Scientists Say Heck, Just Nuke a Killer Asteroid Heading for Earth

By Victor Tangermann

Getty / Futurism

Plenty of asteroids can survive their fiery plunge through the Earth’s atmosphere. If they’re big enough, they can prove incredibly destructive, like the 60-foot Chelyabinsk meteor that exploded over the southern Ural region in Russia in 2013, releasing a blast equivalent to 30 times the energy of the atomic bomb that was dropped on Hiroshima.

And in case an even larger space rock were to ever threaten humanity, we’d have to get creative to keep it from colliding with our planet. Crashing a spacecraft into it like a pool ball to redirect its path — just like NASA did with its proof of concept Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission in 2022 — may not always be on the table, given the many uncertainties involved.

In a new paper published in the journal Nature Communications, an international team of researchers — including scientists from CERN and the University of Oxford — revisited the idea of blowing up an incoming asteroid with a nuclear warhead.

There are intuitive concerns. What if the asteroid shattered, turning a cosmic sniper shot into a shotgun blast of debris raining down over our planet?

But the team used CERN’s Super Proton Synchrotron (SPS) to study how asteroid materials react to different levels of physical stress, including large-scale simulations of nuclear deflection, and found that the space rocks are surprisingly resilient.

“Planetary defense represents a scientific challenge,” said Karl-Georg Schlesinger, cofounder of nuclear deflection startup Outer Solar System Company (OuSoCo), which partnered with the scientists, in a statement. “The world must be able to execute a nuclear deflection mission with high confidence, yet cannot conduct a real-world test in advance.”

In an experiment, the team exposed samples of a metal-rich meteorite to 27 short but intense pulses of a proton beam at CERN’s HiRadMat facility. Afterward, the team moved the meteorite to the ISIS Neutron and Muon Source at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory in the UK to analyze changes to its internal structure at a microscopic level.

To their surprise, the “material became stronger, exhibiting an increase in yield strength, and displayed a self-stabilizing damping behavior,” explained OuSoCo cofounder Melanie Bochmann.

The finding could have major implications for how we approach future asteroid redirection efforts.

“Our experiments indicate that — at least for metal-rich asteroid material — a larger device than previously thought can be used without catastrophically breaking the asteroid,” Bochmann said. “This keeps open an emergency option for situations involving very large objects or very short warning times, where non-nuclear methods are insufficient and where current models might assume fragmentation would limit the usable device size.”

Fortunately, the researchers could soon have far more data to go by. Both NASA and the European Space Agency are planning to study Apophis, an enormous asteroid somewhere between 1,000 and 1,500 feet in width, which is expected to come eerily close to the Earth — closer than many geosynchronous satellites at just 20,000 miles — to Earth in April 2029.

“As a next step, we plan to study more complex and rocky asteroid materials,” the researchers said in a statement. “One example is a class of meteorites called pallasites, which consist of a metal matrix similar to the meteorite material we have already studied, with up to centimeter-sized magnesium-rich crystals embedded inside.”

The upcoming research could have fascinating implications outside of asteroid redirection as well.

“Because these objects are thought to originate from the core–mantle boundary of early planetesimals,” they added, “such experiments could also provide valuable insights into planetary formation processes.”

More on asteroids: 

• Asteroid Behaving Strangely

 

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The largest life-form on land 400 million years ago was one that scientists can’t explain

<i>Neil Hanna via CNN Newsource</i><br/>From right

By Katie Hunt, CNN

(CNN) — Some 400 million years ago, long before dinosaurs or even trees had evolved, an enigmatic organism towered over the landscape like a prehistoric monolith.

Now, new research makes the case that the ancient life form is not a plant, animal or fungi and instead may be a completely unknown form of multicellular life.

“What we can say, based on all of those new analyses, is that it’s so different from any modern group we have,” said Corentin Loron, a palaeontologist at Edinburgh University and a co-lead author of the research, which published in the journal Science Advances last month.

First identified 160 years ago, the fossils — known as Prototaxites — measure up to 30 feet (around 9 meters) tall and have long defied easy classification.

In the 19th century, scientists initially thought Prototaxites was the rotten trunk of a conifer. Subsequent study, however, revealed it was composed of interwoven tubes, rather than the block-like cells that make up plant tissue.

Other scientists argued that it was a lichen-like mass, a symbiotic association between a fungus and algae. In recent years, some researchers thought the organism more closely resembled a fungus, in part because it didn’t appear to produce energy through photosynthesis.

The new research focused on three Prototaxites fossils unearthed in the Rhynie chert, a prehistoric land ecosystem near Aberdeen, Scotland. The Rhynie chert is home to the best-preserved examples of the earliest plants, fungi and fauna that colonized land 400 million years ago, during a period known as the early Devonian. The site was once an ancient hot spring like Yellowstone.

The exceptional preservation of the fossils embedded in the rock at the Rhynie chert allows scientists, with the right tools, to detect the chemical signatures of long-vanished molecules, known as fossilization products.

“We are able to still have signatures that inform us about the original composition of those fossils, meaning it’s not overcooked, it’s not overly transformed by the geology,” Loron explained.

A 410 million year-old Protaxities fossil, discovered in Rhynie, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. - Neil Hanna

Unanswered questions

The new analysis by Loron and his colleagues suggests that the biomarkers in Prototaxites fossils were chemically distinct from those of fossilized fungi found at the site and preserved in similar conditions. Fungi fossils preserved in the chert contained compounds from the breakdown of chitin and glucan, key structural molecules in fungi. Prototaxites, however, lacked these biomarkers.

“If Prototaxites was fungi, we would have expected it to follow the same trend as the fungi because they are next to each other in the same burial conditions,” Loron said.

Other structural features — such as a complex branching pattern within dark spherical spots in the fossil that could have carried out a gas, nutrient, water, or served another exchange function — were distinct from all known fungi, whether living or extinct, the researchers noted in the study. Based on these results, it is too early to shoehorn Prototaxites into a specific category, according to the team.

Different species of Prototaxites might have varied in size, but the largest would have really towered over the landscape at a time when plants were less than 1 meter tall, said Kevin Boyce, a professor of Earth and planetary sciences at Stanford University. His work on Prototaxites fossils has shown that the ancient organisms didn’t use photosynthesis to produce energy from light like plants, but likely consumed carbon sources in the environment — just as some living fungi live off decomposing organic matter.

From right, researchers Sandy Hetherington, Corentin Loron and Laura Cooper, who led the new study, at the Museum of Scotland's National Museums Collection Centre with some Prototaxites fossils. - Neil Hanna

“People have compared it to specific fungi or algae in the past, and they were doing their best with the information they had at the time, but we now have a much better handle on the overall tree of life and Prototaxites is too old for those comparisons to be valid,” Boyce, who wasn’t involved in the study, said in an email.

“You can compare it to mushrooms, but mushrooms just aren’t that old,” he added. “That doesn’t mean Prototaxites is or isn’t a fungus (or anything else), just that its form would have evolved independently from the mushrooms and other complex multicellular examples amongst fungi that we have now.”

Marc-André Selosse, a professor at the Natural History Museum in Paris, said the authors of the new study conducted “wonderful analyses” but noted the research only examined one of 25 known species of Prototaxites. Selosse, who also didn’t take part in the work, said he thought it was still possible that the organism functioned in a lichen-like way.

“The sampling is not encompassing the diversity of Prototaxites species,” Selosse said. “So for me, it doesn’t make it as a finished story.”

Loron said there is still much that is unknown about Prototaxites. For example, it’s not clear how Prototaxites were anchored to the ground or whether the organism, which is thought to have grown slowly, was upright for its whole lifespan. His team is planning follow-up studies on fossilized tubular organisms similar to Prototaxites to further the research.

“Sometimes it’s scary to not know what something is, but it’s also scientifically exciting,” Loron said.

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Graancirkels verklaard: wetenschap en speculatie

©Getty Images

Graancirkels verklaard: wetenschap en speculatie
In de jaren tachtig en negentig doken overal ter wereld graancirkels op, wat angst en intriges over hun oorsprong veroorzaakte. Deze cryptische patronen lijken de afgelopen jaren echter verdwenen.Laten we de geschiedenis, feiten en theorieën verkennen over dit mysterieuze fenomeen dat een milieukunstvorm inspireerde. Klik door de galerij om aan de slag te gaan.

©Shutterstock

Australië
In de jaren 1960 waren er talrijke UFO-waarnemingen in Queensland, Australië. Mensen beweerden cirkels te hebben ontdekt in moerasriet en rietvelden. Eén zo'n voorval deed zich voor in 1966 toen een aanzienlijke cirkel werd gevonden in het riet van een moeras in Tully, Queensland.

©Shutterstock

Antipodees
Vergelijkbare vindplaatsen zijn gedocumenteerd in verschillende delen van Australië, zoals Tooligie Hill in South Australia in 1971 en Navarre in Victoria in september 1972.

©Shutterstock

Lange geschiedenis
De oorsprong van graancirkels gaat echter veel verder terug. In 1678 werd van een groep cirkels die in Hertfordshire waren ontdekt, gedacht dat ze het werk van de duivel waren, omdat het onmogelijk leek dat een mens ze had kunnen maken;

©Getty Images

Graancirkels
In de jaren 1980 was er een aanzienlijke toename van het aantal gerapporteerde cirkels, wat leidde tot de popularisering van de term "graancirkels".

©Shutterstock

Theorieën
Er werden verschillende verklaringen voor hun ontstaan geopperd. Sommigen geloofden dat UFO's verantwoordelijk waren, terwijl anderen een onbekende vorm van energie, mogelijk paranormaal, voorstelden als de schepper.

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Wiltshire
Eind jaren 1980 vestigden de media de aandacht op graancirkels in Hampshire en Wiltshire, waardoor het fenomeen populair werd.

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Locatie
Verder onderzoek wees uit dat graancirkels in het Verenigd Koninkrijk niet willekeurig verspreid waren. Ze verschenen vaak in de buurt van wegen, bewoonde gebieden en oriëntatiepunten zoals de historische steencirkels van Stonehenge en Avebury.

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Operatie Merel
In 1990 begon een team wetenschappers, de zelfbenoemde "cerealogisten", aan een onderzoek om het mysterie rond deze formaties te ontrafelen. Ze sloegen een kamp op op een heuvel in Wiltshire, uitgerust met detectoren voor warmte, licht en geluid. Hun doel was om elk bewijs vast te leggen van een UFO of een buitenaardse entiteit die verantwoordelijk was voor het maken van de graancirkels.

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Resultaat
Operatie Blackbird omvatte samenwerking met de BBC en er werd in het gebied gepatrouilleerd door functionarissen van het Ministerie van Defensie. In de tweede nacht registreerde de bewakingsapparatuur knipperende oranje lichten in het aangrenzende veld. De volgende ochtend werden twee grote cirkels met parallelle lijnen ertussen ontdekt.

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Bewijs
Tijdens het onderzoek van de cirkels werden een bordspel en een houten kruisbeeld ontdekt in het midden van één ervan. Onderzoeker Colin Andrews accepteerde de mogelijkheid dat de knipperende oranje lichten waarschijnlijk werden veroorzaakt door de warmtehandtekening van een hoaxer.

©Reuters

Niet grappig?
Colin Andrews informeerde de pers dat hun onderzoek was gehinderd door een grap, wat een tegenslag veroorzaakte. Hij benadrukte de ernst van hun werk en benadrukte dat de grap van korte duur was.

©Reuters

Ondermijnd
De personen achter de onderbreking van Operatie Blackbird werden niet geïdentificeerd, maar hun acties beschadigden de reputatie van de "cerealogen".

©Shutterstock

Samenzwering?
Volgens berichten hebben samenzweringstheoretici gesuggereerd dat het leger het bedrog heeft uitgevoerd om de onderzoekers minder geloofwaardig te maken.

©Shutterstock

Grappenmakers

In 1991 schokten Doug Bower en Dave Chorley de wereld toen ze beweerden dat zij degenen waren achter de graancirkels, beginnend in 1978. Ze lieten het proces zien van het creëren van een graancirkel met behulp van basisgereedschap zoals een houten plank, een touw en een baseballpet met een lus van draad om een rechte lijn aan te houden.

©Shutterstock

Verantwoordelijkheid
Bower en Chorley verklaarden naar verluidt dat ze beïnvloed waren door de gebeurtenissen in Australië in de jaren 1960. Ze namen de eer op zich voor alle graancirkels in Groot-Brittannië vóór 1987 en voor meer dan 200 graancirkels van 1978 tot 1991.

©Getty Images

Nieuwe golf
De onthulling van de cirkels van Bower en Chorley in de jaren 1990 leidde tot een toename van het aantal graancirkels. In 2009 meldde het tijdschrift Smithsonian dat deze geometrische ontwerpen in de loop der jaren groter en ingewikkelder zijn geworden. Anonieme cirkelmakers hebben met hun creaties New Age toeristen aangetrokken.

©Reuters

Wereldwijd
Volgens de publicatie zijn er sindsdien wereldwijd op verschillende locaties graancirkels waargenomen. In Zuid-Engeland, waar de meeste activiteit plaatsvindt, richten de cirkelmakers zich op koolzaad-, gerst- en tarwevelden.

©Reuters

Magnetrons
Er zijn echter sceptici die betwijfelen of graancirkels uitsluitend door mensen zijn gemaakt. Physics World onthult dat biofysici opgezwollen stengels hebben geïnterpreteerd als bewijs dat de gewassen werden blootgesteld aan microgolven toen de cirkels werden gevormd. Deze ontdekking heeft geleid tot gepatenteerde methoden om de groei van gewassen te versnellen.

©Shutterstock

Debat
Na de bekentenis van Bower en Chorley ontstond er een gepassioneerde discussie tussen degenen die geloofden dat mensen verantwoordelijk waren en degenen die beweerden dat hun bekentenis niet elke cirkel kon verklaren.

©Shutterstock

Onderzoek
Studies gepubliceerd in 1999 en 2001 vonden bewijs van straling op gewassen in graancirkelformaties, wat een raadsel is voor degenen die de cirkels toeschrijven aan door mensen gemaakte houten plankontwerpen.

©Shutterstock

Prozaïsche waarheid
Andere incidenten hebben eenvoudiger verklaringen. In 2002 maakten mensen melding van graancirkels in de buurt van Pike Lake in Saskatchewan, Canada. Later werd echter bevestigd dat deze formaties in feite mesthopen waren die door een nabijgelegen boer waren weggegooid.

©Shutterstock

Uitleg?
Ook de cirkels die in de jaren 1960 in Australië werden waargenomen, zouden kunnen worden toegeschreven aan wallaby's die opium consumeerden. Volgens rapporten betraden deze buideldieren papavervelden die voor medicinale doeleinden werden gecultiveerd, consumeerden ze overmatige hoeveelheden van de gewassen en bewogen ze zich vervolgens in cirkelvormige patronen.

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'The E.T. of Varginha': 30-year mystery of 'alien' spotted by three girls, a military 'cover-up' and a doctor only now coming forward to describe 'creature brought into his hospital'

By ELIANA SILVER, SENIOR FOREIGN NEWS REPORTER

Thirty years ago in a quiet municipality of southern Brazil, three girls came face to face with an alien-like creature that would haunt them for decades.

They described it as having a heart-shaped face, big red eyes, three horns on its forehead and a shiny brown body, crouched beside a wall in a vacant lot in the city of Varginha.

Terrified, the girls fled and told their mother they had seen the devil.

That encounter on January 20, 1996, launched the mystery of the ‘E.T. of Varginha,’ a case that remains unsolved until this day.

Now, the story is once again under the spotlight after new testimonies have come to light, including that of a doctor who claims he encountered a non-human creature in his hospital.

At the time, one of the witnesses, Liliane Silva, said: ‘It had arms and legs, like a human being, but also had three horns.’  

The girls’ account quickly spread across Brazil, becoming a national sensation and earning the nickname ‘the E.T. of Varginha.’

In the days following the sighting, local lawyer and ufologist Ubirajara Rodrigues interviewed the girls. 

A statue of the E.T. of Varginha

The girls described a creature with a heart-shaped face, big red eyes, three horns on its forehead and a shiny brown body

The alien-like creature was reportedly crouched beside a wall in a vacant lot in Varginha

After hearing their account, he told them: ‘You didn’t see a demon or an ape, you saw an extraterrestrial,’ Silva recalled years later in a documentary released to mark the anniversary.

In the weeks that followed, ufologists began collecting anonymous testimonies from people claiming to be members of the military.

They alleged that the creature had been captured alive, taken to a hospital and later transferred to the Três Corações barracks before being moved to a secret laboratory in Campinas.

One soldier claimed the being ‘barely had a nose, its eyes were very red, and its mouth was small.’ 

Residents also reported seeing a UFO flying over the area before landing.

As the story escalated, the Brazilian Army launched an official investigation.

Investigators questioned soldiers, commanders, firefighters and ufologists who had published books on the case. They also examined the movement logs of military vehicles during the relevant days.

The result was a two-volume investigation totaling 600 pages declaring the story false and blaming the media for spreading lies.

‘The military personnel cited by the press did not participate in any operation transporting any type of cargo. The media are mistaken, publicizing untrue events,’ the report stated.

The official explanation suggested the girls had misinterpreted what they saw during a violent summer storm, which included heavy rain and hail.

Investigators proposed the figure may have been Luís Antônio de Paula, known locally as Mudinho, a man with mental disabilities who walked crouched through the city. 

Investigators proposed the alien-like figure may have been Luís Antônio de Paula, a man with mental disabilities who walked crouched through the city

The three women (then girls) who allegedly saw a nonhuman being give their testimony in the Moment of Contact documentary

The witnesses have rejected that explanation ever since. ‘We had known Mudinho since we were children; he was always crouching low,’ said Valquiria Silva, ‘Without a doubt, it wasn’t him.’

Silva was speaking in a new documentary released by Globo featuring fresh testimonies, including that of neurologist Italo Venturelli, who claims he encountered a nonhuman being in a Varginha hospital in 1996.

‘It was like a child, neither green nor brown, as they said. What I saw was white, with a teardrop-shaped skull and lilac eyes. I looked at it, it looked at me, it looked out the window and back at me,’ Venturelli said.

He explained that fear of ridicule kept him silent for decades, but a serious illness that nearly killed him prompted him to speak publicly. 

‘It was completely different from a human. It was very calm, it seemed like an angel,’ he said.

Further testimony was recounted this week at a press conference in Washington organized by investigative filmmaker James Fox.

Fox directed the film 'Moment of Contact' about the Varginha incident, where he interviewed several star witnesses.

Italo Venturelli, (pictured) claims he encountered a nonhuman being in a Varginha hospital in 1996 

Carlos de Sousa, a Brazilian man who said he witnessed the crash, told a press conference he initially thought the object was a blimp 

The director presented written and video testimony from people who say they encountered a nonhuman biological entity after what they describe as a UFO crash in January 1996.

Witnesses claimed a cigar-shaped object in distress crashed into a field near Varginha.

Carlos de Sousa, a Brazilian man who said he witnessed the crash, told the conference he initially thought the object was a blimp.

He described seeing debris scattered around part of the craft and noticing a strong smell of ammonia and rotten eggs.

According to de Sousa, army vehicles arrived shortly afterward and soldiers ordered him away at gunpoint. 

He said that after leaving the scene, men in suits approached him in an unmarked car and demonstrated knowledge of his personal details before telling him he never saw anything.

Journalist Nyei Nadeia claimed he experienced a similar situation when attempting to investigate the incident.

He said he was blocked by soldiers and described hearing people running through the woods shouting ‘surround it’ and ‘it’s smooth,’ and was warned he could be arrested if he continued asking questions.

The girls mother claimed four men allegedly offered money if the family would say the girls had seen an animal or a sick person

The witnesses drew the creature they had seen crouching beside a wall in Varginha 

The mother of Liliane and Valquiria Silva also spoke via video message at the conference, saying she found a footprint in the grass with three long toes and noticed a lingering smell.

Luiza Helena de Silva described a visit from four men dressed in black who allegedly offered money if the family would say the girls had seen an animal or a sick person.

The conference also featured testimony from individuals claiming military involvement. 

One man, whose identity was concealed, said he helped transport an extraterrestrial from a hospital before handing it over to other soldiers.

A medical examiner who worked in Varginha at the time described performing an autopsy on a young soldier who died unexpectedly from what appeared to be a severe infection.

A pathologist involved said the bacterium was highly aggressive and unusual. In a written statement for the event, he claimed the bacterium does not commonly infect humans, although it is found on Earth.

Venturelli also spoke at the conference, where he expanded on his testimony. He claimed he sensed that the creature in the hospital was thankful for the care and wanted to leave.

The neurosurgeon described having the impression that the being was very intelligent, with a strong sense of understanding and compassion in its gaze.

The neurosurgeon described having the impression that the being was very intelligent

Venturelli, who claims he saw the alien-like creature, comforts another witness, Carlos de Sousa, at the conference after sharing their testimonies

Retired Colonel Fred Clausen told the conference that in his work as a fighter pilot in 1980, he encountered a UFO, but the military confiscated footage from his gun camera.

He said he believes a US cargo plane secretly flew into Brazil in January 1996 and departed with ‘unusual cargo,’ calling on anyone with knowledge of such a mission to come forward.

The Pentagon has denied any evidence linking unidentified aerial phenomena to extraterrestrial life. 

Brazilian authorities have never officially endorsed the extraterrestrial claims.

Varginha’s City Council said it has never commented on the military investigation, according to El Pais.

However, the city’s current mayor, Leonardo Ciacci, revealed in the Globo documentary that when he managed a local bakery in 1996, the hospital allegedly involved refused its daily bread delivery on the day of the incident. 

As the mystery continues, citizens of Varginha have embraced their alien story.

Once known solely for being a major coffee-producing area, the city is now a tourist attraction, with people flocking to see statues of the 'E.T. of Varginha' as well as a water tower designed as a UFO.

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From time to time, ice ages occur on Earth, during which the appearance of our planet changes significantly. During these periods, large areas of land are covered with a layer of ice that does not melt even in summer. Scientists do not know all the reasons behind this phenomenon, but they have long been aware of its mechanisms and have several good theories that could explain everything.

What causes ice ages?

Ice on Earth

One of the main features of Earth as a planet in the Solar System is that it changes its appearance significantly as it revolves around our star. In regions where winter prevails at a given moment, water turns into snow and ice, covering vast areas of the surface. This is especially noticeable in the temperate zone of the Northern Hemisphere, as this is where the largest land masses are concentrated.

Earth is not unique in this regard, as Mars experiences the same changes, albeit on a smaller scale. There are areas of land on Earth that are permanently covered with ice regardless of the season, but this mainly applies to Antarctica, Greenland, and some high-altitude regions. However, there were times in the past when snow and ice covered a much larger area throughout the year.

We know them as the Ice Age. This term usually refers to the part of the Pleistocene epoch that began 2.53 million years ago and continues to this day. However, it is neither the only such event in the history of the Earth, nor the longest or the most extensive, but it is the best known to the general public and the best studied by scientists.

Earth during winter in the Northern Hemisphere. Source: phys.org

It is interesting to note that the idea of a period in our planet’s past when even modern Central Europe had a climate similar to that of northern Siberia today is relatively new. Even in the days of Galileo and Copernicus, no one suspected such a thing. It all began in the 17th century, when researchers turned their attention to so-called erratic boulders – large boulders found far from their parent rock, sometimes in the middle of a forest.

People already knew back then that such boulders often remain on the slopes of the Alps in spring after the ice has receded far into the mountains. But similar stones were found even deep in the valleys, where the ice did not reach in winter.

Subsequently, such rounded boulders began to be found not only in the Alps but also in Scandinavia, and the idea arose that once upon a time the whole continent was covered with ice. Later, the same conclusion was made about most of Europe in general. In the second half of the 19th century, the idea of the Ice Age as part of Earth’s past gained widespread recognition.

Erratic stone. Source: Wikipedia

What was the last ice age like?

It should be noted that the idea of the last ice age as a period when the Earth froze 2.5 million years ago and then melted almost instantly 10,000 years ago is, in principle, incorrect.

Yes, the climate did become much colder. Glaciers covered Belarus, Scandinavia, and Scotland, but further south, in the place of modern-day London and Paris, there was tundra. This meant that snow lay on the ground for most of the year, but it melted for a few summer months, and then the land was covered with cold-resistant vegetation. Where the climate was slightly wetter and warmer, there were taiga – cold coniferous forests. Roughly the same picture was observed in North America.

Further south, where the warm Mediterranean now stretches, there was a temperate climate, and beyond that were warm and even hot countries. Yes, the average temperature on the planet was significantly lower than it is now, but in tropical and equatorial zones, this effect was not very pronounced. In many regions, precipitation was significantly higher than it is today, although its distribution remained roughly the same as it is now.

Climate during the last glacial maximum. Source: Wikipedia

At the same time, the entire picture described above refers to the peaks of glaciation, which during the Quaternary period were not constant but were interrupted by interglacial periods. These periods lasted up to several tens of thousands of years, during which the climate was remarkably similar to what it is now. The ice fields retreated to the poles, and the former tundra turned into mixed forests and steppes.

In general, it is worth noting that the Quaternary glaciation has not yet come to an end. The climate that currently prevails on Earth is just another interglacial period. It is quite possible that in a few tens of thousands of years, the glaciers will begin to advance again.

Feedback system

But why is this happening, and why are scientists sure that this is not the end of the ice age, but just a break in it? The answer to this question is pretty complicated, not least because the Quaternary glaciation is not the first in Earth’s history; we know way less about the past ones, and there is no guarantee that they had the same root causes.

Europe during the last glacial maximum. Source: Wikipedia

However, scientists have a fairly good understanding of the mechanisms that control the course of such an event once it has begun. Direct and reverse feedback mechanisms begin to operate.

Water ice is a material with high heat capacity for heating and melting. No wonder it is used to cool drinks. For a cubic kilometer of ice to melt, it must absorb a huge amount of energy from the surrounding land, water, and air.

In addition, ice has a high albedo. To see this for yourself, just step outside on a sunny winter day. Therefore, even a fraction of a percent increase in the area of glaciers on our planet is enough to significantly increase the amount of solar energy reflected into space. At the same time, the part that remains in the atmosphere and hydrosphere is absorbed by the same ice.

This creates conditions for the formation of even more ice. As a result, the area of glaciers grows from year to year: slowly at first, and then faster and faster as the process of their expansion accelerates.

Isotopic composition of the atmosphere over the last 140,000 years. Source: Wikipedia

Why, then, do glaciers not cover the entire Earth, and why does the cold era eventually come to an end? Because, in addition to direct mechanisms, there is also a reverse mechanism at work. Greenhouse gases are present in the Earth’s atmosphere. The strongest of these are carbon dioxide (carbonic acid gas) and water vapor. The former is constantly replenished by volcanoes and forest fires, the latter by evaporation from the surface of the oceans.

Carbon dioxide is absorbed by plants and certain types of rock, while water vapor is converted into precipitation. In the early stages of glaciation, the amount of the former remains unchanged, while the amount of the latter actually decreases due to the overall drop in global temperatures.

But as glaciers spread, temperature fluctuations in the atmosphere decrease, winds weaken, and precipitation decreases. The cold and dry climate prevents plants from growing, and they begin to absorb less carbon dioxide. And volcanoes have no intention of ceasing their activity.

The melting of ice consumes a huge amount of energy. Source: www.livescience.com

At some point, the content of carbon dioxide, followed by water vapor, in the atmosphere begins to increase, and now they demonstrate a positive correlation. The more there is, the faster it accumulates. The albedo and heat capacity of glaciers become weaker than those of relatively warm and humid air, and they begin to melt faster than they form. Therefore, their area shrinks quite quickly, the planet’s albedo decreases, and an interglacial period begins.

These assumptions are consistent with geological data. Temperature and chemical composition of the air leave many traces in rocks and fossilized trees. It is easy to construct graphs of these traces and see how this works.

Milankovitch cycles

But what is the root cause of these changes, the impetus that causes glaciers to cross the threshold beyond which the above-described processes begin? There is no exact answer to this question, but the most plausible explanation is the observation made by Serbian astronomer Milutin Milankovitch in the 1940s.

Precession of the Earth’s orbit. Source: Wikipedia

The shape of Earth’s orbit can change over time from almost perfectly circular to slightly elliptical. This is due to the influence of other planets, which is described by complex dependencies. At the same time, the axis of rotation of our planet undergoes precession, i.e., a very slow change in its orientation and orbit, i.e., the direction in which it is tilted relative to the Sun.

As a result, over tens of thousands of years, the relative positions of the Earth’s aphelion – the farthest point in its orbit – and the moment of maximum inclination of one of the poles toward the sun change. We call the latter phenomenon the solstice, and depending on which hemisphere we are in, it can be winter or summer.

But it is not only this time that changes, but also the distance between the Earth and the Sun at the moment of aphelion. Milankovitch drew attention to how small the angle at which the sun’s rays fall on the polar regions of our planet becomes. Could it be that at some point it becomes so small that most of them are simply reflected by the atmosphere, and the amount of heat received by polar glaciers becomes minimal, creating conditions for a sharp increase in their amount?

Milankovitch compared graphs of changes in the angle of incidence of rays and temperatures on Earth over the last two million years and saw that they were extremely similar. We still do not know whether the cycles named after the Serbian scientist are only the “trigger” for glaciations or whether they control them all the time, but no one doubts that they played an important role in this process. And it is precisely the repeatability of the Milankovitch cycles that gives us confidence that the last glaciation was not actually the last.

Earth temperature fluctuations from the Mesozoic era to the present day. Source: phys.org

Past ice ages

The combination of Milankovitch cycles and the mechanisms of direct and reverse feedback between ice and the atmosphere provides a good explanation for the last ice age. However, if we look at the entire history of our planet, many more questions arise.

This is because the fluctuations that can be more or less confidently explained by them arose about 35 million years ago. And within these last millions of years, the change of eras did not always occur. Before that, for hundreds of millions of years, the Earth had a warm and stable climate.

And if all this does not seem strange enough to you, there were other ice ages before that, which were followed by equally long warm periods. And the most severe glaciation in Earth’s history, known as Snowball Earth, occurred during the Proterozoic eon. More precisely, there were two of them: the Stertian, 717–660 million years ago, and the Marionian, 650–635 million years ago.

Snowball Earth. Source: Wikipedia

Unfortunately, due to the remoteness of these events, we know nothing about any short-lived interglacial periods that may have existed within them. However, the fact that the glaciers reached the equator at that time suggests that the simple and understandable mechanisms described above did not work or did not work properly.

This is very surprising because the heat capacity and albedo of ice could not have changed during this time. Moreover, there is little convincing evidence that our planet’s orbit has also changed.

Movement of continents

There are many ideas about possible additional mechanisms of glaciation. The most convincing among them is the hypothesis that the degree of influence of Milankovitch cycles and climatic feedback mechanisms is largely determined by the location of the continents.

The Earth in the Mesozoic era. Source: Wikipedia

The fact is that continents act as heat and cold concentrators. Ice melts faster at sea than on land. Just look at Greenland and Antarctica, where most of the ice is concentrated. At the same time, the hottest deserts are located in the interior of the continental masses of Eurasia and Africa.

The continents themselves move very slowly along with the continental plates, compressing and forming bridges between them. That is, if all the land were gathered into a single mass stretching from pole to pole and blocking all ocean currents, it would be the ideal moment for the onset of an ice age. On the other hand, if there are several small continents scattered across the tropical and temperate zones of both hemispheres, and both poles and the equator remain free, ocean currents balance the climate across the planet.

Of course, these are two extreme ideal scenarios, which are extremely difficult to achieve given the chaotic movement of lithospheric plates. But the closer the actual position of the continental plates is to one or the other scenario, the greater the chance that the influence of Milankovitch cycles will or will not be felt. At least, data on the last few million years of our planet’s history can be well explained by this pattern, including the last 35 million years, during which we have had a giant refrigerator at the South Pole in the form of Antarctica.

Antarctica. Source: Wikipedia

The formation of mountains

There is another factor related to the movement of tectonic plates that may influence the likelihood of the onset of an ice age. When pieces of the lithosphere collide, it can happen relatively quietly, or it can be accompanied by the formation of massive mountain ranges. The last 65 million years, which we call the Cenozoic era, have been just such an epoch.

The fact is that when lithospheric plates collide, rocks that were previously hidden underground and had no contact with the atmosphere come to the surface. And the most chemically active components of the latter are carbon dioxide and water vapor.

That is, when active hill formation occurs, it should lead to the absorption of greenhouse gases. At least that is how it should happen in theory, but it is still unclear whether the volume of rock released from under the Earth is sufficient to significantly affect the composition of the atmosphere.

The Alpine belt is a mountain range that formed during the Cenozoic era. Source: Wikipedia

Astronomical reasons

Finally, when discussing the root causes that can trigger glaciation processes, it is impossible not to mention purely astronomical reasons. The first thing that comes to mind is the change in the Earth’s orbit over long periods of time. This idea is extremely logical and can explain everything without introducing additional entities.

The only problem is that all generally accepted models show that planetary orbits, except for a short period immediately after their formation, remained stable. Some studies suggest that the Earth’s orbit could indeed have changed more than is commonly believed under the influence of Jupiter and Saturn, but these assumptions remain unconfirmed.

However, one event that could have truly influenced glaciation is that the Sun may have been several tens of percent less bright than it is now during the first billion years of its existence. This is quite normal for stars similar to it.

Luminosity, radius, and temperature of the Sun. Source: Wikipedia

And a weak Sun is perfect for explaining why glaciation in the Proterozoic was so extensive. But it cannot be the only and exhaustive explanation for all such processes.

There are other, much more exotic assumptions about the causes of glaciation related to space. For example, the Sun encountered a shock wave from a supernova on its way, and that gas and dust somehow affected the amount of heat our planet received. However, such assumptions remain marginal.

Global warming

The onset of an ice age is caused by several very diverse factors. And here a logical question arises: how does human economic activity affect these processes? First of all, this concerns the emission of large amounts of greenhouse gases by our industry and transport.

Change in average temperature on Earth over the last 140 years. Source: Wikipedia

This fact is usually presented in a negative light. But is it possible that this process could actually delay the onset of a new ice age in the future? If so, then it should be viewed as positive.

In fact, there is no definite answer to this question. The same applies to the question of what role natural processes of transition from glaciation to interglaciation, which are not yet complete, play in global warming.

Scientists can only speculate that the increase in greenhouse gases in the atmosphere may reduce the impact of Milankovitch cycles on the climate, as was the case during warm periods. However, we will only find out about this in a few thousand years.

• Posted in Articles, Questions

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VIDEO: Eyewitness Report UFO Triangle Captured on Night Vision in Northern California

An eyewitness from Sonoma has shared raw night vision footage of a mysterious triangular object observed moving silently across the night sky. The sighting occurred on December 28, 2025, at approximately 8:04 pm while the observer was conducting routine skywatching with a PVS-14 night vision monocular.

What the Witness Was Doing

According to the witness, the recording began casually while observing Polaris, the North Star, and nearby stars to compare brightness and clarity. The footage is slightly shaky at first, consistent with handheld night vision use. However, in the final ten seconds of the clip, an unexpected object enters the frame.

That moment is when the most striking detail appears.

Description of the Object

The witness reports observing a clearly defined triangular object with the following characteristics:

• Solid triangular shape
• One dim light on each corner
• Fast and smooth movement
•  Complete absence of sound
•  High altitude appearance

The object was first seen while the observer was facing northeast and was traveling toward the northwest. No engine noise, propeller sound, or jet-like signature was detected.

Repeat Sighting Adds Weight

This was not an isolated experience. The witness states this was the second time seeing the same triangular object. The first encounter occurred earlier under similar conditions but without a camera attached to the night vision device. During this second event, the camera was connected, allowing the object to be captured on video.

That repeat observation strengthens the credibility of the report, as recurring sightings reduce the likelihood of momentary misidentification.

Raw Footage vs Processed Clips

The video accompanying this report is completely raw, with no filters or noise reduction applied. The witness explains that a shorter, processed clip was uploaded to the Enigma app, while the full video with adjusted filters for clarity was shared on YouTube. The version referenced here remains unaltered to preserve original data and visual integrity.

Night vision devices often display speckling and sensor noise, especially under low light conditions. The witness clarified that the processed versions were only adjusted to reduce these artifacts, not to alter the object itself.

Possible Explanations

The witness does not claim extraterrestrial origin but suggests the object may be advanced or experimental technology. The triangular configuration, silent operation, and steady speed are often associated in reports with classified or unknown aerial platforms.

However, no conventional aircraft, drones, or known astronomical phenomena fully match the observed behavior as described.

This sighting adds to a growing collection of night vision based UFO reports, particularly involving triangular objects. The combination of repeat observation, clear directional movement, and silent flight makes this case notable.

As always, the witness invites viewers to examine the footage themselves and reach their own conclusions.

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

Jesus' Bible prophecies that came true are finally proven in astonishing detail

• READ MORE: Odds of Jesus Christ returning before 2027 DOUBLE overnight 

By STACY LIBERATORE, US SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY EDITOR

Centuries before his birth, the Old Testament foretold hundreds of prophecies about Jesus, every single one fulfilled according to the New Testament.

These predictions have long raised questions among scholars and scientists about how one person could accidentally match so many specific details.

Mathematician Peter W Stoner tackled this question in his 1960 book Science Speaks, calculating the odds of a single first-century individual fulfilling just 48 of these prophecies by chance.

The result was staggering: one in 10 followed by 157 zeros, a number so vast it far exceeds the total number of electrons in the observable universe.

To make the math easier to grasp, Stoner began with eight key prophecies, including being born in Bethlehem, descending from David, and performing miracles. 

Using simple probability, multiplying the chance of each prophecy occurring randomly, he found that even fulfilling these eight by accident alone is about one in 100 million.

Extending the calculation to all 48 prophecies, the odds shrank to levels almost impossible to imagine. Stoner illustrated this with a real-world analogy, as covering the state of Texas two feet deep with silver dollars, mark one coin, and try to pick that coin blindfolded, a feat roughly as likely as one person fulfilling all eight prophecies by chance.

In 2025, researchers Will Best and Robin Lovgren from Belmont University revisited Stoner's work, confirming that even under very conservative assumptions, the probability of a single individual fulfilling these prophecies by chance is 'staggeringly low.' 

They added that this analysis 'highlights the remarkable alignment between the predicted characteristics and the historical record of Jesus' life, death, and resurrection.'

The Sermon on the Mount (PICTURED) was one of the many prophies foretold in the Old Testement

For many believers, these calculations provide compelling evidence that Jesus of Nazareth was the fulfillment of prophecy, rather than a random person who happened to match the descriptions. 

Critics note that the results depend on which prophecies are chosen and how strictly they are interpreted, but even with conservative assumptions, the odds remain extraordinarily small.

Jesus' life is said to have fulfilled dozens of these predictions, among the most striking included that he was born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2), born of a virgin (Isaiah 7:14), descended from Abraham and David (Genesis 12:3; 2 Samuel 7:12–13), and conducted a miraculous ministry of healing (Isaiah 35:5–6). 

His life also matched prophecies about suffering: he was betrayed by a friend, crucified with his hands and feet pierced, and buried in a rich man's tomb (Psalm 41:9; Psalm 22:16; Isaiah 53:9). 

Even events after his death, such as the resurrection (Psalm 16:10) and ascension into heaven (Psalm 68:18), correspond to ancient predictions.

To understand the math in simple terms, Stoner estimated the probability of each prophecy occurring by chance. 

For example, being born in Bethlehem has a one in 280,000 chance, being betrayed for 30 pieces of silver has about one in 100,000, and the money being returned for another purchase is also about one in 100,000.

He then used compound probability, multiplying the likelihood of each independent event. 

Jesus dying on the cross was also a prophecy in the Old Testament 

For instance, if one prophecy has a one in 10 chance and another a one in 100 chance, the odds of both happening by accident are one in 1,000. 

Applying this to the eight key prophecies produces a number so tiny it is nearly impossible to imagine. 

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Extending it to all 48 prophecies, Stoner adjusted for the relative difficulty of each prediction and found the probability to be one followed by 157 zeros, smaller than the number of electrons in the universe. 

Even counting billions per second, it would take far longer than the age of the universe to reach that number.

Best and Lovgren focused specifically on eight prophecies drawn from Isaiah 53, a chapter long seen by many Christians as describing the coming Messiah centuries before Jesus. 

These include being 'high and lifted up' (Isaiah 52:13), 'marred beyond human semblance' (Isaiah 52:14), coming from a humble background (Isaiah 53:2), being despised and rejected (Isaiah 53:3), and being crucified (Isaiah 53:5). 

Some are extremely unlikely to occur by chance, such as crucifixion, about one in a million, and remaining silent at trial, one in 10,000.

When the odds of all eight are multiplied, the probability of a single person fulfilling them by accident is effectively zero. 

Best and Lovgren echo Stoner's logic, saying that multiplying the probabilities shows numbers so tiny that they challenge ordinary understanding, drawing attention from scientists and statisticians even outside religious circles.

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Top-secret US Air Force jets spotted near Area 51 amid Trump's UFO disclosure claims

• MORE: Declassified CIA document reveals Area 51's TRUE purpose

By CHRIS MELORE, US ASSISTANT SCIENCE EDITOR

Flight tracking data has revealed that multiple top-secret Air Force jets have been sent to the highly classified Area 51 in the Nevada desert Friday morning.

The planes are part of the US military’s Janet fleet, which transports contractor employees, officials from the Department of War, and military personnel to secure facilities containing classified information and technology at the massive complex.

According to multiple flight-tracking websites, one aircraft designated Janet 31 departed Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas at 5.55am PT (8.55am ET) and was last descending into the Nevada Test and Training Range (NTTR), which houses Area 51.

Another flight, this one labeled Janet 43, took off from Harry Reid International 32 minutes later and was last seen heading for a landing area closer to Area 51. 

The infamous base has been tied to extraterrestrial lore for decades, with UFO researchers and conspiracy theorists claiming that secret government projects have been conducted at Area 51 since the 1950s. 

The flights come just days after US Congressman Eric Burlison claimed he has received permission from the White House to visit secret facilities tied to unconfirmed reports of extraterrestrials and non-human craft Congress has been investigating. 

The flights were also spotted after Trump Administration insiders allegedly claimed that full disclosure on UFOs and alien life could come from the president by July 2026.

Despite the growing speculation and daily flights to the top secret facility, the US government and the Pentagon have maintained that physical evidence of UFOs and extraterrestrial has never been found.

Flight-tracking websites captured two flights heading towards Area 51 Friday morning. The first, designated Janet 31, took off from Las Vegas at 8.55am ET

The Janet, designed by Boeing, is a white jet with a single red strip from front to back. The fleet flies contractor employees and military personnel to secure bases housing classified material

Designed by Boeing, Janet jets have a distinctive look, with an all-white body and a single red stripe running from the nose to the tail.

They operate from a dedicated terminal and parking area in Las Vegas, as the remote facility does not support commuting by vehicle.

According to Flight Aware, this was the flight straight day Janet 31 has flown into the airspace over NTTR, with tracking data revealing the plane appeared to land at the nearby Tonopah Test Range, often referred to as Area 52.

Meanwhile, Janet 43 has been seen flying four times this week, appearing to land at a different runway near NTTF, in Nevada's Lincoln County.

A third Janet was captured leaving the Tonopah Test Range Airport at Area 52 just after 11am ET on a course back to Harry Reid International.

The flights from Las Vegas typically take only 15 to 30 minutes, with military personnel regularly traveling the top secret complex to allegedly test and develop highly classified aircraft and weapons systems.

David Crete, a former Air Force Sergeant who was stationed at NTTF, previously told Daily Mail that the F-117A Nighthawk, America's first stealth bomber, was developed and tested at the base.

However, government whistleblowers and UFO researchers have both claimed to have seen and photographed unidentified objects flying over Area 51 for decades, many which don't look like normal aircraft or behavior like human-made technology.

Area 51, an area of more than 2.9 million acres, is located at the Nevada Test and Training Range. Area 52, which has its own airport runway, sits roughly 70 miles from Area 51

Anders Otteson, a Youtuber and explorer, captured video of a triangle-shaped aircraft flying over Area 51's restricted airspace

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Area 51, officially referred to as the Groom Lake test facility or 'the Ranch,' was established in April 1955 when scouts spotted the area while flying over the Mojave Desert.

Declassified CIA documents have revealed that the secret facility used to test the U-2 spy plane, which was crucial for intelligence gathering against the Soviet Union during the Cold War.

However, the more than 400-page report, which was officially unsealed in 2013, never mentioned what the base was used for after 1974.

Meanwhile, the secret Janet fleet started operations in 1972.

In 1989, famous UFO whistleblower Bob Lazar claimed in a televised interview that he worked at a secret site near Groom Lake known as 'S-4,' and that his job was to study alien technology and spacecraft recovered by the military.

Although the claims have become part of UFO and Area 51 lore, parts of Lazar's story, including his education and employee history, have never been confirmed with any physical records that back up his story.

In a January interview, Burlison claimed the Trump White House has directed the Pentagon to allow the Missouri congressman to visit Area 51 and other key facilities whistleblower evidence has tied to crashed UFOs, bodies, and other recovered tech.

Burlison did not detail when these visits would start taking place or if he would be brought their using the Janet fleet. 

 

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

By CHRIS MELORE, US ASSISTANT SCIENCE EDITOR

The Trump Administration has given the green light to reveal the secret UFO facilities to one of the leading voices in Congress calling for full disclosure of alien life.

US Congressman Eric Burlison of Missouri revealed that he has requested and been granted access to secure locations, such as Area 51, which have decades-old ties to UFOs and secret government projects. 

Speaking on the ALN Podcast, Burlison added that the request to President Trump and his staff included visiting US military bases and facilities where evidence suggests unidentified craft, materials, bodies, or archives allegedly exist.

Burlison is a member of the congressional oversight committee involved in the ongoing investigation into Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAPs), commonly known as UFOs.

Although the US government and the Pentagon have officially denied that there has been any physical evidence of UFOs or alien life ever recovered, Congress has heard from multiple whistleblowers claiming secret programs have covered up the truth.

In fact, Burlison has previously claimed President Trump has been 'fully briefed' on the existence of aliens, UFOs recovered by the military since the 1940s, and alien-human hybrids allegedly living on Earth today. 

Now, as Trump insiders have allegedly leaked that the White House is planning to reveal what America knows about extraterrestrials by July, the UAP committee may soon have the physical proof of non-human intelligence in their hands.

The congressman revealed: 'The White House has told the DoD to make it happen. The extent to which they've been involved is literally just saying to the Department of Defense that "we're backing his request. Do what you can to make it happen."'

Area 51 (Pictured) has been tied to UFO encounters and advanced military aircraft since the 1950s

US Congressman Eric Burlison (Pictured) has claimed that he has received approval from the White House to visit classified US facilities allegedly tied to evidence of alien life

Over the years, multiple US military sites have been linked to non-human craft, including facilities, anonymous sources have said, that were housing crashed spaceships and experimental aircraft constructed using reverse-engineered alien technology.

These include Naval Air Station Patuxent River in Maryland, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio, the Atlantic Undersea Testing and Evaluation Center (AUTEC) in the Bahamas, and the Nevada Test and Training Range (NTTR), home to Area 5

'There is reportedly an object that is not in this country that is so large it cannot be moved, that they've built an entire building around it,' Burlison said during the January 30 podcast.

The congressman noted that this facility outside the US was classified so he was unable to reveal its exact location, but it was on his list of places he had requested to visit as part of the committee's investigation. 

'It's going to involve a lot to make that happen, but that may be the final destination.'

Burlison said during the interview that he started as a UFO skeptic but was convinced these phenomena were real after listening to whistleblower David Grusch's public interview shortly after entering Congress in early 2023.

The Missouri Republican reached out to Grusch, connected him to the House Oversight Committee, and helped facilitate the string of public hearings that have revealed shocking evidence of alien encounters from respected military officials.

Most of the current evidence has taken the form of images and videos of alleged non-human craft captured by both civilians and military personnel. Many have been leaked to the public after being classified by the Pentagon for years.

President Trump (Pictured) expressed skepticism that reports of UFOs were real during a June 2024 interview but has allegedly granted access to secret bases tied to such claims

The November 2025 documentary 'The Age of Disclosure' alleged that there's been an 80-year cover-up on UFOs and alien technology

Burlison himself revealed never-before-seen video of a US military drone striking an orb-shaped UFO with a Hellfire missile during a September 2025 UAP hearing.

The shocking footage from October 30, 2024 revealed that the unidentified craft not only survived the missile strike, but continued to fly away at extreme speed as the 100-pound, air-to-ground precision weapon simply bounced off the UFO's hull.

The congressman added that access to government records on UAP has been intentionally made difficult to obtain and convoluted to research, with some agencies allegedly failing to report their data properly to Congress.

'We created government, and it's not the right of any government to withhold from you and I the truth about reality,' Burlison declared.

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• Trump insiders told me the president has a bombshell speech revealing DECADES of UFO secrets ready to go... here's when he will finally tell the world the truth

No government has the right to withhold from you and I that we might be alone or not alone in the universe. That is not their right. That is not classified. That's a truth that humanity deserves to know.'

Burlison has previously claimed to have 'a lead' on new UFO whistleblowers. However, he said during the new interview that it's been difficult to convince potential witnesses to risk losing their government clearances in retaliation, comparing these individuals to 'guinea pigs' in terms of how the Pentagon would respond.

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