intelligence Organization.
An early Air Force intelligence analysis concluded that some UFO sightings involved real objects displaying flight characteristics far beyond known US aircraft, leading investigators to consider an extraterrestrial origin.
The document further alleged that the CIA's Office of Scientific Intelligence studied the reports in an effort to understand the propulsion methods behind the unexplained craft.
The Australian intelligence review traced the US government's involvement with UFO investigations back to 1947, when the Air Technical Intelligence Center near Dayton, Ohio, began examining the first wave of 'flying saucer' sightings.
He pointed to a 1971 Australian intelligence review, which argued that US officials believed some UFOs may have been extraterrestrial craft and secretly sought to understand their propulsion systems
Investigators initially suspected the objects could be advanced Soviet technology. But by the end of that year, many working under Project Sign had shifted toward a far more extraordinary possibility that the craft originated beyond Earth.
Project Sign was the first official U.S. government study of UFOs, initiated by the Air Force in late 1947 and active primarily in 1948.
Their conclusions were compiled into a formal estimate and sent to the Pentagon in September 1948.
According to the review, senior officials rejected the extraterrestrial explanation because there was insufficient evidence, triggering a retreat from attempts to solve the mystery.
In February 1949, Project Sign was replaced by Project Grudge, which the review described as an effort to discredit UFO reports and dampen public acceptance of the phenomenon.
The Air Force may have been motivated by fears of public panic or embarrassment over its inability to explain the sightings, Turner suggested.
Meanwhile, another agency staffed by rocket, nuclear and intelligence specialists continued examining UFO reports.
The review identified that organization as 'almost certainly the CIA' and claimed its objective was to collect design and propulsion data from what some investigators believed were 'interplanetary spaceships.'
Despite efforts to dismiss the phenomenon, sightings continued to rise. By 1952, the Air Force had launched Project Blue Book, restoring funding and personnel to analyze thousands of reports.
That summer brought a dramatic surge in sightings, including the famous incidents over Washington DC.
Some intelligence officials reportedly concluded the objects could be extraterrestrial craft, prompting the release of 41 previously classified cases that contradicted earlier explanations dismissing UFOs as simple misidentifications.
'I encourage people to read pages seven through 16, and that was the nuclear branch chief of the Australian government discussing the US cover-up and involvement of the CIA back in the 70s,' Grusch said
The CIA viewed the situation differently, as rather than focusing on the origin of the objects, officials were said to be concerned that the flood of reports was overwhelming military communications networks and distracting defense forces from monitoring potential Soviet threats.
In January 1953, the CIA's Office of Scientific Intelligence convened the Robertson Panel to determine how the government should respond.
While the panel recommended continued investigation, the review argued that the agency ultimately favored publicly downplaying UFOs while quietly expanding intelligence collection behind the scenes.
Under that approach, Project Blue Book was gradually transformed from a significant investigative effort into a small public-facing office whose primary purpose was supplying explanations for sightings.
More sensitive intelligence work, according to the review, was moved elsewhere within the military structure.
Turner further argued that studies conducted under Blue Book showed the most credible sightings were often the hardest to explain, and that officials privately regarded the unexplained cases as fundamentally different from known aircraft, astronomical objects or conventional phenomena.
The review also linked intelligence interest in UFO performance characteristics to government support for advanced aerospace projects, including the Avrocar flying-saucer prototype and anti-gravity research programs.
It suggested that some officials believed the technology behind UFOs was real and feared the Soviet Union might master it first.
Turner ultimately criticized Australia's own handling of UFO reports, arguing that the country had largely adopted the Air Force's public position while neglecting serious scientific analysis of the phenomenon.
De 10 meest geloofwaardige en bekendste UFO-waarnemingen: Een diepgaande analyse
De 10 meest geloofwaardige en bekendste UFO-waarnemingen: Een diepgaande analyse
Introductie
De wereld van UFO-waarnemingen fascineert mensen al decennia lang. Van mysterieuze lichten aan de hemel tot onverklaarbare vliegende objecten, het onderwerp blijft een bron van speculation, onderzoek en controverse. Hoewel meer dan 95 procent van de waarnemingen eenvoudig kunnen worden verklaard door militaire vliegtuigen, sterren, planeten, meteoren, weersverschijnselen of menselijke bedrog, blijven de overige vijf procent een bron van verwondering en twijfel. Deze uitzonderlijke gevallen worden gekenmerkt door meerdere betrouwbare getuigen, fysieke bewijzen, radarregistraties en het ontbreken van natuurlijke of menselijke verklaringen. In dit artikel bespreken we de tien meest geloofwaardige en complexe UFO-gevallen, inclusief de context, getuigenissen, bewijsmateriaal en de invloed ervan op het publieke en officiële discours.
Inhoudsopgave
De Hudson Valley in de staat New York was tussen 1982 en 1986 het toneel van een opmerkelijke golf van UFO-waarnemingen. Naar schatting zagen zo’n 5.000 getuigen vliegende objecten, vaak in de vorm van V-vormige formaties met gekleurde lichten. Het eerste incident vond plaats op oudejaarsavond 1982, toen een gepensioneerde politieagent in Kent, New York, een langzaam bewegend, stil UFO-object boven zijn huis zag passeren.
Hudson Valley UFO-golf - cirkelvormige boog van gekleurde lichten
Wat deze waarnemingen bijzonder maakt, is de consistentie en de fysieke nabijheid van de objecten. Verschillende getuigen meldden dat het object een V-vorm had, terwijl anderen spraken over ronde of onregelmatige vormen. Sommige objecten bleven minutenlang stilhangen, bijvoorbeeld boven de kerncentrale Indian Point, waar de beveiligingsdienst aanvankelijk overwoog het te schieten voordat het verdween. Fotografie en videobeelden werden gemaakt, maar een definitieve verklaring bleef uit.
Een van de meest intrigerende aspecten van deze golf is de combinatie van visuele waarnemingen en militaire radarwaarnemingen, wat de waarnemingen een hogere betrouwbaarheid geeft. Het fenomeen blijft onverklaard, ondanks uitgebreide onderzoeken door burgerwetenschappers, autoriteiten en UFO-onderzoekers.
Het Shag Harbour-incident wordt vaak beschouwd als het Canadese equivalent van Roswell. Op 4 oktober 1967 zag een groep vissers en bewoners van het kleine dorpje Shag Harbour in Nova Scotia een groot object dat in de wateren nabij de kust crashte. Verschillende getuigen hoorden een luid geknetter en een knal, waarna een groot object in het water verdween.
Een Nacht Die Een Dorp Veranderde – Illustratie gegenereerd met AI voor redactionele doeleinden.
Laurie Wickens en vier vrienden meldden de vondst van een drijvend, groot, onbekend object dat ze rapporteerden aan de Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP). De autoriteiten, inclusief de Canadese marine en luchtmacht, ondernamen een zoektocht onder water, maar vonden niets. Radar- en visuele waarnemingen werden verzameld, en de betrokkenheid van militaire en civiele instanties maakte het incident bijzonder gelaagd.
Militaire betrokkenheid en Koude Oorlog-geheimhouding – Illustratie gegenereerd met AI voor redactionele doeleinden.
Wat het incident nog mysterieuzer maakt, is dat alle commerciële en militaire vliegtuigen in de regio op dat moment werden geïdentificeerd en niet betrokken waren bij de crash. Ondanks uitgebreide zoektochten bleef het object onvindbaar, en de verklaring voor de waarneming blijft onduidelijk.
Op 6 april 1966, rond 11:00 uur lokale tijd, zagen meer dan 200 studenten en verschillende leraren van Westall High School in Melbourne, Australië, een onbekend vliegend object. Het object, dat eruitzag als een grijze schotel, daalde neer in een nabijgelegen veld en bleef ongeveer twintig minuten zichtbaar. Het verschijnsel werd door vele ooggetuigen bevestigd, die het omschreven als een grote, schotelvormige structuren die lang in de lucht bleven hangen.
Kinderen zien een UFO – Illustratie gegenereerd met AI voor redactionele doeleinden.
De aanwezigen wezen elke natuurlijke verklaring zoals weersballonnen of militaire experimenten af. De Australische defensie ontkende betrokkenheid, maar de waarnemingen bleven onverklaard. Sommige onderzoekers suggereren dat het mogelijk ging om experimentele militaire vliegtuigen of drones, maar bewijs bleef uit.
Wat dit geval uniek maakt, is de grote schaal van de waarneming en de langdurige zichtbaarheid, gecombineerd met het ontbreken van officiële verklaringen en de overtuigende getuigenissen van jonge en betrouwbare ooggetuigen.
Op 18 november 1986 werd een Japanse Boeing 747 vrachtvliegtuig gevolgd door twee onverklaarbare objecten terwijl het over de oostkust van Alaska vloog. De bemanning zag dat de objecten dichterbij kwamen, waarbij het vliegtuig werd verlicht door een vreemde gloed en een gevoel van warmte. Vervolgens verscheen een grote, schijfvormige craft die het vliegtuig begon te volgen.
De piloot, Captain Terauchi, verzocht om een koerswijziging, maar de objecten bleven volgen ondanks alle manoeuvres. Radarregistraties van het incident werden verzameld en gedeeld met het FBI en de CIA, waarbij ze de eerste radarwaarneming van een UFO werden genoemd. Toch werd het incident officieel afgedaan als een anomalie, en het werd niet erkend als een buitenaardse verschijning.
Het incident onderstreept het belang van radar- en visuele gegevens bij het bevestigen van onverklaarbare vliegende objecten, en roept vragen op over de ware aard van dit soort ontmoetingen.
Op 7 november 2006 zagen meerdere werknemers van United Airlines, inclusief piloten en supervisors, een metallic, saucer-vormig object boven O’Hare Airport in Chicago. Het object bleef ongeveer twee minuten zichtbaar en werd omschreven als een glanzende schijf die verticaal omhoog schoot, waarbij een cirkelvormig gat in de bewolking werd gesneden.
In totaal bevestigden 12 medewerkers de waarneming, die zij zeggen een schijfvormig vaartuig was dat 'duidelijk geen wolken' was.
Afgebeeld: Een afbeelding van de UFO genomen met de telefoon van een luchthavenmedewerker
De FAA hield aanvankelijk vol dat er geen meldingen of gegevens waren over de waarneming. Pas via een Freedom of Information Act-verzoek werden gesprekken en getuigenissen openbaar gemaakt, waarin werd gesuggereerd dat het mogelijk ging om een ‘hole punch cloud’ of weersverschijnsel. Maar de temperaturen en omstandigheden op dat moment maakten dergelijke verklaringen onwaarschijnlijk, en er werd geen grondig onderzoek gedaan.
Dit geval toont de complexiteit van het onderzoeken van UFO-waarnemingen op grote luchthavens en de tendens van overheidsinstanties om incidenten af te zwakken of te vermijden.
Captain Ray Bowyer vloog op 23 april 2007 van Southampton naar Alderney en zag samen met zijn passagiers twee grote, gele, sigaarvormige objecten. Radargegevens van Jersey Airport bevestigden dat deze objecten meer dan 55 minuten in de lucht werden waargenomen. Een andere piloot in de omgeving bevestigde de waarnemingen, en hotelgasten op Sark stelden vragen over de opvallende verschijnselen aan de hemel.
.Vluchgegevens, lokaal weer en landschapskenmerken speelden een centrale rol in de gebeurtenissen die door de piloten werden gemeld. Een duidelijk begrip van hoogte, zicht en geografische context is cruciaal voor het interpreteren van hun waarnemingen
De Britse Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) was binnen twintig minuten op de hoogte en voerde een intern onderzoek. Ondanks de openheid van de piloot, de bevestiging door radar en getuigen, bleef het incident onopgelost. Het blijft een van de meest intrigerende gevallen van onverklaarbare luchtverschijnselen in het Britse luchtruim.
Een van de meest uitgebreide en gedocumenteerde UFO-golven vond plaats in België tussen november 1989 en april 1990. Tijdens deze periode meldden duizenden mensen het zien van driehoekige UFO’s die over het land vlogen. Het Belgische leger en de politie traceerden deze objecten via radar, wat het incident een hogere graad van geloofwaardigheid gaf.
Op 30 maart 1990 zagen ongeveer 13.500 mensen een fenomeen dat werd gevolgd door twee F-16-jagers die negen keer probeerden te intercepten. Tijdens een van de radar-locks versnelde het object van 150 mph naar meer dan 1.100 mph en veranderde het snel van hoogte. Na zijn pensionering verklaarde Major General Wilfried de Brouwer dat de Belgische UFO-golf “excepcioneel” was en dat de identiteit, oorsprong en bedoelingen van de waargenomen fenomenen niet konden worden vastgesteld.
De Belgische UFO-golf blijft een van de meest gedocumenteerde en controversiële gevallen uit Europa, met nog steeds geen definitieve verklaring.
Op 29 december 1980 zagen Betty Cash, Vickie Landrum en Colby Landrum een grote, diamantvormige UFO die werd omringd door 23 helikopters. Het object straalde een intense hitte uit, waardoor de buitenkant van hun auto pijn deed en brandwonden ontstonden. Betty Cash ontwikkelde blaren, verloor haar haar en kon niet meer lopen. Radiologisch onderzoek toonde aan dat de groep secundaire stralingsschade had opgelopen.
Het Cash-Landrum-incident: een UFO verbrandde 3 mensen in Texas. De regering zei dat het nooit gebeurde.
De betrokkenheid van militaire helikopters en de enorme hitte maken dit incident bijzonder complex en controversieel. De groep diende een rechtszaak in tegen de Amerikaanse overheid, maar deze werd uiteindelijk afgewezen. Veel UFO-onderzoekers vermoeden dat het incident een geheime militaire operatie betrof die door de overheid werd afgedekt.
In de Britse Rendlesham Forest, vlakbij een RAF-basis, vonden op 26 december 1980 een reeks onverklaarbare gebeurtenissen plaats. Verschillende militairen, waaronder Lt. Col. Charles Halt, zagen vreemde lichten en gingen te voet op onderzoek uit. Ze vonden een metalen, glanzend object dat zich snel door de bomen verplaatste.
De volgende dag werden gegraven indrukken, gebroken takken en verhoogde stralingsniveaus gevonden. In 2010 ondertekende Lt. Halt een officieel affidavit waarin hij verklaarde dat het incident waarschijnlijk een UFO was en dat er sprake was van een bewuste cover-up. De controverse en de getuigenverklaringen maken dit incident tot een van de meest onderzochte en besproken UFO-gevallen in Europa.
Op 13 maart 1997 zagen duizenden mensen in Arizona een immense V-vormige formatie van lichten die stil en geruisloos over de hemel trok. Het fenomeen duurde ongeveer twee uur en werd door velen als een ongekend UFO-verschijnsel beschouwd. Later meldden militaire bronnen dat het om zogenaamde militaire flares ging die werden losgelaten tijdens een oefening, maar veel getuigen betwijfelden deze verklaring.
De Phoenix Lights (Originele Beelden)
De voormalige gouverneur van Arizona, Fife Symington, bevestigde dat het object niet leek op een militaire oefening en dat het niet te verklaren was als een natuurlijk fenomeen. Het incident leidde tot een hernieuwde belangstelling voor UFO’s en zette de discussie over overheidsgeheimhouding en de aanwezigheid van buitenaardse wezens in beweging.
Veelgestelde vragen over UFO-onderzoek
UFO-onderzoeken maken gebruik van verschillende bronnen: getuigenverklaringen, radar- en satellietgegevens, foto’s en video’s, en fysieke bewijzen zoals bodemveranderingen of metallisch materiaal. Betrouwbare waarnemingen worden vaak onderworpen aan uitgebreide analyses door overheidsinstellingen, wetenschappers en onafhankelijke onderzoekers. Het doel is om natuurlijke of menselijke verklaringen uit te sluiten en de waarneming zo objectief mogelijk te beoordelen.
Geloofwaardige gevallen worden gekenmerkt door meerdere betrouwbare getuigen, radar- of technisch bewijs, en het ontbreken van natuurlijke of menselijke verklaringen. Daarnaast vertonen deze waarnemingen vaak ongewone vluchtpatronen en gedragingen die niet met conventionele technologie kunnen worden verklaard. Bijvoorbeeld: objecten die van snelheid veranderen, van hoogte wisselen of onverklaarbare manoeuvres maken.
Conclusie
Hoewel de meeste UFO-waarnemingen kunnen worden verklaard, blijven er enkele gevallen over die onze nieuwsgierigheid en scepticisme uitdagen. De gevallen die hier besproken worden, bieden een combinatie van visueel bewijs, radarregistraties en betrouwbare getuigenissen, waardoor ze behoren tot de meest geloofwaardige en intrigerende incidenten in de geschiedenis van buitenaardse ontmoetingen. Of ze nu daadwerkelijk buitenaardse schepen betreffen, geheime militaire technologieën of natuurlijke verschijnselen, ze blijven de menselijke verbeelding prikkelen en wetenschappelijke nieuwsgierigheid stimuleren.
{ PETER2011 }
I’ve spent five decades researching UFOs and speaking to highly confidential sources. This is what I’ve discovered about the CIA, China and aliens, writes top barrister JONATHAN CAPLAN KC. You may scoff, but the evidence is undeniable
To most people, the idea that the US, China and other countries are in possession of crashed alien spacecraft is preposterous. Any suggestion that these craft have been recovered with non-human intelligences inside, dead or alive, stretches credulity to breaking point. But the evidence is overwhelming.
I have been pursuing the truth about this phenomenon since I was a teenager, when I first saw a television report about a ‘flying saucer following a passenger plane’.
For five decades, I have conducted intensive research, combing through a vast body of material and interviewing many of the key people in this twilight area, some highly confidential sources.
I have applied the same rigorous analysis that I would as a lawyer to the evidence. I use in my new book Not For Disclosure only material that I have determined to be both honest and reliable, and which I can credibly and confidently present. I have discarded a great deal. I have also received very sensitive information from many whom I trust and who have placed their trust in me.
My concern about these extraordinary objects – once termed UFOs but now known as UAPs or Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena – has been shared by many influential figures.
When I was on the editorial board of the leading international journal, Flying Saucer Review, Buckingham Palace requested that a copy of every edition was delivered to the Duke of Edinburgh’s equerry. Prince Philip, of course, was a highly experienced pilot who quietly followed this subject, even having some witnesses interviewed at the Palace.
My professional life has been spent as a barrister, a King’s Counsel, evaluating evidence in very complex cases. I have done my best to bring that experience into this more anomalous arena, and my legal reputation has sometimes meant that I have been able to open doors that were closed to other researchers.
The shocking evidence that I have amassed proves beyond any doubt that not only are UAPs real, but they are undeniably evidence of alien technology. The sources of these non-human intelligences is still not known even by the intelligence services of the world.
My concern about these extraordinary objects – once termed UFOs but now known as UAPs or Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena – has been shared by many influential figures
The shocking evidence that I have amassed proves beyond any doubt that not only are UAPs real, but they are undeniably evidence of alien technology, writes Jonathan Caplan
More than that, the United States, China and Russia have been competing to reverse engineer and replicate these technologies, including anti-gravity, free energy and the real relationship between space and time.
I am fully aware how extraordinary this sounds. The principal motive for writing my book was to enable a wider and informed debate to take place without stigma or embarrassment. This subject is not on any educational syllabus and it is difficult to know where to access reliable material.
The ridicule surrounding the subject has not arisen by accident. A deliberate policy of denial and fabrication has been implemented by the US government and others, which has ended the reputations and even the lives of many people who have tried to lift the veil.
That is changing. In July 2023, a former Air Force intelligence officer named David Grusch went public under oath on live television before the US Congress, declaring that the United States was in possession of crashed NHI (non-human intelligence) craft.
Senator Marco Rubio, the US secretary of state and a probable contender to be the next president, told political website The Hill in July 2024: ‘Either what they are saying is partially true, or entirely true – or we have some really smart educated people with very high clearances and very important positions in our government who are crazy and are leading us on a wild goose chase.
‘What incentive would so many serious people have to make something up?’
Grusch did not say how many crashed NHI craft had been recovered, only that it was ‘in double digits’. One was seen by Lance Corporal Jonathan Weygandt. He was a US Marine posted to Peru in 1997, when he was sent with his unit one night to secure the site of a crashed aircraft, close to a radar tracking station.
‘We found the area real easy,’ he said, ‘because there was a huge gash in the land. It was like something had almost cut warm butter with a knife. It was a huge ship, buried in the side of a cliff. And when I first saw it I was scared.
David Grusch did not say how many crashed non-human intelligence craft had been recovered, only that it was ‘in double digits’
One was seen by Lance Corporal Jonathan Weygandt. He was a US Marine posted to Peru in 1997 when he was sent with his unit one night to secure the site of a crashed aircraft close to a radar tracking station
‘It was dripping a syrup-like liquid – about 10 metres in width, 20 metres in length, like something between an egg and a teardrop.’
Whatever it was, this craft was not manmade. As far as Weygandt could work out, it had not crashed but was shot down, apparently by a Hawk surface-to-air missile. And something was still inside it, something alive.
‘I think,’ he said, ‘the creatures inside were trying to communicate with me telepathically.’
A US military unit in plain black fatigues arrived with a Nuclear Energy Support Team from the Department of Energy to recover the entities and the craft. Weygandt was arrested and taken by helicopter to a US Navy Medical Research Unit nearby.
Here, anonymous officers told him he was witness to something that he was not supposed to have seen. ‘I thought they were going to kill me. They threatened to take me up in a helicopter and kick me out into the jungle.’
His story might seem a hallucination, if it did not tally so closely with what we know about other crash retrieval operations. Unidentified craft are tracked in the United States through various agencies, including North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), the National Reconnaissance Office, the National Security Agency and the Defense Intelligence Agency.
If a UAP is detected to have crashed, then special paramilitary units are sent to the scene together with the Office of Nuclear Energy in order to secure the area – just as Weygandt describes.
The CIA is also closely involved, and has recovered craft within US borders and from foreign territory both on land and under the sea. They have also engaged in operations to bring down craft.
When craft have been too large to recover, they have allegedly been left in place, buried under a building or structure while a facility is constructed underground to study it: This is said to have happened in the 1970s in the mountains outside Seoul, South Korea.
In January 1996, NORAD warned Brazilian authorities that a UAP was in their airspace. A cigar-shaped craft was seen by residents to be flying erratically and low before it crashed.
Multiple reports were made of strange beings with dark oily skin, large red eyes and three bony protuberances on their heads in the vicinity of the town of Varginha. Witnesses included three young women as well as military personnel and firefighters. A US plane arrived at the army base in Campinas to collect the wreckage and entities. Two of these creatures were captured. A military officer, Marco Chereze, who came into physical contact with one died soon after.
We do not know what happened to one of the beings but the other was taken to the regional hospital. The head of neurosurgery, Dr Italo Venturelli, attested last year that he went to consult with one of the beings for several minutes.
He said: ‘He was magnificent and very tranquil. I wondered if he was suffering but he was not. It was like he understood everything I was thinking entirely.’
Many suppose the history of crashed spacecraft begins with the 1947 Roswell incident in New Mexico, when a ranch foreman named Mac Brazel discovered wreckage scattered across a wide area. This included metal beams covered in hieroglyphic symbols.
A police officer in Roswell holds debris of an alleged flying saucer found by ranch foreman Mac Brazel
At a second crash site, the main part of the craft was found with five small, non-human bodies inside. The official explanation was that the debris came from a ‘weather balloon’.
But a crash in Magenta in northern Italy pre-dates that by more than a decade. In 1933, a bell-shaped object was recovered from a site near Milan, though no bodies were found inside. A secret group known as Cabinet RS/33 was established to safeguard the craft and it reported directly to dictator Benito Mussolini.
Telegrams and notes from June 1933 have been discovered, ordering a Press blackout and establishing a detailed protocol for dealing with the object’s recovery.
At the end of the Second World War, the Office for Strategic Services (the OSS, which was the first US intelligence agency), with the assistance of the Vatican, arranged for the US government to take possession of the craft and to transport it back to an American facility.
Beyond any dispute, the international operations carried out across almost a century to keep this technology away from public sight amount to the world’s greatest ever cover-up. But the technology is only part of it. Even more disturbing is the non-human intelligence behind it.
Five alien species are commonly described in the literature but there are many more that have been reported. Paul Hellyer, the former defence minister of Canada, told me that he had been officially notified that more than 40 different species have been recorded visiting Earth.
The five main observed types include ‘greys’ which are most commonly depicted in popular culture, described as about 4 ft tall with large, teardrop-shaped heads, wraparound black eyes, no nose or ear protuberances and a straight line for the mouth.
The four other most commonly observed body types include small humanoids; larger, well-built reptilian-like beings; tall, fair Nordic types; and those with a mantid or insectoid appearance.
Dr Eric Davis, an astrophysicist who has worked for the US Department of Defense, confirmed his knowledge of these species at a Congressional event held by the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability on May 1, 2025.
Many researchers suspect the ‘greys’ are actually androids, arguing they are synthetic beings built to carry out tasks for the real NHIs.
There is a strong argument that today’s UAP encounters echo the content of our fairy tales and folklore, and even of some religious visions. Instead of coming across goblins and fairies, today it is aliens and spaceships.
Witnesses are often deeply affected by what they have seen, but prefer to say little, either for fear of being mocked or in many cases because they have been directly threatened. Sometimes though such events cannot be contained and become breaking news.
On July 1, 1965, a French lavender farmer named Maurice Masse, in Valensole in the French Basses Alpes, was smoking a cigarette just before starting his tractor for the day’s work when he heard a whistling noise. On the other side of his field, he saw an egg-shaped object resting on four legs.
On July 1, 1965, a French lavender farmer named Maurice Masse, in Valensole in the French Basses Alpes, was smoking a cigarette just before starting his tractor for the day’s work when he heard a whistling noise
Two small boys were squatting nearby in grey-green overalls, looking at the ground. They stood up when he approached. They were about 4 ft tall with bald heads and large slanted eyes. Their mouths had no lips and resembled a small hole.
He claims there was a telepathic exchange, then they pointed a ‘pencil’ at him causing temporary paralysis.
The craft took off at speed and, once he was free to move, he inspected the place where it had stood. The legs of the craft had left indentations in the ground. The local gendarmerie from Digne came to investigate and alerted government agents who concluded that Masse was not lying.
From then on the landing site, damaged and charred, would only grow weeds. Madame Masse told investigators that her husband thought about these beings every day and that it was a profound experience, something that should not be discussed with anyone. He shied away from media attention but his story quickly spread and was reported in the Washington Post four days later.
A UAP investigator named Jacques Vallee who interviewed Masse wrote: ‘The Valensole case is the best authenticated close encounter incident in continental Europe. It involved hard traces, botanical data, physiological data, and detailed descriptions of beings associated with the object.’
There are also claims of official contact, the most common being that arrangements were made for US president Dwight D Eisenhower to meet a group of extraterrestrials in 1954 at Edwards/Muroc Air Force Base in the Mojave Desert in California.
On another occasion president George HW Bush was informed, when he became director of the CIA, that a craft had landed at Holloman Air Force Base and a tall humanoid of Nordic appearance emerged and met with several uniformed and CIA officers. The Holloman contact was filmed but Bush was not allowed to view it.
The astronaut Gordon Cooper (who flew on the 1963 Mercury-Atlas 9 mission and 1965’s Gemini 5) was present on another occasion when a saucer allegedly landed at Edwards base in May 1957.
He and a crew had set up a Cinetheodolite precision-landing system on a dry lakebed – a system that could take pictures at the rate of 30 frames per second – for an exercise that had nothing to do with UAPs.
Later in the morning they saw a saucer hovering above them. It landed 160 ft away using three extended landing gears. As they approached to get a better view, the landing gears were retracted and the craft took off. Cooper, who was very familiar with experimental aircraft, had never seen technology like this.
When Cooper held the negative print up to the light, he observed that the quality of the photography was excellent. The film was speedily collected by an agent who arrived by special plane. Cooper never heard any more about the matter.
As Marco Rubio has said, why should a highly trained man like that, or his colleagues, lie about such an incident?
But perhaps the accounts that are hardest to dismiss are the mass sightings. On September 16, 1994, more than 60 children at a private elementary school in Ruwa, 12 miles outside Harare in Zimbabwe, were taking a mid-morning break while their teachers were in a staff meeting.
Suddenly, several silver spheres came out of the sky and seemed to vanish and reappear. The largest object came down, hovered and landed on a hill by some gum trees just outside their schoolyard.
The children, aged six to 12, saw one or two small men, about 3 ft tall, dark grey with long black hair, large black almond eyes and tight black suits, atop the craft.
Next day, the headmaster Colin Mackie asked them to draw what they had seen. He received 35 drawings, all very similar.
The BBC’s Zimbabwe correspondent, Tim Leach, was the first to arrive to film interviews. Leach later said: ‘I could handle war zones, but I could not handle this.’
He edited his report and sent the tape to London for BBC News but the tape went missing and he had to prepare a further one – but not before, he said, he had received veiled threats to ‘be very careful’ from a source whom he suspected was working with the CIA.
Several children said they had received telepathic information from the visitors. Lisel, 11, said: ‘I received through the being’s eyes the message that we are not taking care of the planet.’
That message could not be more benign. But the implications for humankind may not be. These craft are present in our skies and oceans in increasing numbers and no government today has any real idea of their agenda.
A race is underway between the superpowers to unlock their scientific secrets which may alter our worldview and our concepts of consciousness and reality.
China is known to have advanced UAP programmes with fewer restrictions on funding and better co-operation between scientists dealing with different projects.
In December 2012, former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev was recorded off-air telling a journalist that Vladimir Putin receives a regular report prepared by the special service ‘devoted to the strangers who visit our planet’.
This secret government agency concerns ‘the control of aliens in our country’. He said he could not talk about how many were among us because ‘panic will begin’.
He did not appear to be joking.
NASA faces backlash after revealing four astronauts for key Artemis III moon mission
NASA has named the four astronauts selected for a mission that will bring humans one step closer to returning to the moon.
Artemis III, scheduled for 2027, will test rendezvous and docking operations between the Orion spacecraft and commercial human landers in low-Earth orbit as part of preparations for future lunar exploration.
But the reveal of the crew quickly drew criticism on social media, where users pointed out that none of the astronauts selected for the historic mission are women.
NASA's Randy Bresnik, Frank Rubio and Andrew Douglas will join European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Luca Parmitano in orbital tests ahead of the lunar landing.
The announcement, made in a press conference, sparked outrage on X, where many users deemed the lack of women was a 'real shame.'
One user posted: 'Not a single woman flying on Artemis III is an insane choice.'
'What a huge blow to those who were inspired by Christina on Artemis II,' another shared, referring to Christina Koch, who was the first woman to fly to the moon earlier this year when she and three men soared around the dark side of the lunar surface.
While the announcement has sparked frustration, it takes Americans one step closer to returning to the moon in 2028.
NASA astronauts Randy Bresnik (left), Frank Rubio (second from right) and Andrew Douglas (right) will join European Space Agency astronaut Luca Parmitano for Artemis III
NASA administrator Jared Isaacman said: 'To the Artemis III crew, we wish you Godspeed on the journey ahead.'
The Artemis III mission is expected to last about two weeks, roughly four days longer than the Artemis II mission around the moon earlier this year.
This is the Artemis program's final testing mission, and if it's successful, NASA then plans to land a crew on the moon with Artemis IV.
What was intended as a moment of celebration quickly sparked criticism, with many pointing out that no women were selected for the mission.
One X user shared: 'I’m kinda mind-blown that there’s no woman on the Artemis III crew, bro. You, as NASA, saw so many people hyping up Christina going to the moon because it means a lot to people that a woman is doing things that are inspiring and cool.'
Another posted: 'Artemis II was so big on point with Christina being a capable woman, showing others we can do whatever we put our minds to. Disappointed, NASA.'
Isaacman addressed the concerns following the announcement: 'I don’t think anyone should be reading into this.'
He added that NASA 'put forth the best astronauts to undertake and complete the mission’s objectives,' but did not provide details on how the astronauts were chosen.
'We are certainly humbled as a crew to be able to be your crew that executes this Artemis III mission in space,' said Bresnik, Artemis III commander.
Douglas, mission specialist, added: 'My brain... it is going a mile a minute right now. But my heart, it is so warm. It is so full.'
Many of the critics pointed to how Artemis II's Christina Koch showed women are more than capable of going on such missions
The Artemis III mission is expected to last about two weeks, roughly four days longer than the Artemis II mission around the moon earlier this year
The crew brings a wealth of experience to the mission.
Bresnik has flown on both the Space Shuttle and International Space Station, while Rubio holds the record for the longest single spaceflight by an American after spending 371 consecutive days in orbit.
Parmitano, one of Europe's most experienced astronauts, has completed two missions and multiple spacewalks.
Douglas, a former US Coast Guard officer selected by NASA in 2021, will be making his first trip to space.
NASA's Artemis III mission will see the agency's Space Launch System (SLS) rocket launch the Orion spacecraft and its crew from Kennedy Space Center in Florida into low-Earth orbit.
Once there, Orion will perform a series of tests never attempted before, including rendezvous and docking maneuvers with experimental lunar landers being developed by Blue Origin and SpaceX.
The mission will unfold as a carefully choreographed sequence involving multiple launches of some of the world's most powerful rockets. NASA will test how Orion interacts with the commercial landers, including communications, software, propulsion systems and docking interfaces.
Blue Origin's lander pathfinder will launch first and remain in orbit awaiting the crew. Orion will then carry the astronauts into space, where they will rendezvous and dock with the vehicle for roughly two days of testing and technology demonstrations, including entering the lander itself.
After separating from Blue Origin's spacecraft, Orion will remain in orbit while SpaceX launches its Starship pathfinder.
The two vehicles will then dock for about a day of additional evaluations before Orion begins its journey home.
The mission will conclude with the crew splashing down in the Pacific Ocean, where they will be recovered by teams from NASA and the US Navy.
Paracas Skulls: Alien Mystery or Human Ingenuity?
The desolate, wind-swept desert of the Paracas Peninsula on the southern coast of Peru holds one of the most enduring mysteries of the ancient world. In 1928, the renowned Peruvian archaeologist Julio Tello made a staggering discovery beneath the harsh sands. He unearthed a massive and complex graveyard, a sprawling necropolis containing hundreds of elaborate mummy bundles. While the intricate textiles wrapping the dead were marvels of ancient craftsmanship, it was the skeletal remains hidden within that would capture the world's imagination.
Tello had discovered the remains of the Paracas culture, a civilization that flourished from approximately 800 BC to 100 BC. But the skulls of these individuals were profoundly unusual. Over three hundred crania were unearthed, displaying extreme, sweeping elongation that radically altered the natural shape of the human head. For nearly a century, these enigmatic remains have sparked fierce debates, inspiring fantastical theories of extraterrestrial visitation and unknown hominid species.
A slightly wider shot showing three actual Paracas elongated skulls lined up in the Museo Regional de Ica. It provides a great sense of scale and proves this wasn't an isolated anomaly. (Jonski/CC BY-SA 4.0)
The sheer physical presence of the Paracas Skulls is startling. When compared to a standard human cranium, the morphological differences are immediately apparent and deeply perplexing. Proponents of alternative history often point out that some of these skulls possess a cranial capacity up to 25 percent larger than a conventional human head. Furthermore, the bone density and overall weight of certain specimens are reported to be significantly heavier than average.
These startling volumetric anomalies are the primary reason the Paracas Skulls have become central to "ancient alien" hypotheses. Critics of the mainstream archaeological narrative argue that while you can alter the shape of a skull through mechanical pressure, you cannot fundamentally change its total volume or mass. Additionally, some researchers have noted the apparent absence of a sagittal suture, the connective tissue joint that runs down the center of the skull, in some of the most extreme Paracas specimens.
These anatomical quirks have led to bold declarations that the beings buried on the Peruvian coast were not entirely human. The position of the foramen magnum, the opening at the base of the skull where the spinal cord attaches, has also been cited as anomalous. In some Paracas skulls, this opening appears to be positioned further back than in typical humans, suggesting a completely different center of gravity and, consequently, a unique method of bipedal locomotion.
Another angle of the elongated skulls at the Regional Museum of Ica, showing the distinct shape of the cranial vault.
(CC BY-SA 4.0/Marcin Tlustochowicz)
Despite the sensational claims of extraterrestrial origins, the broader scientific community provides a thoroughly terrestrial, culturally rooted explanation. The extreme shapes seen in the Ica Museum specimens are widely recognized by bioarchaeologists as the result of artificial cranial deformation. This intentional body modification practice was astonishingly common across various ancient global cultures, from the Huns in Eurasia to the Maya in Mesoamerica.
In the ancient Andes, artificial cranial deformation was a highly formalized practice. According to foundational studies in geometric morphometrics, the process began shortly after birth. An infant's skull is highly pliable, as the cranial plates have not yet fused. The Paracas people would bind a newborn’s head between wooden boards, using tight woolen textiles to direct the growth of the bone upward and backward.
This extreme and arguably painful process was not a random act of cruelty, but a deeply significant cultural tradition. Intentional cranial modification served as a potent, visible marker of identity and social status. In the highly stratified Paracas society, an elongated head was a permanent crown, instantly identifying the individual as a member of the ruling elite or a specific noble lineage. It was a physical manifestation of power and divine connection, literally separating the nobility from the common populace.
An intricate, ancient Paracas textile. Since the skulls were found inside elaborate mummy bundles wrapped in these exact textiles by Julio Tello, this provides crucial archaeological context.
(Metropolitan Museum of Art/Public Domain)
The debate surrounding the Paracas Skulls reached a fever pitch in 2014 when preliminary DNA testing results were announced to the public. Independent researchers and authors, notably Brien Foerster, commissioned genetic analysis on samples of hair, bone, and teeth taken from several skulls. The initial findings broadcast across alternative media were nothing short of explosive.
The geneticists involved reportedly stated that the mitochondrial DNA, inherited solely through the maternal line, featured mutations that were entirely unknown in any human, primate, or animal species known to science. The narrative quickly shifted from cultural body modification to the sensational idea of a new, unknown hominid. Some reports even suggested the DNA indicated the beings were "not human, Neanderthal, or Denisovan," fueling wild speculation that a separate, perhaps unearthly, race had governed ancient Peru.
These claims generated a whirlwind of media attention and cemented the Paracas Skulls as a cornerstone of modern fringe mythology. For believers, the DNA results were the ultimate vindication, definitive proof that mainstream history was concealing a massive secret about human origins. However, the academic community met these dramatic announcements with intense skepticism, demanding peer-reviewed data, transparent methodologies, and rigorous contamination controls.
A sweeping aerial photograph of the dramatic golden cliffs and Pacific Ocean coastline at the Paracas National Reserve in Ica, Peru, the exact coastal desert region where Julio Tello excavated the Paracas Necropolis in 1928 and unearthed the elongated skulls.
(masT3rOD/CC BY 2.0 )
To understand the truth hidden within the ancient bones, one must look to the rigorous field of modern paleogenomics. Extracting ancient DNA (aDNA) is an incredibly delicate process. Remains that have been handled by archaeologists, museum curators, and independent researchers for decades are highly susceptible to modern genetic contamination. Without highly sterilized clean-room environments, the DNA sequenced is often that of the people who recently touched the artifact, leading to confused or "anomalous" data sets.
Recent advancements in population genetics have painted a much clearer, albeit entirely human, picture of pre-Columbian Peruvian populations. Modern, peer-reviewed sequencing has consistently shown that the individuals buried on the Paracas Peninsula were of distinct Native American ancestry. However, as noted in recent articles detailing the DNA analysis, there are fascinating, complex genetic markers that hint at vast, ancient migration patterns, possibly including distant European or Eurasian admixture that challenges our standard timeline of global exploration.
While the DNA does not point to the stars, it does point to a human history that is far more dynamic and interconnected than previously imagined. The Paracas people were master weavers, sophisticated engineers, and survivors in a harsh, unforgiving coastal desert. They developed complex societal structures and religious beliefs that drove them to literally reshape the bodies of their children in pursuit of the divine.
One of the most extraordinary surviving Andean textiles in the world, this Nasca/Paracas-era mantle (100–300 AD) features ninety intricately needle-knitted figures along its border.
(Brooklyn Museum/Public Domain)
Ultimately, stripping away the extraterrestrial mythos does not diminish the profound wonder of the Paracas Skulls; rather, it elevates the ingenuity and resilience of ancient humanity. These elongated craniums are a testament to the lengths to which a culture will go to define itself, to assert its power, and to connect with the spiritual realm. They are a permanent, physical record of an ancient society's deeply held beliefs.
The necropolis discovered by Julio Tello continues to yield secrets, offering vital insights into the health, genetics, and daily lives of a lost civilization. The textiles that wrapped these modified elites remain some of the most complex and beautiful woven artworks ever created in the ancient world. The true magic of Paracas lies not in an alien intervention, but in the astonishing capabilities of the human hands that carved out a civilization on the edge of the Pacific.
As paleogenomics continues to evolve, we will undoubtedly learn even more about the intricate lineage of the Paracas people. For now, their elongated skulls remain safely housed in museums, silent sentinels of a bygone era. They serve as a powerful reminder that human history is wildly diverse, infinitely complex, and deeply fascinating all on its own.
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This Man Says the Fifth Dimension Is a Place Where You Can Fly, Heal, Teleport, and Even Meet “Astral Police”
[VIDEO] “Leaked Over Area 51?” — Suspected Boeing F-47 NGAD Sixth-Generation Fighter Captured in Thermal Footage Near Groom Lake
The sudden emergence of thermal footage allegedly showing a classified sixth-generation combat aircraft over Nevada’s heavily restricted Nevada Test and Training Range has injected unprecedented public visibility into the U.S. Air Force’s secretive Next Generation Air Dominance ecosystem at a moment of accelerating strategic competition with China.
(DEFENCE SECURITY ASIA) — The sudden emergence of thermal footage allegedly showing a classified sixth-generation combat aircraft over Nevada’s heavily restricted Nevada Test and Training Range has injected unprecedented public visibility into the U.S. Air Force’s secretive Next Generation Air Dominance ecosystem at a moment of accelerating strategic competition with China.
The aircraft captured near Groom Lake appears to display an advanced tailless-canard blended-wing configuration consistent with speculative Boeing F-47 renderings, potentially marking the clearest publicly accessible imagery yet associated with America’s future air-superiority architecture.
If authentic, the footage suggests that risk-reduction demonstrators connected to the NGAD programme are already conducting operationally representative flight profiles years before the projected first flight window publicly associated with the production-standard Boeing F-47.
The implications extend far beyond aviation enthusiasts because any confirmation that a mature NGAD demonstrator is already flying would indicate the United States has progressed deeper into sixth-generation tactical aviation integration than previously understood by foreign intelligence services.
Unlike the F-22 Raptor generation, which emerged during an era of overwhelming U.S. post-Cold War aerospace superiority, the F-47 programme is being engineered specifically to survive highly networked kill chains integrating advanced radar systems, infrared search-and-track arrays, hypersonic weapons, and satellite-enabled targeting architectures.
The thermal capture was uploaded on June 5, 2026 by the YouTube channel PROJECT FEAR, whose operators conducted repeated observation trips overlooking the Nevada Test and Training Range from public terrain near Rachel, Nevada.
The footage reportedly involved collaboration with Anders Otteson of Uncanny Expeditions, whose earlier thermal observations of unidentified triangular aircraft in the same region had already intensified speculation surrounding classified aerospace activity over Area 51.
According to Otteson, the aircraft passed approximately 300 to 400 yards overhead, allowing its unusual aerodynamic planform and forward canards to resolve with greater clarity than previous civilian thermal captures associated with Groom Lake operations.
The aircraft’s apparent tailless configuration, cranked-kite wing geometry, and stealth-oriented edge alignment collectively mirror multiple publicly circulated conceptual depictions linked to Boeing’s NGAD design studies and historical tailless demonstrator programmes.
The timing of the footage is strategically significant because Boeing secured the Engineering and Manufacturing Development contract for the F-47 programme in March 2025 under a deal initially valued at approximately US$20 billion, equivalent to roughly RM76 billion.
That contract represented not merely a fighter procurement decision but a strategic industrial verdict on which aerospace architecture Washington believes can dominate contested airspace against peer competitors throughout the 2030s and potentially into the 2050s.
Groom Lake has historically functioned as the operational bridge between classified aerospace experimentation and deployable combat capability, making any unusual aircraft activity there strategically consequential rather than merely speculative.
The same restricted complex hosted developmental testing associated with programmes such as the F-117 Nighthawk, early stealth demonstrators, and advanced reconnaissance platforms before their eventual public acknowledgment reshaped modern military aviation doctrine.
The Nevada Test and Training Range offers uniquely valuable operational conditions because its immense restricted airspace enables low-observable flight testing beyond the persistent surveillance envelope normally imposed by civilian radar and commercial aviation activity.
The suspected F-47-related aircraft reportedly conducted a relatively low-altitude and comparatively slow overhead pass, an unusual profile suggesting either deliberate observational exposure or operational testing emphasizing low-speed handling and sensor management characteristics.
Such low-profile flight behaviour diverges from traditional high-altitude classified test patterns and instead resembles historical “show-of-presence” flights sometimes associated with confidence validation or strategic signalling within black programme communities.
The platform’s blended-wing-body characteristics align with broader U.S. Air Force efforts to reduce radar cross-section while simultaneously increasing internal fuel volume necessary for Pacific-theatre combat operations exceeding 1,000 nautical miles in combat radius.
That range requirement reflects growing Pentagon concern that future wars against China would involve sustained long-distance air operations across the Western Pacific without reliable access to vulnerable forward operating bases.
A sixth-generation aircraft emphasizing range, thermal suppression, stealth shaping, and manned-unmanned teaming would fundamentally alter force-posture calculations surrounding Taiwan contingency planning and broader Indo-Pacific deterrence strategies.
The NTTR’s role in validating these technologies also suggests the aircraft may represent a technology demonstrator rather than a finalized operational platform, particularly given continuing uncertainty regarding NGAD’s ultimate procurement scale and cost structure.
The strategic importance of the programme intensified after earlier Pentagon concerns that projected NGAD fleet costs could exceed sustainable procurement thresholds, temporarily slowing programme momentum before Boeing’s selection revived development confidence.
The United States Air Force has dramatically accelerated development of the Boeing F-47 sixth-generation fighter by requesting US$5.03 billion (RM19.11 billion) for Fiscal Year 2027, signalling Washington’s intensifying concern over China’s rapidly advancing next-generation combat aviation programs.
One of the most analytically significant aspects of the footage involves the apparent absence of a conventional exhaust plume despite the aircraft reportedly generating substantial acoustic signatures during flight operations.
Conventional fighter aircraft typically produce highly visible infrared exhaust patterns detectable even by consumer-grade thermal optics, particularly during low-altitude nighttime operations involving significant engine thrust output.
The lack of a clearly identifiable exhaust bloom has therefore become central both to scepticism surrounding the footage and to arguments supporting the possibility of advanced thermal-management technologies integrated into sixth-generation propulsion systems.
Analysts have increasingly linked the anomaly to adaptive-cycle engine concepts associated with the Next Generation Adaptive Propulsion programme, particularly Pratt & Whitney’s XA-103 architecture emphasizing thermal suppression and fuel efficiency.
Adaptive-cycle propulsion enables dynamic airflow modulation between fuel-efficient cruise performance and high-thrust combat operations, potentially reducing infrared detectability while extending operational range across Indo-Pacific combat distances.
Infrared suppression has become strategically critical because modern air warfare increasingly relies on passive detection systems designed specifically to counter low-observable radar signatures through advanced heat-tracking methodologies.
China’s rapid deployment of infrared search-and-track capabilities aboard advanced platforms such as the J-20 has intensified U.S. emphasis on reducing not merely radar visibility but also thermal and electronic signatures across the electromagnetic spectrum.
The footage reportedly displayed a strong overall airframe thermal return without distinct engine plume definition, a phenomenon potentially consistent with distributed heat-management systems dispersing exhaust temperatures across broader structural surfaces.
Such engineering approaches would significantly complicate enemy missile lock-on processes during beyond-visual-range engagements, particularly against increasingly sophisticated dual-mode seekers combining radar and infrared guidance technologies.
Even if partially influenced by sensor-processing limitations inherent to consumer-grade thermal equipment, the footage nevertheless highlights how sixth-generation survivability may depend increasingly on multispectral stealth rather than radar reduction alone.
The Boeing F-47 programme represents far more than a successor to the F-22 because it forms the central manned component within a broader distributed combat ecosystem integrating autonomous collaborative combat aircraft and AI-enabled battlespace management.
The United States Air Force has repeatedly emphasized that NGAD should be understood as a “family of systems” rather than a standalone fighter platform operating independently of networked unmanned assets.
Under this operational doctrine, the manned F-47 would likely function as an airborne command-and-control node directing loyal-wingman drones, electronic warfare systems, and distributed sensor networks deep inside contested airspace.
This architecture reflects lessons emerging from modern conflicts demonstrating that survivability increasingly depends upon distributed kill chains rather than concentration of capability within single exquisite platforms vulnerable to mass missile saturation.
The suspected aircraft’s tailless-canard geometry is strategically important because such designs prioritize aerodynamic efficiency and stealth edge alignment while potentially enabling high-energy maneuverability during long-range engagements.
Scenarios Indicate Accelerated Development Cycles in Stealth Aviation
©Photo By Usaf/Getty Images. 403339 02: An F-117 Nighthawk Flies Over The Sierra Nevada Mountain Range March 27, 2002 Near Edwards Air Force Base, Ca. The Demonstration Project Is Designed To Provide The F-117 And Its Pilots With The Ability To Receive And Transmit Mission And Target Data In Real-Time From The Air.
(Photo By Usaf/Getty Images)
Both proposed scenarios suggest that stealth aircraft development cycles are progressing at an accelerated pace. This acceleration could lead to more sightings of advanced aircraft before any official announcements are made.
Historically, canard configurations created radar-reflection penalties incompatible with earlier stealth requirements, yet sixth-generation computational design techniques may now permit canard integration without unacceptable low-observable compromises.
The aircraft’s apparent cranked-kite wing structure also aligns with aerodynamic concepts associated with sustained supersonic cruise efficiency and optimized lift distribution during long-duration penetration missions.
These characteristics are particularly relevant for Indo-Pacific operational scenarios where U.S. aircraft may need to transit enormous distances while retaining sufficient fuel and weapons capacity for high-intensity combat operations.
Boeing’s victory over rival industry competitors in securing the F-47 contract additionally carried enormous industrial consequences because the programme could determine American tactical aviation leadership for several decades.
The approximately US$20 billion initial EMD contract, equivalent to RM76 billion, therefore represents both a military investment and a strategic industrial commitment intended to preserve U.S. aerospace dominance amid rising Chinese aviation capability.
Thermal footage near Area 51 fuels F‑47 stealth jet speculation
The apparent visibility of the aircraft to civilian observers raises complex questions regarding whether the flight represented accidental exposure, operational complacency, or intentional strategic ambiguity directed toward foreign intelligence audiences.
Historically, selective visibility surrounding classified aerospace projects has occasionally functioned as a controlled signalling mechanism intended to shape adversary perceptions without revealing programme specifics or validated operational capabilities.
Allowing glimpses of advanced platforms can influence enemy procurement decisions, force-posture planning, and deterrence calculations by introducing uncertainty regarding the maturity of hidden technologies.
The timing of the footage coincides with growing global attention surrounding sixth-generation fighter competition involving the United States, China’s J-36 and J-50-related speculation, and multinational European GCAP and FCAS programmes.
Within this context, even ambiguous footage potentially contributes to psychological deterrence by reinforcing perceptions that Washington remains technologically ahead in stealth aviation and advanced propulsion integration.
The strategic signalling effect becomes particularly relevant as Beijing accelerates military modernization efforts emphasizing anti-access missile systems, advanced fighters, and long-range sensor networks across the Indo-Pacific region.
At the same time, intelligence analysts remain cautious because low-resolution thermal imagery inherently creates interpretive ambiguity capable of generating exaggerated conclusions unsupported by verifiable evidence.
The footage does not conclusively prove the operational existence of a production-standard F-47 platform, nor does it confirm the aircraft’s exact configuration, propulsion architecture, or programme affiliation.
Nevertheless, the consistency between the captured planform and previously circulated NGAD-related renderings significantly narrows the range of plausible alternative explanations compared with earlier unidentified aerospace sightings.
That convergence between speculative concept art and observable aerodynamic geometry explains why multiple aerospace analysts now regard the footage as potentially the most credible civilian glimpse yet into America’s next-generation air-dominance ecosystem.
If the aircraft genuinely represents an NGAD technology demonstrator, the footage indicates the United States may already be transitioning from conceptual sixth-generation research toward practical operational validation under realistic flight conditions.
Such progress would reshape assessments of future airpower balance because China and Russia have both invested heavily in counter-stealth technologies specifically intended to neutralize earlier-generation U.S. low-observable advantages.
A functioning sixth-generation demonstrator integrating multispectral stealth, adaptive propulsion, AI-enabled networking, and long-range persistence would therefore restore uncertainty into adversary strategic planning calculations.
The emphasis on tailless stealth shaping and thermal management additionally suggests future fighter survivability will increasingly depend on defeating integrated sensor fusion rather than relying exclusively upon radar invisibility.
This evolution reflects broader changes in military technology where passive infrared tracking, space-based surveillance, and distributed radar architectures collectively threaten traditional assumptions regarding stealth survivability.
Potential role as manned NGAD component
©Photo by Carsten Koall/picture alliance via Getty Images. 08 June 2026, Berlin: A woman walks past the autonomous CA-1 Europe fighter jet at the Helsing company stand. Exhibitors of weapons technology at the industry conference of the "New Age Defense" initiative.
Photo: Carsten Koall/dpa (Photo by Carsten Koall/picture alliance via Getty Images)
If confirmed authentic, the observed aircraft could serve as the manned platform within the U.S. Air Force's Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) 'family of systems.' This role would involve coordinating with autonomous drones and penetrating advanced air defense networks.
The aircraft’s reported low-speed overhead transit may also indicate testing related to sensor calibration, autonomous coordination, or variable-cycle propulsion management rather than pure high-speed performance evaluation.
Such operational experimentation would align with the Pentagon’s broader doctrinal shift toward adaptive combat ecosystems emphasizing persistence, survivability, and data integration over legacy dogfighting paradigms.
For Indo-Pacific military planners, confirmation that NGAD demonstrators are already flying would significantly influence calculations regarding force structure, aerial refueling requirements, forward basing vulnerability, and coalition interoperability strategies.
It would also intensify pressure on allied air forces participating in parallel sixth-generation efforts to accelerate timelines amid fears of widening capability divergence within Western aerospace ecosystems.
Although uncertainty remains unavoidable without official confirmation from the U.S. Air Force or Boeing, the Groom Lake thermal footage has nevertheless transformed NGAD from abstract procurement language into a visible symbol of the coming sixth-generation airpower era.
The Pentagon Disinformation That Fueled America’s UFO Mythology
A tiny Pentagon office had spent months investigating conspiracy theories about secret Washington UFO programs when it uncovered a shocking truth: At least one of those theories had been fueled by the Pentagon itself.
The congressionally ordered probe took investigators back to the 1980s, when an Air Force colonel visited a bar near Area 51, a top-secret site in the Nevada desert. He gave the owner photos of what might be flying saucers. The photos went up on the walls, and into the local lore went the idea that the U.S. military was secretly testing recovered alien technology.
But the colonel was on a mission—of disinformation. The photos were doctored, the now-retired officer confessed to the Pentagon investigators in 2023. The whole exercise was a ruse to protect what was really going on at Area 51: The Air Force was using the site to develop top-secret stealth fighters, viewed as a critical edge against the Soviet Union. Military leaders were worried that the programs might get exposed if locals somehow glimpsed a test flight of, say, the F-117 stealth fighter, an aircraft that truly did look out of this world. Better that they believe it came from Andromed
This episode, reported now for the first time, was just one of a series of discoveries the Pentagon team made as it investigated decades of claims that Washington was hiding what it knew about extraterrestrial life. That effort culminated in a report, released last year by the Defense Department , that found allegations of a government coverup to be baseless.
In fact, a Wall Street Journal investigation reveals, the report itself amounted to a coverup—but not in the way the UFO conspiracy industry would have people believe. The public disclosure left out the truth behind some of the foundational myths about UFOs: The Pentagon itself sometimes deliberately fanned the flames, in what amounted to the U.S. government targeting its own citizens with disinformation.
At the same time, the very nature of Pentagon operations—an opaque bureaucracy that kept secret programs embedded within secret programs, cloaked in cover stories—created fertile ground for the myths to spread.
These findings represent a stunning new twist in the story of America’s cultural obsession with UFOs. In the decades after a 1938 radio broadcast of H.G. Wells’ “The War of the Worlds” spread panic throughout the country, speculation about alien visitors remained largely the province of supermarket tabloids, Hollywood blockbusters and costumed conferences in Las Vegas.
More recently, things took an ominous turn when a handful of former Pentagon officials went public with allegations of a government program to exploit extraterrestrial technology and hide it from Americans. Those claims led to the Pentagon’s investigation.
Now, evidence is emerging that government efforts to propagate UFO mythology date back all the way to the 1950s.
This account is based on interviews with two dozen current and former U.S. officials, scientists and military contractors involved in the inquiry, as well as thousands of pages of documents, recordings, emails and text messages.
At times, as with the deception around Area 51, military officers spread false documents to create a smokescreen for real secret-weapons programs. In other cases, officials allowed UFO myths to take root in the interest of national security—for instance, to prevent the Soviet Union from detecting vulnerabilities in the systems protecting nuclear installations. Stories tended to take on a life of their own, such as the three-decade journey of a purported piece of space metal that turned out to be nothing of the sort. And one long-running practice was more like a fraternity hazing ritual that spun wildly out of control.
Investigators are still trying to determine whether the spread of disinformation was the act of local commanders and officers or a more centralized, institutional program.
The Pentagon omitted key facts in the public version of the 2024 report that could have helped put some UFO rumors to rest, both to protect classified secrets and to avoid embarrassment, the Journal investigation found. The Air Force in particular pushed to omit some details it believed could jeopardize secret programs and damage careers.
The lack of full transparency has only given more fuel to conspiracy theories. Members of Congress have formed a caucus, composed mainly of Republicans, to examine unidentified anomalous phenomena, or UAP, in bureaucratic speak. The caucus has demanded the intelligence community disclose which agencies “are involved with UAP crash retrieval programs.”
MAGA skepticism about the “deep state” further feeds the notion that government bureaucrats have been keeping those secrets from the American public. At a November hearing of two House Oversight subcommittees, Rep. Nancy Mace, a Republican from South Carolina, cast doubt on the Pentagon’s report. “I’m not a mathematician, but I can tell you that doesn’t add up,” she said.
A picture taken on 05 May 2004 by a Mexican military crew during their daily patrol, where they detected 11 unidentified flying objects. The video released Monday 10 May 2004.
Sean Kirkpatrick, a precise, bespectacled scientist who once spent years studying vibrations in laser crystals, was nearing retirement from government service when he received the call that would change his life.
By 2022 he had ascended to chief scientist at the Missile and Space Intelligence Center at the Redstone Arsenal near Huntsville, Ala. As he sat at his desk at 6:30 one morning, drinking coffee and skimming through intelligence reports that had come in overnight, his Tandberg desk phone—essentially a classified version of FaceTime—rang.
It was a deputy undersecretary from the Pentagon, who was putting on a tie as he told Kirkpatrick about a new office Congress ordered the department to set up to examine unidentified anomalous phenomena. “The undersecretary and I put together a shortlist of who could do it, and you’re at the top,” the official relayed, adding that they had settled on Kirkpatrick because he both had a scientific background and had built a half-dozen organizations within the intelligence community.
Is that the real reason, Kirkpatrick countered, “or am I the only one stupid enough to say, ‘yes?’”
In short order, Kirkpatrick had the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office up and running. Just the latest in an alphabet soup of special government projects set up to study UFOs stretching back more than half a century, AARO, as it is known, operated out of an unmarked office near the Pentagon, with a few dozen staffers and a classified budget.
The mission fell into two buckets. One was to collect data on sightings, particularly around military installations, and assess whether they could be explained by earthly technology. Amid growing public attention, the number of such reports has skyrocketed in recent years, to 757 in the 12 months after May 2023 from 144 between 2004 to 2021. AARO linked most of the incidents to balloons, birds and the proliferation of drones cluttering the skies.
Many pilot accounts of floating orbs were actually reflections of the sun from Starlink satellites, investigators found. They are still examining whether some unexplained events could be foreign technology, such as Chinese aircraft using next-generation cloaking methods that distort their appearance.
The office found that some seemingly inexplicable events weren’t so strange after all. In one, a 2015 video appeared to show a spherical object buzzing past a jet fighter at an almost impossible speed. “Oh, my gosh dude,” the pilot can be heard saying in the video, laughing. But later, investigators determined there was nothing much to see—whatever the object was, the camera angle and relative speed of the jet had made it appear to be going much faster than it was.
The office’s second mission proved to be more peculiar: to review the historical record going back to 1945 to assess the claims made by dozens of former military employees that Washington operated a secret program to harvest alien technology. Congress granted the office unprecedented access to America’s most highly classified programs to allow Kirkpatrick’s team to run the stories to ground.
As Kirkpatrick pursued his investigation, he started to uncover a hall of mirrors within the Pentagon, cloaked in official and nonofficial cover. On one level, the secrecy was understandable. The U.S., after all, had been locked in an existential battle with the Soviet Union for decades, each side determined to win the upper hand in the race for ever-more-exotic weapons.
But Kirkpatrick soon discovered that some of the obsession with secrecy verged on the farcical. A former Air Force officer was visibly terrified when he told Kirkpatrick’s investigators that he had been briefed on a secret alien project decades earlier, and was warned that if he ever repeated the secret he could be jailed or executed. The claim would be repeated to investigators by other men who had never spoken of the matter, even with their spouses.
It turned out the witnesses had been victims of a bizarre hazing ritual.
For decades, certain new commanders of the Air Force’s most classified programs, as part of their induction briefings, would be handed a piece of paper with a photo of what looked like a flying saucer. The craft was described as an antigravity maneuvering vehicle.
The officers were told that the program they were joining, dubbed Yankee Blue, was part of an effort to reverse-engineer the technology on the craft. They were told never to mention it again. Many never learned it was fake. Kirkpatrick found the practice had begun decades before, and appeared to continue still. The defense secretary’s office sent a memo out across the service in the spring of 2023 ordering the practice to stop immediately, but the damage was done.
Investigators are still trying to determine why officers had misled subordinates, whether as some type of loyalty test, a more deliberate attempt to deceive or something else.
After that 2023 discovery, Kirkpatrick’s deputy briefed President Joe Biden’s director of national intelligence, Avril Haines , who was stunned.
Could this be the basis for the persistent belief that the U.S. has an alien program that we’ve concealed from the American people? Haines wanted to know, according to people familiar with the matter. How extensive was it? she asked.
The official responded: “Ma’am, we know it went on for decades. We are talking about hundreds and hundreds of people. These men signed NDAs. They thought it was real.“
The finding could have been devastating to the Air Force. The service was particularly sensitive to the allegations of hazing and asked that AARO hold off on including the finding in the public report, even after Kirkpatrick had briefed lawmakers on the episode. Kirkpatrick retired before that report was finished and released.
In a statement, a Defense Department spokeswoman acknowledged that AARO had uncovered evidence of fake classified program materials relating to extraterrestrials, and had briefed lawmakers and intelligence officials. The spokeswoman, Sue Gough, said the department didn’t include that information in its report last year because the investigation wasn’t completed, but expects to provide it in another report scheduled for later this year.
“The department is committed to releasing a second volume of its Historical Record Report, to include AARO’s findings on reports of potential pranks and inauthentic materials,” Gough said.
Kirkpatrick investigated another mystery that stretched back 60 years.
In 1967, Robert Salas, now 84, was an Air Force captain sitting in a walk-in closet-sized bunker, manning the controls of 10 nuclear missiles in Montana.
He was prepared to launch apocalyptic strikes should Soviet Russia ever attack first, and got a call around 8 p.m. one night from the guard station above. A glowing reddish-orange oval was hovering over the front gate, Salas told Kirkpatrick’s investigators. The guards had their rifles drawn, pointed at the oval object appearing to float above the gate. A horn sounded in the bunker, signaling a problem with the control system: All 10 missiles were disabled.
Salas soon learned a similar event occurred at other silos nearby. Were they under attack? Salas never got an answer. The next morning a helicopter was waiting to take Salas back to base. Once there he was ordered: Never discuss the incident.
Salas was one of five men interviewed by Kirkpatrick’s team who witnessed such events in the 1960s and ’70s. While sworn to secrecy, the men began sharing their stories in the ’90s in books and documentaries.
Kirkpatrick’s team dug into the story and discovered a terrestrial explanation. The barriers of concrete and steel surrounding America’s nuclear missiles were thick enough to give them a chance if hit first by a Soviet strike. But scientists at the time feared the intense storm of electromagnetic waves generated by a nuclear detonation might render the hardware needed to launch a counterstrike unusable.
To test this vulnerability, the Air Force developed an exotic electromagnetic generator that simulated this pulse of disruptive energy without the need to detonate a nuclear weapon.
When activated, this device, placed on a portable platform 60 feet above the facility, would gather power until it glowed, sometimes with a blinding orange light. It would then fire a burst of energy that could resemble lightning.
The electromagnetic pulses snaked down cables connected to the bunker where launch commanders like Salas sat, disrupting the guidance systems, disabling the weapons and haunting the men to this day.
But any public leak of the tests at the time would have allowed Russia to know that America’s nuclear arsenal could be disabled in a first strike. The witnesses were kept in the dark.
To this day Salas believes he was party to an intergalactic intervention to stop nuclear war which the government has tried to hide. He is half right. The experience left the octogenarian deeply skeptical of the U.S. military and its ability to tell the truth. “There is a gigantic coverup, not only by the Air Force, but every other federal agency that has cognizance of this subject,” he said in an interview with the Journal. “We were never briefed on the activities that were going on, the Air Force shut us out of any information.”
Concealing the truth from men like Salas and deliberate efforts to target the public with disinformation unleashed within the halls of the Pentagon itself a dangerous force, which would become almost unstoppable as decades passed. The paranoid mythology the U.S. military helped spread now has a hold over a growing number of its own senior officials who count themselves as believers.
The crisis grew to a boil over a piece of metal mailed to a late-night radio host in 1996, which the sender said they had been told was part of a crashed spaceship.
21 celebrities who believe aliens are real — including those who claim to have seen a UFOSteven Spielberg; Whoopi Goldberg; Kacey Musgraves
Credit: Getty(3)
If you think we're not alone in the universe, you're not the only one.
And neither is Steven Spielberg. The legendary director has now made four films about aliens, including the new sci-fi drama Disclosure Day, so he's something of an expert on whether the truth is out there. But he's just one of dozens of celebrities who have openly discussed their belief in extraterrestrial life and unidentified aerial phenomena. Some of them, like Goldie Hawn, even claim to have had a firsthand encounter with aliens.
Here's a rundown of 21 celebrities who believe aliens are real, and what they've said about our extraterrestrial neighbors.
1. Steven Spielberg
Steven Spielberg promoting 'Disclosure Day'
Credit: Kate Green/Getty
Of course we have to start with Spielberg, the director of Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977), E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982), War of the Worlds (2005), and this year's Disclosure Day.
"It's my first film that will be considered science fiction that I do not consider to be science fiction," the director told the Associated Press about his latest film. "It's much more reflective of the world as it is evolving and discoveries that are being made as we speak."
Not only does Spielberg believe in aliens, he also told Stephen Colbert that he wants to be the first to greet them if and when they arrive — even though Barack Obama already called dibs.
2. Whoopi Goldberg
Whoopi Goldberg at the Tribeca Festival in 2026
Credit: Slaven Vlasic/Getty
It's one of the precious few certainties in life that Whoopi Goldberg will always give us something to talk about on The View, from taking set-cleaning duties into her own hands to getting candid about her career. One subject that's come up a few times: Goldberg's belief in aliens.
During a 2024 episode, guest Kumail Nanjiani said he believes aliens are out there, prompting Goldberg to chime in with her own take. "They're already here," she said. "They're already... They've been here for quite some time."
"And what are they doing?" Nanjiani asked. "They're watching us," replied Goldberg, as if it were a matter of fact.
Tom DeLonge performing on stage in 2023
Credit: Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty
No list of celebrities who believe in aliens would be complete without Blink-182's Tom DeLonge, who has dedicated much of his adult life to proving it. He even founded a company, To the Stars, which promotes UAPs (i.e., UFOs) and fringe science.
In 2023, after the House Oversight subcommittee on national security hosted hearings on UAPs with testimony from witnesses and whistleblowers, DeLonge took to Instagram to celebrate. "The UFO Hearings today made history," he wrote. "I am so proud of the three witnesses today that blew the lid off the UFO secrecy that has been intact for decades."
Woody Harrelson at the Cannes Film Festival in 2026
Credit: Andreas Rentz/Getty
Woody Harrelson doesn't just think aliens exist — he might've seen them in real life. During a 2025 appearance on The Late Show, Harrelson opened up to Stephen Colbert about a close encounter he had in 1974.
The event happened when Harrelson was a teenager living in Ohio. "Suddenly I noticed, like everybody's out in the street, and so I went out, and we look up. It was nighttime and there were these lights that were just kind of blinking, and then it would just shoot all the way across the sky," he recalled. "And then there'd be one over there, shoot over here, and there were several. They just kept going across the sky."
He continued, "Everybody, we watched it for a while. It took a few minutes and then finally just, whoosh, went somewhere else. Some other world."
5. Goldie Hawn, Kurt Russell, and Wyatt Russell
Kurt Russell, Goldie Hawn, and Wyatt Russell in 2015
Credit: Michael Buckner/Getty
Goldie Hawn also had a close encounter in her younger days. As she recalled in 2023, it happened while she was sleeping in a friend's car after a dance rehearsal in California. "I saw these two or three triangular-shaped heads. They were silver in color, slash for a mouth, tiny little nose, no ears," she said. "They were pointing at me, pointing at me in the car as if they were discussing me, like I was a subject."
Hawn's longtime partner Kurt Russell had his own sighting, which he recounted to Jimmy Kimmel in 2018. Russell, who has a pilot's license, was flying his son Oliver to Phoenix when he saw what he believed to be a UAP.
"There's this bank of lights, six lights in the shape of a triangle... right over the airport," said Russell, who ultimately decided not to report the sighting. "Years later, I come home and Goldie's watching this show on UFOs, and the most reported one of all time was in Phoenix, and I said, 'Wait a minute, that's the night Ollie and I were landing in Phoenix.'"
Hawn and Russell's son, fellow actor Wyatt Russell, is also a firm believer. During his own Jimmy Kimmel Live appearance in 2023, the younger Russell backed up his mom's claims. "It's true!" he said before sharing his own story of seeing a UAP in Canada.
We're still waiting for Hawn's other famous offspring, Kate Hudson, to weigh in.
Ana Gasteyer posing at the Groundlings' 50th anniversary event in 2024
Credit: Michael Tullberg/Getty
"I do believe in extra-terrestrial life, I think it's sort of absurd to think that there wouldn't be any," former Saturday Night Live star Ana Gasteyer told Entertainment Weekly in 2016 while promoting the short-lived sci-fi sitcom People of Earth.
"I mean, it's kind of a big universe, right?" she continued. "I'm not sure that there are like, green people that want to take over the world or anything like that. But there's definitely something, like a vibrating cube or something on another planet. It seems naïve to think that we're the only intelligent life in the universe."
Demi Lovato at 92NY in 2026
Credit: Jamie McCarthy/Getty
Demi Lovato has many titles: singer, actor, activist, and UFO believer. Lovato even leveraged her stardom to produce a four-part series on the subject, Unidentified.
Speaking with EW in 2021, Lovato explained the genesis of her interest in extraterrestrial life. "I had a pretty profound experience on my 28th birthday," Lovato said. "I made [alien] contact, and it was a pretty mind-blowing experience."
As for what the aliens are up to, Lovato explained, "I think they're very caring, very intelligent beings that are just looking out for the best interest of our planet, because we need some help."
Dave Foley in New York City in 2025
Credit: Jamie McCarthy/Getty
Kids in the Hall comedian Dave Foley has long been fascinated by aliens and UFOs, but he didn't have an encounter of his own until 2022. "After years of interest in the UFOs without ever seeing anything, I saw something," Foley wrote on social media, accompanied by a drawing of what he saw.
"It moved silently, at great speed, hovered and pulsated with light," Foley continued. "I should point out, the white lights were on the front of the craft, assuming that it was moving forward and those lights pulsated separately from the body of the craft, which also pulsated."
When asked if he was fooling around, Foley said, "Absolutely not a bit," and explained that "Many people who have encountered the phenomenon are afraid to discuss it because of the thoughtless and uninformed derision it inspires. Many who do discuss it have had their lives ruined by that derision."
Jordan Peele at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2025
Credit: Mat Hayward/Getty
Jordan Peele looked to the skies for his third film, the 2022 sci-fi thriller Nope. Though based on an original idea, the California desert setting and sense of awe and spectacle recall Spielberg's Close Encounters of the Third Kind. When asked if he's similarly adopted Spielberg's perspective on aliens, Peele unequivocally told EW, "I believe there are aliens out there."
Peele expanded on his take during an appearance on Late Night with Seth Meyers, telling the host that he likes to think he'd be the one human spared in a takeover of Earth. "Sometimes I think if aliens came down, I would turn on all of y'all, like, in a heartbeat," said Peele. "I feel like there might be room for one prime human." He'll have to jockey for that position with Spielberg and Obama.
Megan Fox in Las Vegas in 2024
Credit: Jerod Harris/Getty
Megan Fox doesn't just believe in aliens — she believes in "everything." As the Jennifer's Body star told MTV News' Josh Horowitz in 2014, that includes Bigfoot, ghosts, and extraterrestrials. When pressed about the lack of concrete evidence of alien encounters, Fox asked, "If they are a more advanced species, why would we be able to find them if they don't want to be found?"
"It just seems like a convenient excuse," said a skeptical Horowitz, to which Fox made a fair point: "But until we find things, they had been previously unfound, yet they still exist." Much to consider.
Tom Cruise at the Saturn Awards in 2026
Credit: JC Olivera/Getty
The alien discussion in Hollywood always comes back to Spielberg. In 2005, while promoting the director's adaptation of War of the Worlds, Tom Cruise said that "of course" he believes in aliens.
"Are you really so arrogant as to believe we are alone in this universe?" Cruise responded when posed the question by a German publication. "Millions of stars, and we're supposed to be the only living creatures? No, there are many things out there, we just don't know."
Keanu Reeves in Los Angeles in 2026
Credit: Rebecca Sapp/Getty
Just a few years later, Keanu Reeves was promoting his own modern remake of a sci-fi classic, The Day the Earth Stood Still (2008), prompting multiple interviewers to ask the actor for his take on intelligent life in the universe. "We can't be alone," Reeves told NBC. "The cosmos is too vast."
"There's so much unexplained and unexplainable phenomena that's presented to us," Reeves said in an interview with Parade, adding, "We can't be the only sentient entity. It might not look like us, but it's going to be out there."
Jaden Smith at Paris Fashion Week in 2026
Credit: Arnold Jerocki/Getty
When it comes to aliens, Jaden Smith agrees with his Day the Earth Stood Still costar. He even asked a former president about them. "I talked to President Obama about extraterrestrials," Smith told Wonderland magazine. "He said he could neither confirm nor deny the existence of aliens, which means they're real. If people think we're the only people that live in this universe, then something is wrong with them."
Miley Cyrus at the Palm Springs International Film Festival in 2026
Credit: Taylor Hill/FilmMagic
Speaking with fashion designer Rick Owens for Interview Magazine, Miley Cyrus detailed a strange experience that was hard to explain. "I was driving through San Bernardino with my friend, and I got chased down by some sort of UFO," the "Flowers" singer said.
"But the best way to describe it is a flying snowplow," she continued. "It had this big plow in the front of it and was glowing yellow. I did see it flying, and my friend saw it, too. There were a couple of other cars on the road and they also stopped to look, so I think what I saw was real."
However, Cyrus admitted she'd "bought weed wax from a guy in a van in front of a taco shop, so it could have been the weed wax." Still, the experience profoundly affected her. "I was shaken for, like, five days. It f---ed me up," she said. "I couldn't really look at the sky the same. I thought they might come back."
Halle Berry during a SiriusXM interview in 2026
Credit: Jamie McCarthy/Getty
Halle Berry starred in two seasons of the CBS sci-fi drama Extant, produced by Spielberg and his Amblin Television team. The short-lived series follows Berry's astronaut Molly Woods, who returns to Earth after a 13-month solo mission to discover that she has somehow gotten pregnant.
At a premiere screening for the show in June 2014, Berry told the Los Angeles Times that she does believe there's something else out there. "I'm not so egotistical to think that we're the only ones living in this vast, vast universe," Berry said candidly. "I do think there's other life out there."
Dwayne Johnson at a Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremony in 2026
Credit: Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty
Roughly 10 years ago, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson admitted that he believes in the existence of extraterrestrials.
In a 2016 Vice interview with Johnson and costar Kevin Hart for their movie Central Intelligence, Johnson was asked if he believes in any conspiracy theories. He answered first by wondering "how we would qualify aliens."
Probed on whether he does believe in aliens, Johnson responded plainly, "Yeah, of course. I believe that we're not the only ones; it'd be arrogant to think that."
Kacey Musgraves at the Academy of Country Music Awards in 2026
Credit: Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic
In April, country singer Kacey Musgraves went on record as having seen not one, not two, but three UFOs during a flight to Fort Worth.
The "Follow Your Arrow" singer shared in an Instagram video that she and her manager witnessed three spherical aircrafts during their flight.
"We just had the craziest f---ing orb UFO experience," the singer said. "We just watched these orbs, there was three of 'em. I noticed them — I'm a noticer, I'm always noticing things. I was about to lay down and take a nap, and I saw these lights that caught my eye and just didn't look normal. And I watched them for a minute, and they definitely were trailing each other."
She first noticed them while flying over Little Rock, Ark., and she watched them for about 45 minutes.
However, this wasn't the first time that the singer encountered UFOs. In 2015, she told Us Weekly that she's seen "several."
Dan Aykroyd in Toronto in 2025
Credit: Mathew Tsang/Getty
We also can't possibly ignore Dan Aykroyd, who's transitioned from ghostbusting to alien-spotting.
The SNL alum has had a long-standing fascination with ghosts and aliens, once claiming to Larry King that he's seen four UFOs. In 2005, he hosted the documentary Dan Aykroyd Unplugged on UFOs, and for three seasons, he's served as the host of the History Channel show The UnBelievable With Dan Aykroyd.
In 2024, Aykroyd told the New York Post that a love affair with nature's oddities runs in his family: "My great-grandfather was a spiritualist, a paranormal researcher. And so, I just grew up with that stuff. And my mother saw a UFO in the late '40s in Ottawa, Canada… And she was always interested in it."
January Jones at the Academy Museum in 2026
Credit: Kevin Winter/Getty
In a 2020 interview on Jimmy Kimmel Live, January Jones revealed that she believes the truth is out there — because she's seen it for herself.
The Mad Men star told Kimmel that when she was in her 20s in Iowa, she was in a field when she saw a strange light in the sky zoom around and then disappear. Jones was alone when she spotted the strange phenomenon, but she claimed her companion believed her when she told him about it. "But people say things all the time," she admitted to Kimmel.
When Kimmel asked Jones if she believes in paranormal things in general, she responded, laughing, "I'm into everything. Unsolved things… I don't care if anyone else knows, I just need to know."
Aagje Vanthomme keek al naar ‘Disclosure Day’, de nieuwe film van Steven Spielberg: “Dit is geen gewone sciencefictionfilm”
Vanaf woensdag kunt u in de cinema gaan kijken naar Disclosure Day, van Steven Spielberg.
© RV / VTM NIEUWS
Vanaf woensdag kunnen filmliefhebbers in de bioscoop kijken naar ‘Disclosure Day’, de nieuwe film van Steven Spielberg. VTM NIEUWS-journaliste Aagje Vanthomme mocht de film al in première bekijken en bleef verwonderd achter in de bioscoopzaal. “Spanning, actie en mysterie combineren met kinderlijke verwondering: dat kan alleen hij.”
Voor Spielberg zelf is het al zijn vierde film over buitenaardse wezens. Eerder maakte hij namelijk ook al ‘Close Encounters’, ‘E.T.’ en ‘War of the Worlds’. “Voor sommige mensen is het wetenschappelijke fictie en voor anderen is het wetenschappelijke realiteit”, legt de regisseur uit. “Sinds ik ‘Close Encounters’ maakte 50 jaar geleden geloof ik er al in, maar ik heb altijd gezegd: zolang ik met mijn eigen ogen geen UFO gezien heb, ga ik niet categoriek beweren dat er leven van daar naar hier gekomen is. Maar ik ben van gedachten veranderd omdat de indirecte bewijzen overweldigend zijn.”
Spielberg gelooft dat buitenaards leven al bewezen is
Aagje zelf was alvast onder de indruk van de film. “Dit is geen gewone sciencefictionfilm. Als Steven Spielberg achter de camera kruipt, krijg je iets veel beters. Want spanning, actie en mysterie combineren met kinderlijke verwondering: dat kan alleen hij.”
Buitenaards leven: zweven tussen waarheid en fictie
Zijn we alleen in het universum of niet? Er zijn weinig vragen die de mensheid al zo lang bezighouden. De laatste tijd duikt het onderwerp weer regelmatig op in het nieuws. Zo gaf de Amerikaanse regering recent nog geheime documenten vrij over zogenoemde unidentified flying objects. Ze leveren geen bewijs voor buitenaards leven, maar wakkeren de speculaties wel verder aan. Wat is fictie en waar ligt de waarheid?
Het is de ultieme menselijke obsessie: de blik omhoog. We turen al decennia naar de sterren, hopend op die ene regelmatige frequentie die bewijst dat we geen kosmische toevalstreffer zijn. Volgens de statistieken van de Drake-vergelijking - de formule die het aantal intelligente beschavingen in onze melkweg berekent - zouden we al lang gezelschap moeten hebben. Maar de ruimte blijft oorverdovend stil.
Af en toe wordt die stilte onderbroken door onverklaarbare fenomenen. Elk jaar ontvangt het Belgisch UFO-meldpunt meldingen van vreemde luchtverschijnselen boven België. In 2025 zelfs opvallend veel: 237. Een deel daarvan is te verklaren door bijvoorbeeld bewegende lichtstralen van entertainmentshows of lozingen van ruimtepuin. Voor sommige onbekende vliegende objecten wordt geen verklaring gevonden. Ze tarten fysieke wetten met onmogelijke snelheden en bewegingen. Het is deze grijze zone tussen 'onverklaard' en 'buitenaards' waar onze collectieve fascinatie voor buitenaards leven bloeit.
Niet alleen de media, ook defensiespecialisten brengen non-believers aan het twijfelen. De Verenigde Staten maakten in mei honderden ufo-dossiers openbaar, zodat het publiek zelf een mening kan vormen. En NASA bericht met de regelmaat van de klok over missies naar andere planeten om buitenaards leven te bestuderen. Dat het dan water, micro-organismen of metalen betreft – en geen kosmische kolonies van eenogige wezens – tempert weliswaar het enthousiasme, maar alleen al de zoektocht doet veel mensen vermoeden dat het misschien allemaal minder ondenkbaar is dan tot nu toe werd aangenomen.
Andere tijden, andere film
Deze existentiële spanning is de ideale voedingsbodem voor verhalen die onze verbeelding op hol laten slaan. En daar spelen auteurs, gameontwikkelaars en scenaristen maar al te graag op in. Het spanningsveld tussen nieuwsgierigheid, onzekerheid en angst is een ideale voedingsbodem voor meeslepende avonturen en bracht zo al ontelbare boeken, documentaires, series, videogames en films over buitenaardse wezens voort. Soms lijken ze op ons, soms helemaal niet. In een van de meest iconische sciencefictionprenten E.T. koos regisseur Steven Spielberg in 1982 voor een verrassende mix: een vreemd maar vriendelijk wezentje met menselijke emoties.
Bijna 45 jaar later pakt Spielberg uit met een nieuwe film over hetzelfde thema. Maar waar in E.T. alles nog draaide om verwondering, fantasie en het warme idee van contact met het onbekende, weerspiegelt Spielberg in Disclosure Day de tijdsgeest van nu: een wereld die geconfronteerd wordt met onverklaarbare signalen en informatie die 80 jaar lang angstvallig werd achtergehouden door de overheid. We zijn niet langer op zoek naar een kosmische vriend; we vragen ons af wat er gebeurt als de waarheid ons inhaalt. Hoe reageren we als samenleving als straks toch blijkt dat we niet alleen zijn?
Ieder zijn waarheid
De impact van Disclosure Day zal nog lang na de aftiteling voelbaar zijn. Mede dankzij de realistische vertolkingen van een absolute sterrencast met kleppers als Emily Blunt, Josh O’Connor, Eve Hewson, Colman Domingo en Colin Firth. Eén ding is nu al zeker: eens deze film op de wereld wordt losgelaten, laaien de discussies weer helemaal op.
Ontdek Spielbergs nieuwe sci-fi vanaf 10 juni in de bioscoop en beslis zelf: geloof jij dat we alleen zijn?
© Universal Pictures
Disclosure Day Review: Steven Spielberg’s Coda to a Lifetime of Alien Movies
Almost half a century after Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Steven Spielberg seeks to get us all up on that starship with the big-hearted Disclosure Day.
I always felt bad for Larry, Josef Sommer’s character in Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977). In Steven Spielberg’s magnum opus about UFOs and the governments who cover them up, Larry is a true believer that, like Richard Dreyfuss’ Roy and Melinda Dillon’s Jillian, traveled all the way to Devils Tower in Wyoming, sneaking past federal authority checkpoints and lies… only to miss the aliens at the last minute because of some knockout gas.
That of course was part and parcel for Spielberg’s vision of an obsessive, almost maniacal need to know. Only the most dedicated, driven and, ahem, visionary folks like Roy get to learn the truth and board a starship with little gray men. Everyone else should be so lucky to see the epic John Williams concert and UFO light show at the top of the mountain. Otherwise we wind up like Larry: left behind in the dark, wondering what really happened on that evening of night skies.
The Spielberg who made Close Encounters is a different man. He’s indicated as much over the years by saying he regrets his amazing ending of Roy abandoning his life and family to go on a space odyssey. Becoming a parent in real life will have that effect. But he’s also become more fixated on the stakes of our world and society as a collective. The man who once made grandiose adventures about the lone individual facing nature in Jaws, or a little boy fixing his fractured childhood by befriending another extraterrestrial in E.T., has spent most of the last 20 years making dramas about who Americans are as a people, a culture, and (perhaps quaintly these days) a force for moral good. You watch how he frames Abraham Lincoln or Kay Graham, and you know he believes in the dream in his bones.
It’s so strong that his civic-minded egalitarianism has even drifted into the fifth(!) alien film in his career, Disclosure Day. In many respects, Disclosure Day positions itself to be a king returning to his throne. The paterfamilias of the modern blockbuster is reclaiming a style of moviemaking he perfected decades ago, yet has barely acknowledged at all in the last 15 years, save for 2018’s Ready Player One. But after two achingly personal passion projects like West Side Story (2022) and The Fablemans (2023)—alas two masterpieces that were sadly commercial flops—Spielberg is returning to his roots in a movie with car chases, government big bads, and of course aliens.
Yet the film is at its best when the director stops showing off the craft and a boundless energy that eludes men a third his age and instead pivots to the more magnanimous view of humanity, and for that matter aliens, which has evolved in the filmmaker’s later years. If Disclosure Day is a coda on the man in the beard’s fixation with unexplained lights in the sky, it is also a reclamation for the Larrys of the world; a wide-eyed, awe-inspired gaze into a future where no one gets left behind and the truth is shared with all. Human and extraterrestrial alike.
To get to that kind of graceful epiphany, however, Disclosure Day spends a lot of time running through some standard blockbuster storytelling, or at least what was the standard 20 years ago when Spielberg and other filmmakers were still making zippy escapism for adults. Two such grown-ups are Margaret Fairchild (Emily Blunt) and Dr. Daniel Kellner (Josh O’Connor). To the outside world, and even to the characters, these are two folks who should have little in common. Margaret is a professionally stifled weatherwoman at a local TV station in Kansas City who wants more out of her life; Daniel works for WARDEX, a government-adjacent agency that for the last 50 or so years has coordinated UAP research and cover-ups for the Department of Defense.
Yet Margaret and Daniel’s paths are inextricably linked after Dan goes the full Edward Snowden route and steals reams of classified documentation, files, and even video evidence that prove aliens are real, they’ve been visiting us for longer than there’s been a U.S. government, and we know where some of the literal bodies are buried because our leaders put them there. He even gets his hand on something that’s only cryptically referred to as… The Device.
Curiously, the moment Daniel and his mentor, an aloof but immediately endearing Colman Domingo, get the information out of government control is the moment that Margaret starts getting visions of repressed childhood memories and discovers she somehow can speak all languages and knows everything that can and will happen to Daniel—especially as WARDEX boogeyman Noah Scanlan (Colin Firth) begins closing in with his men in black. Noah isn’t without sympathy, but it has stark limits when he resorts to threatening (or worse) Daniel’s girlfriend Jane (Eve Hewson).
Longtime Spielberg collaborator and screenwriter David Koepp recently confirmed to me that the final scene of Disclosure Day is the first sequence Spielberg wrote. It is also one of the things that was left largely untouched after Koepp and Spielberg began reworking the director’s treatment. This shows in the final film. Without giving away what the finale of Disclosure Day exactly is, rest assured it features some massive secrets which allow Spielberg to return to the cinematic vernacular of 1970s cinema, both his own with his penchant for characters staring up in bewildered, wondrous close-up, as well as some of his contemporaries like Sidney Lumet and Alan J. Pakula.
It’s pure Spielbergian magic. The movie that gets to those final moments is a lot more checkered, although not without its charms and entertainment.
Blunt and O’Connor make for compelling leads who find themselves as the everyman and woman in extraordinary situations. Blunt, particularly, walks a fine line that skirts close to saying something sacrilegious or heretical as her mysterious and definitely alien-touched journalist carries an air of the prophet about her. There is something radical being teased by this characterization, but it’s perhaps intentionally left unexamined. Mostly the religious implications of what discovering aliens walking among us would mean for Old World texts and tenets are softly, even patronizingly slow-walked in a subplot involving Hewson’s Jane, a former novitiate nun who is forced to consider some profound implications about God’s Garden of Eden apparently being a lot bigger than the good book suggested.
But the biggest hurdles Disclosure Day faces is repeatedly raising some explosive ideas and then demurring from unpacking them. One glorious exception in the film involves a crackling intellectual confrontation between Firth’s cynical justifications for control and concealment, and Domingo’s full-throated advocacy for radical transparency and dissemination. Domingo is indeed the performance of the film, offering an avuncular and twinkly personification of truth-telling. His debate with Firth is about extraterrestrials, but one senses it is as much of a plea for humanity needing grown-up conversations about empathizing with their fellow man… and facing the unknown with a sense of charity and openness.
I honestly wish Domingo’s Hugo was the protagonist, and his motivations more front and center, as one senses that they’re Spielberg’s own convictions as well. But Hugo is ultimately peripheral to the central dynamics of Spielbergian everymen and women finding themselves in preposterous thrill ride sequences. At one point there’s even a rental car left dangling from the sides of a train.
Nonetheless, there is still some of that old school fairy dust from the storyteller who knows how to turn rolling boulders and bobbing buoys into cinematic legend. One sequence in particular involves Firth’s antagonist using “the Device” to manipulate a human character into acting against their self-interests is a tour de force scene of dread and violation. Bright and shiny science fiction suddenly takes on an air of dark magic, or possession horror, and it is yet one more reminder that it’s a shame Spielberg himself never tried his hand fully in the chiller genre.
What makes Disclosure Day ultimately worthwhile, however, exists beyond the thrills. This is a movie with a warm, even grandfatherly sense of equanimity to it; of a storyteller bringing perspective and newfound affection to one of his favorite subject matters. The film does not seek to glorify UAP accounts like Close Encounters, or turn it into something sweet (E.T.) or horrifying (War of the Worlds). It is a movie that wants viewers to be radically open to all ideas and perspectives, even those that might seem scary.
It wants us all on that starship alongside Dreyfuss, and its effectiveness is self-evident when the ending holds out its hand and leaves you eager to climb aboard.
Trump's 'UFO Files' Spark Action as 1,000 Scientists Issue Strict Warning: 'No Reply Should Be Sent' to Aliens
A photograph of the 1976 Canary Island UFO sightings GreyMan12345, CC BY-SA 4.0 , via Wikimedia Commons/Wikimedia Commons
The International Academy of Astronautics has updated its post detection rules in 2026, telling scientists to verify any possible alien signal first and, crucially, to send no reply to extraterrestrial intelligence until there has been international consultation.
The guidance lands amid renewed attention on UFO material released under Donald Trump's administration and was published on 1 June 2026, with the IAA saying it is meant to steer scientists, institutions and the public through any future contact scenario.
At the heart of the refreshed rules is a blunt instruction. If astronomers receive a signal or other credible sign of alien intelligence, 'no reply should be sent' until there has been an international discussion on what, if anything, humanity should say back.
The document urges scientists to 'cooperate' on 'whether a potential response to a confirmed detection of extraterrestrial intelligence should be made, and if so, what its contents should be', adding that any talks 'should be conducted through the United Nations and other broadly representative international bodies.'
'Pending the outcome of such consultations, no reply should be sent,' the declaration states.
The guidance also hints that a separate agreement will spell out the mechanics of those talks 'to ensure a coordinated and responsible approach.'
A new Post‑Detection Sub‑Committee of the IAA SETI is due to pull in lawyers, ethicists and social scientists to advise on how to brief the public if contact is ever confirmed.
The news came after the IAA acknowledged that the information landscape has changed radically since 2010. Social media, deepfake technology and what one committee member politely called 'automated misinformation' mean any hint of an alien signal could go viral long before it is properly checked.
'The information environment we operate in today is vastly more complex than it was in 2010,' Professor Michael Garrett, chair of the IAA SETI Committee and professor of astrophysics at the University of Manchester, said in a statement.
'In an era of deepfakes, automated misinformation, and instant global connectivity, unverified claims could trigger confusion or panic. These new protocols guide SETI scientists in maintaining the highest standards of evidence before making announcements to the world.'
The declaration leans heavily on Carl Sagan's old line that 'extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.'
The first step, as before, is to verify any candidate technosignature and seek independent checks by other organisations using other instruments.
'We do not shout "alien" the moment we see a strange blip,' Garrett added. 'The scientific method demands we check, check again, and then ask others to check. Only when we have reached a consensus that a signal is credible do we bring it to the world.'
The guidelines also call for safeguards for researchers who find themselves at the centre of an alleged detection, warning they may face harassment or doxxing. They urge teams to monitor 'viral' rumours and hoaxes and to distinguish clearly between firm analysis and speculation.
While the new protocols stress caution, they also insist that the global public should not be cut out of the loop if something real is found.
'Institutions and organisations should be responsive to reasonable requests from news organisations, social media platforms, and other public communications media,' the report reads. 'Responses to inquiries should be prompt, accurate, and honest.'
The guidance adds that communication about ongoing work 'may be necessary to dispel rumours and provide accurate and reliable information.'
If a suspected alien signal is later shown not to be extraterrestrial in origin, that conclusion 'should be promptly disclosed and clearly communicated.'
Once a detection is properly verified, scientists are obliged to report it 'in a full, complete and open manner to the public, the scientific community, and the Secretary General of the United Nations.'
They are also advised to protect the evidence itself, potentially by shielding particular radio frequencies if the signal arrives as an electromagnetic transmission.
At the same time, the update quietly concedes that scientists are under no duty to disclose every step of their verification efforts in real time, including to the media or on social platforms. They are, however, encouraged to use those channels responsibly, and to label unconfirmed conclusions as such.
The IAA's more sober, process‑driven playbook lands just as Trump‑era UFO disclosures drag some frankly wild Cold War claims back into the spotlight.
A tranche of declassified FBI material, released in what supporters have billed as a Trump‑ordered 'UFO data dump', includes memos, testimony and film of reported sightings. One memo dated 12 January 1955 recounts an interview with members of the Detroit Flying Saucer Club.
According to the file, club member Randall Cox told agents that aliens were sending messages to Earth claiming every other planet in the galaxy had already 'conquered outer space', and that humans were the 'lowest form of universal existence.'
Cox is quoted as saying the purpose of contact was to prepare people to 'receive landings from outer space.'
The Bureau took the reports seriously enough to investigate whether they posed any security risk, though the saucers were ultimately described as 'friendly to the US.'
Another note describes Cox repeating a claim that John Fry, a technician at Sandia Air Force Base, had allegedly piloted a flying saucer from New Mexico to New York in 30 minutes, a feat that would shred known physics.
Agents, it must be said, were sceptical. They warned that Cox's associate John Hoffman had been 'carried beyond the realm of scientific fact into that of possible scientific fiction', and highlighted similarities with Dorothy Martin, a 1950s cult leader who wrongly predicted a world‑ending flood in December 1954, later insisting the Earth had been spared because of her followers' 'light and faith.'
The latest declassification push was driven by Secretary of War Pete Hegseth under Trump's direction, according to US reports.
Congressman Tim Burchett hailed the first release on X, taking aim at the 'Deep State' and promising that what is still to come will make people say 'Holy Crap.'
The new guidance comes from the International Academy of Astronautics (IAA), a research body whose SETI committee brings together more than 1,000 experts from 97 countries.
First drafted in 1989 and last updated in 2010, its 'post‑detection protocols' set out how scientists should behave if instruments ever pick up a credible signal or other sign of extraterrestrial intelligence, and how those findings should be communicated beyond the lab.
Are UFOs Real? Close Encounters of the First, Second and Third Kinds
Pilots from a Navy aircraft in 2014 described a "little white Tic-Tac-looking object," similar to the one seen here, moving above the water off California before it disappeared.
Geraint Rowland Photography/Getty Images
You don't have to be a Steven Spielberg fan to recognize the famous scene — a giant UFO hovering over Wyoming's Devils Tower, dotted with bright neon lights against a black sky. It's from the 1977 movie "Close Encounters of the Third Kind," and it's a perfect example of Hollywood science-fiction fantasy.
Or maybe not?
OK — "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" is fiction, but it's inspired by more than just a smart screenwriter. According to both the Mutual UFO Network (MUFON) and the National UFO Reporting Center (NUFORC), the remote, northern American West is a hot spot for reports of alien encounters. Of course, not all are close encounters of the "third" kind.
Like the 1977 film, if you're lucky enough to see a creature of this other world, congratulations! That's a close encounter of the third kind. But what about close encounters of the first and second kind? What are those? (We'll get to that in a minute.) And who came up with them?
In ufology, a close encounter is an event in which a person witnesses an unidentified flying object (UFO) at relatively close range, where the possibility of mis-identification is presumably greatly reduced. This terminology and the system of classification behind it were first suggested in astronomer and UFO researcher J. Allen Hynek's book The UFO Experience: A Scientific Inquiry (1972). Categories beyond Hynek's original three have been added by others but have not gained universal acceptance, mainly because they lack the scientific rigor that Hynek aimed to bring to ufology.
Distant sightings more than 150 meters (500 ft) from the witness are classified as daylight discs, nocturnal lights, or radar/visual reports.[Sightings within about 150 meters (500 ft) are sub-classified as various types of close encounters. Hynek and others argued that a claimed close encounter must occur within about 150 meters (500 ft) to greatly reduce or eliminate the possibility of misidentifying conventional aircraft or other known phenomena.
Hynek's scale became well known after being referenced in the classic sci-fi film Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977), which is named after the third level of the scale. Promotional posters for the film featured the three levels of the scale, and Hynek himself makes a cameo appearance near the end of the film
A UFO encounter classification system may seem like it was made up by RV-dragging, desert-dwelling conspiracy theorists, but it was created by J. Allen Hynek, a well-respected astronomer, defense researcher, and director of The Ohio State University's McMillin Observatory.
The U.S. Air Force approached Hynek with concerns about a growing number of reports of unexplained aircraft sightings throughout the country in the late 1940s. Hynek studied more than 200 reports and found that about 20 percent couldn't be identified. Hynek reported that he didn't see these "unidentified flying objects" as being of particular interest, but the public did, and the term caught on in the American zeitgeist.
Hynek continued to study well-publicized UFO sightings and consulted on the Air Force's Project Blue Book. But it wasn't until October 1973 when he investigated a Pascagoula, Mississippi, case in which two men reported being abducted by aliens that he decided there should be a classification for UFO sightings. Hynek believed the men were truthful and even gave the press sketches of the aliens who took the men hostage. He launched the Center for UFO Studies (CUFOS) soon after.
A close encounter of the first kind would be described as seeing a UFO that doesn't leave any sort of trace that it was there.
The Mississippi event also prompted Hynek to write his 1972 book "The UFO Experience: A Scientific Inquiry," in which he famously laid out the three classes of "close encounters:"
"A close encounter of the first kind is a visual sighting of a UFO. The second kind involves the UFO leaving some kind of a physical effect in its wake, and the third kind would involve the sighting of a UFO occupant," says Dr. Barna Donovan, a professor of communication and media studies at Saint Peter's University in Jersey City, New Jersey. Donovan also teaches a class on the history of conspiracies and is the author of "Conspiracy Films: A Tour of Dark Places in the American Conscious."
Though Hynek died in 1996, other researchers have taken up the charge and since added additional encounter types: a close encounter of the fourth kind covers alleged alien abductions while a close encounter of the fifth type includes — according to most sources — communication exchange between humans and non-Earth creatures.
"This broad five-point typology is the most effective way of categorizing alleged UFO encounters, although by the time researchers get to the close encounters of the fourth and fifth kind, they are dealing with the most controversial aspects of the phenomenon," Donovan says.
Though Hynek's classification system is the one most used by science-based UFO researchers, it's not the only one. Some UFOlogists, as they're called, use sub-classifications within each kind. These subtypes further classify encounter by factors such as where the creature was seen (inside or outside the UFO) and whether lights were seen at night or during the day.
And if you want to get really into it, you can rate each encounter on the Rio Scale, which was developed at the 51st International Astronautical Congress, 29th Review Meeting on the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence in 2000. The Rio Scale uses factors like reliability and quality of reporting to give each encounter a rating. Zero means a totally insignificant encounter, and 10 indicates an "extraordinary" sighting worthy of serious study.
Of course, both of these systems raise a question: Why bother spending much time on classification systems when aliens aren't real? Donovan — who is himself a skeptic — says it's the roughly 10 percent of cases that can't be explained that are of interest to science.
"About 90 percent of sightings are misidentified aircraft, weather phenomena or sleep disorders [like sleep paralysis] of people reporting abduction experiences and experimentation upon by aliens," he says. But the other percentage is proof of one of two things: either a legitimate extraterrestrial presence or some type of phenomenon that science can't yet explain. To enthusiasts with a healthy imagination, either one is a massively exciting prospect.
However, perhaps an equally interesting aspect of alien encounter classifications is just how much the people who report alien abductions vary in age, location and background. While a small percentage actively seek encounters, Donovan says that most people are skeptics who often try to explain away what they've seen.
"It is not good to want to believe too much," he says. "People should be well versed in the ways of skeptical, critical observational methods." That said, Donovan points to cases like the Hill Abduction of 1961 as one of the very few textbook abductions that science can't fully explain more than 60 years later.
Donovan finds the unexplained sightings by the military — which are of the first and second kind only — the most fascinating and most likely to be actual proof of non-Earth-based life. These reports, some of which were confirmed by the Pentagon, are more recent and often recorded by the government via radar and military cameras. The visual evidence is often documented in several places by multiple witnesses removed from one another, which is far harder to explain away than phenomena like the "Marfa Lights" (likely headlines reflecting in the distance) or the 1947 "Roswell Incident."
The more rare close encounter of the third kind is when a person reportedly sees or even makes contact with a lifeform from outside of planet Earth.
Hynek devised a six-fold classification for UFO sightings.[5][6] The six levels are arranged according to increasing proximity:
Close encounters of the third kind (CE3) may imply first contact.
UFO researcher Ted Bloecher proposed six sub-types for the close encounters of the third kind in Hynek's scale:
After Hynek's death in 1986, his colleague Jacques Vallée extended Hynek's classification system by two steps, specifically close encounters of the fourth and fifth kinds, as published in Vallée's book Confrontations: A Scientist's Search for Alien Contact (1990). The Mutual UFO Network (MUFON) immediately adopted the extensions to the classification scale and has used them ever since.
A close encounter of the fourth kind is a UFO event in which a human is abducted by a UFO or its occupants. This type was not included in Hynek's original close encounters scale.Hynek's former associate Jacques Vallée argued in the Journal of Scientific Exploration that the fourth kind should refer to "cases when witnesses experienced a transformation of their sense of reality", to also include non-abduction cases where absurd, hallucinatory or dreamlike events are associated with UFO encounters. The film The Fourth Kind (2009) makes reference to this category.
As stated in Vallée's Confrontations (1990), a close encounter of the fifth kind is where an alien abductee receives some manner of physical effect from their close encounter, typically either injury or healing. Several years after Vallée's classification updates, some preferred that a close encounter of the fifth kind instead refer to human-initiated contact with extraterrestrial life forms or advanced interstellar civilizations, claiming direct communication between aliens and humans. This alternate interpretation of what a close encounter of the fifth kind (CE5) should represent has been attributed to Steven M. Greer. While technically not an extension of the Vallée scale that measures result-oriented data, this replacement of the originally coined CE5 classification has become popular in marketing human-initiated contact events. In a CE5 event, individuals or groups use specific protocols to establish communication or interaction with extraterrestrial beings. These protocols primarily involve the use of contact meditation and use of sounds or signals. Close encounters of the fifth kind is also referred to as human-initiated close encounter.
After Swiss Scientists Injected ‘Repair’ Microrobots into the Injured Spinal Cords of Fish and Mice, Something Incredible Happened
Scientists from ETH Zurich in Switzerland have announced a series of successful experiments involving the repair of injured spinal cords in zebrafish and mice after being injected with magnetically controlled microrobots containing pluripotent stem cells.
According to a statement announcing the ETH team’s work, both the zebrafish and mice injected with the microrobots showed improved movement and normalized exploratory behavior within just a few days after treatment.
Although the initial studies were confined to lab animals, the team hopes their magnetically controlled microrobot approach to the precision delivery of pluripotent stem cells could eventually be adapted for humans with spinal cord injuries.
Unlike some cells in the human body, nerve cells within the spinal cord rarely regenerate on their own. If the spinal cord is injured, scarring can further reduce the ability of the nerve fibers within the cord to regrow. For people living with spinal cord injuries, this scenario can offer a bleak prognosis for recovery.
In recent decades, scientists have turned to the natural regenerative properties of pluripotent stem cells. Although the use of stem cells was initially controversial due to the need to extract neonatal stem cells, scientists ultimately learned to convert ordinary stem cells into pluripotent stem cells capable of becoming any cell type in the human body.
To construct their magnetically guided spinal cord repairing robot, the team built what they termed a “biohybrid microrobot.”
First, the team creates pluripotent stem cells from adult cells by genetically manipulating them in the lab. The result is what researchers call an “induced” pluripotent stem cell (iPS). According to the study authors, these newly pluripotent iPS cells are used to derive living neural progenitor cells (NPCs), meaning “they have the potential to differentiate into various types of nervous system cells.”
Next, the team creates customized magnetic nanoparticles consisting of two layers. The inner layer responds to the “commands” from the magnetic fields used to control them, and an outer layer that converts this response into an electrical signal.
According to Professor Salvador Pané i Vidal of the Multi-Scale Robotics Lab at ETH Zurich, each tiny robot has a reservoir near the center “where we trap the cells.” The professor said the best way to accomplish this is to inject the nanoparticles into a solution with the NPC, “and wait for the two components to bind.”
After 30 minutes, the process is complete, and the team is left with a batch of nanobots, each around 6 micrometers in size. Since the new robots combine a magnetic bot and a reservoir of NPCs, the team named them ‘NPCbots.’
In preparatory cellular experiments, the researchers used hundreds of thousands of NPCbots. However, several million were required for animal trials.
To test the efficacy of their new NPCbots, the ETH team injected millions of them into the spinal cord of zebrafish larvae with spinal cord injuries. To improve the chances of nerve regeneration, the NPCbots were injected directly into the site of the injury.
After injecting the microrobots, the injury site was subjected to electromagnetic fields. Although the repair was not immediately evident, the team noted that after three days, the zebrafish with the injured spinal cords “exhibited nearly normal swimming and exploratory behaviour.”
Next, the team injected millions of NPCbots into mice with completely separated spinal cords. According to the team, the results were “very promising.”
“After 28 days, the animals’ nerve cells had reconnected at the site of the injury,” they explained.
The team said further observation of the treated mice revealed “increasingly normal movement patterns,” including improvements in gait, stride length, and coordination. The ETH team also noted that the mice’s exploratory behavior “improved significantly.”
Schematic illustration of nerve cell recovery in zebrafish and mice.
Image Credit: ETH Zurich.
When discussing the mouse experiments, the team described the result as “particularly significant” because zebrafish spinal cords regenerate, whereas mouse spinal cords do not. They also noted that the treatment was “well tolerated by the animals,” with no reported immune reactions or adverse effects.
Unlike science fiction movies, where tiny robots repair tissue mechanically, the research team said that the stem cells carried by the NPCbots are exposed to electrical stimulation, “greatly enhancing their differentiation after transplantation.” This means the nanoparticles convert the electric signals from the EM field into electrical impulses, stimulating healing.
The Catholic Church Fired an In-House Exorcist for Saying UFOs Are Actually Demons. I Can Explain.A Catholic priest got fired from his job as an exorcist last week because he claimed that UFOs are, in fact, demons.
That news reads like a bit of a genre-mashed Mad Libs, so we’ll slow down a bit: Monsignor Stephen Rossetti has been working in the Washington Archdiocese for the past 15 years as an exorcist. For those who know of exorcisms primarily from horror movies, the news of a professional exorcist in the nation’s capital causing drama may have been a bit confounding. But exorcists are an established part of Catholicism. While some more skeptically minded clergy do not enjoy discussing demonic possession, each diocese is supposed to have a designated exorcist.
The Exorcist Priest
It’s a real role in the church, and while it’s not exactly like Hollywood portrayals, it’s not entirely dissimilar from the movies either. If a person in the diocese comes to fear that they or their loved one has been bodily possessed by a demon, the diocese launches an investigation involving medical, psychological, and psychiatric testing. In the rare cases when the investigation concludes that the person is indeed afflicted by the devil, the designated priest or bishop who has received special training and apprenticeship steps in to perform the Rite of Major Exorcism. At the chapel or other discreet location for the exorcism, the priest sprinkles the possessed with holy water, lays their hands on them, breathes on their face, recites “exorcistic” prayers over them, holds the crucifix up to them, and makes the sign of the cross over them.
Recently, however, Rossetti’s remit had included statements on UFOs. “As an exorcist I wanted to raise that danger. And that is that demons like to hide,” Rossetti had said in a May 29 video posted on Facebook. “It’s my personal belief that probably many if not most of these UFO sightings are in fact demons.”
UFOs may seem to be squarely outside the lane of an exorcist, but they’re in the news of late, thanks to the government last month releasing, in ostentatious and Trumpian fashion, “UFO files.” And Rossetti isn’t alone in seeing a spiritual nexus of a topic that, at least in secular circles, is more commonly discussed in the context of aliens. In March, Vice President J.D. Vance said that he believed UFOs were demons.
Traces of alien worlds: Unexpected composition of object 3I/ATLAS baffles astronomers
Last year, the mysterious interstellar object 3I/ATLAS made a fascinating journey through the inner reaches of our Solar System. After passing by several planets, it vanished forever into the depths of space, leaving no chance of a second encounter. However, it left behind a vast amount of data collected by ground-based and space-based observatories. For scientists, this is an invaluable and extremely rare opportunity to study a “visitor” that originated far beyond the boundaries of our star system.
Illustration of the interstellar object 3I/ATLAS.
Source: ibtimes.com
Researchers recently made a stunning discovery by analyzing data from the MIRI instrument aboard NASA’s advanced James Webb Space Telescope.
According to the European Space Agency, in December the telescope detected traces of methane emanating from 3I/ATLAS. This occurred approximately two months after the interstellar comet passed its perihelion—the point of closest approach to the Sun. Jokingly, one could say that the comet “let off some gas” as it flew through our cosmic neighborhood.
The significance of this discovery cannot be overstated. This is the first time in history that astronomers have managed to obtain a chemical fingerprint of an interstellar object and detect methane in it. According to a study published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters, the MIRI instrument revealed not only the presence of methane but also the distribution of water and carbon dioxide.
The image above shows the interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS, photographed using the MIRI instrument on NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, along with outlines illustrating the distribution of various gases at the time the comet was observed. Water vapor extends far beyond the nucleus, as much of it is released from ice grains in the coma, while carbon dioxide and methane are most concentrated near the comet’s nucleus. The image below shows a spectrum, and the markers indicate the signatures of various gases that the telescope has detected escaping from the comet.
Source: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI
Since the intense gas outburst occurred after perihelion—when comets typically heat up the most and lose the most material—scientists have reached an interesting conclusion. They speculate that the methane was hidden very deep beneath the comet’s thick icy shell. According to NASA, methane is an extremely volatile substance that sublimates very easily—that is, it transforms from ice into gas.
The chemical composition of 3I/ATLAS has greatly surprised astronomers. The ratio of methane to water detected was found to be abnormally high compared to the typical comets we are used to seeing. In addition, the latest observations have confirmed that the object is exceptionally rich in carbon dioxide, making it even more unique.
Representatives of the European Space Agency emphasize that these findings unequivocally point to one thing: the chemical composition and formation environment of 3I/ATLAS differ significantly from the conditions under which the vast majority of comets in our solar system formed.
We previously reported on how the interstellar object 3I/ATLAS contained traces of extraterrestrial fuel.
In Antarctica, Scientists Just Discovered a Massive Hidden Structure Deep Below the Frozen Surface
A massive, semi-continent-sized subsurface structure has been discovered by scientists beneath Antarctica’s frozen surface.
The discovery, reported by an international team of scientists, reveals the presence of an unusually shaped feature which researchers with Durham University’s Department of Geography characterize as a “vast geological structure hidden beneath the East Antarctic Ice Sheet.”
The discovery was recently detailed in a study featured in Nature Geoscience.
Composed of several gigantic basins located beneath more than three kilometers of the southern continent’s icy exterior, the unusual structure has been dubbed the “East Antarctic Fan-shaped Basin Province.”
The massive feature is large enough to be considered continental in scale all by itself and incorporates some of the best-known subglacial features in the region, which include the famous Wilkes and Aurora basins.
The fan-shaped geological megas-structure also features the basin, which comprises Antarctica’s Lake Vostok, which is recognized as the largest subglacial lacustrine feature anywhere on the planet.
“We propose that the fan-like landscape is the product of distributed intraplate rotational extension before the breakup of Gondwana, with three continental-scale consequences,” the team writes in their study.
While the individual basins have all been characterized in past work, the international team reports that the new research marks the first time they have been studied in connection to a singular structure, which they believe was formed through the geological process of distributed rotational extension.
Fault-controlled basins and interpreted structural frame in the newly identified EAFBP.
Credit: Nature Geosci
At some point in Antarctica’s deep geological history, the continent’s subglacial crust spread out from a central point, resulting in the distinctive fan-shaped appearance it possesses today.
Likening the feature to an open hand, with each of the basins representing gaps between fingers, the research team says it is possible that the newly-characterized East Antarctic Fan-shaped Basin Province “could be one of the largest examples of rotational extension ever seen in continental crust.”
The question of how it formed remains a mystery, although there are several possible explanations.
One involves its formation over the course of several tectonic phases, which researchers believe may be linked to the formation of the ancient supercontinent of Gondwana. According to this theory, the present-day Antarctic land mass’s eventual separation from modern Australia may have played a key role in the breakup that formed the structure in question.
However, remaining questions about the age of the unusual feature also raise possibilities about other geological processes that could have led to its creation.
Today, the structure plays a crucial role in the movement of ice, whereby the distribution of subglacial lakes and basins is primarily governed by its shape. Researchers think this could be important because it would mean the fan-shaped feature may significantly impact the stability of regions of Antarctica that are susceptible to the effects of climate change.
By combining subglacial topographical studies with examinations of geological data, the researchers have tentatively concluded that deep tectonic processes within the continent’s lithosphere, comprising the Earth’s crust and upper mantle, likely played a major role in shaping the structure.
The team combined these data with observations of seismic data, gravity measurements, and magnetic readings as well to help shape the crustal and lithospheric models used as the basis for their study.
According to Durham University researchers, the orientation and elevation of the subglacial topography was calculated based on what the researchers characterize as “rebounded topography,” in which the elevation of land surfaces in East Antarctica were calculated based on how the terrain would respond if none of the ice that currently weights it down were present.
“Laterally, to the west, it caused compression and the consequent uplift of the Gamburtsev Mountains,” the team reports, while to the east, “the northernmost Transantarctic Mountains segment was rotated clockwise by ~20°, overriding the West Antarctic Rift System’s hot lithosphere,” which segmented the mountains into three distinct blocks.
Meanwhile, to the north, the team says the “transcurrent edge of the fan formed the lithospheric weakness that controlled the breakup of Gondwana by driving the propagation of Antarctica–Australia separation and shaping the resulting semi-circular passive continental margins.”
“These processes have influenced the present-day East Antarctica sub-ice landscape and the evolution of the overlying ice sheet,” the researchers say, which includes “the development of glacial troughs and outlet glaciers.”
The team’s recent study, “A fan-shaped subglacial basin province in East Antarctica formed by rotational extension,” was published in Nature Geoscience on June 3, 2026.
Analysis suggests the structure was formed by a process known as distributed rotational extension.
This is where the continental crust has spread out from a central point. The pattern is similar to a hand, with the base of the thumb as the fixed point, and fingers spread out, showing the stretching. The gaps between the fingers are like the triangular basins that form as they open.
The East Antarctic Fan-shaped Basin Province could be one of the largest examples of rotational extension ever seen in continental crust.
It may have developed through multiple tectonic phases linked to the evolution of the Gondwana supercontinent and the later separation between Antarctica and Australia and could even have influenced this break-up.
The discovery also raises fresh questions—particularly around the precise age of the structure and the geodynamic mechanisms that generated it.
However, the significance of the discovery extends beyond historical insight.
The shape of the bedrock hidden beneath the ice sheet continues to influence ice flow today, controlling the distribution of subglacial basins and lakes. This could potentially affect the stability of parts of the Antarctic Ice Sheet that are particularly sensitive to climate change.
To investigate the structure, researchers combined subglacial topography with geological observations, gravity, magnetic and seismic data, and crustal and lithospheric models.
They found that the observed structure is a result of a deep tectonic process within the Antarctic lithosphere.
Dr. Guy Paxman from our Department of Geography was part of the research team.
He led on calculating what the elevation of the land surface of East Antarctica would be if all the ice were removed (which would cause the land to rebound upwards by as much as one kilometer).
This "rebounded topography" was used in analysis of the orientation and elevation of the topography of the newly discovered structure.
Scientists Detect Massive Structure Under Antarctica
Armadillo et al.; Futurism; Shutterstock
Researchers have uncovered the existence of a monumental geological structure buried two miles beneath the frigid ice of Antarctica.
According to a new paper, published in the journal Nature, the massive structure is made up of several previously known glacial landforms, like the Wilkes and Aurora subglacial basin region of East Antarctica, as well as Lake Vostok, the largest known subglacial lake on the planet.
These features have been studied separately for years, a press release notes, but have never been recognized as individual pieces to a larger puzzle.
Called the East Antarctic Fan-shaped Basin Province, the newly-identified structure likely represents one of the largest Earth features of its kind. While more work will be needed to corroborate the findings, the theorized formation could be crucial for understanding how Antarctica came to be, and how its three major ice sheets may respond to a warming climate.
To map the structure, scientists compiled datasets from a buffet of sources, like geological observations, gravity measurements, magnetic data, and models of the Earth’s crust, among others.
Added together, those datasets led researchers to conclude the geological feature likely formed through a process known as “distributed rotational extension,” where continental crust slowly stretches outward from a central point over a period of millions of years.
“Because these basins underlie about half of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet, they are likely to heavily influence both ice-flow and landscape evolution, making them essential to Antarctic glacial and hydrological processes,” the study’s authors write.
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Inside NASA's $1 BILLION plan to destroy the ISS: As the latest leak sparks evacuation fears, experts reveal how the doomed space station will be destroyed in 2030
Over 25 years since the first astronauts floated aboard the International Space Station, time is now running out for Earth's orbiting outpost.
Last week, NASA astronauts were ordered to prepare for an emergency evacuation while Russian cosmonauts attempted to repair a 'worsening' leak.
While no escape flights were ultimately necessary, this near miss has sparked concerns that the ISS has reached the end of its useful lifespan.
Now, experts have revealed the step–by–step details of the $1 billion plan to bring the doomed station crashing down to Earth.
Speaking at the ASCEND 2026 aerospace conference, Ryan Landon, director of Operations at NASA Johnson Space Centre, said that the ISS would be allowed to start falling to Earth sometime in 2028.
With a mass of 450,000 kilograms, about the same as 280 family cars, the ISS will slowly fall out of orbit if it isn't being periodically boosted upwards.
However, simply letting the station's orbit 'decay' naturally would result in an uncontrolled re–entry that would scatter potentially deadly debris across Earth.
This means that NASA will push the station out of orbit, bringing the remaining material down at a remote location in the Pacific Ocean.
After Russian attempts to fix a leak on the International Space Station trigger an evacuation scare, experts have revealed the $1 billion plan to bring the doomed station down to Earth
The ISS and its crew of seven astronauts from around the world orbit at an altitude of 250 miles (400km) above the Earth.
To maintain this relatively low orbit, the station has to move incredibly fast, travelling at speeds of 17,500mph (28,000km/h) and whizzing over our heads 16 times a day.
Normally, the station maintains its speed by using propellant to thrust back up into orbit and avoid tumbling into the thicker layers of the atmosphere.
However, starting from 2028, NASA plans to simply let this process take its natural course.
According to the latest plans published in 2024, the station will still be operational during this time, and on–board activities, including research, will continue as normal.
Left unchecked, this process would eventually bring the station crashing into the atmosphere, where most of the materials would be burned up by friction.
But this type of uncontrolled re–entry is far too risky for an object as large as the ISS.
Dr James Beck, space debris expert and director of UK–based space consultancy Belstead Research, told the Daily Mail: 'It is certain that parts will reach the surface of the Earth, and most likely quite a lot of parts.
Last week, NASA astronauts were forced to take shelter in their SpaceX Dragon capsule (pictured) in case of a disaster aboard the orbiting station
'The open question is how many, and whether there can be sufficient control over where this occurs.'
Dr Beck explains that there is an internationally agreed 'casualty risk limit' of one in 10,000 for any re–entry.
This limit is typically reached once a spacecraft gets to a mass of around 500 to 1,000 kg, whereas the ISS weighs 450 tonnes.
Dr Beck says: 'It should be expected that a few hundred objects which could cause casualties on the ground would be produced.'
The space agency can't limit how much debris reaches the ground, so they need to control exactly where this debris ends up so that no one gets hurt.
This requires boosting the station backwards, slowing it down at a precise point in its orbit so that it eventually falls in an uninhabited area in the Pacific called Point Nemo.
Known as the 'Spaceship Graveyard', Point Nemo is the furthest location from any inhabited location anywhere on Earth, which significantly reduces the danger of space debris.
According to NASA's calculations, the ISS will need to change its speed by about 127 miles per hour (204 km/h), which is a tiny fraction of its total speed.
NASA plans to use a modified Dragon capsule to push the ISS out of orbit (artist's impression), so that it falls within an uninhabited part of the Pacific Ocean
However, this will consume about nine tonnes of propellant, which is far more than the ISS's own thrusters can provide.
In 2024, NASA awarded Elon Musk's SpaceX a contract worth slightly under $1 billion (£749.69 million) to build a 'tugboat' capable of delivering that push.
This will be a modified version of the SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule used to deliver astronauts and cargo that will dock with the station before firing up its motor and pushing the ISS down to Earth.
This vehicle will need to carry six times as much propellant and produce three to four times as much power as the current generation of SpaceX spacecraft.
NASA officials now say that the last cargo capsule will depart the ISS around mid–2029, ahead of the official end of operations in 2030.
Once the last crew have gone, the station will continue to fall over several months until it reaches the 'point of no return' at an altitude of 175 miles (280 km).
Roughly 18 months before the ISS crashes down in 2031, the modified Dragon capsule will dock with the station and prepare to deliver the finishing blow.
Speaking at a press conference in 2024, Dana Weigel, NASA’s ISS manager, explained that the tug would do this over several stages over 18 months.
NASA estimates it will cost $1bn (£800m) to convert a Dragon capsule (pictured) into a vehicle capable of pushing the ISS out of orbit
Ms Weigel said: 'At the right time, it will perform a complex series of actions... over several days to deorbit the space station.
'First, the deorbit vehicle will perform orbit shaping burns to put the station in a low elliptical orbit, and then, eventually, it will perform a final re–entry burn'.
NASA expects that most of the space station will be destroyed, but 40 to 100 tonnes of denser materials could still make it through the atmosphere.
Once the space station hits thicker air at an altitude of around 150 miles (250 km), there is also a risk that the tugboat could lose control of the station and begin to tumble.
In 1979, NASA's 75–tonne space station, Skylab, tore itself apart as it crashed through the atmosphere during a planned re–entry, sending debris falling over parts of Western Australia.
However, NASA's assessment found that leaving the ISS in orbit is far more dangerous than attempting to bring it down intentionally.
The agency's 2024 assessment concluded: 'The International Space Station requires a controlled re–entry because it is very large, and uncontrolled re–entry would result in very large pieces of debris with a large debris footprint, posing a significant risk to the public worldwide.
'Ensuring the space station is well maintained continues to be the safest operational approach while also planning for deorbit at the space station’s end of life.'
The International Space Station (ISS) is a $100 billion (£80 billion) science and engineering laboratory that orbits 250 miles (400 km) above Earth.
It has been permanently staffed by rotating crews of astronauts and cosmonauts since November 2000.
Crews have come mainly from the US and Russia, but the Japanese space agency JAXA and European space agency ESA have also sent astronauts.
The International Space Station has been continuously occupied for more than 20 years and has been expended with multiple new modules added and upgrades to systems
Research conducted aboard the ISS often requires one or more of the unusual conditions present in low Earth orbit, such as low-gravity or oxygen.
ISS studies have investigated human research, space medicine, life sciences, physical sciences, astronomy and meteorology.
The US space agency, NASA, spends about $3 billion (£2.4 billion) a year on the space station program, with the remaining funding coming from international partners, including Europe, Russia and Japan.
So far 244 individuals from 19 countries have visited the station, and among them eight private citizens who spent up to $50 million for their visit.
There is an ongoing debate about the future of the station beyond 2025, when it is thought some of the original structure will reach 'end of life'.
Russia, a major partner in the station, plans to launch its own orbital platform around then, with Axiom Space, a private firm, planning to send its own modules for purely commercial use to the station at the same time.
NASA, ESA, JAXA and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) are working together to build a space station in orbit around the moon, and Russia and China are working on a similar project, that would also include a base on the surface.
Haunting photos show 'UFO' Biden admin used $500,000 missile to shoot down... what it turned out to be was far more 'embarrassing'
A mysterious object initially described as a possible UFO and shot down by a $500,000 missile under former president Joe Biden's administration has since been identified as a Boy Scout balloon.
In February 2023, F-16s scrambled to confront an octagonal object hovering 20,000 feet above Lake Huron before blasting it from the sky with an AIM-9 Sidewinder missile, according to video released last month by the Department of War.
The 45-second clip captured a black, orb-like object in US airspace, with a dangling string visible in the fighter jet's crosshairs moments before it was blown apart.
The shootdown, carried out by a Minnesota Air National Guard F-16 Viper, was ordered by former President Biden 'out of an abundance of caution and at the recommendation of military leaders.'
But Sean Kirkpatrick, former head of the federal All-Domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO), revealed that the object actually belonged to a Boy Scout troop.
'The balloon had circumnavigated the globe eight times before we shot it down with a half-million-dollar missile,' he said at a conference in April.
Kirkpatrick added that the orb in question was part of an ongoing, unspecified research project.
'You can imagine the response on the Hill when I briefed that,' he said.
An object initially described as a possible UFO and shot down by a $500,000 missile under the Biden administration in 2023 was revealed to have been a Boy Scout balloon
In February 2023, F-16s scrambled to confront an octagonal object hovering 20,000ft above Lake Huron before blasting it from the sky
During an April press conference, Sean Kirkpatrick, former head of the federal All-Domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO), said the orb was part of an ongoing, unspecified research project
The shootdown was ordered by former President Joe Biden 'out of an abundance of caution and at the recommendation of military leaders'
The Boy Scout orb was destroyed amid the Chinese spy balloon incident, as criticism grew over the government's delay in acting while public concern spiked and citizens became 'freaked out,' according to an congresswoman who spoke to CNN.
In the span of just two weeks, US fighter jets shot down three other high-altitude objects over North American airspace, beginning with one off the South Carolina coast on February 4, 2023.
FBI analysis of the recovered wreckage found that the balloon was part of a Beijing surveillance network with antennas used to collect and locate communications over US missile bases.
'It's not a major breach. Look, the total amount of intelligence gathering that's going on by every country around the world is overwhelming,' Biden said at the time.
In the following days, one object was shot down off the coast of Alaska and was later identified as a hobbyist balloon belonging to the Northern Illinois Bottlecap Balloon Brigade, as reported by The Guardian.
The group reported one of its hobby balloons 'missing in action' on February 11, 2023 - the same day a US F-22 shot down an unidentified airborne object using a $439,000 missile.
Meanwhile, the hobby balloon itself was estimated to be worth only about $12.
Then came the object downed over the Great Lakes at around 2.42pm on February 12, 2023, which again cost the US government nearly $1 million in missiles to destroy.
Tim Phillips, a former interim director of AARO, told The New York Post: 'After the Chinese spy balloon embarrassment, DOD was shooting at every (Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena) they detected'
The 45-second clip captured a black, orb-like object with a dangling string visible in the fighter jet's crosshairs moments before it was blown apart
It was revealed that a US Air Force F-16 missed its first attempt before firing a second AIM-9X Sidewinder missile that struck the target
Kirkpatrick described another incident during April's conference in which a US fighter pilot reported encountering a UFO with 'stealth-like capabilities' and was authorized to fire a missile.
But what was ultimately destroyed was a star-shaped Mylar balloon from Walmart that read 'Happy Birthday.'
Many of the military's alleged UFO videos, including some released by the Trump administration, actually show ordinary manmade objects that were misidentified by Reaper drone operators.
'They've been on mission and they've got to get back to base to rearm and refuel. And you've got a bored operator looking around. And they pick something up and aren't sure what it is,' Phillips told the outlet.
'We're actually seeing, good reporting coming out of the fleet, coming out of the operation wings and squadrons, where they're willing to report this stuff,' he added.
'And this is part of that outreach where we get our scientists to talk to the Reaper operators and actually go side by side and try to do some education.'
Shortly after the Lake Huron shootdown, it was revealed that a US Air Force F-16 missed its first attempt before firing a second AIM-9X Sidewinder missile that struck the target, according to Fox News. Each missile costs around $400,000.
In the span of just two weeks, US fighter jets shot down three other high-altitude objects over North American airspace, beginning with one off the South Carolina coast on February 4, 2023
FBI analysis of the recovered wreckage in South Carolina waters found that the balloon was part of a Beijing surveillance network
Kirkpatrick described another incident during April's conference in which a US fighter pilot reported encountering a UFO with 'stealth-like capabilities,' only for it to be a $12 balloon from Walmart
The mission over the Great Lakes came as the White House continued to laugh off suggestions that aliens are involved in the UFO sightings
Despite a Pentagon memo describing the flying object as a 'small, metallic balloon', audio of conversation from inside the jets showed that the pilots went back and forth over how to define the UFO.
'I wouldn’t really call it a balloon… I don’t know what… I can see it outside with my eyes,' one of the pilots can be heard saying.
Military officials later described the object as an 'octagonal structure', which was shot out of the sky because it was 'a safety flight hazard and a threat due to its potential surveillance capabilities.'
But audio recordings, released by The Drive, shed light on the puzzling nature of the military operation as it erupted over US airspace.
After coming-face-to-face with the object, one of the pilots noted: 'I wouldn't really call it a balloon. I can see it outside with my eyes.'
'Looks like something… there’s some kind of object that’s distended… it’s hard to tell, it’s pretty small,' he added.
The mission over the Great Lakes came as the White House continued to laugh off suggestions that aliens are involved in the UFO sightings, amid increased pressure for officials to explain recent developments.
The barrage of downed high-altitude objects also prompted the White House to announce the creation of a new UFO task force to study the security threat posed by unidentified objects entering US airspace.
Something Dark Is Going On At Los Alamos: Melissa Casias’ Mysterious Death Joins Chilling List Of Scientists Linked To UFO & Secret Tech Programs
Melissa Casias’s case is real and tragic, but the evidence available shows she was a Los Alamos National Laboratory employee who disappeared in June 2025 and was later identified after her remains were found in a New Mexico forest.
According to public reporting and a New Mexico State Police release republished by the Los Alamos Reporter, a hiker found human remains in the McGaffey Ridge area of Carson National Forest on May 28, 2026. Investigators said a handgun was located alongside the remains, which were later identified as Melissa Casias. The cause and manner of death had not yet been determined.
The UFO and secret-technology angle comes mostly from online speculation and broader interest in a separate wave of “missing scientists” theories. The Wall Street Journal reported that a fringe conspiracy theory about missing scientists had attracted FBI attention, but also noted that investigators and critics had not found evidence proving a coordinated plot.
Scientific American likewise argued that basic statistics can explain why clusters of cases can look connected even when they are not. In other words, the pattern may feel suspicious without being proof of a hidden project.
Chris Cuomo on NewsNation discussed the possibility of conspiracy, classified work, and UAP-related secrecy, but it also includes caution from Morgan Wright that people should not jump from evidence to narrative too early. It also says Casias was an administrative assistant, not a scientist with nuclear-program access, and that she had no access to restricted data or “anything dealing with nukes” according to the guest’s explanation. That matters because it weakens the idea that she was deep inside a secret technology project.
CNN writes Casias was last seen walking southbound on State Road 518 in June 2025, and that her personal items were left at home. People reported the same broad facts and added that a handgun was found next to the remains. None of those reports provide evidence of aliens, black-budget technology, or clandestine experimentation.
A key point is that the cause of death was not established in the initial reports. That leaves room for uncertainty, but uncertainty is not the same as proof of a cover-up. People often treat unresolved details as a doorway to huge conclusions. In reality, unresolved details often stay unresolved because investigators are still collecting and testing evidence.
The public timeline also matters. Casias disappeared on June 26, 2025, and her remains were found on May 28, 2026, in Carson National Forest. That delay is troubling and understandably painful for her family, but delay alone does not establish a secret-program explanation.
The UFO connection appears to be more about surrounding culture than about the case itself. Los Alamos has long been associated in public imagination with nuclear history, advanced science, and secrecy, so any employee from there can quickly become part of a larger mystery story. That association is powerful even when the person involved worked in an administrative role rather than a technical one.
NewsNation interview with Morgan Wright touches this point. It says the government should be more transparent about “the UAP phenomenon,” and suggests that secrecy creates a vacuum that conspiracy theories rush to fill. That is a fair description of how online narratives grow. Once a case sits near a lab, a weapon program, or a classified site, people begin connecting unrelated dots because the setting feels dramatic.
Claims about “secret technology” are especially weak here because the known facts do not show that Casias held a scientific or technical role connected to classified research. NewsNation reports that Casias was an administrative assistant and that she likely had only limited clearance consistent with administrative work, not access to restricted technical material. If true, that would make her much less likely to be involved in any hidden weapons or advanced propulsion project.
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This is where sensational stories become misleading. They often blur “worked at a sensitive place” into “must have known something huge.” That move sounds exciting, but it collapses under scrutiny. The public record here does not show Casias was connected to any hidden aircraft, reverse-engineered non-human craft, or black-site program.
There is no public evidence that links Casias’s death to non-human intelligence. No report cited in the available sources says investigators found materials, witnesses, signals, or physical traces suggesting aliens or anomalous technology. What exists is a death investigation, a recovered body, and a lot of online interpretation.
The interview brings up UFO files, classified labs, and missing people in New Mexico in the same conversation, which makes the topic feel unified even when the facts are not. That style works well for television because it is emotionally sticky, but it is not evidence. A compelling story is not the same thing as a proven one.
Even the more cautious sources about the broader “missing scientists” wave do not support an alien angle. Scientific American argued that statistical clustering and selective attention can make ordinary cases appear linked. That same logic applies here. A tragic case near a famous lab can be folded into a UFO narrative because people already expect secrets there.
There are still unanswered questions in Casias’s case, and those questions are legitimate. The exact cause and manner of death were still under investigation in the public reports. The reason for the handgun’s presence, the circumstances of her final hours, and the full forensic findings were not established in the early coverage.
Those unknowns create space for speculation, but speculation should stay separate from fact. A missing person case can involve suicide, accident, foul play, or a mix of confusing circumstances. Without a completed forensic conclusion, any single theory is premature. The interview transcript itself warns against deciding too early and says the biggest danger is going from evidence straight to narrative.
That warning is useful here. People want a clear explanation, especially when a person worked near a famous lab and the story already sounds unusual. But unusual does not automatically mean extraordinary. Sometimes a mysterious-looking case turns out to be a human tragedy with no hidden dimension.
Melissa Casias was a Los Alamos administrative employee who went missing, was later found dead, and became the subject of online speculation because her case sat inside a broader moment of fascination with secrecy, labs, and UFOs. That broader moment helped push her case into a larger conspiracy frame. But the evidence made public so far does not prove any connection to secret technology or non-human intelligence.
That does not mean people invented the concern from nothing. Some details, like the recovery of remains far from where she was last seen and the presence of a handgun, naturally invite questions. It is also true that secrecy around government work creates public suspicion. Still, suspicion is only the beginning of inquiry, not the end of it.
So the responsible conclusion is simple. The case is tragic and still serious, but the UFO and hidden-project angle remains unproven and speculative. At this point, the story is about a death investigation, not confirmed alien contact, not confirmed black-budget technology, and not confirmed non-human intelligence.
Brazilian Influencer Gains 2.2 Million Followers After UFO Video, Now Says He’s Terrified
News articles say he lives alone on a small farm in an isolated area with no neighbors nearby, no tap water, and no mobile signal. On Sunday, May 31, 2026 what should have been a normal day of taking care of the animals turned into something he describes as a possible UFO encounter.
He first noticed that the animals were very nervous and running around the property. Worried that it might be a wild animal, such as a jaguar, he grabbed his bow and arrows and went to investigate.
At the edge of his land, he found the electric fence down and heard strange noises that frightened him. He says the sound was hard to describe. It was like metallic tones layered on top of each other, a sort of crack, roar, or snapping sound, as if a single source was making several metallic noises at once. He recorded two Instagram Stories with the audio of these sounds.
Later that afternoon, he says he heard another sound above his house, like a ratchet or gear mechanism, similar to a very large ship or boat passing overhead. At that moment, he already felt he might be going crazy, but he kept filming so that at least his followers could hear what he was hearing.
He describes the experience as if he had “received” the sounds in his head, not just heard them with his ears, and this impression keeps replaying in his mind and makes it hard for him to sleep.
Around nightfall, from his veranda, he saw strange lights on a mountain ridge visible from the house. He says the lights were neither high enough to be above the hill nor low enough to touch the ground, and that the object appeared to be hovering over the trees near a river.
He filmed the scene using maximum zoom on an iPhone 15, capturing a bright object with grouped lights on the distant slope. According to him, the object stayed there for about 20 to 40 minutes before the lights went out and disappeared. After the lights vanished, he remained outside talking to his followers on live video.
He then says he saw something very large finishing a pass over his house, which made him feel he had been in front of “something that was not from here,” an intelligence he believes was greater than ours
Encouraged by a follower, he drew what he saw to try to represent the shape of the supposed craft. He did not go to the site of the lights because it is more than three kilometers away, with rough terrain, dense forest and a river, and he was afraid. He insists he did not edit the videos in any way.
Before this episode, he had about 46,000 followers. As the stories and videos spread, they went viral, with one of the videos alone reaching more than two million views. His audience jumped to more than 950,000 followers in a short time, and the case became one of the most talked-about topics on social networks in Brazil.
He describes the experience as both scary and beautiful and says it is one of the most intense things he has ever lived through. At the same time, he reports that he has been unable to sleep properly for two days because of the fear and the flood of messages he receives.
Reaction online has been mixed. Many people support him and send messages saying they have had similar experiences or believe he really saw a UFO. Others attack him, insult him and even threaten him. Some accuse him of creating a hoax for self‑promotion or to help promote a science‑fiction film about aliens that is about to be released.
There are also people saying the lights could be drones, but Mayk says locals in the area do not have that kind of equipment. With the case going viral, he says he has received messages from all over the world. According to him, ufologists have offered to visit the farm, examine the place and analyze the original, unedited videos.
He is crying as he explains that he is emotionally shaken and scared by everything that happened after he filmed the strange lights and the supposed UFO, and by how this is affecting his life.
In the interviews and lives, he says he has not been able to sleep properly for about two days, both because of fear of what he saw and because of the huge number of people contacting him. He explains that the sounds he heard in the forest and above his house were very disturbing and feel like they are still “inside his head,” as if he had received a kind of vibration or communication instead of just hearing a normal noise.
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Plox, a Brazilian online news portal, reports that the Brazilian Air Force (FAB) says that its radars did not detect any object in the area of Campo Largo at the time of the video. They state that the monitoring and control of Brazilian airspace in that region were completely normal, with nothing out of the ordinary showing up in their systems.
According to Mayk Leao, the incident began when he noticed an unusual behaviour among the nearly 280 animals living on his rural property, many of which had been rescued through an animal welfare NGO he supports, reports Mixvale.
Concerned, he went outside to investigate and found a section of the property's electric fence down. Soon after, he heard what he described as a series of metallic clicking sounds and loud noises unlike anything he had experienced before.
Leao said that he began recording the sounds and later spotted mysterious lights hovering above the treeline near a mountain range. He also used the maximum zoom on his iPhone 15, he captured the footage of flashing lights he claims remained visible for roughly 20 to 40 minutes before moving in the direction of his house. Then its just disappeared.
The story quickly gained attention online, largely because Leao had never previously been associated with UFO-related content. Known for sharing videos about rural life and animal rescue, he saw his social media following surge from around 46000 to more than 950000 in just a matter of days.
Days later, Mayk Leao posted the clip; he shared another footage of himself in a mental breakdown condition, claiming that his life changed dramatically after he filmed what he believes was a UFO near his rural property.
According to the influencer, an unfamiliar black vehicle with heavily tinted windows began appearing near his home. Leao has since shared the emotional videos online, saying the incidents have left him fearful for his safety and increasingly concerned about who may be watching him.
As soon as the couple of videos surfaced on social media, it quickly sparked a debate. One user wrote on X, "TF!! Are these things even real?!! Sometimes I don't know what to believe on these socials!!
While one asked, "Who tf is Mayk Leão?" "Someone famous in his neighbourhood?"
"This is ridiculous. Spotting a UFO is nothing to any government. Now when you actually have an encounter with the beings inside the UFO, that’s when they’ll start coming around. Stop this fearmongering."
"Look at this shit; if that UFO shows up in the middle of the Penha Complex, there wouldn't be any drama, but it goes and shows up to the Freddie Mercury of Paraná, and then it's all this little drama," one added.
"And with all his fear, he thought a video for the public might be the best idea? 😂😂😂"
While one joke, "At least he’s handling it well."
"Not buying this; it gives me the vibes of that guy that has aliens manifest in his living room, but it’s always the same angle," and more.
However, IndiaTimes cannot confirm on the viral claims by Mayk Leao as the story is completely based on the social media buzz.
Who is Mayk Leao?
Mayk Leao is a 31-year-old Brazilian content creator and nursing technician who gained international attention in June 2026 after sharing a video of mysterious lights that he alleged were linked to a UFO sighting.
Prior to his sudden rise in popularity, Leão led a relatively low-profile life in the rural outskirts of Campo Largo, which is located in the metropolitan area of Curitiba in Paraná, Brazil. Through his Instagram account, he regularly documented everyday life on his small farm, where he cared for around 280 rescued animals.
Conclusion
I am no expert here. I read an explanation on Metabunk where people argues “UFO” in Mayk Leão’s video is probably something ordinary on the ground, not an alien craft, and that the whole case is strongly influenced by social media hype and movie marketing vibes.
Other users on the site say the lights in the video do not move like an object in the sky and appear clearly below the distant ridge, which fits something on the hillside rather than in the air. Some speculate it could be construction equipment, emergency vehicles or a convoy, not a craft hovering over the river as Mayk believes. One user points out that Mayk did not know there was a campsite and homesteads in that direction, which could make distant vehicle lights look mysterious to him.
I do not know if that’s the case. You decide.
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©Photo by Xavier GALIANA / AFP via Getty Images. US director Steven Spielberg poses upon arrival for the premiere of "Disclosure Day" at the Grand Rex in Paris on June 2, 2026.
(Photo by Xavier GALIANA / AFP via Getty Images)
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Steven Spielberg stated that the documentary 'The Age of Disclosure' played a role in raising awareness. He linked this influence to the development of his new alien thriller 'Disclosure Day'.
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©Photo by Neil Mockford/Getty Images. LONDON, ENGLAND - JUNE 04: Director Steven Spielberg attends the UK premiere for "Disclosure Day" at Cineworld Leicester Square on June 04, 2026 in London, England.
(Photo by Neil Mockford/Getty Images)
Steven Spielberg's first science fiction film in eight years
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©Photo by Karwai Tang/WireImage. LONDON, ENGLAND - JUNE 04: (L-R) David Koepp, Wyatt Russell, Eve Hewson, Colin Firth, Emily Blunt, Director Steven Spielberg, Josh O'Connor, Kristie Macosko Krieger and Colman Domingo attend the UK premiere for "Disclosure Day" at Cineworld Leicester Square on June 04, 2026 in London, England.
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References
©Photo by Pierre Mouton/Getty Images for Universal Pictures. PARIS, FRANCE - JUNE 02: Steven Spielberg is seen on stage during the Paris premiere of "Disclosure Day" at the Grand Rex on June 02, 2026 in Paris, France.
(Photo by Pierre Mouton/Getty Images for Universal Pictures)
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'Disclosure Day' follows interconnected characters who are engaged in a race to expose a conspiracy involving the government and aliens. The narrative intertwines personal stakes with revelations that could have global consequences.
References
©Photo by Kristy Sparow/Getty Images for Universal Pictures. PARIS, FRANCE - JUNE 02: (L-R) Josh O'Connor, Colman Domingo, Steven Spielberg, Emily Blunt and Wyatt Russell attend the Paris premiere of "Disclosure Day" at the Grand Rex on June 02, 2026 in Paris, France.
(Photo by Kristy Sparow/Getty Images for Universal Pictures)
Cast of 'Disclosure Day' including Emily Blunt, Josh O’Connor, and Colman Domingo
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©Photo by Pierre Mouton/Getty Images for Universal Pictures. PARIS, FRANCE - JUNE 02: Steven Spielberg greets fans during the Paris premiere of "Disclosure Day" at the Grand Rex on June 02, 2026 in Paris, France.
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Eindelijk weten we waar mysterieuze radiopulsen uit de ruimte vandaan komen
Al jaren tasten astronomen in het duister over vreemde signalen uit de ruimte. Het gaat om korte maar krachtige radioflitsen die zich keurig elke paar minuten of uren herhalen. Een promovendus aan de Universiteit van Sydney denkt nu een verklaring te hebben gevonden.
De objecten heten in vakkringen long period radio transients (LPT). Het zijn als het ware kosmische bakens die met enige regelmaat opflitsen en daarna weer doodvallen. Al twintig jaar weet niemand zeker wat erachter zit. Astronomen hadden ruwweg twee theorieën. Ofwel zijn het extreem trage magnetars (sterk gemagnetiseerde neutronensterren die normaal in seconden ronddraaien, maar in dit geval veel trager), ofwel zijn het dubbelsterren waarvan minstens één een witte dwerg is.
Witte dwergen zijn de uitgedoofde kernen die overblijven nadat sterren zoals onze zon hun brandstof hebben opgebruikt. Ze zijn klein, dicht en vaak heel magnetisch. Eerdere ontdekkingen deden onderzoekers vermoeden dat de witte-dwergtheorie klopt, maar tot nu toe ontbrak sluitend bewijs.
Kovi Rose, promovendus aan de Universiteit van Sydney, was data van de Australische radiotelescoop ASKAP aan het doorkammen. Hij was op zoek naar bronnen die sterk gepolariseerd radiolicht uitzenden. Van ongeveer drie miljoen objecten bleef er na filteren een select clubje van een honderdtal over, waarvan er één was die niemand eerder had geïdentificeerd. Het object kreeg de naam ASKAP J174508.9-505149, afgekort tot het net iets minder ongelukkige ASKAP J1745-5051.
Vervolgens werden er verschillende telescopen op het object gericht. Elke 1,34 uur bleek het radioflitsen terug te sturen. Optische spectra (lichtanalyses uitgesplitst naar kleur) lieten emissielijnen zien die typisch zijn voor een zogenaamde cataclysmische variabele. Dat is een dubbelster waarbij materie van de ene ster wordt opgeslokt door een witte dwerg. Twee satellieten pikten bovendien röntgenstraling op vanuit hetzelfde punt aan de hemel.
Leestip:
Die röntgenstraling kwam eveneens in een ritme van zo’n 1,3 uur aan. Dezelfde periode dus als de radioflitsen en niet toevallig ook als de tijd die de twee sterren nodig hebben om een keer om elkaar heen te draaien. Dat betekent dat het overstromen van materie van de ene naar de andere ster direct gekoppeld is aan wat we vanaf de aarde zien knipperen.
Dit maakt van ASKAP J1745-5051 het eerste exemplaar van zijn soort waarvan onomstotelijk vaststaat dat het om een actief etende dubbelster gaat. Voor astronomen is deze ontdekking van onschatbare waarde. Voor het eerst kan het signaal van een long period radio transient ‘vertaald’ worden.
De partner van de witte dwerg is een ronduit petieterig sterretje. Onderzoekers schatten dat het zo’n tien procent van de massa van onze zon heeft. Waarschijnlijk gaat het om een rode dwerg of misschien zelfs een bruine dwerg (een object dat eigenlijk te licht is om als echte ster te functioneren). De twee tollen extreem dicht om elkaar heen. Hun afstand tot elkaar is kleiner dan de straal van onze zon en de witte dwerg slurpt actief materiaal van zijn buurman af.
ASKAP J1745-5051 wordt nog altijd in de gaten gehouden. Tijdens vervolgwaarnermingen moet vooral de draaisnelheid van de witte dwerg zelf worden bepaald. Daarnaast willen astronomen begrijpen of dezelfde mechanismen achter alle LPT’s zitten.
Mogelijk is een van onze planeten verdwenen. Dat kan verklaren waarom ons zonnestelsel er nu zo uitziet
We kennen allemaal de acht planeten van ons zonnestelsel. Daar zitten twee ijsreuzen bij, Uranus en Neptunus, maar mogelijk is er ooit een derde geweest.
Volgens een nieuwe studie heeft deze extra planeet miljarden jaren geleden een hardhandige herschikking van de planeten veroorzaakt. Daarbij zouden sommige manen van Jupiter en Uranus ontregeld zijn geraakt. Ook zijn er mogelijk zelfs nieuwe manen ontstaan.
Kort nadat de planeten zich zo’n 4 tot 4,5 miljard jaar geleden vormden, maakte het buitenste deel van het zonnestelsel een periode van extreme chaos door. Deze fase staat bekend als de instabiliteit van het Nice-model. In die tijd venderden de banen van Jupiter, Saturnus, Uranus en Neptunus drastisch en werden ze zeer instabiel.
Het kwam vaak voor dat de reuzenplaneten bijna botsten. Ze naderden elkaar soms tot op zeer korte afstand en oefenden een sterke zwaartekracht op elkaar uit. Uiteindelijk leidde deze chaotische beweging ertoe dat de planeten in de banen terechtkwamen die ze vandaag de dag nog steeds volgen. Wetenschappers vragen zich echter al lange tijd af hoe hun manen deze heftige periode konden overleven.
Om beter te begrijpen wat er gebeurde, vooral met de manen van gasreus Jupiter en ijsreus Uranus, analyseerde een onderzoeksteam 122 computersimulaties van het jonge zonnestelsel. Deze simulaties werden geselecteerd uit duizenden mogelijkheden, omdat ze belangrijke kenmerken van het huidige buitenste zonnestelsel het nauwkeurigst nabootsten.
Vervolgens berekenden de onderzoekers voor miljoenen jaren de complexe zwaartekrachtwisselwerking tussen de planeten, manen, de zon en passerende ruimteobjecten. Ze testten scenario’s die begonnen met vijf of zes reuzenplaneten, omdat de huidige versie van het Nice-model ook uitgaat van een of twee extra reuzenplaneten die later uit het zonnestelsel werden geslingerd.
Leestip:
De computermodellen lieten zien dat de overlevingskans van de maansystemen van zowel Jupiter als Uranus klein was, namelijk minder dan 15 procent. Van alle geteste scenario’s was er slechts één waarin zowel de oorspronkelijke planeten als hun manen samen overleefden.
Wanneer andere planeten te dicht bij Uranus kwamen, zorgde hun enorme zwaartekracht er vrijwel zeker voor dat zijn manen werden verwoest. In plaats van het zonnestelsel uit te worden geslingerd, botsten de manen echter met hoge snelheid op elkaar. Daardoor ontstond een enorm veld van ijzig puin dat zich na verloop van tijd weer samenvoegde tot nieuwe hemellichamen. Het onderzoeksteam denkt dat dit mogelijk verklaart hoe de maan Miranda van Uranus is ontstaan.
Maar dit was niet de enige aanwijzing voor een gewelddadig verleden van de Uranusmanen die uit de simulaties naar voren kwam. “Onze resultaten wijzen erop dat de manen van Uranus waarschijnlijk minstens twee keer zo hard zijn verstoord waardoor botsingen onvermijdelijk werden: zowel door de inslag die de planeet deed kantelen als door de instabiliteit onder de reuzenplaneten”, schrijven de onderzoekers.
Hoewel het onderzoek een fascinerend beeld schetst van het vroege zonnestelsel, erkennen de wetenschappers dat simulaties nooit alle details kunnen weergeven. Er is daarom meer modelonderzoek nodig om het lot van afzonderlijke manen met grotere zekerheid te kunnen vaststellen.
Mystery of America's Nessie deepens as strange creature appears behind boat in chilling video
A pair of filmmakers believe they may have captured the strongest evidence yet of one of America's most enduring monster mysteries lurking beneath the waters of Lake Champlain.
The creature, known as Champ, is a legendary lake monster said to inhabit the 125-mile-long body of water that stretches between New York, Vermont and Canada.
Often compared to Scotland's Loch Ness Monster, Champ is typically described as a massive serpent-like beast or a prehistoric plesiosaur with a long neck, humped back and dark body, which some have dubbed 'America's Nessie.'
Despite decades of sightings, no one has ever produced definitive proof that the monster exists.
Now, filmmakers Richard Rossi and Kelly Tabor told the Daily Mail that they may have stumbled across exactly that while shooting a family movie inspired by the legend.
The pair discovered footage showing what appeared to be a large unidentified creature moving through the water behind their boat, a detail they did not notice until reviewing the video nearly two years later.
What Tabor believed she saw was a shape unlike any fish she had encountered on the lake. 'When I saw it, I saw it was like a skinny neck, and that the body got larger,' Tabor said. 'It looked like the skinny neck was oscillating back and forth, as if it was grazing underwater. My eyes were just popping out.'
The footage was captured during the production of Lucy and the Lake Monster, a children's film centered on the mystery of Champ.
The creature, known as Champ, is a legendary lake monster said to inhabit the 125-mile-long body of water that stretches between New York, Vermont and Canada. A woman claimed to have taken a picture of the monster in 1977
(pictured)
The footage remained hidden in plain sight for nearly two years after filming wrapped.
It was only while reviewing footage during the editing process in 2025 that Tabor spotted something unusual trailing behind their 11-foot wooden boat.
Rossi recalled receiving an excited phone call from his longtime friend.
'I was skeptical at first. But then Kelly, in the editing process, called me one day, and she said, "I have the footage up on my large screen TV. You've got to take a look behind the boat."'
According to Rossi, Tabor told him: 'There's a large creature swimming behind the rope.' When he reviewed the footage himself, he was stunned.
While stories linking strange creatures to Lake Champlain stretch back centuries, the first widely documented modern sighting occurred in 1819.
According to local lore, Captain Crum reported seeing an enormous black creature in Bulwagga Bay.
Richard Rossi and Kelly Tabor caught a glimpse of the monster while filming a children’s film ‘Lucy and the Lake Monster’
The captain reportedly described a snake-like animal measuring roughly 187 feet long with eyes resembling a peeled onion.
Since then, hundreds of sightings have been reported around the lake.
Believers have suggested Champ could be anything from a surviving plesiosaur to a zeuglodon, an ancient whale ancestor that lived millions of years ago.
Others argue the sightings are likely the result of misidentified fish, floating logs, waves or optical illusions.
The mystery has become deeply woven into the culture of the region, as Port Henry, New York, markets itself as the home of Champ.
Businesses, festivals and tourist attractions celebrate the creature, while locals regularly share stories of unusual encounters on the water.
Tabor grew up in nearby Crown Point and spent much of her childhood searching for the elusive monster.
'Our town, Crown Point, borders Port Henry, and Port Henry is known as the home of Champ, because in that area there have been over 300 eyewitness accounts of the Lake Champlain monster,' she said, adding that her fascination began early.
'My family spent summers there,' Tabor said. 'We had a boat that we would go out in, and so I was always scanning the lake, trying to get my chance to see Champ.'
'As many times as I looked as a child, I never saw it.'
She believes she may have experienced something unexplained years later while attending college.
The pair discovered footage showing what appeared to be a large unidentified creature moving through the water behind their boat, a detail they did not notice until reviewing the video nearly two years later
One evening, she and several others were sitting on the porch of her family's lakeside cabin when they noticed an unusual disturbance on the otherwise calm water.
'There was a big stirring out a little ways from the front porch,' she said, explaining that the group watched as a wake appeared and moved directly toward them.
'It wasn't going from the left or the right. It wasn't bearing up and down. It was a straight wake, at least an inch high, coming straight at us.'
Everyone waited for whatever was causing the disturbance to surface. Instead, the object suddenly changed direction.
'It came right towards the cabin, and it made a 90-degree turn,' Tabor said.
'It went off to the left of the next point across the bay, and it never surfaced.'
Because Lake Champlain's water is often murky due to its clay-rich bottom, nobody could determine what had caused the wake.
'I like to believe that I actually saw the effects of Champ,' she said.
After discovering the new footage, Rossi shared it with scientists and researchers for analysis.
The clip eventually attracted the attention of The UnXplained, the History Channel series hosted by William Shatner.
According to the filmmakers, producers told them the footage represented the strongest evidence of Champ since a famous 1977 photograph taken by tourist Sandra Mansi.
That image appeared to show a long-necked creature emerging from the water and remains one of the most famous pieces of alleged Champ evidence.
Unlike the Mansi photograph, Rossi notes that the new footage includes a boat in the frame, providing viewers with a reference point for scale.
The video has since generated hundreds of thousands of views online and sparked renewed debate among believers and skeptics alike.
For Rossi and Tabor, the discovery has only deepened their fascination with the mystery.
The pair are returning to Lake Champlain this summer for the annual Champ Day festival and are already working on two additional films exploring the legend.
Whether the footage ultimately proves anything remains uncertain.
But more than 200 years after the first reported sighting, Champ continues to capture imaginations and keep people watching the waters of Lake Champlain for signs that something enormous may still be swimming below the surface.
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Scientists issue first-contact plan as they await message from alien civilization
Scientists have issued a new blueprint for the day Earth receives a message from an alien civilization.
Released Friday, the eight-point plan lays out how researchers should handle a potentially world-changing signal from deep space, laying it out like a playbook for humanity's most extraordinary moment.
Scientists are instructed to treat any potential alien signal with extreme caution, verify it through multiple independent teams and keep unconfirmed findings tightly controlled to avoid false alarms.
If evidence of intelligent extraterrestrial life is confirmed, researchers must rapidly inform the public, the scientific community and even the United Nations (UN) while releasing the underlying data for scrutiny.
The protocols also call for protecting the signal from interference, preserving all records in secure archives around the world and creating a dedicated international team to help manage the fallout from the discovery.
Researchers are warned not to send a reply to any alien civilization without first consulting the international community through bodies such as the United Nations.
The plan further acknowledges the dangers of the social media age, urging scientists to combat misinformation, respond quickly to rumors and protect researchers who could find themselves at the center of one of the biggest stories in human history.
With the Trump administration releasing dozens of UFO files in recent weeks, the creators of the plan say they want to prevent the world from being thrown into chaos by a false alarm.
Newly released FBI files have revealed an alleged message from 'outer space people' containing chilling warnings for humanity (stock)
The plan lays out a detailed roadmap for what should happen if scientists believe they have detected evidence of an intelligent alien civilization.
Under the protocols, researchers for Astrophysics and the chair of the International Academy of Astronautics (IAA) committee for the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) are instructing other experts not to rush to announce a discovery to the world.
SETI is an acronym standing for Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence, a scientific field dedicated to scanning the cosmos for artificial radio and laser signals.
Researchers said that any mysterious signal must undergo extensive scrutiny, with independent teams, observatories and organizations using different instruments and methods to determine whether it is genuine or merely a false alarm.
Scientists are warned that initial findings could be incomplete, misleading or impossible to interpret, meaning the verification process could take months or even years.
If the evidence survives that scrutiny and researchers become convinced it originated from an extraterrestrial intelligence, the protocols call for an immediate public announcement.
The discovery would be shared not only with the scientific community but also with the United Nations and a network of international organizations involved in astronomy, space exploration and communications.
The plan also requires the release of the underlying evidence, allowing scientists around the world to inspect the data, challenge the conclusions and attempt to independently verify the finding.
Recognizing the dangers of the social media era, the guidelines devote significant attention to controlling misinformation and rumors.
With the Trump administration releasing dozens of UFO files in recent weeks, the creators of the emergency plan say they want to prevent the world from being thrown into chaos by a false alarm. Pictured is an image from a release taken during the Apollo moon missions
Researchers are encouraged to communicate openly and honestly with the public while clearly labeling speculation and unconfirmed claims.
The protocols also acknowledge that a scientist who discovers evidence of alien intelligence could suddenly become one of the most famous people on Earth.
Institutions are urged to protect researchers from harassment, security threats and professional fallout while ensuring accurate information continues to flow to the public.
In the event a signal is confirmed, every piece of evidence must be preserved and archived in multiple secure locations around the world.
The data, analysis methods and computer code used to study the signal would be stored so that future generations of scientists can revisit the discovery.
The plan even includes measures to protect the signal itself. If the evidence arrives in the form of radio transmissions or other electromagnetic signals, scientists are encouraged to seek international agreements to safeguard the frequencies from interference or disruption.
An international post-detection committee would then be assembled to help interpret the discovery and guide the world's response.
The group would include experts in science, ethics, law, communications and social sciences tasked with helping humanity navigate the implications of learning we are not alone.
Perhaps the most striking provision concerns what happens next.
Even if humanity receives a message from an alien civilization, scientists are explicitly instructed not to answer.
Instead, any decision about responding would first require international consultations involving the United Nations and other global organizations. Until those discussions are completed, no reply should be sent.
The final section emphasizes that any discovery of intelligent extraterrestrial life must be handled with transparency, integrity and a sense of responsibility to all of humanity, recognizing that such a moment would rank among the most profound events in human history.
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Mysterious triangular aircraft spotted over Area 51 sparks secret tech theories
A mysterious aircraft was reportedly spotted near the highly classified Area 51 base, sparking speculation that it could be a secret military prototype.
A thermal image appears to show a triangular-shaped craft flying close to the infamous testing facility in Nevada, long associated with some of America's most closely guarded aerospace programs.
The image was shared online by the Project Fear YouTube channel, which described it as 'a craft the public has never seen before.'
Some observers believe the object could be a classified X-plane, a highly experimental aircraft used to test advanced technologies before they enter military service.
For decades, Area 51 has served as the premier testing ground for these secretive 'black projects,' including spy planes and stealth aircraft that remained hidden from the public for years.
The unusual shape of the craft has fueled speculation that it may be linked to a next-generation military aircraft. Among the theories circulating online is that it could be the Boeing F-47, the future centerpiece of the US Air Force's Next Generation Air Dominance program.
Others have suggested it could be an entirely separate classified aircraft being developed for future military operations.
While no official explanation has been provided, the sighting has reignited debate over what exactly is being flown behind the fences of America's most secretive air base.
A thermal image appears to show a triangular-shaped craft flying close to the infamous testing facility, long associated with some of America's most closely guarded aerospace programs
Several groundbreaking military programs, including stealth and reconnaissance aircraft, were flown at the remote Nevada facility years before they were publicly acknowledged.
Project Fear said on X that the image was captured using a 10-micron thermal scope.
While the identity of the aircraft remains unknown, some observers have speculated that it could be Boeing's F-47, the centerpiece of the US Air Force's Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) program.
The sixth-generation fighter is expected to serve as a flying command hub, coordinating swarms of AI-powered drones alongside piloted aircraft in future combat operations.
Reports have suggested that prototype aircraft are already under development, with operational deployment anticipated in the early 2030s.
The speculation comes just days after the Air Force requested $5.03 billion for the F-47 program in its Fiscal Year 2027 budget, citing growing concerns over China's rapidly advancing next-generation military aviation capabilities.
The image has fueled intense debate online, with one X user writing: 'Any unidentified aircraft near Area 51 automatically creates more questions than answers.'
Among the theories circulating online is that it could be the Boeing F-47, the future centerpiece of the US Air Force's Next Generation Air Dominance program
Area 51 is a highly classified US Air Force facility located within the Nevada Test and Training Range, approximately 83 miles north-northwest of Las Vegas
Area 51 has long been the stuff of alien lore, with whispers of crashed UFOs and extraterrestrial autopsies behind its barbed-wire-laced fence.
The base, established in 1955, remained largely unknown until 1989, when Robert Lazar claimed on TV that he worked at a secret site near Groom Lake, 'S-4,' studying alien technology and spacecraft.
While the remote US Air Force base in Nevada, approximately 83 miles north-northwest of Las Vegas, has kept a tight lid on its activities, the CIA finally lifted the lid in 2013, officially admitting Area 51's existence.
The agency declassified a more than 400-page report that detailed how testing its secret spy planes 'accounted for more than one-half of all UFO reports during the late 1950s and most of the 1960s.'
The U-2 spy and A-12 reconnaissance planes were being flown in the shadows of the desert amid the Cold War, but the extreme altitudes sparked fears of an alien invasion.
'High-altitude testing of the U-2 soon led to an unexpected side effect, a tremendous increase in reports of unidentified flying objects (UFOs),' the report states.
'Once U-2s started flying at altitudes above 60,000 feet, air-traffic controllers began receiving increasing numbers of UFO reports.'
However, the CIA report does not mention Area 51's purpose after 1974.
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The 'Son of Concorde' is about to take to the skies: NASA readies its $247 million supersonic jet that replaces the loud sonic boom with a softer 'thump' and can travel from London to New York in under 4 hours
NASA's $247 million (£183 million) 'Son of Concorde' jet is about to take to the skies for its first supersonic test flight.
Travelling at speeds up to Mach 1.6, or 1,218 miles per hour (1,960 km/h), the jet could cut the trip from London to New York to just four hours.
However, unlike Concorde, NASA's experimental jet, the X-59, has been designed to replace the deafening crash of a sonic boom with a softer 'thump'.
The X-59 has already undergone months of test flights since launching for the first time in October last year.
Now, NASA says it is getting the plane ready to fly at faster speeds and higher altitudes, including its first test flight beyond the speed of sound.
With a new series of tests starting in early June, the space agency plans to fly X-59 at speeds of over 630 miles per hour (1,014 km/h) at an altitude of 43,000 feet.
This will be followed by a 'mission conditions flight', during which the jet will hit Mach 1.4, 925 miles per hour (1,490 km/h), at 50,000 feet.
Finally, test pilots will push the jet to its absolute limit, reaching a top speed of Mach 1.6 at 60,000 feet - around twice the height and speed of a commercial airline.
NASA's experimental supersonic jet, dubbed the 'Son of Concorde', will take to the skies in its first faster-than-sound flight in July
The X-59 has been specifically designed to solve a major problem that currently stands in the way of supersonic travel becoming more common.
When a plane flies at sub-sonic speeds, it pushes the air out of the way like a boat moving through water, creating ripples in the form of sound waves.
But when something reaches the speed of sound, it starts to outrun these sound waves, and the ripples bunch up and merge together into a powerful shockwave.
This means that supersonic jets are constantly generating shockwaves, which people on the ground hear as a deafening boom as they sweep past.
Because these booms can be as loud as 110 decibels, similar to a loud rock concert, supersonic flights are generally banned over populated areas.
To solve this problem, NASA has been working to develop 'Quiet SuperSonic Technology (Quesst)' that would muffle the boom into a muted 'thump'.
The jet has been developed by American aerospace firm Lockheed Martin after being awarded the $247.5 million design contract by NASA in 2016.
The X-59 features a radically redesigned geometry in which every feature is designed to diffuse and muffle the sonic boom.
The X-59 jet has been designed to produce a much quieter sonic boom when flying at supersonic speeds, creating a 'thump' rather than a bang
Part of the reason that Concorde was eventually discontinued was that the sonic boom produced by breaking the sound barrier could be extremely loud for people on the ground
During the upcoming tests, the experimental aircraft will be chased by a standard supersonic jet equipped with a probe to record the shockwave
The most obvious difference from a normal jet is the thin, tapered nose, which accounts for almost a third of the plane's entire length and is shaped to break up the shockwave.
The downside of this novel design is that the cockpit is located around halfway down the length of the vehicle and doesn't have any forward-facing windows.
Instead, the single pilot uses a system of cameras and augmented reality displays, known as the eXternal Vision System, to see out the front.
Reaching these new speed and altitude records is a key milestone for Quesst, since they are NASA's targets for the X-59 to eventually fly over American communities.
Cathy Bahm, project manager for NASA's Low Boom Flight Demonstrator, says: 'Every step of envelope expansion brings us closer to demonstrating the quiet supersonic capability that is at the heart of the Quesst mission.
'Completing the first mission-conditions flight is especially meaningful - it's the moment where we begin validating the aircraft in the environment it was designed for.'
While the eventual goal is to produce quiet sonic booms, this upcoming batch of test flights will not be designed to assess the volume of the flight.
The X-59 will be accompanied by a standard supersonic chase plane, which would drown out any useful data with its own, much louder boom.
According to NASA, the sonic thump produced by X-59 passing overhead will be quieter than the sound of a car door shutting 20 feet away
The X-59's aerodynamic profile has been designed so that it breaks up the shockwave formed by passing the sound barrier and is much quieter in flight. Pictured: The sonic boom from a scale model of the aircraft during wind tunnel tests
Travelling at speeds up to Mach 1.6, or 1,218 miles per hour (1,960 km/h), the X-59 could cut the trip from London to New York to just four hours
However, the chasing jet will be equipped with a specialised probe to take initial measurements of the X-59's shock waves.
Strain gages throughout the aircraft's body will also gather data on how it handles higher speeds and whether it is structurally safe to fly.
This data will pave the way for a new set of tests later this year, dubbed Quesst Phase 2, in which NASA will begin to check whether it is really producing a quiet supersonic thump as intended.
Ms Bahm says: 'As we look ahead to the upcoming flights, we're poised to open the envelope even further - moving boldly toward the mission test point this aircraft was built to achieve.'
Concorde was a turbojet-powered supersonic passenger jet that was operated from 1976 until 2003.
It had a maximum speed over twice the speed of sound at Mach 2.04 (1,354mph or 2,180k per hour at cruise altitude) and could seat 92 to 128 passengers.
It was first flown in 1969, but needed further tests to establish it as viable as a commercial aircraft. Concorde entered service in 1976.
It is one of only two supersonic transports to have been operated commercially. The other is the Soviet-built Tupolev Tu-144, which ran as a passenger aircraft only for a few years in the 1970s due to safety issues.
Concorde was the world's first supersonic airliner and operated for 27 years, but it was grounded in October 2003. Pictured is British Airways Concorde G-BOAB taking off with its landing gear still extended over the Cotswolds town of Fairford, Gloucestershire on July 20, 1996, during the annual RAF Fairford airshow
Concorde was jointly developed and manufactured by Aérospatiale and the British Aircraft Corporation (BAC) under an Anglo-French treaty. Concorde's name, meaning harmony or union, reflected the cooperation on the project between the UK and France.
Concorde was retired in 2003 due to a general downturn in the commercial aviation industry after its only crash in 2000, the September 11 attacks in 2001, and a decision by Airbus, the successor to Aérospatiale and BAC, to discontinue maintenance support.
It wasn't the first plane to break the sound barrier, however; that achievement was managed by the Bell X-1, piloted by Chuck Yeager, in October 1947.
The legendary rocket engine-powered aircraft, designed and built in 1945, achieved a speed of 700 miles (1,127 kilometers) per hour.
Russian cosmonauts SAW through ISS amid air leak crisis sparking NASA evacuation scare
NASA astronauts were forced to shelter in their spacecraft and prepare for potential evacuation on Friday due to an escalating air crisis on the International Space Station.
The extraordinary precaution came as US and Russian officials clashed over how to tackle a growing air leak aboard the orbiting laboratory.
In a dramatic attempt to reach the source, Russian cosmonauts used a saw to cut into a section of the station where they believed the leak was coming from.
The four members of NASA's Crew-12 mission, two Americans, a French astronaut and a Russian cosmonaut, were instructed to enter their docked SpaceX Dragon spacecraft and put on spacesuits while Russian crews attempted repairs. Another NASA astronaut also joined them.
But roughly 90 minutes later, the safe-haven procedures were lifted after Russia's space agency, Roscosmos, paused the repair operation to gather additional data and measurements.
The dispute had been brewing for months, with NASA and Roscosmos unable to agree on either the source of the persistent air leaks or the best way to stop them.
While the leaks have plagued the station on and off for years, Reuters reported that the rate of air loss recently doubled from about one pound per day to two.
The decision by Russian cosmonauts to use a saw heightened concerns aboard the orbiting laboratory, prompting NASA to place astronauts into safe-haven procedures as a precaution.
NASA ordered astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS) to take shelter over 'worsening air leaks'
Bethany Stevens, NASA press secretary, said in a statement on X: 'Roscosmos has paused Friday’s structural repair efforts inside the Zvezda service module transfer tunnel, known as PrK, as more measurements and data are assessed.
'Given this development, NASA has instructed the crew members inside the Dragon spacecraft to end the safe haven procedures and return to planned operations aboard the International Space Station.'
The Zvezda service module transfer tunnel is a pressurized cylindrical passageway in the rear of the Russian part of the station.
Its function is to connect the Zvezda's main living quarters with the docking port where cargo is brought aboard the ISS.
While the module arrived in space in 2020, some parts of this section were constructed in the 1980s and have been a site of worsening leaks for years.
A leak has been ongoing since 2019, when air began escaping from the module's transfer tunnel.
NASA has a plan in place for an emergency evacuation of the ISS, and it could be used amid cracks and leaks on the ship
Bethany Stevens, NASA press secretary, said that the astronauts have now been told to 'return to planned operations' after Roscosmos called off their attempted repairs at the last minute
These leaks rapidly accelerated as the repair attempts failed to stem the flow, leaking 1.68kg (3.7lb) of precious air into space every day by 2024.
The issue has become so serious that NASA has reportedly ranked it among the highest-risk challenges facing the station, with the possibility of a 'catastrophic failure' discussed during internal meetings.
This new leak, detected on May 1, initially allowed roughly one pound of air to escape into space each day - about the weight of a loaf of bread.
However, this rate doubled, a senior NASA official told Reuters on condition of anonymity, prompting the space agencies to act.
In the past, Roscosmos astronauts have used sealants to attempt to plug the hole and prevent more air from escaping.
However, the Russian agency's planned repairs carried a higher risk, and the remaining astronauts were ordered to take shelter as a precaution.
The astronauts are taking shelter inside the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft in preparation for an emergency evacuation
Stevens said in a statement: 'The Zvezda service module transfer tunnel, known as PrK, has suffered from cracks and leaks for some time, and has been mitigated by Roscosmos as much as possible to date.'
'Following new leaks, Roscosmos has elected to proceed with a more extensive repair operation on Friday, June 5,' she added.
'Out of an abundance of caution, NASA has directed all four of the agency's SpaceX Crew-12 members and NASA astronaut Chris Williams to assume an elevated safety posture in the Dragon spacecraft while the repair is underway.
'The cracks have always been a concern that NASA watches very closely. NASA and Roscosmos have been working to determine the root cause of the cracks, and Roscosmos manages the issue through operational mitigation measures and periodic partial-repair efforts'
The Crew-12 members include Americans Jack Hathaway and Jessica Meir, Sophie Adenot of France and Russia's Andrey Fedyaev. There are a total of seven astronauts on board.
NASA has a plan in place to evacuate the space station in case of an emergency, and had been ready to put that into action until Roscosmos called off the risky repair.
The moment Houston gave the signal, astronauts moved to their assigned spacecraft to shelter in place in case the station lost pressure.
The four astronauts of NASA's Crew-12 mission include, from left, Americans Jack Hathaway and Jessica Meir, Sophie Adenot of France and Russia's Andrey Fedyaev
The capsules have been stocked with emergency suits, allowing the crew to quickly put on the proper gear as they flee the orbiting laboratory, saving valuable time.
It can take up to 30 minutes to get inside a spacesuit, according to NASA, which makes early preparation vital.
If the station became unsafe and NASA was forced to call for a full evacuation, the crew would launch their SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule and return to Earth.
NASA's commercial crew program manager, Steve Stich, has previously said that in the event of an emergency, SpaceX's Dragon could be powered up within minutes.
This comes amid growing concern that the ageing space station needs to be retired before disaster strikes.
Since 1998, when construction began on the first modules, the ISS has hosted more than 250 visitors from 20 different countries and produced over 400 research papers.
But after roughly 146,000 orbits, the systems and hardware installed on the ISS are beginning to show their age.
The ISS was only intended to stay in orbit until 2015 and has now been in orbit for more than a decade longer than planned.
NASA is tracking 50 'areas of concern' related to a leak in the Russian Zvezda Service Module, Transfer Tunnel (labelled), which sprang a leak in 2019
This is not the first time the ISS has sprung a leak. In 2018, astronauts rushed to fix a hole (above), which had appeared in the outer wall of the Soyuz capsule on the orbiting laboratory
ESA astronaut Tim Peake took this photo from inside Cupola in 2016, showing a 7mm-diameter circular chip gouged out by the impact from a tiny piece of space debris
In September last year, NASA's Office of the Inspector General (OIG) identified 588 replacement parts that were operating beyond their operational lifetimes.
This has come with a risk of worsening leaks and damage from impacts with micrometeorites and space junk, especially in the oldest Russian modules.
In 2018, astronauts rushed to fix a hole that had appeared in the outer wall of the Soyuz capsule on the orbiting laboratory
Weighing 400 tons (880,000lb), equivalent to more than 400 elephants, the ISS is so large that it can't actually stay in such a low-Earth orbit unassisted.
This means that the station's thrusters need to be regularly fired in order to keep it in a stable orbit of around 250 miles (400km) above Earth.
If these thrusters failed, the station would gradually fall out of orbit and crash uncontrollably to Earth.
To bring the football-pitch laboratory down to Earth safely, NASA will need to deliberately push the station out of orbit.
NASA currently plans to bring the ISS down to Earth in 2030, bringing an end to three decades of international collaboration in Earth's orbit.
NASA estimates it will cost $1 billion (£800 million) to convert a Dragon capsule into a vehicle capable of pushing the ISS out of orbit
Starting from the end of this year, the station will be allowed to fall naturally under the effects of atmospheric drag until it reaches an altitude of around 200 miles (320km).
At this point, the last ISS crew will depart the station, taking with them any equipment or items that are deemed historically important.
Once the last crew has gone, the station will continue to fall over several months until it reaches the 'point of no return' at an altitude of 175 miles (280 km).
To deliver the finishing blow, NASA has commissioned a 'space tug' which will launch from Earth, dock with the ISS, and then push the station out of orbit.
The space agency plans to use a modified SpaceX Dragon capsule, which will dock with the station before pushing it into the atmosphere at an estimated cost of $1bn (£800m).
The International Space Station (ISS) is a $100 billion (£80 billion) science and engineering laboratory that orbits 250 miles (400 km) above Earth.
It has been permanently staffed by rotating crews of astronauts and cosmonauts since November 2000.
Crews have come mainly from the US and Russia, but the Japanese space agency JAXA and European space agency ESA have also sent astronauts.
The International Space Station has been continuously occupied for more than 20 years and has been expended with multiple new modules added and upgrades to systems
Research conducted aboard the ISS often requires one or more of the unusual conditions present in low Earth orbit, such as low-gravity or oxygen.
ISS studies have investigated human research, space medicine, life sciences, physical sciences, astronomy and meteorology.
The US space agency, NASA, spends about $3 billion (£2.4 billion) a year on the space station program, with the remaining funding coming from international partners, including Europe, Russia and Japan.
So far 244 individuals from 19 countries have visited the station, and among them eight private citizens who spent up to $50 million for their visit.
There is an ongoing debate about the future of the station beyond 2025, when it is thought some of the original structure will reach 'end of life'.
Russia, a major partner in the station, plans to launch its own orbital platform around then, with Axiom Space, a private firm, planning to send its own modules for purely commercial use to the station at the same time.
NASA, ESA, JAXA and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) are working together to build a space station in orbit around the moon, and Russia and China are working on a similar project, that would also include a base on the surface.
Washington archbishop removes priest as exorcist after comments on UFOs and demons
The Catholic archbishop of Washington, D.C., Cardinal Robert McElroy, on Wednesday removed a well-known priest as an exorcist of the archdiocese after he made public comments suggesting that UFO sightings were the work of demons.
McElroy said the archdiocese also was cutting ties with the St. Michael Center for Spiritual Renewal, a Washington-based nonprofit headed by the priest, Monsignor Stephen Rossetti.
The archbishop said Rossetti´s statements "linking UFOs to demonic presence and the Center´s recent use of social media gravely undermine the Church´s very precise teaching on the devil, demons and exorcism."
"There´s a danger here," Rossetti said in a May 29 video posted on his Facebook page addressing UFO sightings and the existence of aliens. "As an exorcist I wanted to raise that danger. And that is that demons like to hide. ... They don´t want us to know what they´re doing because they´re more effective when we don´t realize it."
"They can kind of get into your head, you know, and manipulate things in the world to influence us to do evil."
"It´s my personal belief that probably many if not most of these UFO sightings are in fact demons," Rossetti added.
FILE - Cardinal Robert McElroy of Washington attends a press conference at the North American College in Rome, Friday, May 9, 2025.
(AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia,File)
Rossetti also said that people can be good Catholics and believe there´s life on other planets, though he does not personally believe life exists elsewhere.
In a statement posted on the St. Michael Center website, Rossetti said he was saddened by the action of the archdiocese.
"I ask forgiveness for any ways that I have not been faithful to the teachings of the Church´s Magisterium, particularly in the cited video on 'aliens and the demonic,'" he said. "I believe it is of the utmost importance to be obedient to the Church and I will continue to endeavor to subject all that I do and the Center to be thus obedient."
Rossetti, who has over 148,000 followers on Instagram, is a prominent psychologist as well as an exorcist. His center has specialized in offering spiritual healing for priests troubled by various difficulties.
In 2023, he told The Associated Press there was increasing and renewed appetite for information about demonic possession and exorcism.
Shocking twist after America's top exorcist claims UFOs are actually demons
One of America's most prominent Catholic exorcists has been stripped of his official role after claiming that many UFO sightings may actually be manifestations of demonic forces.
Monsignor Stephen Rossetti, a priest, psychologist and longtime exorcist for the Archdiocese of Washington, sparked controversy with a video warning Christians about what he believes is a hidden spiritual danger behind the UFO phenomenon.
In the video posted Friday to the YouTube page of his St. Michael Center for Spiritual Renewal, Rossetti suggested that many unexplained aerial sightings are not extraterrestrial visitors but demons attempting to deceive humanity.
Citing Ephesians 6:12, which describes humanity's struggle against spiritual forces of evil, Rossetti urged Christians to remain vigilant and to 'put on the armor of God.'
Drawing on his experiences as an exorcist, he said demons and spirits can sometimes manifest as unusual entities, including 'beast-like creatures,' mysterious glowing orbs and so-called 'shadow men.'
'There's no question in my mind, personally, again, this is not de fide, but it's my personal belief that probably many, if not most, of these UFO sightings are, in fact, demons, and they can do things that we can't do, such [as] the speed and all sorts of things that human beings can't do,' Rossetti said.
'The reason why it's important is that they will try to manipulate us.'
The remarks triggered a swift response from church leaders, with Cardinal Robert McElroy subsequently removing Rossetti from his position as exorcist for the Washington archdiocese. The archdiocese also severed ties with Rossetti's St Michael Center for Spiritual Renewal.
Monsignor Stephen Rossetti, a priest, psychologist and longtime exorcist for the Archdiocese of Washington, sparked controversy with a video warning Christians about what he believes is a hidden spiritual danger behind the UFO phenomenon
Rossetti served as the exorcist for the Archdiocese of Washington for 19 years and has built a large following through his public ministry, including more than 148,000 followers on Instagram.
A licensed psychologist and author of several books on exorcism and spiritual warfare, he is widely regarded as one of the most prominent Catholic exorcists in the United States.
Rossetti made the comments in a video posted to t
Rossetti made the comments in a video posted to the YouTube and Facebook channels of the St Michael Center for Spiritual Renewal, where he discussed the possibility that UFO encounters have a supernatural rather than extraterrestrial explanation.
The video centered on Rossetti's belief that many UFO sightings may not involve visitors from another world at all, but rather deceptive manifestations of demonic forces.
It was this claim, more than any other, that triggered the controversy now surrounding the priest.
He recounted the story of a woman who believed she was communicating with her deceased grandmother through occult 'automatic writing' before concluding she had been deceived by evil spirits.
'There's a danger here ... as an exorcist, I wanted to raise that danger: and that is that demons like to hide, they don't want us to know they're around,' Rossetti said in the video that has since been removed.
A video released in the first wave of UFO files appeared to show a glowing object resembling an 'eight-pointed star' with uneven arms moving across the sky
'They don't want us to know what they're doing because they're more effective when we don't realize it. And they can kind of get into your head ... and manipulate things in the world to influence us to do evil.'
The Archdiocese of Washington publicly rejected Rossetti's comments, saying his statements 'linking UFOs to demonic presence and the Center's recent use of social media gravely undermine the Church's very precise teaching on the devil, demons and exorcism.'
Following the decision, Rossetti issued a statement expressing disappointment over the archdiocese's actions.
'I am saddened by the decision of the Archdiocese of Washington to cut its affiliation with St Michael Center for Spiritual Renewal (SMC),' he wrote.
'I ask forgiveness for any ways that I have not been faithful to the teachings of the Church's Magisterium, particularly in the cited video on "aliens and the demonic."'
Rossetti did not retract his belief that some UFO sightings may have a demonic origin, but emphasized his commitment to remaining obedient to Church authority.
Despite the setback, Rossetti said the St Michael Center would continue operating independently and serving people seeking spiritual guidance and deliverance ministry.
'I believe it is of the utmost importance to be obedient to the Church and I will continue to endeavor to subject all that I do and the Center to be thus obedient. Also, I will continue to encourage all to do so as well,' he wrote.
Congress recently requested 46 UFO videos from the Department of War, and eight of them were leaked to an investigative journalist
'As I often say: 'Stay in the Boat!', that is, stay in the barque of Peter, it will lead you safely home.'
The controversy sparked fierce debate online. One supporter wrote, 'The Saints were hated and persecuted. Thank you for speaking out and being courageous. My daily prayers are with you.'
Other supporters praised Rossetti for discussing what they believe is a neglected spiritual aspect of the UFO phenomenon, while critics accused him of promoting speculation not supported by official Church teaching.
Rossetti's views are controversial but not unique. Vice President J D Vance remarked during a podcast appearance in March, 'I don't think they're aliens, I think they're demons.'
The idea has also surfaced among academics and former government officials involved in UFO investigations. A 2022 paper titled Ultraterrestrial Models by parapsychologist Hal Puthoff explored supernatural explanations as one possible interpretation of UFO encounters.
Earlier this year, Diana Pasulka, a professor of religious studies at the University of North Carolina Wilmington, said some government and military officials who study unidentified aerial phenomena interpret certain cases through a religious lens.
'There is, incidentally, a high percentage of devout Catholics in the military who study this,' she said.
'They believe there are probably a variety of phenomena. Some they would categorize as being caused by angels and demons.'
Luis Elizondo, who was involved in the Pentagon's Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program, has also claimed that a senior official once warned him against investigating UFOs because they were believed to have a Satanic connection.
Father Carlos Martins, another Catholic exorcist, previously told DailyMail.com that he believes the UFO phenomenon could be part of a broader effort to undermine belief in scripture.
'If the devil brings it about, they can put it into the human imagination that there is extraterrestrial life, that there are civilizations out there, then he can cause doubt in the Scriptures,' Martins said.
'What he's done then is set up a competing account to the Christian scriptures, something the Judeo-Christian scriptures cannot account for, and so there's an indirect repudiation of the truth of revelation. He's accomplished that.'
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The Varginha Mystery Deepens: Doctor Breaks Decades of Silence About Brazil’s “Roswell”
One of the most intriguing UFO cases in history has returned to the spotlight after a Brazilian doctor publicly spoke about what he claims to have witnessed during the infamous Varginha incident in 1996.
Often referred to as the “Brazilian Roswell,” the Varginha Case has fascinated researchers, journalists, and UFO enthusiasts for nearly three decades. Now, for the first time, a physician who says he personally examined one of the alleged creatures has decided to share his story publicly.
According to the doctor, the encounter took place on January 20, 1996, when he was asked to provide a professional medical opinion regarding a mysterious being that had reportedly been captured in the city of Varginha, Brazil.
What he saw, he says, changed his understanding of reality forever.
The doctor described the being as small, roughly the size of a seven-year-old child, with pale skin and unusual violet-colored eyes. Contrary to some of the more sensational stories surrounding the case, he stated that the creature appeared calm, peaceful, and surprisingly aware of its surroundings.
“It was not aggressive, frightened, or in visible pain,” he explained. “It seemed to understand what was happening.”
According to his testimony, the being repeatedly looked at him, then toward a nearby window, before returning its gaze. The doctor said he had the distinct impression that the creature possessed intelligence and awareness far beyond what one might expect.
The physician emphasized that he has remained silent for decades and has no financial motivation for speaking now. Instead, he says he felt compelled to share what he witnessed before it was too late.
He repeatedly stated that he considers himself an eyewitness and stands by his account despite the skepticism that inevitably surrounds such extraordinary claims.
“I saw the being,” he said. “People may doubt me, but I know what I witnessed.”
The Varginha Case began in January 1996 when multiple residents reported seeing strange creatures in the area. The most famous witnesses were three young women who claimed to have encountered a small humanoid being crouching near a wall.
Rumors quickly spread throughout the city. Reports of unusual military activity, mysterious transports, and alleged creature captures soon followed. Over the years, the story grew into one of the most famous UFO cases outside the United States.
While official investigations have generally dismissed the claims, many researchers argue that unanswered questions remain, keeping the mystery alive nearly thirty years later.
What makes this latest statement particularly significant is the doctor’s professional background and his long period of silence. Unlike many public UFO witnesses, he spent decades avoiding interviews and media attention.
His testimony does not provide definitive proof of extraterrestrial life. However, it adds another layer to a case that continues to generate debate among believers and skeptics alike.
Whether the Varginha incident was a misunderstanding, a secret military operation, or something far more extraordinary remains unknown. But with new witnesses continuing to come forward, the mystery refuses to disappear.
Nearly thirty years after the events in Brazil, the Varginha Case remains one of the world’s most compelling UFO enigmas, and this latest testimony ensures that the debate is far from over.
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A NASA orbiter around Mars suffered an abrupt demise
A healthy NASA orbiter disappeared as usual behind Mars back in December. When the spacecraft reemerged from the other side, it was never the same again.
The U.S. space agency announced June 3 that the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution mission, aka Maven, is over, after a review board determined the orbiter that has circled Mars for over 11 years is now unreachable.
Though all of Maven's systems were normal before it rounded the bend on Dec. 6, 2025, something mysterious happened to the spacecraft when it slipped out of view. A snippet of data transmitted to Earth indicates Maven began rapidly tumbling. While mission control would normally only lose contact with the spacecraft for 20 to 30 minutes when it passed behind Mars, the team never regained its signal.
NASA's anomaly review board, which convened in February, determined this erratic rotation, coupled with dwindling battery power, meant there was no viable way to recover Maven. At a teleconference Wednesday, officials delivered something of a eulogy to the mission, which continued 10 years longer than the team had originally planned.
"I think the team has really experienced the loss of a loved one with the end of the mission here," said project manager Mike Moreau from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center.
Whether a meteor is to blame for Maven's demise is not known right now. NASA has yet to conclude its investigation into the root cause for the incident. The agency is expected to deliver a final report later in the year.
The Maven orbiter captured ultraviolet views of Mars in 2023.
Credit: NASA / LASP / CU Boulder
Arriving at Mars in September 2014, Maven has focused on "atmospheric escape" — the leak of gas from the top of Mars' atmosphere into space. Its measurements showed that this surges during solar storms, when bursts of energy and particles erupt from the sun. A major space‑weather event in May 2024, one of the strongest seen at Mars in 20 years, triggered a torrent of particles that stripped away gas and lit up the planet with glowing auroras.
"We now have a better understanding of atmospheric escape at Mars than at any other planet, including Earth," said Shannon Curry, Maven's principal investigator, based at the University of Colorado Boulder.
Maven found several kinds of auroras at Mars and helped the Perseverance rover capture the first visible‑light aurora from the surface, giving scientists a sense of what astronauts might see with their own eyes. The orbiter also showed how a planet‑wide dust storm in 2018 boosted the loss of water to space, tying together dust, climate, and the fate of Mars' ancient oceans.
One of Maven's most important results involved a process called "sputtering." Put simply, charged particles slam into the upper atmosphere and knock neutral atoms into space, like a cannonball splashing water out of a pool. This process has likely stripped Mars' atmosphere for billions of years, with implications for other planets.
The mission also made some surprise finds. Maven’s particle detector picked up hard X‑rays from a distant black hole system known as Scorpius X‑1, and the team used that odd signal to learn more about the density of Mars' upper atmosphere.
Beyond science, Maven played a vital behind‑the‑scenes role as a communications relay. The spacecraft passed data between Earth and surface missions such as Spirit, Opportunity, Curiosity, and Perseverance. Though it handled only about 8 percent of all relay sessions, it delivered nearly 18 percent of the total data, according to NASA, thanks in part to a new coding scheme that boosted how much information it could send during each contact. At one point, Maven set the solar system record for most data returned in a single relay session.
For now, Maven will remain in a stretched‑out orbit around Mars. NASA expects the dead spacecraft to stay in space for 50 to 100 years before the orbit naturally shrinks and it falls into Mars' atmosphere. Officials say it doesn't threaten other orbiters circling the Red Planet.
To make up for Maven's lost relay capacity, Mars Odyssey, Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, and European orbiters have adjusted their operations. NASA also plans a new Mars Telecommunications Network in the 2030s, with help from commercial partners, to provide more robust communications and navigation services for future robotic and human missions.
For the people who worked on Maven, though, the loss feels personal. Curry said the team was "broken up" about it. When asked what she'd inscribe on the orbiter's tombstone, she didn't hesitate with her answer:
The ominous sign a SUPER El Niño is inching closer: Satellite image reveals how large areas of the Atlantic Ocean are 5°C hotter than usual – suggesting the unusual climate event could be imminent
Large areas of the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea are currently 5°C (9°F) hotter than usual, amid warnings a Super El Niño is imminent.
Satellite images show an ongoing marine heatwave off the northern and western coasts of France, the southern coast of Spain and in the sea off Monaco.
The waters off the coast of Dover, Eastbourne and Brighton are also significantly warmer than usual, with areas of dark red indicating soaring temperatures.
The image is based on recorded sea surface temperatures on 30 May, provided by the Copernicus Marine Service.
And it comes amid warnings that a 'Super El Niño' – marked by sustained warm temperatures across the Pacific Ocean – is inching closer.
Experts from the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) recently predicted there is an 80 per cent likelihood of the weather phenomenon occurring during June–August 2026.
Current signs point to this year being one of the strongest El Niño patterns ever recorded.
While elevated temperatures in parts of the Atlantic and the Mediterranean are not used as part of an El Niño diagnosis, the weather phenomenon is expected to bring extreme heat 'nearly everywhere', with the potential for global average temperatures to rise by as much as 3°C (5.4°F) this summer.
Satellite images show an ongoing marine heatwave off the northern and western coasts of France, the southern coast of Spain and in the sea off Monaco. The waters off the coast of Dover, Eastbourne and Brighton are also significantly warmer than usual, with areas of dark red indicating soaring temperatures
El Niño years form part of a natural cycle known as the El Niño–Southern Oscillation and are marked by sustained warm temperatures across the Pacific Ocean.
Where this ocean surface warming exceeds 2°C (3.6°F), the event is often referred to as a 'super El Niño'.
While each El Niño varies, the event typically brings increased rainfall in parts of southern South America, the southern United States, parts of the Horn of Africa and central Asia.
In contrast, there will be drier conditions over Central America, northern South America, the Caribbean, Australia, Indonesia, and parts of southern Asia.
Meanwhile, scientists say there's a strong chance 2026 will be the hottest year ever recorded.
That could mean beating the record set in 2024, when global warming exceeded 1.5°C (2.7°F) above the pre–industrial average for the first time.
From late April to mid–May, the sea–surface temperature in the central–eastern Equatorial Pacific – the area used as a monitoring reference – was approaching El Niño thresholds, according to the WMO.
These increasing surface temperatures are being fed by unusually warm subsurface water in the tropical Pacific, where temperatures are a whopping 6°C (10.8°F) above average.
The world is on track for 'extraordinary extreme weather' later this year, scientists have warned, as global ocean temperatures indicate a record–breaking heat is likely
While its effects on the UK are yet to be determined, meteorologists say El Niño's intensity will likely be comparable to the 1997/98 event which saw global temperatures reach their highest on record.
During its development, the UK experienced an exceptionally hot, sunny and humid August characterised by heatwaves.
The average maximum temperature at Heathrow in August 1997 was 25.8°C (78.4°F), with a top temperature of 31.5°C (88.7°F) reached.
However, while the phenomenon typically brings warmer and drier conditions to the UK during summer months, it also increases the likelihood of colder winters.
WMO Secretary–General Celeste Saulo said: 'We need to prepare for a potentially strong El Niño event – which will exacerbate drought and heavy rainfall and increase the risk of heatwaves both on land and in the ocean.
'The most recent El Niño, in 2023–24, was one of the five strongest on record and it played a role in the record global temperatures we saw in 2024.
'The WMO community will be carefully monitoring conditions in the coming months to inform decision–making by governments, humanitarian agencies and climate–sensitive sectors.
'Advance seasonal forecasts and early warnings are vital to save lives and cushion the impact on our economies and our communities.'
Scientists say there is an extremely high, 86 per cent, chance that one year between now and 2030 will smash the temperature record last set in 2024
Yesterday, it emerged that the impending weather phenomenon could add hundreds to your grocery bill.
'We import two–fifths of our food from overseas,' Gareth Redmond–King, international lead at the Energy & Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU), said.
'Extreme conditions that are driven by climate change, turbocharged by El Niño, are a threat to crops we can't grow here.
'Things like bananas, rice, tea, coffee and lots of fresh fruit.'
Food prices in the UK are already on track to be 50 per cent higher by November than they were five years ago, he added.
It comes as campaigners warned the weekly shop will keep getting more unpredictable – and more unaffordable – for millions of households.
Meanwhile, scientists have also raised concerns that an imminent Super El Niño could trigger global famine.
Benjamin Selwyn, Professor of International Relations and Development at the University of Sussex, said extreme heat and drought could damage harvests and worsen global food insecurity this summer.
El Niño alters rainfall, shifts jet streams and raises global temperatures,' he wrote on The Conversation.
'Human‑induced global heating intensifies these dangers.
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'A study by the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Meteorological Organization shows that rising heat could make farm work unsafe for much of the year across South Asia, sub‑Saharan Africa and parts of the Americas.
'Crop yields have dropped sharply above 30°C, while heat stress reduces livestock productivity and survival.'
Lawmakers host whistleblowers, UFO investigators to press feds to come clean about space aliens
A group of lawmakers and a former Pentagon whistleblower are spearheading a new drive for the government’s full disclosure about extraterrestrials.
They will bring fresh attention to the issue at a Capitol Hill event scheduled for June 9. It will feature whistleblower David Grusch, a former Air Force and Pentagon intelligence officer who revealed to Congress in 2023 that the U.S. government is secretly retrieving and reverse-engineering spacecraft of non-human origin.
At the event, he is expected to elaborate on Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena, or UAPs, and non-human intelligence-related evidence he encountered in classified channels, believing that they should now be publicly released.
“President Trump now has an historic opportunity; this press conference is about moving from testimony to action,” he said in a statement. “Let the American people judge the facts for themselves.”
Other participants include GOP Reps. Eric Burlison of Missouri, Anna Paulina Luna of Florida, Tim Burchett of Tennessee and Democratic Rep. Jared Moskowitz of Florida.
Mr. Burchett co-chairs the bipartisan House UAP Caucus alongside Mr. Moskowitz, while Ms. Luna chairs the Task Force on the Declassification of Federal Secrets, which has conducted congressional investigations into UAP and other classified federal records.
The members of Congress are expected to rally around the passage of the UAP Disclosure Act, which requires the president to direct each federal agency to declassify all agency records related to UAPs and make such records available on a public website of the agency.
Investigative journalist Leslie Kean and documentary filmmaker James Fox, who both have produced projects about UFOs, will host the event.
“The public deserves real answers, Congress deserves access, and reality should not be classified,” Mr. Fox said in a statement. “If our requests are fulfilled, this could change the course of history.”
The Trump administration has been rolling out now-declassified documents related to extraterrestrial sightings: firsthand eyewitness testimonies, intelligence reports and sensor data of UAPs.
The second release of documents came last week.
Federal officials have clarified that while the documents contain real, unexplained sightings, “unidentified” does not mean “alien.”
“President Trump is the first president to take concrete steps towards transparency on UAP,” Mr. Burlison said. “The recent releases are an important start, so now it’s the obligation of Congress to make sure career intelligence officials don’t obstruct his directive in order to prevent selective disclosure or another dead end.”
‘We found Nessie almost a decade ago, now my underwater drone will help us reach new depths in Loch Ness’
Deep Sea Vision president of operations Craig Wallace found a 1969 film prop in Loch Ness.
New technology will help the annual hunt for the Loch Ness Monster reach new depths this year.
Deep Sea Vision’s autonomous underwater vehicle, Micro Millie, has been scoping out the surface of the famous loch today.
The drone’s research is part of The Loch Ness Experience’s annual quest, which takes place this weekend.
Deep Sea Vision’s president of operations Craig Wallace said exploring Loch Ness is one of his favourite hobbies, and something he’s been doing for 15 years.
The piece of equipment, which has a value of around £75,000, is able to showcase Loch Ness in high resolution.
Something Craig claims we only currently know around 2% of.
The Press and Journal joined Deep Sea Vision on the waters of Loch Ness to learn more about their search.
Craig funds the hobby through the business, Deep Sea Vision, which covers deep-ocean exploration.
He said: “From a personal perspective, I do it because I love Loch Ness, and I’ve been coming here for 15 years doing this.
“The reality is we only know maybe 2% of Loch Ness to a very high resolution.
“Everybody thinks Loch Ness has been done to death, but the reality is it’s mostly been explored with surface sonar. We wouldn’t even have found a bus if it was at the bottom yet.
“A guy from Sutherland called Sir John Murray — who’s regarded as the godfather of modern oceanography — mapped 562 Scottish lochs between 1895 and 1903 using a rope and a lead weight to measure depths.
“Even today, for many Scottish lochs, that’s still the most advanced information we have.
“We’ve now got all this new technology, but most Scottish lochs still haven’t been properly mapped.”
Craig may have come closest to finding the real Loch Ness Monster in 2016, when he found an old film prop from The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes.
But he is on the hunt for a number of the loch’s secrets.
He added: “We found the Loch Ness Monster back in 2015, a film prop from a movie made in 1969.
“We also found Sir John Cobb’s boat in Loch Ness a few years ago.
“There’s a Spitfire that was lost in the north end of the loch that’s never been found. I’d love to find that story.
“When you finally find something after spending so long searching, it’s a huge buzz.
“There’s a lot of work and a lot of frustration that goes into it, so when you finally get a result, it’s a great feeling.”
Craig’s biggest dream is to find Amelia Earhart.
Loch Ness Exploration leader Alan McKenna is also part of this year’s hunt and was on the boat as Micro Millie was put into Loch Ness today.
He said: “I’ve known Craig for many years now and used to follow his work closely, so having the opportunity to work with him and use some of this technology on Loch Ness is really exciting.
“Maybe we’ll see the Loch Ness Monster — maybe not. We don’t know.
“But for me, I’m more fascinated by the natural environment itself. Loch Ness is such a unique location. It’s incredibly deep, dark and mysterious beneath the surface.
“It’s amazing to see the process. The images and data they can produce are really high resolution and pretty beautiful to look at.
“Craig has been really generous in showing us the 3D mapping they’ve created and it’s seriously impressive.
Nessie hunters are to launch a new search for the monster
The underwater drone will scan the depths of Loch Ness
“We’ve been around Loch Ness for years now and know the place like the back of our hands on the surface.
“But the one place that remains a real mystery is below the water because of how deep and dark it is.
“Having people like Craig come in with this technology gives us a chance to look at Loch Ness in a completely different way.
“Some people might call it a lost cause, but to me it’s just as fascinating as ever.”
Experts reckon only about three per cent of the vast bed of the loch – which has a surface area of 21 square miles – has been mapped at this high resolution
Credit: Alamy
Can AI Be Conscious? Researchers Say Science May Not Yet Know How to Tell
The question of whether artificial intelligence can be conscious has moved well beyond science fiction. It now sits at the center of scientific debate and is increasingly shaping discussions about a range of contentious issues, from AI ethics to animal welfare, fetal development, and laboratory-grown brain tissue.
However, according to a new analysis published in Neuron, the science used to answer that question may not actually be measuring what researchers think it is. A research team led by Hakwan Lau at the Institute for Basic Science in South Korea, with collaborators from the Université de Montréal and New York University, argues that many common experimental methods in consciousness research do not separate subjective experience from general information processing.
In the paper, The Ethical Impasse of Current Consciousness Science, the researchers argue that current scientific tools may not be capable of reliably detecting consciousness.
Consciousness research relies heavily on methods such as visual masking, binocular rivalry, and the detection of perceptual limits. These methods usually compare brain responses when a person is aware of something versus when they are not. The idea is that the difference between these two cases shows whether conscious experience is present or not.
Lau and his team challenge this assumption. When experiments make a stimulus invisible, they often reduce both conscious awareness and the brain’s ability to process information about that stimulus. This means that what appears to be a marker of consciousness in the brain may actually reflect general cognitive activity.
Researchers caution that a similar situation could occur again. As AI systems become more advanced and public interest in machine consciousness increases, scientists are under pressure to provide answers. If researchers make strong claims about consciousness in AI, organoids, or fetuses that lack robust methods to support them, scientific credibility could be undermined.
The authors suggest a different approach. Conditions like blindsight, in which people with brain damage can respond to stimuli they do not report seeing, offer a more controlled way to study consciousness. Another example is hemispatial neglect, where patients fail to notice one side of their visual field while still having basic perception. For researchers, these conditions provide a rare opportunity to separate awareness from information processing and investigate each process on its own.
These conditions show that subjective experience and information processing are distinct from one another. The team says that building experiments around this difference is needed to make reliable scientific claims about consciousness.
The implications of this study extend far beyond the academic world. Deciding whether non-human entities are conscious has direct legal and ethical concerns. The researchers say that the science behind these decisions must meet high standards.
“Questions about consciousness increasingly carry ethical and societal implications,” Lau said. “If scientific claims about consciousness are going to influence discussions about animal welfare, AI ethics, or bioethics, then the scientific foundations supporting those claims must be especially rigorous.”
The researchers conclude that the most urgent challenge is not deciding whether AI, animals, or organoids are conscious, but developing better tools to identify consciousness if it emerges.
China's Nostradamus issues chilling warning about Trump's UFO file release: 'Atrocities are coming'
A professor dubbed 'China's Nostradamus' has made a chilling prediction after the Trump administration released previously classified UFO files.
Jiang Xueqin, a Chinese-Canadian educator and political commentator, earned the nickname after making a series of geopolitical predictions that supporters say later came true.
Among them were forecasts that Donald Trump would return to the White House in 2024 and that the United States and Israel would become involved in a conflict with Iran under his administration.
Now, Jiang has turned his attention to the government's growing UFO disclosure effort, warning that the fallout could have consequences far beyond questions about extraterrestrial life.
Speaking with YouTuber Nico Ken De Balinthazy, known online as Sneako, Jiang dismissed the idea that alien visitors are behind the unexplained sightings documented in the UFO files.
'Everyone knows it's complete nonsense,' he said. 'It's complete BS. There are no aliens; there's no alien technology. It's a hallucination. You just distract people.'
Instead, Jiang argued that society is becoming increasingly fractured as people embrace competing fears and belief systems.
Some focus on UFOs, he said, while others become consumed by concerns about artificial intelligence, government conspiracies or even supernatural forces. 'And people retreat into their own bubble. Just think about the atrocities that are going to happen in the future; it's going to overwhelm people,' Jiang warned.
His comments come as the Trump administration continues rolling out previously classified records related to unidentified anomalous phenomena, or UAPs.
A video released in the first wave of UFO files appeared to show a glowing object resembling an 'eight-pointed star' with uneven arms moving across the sky
The disclosure effort, which began on May 8, has already produced two major releases containing videos, photographs and intelligence documents that had remained hidden from the public for years.
The latest batch included 46 videos that members of Congress had been demanding the Pentagon release for months.
Some of the footage appears to show strange metallic spheres or orb-like objects moving at high speeds over mountains, oceans and military facilities.
Other documents detail sightings stretching back decades and include accounts from military personnel, intelligence officers and pilots who reported encounters they could not explain.
The releases have reignited debate over whether governments possess evidence of extraterrestrial life and whether the public is finally being shown information that was previously withheld.
Jiang, however, believes the fascination with UFOs is distracting people from deeper social problems.
The greatest danger, he argued, is not alien life but a society increasingly driven by fear, uncertainty and distrust.
He warned that people may turn to comforting narratives rather than confront difficult realities, creating divisions that can weaken entire nations.
Jiang Xueqin dismissed the idea that alien visitors are behind the unexplained sightings documented in newly released government records
'They would rather close their eyes and shut off their ears and just live in the normal world,' Jiang said.
'We've seen this happen historically before, where empires decline because of civil war, because they get exhausted.'
The analyst then ventured into more controversial territory, suggesting that some of the world's most ambitious scientific and technological projects may be driven by motives far beyond their publicly stated goals.
Pointing to CERN, the European particle physics laboratory that operates the Large Hadron Collider, Jiang questioned why governments have spent enormous sums studying subatomic particles.
'You have to ask yourself, why are they investing a trillion dollars to find particles?' he said.
Jiang then referenced longstanding online conspiracy theories claiming that CERN's experiments are designed to open interdimensional portals rather than simply advance scientific knowledge.
He made similar claims about artificial intelligence, citing comments from an anonymous OpenAI employee quoted in a New Yorker article about the company's ambitions.
According to Jiang, these ideas reflect a broader belief that powerful institutions have long been interested in forces that exist beyond conventional human understanding.
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EXCLUSIVE
He argued that elites throughout history have believed in the existence of supernatural or interdimensional entities and claimed that human consciousness may be capable of interacting with them.
Jiang further suggested that some conspiracy theories are rooted in the belief that powerful individuals seek hidden knowledge, longevity and greater influence through contact with such entities, though he offered no evidence to support those claims.
Whether his latest prediction proves accurate remains to be seen.
‘Out of the Shadows’ Memoir From Senior U.S. Official to Investigate Truth About Non-Human Intelligent Life
Dan Farah, who directed and produced ‘The Age of Disclosure’ doc, has secured the film and television rights to Stratton’s memoir with plans to develop it as a scripted series. The memoir releases this October.
'Out of the Shadows' book by Jay Stratton.
Courtesy of William Morrow
Jay Stratton, the central figure in the U.S. government’s modern investigation of unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP) and non-human intelligent life, is set to detail their investigation in his memoir Out of the Shadows: Revealing the Truth About Non-Human Intelligent Life.
The memoir, to be published by HarperCollins imprint William Morrow, will release on Oct. 13. His book deal was first announced in 2024.
For over 16 years, Stratton has investigated UAP and non-human intelligent life on behalf of the federal government.
The synopsis of his memoir reads: “While serving at the Defense Intelligence Agency, Stratton learned of UAP incursions over nuclear weapon sites, leading him to co-found the Advanced Aerospace Weapon System Applications Program (AAWSAP), the first official U.S. Government program to investigate UAP since the closure of the Air Force’s Project Blue Book. Operating in the shadows of the intelligence community, Stratton discovered an 80-year coverup of the existence of non-human intelligent life and fought back against powerful gatekeepers who have hid the truth from the public, Congress, and even Presidents.”
While risking everything in pursuit of the truth, he created and led the Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Task Force (UAPTF), the first whole-of-government investigation of UAP, forcing the nation to confront the unknown. Now, Stratton breaks his silence to provide a startling first-hand account of the shocking discoveries, encounters, challenges and behind-the-scenes revelations that profoundly altered his understanding of humanity’s place in the universe and took a disturbing toll on him and his family,” the synopsis concludes.
The announcement of the memoir’s release, described as one that “reads like a political thriller,” comes amid the Trump administration releasing a batch of long-promised declassified evidence related to UFO sightings and non-human intelligent life. The 162 files consist of documents, photos and videos that detail government employee reports of anomalous aircraft.
Apart from the government’s release of the files, intrigue over the existence of extraterrestrial life continues to grow. Steven Spielberg is making his anticipated return to the UFO genre with his upcoming film Disclosure Day. Last year, the UFO documentary The Age of Disclosure, had its world premiere at South by Southwest Film Festival and heavily featured Stratton. Dan Farah, who directed and produced The Age of Disclosure doc, has secured the film and television rights to Stratton’s memoir with plans to develop it as a scripted series.
Farah said in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter: “In Out of the Shadows, Jay Stratton delivers the most revealing and definitive testimony ever written about the government’s investigation and cover-up of UAP and non-human intelligent life. After discovering the related national security concerns and a potential existential threat, Jay defied powerful institutional gatekeepers and risked everything in order to reveal that humanity is not alone in the universe and to ensure the government takes action. Out of the Shadows has the propulsive storytelling of a high-stakes political thriller and exposes the biggest cover-up in human history, and the deeply personal, harrowing toll Jay’s pursuit of the truth had on him and his family.”
In addition to releasing his memoir, Stratton continues to work closely with the White House, Director of National Intelligence, and the Department of War “to identify and obtain access to all the evidence that exists within the various compartmentalized silos of the U.S. Government.”
Stratton and the UAP Task Force were honored in October 2024 for their efforts with the National Intelligence Meritorious Unit Citation, known as the highest level of recognition for a unit within the Intelligence community. Stratton has also been honored with the DIA Director’s Award.
Pentagon alien hunter who 'saw ET craft and bodies' to expose 80-year UFO cover-up
BY Liam Randall - News Reporter
A Pentagon alien hunter is gearing up to blow the lid off an 80-year government cover-up
(Image: Getty Images)
A Pentagon alien hunter who claims he has seen extraterrestrial spaceships and alien bodies is reportedly gearing up to blow the lid off an 80-year government cover-up. Jay Stratton, a former intelligence chief who spent 16 years spearheading the US government's official investigations into UFOs, is set to drop a bombshell memoir that promises to rock the world.
The highly-decorated defence official, who held a civilian rank equivalent to a two-star general, previously sent shockwaves through the UFO community during last year's documentary Age Of Disclosure.
In a jaw-dropping admission about what is lurking in the deep dark depths of space, Stratton said: "I have seen with my own eyes, non-human craft and non-human beings."
Jay Stratton, a former intelligence chief, is set to drop a bombshell memoir
(Image: Getty Images for A E Networks)
The former spy chief is now taking his revelations to the next level in his upcoming book, Out of the Shadows: Revealing the Truth About Non-Human Intelligent Life.
Publishers HarperCollins teased that the book will expose how the government has actively hidden the truth about ETs from the public for nearly a century.
In a statement, the publisher said: "Operating in the shadows of the intelligence community, Stratton discovered an 80-year coverup of the existence of non-human intelligent life and fought back against powerful gatekeepers who have hid the truth from the public, Congress, and even Presidents."
Stratton sent shockwaves through the UFO community during last year's documentary Age Of Disclosure
(Image: Getty Images)
Stratton, who walked away from his government role in 2022, was the first-ever director of the Pentagon's Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP) Task Force.
He originally helped set up the pioneering programme after learning that mysterious objects of unknown origin were buzzing American nuclear weapon sites. But hunting aliens apparently comes with a terrifying cost.
According to his publishers, Stratton will break his silence on unnerving encounters that "profoundly altered his understanding of humanity’s place in the universe and took a disturbing toll on him and his family."
The explosive book is set to hit shelves on October 13, landing right in the middle of a mainstream UFO revolution.
Thanks to declassified military files and high-profile Congressional hearings, UFOs have moved from sci-fi folklore into the halls of power.
Things have escalated so much that a presidential directive on February 26 ordered federal agencies to start unsealing evidence on UAPs and non-human intelligence.
Stratton hasn't finished fighting yet, either. He is currently working alongside the White House, the Director of National Intelligence and the Department of Defense to get his hands on classified evidence so he can release it to the public over the coming months.
The jaw-dropping story is already being eyed up for Hollywood treatment, too. Age Of Disclosure director and producer Dan Farah has already snapped up the TV and film rights to the memoir.
Lauding the whistleblower's bravery, Farah said: "After discovering the related national security concerns and a potential existential threat, Jay defied powerful institutional gatekeepers and risked everything in order to reveal that humanity is not alone in the universe and to ensure the government takes action."
Close Encounters, UFOs and cover-ups: Why Spielberg's 1977 conspiracy theory classic is so relevant in 2026
(Image credit: Alamy)
When trailers for Steven Spielberg's Disclosure Day confirmed that it deals with extraterrestrials, the internet exploded with speculation that it was a sequel to his 1977 classic, Close Encounters of the Third Kind. The guesswork became so rampant that the press notes for the new film cheekily announce it is "not a sequel to Close Encounters (sorry, internet)".
But it does have very direct ties. Emily Blunt, one of Disclosure Day's stars, has described it as resembling "a third act" along with Close Encounters and ET The Extra-Terrestrial (1982). Spielberg himself linked the films in one of the trailers, saying, "I'm even more inclined now than I was when I made Close Encounters to really believe that we're not the only intelligent civilisation in the Universe."
Close Encounters becomes an everyman's attempt to find the truth in the face of massive government secrecy and lies
Some of the echoes are obvious, with friendly creatures from other planets arriving here. But there is a less obvious connection between Close Encounters and Disclosure Day, as both tap into conspiracy theories about the US government hiding evidence of UFOs – or, to use the updated term, UAPs, for Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena.
Those theories go back to the legendary supposed crash of a UFO in Roswell, New Mexico in 1947, and over the years have only intensified, making their way into the mainstream. Today they resonate in light of the Pentagon's recent underwhelming release of information about reported UAP sightings. Timelier than ever, Close Encounters is a key to Disclosure Day, which is all about revealing the truth about UAPs.
Spielberg's upcoming film Disclosure Day is closely linked with his 1977 classic, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, which starred Richard Dreyfuss
(Credit: Getty Images)
With its bold, expansive visuals, themes of family distress and the awesome visit of beings from some other planet, Close Encounters holds up as one of Spielberg's most ambitious and dazzling films. Most viewers are likely to remember at least a few indelible images. Richard Dreyfuss as Roy Neary, an ordinary family man who sees a UFO, sits at the dinner table building mashed potatoes into the shape of a giant rock.
That rock is the site where the UFO will land, although he doesn't know it yet. One might recall the arrival of the glowing mothership, the spindly large-headed ghostly-white creatures walking out, and Roy happily joining them on board as he heads off into space. The five music notes scientists use to communicate with extraterrestrials are hard to forget.
'UFOs and Watergate'But what jumps out watching Close Encounters today is how the government tries to prevent the public from knowing what we have seen to be true. At a community meeting, Roy and Jillian (Melinda Dillon), the mother of a three-year-old who has been taken by the aliens, join others who have seen the UFOs. A US Air Force officer says what they saw was definitely not from space. And the official deceptions go far beyond that lie. Throughout, Spielberg shows the audience evidence of a cover-up still unknown to the characters.
On television, the evening news reports that a train derailment has caused a chemical leak, requiring a 300-mile-(483km) wide evacuation near Devil's Tower, the monumental rock in Wyoming that is the very shape Roy was sculpting in potatoes. That report is just a cover story we've seen officials concoct. We have also seen a huge military operation heading toward Wyoming to prepare the evacuated area as a landing site for the spaceship, and equipment for the operation loaded onto trucks with signage for Baskin-Robbins ice cream and the Piggly Wiggly supermarket chain.
Beyond its memorable family story, Close Encounters is about how the government tries to keep information from the public
(Credit: Getty Images)
As Roy and Jillian head to Devil's Tower together, they see dead animals on the roadside – not dead, we find out, but tranquilised by the government to make the chemical spill story plausible. Close Encounters becomes an everyman's attempt to find the truth in the face of massive government secrecy and lies.
In fact, when Spielberg first conceived the film, he described it as "UFOs and Watergate". Through many iterations of the screenplay, it morphed into a family story: Roy leaves his wife and children for space, and Jillian tries to find her lost son. Yet the conspiracy-thriller plotline remains strong. If you can't trust a grocery truck to be heading to a store instead of an alien landing, what can you trust?
Even in ET, amidst all that film's heart-tugging, Spielberg emphatically depicts the government trying to keep its knowledge of extraterrestrials from the public. Nasa scientists and government agents swarm the house where little Elliott and his family have been protecting ET, in order to take and study him. And when ET heads home, with the iconic image of Elliott and his friends riding bikes across the sky to get him to safety, they are running from US government cars.
Art imitating lifeAs they often do, Spielberg's fantasy films mirror aspects of real life. Jon Towlson, in his 2016 book about Close Encounters, writes that after the film's release, there was "a dramatic increase in reported UFO sightings, although these were not new cases as one might expect, but older reports made by people who had previously been afraid to come forward".
We now know that US government investigations of UFOs go back to 1947 and Roswell, and that similar studies have followed on and off ever since. Some of the subterfuge around that was brought to light in 2017, when the New York Times published a story about "The Pentagon's Mysterious UFO Program," revealing that the US Defense Department had been secretly funding studies of declared sightings. The government really had been hiding something. Whether it was evidence of UFOs or simply the fact that it had been studying the possibilities would have been enough to fuel more conspiracy theories.
Emily Blunt and Josh O'Connor star in Disclosure Day, a conspiracy thriller in the vein of films from the Close Encounters era
(Credit: Universal Pictures)
Interest has kept ramping up even while answers remain sparse. Nothing much came of Congressional hearings in 2023, which wondered whether UAPs posed a national security treat. More impressive information was revealed in a 2025 Wall Street Journal story about a report released by the Defense Department. The Journal wrote that the report omitted the fact that a disinformation program had spread rumours of UFOs, which was to disguise information Russia might have gleaned from a military facility.
None of this offered convincing evidence of UAPs or alien visitations. Neither did the report the Pentagon released last month, with many images easily explained as flashing lights. But that hasn't stopped true believers. "The stuff that they're releasing is stuff we've known for, like, forever," one of them told the BBC at the time, adding, "But I'm very hopeful that we're heading in the right direction."
Disclosure Day lands in that real-life context, at a time of suspicions not only about the government's honesty but about truth and facts themselves. It is an action movie and a sci-fi story but above all a conspiracy thriller in the vein of post-Watergate films from the Close Encounters era.
Josh O'Connor's character, Daniel, is a whistleblower employed by the fictional but all too plausible Wardex, a clandestine agency working with the Defense Department, unofficial so it doesn't have to play by any rules. As the trailers have revealed, the government has been guarding decades' worth of evidence of extraterrestrial visitations. Daniel, the hero trying to release the truth, has to go on the run followed by Wardex killers intent on stopping him.
The echoes of 1970s thrillers are clear. In Three Days of the Condor (1975), for example, Robert Redford is a CIA researcher hunted by gunmen because of what he knows. "I just read books," he complains to his CIA bosses, just as Daniel protests, "I'm not a field guy, Hugo. I did the tech, that's all." Hugo (Colman Domingo) is another Wardex whistleblower who has what may be the film's most pertinent line, delivered vehemently: "This 79-year terror campaign of obfuscation, lies and cover-up has to end!"
Spielberg has emphasised as much in a teaser for the film. He says there is now a "critical mass" of people fascinated with the question of whether we are alone in the Universe. "And if someone knows we're not alone, why haven't we been told?"
This Man Claims an Alien Being Named Bashar Says Humanity Is Going Through a Reset in 2026
He was a creative kid into sci‑fi, not a New Age guru, until two silent black triangular craft passed over Los Angeles in broad daylight. One at roughly 150 feet and another about 70 feet away, both witnessed by multiple people.
That shock did not turn him into a preacher; it turned him into a researcher who spent years digging into UFOs, psychic phenomena, and channeling because his lived reality no longer matched the official story.
Whether you think those craft were classified tech, nonhuman intelligence, or some glitch in perception, that rupture is what birthed the entire Bashar material.
I care less about “believing” his story and more about what it means when a reasonably normal, creative person sees something so far outside the script that they dedicate decades to decoding it.
Ten years later, during a guided meditation in a channeling class, Darryl suddenly received what he describes as a telepathic download. The name “Bashar,” a face, and the memory of an agreement made before this life to be a channel.
The moment that happened, the entity speaking through the teacher stopped, turned directly to him, and said, “There is an entity here for you right now if you’re ready to begin.”
Another student simultaneously sketched the same face Darryl had just “seen” in his mind, convincing him this was more than imagination. From there he practiced, struggled to handle the energy, and over decades word‑of‑mouth expanded his sessions from a living room to audiences around the world.
Whether you think this is ET contact or a deep layer of his own psyche, you have to admit that there is a coherent system behind it that has been stable for 40+ years.
Bashar presents as a hybrid extraterrestrial from a parallel reality, part human and part “grey,” living in a civilization roughly 3,000 years more advanced than ours. Their solar system would be located about 500 light years in the direction of Orion if you overlapped their universe with ours, but it is only perceivable by shifting realities, like tuning into another frequency.
Physically, Bashar is described as about 5 feet tall, slender, pale‑skinned, large eyes, smaller facial features, and slightly larger head – a 50/50 hybrid between humans and the greys.
His role is not “space god” but a very specific job: a first contact specialist, part of a larger structure of social engineers and planetary engineers focused on guiding young civilizations through the most dangerous part of their evolution. This framing alone is controversial because it flips us from “top of the food chain” into “adolescents in a galactic neighborhood that’s already watching.”
According to Bashar’s narrative, the greys were once a human‑like civilization, a parallel version of Earth that destroyed its biosphere and mutated to survive. They lost the ability to reproduce and had to access other timelines where human DNA was still viable, including ours, to create hybrids that could preserve their culture.
That is the darker reinterpretation of “alien abduction” in this model: a desperate genetic salvage operation by a civilization that wrecked itself. Now the hybrids, including Bashar’s people, see us making the same mistakes and are trying to intervene before we push our own reality down the same dead timeline.
Darryl is very open about the fact that he cannot “prove” Bashar is real in a lab sense, but he has actually put his brain under study in a documentary to demystify channeling. In those measurements, his resting brain rhythm sits around 9 hertz, but when Bashar “speaks” it jumps to about 10 hertz, and when Bashar “listens” to a question it goes to 11, indicating an even deeper empathic intake of information.
At the same time, his brain shifts into high‑frequency gamma activity when channeling, the same “in the zone” state we hit during deep creativity, but with unusual stability and intensity. Bashar’s model is that everyone channels to some degree: when you do what you love and lose track of time, you are in a channeling state, just tuned to your own higher mind rather than a distinct ET consciousness.
One of the core teachings is what he calls “the formula,” which is basically an instruction manual for aligning your life with your highest timeline. The essence: your highest purpose is to be yourself as fully as possible, to live each moment in alignment with your true excitement, and to stop trying to be everything you are not just to fit external expectations.
Most of our suffering comes from being trained to ignore our authentic path: don’t stand out, be practical, don’t follow your passion, be “realistic.” Bashar reframes this as an energetic system: you cannot perceive what you are not the vibration of, so you must “be” the frequency of the reality you prefer before you can experience it.
To me, this is where his material overlaps with both neuroscience and simulation theory: your beliefs and emotions function like parameters, selecting which version of reality you load into your personal “game.”
On consciousness, Bashar’s model is radical but surprisingly elegant. You do not “have” a soul; you are a soul, and the body is more like a focus point, a condensed pixel cluster in a larger field of awareness.
He describes the soul as a sphere of energy filled with patterns, each representing concepts and lessons, which then focuses some of those patterns into a dense “seed” at the center to create a specific physical incarnation.
Life is the soul breathing: focusing into that seed to live a life, then relaxing back out into its full scope, integrating the experience, then doing it again.
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Our interactions, including Darryl’s link with Bashar, happen by vibrational and telepathic agreement between these “seeds” within a larger shared field of consciousness.
This sounds like mysticism, but it is highly compatible with a simulation‑style universe where all objects and “players” are simply different nodes of one underlying information field.
Now to the headline claim everyone fixates on is timing. Bashar originally spoke about a window for open contact between roughly 2020 and 2033, but as disclosure efforts and global conversation intensified, he narrowed that to around 2027 for a more literal introduction to extraterrestrials via official channels.
2026 is described as the year of disclosure more broadly: not just UFO files, but secrets in finance, religion, media, and power structures emerging from the shadows. He is explicit that this will not instantly create unity; there will be denial, resistance, accusations of hoaxes, and decades of adjustment.
The reason for the urgency, he says, is that humanity needs time before its “reset” to integrate ET contact at its own pace rather than being shocked into it. Whether you buy those dates or not, I find the deeper point compelling: a civilization that has nuclear weapons, global AI, and collapsing trust in institutions cannot just keep drifting. Something will force a choice.
Bashar does not paint ETs as saviors; they are more like strict older relatives who step in when the kids are about to burn the house down. He points to stories of UFOs disabling nuclear missile systems and scrambling launch codes as an example of a boundary: they will not allow a full thermonuclear annihilation because Earth is too valuable as a school for souls.
Earth, in this framing, is a high‑intensity polarity school where souls come to explore extremes of good and evil, connection and separation, specifically because it is hard.
From that perspective, the “zoo hypothesis” that we are being monitored while in quarantine is partially true, but the bigger picture is that we are being nudged toward global cooperation because the survival of our species now depends on it. Do you like the idea of ETs quietly enforcing a no‑extinction rule, or does it bother you that humans might not be the ultimate authority over Earth’s future?
There is also a softer, psychological edge to Bashar’s work that often gets ignored in the UFO conversation. He talks constantly about how beliefs generate experience, how people use their own confidence to reinforce negative narratives, and how “lack of trust” is itself a form of trust in something that does not serve you.
He uses humor to break patterns, pointing out that saying “I’m not confident” is still a demonstration of confidence; you are just confident in your limitation. He challenges the idea that certain situations, like chronic health problems, are impossible to shift at the belief level by calling that very assumption a belief that keeps the pattern locked.
This does not erase material conditions, but it gives people a more empowered framework: what if your primary leverage point is not controlling events, but changing your relationship to them.
For me, this is where his message is both empowering and controversial, because it implies a level of responsibility that many people understandably resist.
Here is my own stance, as someone who lives in the overlap of AI, UFOs, simulation theory, and ancient mysteries: you do not have to believe Bashar is a literal hybrid alien for his message to matter. You can treat him as a symbolic future human, a parallel version of us who has already solved the problems we are drowning in, transmitting back a set of psychological, spiritual, and civilizational “patch notes.”
The real danger is not that he is wrong; the real danger is that we keep living as if none of these warnings matter, pretend there is no bigger context, and let our timelines be chosen for us by inertia and fear.
My bold take is that whether contact in 2027 looks like a press conference, a mass sighting, or just millions of people snapping out of their old programming at once, the civilization we land in will depend far more on our consciousness than on any ship in the sky.
So the real question is not “Are aliens real?” but “What kind of species do we become if we act as if we are already being watched, mentored, and challenged to grow up?”
Former Stargate remote viewer claims four alien bases are hidden on Earth
Scientists discover ‘zombie’ sea cucumber that could outlive us all
If you told a guy in the 1760s – when the average lifespan was 38 – that you were 82, he’d probably think you could live forever.
Now, Canadian scientists may have accidentally discovered something that’s really immortal – a discarded chunk of sea cucumber.
A relative of starfish and sea urchins, sea cucumbers are blobs that creep across the ocean floor on tentacle-feet, gobbling up algae and plankton.
Three years after scientists amputated bits of a scarlet sea cucumber, known to experts as a Psolus fabricii, the tissues refuse to die.
The severed tube feet and tentacles have sat inside a tank of natural running seawater, slowly growing and healing.
Marine biogeochemist Rachel Sipler from the non-profit Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Science said the sample is a ‘real-life zombie’.
‘We haven’t grown a new, complete sea cucumber yet, but we are seeing pretty stunning growth and diversification of cells literally years after this tissue was removed,’ she said.
‘It’s like a lizard that loses its tail. We know some lizards can grow new tails; we’re talking about whether the tail can grow a new lizard.’
When humans lose a chunk of flesh, it dies and decays. Same goes for lizards and other sea cucumbers, even though they can regenerate lost limbs.
This isn’t so with scarlet sea cucumbers, found in the cold waters of the Arctic and North Atlantic Ocean, however.
Instead, the tentacles that these klutzes of the ocean lose when they get into scrapes or bump into things keep on living, according to a recently published study in Science Advances.
Sipler and her team at Memorial University of Newfoundland scooped up a discarded tube foot – a tiny limb used for movement and feeding.
They placed the samples in seawater, which is crawling with bacteria and organic matter.
Unexpectedly, they found that the lost pieces of tissue were repairing their wounds and that their immune cells were springing into action.
The tentacles – which showed no signs of rot – even responded to tactile stimuli, suggesting the preservation of the animal’s neural network.
The researchers realised that these slivers of sea cucumber were feeding off the organic material in the water, despite having no mouth or digestive system.
They were even soaking up the amino acids – which cells string together to form proteins – in the seawater.
And they were still doing it three years later, long after the study had wrapped up, the team discovered.
The researchers said that this is the first time a tissue sample has survived and thrived in a natural setting.
‘Our findings challenge conventional perceptions of tissue immortality,’ they concluded.
Immortal cells are nothing new – scientists have made them using animal and human stem cells, which are blank canvases that all tissues and organs in your body are created from.
But these cells can only be kept alive in highly controlled and clean environments. Keeping cells inside a tissue section is even harder.
Yet the researchers found a slab of Scarlet sea cucumber could live ‘indefinitely’ in dirty seawater.
This species even seems to be unique compared to other sea cucumbers, whose appendages usually decay within three or so months.
Dr Robert Puschendorf, an associate professor in conservation biology at the University of Plymouth, who was not involved in the study, told Metro that these prickly cucumbers don’t quite hold the ‘secret to immortality’.
‘This is not an immortal animal, and the study does not tell us anything about why humans age,’ he says.
‘[Lead author Sara Jobson] herself is clear on this point, noting that the tissue never grew back into a whole sea cucumber and that the fragments sit somewhere between alive and dead, which is why her team calls them “zombies”.’
Archaeologists Found a Strange Metal From Beyond Earth Hidden in 3,000‑Year‑Old Treasure Stash
Hidden inside a 3,000‑year‑old hoard, two mysterious objects are made from a rare, otherworldly material that rewrote everything archaeologists thought they knew about Bronze Age Spain.
© A Legendary Ancient Treasure Hoard Just Revealed A Strange Metal From The Depths Of Space.
Credit: Shutterstock
Hidden in a small city museum in southeastern Spain lies a Bronze Age hoard that long puzzled archaeologists. The Treasure of Villena contains 66 objects, mostly gold and silver, with a few stray pieces of iron so unusual that for decades experts could not explain where the metal came from. The airless display cases show bracelets, necklaces, and small ornamental vessels, their surfaces reflecting the soft light of the gallery like they did 3,000 years ago in a forgotten ritual center. The hoard’s composition and craftsmanship have drawn international attention, with recent research spotlighting its unusual meteoritic iron components.
What made the hoard stand out was not just its beauty, but a technical anomaly. The iron items in the Treasure of Villena looked different from the terrestrial iron tools that appeared later in the Iron Age. They were small, highly polished, and unusually resistant to corrosion, which suggested the metal had a special composition. For years, the objects were catalogued as rare but unexplained examples of early ironwork, with no clear source identified. Detailed analyses later revealed that at least two of these pieces were made from meteoritic iron, linking the hoard to material from beyond Earth.
Location of the Villena Treasure (Alicante) in the Iberian Peninsula.
(Credit: Rovira-Llorens et al., Trabajos de Prehistoria, 2024)
The hoard was discovered in 1963 by a civil engineer digging foundations near the town of Villena, in the province of Alicante, Spain. The Archaeological Museum “José María Soler” in Villena now houses the collection, showcasing it as one of the most important prehistoric metal hoards in the western Mediterranean. The objects date to roughly 1400–1200 BC, a period when bronze dominated weapons and tools and iron was still extremely scarce. The museum’s displays present the 66‑piece assemblage in chronological order, helping visitors grasp how valuable metal was in Late Bronze Age society.
The breakthrough came from a team led by Salvador Rovira‑Llorens, a researcher at the Instituto de Historia of the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC) in Madrid. The team focused on two iron objects from the Treasure of Villena: a small bracelet and a hollow hemisphere often interpreted as a decorative element.
Using mass spectrometry and other analytical techniques, the researchers examined the nickel content and overall chemical signature of the metal in these objects. Their work was later summarized in a public‑facing article that explained how the meteoritic iron fragments were likely treated as rare, high‑status materials.
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One of the iron objects included in the Treasure of Villena.
Credit: El Museo de Villena
Their analysis revealed that the metal was not ordinary Earth‑sourced iron at all. Instead, it contained a nickel signature characteristic of meteoritic iron, material that originated from a meteorite that fell to Earth. The two objects represent the first known use of meteoritic iron in the Iberian Peninsula, suggesting that Late Bronze Age metallurgists either obtained or repurposed a rare cosmic metal for elite artifacts.
In their paper, published in Trabajos de Prehistoria, the researchers note that the data “suggest that the cap and bracelet from the Treasure of Villena would currently be the first two pieces attributable to meteoritic iron in the Iberian Peninsula, which is compatible with a Late Bronze chronology, prior to the beginning of the widespread production of terrestrial iron.”
The Treasure of Villena is almost 10 kilos of gold, including bottles, bracelets and ornaments.
Credit: El Museo de Villena
This finding places the Treasure of Villena alongside other famous meteoritic‑iron objects, such as the dagger in Tutankhamun’s tomb, reinforcing the idea that ancient cultures across Eurasia and North Africa sometimes incorporated space rock into symbolic or luxury items.
The discovery also highlights how far prehistoric metalwork had advanced before the Iron Age, even with limited access to terrestrial iron ores. Public‑facing coverage of the research has helped bring wider attention to the museum and the broader significance of Late Bronze Age metallurgy in Spain.
The bracelet and the hollow hemisphere are small but technically sophisticated. The bracelet shows evidence of careful hammering and shaping, while the hollow hemisphere has a smooth, almost mirror‑like surface that reflects light in a way typical of well‑worked metal. The corrosion‑resistant nature of the iron pieces likely helped preserve their appearance over millennia, making them stand out even among the more numerous gold and silver objects on display at the Archaeological Museum “José María Soler”.
The iron bracelet, which measures 8.5 centimeters (3.35 inches)
across. Credit: El Museo de Villena
To confirm the meteoritic origin, the team compared the chemical composition of the Villena pieces with known meteoritic samples and with terrestrial iron ores. The high nickel content, along with specific trace elements, matched meteoritic sources rather than typical iron ores available in the region. The pattern is consistent with iron meteorites, which are fragments of the cores of small planetary bodies that never formed into full planets. These space rocks often contain iron‑nickel alloys that can be worked by skilled metalworkers, even in the Bronze Age, and the Treasure of Villena now stands as a key example of such early use.
The discovery adds a new layer to the story of the Treasure of Villena. Rather than being a simple collection of gold and silver elite goods, the hoard now includes at least two objects made from a rare, possibly symbolic material that fell from the sky. The Late Bronze Age communities in the area may have had access to a meteorite fragment or acquired it through trade networks that connected Iberia with other regions of the Mediterranean. The metal’s origin would have been unknown to them, but its unusual appearance and hardness might have made it prized for ceremonial or prestige objects.
The Treasure of Villena.
Credit: El Museo de Villena
The Treasure of Villena consists of 21 gold objects, 27 silver pieces, 18 amber beads, and these two iron items, all placed together in a buried deposit. The way the objects were arranged suggests a deliberate act of deposition, possibly related to ritual or social change. The Archaeological Museum “José María Soler” in Villena continues to display the hoard, offering visitors a chance to see Bronze Age artistry that, in two small pieces, literally came from beyond our planet.
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Paper Claims the “Asteroid” Japan’s Probe Is Approaching Is Actually a Derelict Spacecraft
DLR German Aerospace Center
After successfully rendezvousing with near-Earth asteroid Ryugu in June 2018 and sending a sampled cache of rocks back to Earth, Japan’s Hayabusa2 spacecraft is now making its long journey to its next destination, a tiny and rapidly spinning asteroid dubbed 1998 KY26.
Hayabusa 2 seems to have successfully bombed asteroid Ryugu
JAXA
The spacecraft is expected to reach the mysterious space rock by July 2031, giving scientists plenty of time to come up with theories as to what it could find once it gets there.
1998 KY26 is an intriguing new candidate for an entirely new class of objects. In 2017, interstellar visitor ‘Oumuamua — the first object from beyond the solar system to have ever been observed — inspired scientists to categorize it as a “dark comet,” a class of asteroids that share some behaviors with comets. (A brief refresher: asteroids are lumps of rock, ice or dust that orbit the Sun but are too small to be classified as planets, while comets are “dirty snowballs” that release gases to form a tail behind them as they pass by the Sun.)
Scientists suggest 1998 KY26 could also be a dark comet, making Hayabusa2’s visit five years from now an intriguing opportunity to get a closer look.
But according to Harvard astronomer Avi Loeb, who has spent years pondering the nature of ‘Oumuamua and its unusual behavior, 1998 KY26 could be something else entirely. As detailed in a yet-to-be-peer-reviewed paper, Loeb and his colleagues suggest the object could instead be a long-lost relic of the Soviet space program.
“In particular, we identify it as potentially a relic of a historical Russian mission to Mars, the Phobos 1 probe, which suffered a failure 2 months after the launch in July 1988, due to upload of a faulty command,” Loeb explained in a blog post this week.
Phobos 1 failed to send back a signal in August 1988 due to what later turned out to be a typo — a missing hyphen — in a command that shut down crucial systems.
In their latest paper, Loeb and his colleagues suggest that the probe’s thruster firings may have put it in a “similar” orbit to 1998 KY26’s, and that the “two orbits converge and are statistically compatible.” The researchers also argue that the defunct spacecraft and dark comet share roughly the same size and a “quite elongated” shape.
Still, the hypothesis is quite a stretch, given the vastness of space. However, in his blog post, Loeb argued that scientists should nonetheless extend their “training data set to include not just rocks and icebergs but also the space objects launched by humans over the past 69 years” just in case.
If 1998 KY26 does turn out to be technological in nature, Loeb argued that the finding could support his controversial theory that ‘Oumuamua may have also been a piece of technology sent to us by an advanced extraterrestrial civilization.
“I wonder whether the mainstream of comet experts will acknowledge that 1I/’Oumuamua may have not been a natural ‘dark comet’ if it becomes clear that their so-called ‘dark comet’ 1998 KY26 is technological in origin, beyond any reasonable doubt,” he pondered.
Nobody knows for sure what Hayabusa2 will find. Besides, thanks to the asteroid’s extremely fast spin, it could prove extremely difficult to land on.
But Loeb and his colleagues argue we should keep an open mind, just in case it turned out to be a long-lost Soviet era spacecraft.
“In anticipation of the Hayabusa2 observations in 2031, which will be decisive in resolving the origin of this object, we encourage further observational, dynamical, and theoretical studies aimed at more tightly constraining the nature and properties of 1998 KY26,” they concluded in their paper.
More on Hayabusa2:
De Historische Declassificatie van UAP-gegevens door de Verenigde Staten: Waarom Nu Pas?
De gedeclasseerde UAP-bestanden van het Pentagon zijn nu openbaar toegankelijk op WAR.GOV/UFO — geen veiligheidsmachtiging vereist. Het Ministerie van Oorlog begon op 8 mei 2026 met het vrijgeven van materiaal onder het PURSUE-programma.
De Historische Declassificatie van UAP-gegevens door de Verenigde Staten: Waarom Nu Pas?
Op 8 mei 2026 heeft de Amerikaanse regering een historische stap gezet door het publiek toegang te geven tot een grote hoeveelheid voorheen geheime documenten over onidentificeerbare anomalieën, beter bekend als UAP (Unidentified Aerial Phenomena). Deze gebeurtenis markeert een keerpunt in de manier waarop over deze mysterieuze verschijnselen wordt gesproken en onderzocht. In dit artikel bespreken we niet alleen wat er precies is vrijgegeven, maar analyseren we ook waarom deze onthullingen nu pas plaatsvinden en of de gepubliceerde video's echt zijn. Daarnaast onderzoeken we de implicaties voor de wetenschap, de politiek en de maatschappij.
De eerste tranche van documenten bevat 162 onverwerkte UAP-gevallen uit verschillende jaren en regio’s. Het omvat onder meer:
Infrared-beelden van het FBI (2025): Foto's en videomateriaal van onverklaarbare objecten die in het westen van de VS werden vastgelegd. Verschillende objecten worden gedetecteerd, inclusief formationele vliegende objecten zonder duidelijke voortstuwingssignatuur.
Archiefbeelden van Apollo 17 (1972): Foto's en transcripties waarin crewleden vreemde lichten boven de maan zien. Deze beelden waren jarenlang geheim.
Apollo 12-gegevens (1969): Transcripten waarin astronauten vreemde verschijnselen en lichten bespreken.
Militaire ontmoetingen wereldwijd (2013-2026): Rapporten uit verschillende regio's, waaronder het Midden-Oosten, Griekenland, de Indo-Pacific en Noord-Amerika. Bijvoorbeeld een rapport uit 2024 waarin een "voetbalkoepelvormig" object bij Japan wordt beschreven.
Deze documenten tonen aan dat de Amerikaanse overheid al decennia lang bewijs verzamelt dat niet gemakkelijk verklaard kan worden. Wat nu gebeurt, is dat deze bewijzen voor het eerst openbaar worden gemaakt en toegankelijk zijn voor onafhankelijke analyses.
Het Amerikaanse Ministerie van Oorlog — hernoemd van het Ministerie van Defensie onder de regering-Trump — leidt het interdepartementale PURSUE-programma. Bestanden zullen op een doorlopende basis worden vrijgegeven op WAR.GOV/UFO.
Het feit dat deze documenten nu pas worden vrijgegeven, is geen toeval. Verschillende factoren spelen een rol in de timing en de motivatie achter deze openbaarmaking. Deze factoren kunnen worden onderverdeeld in politieke, maatschappelijke, technologische, geopolitieke en economische redenen. Elk van deze aspecten draagt bij aan het bredere kader waarin deze informatie wordt gedeeld met het publiek en de internationale gemeenschap.
De afgelopen jaren is de publieke interesse in UAP (Unidentified Aerial Phenomena), vaak ook aangeduid als UFO's, sterk toegenomen. Wat begon als een niche-onderwerp voor een kleine groep enthousiastelingen, heeft zich ontwikkeld tot een mainstream onderwerp dat regelmatig de voorpagina’s haalt van grote kranten en media. Documentaires zoals die van Netflix, podcasts en talkshows hebben de aandacht gevestigd op onverklaarbare luchtverschijnselen en de mogelijke implicaties ervan.
Deze groeiende belangstelling heeft geleid tot een toenemende druk op beleidsmakers en overheidsinstanties om meer transparantie te bieden. Consumenten en burgergroepen eisen openheid over wat de overheid weet en wat niet. Het publiek wil niet langer in het duister worden gehouden over fenomenen die mogelijk niet alleen onschuldig zijn, maar ook een bedreiging kunnen vormen voor nationale veiligheid en luchtvaartveiligheid. Daarnaast spelen getuigenissen van voormalige militaire functionarissen en piloten die openlijk spreken over hun ervaringen een grote rol. Zij vertellen over waarnemingen van objecten die zich buiten de normale technologische mogelijkheden lijken te bevinden, wat de geloofwaardigheid van de verhalen versterkt.
De maatschappelijke druk wordt verder versterkt door de groeiende bewustwording dat deze fenomenen mogelijk niet alleen een samenzweringstheorie zijn. Onderzoek en rapporten van officiële instanties tonen aan dat er nog veel onduidelijkheden bestaan over de aard en oorsprong van deze verschijnselen. Als gevolg hiervan is er een bredere acceptatie dat het transparant maken van deze documenten noodzakelijk is om het publieke vertrouwen te herstellen en de informatie te delen die al jarenlang achter gesloten deuren is gehouden.
Een belangrijke factor in de recente vrijgave van documenten is de beleidsverschuiving binnen de Amerikaanse overheid. Onder de vorige administraties werd er vooral terughoudend omgegaan met het openbaar maken van informatie over UAP. Behoudens enkele uitzonderingen bleef de officiële houding vooral gericht op het minimaliseren van de aandacht, met het argument dat het onderwerp niet relevant of te gevoelig was voor nationale veiligheid.
Echter, onder de regering van Donald Trump kwam een duidelijke verandering. In februari 2026 postte Trump op Truth Social – het sociale mediaplatform dat hij zelf promoot – dat hij opdracht zou geven tot grootschalige declassificatie van documenten over UAP. Deze aankondiging was een keerpunt, omdat het publiek en de media hiermee voor het eerst een expliciet signaal kregen dat de Amerikaanse overheid niet langer achter gesloten deuren wilde blijven over deze fenomenen.
De beslissing om meer openheid te geven, werd mede ingegeven door het besef dat de geheimhouding niet langer houdbaar was. Verschillende rapporten van de Amerikaanse inlichtingendiensten, zoals het Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), toonden aan dat er aanzienlijke hoeveelheden data waren verzameld die niet konden worden verklaard. Het publiek had het recht om te weten wat de overheid wist en welke informatie nog steeds niet gedeeld werd. Daarnaast was er ook politieke druk vanuit congresleden en senatoren, die om meer transparantie vroegen. De Amerikaanse regering erkende dat het openstellen van deze documenten niet alleen het vertrouwen in de overheid kon herstellen, maar ook de internationale positie zou versterken door te laten zien dat de VS bereid was om de waarheid onder ogen te zien en te delen.
In een wereld waarin technologische superioriteit en informatiebeheersing cruciaal zijn, speelt geopolitiek een belangrijke rol in de timing van de openbaarmaking. De Verenigde Staten bevinden zich in een voortdurende machtsstrijd met landen als China en Rusland, die hun eigen militaire en technologische capaciteiten verder ontwikkelen. Het vrijgeven van informatie over UAP kan een strategisch middel zijn om de eigen positie te versterken.
Door openheid te bieden over onverklaarbare verschijnselen, probeert de VS mogelijk de internationale perceptie te sturen en te voorkomen dat andere landen dezelfde geheime aard van deze fenomenen blijven hanteren. Het zou ook kunnen dienen als een manier om te tonen dat de VS voorop lopen in het begrijpen van deze verschijnselen, waardoor andere landen mogelijk minder snel geneigd zijn om zelf geheime programma’s te ontwikkelen of te blijven vasthouden aan gesloten informatiebeleid.
Bovendien kan deze openbaarmaking ook bedoeld zijn om de eigen technologische en militaire superioriteit te beschermen. Door de gegevens te delen met bondgenoten en de internationale gemeenschap, hoopt men dat er gezamenlijk onderzoek kan plaatsvinden dat de nationale veiligheid ten goede komt. Tegelijkertijd is er de mogelijkheid dat de VS hiermee ook andere landen onder druk zet om soortgelijke stappen te zetten, waardoor de internationale norm wordt verschoven naar meer transparantie over UAP.
Een van de meest intrigerende aspecten van de vrijgave van documenten is de mogelijkheid dat hierin informatie zit over technologieën die verder gaan dan onze huidige wetenschap en technologische capaciteiten. Sommige waarnemingen van UAP’s suggereren dat deze objecten over geavanceerde technologieën beschikken die mogelijk buiten ons begrip liggen.
Het openstellen van deze gegevens biedt de kans om samen met de internationale wetenschappelijke gemeenschap deze fenomenen te bestuderen. Door het delen van data en bevindingen kunnen onderzoekers mogelijk nieuwe inzichten krijgen over de aard en oorsprong van deze verschijnselen. Dit kan leiden tot technologische doorbraken die de menselijke kennis en innovatie aanzienlijk kunnen versnellen.
Daarnaast kan het onderzoek ook bijdragen aan het ontwikkelen van nieuwe technologieën op het gebied van detectie, tracking en analyse van dergelijke fenomenen. Het delen van gegevens met universiteiten, particuliere onderzoeksinstituten en technologieleiders kan leiden tot innovatieve oplossingen die de luchtvaartveiligheid verbeteren en mogelijk ook nieuwe technologische toepassingen genereren.
Het is ook mogelijk dat de gegevens aanwijzingen bevatten over technologische ontwikkelingen die door niet-menselijke actoren worden uitgevoerd, wat de wetenschappelijke gemeenschap voor grote uitdagingen stelt. Het vrijmaken van deze informatie kan dus niet alleen de wetenschap vooruithelpen, maar ook fundamentele vragen oproepen over de aard en oorsprong van de verschijnselen.
Een opvallend kenmerk van de recente openbaarmaking is de uitnodiging aan particuliere onderzoekers en bedrijven om mee te werken aan het analyseren van de data. De Amerikaanse overheid erkent dat zij niet over alle middelen beschikt om deze complexe fenomenen te onderzoeken en dat de private sector een waardevolle partner kan zijn.
Door deze samenwerking te stimuleren, hoopt men innovatie te bevorderen en nieuwe inzichten te verkrijgen die de overheid mogelijk niet snel zelf kan realiseren. Particuliere bedrijven op het gebied van technologie, data-analyse, en aerospace worden uitgenodigd om de gegevens te bestuderen en te ontwikkelen nieuwe technologieën op basis van de beschikbare informatie.
Deze samenwerking kan leiden tot technologische doorbraken die niet alleen de nationale veiligheid versterken, maar ook commerciële kansen creëren voor de private sector. Denk bijvoorbeeld aan nieuwe sensoren, detectiesystemen, en communicatietechnologieën die voortvloeien uit het onderzoek naar UAP’s.
Daarnaast is er ook een strategisch aspect: door de data te delen met de private sector wordt de innovatiekracht van de Amerikaanse economie gestimuleerd. Het stimuleert een ecosysteem waarin overheidsinstanties en het bedrijfsleven samenwerken aan het begrijpen en mogelijk verklaren van deze fenomenen, met als doel uiteindelijk nieuwe technologische toepassingen en markten te ontwikkelen.
Tot slot speelt ook het aspect van open innovatie een belangrijke rol. Door het delen van informatie met een breed scala aan partijen, wordt de kans vergroot dat er snel nieuwe doorbraken plaatsvinden, dat er meerdere invalshoeken worden onderzocht en dat het onderzoek niet wordt beperkt door bureaucratische barrières.
De recente vrijgave van documenten over UAP is het resultaat van een complexe samensmelting van politieke, maatschappelijke, technologische, geopolitieke en economische factoren. Het is duidelijk dat deze ontwikkeling niet op zichzelf staat, maar onderdeel is van een bredere strategie om meer transparantie te creëren, nationale en internationale belangen te dienen, en de menselijke kennis te vergroten. Het is een belangrijke stap in het openleggen van een onderwerp dat decennia lang achter gesloten deuren is gebleven, en het opent nieuwe perspectieven voor wetenschappelijk onderzoek, internationale samenwerking en technologische innovatie. De komende jaren zullen laten zien welke nieuwe inzichten en doorbraken hieruit voortkomen, en hoe deze informatie ons begrip van de wereld en onze plaats daarin verder zullen veranderen.
De echtheid van de gepubliceerde video's is een onderwerp dat velen bezighoudt en wordt vaak besproken binnen zowel de wetenschappelijke als de publieke sfeer. Het is belangrijk om hierbij verschillende aspecten te onderscheiden om een genuanceerd beeld te schetsen. Ten eerste is er de authenticiteit van de beelden zelf. De documenten bevatten originele videobeelden en foto's die door officiële instanties zoals het FBI, het Pentagon en militaire eenheden zijn vrijgegeven. Deze beelden zijn afkomstig van betrouwbare bronnen die onderworpen zijn aan strikte veiligheid- en authenticiteitscontroles. Ze worden doorgaans verzameld door gespecialiseerde teams en getuigen van een formeel proces dat bedoeld is om de echtheid te waarborgen. Dit vermindert de kans op vervalsingen of manipulaties, zeker wanneer meerdere instanties dezelfde beelden bevestigen.
Daarnaast moet er aandacht besteed worden aan de mogelijkheid van vervalsingen. Hoewel het technisch mogelijk is dat beelden gemanipuleerd worden, is er momenteel geen concreet bewijs dat de vrijgegeven video's op grote schaal gefraudeerd zijn. De context waarin ze worden gepresenteerd, en de betrokkenheid van verschillende overheids- en defensie-instanties, maken het onwaarschijnlijk dat er sprake is van opzettelijke vervalsingen. Bovendien worden dergelijke beelden vaak onderworpen aan onafhankelijke analyses door experts op het gebied van beeld- en videobeoordeling. Tot nu toe lijkt er geen aanwijzing te zijn dat de video's niet authentiek zijn, al blijft scepsis bestaan, vooral onder critici die sceptisch staan tegenover officiële verklaringen.
Tot slot speelt de interpretatie van de beelden een grote rol in de beoordeling van hun echtheid. Veel van de getoonde objecten lijken geen duidelijke voortstuwings- of navigatiesystemen te bezitten, wat vragen oproept over hun herkomst en aard. Sommige experts suggereren dat sensorfouten, weersomstandigheden of menselijke interpretatiefouten kunnen bijdragen aan de waargenomen onduidelijkheden. Echter, de herhaling en consistentie van dergelijke onverklaarbare objecten in verschillende regio's en tijdens diverse tijdsperioden wijzen erop dat er mogelijk iets meer aan de hand is dan louter natuurlijke verschijnselen of interpretatiefouten. Het feit dat meerdere onafhankelijke bronnen vergelijkbare beelden delen, versterkt de overtuiging dat deze video's authentiek kunnen zijn, hoewel volledige zekerheid nog altijd ontbreekt.
Transparantie over UFO's is de enige manier waarop het gesprek opgelost kan worden: Ryan Graves
De Amerikaanse overheid heeft expliciet verklaard dat de vrijgegeven beelden en gegevens niet zijn bewerkt, gemanipuleerd of op enige wijze vervalst om informatie te verbergen. Deze verklaring onderstreept het belang van authenticiteit en betrouwbaarheid van de gelekte of vrijgegeven inhoud. Door de beelden in hun originele staat te tonen, wil men het vertrouwen herstellen in het proces van onderzoeks- en rapportage-inspanningen omtrent UAP's (Unidentified Aerial Phenomena). Het feit dat de overheidsinstanties geen manipulaties hebben toegepast, biedt een solide basis voor onafhankelijke experts en wetenschappers om de gegevens te beoordelen zonder vooringenomenheid of twijfel over de echtheid ervan. Dit besluit om de beelden onbewerkt vrij te geven, markeert een belangrijke stap in de richting van volledige transparantie over een onderwerp dat decennia lang omgeven was door geheimhouding en scepsis. Daarnaast onderstreept het ook het streven van de Amerikaanse overheid om de publieke nieuwsgierigheid te bevredigen en het vertrouwen in haar vermogen om open en eerlijk te zijn over nationale veiligheidskwesties. Door de beelden vrij te geven zoals ze zijn verzameld, kunnen externe partijen, zoals wetenschappers, technologen en onafhankelijke onderzoekers, hun analyses uitvoeren en nieuwe inzichten verkrijgen. Dit bevordert een cultuur van openheid en samenwerking, die essentieel is voor het doorbreken van taboes en het stimuleren van wetenschappelijke vooruitgang. Het feit dat de beelden niet aanpassingen ondergaan, draagt ook bij aan de geloofwaardigheid van de verklaring dat deze fenomenen buiten onze huidige technische en fysieke kennis kunnen vallen. Het opent de deur naar een breed scala aan onderzoeksvragen en hypothesen die voorheen niet konden worden onderzocht vanwege gebrek aan betrouwbare gegevens. Kortom, deze aanpak van transparantie vormt een fundament voor verder onderzoek, vertrouwen en open dialoog over de aard van UAP en mogelijk buitenaardse technologieën.
Waarom nu pas? Een analyse
De timing van de publieke vrijgave van de beelden en gegevens lijkt niet toevallig. Verschillende factoren hebben samengekomen om deze opening mogelijk te maken. Ten eerste speelt maatschappelijke druk een grote rol. In de afgelopen jaren is de publieke belangstelling voor UAP's sterk toegenomen, mede door media-aandacht, getuigenissen van voormalige militairen en politici, en de groeiende overtuiging dat we niet alleen in het universum zijn. Deze publieke nieuwsgierigheid wordt versterkt door sociale media en online platforms waar informatie sneller gedeeld en besproken wordt. Bovendien heeft de politieke context veranderd: er is een groeiende erkenning dat het niet langer acceptabel is om zulke onderwerpen af te schermen of stil te zwijgen. Politieke leiders realiseren zich dat transparantie kan bijdragen aan het herstel van vertrouwen in de overheid en de militaire instituten. Daarnaast spelen technologische ontwikkelingen een grote rol. Met de vooruitgang in data-analyse, beeldverwerking en satelliettechnologie kunnen onderzoekers nu veel beter en sneller informatie verzamelen en analyseren. Hierdoor is het mogelijk geworden om de gegevens te ontsluiten en te begrijpen, wat voorheen onmogelijk was vanwege technische beperkingen.
De combinatie van maatschappelijke, politieke en technologische factoren heeft de overheid ertoe aangezet om de geheimhouding te doorbreken. Voorheen was het onderwerp taboe binnen de militaire en politieke hiërarchie, uit angst voor publieke paniek, internationale rivaliteit of het verlies van controle over het narratief. Men vreesde dat het bekendmaken van dergelijke informatie de nationale veiligheid in gevaar zou brengen of dat het zou leiden tot chaos en wantrouwen onder de burgers. Echter, de recente jaren tonen dat deze argumenten minder sterk worden, nu de publieke en wetenschappelijke interesse in UAP toenemen. De bereidheid om meer openheid te geven, wordt ook gevoed door een strategisch streven: door transparantie te tonen, probeert de Amerikaanse overheid haar controle over het verhaal en de interpretatie te behouden. Het voorkomen van misbruik door buitenlandse mogendheden of niet-officiële actoren staat hierbij centraal. Door deze openheid hoopt men niet alleen de controle over de informatie te behouden, maar ook proactief het narratief te sturen en te voorkomen dat andere landen of private entiteiten de gegevens voor hun eigen doelen misbruiken of zelf onderzoek gaan doen zonder toezicht.
De implicaties voor wetenschap, politiek en maatschappij
De vrijgave van bewijsmateriaal over UAP schept een breed spectrum aan kansen en uitdagingen voor verschillende domeinen. Wetenschappelijk gezien biedt het een unieke mogelijkheid om fenomenen te bestuderen die voorheen slechts als mysterieuze anomalieën werden beschouwd. Door deze gegevens kunnen onderzoekers nieuwe meetmethoden ontwikkelen, fysische theorieën testen en mogelijk zelfs technologieën ontdekken die onze huidige kennis te boven gaan. Dit kan leiden tot doorbraken op het gebied van luchtvaart, energie en ruimtevaart. Tegelijkertijd brengt het ook grote uitdagingen met zich mee; de data zijn vaak complex, onvolledig en moeilijk te interpreteren. Veel van de beelden en gegevens worden in een context geplaatst die niet altijd eenduidig is, waardoor er een grote behoefte ontstaat aan multidisciplinaire samenwerkingen tussen fysici, astrofysici, ingenieurs, datawetenschappers en andere experts. Door samenwerking kunnen nieuwe analysemethoden worden ontwikkeld en de interpretatie van de data worden verbeterd. Het opbouwen van een gedeeld kennisplatform is cruciaal om de grote hoeveelheid complexe informatie te kunnen verwerken en te begrijpen.
Politiek en defensie moeten zich aanpassen aan nieuwe realiteiten. Als objecten echt niet van onze planeet afkomstig zijn, betekent dit dat het veiligheidsbeleid en de defensiestrategieën herzien moeten worden. Het kan leiden tot nieuwe internationale verdragen of samenwerkingsverbanden gericht op het onderzoeken en begrijpen van UAP's. Het kan ook spanningen veroorzaken, vooral als landen niet dezelfde openheid tonen of als de gegevens worden geïnterpreteerd als bedreigingen. De geopolitieke impact is groot; het kan leiden tot een nieuwe rivaliteit of juist tot meer diplomatieke samenwerking. De publieke perceptie verandert eveneens ingrijpend. Sommige mensen zien de onthullingen als bewijs van buitenaards leven, wat fundamentele vragen oproept over ons bestaan en onze plaats in het universum. Anderen blijven sceptisch, denken dat het om geheime militaire technologieën van rivaliserende landen gaat of dat de gegevens niet overtuigend genoeg zijn. Deze verschillende interpretaties kunnen leiden tot maatschappelijke debatten over religie, filosofie en onze plaats in de kosmos. De openheid kan ook een katalysator zijn voor nieuwe religieuze en spirituele bewegingen die geloven dat buitenaards leven het bewijs is van een hogere intelligentie of schepper. Kortom, de openheid over UAP-gegevens beïnvloedt niet alleen de wetenschap en politiek, maar ook de maatschappelijke en culturele dynamiek van onze samenleving.
EINDBEOORDELING
De grootschalige declassificatie van UAP-gegevens door de Amerikaanse overheid markeert een keerpunt in zowel de geschiedenis van overheidsgeheimhouding als in de menselijke zoektocht naar het onbekende. Deze gebeurtenis vertegenwoordigt niet alleen een transparantie-inspanning, maar opent ook de deur naar een hernieuwde wereldwijde discussie over buitenaardse fenomenen, technologische mysteries en de implicaties voor onze kennis van het universum. In deze uitgebreide analyse zullen we de context en de implicaties van deze declassificatie onderzoeken, de recente ontwikkelingen en gegevens bespreken, en de invloed ervan op het bredere debat over buitenaardse aanwezigheid en de rol van geheime diensten, met speciale aandacht voor de tweede "disclassificatie" van huidig president Donald Trump.
De Amerikaanse overheid heeft al decennia lang gegevens over onverklaarbare luchtverschijnselen (UAP's) – voorheen vaak aangeduid als UFO's – strikt geheim gehouden. Deze geheimhouding was vaak gebaseerd op nationale veiligheidsbelangen, de angst voor paniek onder de bevolking en het potentieel voor technologische achterstand ten opzichte van andere mogendheden. Echter, sinds de jaren 2000 is er een groeiende maatschappelijke en politieke druk om transparanter te worden. Media, wetenschappers en het publiek hebben zich in toenemende mate verdiept in onverklaarde waarnemingen, met name nadat er verschillende videobeelden en rapporten openbaar werden gemaakt.
De recente declassificatie door de Amerikaanse overheid, vooral in de periode 2020-2023, wordt gedreven door meerdere factoren. Ten eerste heeft de toenemende technologie, zoals geavanceerde satellieten, radar- en beeldvormingstechnieken, het mogelijk gemaakt om meer gegevens te verzamelen en te analyseren dan ooit tevoren. Ten tweede heeft de publieke belangstelling voor UAP's, versterkt door media-aandacht en rapportages in het Congres, geleid tot politieke druk op overheidsinstanties. Ten derde spelen geopolitieke overwegingen een rol: rivaliserende landen zoals China en Rusland investeren in het ontwikkelen van geavanceerde lucht- en ruimtevaarttechnologieën, waardoor de vraag naar kennis over onbekende luchtverschijnselen urgent wordt.
De declassificatie wordt ook gezien als een strategische zet om de controle over de informatie te behouden en mogelijk de publieke perceptie te sturen. Door de gegevens nu openbaar te maken, tracht de Amerikaanse overheid te voorkomen dat de informatie in de handen van andere mogendheden of niet-gouvernementele actoren terechtkomt. Het is bovendien een teken dat de overheid erkent dat de gegevens zodanig uitgebreid en overtuigend zijn dat volledige geheimhouding niet langer houdbaar is.
De recent vrijgegeven documenten en video's bevatten onder meer beelden van objecten die zich vertonen op manieren die niet eenvoudig kunnen worden verklaard door bekende technologieën of natuurlijke fenomenen. Een van de bekendste voorbeelden is de "Gimbal"-video, gemaakt door het Amerikaanse ministerie van defensie, waarin een object te zien is dat zich op onvoorstelbare wijze beweegt, met ongewone rotaties en snelheden. Een andere is de "FLIR"-video, waarop een ongeïdentificeerd vliegend object te zien is dat zich snel en zonder duidelijke aandrijving verplaatst.
Wat deze beelden bijzonder maakt, is dat ze door meerdere onafhankelijke bronnen zijn bevestigd en dat ze onder toezicht van overheidsinstanties zijn gemaakt. Daarnaast zijn er gedetailleerde rapporten verschenen van militaire pilots en radaroperators die deze waarnemingen bevestigen en beschrijven als fenomenen die niet eenvoudig kunnen worden verklaard door natuurlijke oorzaken of menselijke technologie.
De documenten bevatten ook technische analyses en theoretische overzichten die suggereren dat deze objecten mogelijk geavanceerde buitenaardse technologieën zouden kunnen zijn. Sommige rapporten spreken over de mogelijkheid dat deze fenomenen gebruik maken van technologieën die onze huidige wetenschap nog niet volledig kent, zoals antizwaartekracht- of teleportatietechnologieën.
Naast de recente Amerikaanse declassificaties is er ook een belangrijke ontwikkeling geweest in de context van geheime overheidsinformatie: de tweede "disclassificatie" onder huidig president Donald Trump. In 2020 en 2021 heeft Trump verschillende documenten en rapporten over UAP's uit de geheime archieven vrijgegeven of laten lekken, vaak met het doel om de transparantie te bevorderen en het publieke debat aan te moedigen.
Wat is er precies bijgekomen tijdens deze tweede "disclassificatie"? En hoe verschilt deze van de eerste? De eerste openbaarmaking onder Trump betrof vooral beleidsdocumenten en interne rapporten die voorheen niet toegankelijk waren voor het publiek. Deze documenten bevatten onder meer analyses van UAP-waarnemingen, evaluaties van de nationale veiligheidsrisico's en beleidsvoorstellen over de omgang met dergelijke fenomenen. Ze gaven een uniek inkijkje in de manier waarop de Amerikaanse overheid deze fenomenen benadert en probeert te begrijpen.
De tweede fase van disclassificatie richt zich op meer gedetailleerde gegevens, waaronder aanvullende videobeelden, radarwaarnemingen en getuigenissen van militaire en civiele piloten. Een belangrijke ontwikkeling is dat deze gegevens nu worden gedeeld met het Congres en de wetenschap, wat de deur opent voor een meer gestructureerde en wetenschappelijk onderbouwde analyse van de fenomenen.
De nieuwe gegevens die bij deze tweede disclassificatie zijn vrijgekomen, tonen aan dat er veel meer waarnemingen en gegevens beschikbaar zijn dan voorheen werd erkend. Bijvoorbeeld, er zijn nieuwe radar- en sensordata die niet eerder werden gedeeld, en interne rapporten die suggereren dat er mogelijk een patroon is van herhaalde waarnemingen in bepaalde regio's, zoals de Amerikaanse westkust en het Midden-Oosten. Deze gegevens ondersteunen de stelling dat de UAP-problematiek niet slechts incidentele waarnemingen betreft, maar mogelijk een systematisch fenomeen dat aandacht vereist.
Mysterieuze afbeelding van zilveren UFO-orb vastgelegd door Amerikaanse spionagevliegtuig boven Mosul, Irak, komt naar voren
De declassificatie en de nieuwe gegevens onder Trump hebben het debat over buitenaardse intelligentie en technologische superioriteit fundamenteel veranderd. Tot nu toe was dit onderwerp vaak omgeven door scepsis, complottheorieën en pseudowetenschap. Maar met de openheid van overheidsgegevens wordt de discussie nu meer gebaseerd op feitelijke waarnemingen en technische analyses.
Een belangrijk punt van discussie is of deze fenomenen buitenaardse oorsprong hebben of dat ze door geheime menselijke technologieën worden aangedreven. Sommige onderzoekers en wetenschappers wijzen erop dat de gegevens niet volledig kunnen worden verklaard door bekende menselijke technologieën, wat de mogelijkheid opent dat we te maken hebben met buitenaardse bezoekers of technologieën.
Een andere belangrijke vraag is of deze fenomenen gevaarlijk zijn voor de nationale veiligheid. Gezien de snelheid en beweeglijkheid van de objecten, is er bezorgdheid dat ze een bedreiging kunnen vormen, of dat ze informatie bevatten die in handen kan vallen van buitenlandse mogendheden.
De tweede disclassificatie onder Trump symboliseert een belangrijke verschuiving in de manier waarop de Amerikaanse overheid omgaat met gevoelige informatie over UAP's. Het laat zien dat zelfs een voormalige president zich bewust is geworden van de urgentie om transparantie te bevorderen en dat de overheid niet langer alle gegevens achter gesloten deuren wil houden.
Bovendien onderstrepen de nieuwe gegevens dat de fenomenen meer dan alleen anekdotische waarnemingen zijn. Ze omvatten uitgebreide technische gegevens die de mogelijkheid bieden om wetenschappelijk onderzoek te doen en theorieën te ontwikkelen over de aard van deze fenomenen. Dit is cruciaal om te voorkomen dat de discussie wordt beperkt tot speculatie en om daadwerkelijk te begrijpen wat er zich boven onze hoofden afspeelt.
De grootschalige declassificatie van UAP-gegevens door de Amerikaanse overheid en de aanvullende vrijgaven onder huidig president Donald Trump markeren een nieuw tijdperk waarin de mensheid zich meer bewust wordt van de mysteries die zich in onze lucht en ruimte bevinden. Deze gebeurtenissen onderstrepen de noodzaak van een internationale, multidisciplinaire aanpak om deze fenomenen te onderzoeken en te begrijpen.
De recent vrijgegeven beelden en documenten bieden een schat aan nieuwe gegevens die niet alleen vragen oproepen, maar ook de mogelijkheid bieden om wetenschappelijk en technisch verder te onderzoeken. Ze benadrukken dat de fenomenen mogelijk niet door natuurlijke oorzaken kunnen worden verklaard en dat er mogelijk geavanceerde technologieën spelen die onze huidige wetenschap nog niet volledig doorgrondt.
De tweede "disclassificatie" onder Trump heeft hierbij een belangrijke rol gespeeld door meer transparantie te stimuleren en gegevens toegankelijk te maken voor een breder publiek en wetenschappelijke gemeenschap. Het is duidelijk dat de Amerikaanse overheid, ondanks de complexe geopolitieke en veiligheidsbelangen, zich nu meer dan ooit bewust is van de urgentie om deze fenomenen te onderzoeken en te begrijpen.
Deze ontwikkelingen vormen het begin van een nieuw hoofdstuk in de menselijke geschiedenis. Ze bieden de mogelijkheid voor een wereldwijde gezamenlijke zoektocht naar antwoorden over buitenaardse aanwezigheid en technologieën die onze verbeelding te boven gaan. Of deze fenomenen nu buitenaards van oorsprong zijn of niet, één ding is zeker: we staan aan de vooravond van een nieuwe fase in onze zoektocht naar het onbekende, waarbij wetenschap, beleid en samenleving zich gezamenlijk zullen moeten inzetten om de mysteries boven ons hoofd te ontrafelen.
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What Spielberg Actually Knows
Disclosure Day — Steven Spielberg’s new film, opening June 12, 2026. Universal Pictures.
He worked directly with J. Allen Hynek. He had long lunches with Jacques Vallée. He was watching classified Navy footage when no one else in Hollywood was paying attention. Three weeks before Disclosure Day opens in theatres, we examine what nearly 50 years of proximity to the most serious UFO researchers in history might have taught Steven Spielberg — and what the pattern of his career actually suggests.
There are two ways to read Steven Spielberg’s relationship with the UFO subject. The first is the cynical reading: that he is a gifted filmmaker who has repeatedly found a commercially lucrative theme and returned to it whenever the cultural appetite was right. The second is more interesting. It is the possibility that Spielberg has spent nearly half a century closer to the most serious UFO research in the world than almost anyone outside classified programmes — and that this proximity has shaped not just his films, but his understanding of what the phenomenon actually is.
The evidence for the second reading is surprisingly strong. It does not require conspiracy. It does not require secret briefings. It requires only looking carefully at who Spielberg spent time with, what they told him, and what his films subsequently argued — and then comparing that timeline to the arc of official UAP disclosure.
Spielberg has made films directly engaging the UFO phenomenon across five decades: Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977), E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982), the television miniseries Taken (2002), War of the Worlds (2005), and now Disclosure Day, which opens June 12, 2026. No other filmmaker with comparable mainstream standing has returned to the subject so consistently or across such a long timespan.
But the timeline is more striking than the body count. Consider the cultural context each film entered. When Close Encounters arrived in 1977, UFOs were still heavily ridiculed in mainstream media. Spielberg treated witnesses with complete psychological authenticity — as people experiencing something real, not as cranks. In 1982, E.T. permanently shifted the dominant popular image of an alien from threat to emotionally intelligent being, just as serious abduction research was beginning to emerge publicly. In 2002, Taken engaged abduction, hybridisation theory, government programmes, and multi-generational witness accounts at a level of sophistication that predated their mainstream cultural moment by more than a decade. And now, in 2026, Disclosure Day arrives with the Pentagon having formally released hundreds of classified UAP files through the PURSUE archive, whistleblowers testifying before Congress, and UAP language entering routine government discourse for the first time.
Pattern recognition is not proof. But this particular pattern is hard to dismiss.
Directed by Steven Spielberg. Starring Emily Blunt, Josh O’Connor, Colin Firth. Opens June 12, 2026 via Universal Pictures.
The most important documented relationship in understanding Spielberg’s relationship to the UFO subject is his collaboration with Dr. J. Allen Hynek.
Hynek was not a peripheral figure. He was a professional astrophysicist who had served as the United States Air Force’s official scientific consultant on UFOs throughout the entire duration of Project Blue Book — from 1948 until the programme was officially terminated in 1969. He had spent over two decades inside the Air Force’s formal UFO investigation infrastructure. He had personally reviewed hundreds of case files. He had access to witnesses, reports, and internal institutional attitudes that were never made public. When Blue Book closed, Hynek concluded publicly that the phenomenon deserved serious scientific investigation — an extraordinary admission from a man who had spent twenty years in proximity to the classified programme.
Hynek coined the term “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” in his 1972 book The UFO Experience, which created a systematic classification framework for UFO reports based on the witness’s proximity to the object. Spielberg discovered the phrase in that book and it “fairly leaped off the page at me as a movie title.” He contacted Hynek, who became the film’s official scientific consultant.
The relationship was not nominal. Spielberg later credited Hynek with instilling in him “a professional’s point of view on this kind of field reporting” — a phrase worth pausing on. Not a film consultant’s perspective. Not a dramatist’s perspective. A field reporter’s perspective: the discipline of taking witness accounts seriously, documenting them carefully, and not imposing explanations on cases that resisted them. Hynek earned himself a cameo in the finished film. His influence on what the film argued — that UFO witnesses were credible, sober people experiencing something real — was fundamental.
What this means in practice is that Spielberg, before he was 30 years old, had extended access to one of the very few scientists who had spent twenty years inside the Air Force’s UFO investigation apparatus. The cases Hynek had reviewed. The witnesses he had interviewed. The institutional scepticism he had observed — and ultimately rejected. This is not the background of a filmmaker who got interested in UFOs from science fiction novels. It is the background of someone who absorbed the phenomenon from its most serious internal source.
If Hynek gave Spielberg credibility and case data, Jacques Vallée gave him something more destabilising: the possibility that the phenomenon was stranger than anyone was publicly admitting.
Vallée is a French astronomer, computer scientist, and venture capitalist who worked at the Paris Observatory before co-developing the first computerised map of Mars for NASA in 1963. He became one of the most rigorous and unorthodox UFO researchers of the twentieth century, and his conclusions diverged sharply from the standard extraterrestrial hypothesis. Where most UFO researchers concluded “spacecraft from another planet,” Vallée argued the phenomenon might be real and physical while not being extraterrestrial in any conventional sense — that it appeared to manipulate consciousness, that its patterns resembled historical religious apparitions and European fairy-lore, and that it seemed to interact with human psychology in ways that suggested something far more complex than visiting spacecraft.
Vallée was the real-life model for the French scientist character, Claude Lacombe, played by director François Truffaut in Close Encounters. But he was more than an inspiration — he was an active advisor. He had lunch sessions with Spielberg during the film’s development and contributed specific ideas, including the scene in which characters use a globe to track signals, based on a photograph Vallée had seen of scientists calculating Sputnik’s orbit.
What is most revealing about this relationship is a disagreement the two men had that Vallée later recounted publicly. Vallée argued to Spielberg that the subject was even more interesting if it was not extraterrestrial — “if it was real, physical, but not ET.” Spielberg’s response was direct: that was not what the public expected. The filmmaker chose to give audiences the spacecraft-and-aliens narrative they could absorb. But his advisors were telling him something more complex.
Look at what Spielberg’s UFO films actually argue beyond the surface plot. Common threads across his work: altered consciousness, obsession, children as primary experiencers, telepathy and non-verbal communication, emotional transformation that overrides rational behaviour, government concealment, reality distortion, and encounters that feel more like spiritual events than technological ones. These are not standard Hollywood science fiction themes. They are Vallée-type themes — the signature markers of an unusual understanding of the phenomenon that goes well beyond “alien spacecraft visit Earth.”
After the Taken miniseries in 2002 and War of the Worlds in 2005, Spielberg’s direct engagement with UFO themes went quiet for two decades. Then something changed.
Multiple interview sources indicate that Spielberg’s renewed interest in the subject — the interest that produced Disclosure Day — was sparked by classified U.S. Navy footage depicting unidentified aerial vehicles. This is the footage that first came to public attention through Luis Elizondo and the To the Stars Academy, and which was formally confirmed and released by the Pentagon between 2017 and 2020: the FLIR1, Gimbal, and GoFast videos. The footage showed objects performing manoeuvres with no visible propulsion, no control surfaces, and flight characteristics that no known aircraft could replicate.
This matters. Spielberg is not described as having reacted to internet UFO discourse or viral social media speculation. He reacted to evidence that had been classified by the military and then formally confirmed as genuine by the Department of Defence. That is a precise and important distinction. The person who had studied the phenomenon with Hynek and Vallée fifty years earlier was watching in 2017 as the United States government formally acknowledged that its military pilots had been encountering objects it could not explain — and he began developing a film.
Before addressing the government coordination theory directly, it is worth establishing what is simply factual about the relationship between Hollywood and intelligence agencies.
The Pentagon has operated a formal Entertainment Media Office since 1989, which reviews scripts and provides access to military equipment, personnel, and locations for productions that portray the military favourably. The CIA has its own Entertainment Industry Liaison. These are not secrets — they are publicly documented programmes. Hundreds of productions have used them. The exchange is explicit: favourable portrayal in exchange for access and cooperation. The influence runs in both directions: the military can suggest script changes as a condition of support, and productions frequently comply.
There is no documented evidence that these mechanisms were applied to Disclosure Day specifically, or that Spielberg has participated in any formal government communication programme around UAP disclosure. Screenwriter David Koepp addressed the rumour directly and was unambiguous: “I was never contacted by a member of the government on this.” That denial should be taken seriously. It is specific, attributed, and on record.
What remains true regardless of government involvement is that the general architecture for this kind of relationship exists. The question of whether it was used here is distinct from the question of whether it could be used. The first question currently has no affirmative evidence. The second is simply a matter of documented history.
Disclosure Day is described as a film that treats alien existence as a destabilising geopolitical event — not a discovery to celebrate but a secret that powerful institutions will kill to protect. Its themes map directly onto the language of current UAP disclosure: government suppression, institutional resistance, the personal and societal cost of truth. Emily Blunt’s character has been described as a whistleblower figure operating at the intersection of government secrecy and public knowledge. The film does not appear to be a film about alien visitation in the traditional sense. It is a film about what happens to human institutions when hidden information becomes public.
That framing is almost precisely the framing that legitimate researchers like Leslie Kean, Luis Elizondo, David Grusch, and Christopher Mellon have applied to the real disclosure process. The film is not depicting the phenomenon — it is depicting the human institutional response to the phenomenon. And that is a far more sophisticated and accurate lens than anything Hollywood has applied to this subject before.
Whether that sophistication comes from Spielberg’s fifty years of proximity to serious researchers, from his response to the Navy footage, from creative instinct, from cultural antenna, or from some combination of all of these is genuinely unknowable from outside. What is demonstrable is that the framing is correct in a way that cannot be accidental.
What Steven Spielberg almost certainly knows, in the sense of having evidence or direct knowledge, is less important than what Steven Spielberg has observed, processed, and expressed over fifty years of serious engagement with the most credible researchers in this field.
He worked directly with a man who spent two decades inside the Air Force’s UFO programme. He had substantive conversations with a scientist who had concluded the phenomenon was real but not straightforwardly extraterrestrial. He watched the Navy footage that the Pentagon subsequently confirmed as genuine. He has been paying attention, in a way that most people — including most journalists and most politicians — have not been, for fifty years.
The hypothesis that Spielberg is part of an orchestrated government disclosure programme is not supported by evidence. The denial from the screenwriter is direct. The more interesting and more defensible hypothesis is this: Spielberg is a filmmaker with unusually deep roots in serious UFO research who sensed, very early and very consistently, that the taboo surrounding this subject would eventually collapse under the weight of the evidence — and who has been making films that anticipate that collapse, not because someone told him to, but because he has been paying closer attention than almost everyone else.
Three weeks before Disclosure Day opens, the Pentagon has released hundreds of classified UAP files. Serving officers have testified before Congress under oath. AARO exists. The word “disclosure” appears in mainstream political discourse without irony. The taboo has not fully collapsed, but it is visibly eroding. Spielberg’s new film is not ahead of its time. For perhaps the first time in his career, it is arriving precisely on time.
The question that remains — the one that his films have never quite answered, and perhaps cannot — is Vallée’s question: what exactly is it? Spielberg chose in 1977 to give audiences the spacecraft. His researcher advisors were telling him something stranger. Nearly fifty years later, the phenomenon still has not resolved into anything simple. That may be the most important thing Spielberg actually knows.
David Fravor’s Tic-Tac: The Encounter That Changed Everything
Declassified U.S. Navy FLIR footage of the Tic-Tac UAP — released by the Pentagon in 2020 after years of denial that the footage existed
An 18-year Navy aviator with 6,000 hours of flight time describes an object that mirrored his movements, vanished instantly, and reappeared sixty miles away.
Commander David Fravor is not a casual observer. He spent eighteen years in the United States Navy as a carrier-based aviator, logging over 6,000 flight hours and accumulating combat experience in multiple deployments. At the time of the November 2004 encounter, he commanded Strike Fighter Squadron 41 — the Black Aces — flying the F/A-18F Super Hornet from the USS Nimitz. His career record and professional credibility are the reason his account carries the weight it does. He is, in the taxonomy of UAP witnesses, exactly the kind of person whose testimony cannot be easily dismissed.
On the morning of 14 November 2004, Fravor and his wingman were vectored toward an anomalous radar contact approximately 100 miles off the coast of San Diego. The controller aboard the USS Princeton, which had been tracking the object for two weeks, directed them to a position where they could attempt a visual intercept. Below Fravor’s aircraft, he observed a disturbance on the ocean surface — a circular churning of water approximately 50 to 100 feet across — and above it, a white elongated object roughly the size of an F/A-18, with no wings, no exhaust ports, no visible means of propulsion. It hovered in place.
What happened next is the part of the account that has defined the case. As Fravor descended toward the object in a circular intercept pattern, the object began mirroring his movements — ascending as he descended, tracking his arc. When Fravor committed to a direct intercept run, the object accelerated away and vanished. Not rapidly. Instantly. Gone from visual range and from the Princeton’s radar simultaneously, in a way that no known aircraft can achieve.
The Princeton then picked up the object’s radar return sixty miles away at the combat air patrol rendezvous point that Fravor’s flight had been heading toward. The object appeared to have known the destination and positioned itself there before the aircraft arrived. Fravor’s wingman, Lieutenant Alex Dietrich, also observed the encounter. She confirmed Fravor’s account publicly in 2020 — the first time she had spoken on the record. Two trained combat aviators, from two separate aircraft, describing the same object making the same impossible manoeuvres.
In 2019, Fravor testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee. Under oath, he described the object’s performance characteristics in technical aviation terms: instantaneous acceleration with no visible propulsion system, hypersonic speed with no thermal bloom, the ability to hold station against a 60-knot wind without control surfaces, and an intercept pattern that suggested awareness of his intentions. His conclusion, stated directly, was that no nation on Earth possesses this technology. He has repeated that assessment in every subsequent public appearance.
The distinction between the FLIR1 infrared video and Fravor’s visual intercept is important and often missed. The video shows what a later crew’s infrared camera recorded — a thermal signature at range. Fravor’s account is based on direct visual observation at close range from a combat aircraft. He has noted repeatedly that the video does not capture what he saw in terms of the object’s manoeuvrability. The visual encounter and the filmed encounter are separate data points that corroborate each other but do not duplicate each other.
Fravor has become the most credible single witness in the history of modern UAP research — not because of what he believes, but because of who he is and what he has consistently described. His 2019 Senate testimony is the pivotal document in the shift from UAP as a fringe subject to UAP as a national security matter. When the Pentagon established the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office in 2022, and when Congress passed the UAP Disclosure Act in 2023, it was Fravor’s account — unchanging, technically precise, and delivered under oath — that most clearly made the case that the subject required serious institutional attention.
Fravor’s complete testimony under oath before the Senate — describing the object’s performance characteristics in technical aviation terms and explaining why no known technology accounts for what he observed.
The declassified infrared footage of the Tic-Tac object, officially released by the Pentagon in 2020 and confirmed as genuine by the U.S. Navy.
MUFON June #11 eNewsletter
MUFON June #11 eNewsletter
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Mystery of the Bible's Garden of Eden river finally solved in major geological discovery See more Daily Mail on Google - save us as a Preferred Source By STACY LIBERATORE, US SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY EDITOR
A geological discovery has uncovered what researchers describe as a previously unknown chapter in the history of a river linked to one of the Bible's most enduring stories.
The Euphrates River is named in Genesis as one of four waterways flowing from the Garden of Eden, the paradise where Adam and Eve are said to have lived.
Despite its central role in biblical tradition and the rise of the ancient civilizations of Mesopotamia, scientists have long been unable to determine exactly how the river first formed.
For decades, evidence of its origins remained hidden beneath layers of sediment and obscured by millions of years of tectonic upheaval.
Now, researchers said they have solved the mystery, reconstructing the ancient history of the waterway for the first time.
The team pieced together the river's past using seismic imaging, satellite observations, geological mapping and sediment deposits buried beneath the Mediterranean Sea.
Their analysis revealed that two enormous rivers, known as the Paleo-Karasu and Paleo-Murat, once flowed separately across what is now Turkey and Syria before powerful geological forces altered their course.
By around 1.6 million years ago, the waterways had merged and begun flowing toward the Persian Gulf, creating the modern Euphrates.
For decades, evidence of the river's origins remained hidden beneath layers of sediment and obscured by millions of years of tectonic upheaval
The Euphrates River, the longest waterway in Western Asia, flows through the Fertile Crescent, a region often called the cradle of civilization because it was home to some of humanity's earliest societies.
Its eastern branch, known as Mesopotamia, contains the Tigris and Euphrates rivers.
These two rivers created an oasis of fertile soil in an otherwise arid region, which helped ancient civilizations such as the Sumerians and Assyrians flourish some 6,000 years ago.
Despite the Euphrates playing a central role in the success of these early civilizations, the origins of the 1,900-mile-long river have until now remained enigmatic.
Some researchers previously proposed that the Euphrates evolved from a single river that flowed into the Mediterranean Sea or into ancient lakes in what is now Turkey, while others suggested it evolved from a river ending somewhere on the Arabian Peninsula.
The new study, published June 1 in Nature Geoscience, allowed researchers to reconstruct the river's evolution over millions of years.
The analysis suggested the Paleo-Murat River first appeared more than 16.5 million years ago, while the Paleo-Karasu developed between about 8.6 million and 5.9 million years ago.
During this period, both rivers flowed into a series of poorly connected lakes south of the North Anatolian Fault rather than forming part of the modern Euphrates system.
Their analysis revealed that two enormous rivers, known as the Paleo-Karasu and Paleo-Murat, once flowed separately across what is now Turkey and Syria before powerful geological forces altered their course
The Garden of Eden (Pictured) was described in the Book of Genesis as a paradise where the first humans, Adam and Eve, once walked before committing the first sin
Around 5.3 million years ago, a major geological event transformed the Mediterranean region.
The connection between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean became restricted near what is now the Strait of Gibraltar, causing much of the Mediterranean Sea to dry up.
As water levels dropped dramatically, the eastern Mediterranean fell by as much as one to 1.3 miles. However, the researchers estimated that a drop of at least 2,600 feet would have been enough to produce the changes seen in their model.
The sudden lowering of sea level caused rivers across the region to cut deeper into the landscape as they adjusted to the new conditions.
At the same time, tectonic forces tilted parts of Anatolia and reactivated ancient faults, accelerating erosion and increasing the amount of sediment carried toward the Mediterranean.
Many have dismissed the Garden of Eden as a myth, but now, resurfaced satellite images have suggested that the story may have a very real geographical basis
The researchers believe these changes may have caused large lakes in the Anatolian highlands to suddenly burst through their natural barriers, unleashing catastrophic floods.
They suggested two major geological formations, known as the Handere and Nahr Menashe deposits, may have been created by these enormous flood events.
Similar processes may have occurred elsewhere around the Mediterranean.
The team pointed to a giant ancient river deposit off the coast of Libya, known as the Eosahabi fan, which may also have been formed when rivers rapidly eroded the landscape in response to falling sea levels.
Over millions of years, continued tectonic activity altered the courses of the Paleo-Murat and Paleo-Karasu rivers until they eventually merged around 1.6 million years ago, forming the modern Euphrates River.
Ex-CIA 'psychic spy' unmasks secret alien bases inside mountains with UFO repair shops
BY Liam Randall - News Reporter
Ex-CIA 'psychic spy' Lyn Buchanan claims to have unmasked several secret alien bases
(Image: American Alchemy)
An ex-CIA "psychic spy" claims he has identified the exact coordinates of several top-secret alien installations lurking right under our noses on Earth. Lyn Buchanan, a decorated army intelligence veteran, dropped the bombshell revelations on the American Alchemy podcast.
He claimed that the extraterrestrial outposts are burrowed deep inside remote mountains, serving as interplanetary spy hubs, UFO repair garages and cosmic transit lounges. During the height of the Cold War, Buchanan was part of a highly classified military research unit exploring whether human consciousness could be weaponised for long-distance espionage.
According to the veteran, the locations were originally sniffed out back in 1973 by a former cop turned pioneering remote viewer named Pat Price.
Mount Hayes in Alaska is said to be home to a top-secret alien base
(Image: Getty Images/Design Pics RF)
The US Government later launched "Project 8200" to see if independent psychics could back up Price's wild claims.
Buchanan was ordered to track four primary targets at Mount Hayes in Alaska, Mount Zeil in Australia, Mount Nyangani in Zimbabwe and a site in the Pyrenees Mountains spanning the Spanish and French border.
According to Buchanan, each base serves a distinct purpose. The first location, hidden inside Alaska's Mount Hayes, acts as a massive global surveillance hub.
Lyn Buchanan says each base serves a distinct purpose
(Image: New Thinking Allowed with Jeffrey Mishlove/YouTube)
When quizzed on its function, Buchanan explained it was for: "Keeping intelligence on the Earth... just collecting data and signals and all that."
While earlier psychics claimed to have seen humans and aliens working together, Buchanan noted the staff had cleared out when he took a look.
He said: "I did Mount Hayes and found out that the equipment was now automated and still running, but there was no need for personnel there."
Meanwhile, the base at Australia's Mount Zeil handles cosmic traffic. Buchanan described it as a bustling extraterrestrial airport.
He said: "Mount Zeil is sort of a port of entry to the Earth that friendly ones go there and then from there spread out around the world."
The facility is said to feature multiple subterranean levels, including a spaceship docking bay and a mechanics' workshop below.
During one bizarre psychic session, Buchanan claimed the alien residents realised they were being watched. He said: "In the area where the travellers go in and out, I saw a grey female with a baby grey."
The third site, located within Zimbabwe's Mount Nyangani, was identified as a dedicated maintenance garage. When asked exactly what was being fixed deep inside the peak, Buchanan said: "For ETs. For UFOs."
But don't go hunting for it as the psychic spy warned the site is heavily protected, suggesting a dark explanation for local disappearances. He said: "You see too much. You disappear."
Buchanan admitted he never personally saw the final site in the Pyrenees. He said: "I never did the one that was in the Pyrenees, so I'm not sure about it."
The extraordinary claims were part of the CIA's infamous "STARGATE" project, which was ultimately shut down in 1995 after being deemed operationally useless. Sceptics point out there is zero public evidence proving the bases exist.
However, Buchanan remains adamant that multiple psychics drew identical sketches of the facilities without knowing the targets beforehand. He added: "See, I did all these blind."
CIA 'psychic spy' claims four alien bases are hidden on Earth
A former CIA 'psychic spy' has exposed the location of several alien bases he claimed are hidden on Earth.
Lyn Buchanan, a retired Army intelligence veteran, told the American Alchemy podcast that the installations were hidden inside remote mountains and functioned as intelligence-gathering hubs, UFO repair facilities and extraterrestrial entry points.
He was among the participants in a classified Cold War-era psychic research effort that explored whether human consciousness could be used to gather intelligence from afar and was tasked with keeping track of the facilities.
The bases were reportedly first identified by remote viewer Pat Price in 1973, a former police officer who became one of the earliest participants in the government's psychic research programs.
The locations were later revisited under the CIA's Project 8200, an effort designed to determine whether independent remote viewers could corroborate Price's extraordinary claims.
Buchanan said he was tasked with monitoring sites allegedly located in Alaska's Mount Hayes, Australia's Mount Zeil, Zimbabwe's Mount Nyangani and the Pyrenees Mountains between Spain and France.
He claimed the sites served different functions, saying the Alaska base gathered intelligence, the Australian installation operated as a UFO 'port of entry' and the Zimbabwe facility functioned as a repair center for extraterrestrial craft.
Buchanan further said that during one remote-viewing session, the occupants of the Australian facility appeared to become aware they were being observed, telling host Jesse Michels: 'The first thing that happened was they let me know that they knew I was there and that it was okay.'
There is no publicly available evidence that any of the alleged bases exist, and Buchanan's claims have not been independently verified.
The remote viewing sessions were part of the CIA's top-secret STARGATE program, which recruited individuals believed to have psychic abilities for military and intelligence purposes during the Cold War.
The program began in the early 1970s and officially shut down in 1995 after being deemed scientifically unreliable and operationally ineffective for intelligence gathering.
The first site mentioned by Buchanan, located inside Alaska's Mount Hayes, was described as a surveillance facility focused on monitoring activity across Earth.
When asked what the installation was used for, Buchanan replied: 'Keeping intelligence on the Earth... just collecting data and signals and all that.'
He claimed earlier remote viewers had reported finding both humans and extraterrestrials operating within the mountain.
'Price and Joe McMoneagle had found aliens and humans working side by side as sort of an intelligence gathering place,' Buchanan said.
However, when he later viewed the site himself, Buchanan claimed the operation had changed.
'I did Mount Hayes and found out that the equipment was now automated and still running, but there was no need for personnel there,' he said.
Buchanan said the facility was hidden deep inside the mountain and would be nearly impossible for ordinary people to locate.
Mount Hayes has long been the subject of UFO sightings and theories about a hidden underground alien base. Numerous witnesses have reported seeing flying saucers, strange lights, and other unexplained phenomena in the area.
The second site, located at Mount Zeil in Australia's Northern Territory, was described as something entirely different.
Rather than functioning as an intelligence center, Buchanan claimed it served as a transportation hub for extraterrestrial visitors.
'Mount Zeil is sort of a port of entry to the Earth that friendly ones go there and then from there spread out around the world,' he said.
He compared the facility to an airport where craft arrived, passengers disembarked and maintenance crews serviced the vehicles. According to his account, the installation consisted of multiple levels.
One level allegedly served as a docking area where UFOs arrived and departed, while a lower level was dedicated to maintenance and support operations.
He added that the lower level handled maintenance duties for the craft. One of the most unusual claims involved what Buchanan said happened while remotely observing the site.
He said the occupants appeared to become aware they were being watched. 'In the area where the travelers go in and out, I saw a gray female with a baby gray,' he said.
The third location was said to be inside Mount Nyangani in Zimbabwe.
Unlike the Alaska and Australian sites, Buchanan described this facility as a repair center. When asked what was being repaired there, he answered: 'For ETs. For UFOs.'
Buchanan also stated the site was heavily guarded.
Discussing reports of disappearances in the area, he speculated that people who stumbled across sensitive information could face severe consequences.
'You see too much. You disappear,' he said.
A fourth site was reportedly located in the Pyrenees Mountains between Spain and France.
However, Buchanan admitted he had not personally investigated that location.
'I never did the one that was in the Pyrenees, so I'm not sure about it,' he said.
Despite the extraordinary nature of the claims, Buchanan maintained that multiple remote viewers independently arrived at similar descriptions of the locations.
'See, I did all these blind,' he said, explaining that he was not told what the targets were beforehand.
He added that the sketches he produced during his sessions closely matched those created years earlier by Price, which he viewed as confirmation that the alleged installations were real.
NASA Officials Confirm Rare Event Captured in Satellite Images That Caused Loud Booms Heard Throughout New England
Residents of New England were startled over the weekend as a loud quaking boom shook the northeast, while many observers spotted a bright fireball streaking through the skies over the U.S. and Canada.
Now, NASA has confirmed that the energy released as a meteor exploded in the northeastern skies on May 30, 2026, was roughly equivalent to 230 tons of TNT. The resulting blast was also so bright that it registered in satellite imagery normally used to detect powerful lightning bolts.
Shortly after the incident, NASA took to social media, reporting that the GOES-19 satellite had detected a bright fireball at 2:06 p.m. EDT that coincided with reports of loud booms.
“The meteor appears to have fragmented at an altitude of 40 miles over northeast MA and southeast NH,” the NASA statement read, adding that at the time, the energy released as the object tore apart while streaking through the atmosphere was approximately the “equivalent to about 300 tons of TNT, which accounts for the loud noise.”
In the video above, provided by NOAA, imagery from the GOES East (GOES-19) satellite revealed the meteor, which the satellite’s sensors registered as a lightning bolt. The meteor appears approximately one second into the looped imagery above, seen as a bluish-white flash to the right of the center of the frame.
In a subsequent update issued on Monday, NASA officials have now revealed new details about the incident, confirming the object’s size, mass, and the approximate speed as it passed above the Earth.
“The meteor was about 5 feet (1.6 meters) in diameter with a mass of 5.6 metric tons and entered Earth’s atmosphere at roughly 42,000 mph,” NASA officials wrote in Monday’s statement. “The meteor traveled through the atmosphere from northwest to southeast for 26 miles before breaking up at an altitude of 31 miles and producing a meteorite fall into Cape Cod Bay.”
The NASA update also slightly downgraded the power of the blast that the exploding object produced.
“Based on the latest data, the energy released at breakup is estimated to be equivalent to about 230 tons of TNT,” NASA’s statement on Monday noted.
Fortunately, there were no injuries or damage to property or infrastructure resulting from the May 30 incident. However, some area residents who were present at the time of the explosion reported feeling buildings shaking on Saturday afternoon.
NBC Boston chief meteorologist Pete Bouchard also weighed in, saying the boom was, indeed, a meteor.
In a statement provided by the agency from its NASA Space Alerts account on X, which periodically issues notifications on “cosmic activity in near-Earth space including solar events, asteroids, comets, and meteors,” the agency noted that objects like the one observed over the northeast, while capable of producing loud noise, are generally not viewed as being potentially dangerous.
“NASA’s planetary defense network watches the skies for objects of all sizes – and specifically is tasked with finding objects 140 meters and larger which can cause widespread damage,” the notification read.
“Meteoroids, like this one over New England, are much much smaller,” the statement added, calling them “almost impossible to track in space” and adding that “they do not survive passage through our atmosphere intact and do not pose a hazard.”
Fortunately, larger and potentially more dangerous space objects aren’t as “impossible” for NASA to track. Presently, the American space agency and its international partners are tracking more than 40,000 larger near-Earth objects (NEOs) and are frequently discovering new ones as part of their broader planetary defense objectives.
The explosion heard over the northeast on Saturday marked only the latest in a series of similar incidents that have occurred in the early part of 2026.
On March 21, a meteor crashed through the roof of a Texas home, causing minor damage, although no injuries were reported. Also in March, a meteor that exploded above Ohio on Saint Patrick’s Day similarly alarmed residents, one of whom described the sound to The Debrief as having resembled “a nuclear explosion” due to its volume and duration.
NASA provides additional information about meteor reentries and their effects at its Fireballs FAQ page, which can be found here.
Lost Civilizations and Dinosaurs of the Ancient Sahara Desert
Today the Sahara Desert is known as a vast ocean of sand — a harsh and nearly endless wilderness stretching across North Africa. The Sahara Desert is the largest hot desert in the world, covering an incredible 9.2 million km2, which is almost the same size as China, and has only from two million and one half million to three million people living there. The average annual temperature is 30 degrees Celsius while the hottest temperature ever recorded was 58 degrees Celsius. The area receives little rainfall; half of the Sahara Desert receives less than one inch of rain every year. Towering dunes, burning heat, and empty horizons dominate the modern imagination. Yet thousands of years ago, the Sahara was something entirely different. Beneath its sands lie the buried traces of lost rivers, vanished kingdoms, mysterious stone cities, and forgotten peoples whose stories have nearly disappeared from history. Archaeologists and explorers increasingly believe the ancient Sahara may once have been one of the great cradles of civilization.
Between roughly 10,000 and 5,000 years ago, that territory was not a desert at all. Scientists call this period the “Green Sahara” or the “African Humid Period.” Rainfall transformed the region into a fertile landscape filled with lakes, grasslands, forests, and enormous wildlife populations. Hippos swam in giant lakes. Crocodiles inhabited rivers that no longer exist. Herds of elephants, giraffes, and antelope roamed across plains now buried beneath sand dunes hundreds of feet high. Humans flourished there. Rock paintings discovered in places like Tassili n’Ajjer reveal scenes of cattle herding, dancing ceremonies, hunting expeditions, and mysterious spiritual rituals. Some paintings are over 8,000 years old and provide astonishing evidence of sophisticated societies living in regions now considered uninhabitable.
The ancient desert as it appeared many thousands of years ago, lush and green on the left and as it appears dry and barren wasteland today on the right.
Deep within the remote Ténéré region of the Sahara, archaeologists uncovered graveyards andsettlements belonging to ancient peoples who lived around long-vanished lakes. One of the most famous discoveries came from Gobero in modern-day Niger. There, scientists found human skeletons buried with jewelry, pottery, and ceremonial objects dating back nearly 10,000 years. Some graves showed adults carefully buried holding children, suggesting emotional and spiritual traditions far more advanced than many expected from such ancient cultures.
Who were these people? What language did they speak? What beliefs guided them? Much remains unknown. As the climate gradually dried, entire populations vanished or migrated toward the Nile River and sub-Saharan regions. Some historians believe these migrations may have helped shape later civilizations, including ancient Egypt.
One of the Sahara’s most astonishing forgotten civilizations was the Garamantes, who thrived in what is now Libya between roughly 500 BCE and 700 CE. Ancient Roman writers described them as mysterious desert people who commanded powerful chariots and controlled hidden oasis cities far beyond the edge of the Roman world. For centuries, many historians dismissed the Garamantes as little more than desert raiders. But modern archaeology revealed something extraordinary. The Garamantes built sophisticated underground irrigation systems called foggaras — miles of tunnels dug beneath the desert to tap hidden fossil water. They constructed cities, maintained trade routes across the Sahara, and connected the Mediterranean world with central Africa.
Their capital city, Garama, once supported thousands of people in the middle of one of the harshest environments on Earth. Then they faded into obscurity. Today their ruins sit isolated beneath the desert sun, silent reminders that advanced civilizations once flourished where few could survive now.
Satellite technology has revealed strange geometric formations hidden beneath Saharan sands — ancient riverbeds, buried walls, circles of stone, and unexplained ruins. In Mauritania lies the famous Richat Structure, often called the “Eye of the Sahara.” While scientists classify it as a natural geological formation, its enormous circular appearance has inspired theories connecting it to the legendary lost city of Atlantis. Elsewhere, researchers using radar imaging have discovered evidence of ancient waterways crossing regions now completely barren. Some experts believe entire networks of settlements remain buried and untouched beneath dunes that constantly shift with the wind. The Sahara may still conceal cities no modern person has ever seen.
Perhaps the greatest secret of the ancient Sahara is its lost water system. Modern satellite scans show that massive rivers once crossed the desert. One ancient river system may have rivaled the size of the modern Amazon River. These waterways supported fishing villages, farming communities, and trade routes over immense distances. As climate patterns changed, the rains slowly disappeared. Lakes shrank. Grasslands died. Entire populations were forced to abandon their homes.
Location of Ancient Lakes of the Sahara Destert
Traces of an ancient civilization may be found here in no man’s land.
What remains today are fragments — pottery buried under dunes, carvings etched into stone cliffs, abandoned tombs, and legends carried through oral tradition. For centuries, caravans crossing the Sahara told stories of forbidden places hidden deep within the sands: ruined temples swallowed by dunes, abandoned cities guarded by spirits, and treasure-filled caverns left behind by forgotten kings. Some explorers searched obsessively for these places. The legendary oasis city of Zerzura — sometimes called “the White City” — appeared in Arabic manuscripts for centuries. Descriptions spoke of a mysterious city hidden somewhere west of the Nile River filled with white stone buildings and guarded entrances carved with strange symbols. No one has conclusively found it. Whether Zerzura was real, exaggerated, or symbolic remains unknown.
The Sahara is so vast that even today large regions remain poorly explored. Sandstorms bury entire landscapes. Ancient sites disappear for centuries before being uncovered again. Every few years, new discoveries reshape what historians thought they knew about ancient Africa. The desert that now appears empty may once have supported thriving civilizations equal in complexity to many better-known ancient cultures. The sands of the Sahara are not merely barren — they are a gigantic archive of forgotten human history waiting to be uncovered. And somewhere beneath those dunes, countless secrets may still sleep undisturbed.
Today the Sahara is famous for its endless dunes, scorching temperatures, and dry winds, but during the age of dinosaurs it was almost unrecognizable. Around 100 million years ago, during the Cretaceous Period, much of the Sahara was covered by enormous river systems, swamps, lakes, and dense vegetation. Giant ferns and conifer trees lined waterways where prehistoric animals gathered to drink and hunt. Paleontologists believe this ancient region was one of the richest dinosaur ecosystems on Earth. Fossils discovered in Egypt, Morocco, Algeria, and Niger reveal a world dominated by gigantic predators and strange creatures unlike anything alive today.
Among the most famous Sahara dinosaurs was Spinosaurus. This enormous predator may have reached lengths of over 50 feet, making it one of the largest meat-eating dinosaurs ever discovered. Unlike most giant carnivorous dinosaurs, Spinosaurus appears to have been semi-aquatic. Scientists found evidence suggesting it could swim through rivers using its powerful tail while hunting giant fish. Its long jaws resembled those of a crocodile and were filled with cone-shaped teeth designed for gripping slippery prey. Rising from its back was a huge sail made of elongated spines, possibly used for display, temperature control, or helping it move in water.
Another terrifying carnivore was Carcharodontosaurus, whose name means “shark-toothed lizard.” This massive hunter possessed serrated teeth nearly eight inches long. It likely preyed on giant plant-eating dinosaurs roaming the floodplains. Some scientists compare it to an African counterpart of Tyrannosaurus rex. The ancient Sahara was also home to bizarre reptiles and enormous flying animals. Giant crocodile relatives such as Sarcosuchus, often nicknamed “SuperCroc,” may have grown over 30 feet long and lurked in rivers waiting for prey. Huge flying reptiles called pterosaurs soared overhead searching for fish along shorelines. Plant-eating dinosaurs also thrived there. Fossils show that long-necked sauropods wandered through forests and marshes feeding on vegetation. These massive herbivores supported entire ecosystems of predators and scavengers.
Over millions of years, Earth’s climate slowly changed. Rivers dried up, forests vanished, and the region transformed into the vast desert seen today. Wind and shifting sand buried countless skeletons beneath layers of rock. Modern fossil hunters continue uncovering remarkable discoveries in the Sahara. In some places, entire prehistoric riverbeds filled with fish bones, dinosaur teeth, and ancient footprints have been found. Each discovery helps scientists reconstruct the lost world that existed long before humans appeared. The Sahara Desert may seem lifeless today, but beneath its sands lies the remains of one of the most extraordinary dinosaur worlds in Earth’s history.
Carchardontosaurus
Sarcosuchus
Unexplained aerial encounter left U.S. intelligence officer ‘virtually speechless’
WASHINGTON — Late last year, a senior U.S. intelligence officer on a helicopter mission to investigate “thuds” near a mountain range encountered a mysterious orange orb — an object that split in two and changed direction.
“The ground team suddenly radioed that the object had risen from the ground, approached within ten feet of the helicopter, dropped below us and sped away,” the officer detailed in a memo from the Office of the Directorate of National Intelligence after the strange encounter.
The document was included in a second batch of declassified documents released Friday on unidentified anomalous phenomena — previously and more infamously known unidentified flying objects, or UFOs — released this year by the Trump administration. The U.S. government has been holding onto the files for decades.
A user uploaded this video to a classified network in June 2024.
Dept. of Defense
Questions about whether humans are alone in the universe and whether alien life has ever visited Earth have captivated Americans since at least the late 1800s, buoyed by science fiction and urban myths of strange sightings and even purported alien abductions.
Those ideas, once given little widespread credibility, have in more recent years taken on more serious scrutiny as video footage — some of it legitimately difficult to explain — has emerged from trusted sources including the U.S. military.
Yet once again, the government on Friday didn’t draw any conclusions about the origins of the UFOs or offer any evidence of government communication with extra terrestrials. The documents do include a disclaimer that readers should not interpret anything “as reflecting an analytical judgment, investigative conclusion, or factual determination regarding the described event’s validity, nature, or significance.”
This video, whose uploader-defined title is “Syrian UAP instant acceleration,” is likely derived from an infrared sensor aboard a U.S. military platform in 2021.
Dept. of Defense
The release comes during a week in which President Donald Trump has said he would delay another strike on Iran and the continued conflict has driven gas prices to nearly four-year highs ahead of the holiday weekend.
The U.S. this week also announced the indictment of the brother of Fidel Castro, 94-year-old Raul Castro, in a 1996 downing of two planes that were on a humanitarian mission to Cuba. Additionally, Trump faced rare criticism from Republicans over the announcement of a $1.8 billion fund for those who claim they were the victims of government overreach, including possibly the defendants in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot.
The latest batch of UFO-related documents comes mostly from the Defense Department, and is largely made up of footage from military aircraft as well as audio and notes. There are also seven files from NASA and one from the CIA. The government said the files are redacted to protect witnesses, locations and sensitive information. They date from the 1940s through six months ago.
In the helicopter account by the intelligence officer, fighter jets were called in and, according to the officer’s notes, the orbs were able to match “the jets speed and flight path” and appeared to “chase” the fighter jets.
“We were virtually speechless after these observations,” according to the officer.
There are no conclusions in the memo about what the orbs were or any follow-up described. The senior official who witnessed it wrote at the end of the memo that after the incident he filed a debrief that night before driving home.
Other files detail similarly strange encounters. In 1970, in a handwritten letter, a Los Alamos scientist describes regularly seeing green lights between the hours of 9 p.m. and 11 p.m. between 1948 and 1951 in the mountains, one time moving in some kind of formation.
Chart showing observations of these “green fireballs,” as well as meteors, meteorites and disks.U.S.
Defense Department
In 1972, a CIA officer in the United Soviet Socialist Republics stepped outside after watching a sports competition between Canada and the USSR and saw a green circle that widened and concentric circles appeared.
A series of videos released Friday include sightings of spherical, oblong and cigar-shaped objects that pass through frames over land, lake and sea. The grainy footage tracks the objects as they zip through skies around the world. In a November 2020 video, a circular-shaped object glides in and out of clouds over the central part of the U.S. Roughly five months later, another video shows circular shaped object barrels across the skies above the U.S.
Objects were also recorded in Kabul, Syria, Kazakhstan and Europe. In one clip near Kazakhstan’s Karaganda International Airport, the night sky is broken with a burst of oval-shaped white light. One object captured in Europe appears to stop and start, like it’s being operated by an unseen video game controller.
Unidentified objects are also seen over water, floating near a surfaced submarine. Another object begins to seemingly pulse with sunburst-looking rays, and one fast-moving object was downed over Lake Huron in 2023. It’s not clear from the footage whether the object was recovered.
Audio files capture NASA pilots from the 1960s and 1970s, including the Apollo 12 crew from 1969, describing odd things they saw aboard spacecraft.
In 1962, as NASA pilot Scott Carpenter manned a spacecraft through three revolutions of the Earth during Project Mercury, he describes as the audio crackles what he says are particles that move in and out of his view.
“Their motion is random. They look exactly like snowflakes to me,” he says.
“Roger, have you tried to return?” ground control asks.
“Negative,” Carpenter responds calmly as he says he has to adjust and sees particles again.
“They definitely look like snowflakes,” he says.
Synthetic embryos will help colonize the Moon and Mars
Humanity has long harbored dreams of colonizing neighboring star systems—or, at the very least, establishing permanent bases on the Moon and Mars. However, before designing giant generation spacecraft, scientists must answer a fundamental question: Is our vulnerable species capable of reproducing safely beyond our home planet? Without the ability to reproduce, any extraterrestrial outpost is doomed to rapid decline.
Synthetic embryo.
Stock photo: Unsplash
Chinese researchers are attempting to find the answer to this landmark question. A unique experiment began this month: a batch of synthetic human embryos was sent to the Tiangong space station. The main goal is to determine how microgravity affects the critical early stages of human development.
These samples were created from human stem cells. They closely resemble real embryos, but lack the biological capacity to develop into a fully formed fetus. According to Leqian Yu, a leading researcher at the Institute of Zoology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, these synthetic models are a safe and ethical tool for studying the early stages of human development.
Space is an extremely hostile environment. Even under the reliable protection of a spacecraft’s hull, the human body is exposed to weightlessness, radiation, and high-energy cosmic rays—phenomena from which Earth’s dense atmosphere shields us.
In any case, previous animal experiments give cause for optimism. In 2016, scientists from China successfully grew mouse embryos in space to the blastocyst stage—the point at which the embryo is ready to implant in the uterine wall. In 2023, Japanese scientists replicated this success, finding that under microgravity conditions, embryos reached the blastocyst stage with a probability of about 24%. This is roughly half the rate observed on Earth, but development did occur nonetheless. However, mice are not humans, so the current experiment using synthetic human models demonstrates significant scientific progress.
China’s Tiangong Space Station
The synthetic embryos arrived in orbit on May 11 aboard the Tianzhou-10 cargo spacecraft and were immediately placed in the station’s experimental module. The samples were divided into two groups, each simulating different stages of development.
The process is fully automated: an intelligent system automatically refreshes the culture medium for the samples every day, ensuring that the experiment proceeds as planned.
The actual results will not be known until they return to Earth, where scientists will conduct a detailed comparison of the space embryos with the control group, which remained on Earth throughout the experiment.
Even if the samples fail this test, it doesn’t spell the end of the idea of reproduction in space. Previous Japanese studies have shown that the use of artificial gravity increases the chances of successful blastocyst development by 5% compared to complete weightlessness. Thus, science has the technological tools to mitigate negative impacts.
This experiment is just the first ambitious attempt to find out whether we can survive and continue our lineage among the stars. And scientists sincerely hope that the answer will be yes.
We previously reported on why NASA strictly prohibits female astronauts from becoming pregnant in space.
Explosion of a fireball in the sky caused houses to shake
Explosion of a fireball in the sky caused houses to shake
On May 30, residents of New England were scared by a loud double explosion so powerful that it shook buildings in the U.S. states of Massachusetts and Rhode Island. This unexpected event prompted local police and other emergency services to urgently investigate the cause of the incident.
A meteor in the sky.
File photo: CNN
The American Meteorological Society quickly reassured the public: the explosions heard around 2:30 p.m. local time were of extraterrestrial origin. They were caused by a meteor about a meter wide that entered the atmosphere at a speed of 120,000 km/h north of Boston, near the border between New Hampshire and Massachusetts.
Robert Lunsford, the fire safety program coordinator, reported that the organization had received dozens of reports from a vast area stretching from Delaware to Montreal. Eyewitnesses reported the following:
Experts still need more information about its trajectory, but it is noted that most such objects burn up in the atmosphere before reaching the surface. If the space rock survived, it most likely fell into the ocean.
Residents across several states shared their experiences en masse on social media, describing how buildings were shaking. Several videos appeared on X clearly capturing the sound of two rapid explosions with no signs of smoke or fire.
The physical impact of the wave prompted many people to report their experiences to the U.S. Geological Survey. Agency spokesperson Steve Sobey confirmed that these reports had been logged at the National Earthquake Information Center and that a special “Did You Feel It?” page had been created on their website. However, he emphasized that seismographs did not detect any seismic activity. This officially confirms that the noticeable tremor was not caused by an earthquake.
We previously explained the difference between a meteor, a meteoroid, a meteorite, and an asteroid.
Dangerous Speech in Disguise: The White House’s New “Aliens” Website Is Not a Joke
By Susan Benesch and Rebecca Hamilton
The official White House website has launched a new page titled, “Aliens,” that looks like a video game, with stars twinkling in a dark sky behind spooky neon green text that reads, “THEY WALK AMONG US.” The design of the website is made to draw attention, and it will: nothing generates interest like space invaders, and fear has unique power to drive human behavior.
“We’re releasing a lot of information having to do with extraterrestrial things,” President Donald Trump said in a Cabinet meeting on May 28, the day the new site went live. “And people are totally fascinated by it … it’s literally trending number one.” Earlier in the month, the Pentagon began releasing files on U.F.O.s at the site, war.gov/UFO. But the aliens on the new official White House website aren’t extraterrestrial, despite the space theme. They are people: foreign nationals or those mistakenly assumed to be. And the timing of the president’s comments and the new site appear to be a bait and switch, luring in the public with the promise of extraterrestrials only to deliver law enforcement propaganda. Regardless of the kitschy premise, the site is neither a game nor a joke.
Echoing white supremacist rhetoric and the great replacement theory, which claims nonwhite foreigners are displacing and destroying white majorities, the site refers to dangerous invaders who arrived in the United States “under the cover of darkness” and infiltrated American society thanks to a conspiracy by “presidents, congressmen, and senior officials.” In 1950s typeface, and under a fake “declassification” label, the site says these “aliens” have “embedded themselves directly into our society.” Only one man, it declares, had the courage to reveal the secret, and now only he has the solution.
“President Trump told the truth. The cover-up is over. Secure the border. Deport them all.”
Contrary to the White House’s claim, it’s no secret that millions of undocumented people—“aliens” in the old English lexicon of U.S. legalese— live in the United States. It’s equally obvious that the White House aims to round up millions and expel them, since Trump and his advisers have long proclaimed that as a top priority. During his 2024 campaign, Trump promised “the largest deportation program in American history.” The people he is targeting, he relentlessly and falsely demonizes, calling them “vicious, violent criminals” and “stone-cold killers” who will “walk into your kitchen and cut your throat” and “not even think about it the next morning.”
Mass expulsion would transform the United States as profoundly as anything else Trump is attempting in his second term, and he can’t do it at the scale he wants without the public backing he famously craves. The new website is brazen propaganda to get Americans to hate their neighbors and to support purging millions of people from the country. Under the cover of amusement, the site systematically works to construct migrants as an existential threat, to dehumanize them, to stifle empathy for them, and finally, it asks people to report “suspicious aliens,” thus becoming complicit in the government’s effort to dispense with them.
Whitehouse.gov/aliens pushes inflammatory buttons familiar to experts on rhetoric that increases the risk of intergroup atrocities by instilling deep fear of members of another group. Such rhetoric, that one of us has named “dangerous speech” for its capacity to inspire violence, can demonize any human group. Dangerous speech is similar across languages, cultures, and history. Since no human has been born hating another group of people, dangerous speech is a vital tool for cultivating the collective fear necessary for people to support attacking or removing another group— in this case with arrests, imprisonment, and expulsion.
via Aliens.gov
“ALIENS” (capitalized in Trumpian style) pose a “real danger,” the site claims, to “every American family, every community, and the future of our nation.” Against the starry black sky of the new site, foreign nationals are depicted as dangerous not only with words but also with a heat map of immigration arrests that have taken place all over the country, from Blacklick, Ohio to Henderson, Nevada, along with long text blocks of crimes, many of them violent. The impression this creates is false, which is typical when tyrants use dangerous speech to accrue power. In fact, noncitizens commit fewer crimes than U.S. citizens, and most of the people Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has arrested have never been convicted of any U.S. crime, as the Cato Institute reported last year. Since then, the share of noncriminals in ICE detention has only risen, to more than 70 percent as of April, and only a tiny proportion of those detained are the violent criminals ICE claims it is chasing.
Moreover, quite a few of the invading “Aliens” seem to be U.S. citizens, including some people born on U.S. soil, according to the White House site. The United States is even on the site’s list of native countries of people arrested by ICE. And WIRED reported that according to the site’s heat map of arrests, ICE has grabbed at least one U.S.-born person in 715 of the listed American cities and towns. In 83 of the locations identified, every single person ICE arrested was a U.S. citizen.
The Aliens website makes two other moves familiar to scholars of mass atrocities: dehumanizing members of a group (here, conflating them with extraterrestrials and referring to them as “it”) and quashing public compassion for them.
”If you’ve witnessed an Alien abduction, do not be alarmed,” the site exhorts in glowing green. “The Alien is in good hands. We will take care of it … and return it safely to its place of origin.”
In reality, ICE officers have broken down doors to drag people into subfreezing streets in their underwear, and deported them to foreign sites of torture. More than 60,000 people who are now in ICE detention on any given day often lack adequate medical care, and many of them do not get returned safely to their countries of origin. Protests against these actions, especially in Minneapolis where ICE officers shot U.S. citizens Alex Pretti and Rene Good to death (leading to more protests), have irked the White House.
Compassion has been a nuisance in other State campaigns to purge large groups of people. In 1941, for example, Nazi Governor-General Hans Frank, outlining a program to annihilate Jews, complained of public sympathy for them:
I know that there is criticism of many of the measures now applied to the Jews in the Reich. There are always deliberate attempts to speak again and again of cruelty, harshness … [A]gree with me on a formula: we will have pity, on principle, only for the German people, and for nobody else in the world.
Eliminating a large group within a society requires the complicity of a critical mass of the public. During Stalin’s Purge beginning in 1937, millions of people were denounced by others as “enemies of the people” and then arrested, often tortured, and killed. In East Germany, the Stasi secret police recruited nearly 200,000 Inoffizielle Mitarbeiteror (“informal collaborators”) or IMs who informed on their friends, neighbors, and families. In Nazi Germany, the Gestapo relied heavily on informers to help root out Jews and people who tried to protect them or merely opposed the Nazi regime. In the 1994 Rwanda genocide, political leaders instigated a mass mobilization of Hutus against their Tutsi neighbors. The same pattern can be found in the genocide of the Rohingya in Myanmar, and beyond.
A big red button on the White House’s “Aliens” website invites the public to take part in Trump’s mass deportation plan by becoming an informer. Clicking on “REPORT SUSPICIOUS ALIENS” leads to an ICE tip line, providing a pathway to action for potentially millions of people who might not have been looking for a way to engage with ICE.
The website also strives to convince viewers that deliverance from the purported existential threat of an “Alien invasion” runs through one, and only one man: “President Trump was the first to call out the real danger Aliens pose.” He is “Bold. Unapologetic. Unafraid.”
Trump has repeatedly pressed the idea of an alien (migrant) invasion—so much that on the first day of his second term he signed an Executive Order titled, “Protecting the American People Against Invasion,” and offered himself as the only protection, the only person who could repel it. It is typical of authoritarians to introduce a terrifying threat, and then offer themselves as the only savior.
Actually delivering on mass deportation, however, is an immense political, financial, and logistical challenge. Legislation that Trump called his “Bill Beautiful Bill” provided $170 billion over a four-year period for immigration enforcement, enabling a mass recruitment campaign of new ICE officers to conduct immigration arrests, alongside a 400 percent increase in the organization’s detention budget. This infrastructure of mass deportation is essential context for understanding why whitehouse.gov/aliens is not “cheeky” or “tongue-in-cheek” as some media outlets have described it. With its conspiratorial flavor and meme-ification style, it is a cleverly crafted piece of propaganda to instill and increase American fear so that the Trump administration can catapult the country back to an imagined, demographically homogenous past.
Mystery deepens over King Tutankhamun's 'alien glass' after stunning discovery
Scientists investigating the mysterious 'alien glass' in northern Africa have uncovered new clues about the violent event that created it.
The strange yellow material, known as Libyan Desert Glass, is scattered across parts of Egypt and Libya and is believed to have formed during an extreme cosmic event around 29 million years ago.
Now, researchers have discovered a rare zircon structure hidden inside the glass that appears to have formed after the mineral completely melted and rapidly crystallized again.
The finding suggests the glass was exposed to temperatures exceeding 4,082°F, hot enough to liquefy one of Earth's most durable minerals.
Researchers believe the crystal preserved a microscopic record of that event, capturing evidence of the extreme heat and rapid cooling that created the glass.
But scientists still cannot agree on exactly what happened. Some believe an asteroid slammed into Earth, while others argue a space rock exploded in the atmosphere with enough force to melt the desert below.
The newly discovered crystal does not settle the debate, but it provides some of the strongest evidence yet that the event involved extraordinary temperatures and formed under highly chaotic conditions.
That finding is shedding new light on the origin of the mysterious glass that ancient Egyptians later prized enough to place in King Tutankhamun's tomb.
Scientists investigating the mysterious 'alien glass' in northern Africa have uncovered new clues about the violent event that created it
That finding is shedding new light on the origin of the mysterious glass that ancient Egyptians later prized enough to place in King Tutankhamun's tomb
Among the many treasures found in King Tut's tomb were elaborate pieces of gold jewelry fashioned with pieces of the yellow glass.
Despite decades of study, researchers have never been able to fully explain how the glass was created.
However, the leading theories involve a catastrophic cosmic event.
One possibility is that an asteroid or comet struck Earth, generating enormous temperatures and pressures that melted silica-rich rocks into glass.
Another theory suggests that an incoming space object exploded in the atmosphere before impact, releasing enough energy to superheat the desert below without leaving behind a crater.
The biggest problem for researchers is that no definitive impact crater has ever been linked to the glass field.
Several candidate craters have been proposed over the years, but none have survived scientific scrutiny. That absence has fueled the ongoing debate and turned Libyan Desert Glass into one of planetary science's most enduring mysteries.
In the latest study, researchers from the University of Milano-Bicocca in Milan, Italy examined a tiny zircon inclusion hidden within a sample of the glass.
The glass has been found in ancient jewellery, including a scarab carved from the material, which features in pectoral jewellery buried beside Tutankhamun
Zircon is an exceptionally durable mineral often used by geologists to reconstruct ancient events because it can survive conditions that destroy many other minerals.
What they found was unlike anything previously reported in Libyan Desert Glass.
The microscopic zircon measured only about 20 micrometers across, smaller than the width of a human hair, but it displayed an unusual branching, tree-like structure known as a dendritic texture.
Scientists believe the formation grew extremely rapidly from molten material as the glass cooled.
To investigate, the team used advanced imaging techniques capable of examining structures at the nanoscale.
These included electron microscopy and three-dimensional diffraction methods that allowed them to study the crystal's internal structure in remarkable detail.
Chemical tests revealed that the trapped glass between the zircon branches was slightly different from the surrounding Libyan Desert Glass.
It contained higher levels of aluminum and zirconium, indicating it likely came from a separate molten droplet that cooled and solidified independently from the rest of the glass.
The researchers also found something unexpected: there was no evidence of minerals that normally appear when zircon melts and cools. Instead, every crystal they examined remained zircon.
That finding is shedding new light on the origin of the mysterious glass that ancient Egyptians later prized enough to place in King Tutankhamun's tomb
This suggested the original zircon grain was heated so intensely that it melted completely before rapidly crystallizing again, skipping several intermediate stages that scientists would normally expect to see.
Further analysis showed subtle differences in the atomic structure of the trapped glass compared with the surrounding material.
The bonds between atoms inside the trapped glass were slightly longer, indicating it experienced a different thermal history during cooling.
According to the researchers, this supported the idea that the zircon formed from a tiny droplet of molten material that became isolated within the larger mass of molten glass.
The findings suggested the zircon crystal is a microscopic record of an extremely violent event.
Scientists believe it was created when intense heat melted both zircon and the surrounding silica-rich material, forming a droplet of liquid that cooled so quickly it froze evidence of the process in place.
However, the team noted that the finding carries an important implication.
Based on the chemistry of the zircon and surrounding glass, the team calculated that temperatures likely exceeded roughly 4,082 degrees Fahrenheit.
For comparison, lava from most volcanic eruptions reaches temperatures of about 1,292°F to 2,192°F, meaning the event that created the glass was significantly hotter than many volcanic processes.
The researchers described the conditions as being far from equilibrium, meaning the material was heated and cooled so rapidly that normal geological processes could not keep up.
They noted that the crystal's unusual structure suggested it formed during a chaotic sequence of melting and rapid solidification, preserving evidence of the extreme conditions that created the glass.
The study also uncovered subtle differences between the glass trapped inside the zircon structure and the surrounding Libyan Desert Glass.
These differences indicate the material may have existed as a separate molten droplet before becoming trapped and preserved during cooling.
Although the discovery provides some of the strongest evidence yet for extreme heating, it does not settle the long-running debate over the glass's origin.
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First missing scientist is found dead a year after vanishing as bizarre circumstances of her death are revealed
The body of a missing nuclear lab employee has been discovered, 11 months after she mysteriously walked out of her home and vanished without a trace.
New Mexico State Police announced that they positively identified the remains of Melissa Casias, 54, who was last seen alive on June 26, 2025.
Her body was found in the McGaffey Ridge area of the Carson National Forest, approximately six miles from the last place Casias was seen walking before being declared missing.
Police said a hiker in the forest made the discovery and that a handgun was found alongside the body. Casias's cause of death and when she died have yet to be determined by the Office of the Medical Investigator in New Mexico.
Casias was an administrative assistant at the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), a facility founded by the famed Manhattan Project during the Second World War. It has been tied to nuclear weapons research ever since.
Her disappearance has been linked to a string of deaths and missing person cases involving US scientists and government employees who worked at highly secretive facilities and allegedly had knowledge of sensitive topics tied to national security.
The circumstances surrounding Casias's case were even more disturbing, as the wife and mother wiped all records from her phones before leaving them and her identification behind and walking out of her home in Ranchos de Taos last June.
It remains unclear how long Casias's body was in the forest before it was discovered, despite the area being part of a large US Forest Service restoration project where crews have been working regularly since December 2025.
Melissa Casias worked at the Los Alamos National Laboratory, a long-running nuclear research facility, before disappearing on June 26, 2025
New Mexico State Police have stated that the body of Melissa Casias was found alongside a handgun in the McGaffey Ridge area of the Carson National Forest (Pictured)
The New Mexico State Police told the Daily Mail that investigators are still examining the scene where the body was found and are attempting to trace the gun's origins, but it could take days before those answers are revealed.
At this time, it is unclear if Casias owned a handgun or if there is any indication as to who the weapon found near her body belonged to.
Former FBI Assistant Director Chris Swecker told the Daily Mail in March he was concerned her disappearance was part of a much larger pattern involving individuals who had access to top secret government research.
Swecker explained that Casias's work at LANL may have made her a target for abduction, since an administrative assistant often has access to the same sensitive files their supervisors have.
'In a classified lab, or just a high clearance lab, they would basically be in the know on what's going on,' Swecker said. 'And it wouldn't be the first time their administrative assistant has been targeted.'
However, the woman's family and private investigators have disputed how much access Casias really had, claiming that the LANL employee lost her security clearance due to financial troubles she and her husband were having.
Casias vanished after dropping off her husband, another LANL employee, at the facility that morning, approximately 70 miles from their home.
That was when Casias's behavior allegedly became unusual, as she claimed she would need to return home after forgetting the badge needed to access the nuclear lab.
Casias was last seen walking alone in New Mexico after dropping off her husband at work at Los Alamos National Laboratory, but not reporting for work herself
According to her husband, Mark, a superintendent at the lab, Casias had the security badge with her when she dropped him off that morning, as she would have needed the badge to get past the security checkpoints.
When Casias arrived in Ranchos de Taos, the couple's daughter, Sierra, reportedly told investigators that her mother visited the teen's place of work to drop off a sandwich and then said she planned to work from home after forgetting the badge.
Despite what Casias reportedly told both her daughter and husband, she returned home to drop off her work and personal phones, which the family would later find inside the house, wiped clean.
Specifically, the device showed that someone performed a factory reset on both devices, clearing all records of whom Casias may have been in contact with before vanishing.
Surveillance cameras last spotted Casias walking alone eastward on State Road 518, roughly three miles from her home, around 2.20pm local time.
The area inside Carson National Forest where her body was discovered is just five to six miles away from that state road.
In 2023, the US Forest Service approved the McGaffey Forest and Rio Grande del Rancho Watershed Restoration Project.
The project covers about 30,000 acres south of Taos, including the McGaffey Ridge area where Casias was found. Its goal is to restore forest health through tree thinning, timber harvesting, and prescribed fire to reduce wildfire risk and improve watersheds.
Workers began entering the area for active work in December 2025, starting with timber harvesting and thinning in partnership with the State of New Mexico.
Pictured: Workers harvesting timber within Carson National Forest. It is unclear how long Casias's body was in the park before being discovered
Casias was one of four missing people with links to US defense and nuclear programs
Three other individuals in New Mexico with a connection to US nuclear facilities disappeared under identical circumstances over the last year.
Fellow LANL employee Anthony Chavez, 79, worked at the lab until his retirement in 2017, although his role there has not been made clear. He vanished without a trace after walking out of his home on May 4, 2025, just seven weeks before Casias.
Meanwhile, Steven Garcia, 48, vanished without a trace on August 28, 2025. He was last seen leaving his Albuquerque, New Mexico, home on foot, carrying only a handgun and no identification.
An anonymous source told the Daily Mail that Garcia was a government contractor working for the Kansas City National Security Campus (KCNSC), a major facility in Albuquerque that plays a key behind-the-scenes role in America's national defense.
The mysterious disappearances came to light after retired Air Force General William Neil McCasland vanished from his New Mexico home in February.
The general had previously been in charge of the Air Force Research Lab, which worked closely together on national security projects, especially research involving America's nuclear capabilities, with these labs.
'That entire mission runs out of Kirtland Air Force Base. A big part of it, including the technology and the production of the technology that they use, is all built in Albuquerque. So McCasland would have absolutely known and been to these facilities,' a source revealed.
McCasland's military career and the bases he oversaw have been tied to Casias, Chavez, Garcia and missing NASA scientist Monica Reza.
The White House has tasked the FBI with looking into all of these disappearances, but the agency has not released a detailed report on their findings to this point.
Space boffin breaks silence on 'UFO' spotted soaring out of erupting volcano
An expert has weighed in after a mysterious glowing orb appeared from an exploding volcano
(Image: afarTV/YouTube)
BY Liam Randall - News Reporter
A Harvard boffin has weighed in on the moment a mysterious glowing orb appeared to launch itself out of an exploding volcano right after a meteor strike. Mind-boggling footage captured a green fireball tearing through the night sky behind Mount Mayon - one of the planet's most volatile peaks located in the Philippines.
The stunning cosmic event kicked off at around 10.30pm on May 25 and was caught from multiple angles by cameras monitoring the peak.
But the real mystery began just after the space rock flashed by. As glowing orange lava oozed down the mountainside, a small, luminous white speck was spotted lifting off into the heavens in clips shared by afarTV.
Harvard's Avi Loeb has poured cold water on the alien theories
(Image: Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)
The spooky clip sent internet sleuths into overdrive, with many convinced they had just witnessed a bona fide UFO departure. However, top theoretical physicist Avi Loeb has poured cold water on the alien theories.
Speaking to NewsNation Prime, the Ivy League professor said: "The light coming up is most likely the glint from a satellite reflecting sunlight. There are more than 10,000 communications satellites moving around the Earth, so it's not very unlikely to see such a thing."
According to the space expert, skywatchers simply caught a spectacular, one-in-a-million coincidental optical illusion.
Mount Mayon in the Philippines is one of the planet's most volatile peaks
(Image: AFP via Getty Images)
The celestial display left nearby residents absolutely terrified. One panicked local from the town of Los Baños admitted they "thought it was a missile because of how bright it was."
They added: "It burned bright green and white for less than a second before it disappeared into the clouds." At first, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS) triggered alarm bells by claiming their tech had caught the meteor "striking the northern slopes of Mayon Volcano".
But after a deeper look at the data, the agency backtracked, confirming the cosmic boulder actually vaporised harmlessly in mid-air.
Taking to X (formerly Twitter), PHIVOLCS posted: "Our review of seismic, infrasound and additional camera footages around the volcano indicate that the meteor disintegrated while in the atmosphere and did not strike the slopes of Mayon, contrary to our initial post." Had the fiery rock actually smashed into the volcano, it would have left a massive, undeniable scar.
And while the timing looks like a miracle, the odds of a meteor crossing paths with Mount Mayon are actually higher than you'd think. The notorious Luzon-based peak is the most active volcano in the Philippines and one of the most dangerous on Earth.
By the time the green fireball turned up, the volcano had been continuously oozing lava for 140 straight days, meaning multiple cameras had already been rolling around the clock for months.
‘The truth is still out there’
‘The truth is still out there’
“LOOK at that thing, dude. My gosh. There’s a whole fleet of them. They’re all going against the wind … look at that thing. It’s rotating.” While this may sound like a scene from a sci-fi film, these were the voices of US Navy aviators reacting to an object detected by military sensors, in footage later known as Gimbal. The Pentagon formally released that video, along with two others, in 2020, confirming that they showed what it described as unidentified aerial phenomena.
In May 2026, the Pentagon began releasing more declassified UAP material in batches through the Presidential Unsealing and Reporting System for UAP Encounters, known as PURSUE — hundreds of files and more than 50 videos, including historical records of “green orbs”, “discs” and “fireballs”, as well as newer military-linked footage. This, in its simplest form, is known as the unidentified anomalous phenomena.
‘UAP’ is the modern bureaucratic term for what the world once called Unidentified Flying Objects, UFOs. The shift in language is deliberate. UFO came carrying decades of cultural baggage: flying saucers, little green men, crashed discs, secret hangars, conspiracy radio and late-night documentaries. The term ‘UAP’ gives the state a way to talk about the mystery without surrendering to the mythology.
But the public does not hear it that way. For UAP enthusiasts, an object trained pilots cannot identify, detected by military systems, moving against the wind or rotating in unusual ways, is not a neutral bureaucratic category. It is the oldest question in a new form: are we alone? And, perhaps, for good reason.
The existence of UAPs does not automatically mean they are alien. It means they are unresolved.
For decades, the question of UFOs, now UAPs, was made ridiculous before it was examined. The official history of UFO inquiry is full of this contradiction. Governments investigated sightings because they could not ignore them, but often spoke about them as if only the foolish would take them seriously. The infamous ‘Project Blue Book’, the US Air Force’s programme to study and debunk UFOs, became the symbol of this uneasy posture: investigate the unknown, but reassure the public that nothing extraordinary is happening, all the while hundreds of those sightings or cases remained ‘unexplained’. This is the strange irony of the alien question.
Hollywood has spent more than half a century making extraterrestrial life profitable. We are culturally fluent in fictional aliens, yet when real pilots, soldiers, radar operators or civilians describe something strange in the sky, the same culture suddenly becomes embarrassed. With all of the newly declassified files, that ridicule is now becoming harder to sustain.
Yet as UAPs have moved from the margins into congressional hearings, official reports and military disclosure, the official position has remained cautious. The Pentagon has released videos and records, while its All-Domain Anomaly Resolution Office, or AARO, continues to examine cases. Nasa, too, has entered the conversation, arguing for better data, better sensors and less stigma. Yet both remain careful: they acknowledge that some cases are unresolved, while Nasa’s independent study team has stated that there is no conclusive evidence in peer-reviewed scientific literature suggesting an extraterrestrial origin for UAPs, and that many cases remain difficult to resolve because the data is often incomplete, inconsistent or not collected scientifically.
This is where the debate often polarises. One side treats every unexplained sighting as evidence of alien visitation. The other treats every mention of aliens as foolish claims. But both positions are oversimplified. The more honest position is harder. UAPs exist in the limited but important sense that there are sightings, sensor records, and official cases that remain unidentified. That does not automatically mean they are alien. It means they are unresolved. The difference matters.
There is a ladder of probability. At the bottom are ordinary explanations: aircraft, balloons, birds, drones, satellites, debris, weather effects, optical illusions, camera artefacts and sensor errors. Many UAP cases eventually fall here. A distant object may appear impossibly fast because of camera angle; a sensor may misread distance; a pilot may misjudge size or speed. A classified aircraft may be unknown to the observer but not to the state.
Higher up are more troubling possibilities: advanced surveillance systems, experimental military technology, unknown atmospheric phenomena, or limits in our sensors and perception. Only then does one arrive at the most dramatic explanation: non-human technology. That explanation is not impossible. It is simply not yet proven.
The strongest argument for taking UAPs seriously is not that they prove aliens. It is that serious institutions now admit that some cases cannot be fully explained with the data available. That alone is significant.
This is also why the release of Pentagon files should not be mistaken for an admission of first contact. A government disclosure is not the cinematic moment where the state finally confesses that visitors have arrived. It is more likely controlled transparency: a response to congressional pressure, public mistrust, national security uncertainty, and decades of secrecy.
The alien question survives because both sides have something to explain. The believers must explain why there is still no public, verifiable physical evidence of extraterrestrial technology. The sceptics must explain why trained observers, military systems, and official institutions keep encountering cases that cannot be dismissed as fantasy. Between those two failures is where the real mystery lives.
So, the million-dollar question: are we really alone?
The universe is too vast for certainty to belong only to sceptics. It would be arrogant to assume life emerged only once, on one small planet, around one ordinary star. But it would also be careless to turn every unknown light in the sky into a visitor from another world.
Even as a lifelong ‘believer’ and a UAP enthusiast who has consumed everything from official press conferences to Netflix documentaries on the subject, I suspect first contact may not arrive as a Spielberg-style landing on Earth. It may come more quietly: from one of Nasa’s missions to Europa, hidden in the chemistry of an ocean beneath ice.
This German Scientist Claims Advanced Civilizations May Survive Only About 5,000 Years Before Dying Out
This German scientist says that if the new math is right, a technological civilization may only last about 5,000 years on average before it dies out. Physicist Sabine Hossenfelder explains a pretty unsettling idea: if the Fermi paradox is taken seriously, technological civilizations in our galaxy may usually last only about 5,000 years before they go silent, collapse, or stop being detectable.
Sabine is saying that the universe may not be full of long-lived alien empires at all; instead, most advanced species may be short-lived and disappear before they can spread far or talk for very long.
The Fermi paradox asks a very direct question: if the universe is so old and so huge, why have we not seen any clear sign of alien civilizations yet? Sabine frames it as a mystery about silence, not just about aliens existing somewhere. The basic logic is simple: if intelligent life were common and long-lasting, some civilization should probably have left signals, probes, or some other trace by now.
The new paper she discusses turns that question around. Instead of asking how many alien civilizations exist, it asks how long a civilization can survive if we still hear nothing from anyone else. That change sounds small, but it leads to a much darker conclusion than many people expect.
Sabine explains that the starting point is the Drake equation, which estimates how many communicating technological civilizations may exist in the Milky Way. The equation combines factors like how many suitable planets there are, how often life begins, how often intelligence appears, how often it becomes technological, and how long that technological phase lasts. The paper uses optimistic values for the first parts of that equation, and then solves for the last part: lifetime.
That is how the authors arrive at the shocking number of roughly 5,000 years. In other words, if life and intelligence are fairly common, then civilizations may not stay technologically active for very long before they vanish or become undetectable. Sabine emphasizes that this is not a prophecy, but a mathematical upper bound based on the silence we observe.
Five thousand years is tiny on cosmic timescales. The Milky Way is billions of years old, and radio signals can cross the galaxy in about 100,000 years, so a civilization that survives and broadcasts for much longer than that should, in principle, have been noticed by now. The absence of any clear detection makes the result feel depressing, because it implies that long-lived alien civilizations may be rare.
The unsettling part is that 5,000 years is also not that far beyond human history. Our technological civilization is only a few hundred years old, so if the paper is even roughly right, we may still be in a very early and fragile phase. Sabine’s point is not that humanity is doomed tomorrow, but that the window for advanced civilization may be much smaller than people imagine
Sabine lays out three broad reasons why civilizations might go dark so quickly. The first is self-destruction: war, pandemics, ecological collapse, or misuse of technology could wipe out a civilization before it spreads widely. This is the most disturbing possibility, because it suggests intelligence may create the tools for its own undoing.
The second possibility is that some unknown external hazard is killing civilizations. That could mean things like more frequent supernovae, hidden cosmic dangers, or other risks we do not yet understand well enough. Sabine says this is possible, but she seems less convinced by it than by the idea that civilizations destroy themselves or fail to stabilize.
The third explanation is stranger: civilizations may survive, but simply stop caring about outward expansion or communication. They might retreat into virtual reality, post-scarcity comfort, or some other state where space exploration becomes irrelevant. In that case, the universe may still be full of advanced beings, but they would not look like the classic radio-broadcasting aliens people expect.
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This discussion connects to the idea of the Great Filter, which is the notion that somewhere between a habitable planet and a galaxy-spanning civilization, there is one extremely hard step almost nobody gets past. Sabine says the filter may not be the origin of life itself, because life’s chemical beginnings may be more common than once thought. Instead, the hard part may come later, when a species must become intelligent, technologically capable, and coordinated enough to survive its own progress.
That is where her comments get especially blunt. She suggests that human beings may not even be smart enough to clear that bar safely on our own. Her implication is that artificial intelligence may help us, but it could also make the situation more dangerous if not handled well.
Sabine does not fully agree with the paper’s most pessimistic interpretation. Her main disagreement is about communication technology. The paper assumes other civilizations would use electromagnetic signals like radio, the same sort of thing we search for with SETI, but Sabine thinks that may be far too human-centered.
She argues that an advanced species might use a completely different method, possibly even faster-than-light communication if such a thing is physically possible. If that is true, then we might be surrounded by alien signals and simply not have the right technology to detect them. Her joke is that Earth could be sitting inside a cosmic broadband stream while humans listen on the wrong channel.
What makes her explanation shocking is not just the number 5,000. It is the wider message behind it: technological civilization may be common, but short-lived; intelligence may not guarantee survival; and silence might reflect fragility rather than loneliness. That is a much harsher lesson than the comforting idea that aliens are out there and just too far away.
At the same time, Sabine does not present the paper as a final answer. She treats it as a useful but limited argument, because it depends on optimistic assumptions about how often life appears and what kind of signals civilizations use. So the real takeaway is not “aliens are impossible,” but “our assumptions about aliens may be much too narrow”.
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Inside Dan Burisch’s Claim That J‑Rods (Grey-Type) Were Actually Sick Time‑Travelling Humans
A controversial UFO whistleblower once claimed that, while working at S-4 near Area 51, he treated a sick extraterrestrial who told him it was actually human, just from a different timeline.
Dan Burisch’s J‑Rod story, if even 5% true, is terrifying for what it implies about us. On the surface, it’s a lab story: a government biologist recruited in the 80s, cleared into a facility near Area 51, assigned to work on a non‑human being in a pressurized sphere under “Project Aquarius.” Underneath, it’s a theory of our future, our past, and how reality itself might work
Dan Burisch introduced himself as a trained microbiologist with a PhD who claims he was recruited into a “Project Aquarius” at an S-4 facility to work on a captured non‑human being called ‘J‑Rod.’
Yeah, same facility where Bob Lazar claimed to work. He said he knew Lazar personally and that Lazar was involved in reverse-engineering alien craft at S-4 while Burisch was working on J-Rod.
The official story he said he was given at first: J‑Rod was an alien from the Zeta Reticuli system, about 15 light-years away, recovered from a UFO crash near Kingman, Arizona, in the early 1960s. Later, he claimed he learned a much stranger explanation. He said J‑Rod was actually a future human from a different timeline, a descendant of us who had evolved into a small, gray‑like being with a large head, big black eyes, and strong telepathic abilities.
According to Burisch, J‑Rods aren’t a separate species from a distant star. They’re future humans (about 3.5 feet tall) from a divergent timeline who took a different evolutionary path: small bodies, large heads, telepathic “VR‑like” minds, and a catastrophic genetic disease linked to their own technological choices.
He said J‑Rod lived inside a pressurized “clean sphere” because of its unusual biology. Here’s the part that always sticks with me: he described the J‑Rod streaming whole experiences into his mind.
Not just images, but 3D geometry, advanced math, memories of a wife, and environments that feel fully immersive, like being dropped into a conscious simulation. It’s a native “mental metaverse.”
Doesn’t this sound a lot like what we’re trying to build with brain‑computer interfaces and AI right now: compressing information into dense, multimodal packets and pushing them directly into perception. The difference is they do it organically; we do it with silicon and code.
Burisch said their DNA is warped (triplex supercoils, prion‑like elements, antifreeze glycoproteins), and they suffer from a neuropathy where signals die at the synapse and myelin breaks down. Their nervous system is also the control interface for their craft. When the body fails, the ship crashes.
That’s almost an allegory for us: the more we fuse our nervous systems with machines, the more any bug in the “wetware” becomes a catastrophic system failure. He said the J‑Rod could project advanced mathematics into his mind using both equations and three‑dimensional shapes, like cubes merging and transforming, to teach him concepts almost like teaching a child group theory.
This suggests a consciousness interface that combines math, geometry, and emotion in one stream. In the J‑Rod story, the bio‑tech marriage gives them god‑level capabilities… and also the seeds of their extinction.
In Burisch’s testimony, the J‑Rod suffered from a kind of advanced neuropathy. Because of this, its muscles waste away, its movements become clumsy and “floppy,” and it feels strong, constant pain, especially when touched or when doctors take samples from its body.
Burisch said his job was to take hundreds of aspiration samples from the J‑Rod’s nervous system to diagnose and try to treat its disease. He described a system that used an aspirative “avulsion” device, basically high‑tech suction biopsies.
From these telepathic sessions, Burisch said he learned that J‑Rod’s people had used time travel and wormhole‑type technology (Einstein‑Rosen bridges) to visit different eras of Earth. He said they were involved in a “timeline paradox,” where future humans tried to change past events to avoid a catastrophe that damaged their evolution.
He said he didn’t just work in a random black project. He claimed he was under the authority of Majestic‑12 (MJ‑12) and a higher policy group called the Committee of the Majority, which allegedly managed long‑term strategy on UFOs, ETs, and timeline issues.
Inside that environment, Burisch said his work with J‑Rod wasn’t just biology. It was tied to a treaty system, including something he called the T9 treaty, which supposedly managed relations with different non‑human groups. J‑Rod, he said, was not in the privileged category and was treated more like a lab animal than a diplomat.
The most abstract piece was the “doctrine for the convergent timeline paradox” (DCTP). He said he was given partial access to this doctrine in exchange for sharing what J‑Rod showed him telepathically. He claimed future humans had already altered the past (our present), creating multiple time streams that needed to “converge” without ripping reality apart.
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Burisch described taking nearly 300 aspiration samples from J‑Rod’s nervous system, watching it cry from pain yet still cooperate. He said J‑Rod called itself “captive” and was deeply depressed, while he felt both joy in the contact and guilt over the procedures.
Later, he said this experience pushed him toward a more spiritual outlook.
There is a great Reddit post where people dug into his background. They found references to a real person born Danny Benjamin Crain in 1964, with a history in biology, but his claimed PhD and some high‑level roles were disputed or not verifiable through normal academic and institutional records. This fueled a long controversy over whether he was an insider, a fantasist, or a mix of both.
There were also “Project Aquarius” documents and books that repeated his narrative: S‑4 facility, J‑Rod as a Kingman crash survivor, and detailed descriptions of the clean sphere, telepathic sessions, and advanced math and physics. But again, none of this came with hard, independent proof, no photos, no official files acknowledged by governments.
Later, Burisch also talked about a secret technology called Project Looking Glass. He said this was a machine that could show possible future timelines, like a “time screen” that let people see different outcomes before they happened.
According to Dan, what they saw with Looking Glass matched what J‑Rods had warned about: financial crises, conflicts, and a big “roadblock” around the year 2012 where timelines seemed to merge and the future became hard to read. He said some powerful people used this tech to try to protect their own power.
But again, none of this was confirmed by public evidence. Project Looking Glass, just like J‑Rod and Project Aquarius, stayed in the zone of claims, interviews, and documents without official proof.
From my perspective, his story was very detailed, technically flavored, and consistent within itself, which made it compelling to many. At the same time, it stayed just outside the line where mainstream verification could happen. That ambiguity is exactly where UFO myths usually live.
Whether literal or not, the Burisch/J‑Rod narrative acted like a mirror. It reflected fears about secret programs, ethics of experimentation, and the dangers of merging biology, technology, and “timeline engineering” without public consent. It also gave people a way to imagine that our descendants might be watching us, judging our choices.
So when you ask “who was Dan Burisch actually?”, you get three answers:
The more interesting question is: why do stories like his feel more satisfying than the idea that no one is in control at all?
The crashed UFO that vanished from the seafloor near Lummi Island
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