Ontdek de Fascinerende Wereld van UFO's en UAP's: Jouw Bron voor Onthullende Informatie!
Ben jij ook gefascineerd door het onbekende? Wil je meer weten over UFO's en UAP's, niet alleen in België, maar over de hele wereld? Dan ben je op de juiste plek!
België: Het Kloppend Hart van UFO-onderzoek
In België is BUFON (Belgisch UFO-Netwerk) dé autoriteit op het gebied van UFO-onderzoek. Voor betrouwbare en objectieve informatie over deze intrigerende fenomenen, bezoek je zeker onze Facebook-pagina en deze blog. Maar dat is nog niet alles! Ontdek ook het Belgisch UFO-meldpunt en Caelestia, twee organisaties die diepgaand onderzoek verrichten, al zijn ze soms kritisch of sceptisch.
Nederland: Een Schat aan Informatie
Voor onze Nederlandse buren is er de schitterende website www.ufowijzer.nl, beheerd door Paul Harmans. Deze site biedt een schat aan informatie en artikelen die je niet wilt missen!
Internationaal: MUFON - De Wereldwijde Autoriteit
Neem ook een kijkje bij MUFON (Mutual UFO Network Inc.), een gerenommeerde Amerikaanse UFO-vereniging met afdelingen in de VS en wereldwijd. MUFON is toegewijd aan de wetenschappelijke en analytische studie van het UFO-fenomeen, en hun maandelijkse tijdschrift, The MUFON UFO-Journal, is een must-read voor elke UFO-enthousiasteling. Bezoek hun website op www.mufon.com voor meer informatie.
Samenwerking en Toekomstvisie
Sinds 1 februari 2020 is Pieter niet alleen ex-president van BUFON, maar ook de voormalige nationale directeur van MUFON in Vlaanderen en Nederland. Dit creëert een sterke samenwerking met de Franse MUFON Reseau MUFON/EUROP, wat ons in staat stelt om nog meer waardevolle inzichten te delen.
Let op: Nepprofielen en Nieuwe Groeperingen
Pas op voor een nieuwe groepering die zich ook BUFON noemt, maar geen enkele connectie heeft met onze gevestigde organisatie. Hoewel zij de naam geregistreerd hebben, kunnen ze het rijke verleden en de expertise van onze groep niet evenaren. We wensen hen veel succes, maar we blijven de autoriteit in UFO-onderzoek!
Blijf Op De Hoogte!
Wil jij de laatste nieuwtjes over UFO's, ruimtevaart, archeologie, en meer? Volg ons dan en duik samen met ons in de fascinerende wereld van het onbekende! Sluit je aan bij de gemeenschap van nieuwsgierige geesten die net als jij verlangen naar antwoorden en avonturen in de sterren!
Heb je vragen of wil je meer weten? Aarzel dan niet om contact met ons op te nemen! Samen ontrafelen we het mysterie van de lucht en daarbuiten.
De mysterieuze 18 jaren van Jezus: wat deed hij in deze tijd? Het levensverhaal van Jezus Christus is overduidelijk terug te vinden in de Bijbel. En hoewel we veel van zijn leven weten, bestaat er een enorm gat in het leven van Jezus dat tot op de dag van vandaag een mysterie blijft. Als gevolg hiervan zijn er in de loop der jaren een aantal theorieën ontstaan om de 'verloren jaren' van Jezus Christus te verklaren.
Wat deed Jezus en waar ging hij naartoe? Vestigde hij zich als familieman of ging hij reizen? Deze en vele andere mogelijkheden komen aan bod in deze galerij. Klik verder om erachter te komen waar Christus 18 jaar van zijn leven heeft doorgebracht (althans, volgens deze theorieën).
De verloren jaren van Jezus Een groot deel van het leven van Jezus wordt in de Bijbel beschreven, behalve een periode van 18 jaar tussen de leeftijd van 12 en 30 jaar. Deze periode staat bekend als de verloren/onbekende/mislukte jaren van Jezus.
De verloren jaren van Jezus Het leven van Jezus als pasgeborene is goed gedocumenteerd in de Bijbel, net als de jaren van zijn bediening. Maar er is een groot gat dat niet gedocumenteerd is en dat tot een aantal theorieën heeft geleid.
Jezus bleef in Nazareth en werkte als timmerman Eén theorie houdt het simpel: Jezus woonde in Nazareth, waar hij timmerwerk leerde van zijn vader, Jozef. Toen Jezus volwassen was, werd hij zelf timmerman. Zonen volgden meestal het beroep van hun vader, dus het is een plausibele theorie.
Jezus bleef in Nazareth en werkte als timmerman De Evangeliën lijken dit idee ook te ondersteunen. Marcus 6:3 luidt: "Is dit niet de timmerman, de zoon van Maria, de broer van Jakobus en Joses en van Juda en Simon?" Toch zijn sommige theologen het hier niet mee eens, waaronder de vroegchristelijke schrijver Origenes, die zei dat "Jezus zelf nergens in de evangeliën die door de kerken worden geaccepteerd als timmerman wordt beschreven".
Jezus trouwde en kreeg kinderen In het boek 'The Lost Gospel' beweren auteurs Barrie Wilson en Simcha Jacobovici dat Jezus tijdens de verloren jaren met Maria Magdalena trouwde en kinderen kreeg.
Jezus trouwde en kreeg kinderen Er zijn andere bronnen die erop wijzen dat Jezus getrouwd zou kunnen zijn geweest, met name een Egyptische papyrus uit de 4e eeuw (afbeelding) met een citaat van Jezus waarin hij naar zijn vrouw verwijst. De papyrus, geschreven in de archaïsche Koptische taal, bevat de zin "Jezus zei tegen hen: 'Mijn vrouw...'".
Jezus werd een volgeling van Johannes de Doper De theorie dat Jezus bijna 20 jaar als timmerman werkte en daarna een religieus figuur werd overtuigt veel schriftgeleerden niet. Sommigen suggereren zelfs dat Jezus in plaats daarvan een tijd als leerling van Johannes de Doper doorbracht voordat hij zijn eigen volgelingen verzamelde.
Jezus werd een volgeling van Johannes de Doper Bruce Chilton's boek 'Rabbi Jezus' beargumenteert dat Jezus na zijn bezoek aan de Tempel niet terugkeerde naar Nazareth, maar zich als discipel aansloot bij Johannes de Doper. Chilton stelt dat "Jezus een rebelse, ondernemende geest had. Hij werd geen gepassioneerd religieus genie door weg te kwijnen in de conventionele vroomheid van een dorp dat hem nauwelijks accepteerde."
Jezus werd een volgeling van Johannes de Doper De Bijbel biedt misschien wat ondersteuning voor deze theorie in Matteüs 3:13-17, waarin de doop van Jezus door Johannes de Doper wordt beschreven.
Jezus bracht jaren door met studeren en discussiëren met geleerden De Bijbel noemt Jezus maar één keer tussen zijn geboorte en zijn dertigste, en dat is in het verhaal van Jezus in de Tempel. In Lucas 2:41-52 staat dat Maria en Jozef Jezus onbedoeld in Jeruzalem achterlieten toen hij 12 jaar oud was. Toen ze naar de stad terugkeerden, vonden ze Jezus in de tempel, in gesprek met de schriftgeleerden.
Jezus bracht jaren door met studeren en discussiëren met geleerden We kunnen gerust zeggen dat Jezus veel tijd besteedde aan leren. Zelfs op 12-jarige leeftijd vertelde hij zijn ouders dat ze niet verbaasd hoefden te zijn dat hij dagenlang met geleerden had gediscussieerd. Dit suggereert dat Jezus waarschijnlijk vele jaren heeft gestudeerd voordat hij volgelingen begon te verzamelen.
Jezus werd monnik en leefde bij de Dode Zee De Dode Zee-rollen werden in 1947 gevonden in de droge woestijn ten zuidoosten van Jeruzalem. Het is mogelijk dat de rollen iets zeggen over de verblijfplaats van Jezus tijdens zijn verloren jaren.
Jezus werd monnik en leefde bij de Dode Zee De theorie gaat dat toen Jezus jong was, hij Qumrān (foto) bezocht, waar de Essenen (een mystieke Joodse sekte) woonden. De Dode Zee rollen bevatten hun oude religieuze geschriften en er zijn aanwijzingen dat Johannes de Doper door deze groep beïnvloed zou kunnen zijn.
Jezus werd monnik en leefde bij de Dode Zee Als Johannes de Doper werd onderwezen door de Essene sekte, dan is het mogelijk dat Jezus ook met hen verbonden was. Bovendien wordt in één van de rollen een persoon beschreven die heel goed Jezus zou kunnen zijn. Deze persoon wordt de 'Zoon van God' en de 'Zoon van de Allerhoogste' genoemd.
Jezus reisde naar India In 18 jaar kan er veel gebeuren en één theorie zegt dat Jezus misschien wel meerdere keren naar India is gereisd. Volgens deze theorie leerde Jezus het boeddhisme kennen in Kasjmir. Er bestaat zelfs een verhaal dat Jezus in 80 na Christus een boeddhistisch klooster ten noorden van Srinagar bezocht en deelnam aan een religieuze bijeenkomst, hoewel men dacht dat hij al jaren eerder was overleden.
Jezus reisde naar India Er is een theorie dat Jezus naar India zou kunnen zijn gereisd om terug te keren naar het bezoek van de Drie Wijzen uit het Oosten. Dit zou ook kunnen verklaren waarom Jezus de heilige Thomas opdroeg om naar India te gaan en daar het Evangelie te verspreiden.
Jezus was een herder Misschien bracht Jezus zijn verloren jaren door als een echte herder voordat hij een metaforische herder werd. In Johannes 10:11 zegt Jezus: "Ik ben de goede herder. De goede herder geeft zijn leven voor de schapen." Zou hij hier in de echte wereld ervaring mee hebben gehad?
Jezus was een herder Hypothetisch gezien had Jezus het timmermansvak van zijn vader kunnen opgeven en in plaats daarvan jaren als herder kunnen werken. Die baan zou Jezus genoeg tijd hebben gegeven om diep na te denken, dat is zeker!
Jezus bracht jaren in eenzaamheid door Jezus was geweldig met mensen van in de dertig, maar misschien was hij niet altijd zo. Zijn tienerjaren waren misschien zijn eenzame jaren, waarin hij tijd besteedde aan introspectie en reflectie, zoals een monnik dat zou doen.
Jezus reisde naar Tibet, Nepal en India en woonde in een klooster In een mysterieus manuscript uit de 3e eeuw, genaamd 'Leven van de Heilige Issa, Beste van de Zonen der Mensen', staat dat Jezus leerde van yogi's in India, Nepal en Tibet.
Jezus reisde naar Tibet, Nepal en India en woonde in een klooster Veel wetenschappers verwerpen deze mogelijkheid volledig. De theorie werd voorgesteld door de Russische aristocraat en spion Nicolas Notovitch. Hij beweerde het manuscript te hebben gezien in het Hemis klooster (foto) in Ladakh, India, tijdens een reis in 1894. Het klooster betwistte zijn beweringen echter.
Jezus reisde naar Tibet, Nepal en India en woonde in een klooster Hoewel het door velen als bedrog wordt afgedaan, zijn er een paar bezoekers van het Hemis-klooster geweest die beweren hetzelfde manuscript te zijn tegengekomen.
Jezus reisde naar Groot-Brittannië Eén theorie zegt dat Jezus naar Groot-Brittannië reisde met zijn oom, Jozef van Arimathaea, die een tinhandelaar was. Niet alleen dat, maar ook dat hij met de druïden in Glastonbury heeft gestudeerd. "Hij moest rondtrekken om stukjes en beetjes te leren over oude wijsheid, en de druïden in Groot-Brittannië gingen honderden, zo niet duizenden jaren terug. Hij kwam hier waarschijnlijk om de druïden te ontmoeten, om zijn wijsheid te delen en die van hen te vergaren," zei Dr. Gordon Strachan, predikant van de Kerk van Schotland.
Jezus reisde naar Groot-Brittannië De theorie won aan populariteit in de 19e eeuw met een gedicht van William Blake, dat ging als volgt: "En liepen die voeten in de oudheid / over Engelands groene bergen / En werd het Heilige Lam Gods / Op Engelands aangename weiden gezien?"
Jezus reisde naar Amerika Eén theorie suggereert dat Jezus naar de Nieuwe Wereld reisde. Archeoloog L. Taylor Hansen stelde voor dat een figuur die bekend staat als de 'Witte Profeet' verschillende inheemse Amerikaanse stammen bezocht in de periode van de verloren jaren van Jezus. Er bestaan verhalen over deze 'Witte Profeet' in plaatsen zoals Mexico, Peru en Noord-Amerika.
Jezus leefde (en overleed) in Japan Volgens deze theorie reisde Jezus naar Japan toen hij 21 was om theologie te studeren. Jezus vestigde zich in de stad Shingo en bleef 12 jaar in het land.
Jezus leefde (en overleed) in Japan De theorie zegt ook dat Jezus eigenlijk niet werd gekruisigd. Voordat dit kon gebeuren, vluchtte hij uit Judea en ging terug naar Shingo, waar hij stierf toen hij 106 jaar oud was. Vandaag de dag beweert Shingo de geboortestad van Christus te zijn geweest en elk jaar bezoeken duizenden mensen het vermeende graf van Jezus Christus.
This Man claimed that in 1994, during a US military exercise, he saw an unusual alien being in a military-style uniform whose skin had a light blue tint, no ears & eyes like a Crocodile that freaked him out. The being told him that his craft was damaged and that he needed some material to repair it.
Jason Sands is a retired US Air Force veteran, a Defense Contractor, UAP whistleblower claiming he had an otherworldly encounter in 1994 near Nellis Air Force Base/Test Range.
He was born in England to an English mother and a U.S. Army Green Beret father, and later lived in Japan, Massachusetts, Germany, and California because of his father’s military assignments.
At about age 10 in San Jose, Jason says he saw a red light come down from the sky, turn into a silver, mercury-drop-shaped object about the size of a camper, hovering just above his friend’s house, silently and very close. He watched it move under a streetlight, then shoot up, orbit briefly with another light, and then one of them streaked across the sky faster than a shooting star; his mother saw part of this with him, and his friend later reported his TV flickering and a humming sound. This sighting led Jason to read “Chariots of the Gods” and become interested in ancient aliens for a while, but as a child, he mostly returned to normal life, sports, and friends, without making UFOs a central focus.
Jason joined the U.S. Air Force in the mid‑1980s, partly influenced by his father but following his father’s advice not to join the Army or Marines; his father wanted him to learn a trade, so Jason chose the Air Force for its technical skills and later used it to earn a bachelor’s degree. He first worked as an airframe repair specialist on large aircraft like C‑130s and KC‑135s, fixing structural cracks, landing gear tracks, and rivets, before being retrained in signals intelligence due to overmanning in his original field.
As a signals intelligence (SIGINT) specialist, Jason monitored telecommunication signals on U.S. military installations, which required strong privacy training because he was listening to Americans, and he had to report threats like planned violent crimes to investigative agencies. He says his work expanded from radios to satellite communications, cell phones, and computer traffic over time, and during Desert Storm, he and his team intercepted information about Iraqi civil engineers being moved, which led to changing U.S. plans to protect those engineers from ambush while they dealt with oil-filled burn pits.
After Germany and Desert Storm, Jason requested western locations like Nevada, Hawaii, or Colorado, and was assigned to Nellis Air Force Base near Las Vegas, living in North Las Vegas. At Nellis, he trained other SIGINT analysts and also received special prototype training to cross over into electronic intelligence (ELINT), working with radar data—this is how he met his future wife, who was an ELINT “scope dope” assigned to the same unit and trained him.
Jason took part in “Red Flag” exercises at Black Mountain and the wider Nevada Test and Training Range, staying for two‑week rotations in small towns like Beatty and Tonopah rather than commuting daily from Las Vegas. He describes how, while training at Black Mountain, people casually pointed across the desert toward the Groom Lake range and talked about “Dreamland” and UFO rumors, which was his first time really hearing those stories in that context.
A few months after arriving in Nevada, Jason and several other analysts were quietly approached by colleagues and told they were being considered for a special access program (SAP) located at Groom Lake. They were asked if they would submit to a full‑scope (lifestyle) polygraph, which probes their entire life history for trustworthiness; Jason agreed, saying he had nothing to hide, and took the polygraph alongside a scientist who was also being onboarded.
After passing, Jason got a call on a Friday telling him to pack his bags without being told the destination, and the next day, he was picked up at his dorm, driven to a special secure part of McCarran Airport, and put on an unmarked “Janet” type flight with other personnel. He noticed that boarding and deplaning were unusually orderly, with no crowding or rushing, and upon arrival, he watched a mandatory security video that introduced the program name, rules, and general mission without openly mentioning aliens.
Jason also notes that he had heard of Bob Lazar in the media but did not know or care about Lazar’s claims while he was actually working at Groom Lake; Lazar had nothing to do with his assignment or chain of command.
1994 Red Flag exercise near Black Mountain
Jason explains that he and his team were driving in a convoy toward Quartz Mountain, with his truck in the lead. He sat in the back seat behind the driver, with another man in the front passenger seat and a young woman sitting to Jason’s right in the back. They always traveled with at least two vehicles behind them so that if one broke down, the others could help.
As they drove, Jason saw a man in a standard battle dress uniform (BDU), just like his own, standing on the left side of the road about a football field away. When the man noticed their vehicle, he started running toward them in a strange way, leaning forward as if he were falling or pushing against a strong wind. At first, Jason thought he was just another soldier in trouble, not a criminal or escaped fugitive.
As they got closer, Jason noticed that the man’s skin had a light blue tint, like someone who is very cold and hypothermic, not a dark or bright blue, but a pale bluish tone under normal skin color. Jason’s first thought was that the man was freezing and needed help, not that he was anything non‑human. When the stranger was only a few feet from the vehicle, and they were slowing down, the man in the front passenger seat suddenly shouted, “He’s got no ears,” meaning there were no ears at all on the sides of his head.
Jason at first thought this comment was rude because he assumed the man was suffering and needed medical help. He quickly opened his door and started taking off his jacket, intending to wrap it around the stranger to warm him up. As Jason stepped onto the road, shut the door, and looked at the figure from very close range—about three feet—he saw clearly that the being had no ears, eyes roughly twice the normal human size, and that same blue tint to the skin. At that instant, he felt a strong surge of fear, like a jolt of adrenaline, and thought, “Oh crap, this does not look human.”
Jason says that when he and the being locked eyes, it felt like looking into the eyes of a crocodile or suddenly seeing a rattlesnake; his primal fear spiked even though the being was not attacking him. He describes it as meeting a sentient creature he could not explain, similar to the shock of seeing a huge whale underwater the first time you scuba dive, but without knowing what this “whale” actually was. Despite his fear, the situation changed when the being began to communicate with him, which calmed him somewhat because Jason had to focus on the conversation.
The being spoke out loud in a language that sounded to Jason like Norwegian or some northern European language, not English. Jason did not understand the spoken words themselves, but at the same time, he clearly received the meaning in his mind, as if the being was speaking telepathically in parallel. Jason says he could understand everything: the being telling him that his craft was damaged and that he needed material to repair it. (it is unclear what the material name was, but many interpreted Jason as pronouncing something like “tintillium/trintillium”)
Jason then pointed in the direction of “Dreamland,” meaning the Groom Lake/Area 51 complex, and said those people might have advanced metals and high‑tech material that could help. As soon as he mentioned them, Jason felt a strong telepathic wave of disgust from the being, as if the being considered those people primitive or barbaric and wanted nothing to do with them.
Jason confirms he was speaking normally in English, not just thinking, and the being seemed to understand him perfectly. He compares the language effect to speaking Spanish out loud to someone while the listener simultaneously hears perfect English in their mind via Duolingo—one channel is foreign sounds, the other is clear meaning. The being continued talking in its unknown spoken language, while Jason kept understanding the content telepathically.
During the exchange, Jason occasionally glanced back at h is teammates in the vehicle. He says they looked “zonked,” like zombies, sitting motionless and staring blankly, similar to people who have been stunned in the Men in Black movies. Their expression was so odd that Jason almost found it comical, but he also recognized something was very wrong because they were not reacting to what was happening just outside the vehicle.
Jason notes that the driver might have started to roll the window down at first, but likely rolled it back up when he saw Jason opening his door, wanting to keep the cold air out. Jason is not certain about the exact position of the window, because his attention was on the being and the conversation rather than the small details in the car. He says the entire interaction with the being could not have lasted more than about five minutes, though it felt intense and full of sensory input.
At some point, Jason clearly realized, “Holy ****, I’m talking to an alien,” especially after he understood that the being was using an unknown language with a telepathic overlay and after noting that the being’s appearance was completely non‑human. He stresses that he has never before or since had someone speak to him in a foreign language while he simultaneously understood them telepathically in his own language. That combination of physical strangeness and telepathic communication convinced him he was dealing with a non‑human intelligence.
The craft itself was parked off the road in the desert, about 50 yards from where Jason and the being stood. Jason says he looked to his left as he exited the vehicle and saw it clearly in profile. The craft had a bulbous, egg‑shaped cockpit, white in color, roughly comparable in size to the cockpit of a modern fighter jet, and seemingly able to hold about two occupants. Attached to the back of this cockpit was a flat, black, pancake‑like “egg” about a foot to a foot and a half thick, sticking out where the tail of a helicopter would normally be.
Jason compares the overall shape to certain helicopters that have a large, rounded canopy where the pilots sit, except this craft had that big,ig rounded section plus the black disk at the rear and no wings or propellers visible. He emphasizes that, as part of Red Flag exercises, he and his colleagues were familiar with every type of aircraft in the U.S. inventory and many foreign allied aircraft, including bombers and fighters. He is confident this craft matched none of them and was unlike anything they were trained on or saw during the exercises.
Jason says he could take people back to the exact location on that road and point out the spot where the craft sat, probably within about ten feet. He remembers the spot very clearly on the route toward Quartz Mountain. As the conversation continued, Jason ran out of helpful ideas; after being reacted with disgust to the Groom Lake suggestion, Jason told him the only other possibility he could think of was a geophysics professor he knew at the community college in downtown Las Vegas, who might have access to metals or specialists.
When Jason mentioned the professor, the being accepted this as a possible option and said something like “OK” in response. Shortly after that, the conversation ended; Jason did not want to stay any longer and also felt they had reached the limits of what he could do to help. The being then walked back to his craft, entered it, and the craft lifted off.
Jason describes the takeoff sound as a strange noise, somewhat like a squeaking fan belt in a car, but not very loud. The craft rose straight up from its position, then began moving horizontally while rising in a kind of stair‑step pattern rather than a smooth line, which Jason thinks could be due to the damage the being had mentioned, especially affecting the vertical flight system. The craft flew south‑southeast across the range, in a direction roughly toward Las Vegas, and eventually passed out of sight.
After the craft left, Jason got back into the vehicle. At that moment, his teammates seemed to “come to”: their faces no longer looked zoned out, and they suddenly acted normal again. No one said, “What the hell was that?” or reacted the way Jason expected after such an extraordinary event. When he asked them directly if they had seen what just happened, they all said no.
Jason felt this was strange, and he sensed that at least the ranking driver did remember something, because that man firmly said no and added that they should not talk about it. Jason took this as a sign that the senior man had seen enough to be frightened or concerned and wanted the subject shut down. He thinks it is likely that some of the people in the car, maybe all of them except him, experienced “lost time” or had their awareness switched off during the main part of the encounter.
Jason explains “lost time” as a gap in memory where a section of time disappears, either because of a physical blow to the head or, in many abduction stories, because the beings have a way to turn off a person’s consciousness. He mentions reports where car radios and electronics shut down around craft, and afterwards, witnesses realize more time has passed than they remember, even though it felt like nothing happened. Jason believes something like this may have affected his teammates and may also connect to his own later missing time that day.
He then continues the story to describe what happened after they reached Black Mountain. The convoy proceeded as scheduled; they had to arrive at a set time to power up their equipment and start their operational work, so outwardly, everyone focused on the mission. Jason, however, drove in shock, silently replaying the encounter in his head and thinking, “Holy crap, what just happened?”
At Black Mountain, they set up their gear, worked through the mission, and then later returned to their hotel. Jason says that only the ranking man seemed to recall any part of it, because he was the only one willing to acknowledge anything when Jason tried to talk to him later. Around lunchtime that same day at Black Mountain, Jason felt a very strong, strange urge to eat his lunch outside even though it was extremely cold.
He followed this feeling, took his lunch, and walked down the road from the Black Mountain site about 100 to 150 feet. He remembers walking down the road—and then his memory simply stops. That is where his own missing time begins: he has no recollection of what happened after walking that short distance away from the main site.
Post-Alien Encounter
Years later, in 2022, Jason says he was asked by people associated with the UAP Task Force to contact the other men from the car to corroborate the event. He reached out to one former colleague, who initially replied warmly, but when Jason mentioned “remember that day back in ’94, that UFO,” the man never responded again and effectively ghosted him.
Jason interprets this as either fear, unwillingness to revisit traumatic or sensitive material, or pressure to remain silent, although he cannot know the exact reason. He states he is willing to take a polygraph specifically about this UFO encounter and his Groom Lake experiences because he considers himself an honest person and believes he is telling the truth as he remembers it.
He mentions that he has spoken privately, in more detail, to a very small number of trusted people and that some of what he told them included references to operations that could be interpreted as involving non‑human intelligences (NHI), but he stresses he is still trying to sort out what is memory, what is nightmare, and how his mind might have protected him by altering or hiding details.
Jason repeatedly acknowledges that claims about missing time, UFO craft at Black Mountain, and any implication of being ordered to harm an NHI sound unbelievable and can severely damage his credibility. He says his hesitation and emotional reaction are partly because he knows how bad this sounds, even “if it’s true,” and he does not want these aspects to be used to dismiss his documented military career and more conventional intelligence work.
At the same time, he emphasizes that his life story, service record, positions of trust, and multiple polygraphs show that he has generally been considered reliable and responsible within the system. Jason’s current stance is that he stands by what he has described about his UFO encounter and his involvement in a Groom Lake SAP, but he draws a line on discussing the most extreme alleged incidents until he and his psychiatrist can fully unpack them, out of concern for both truth and his own mental health.
Jupiter, one of the gas giants, was not always at its current position in the Solar System (Credit : NASA/STSCI (S.T.A.R.S))
The giant planets weren't always where we find them today. Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune formed in a more compact configuration and later underwent a violent reshuffling that scattered them to their current positions. Exactly what triggered this chaos remains uncertain, but researchers at the Laboratoire d'Astrophysique de Bordeaux and the Planetary Science Institute now propose a close encounter with a wandering substellar object during the Sun's youth.
The giant planet instability, as astronomers call it, explains numerous features of the Solar System. It accounts for Jupiter's co-orbital asteroids, the irregular satellites circling the giant planets, and the orbital structure of both the Kuiper belt and asteroid belt. The timing appears early, probably within 5-20 million years after the Solar System formed, based on meteorite evidence. The trigger, however, has remained elusive.
Pluto is one of the many Kuiper Belt Objects in our Solar System
(Credit : NASA / Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory / Southwest Research Institute)
Sean Raymond and Nathan Kaib ran 3000 computer simulations testing whether stellar flybys could destabilise the young planetary system. The Sun formed within a cluster of hundreds to thousands of stars, making close encounters inevitable. The team started each simulation with the giant planets in a resonant chain that would remain stable for over 100 million years if left undisturbed, then subjected the system to a single flyby.
The simulations explored flyby objects ranging from one Jupiter mass to ten solar masses, passing at distances between 1 and 1000 astronomical units with velocities up to 5 kilometres per second. Very strong flybys stripped planets away or over excited their orbits beyond recognition. Very weak flybys did nothing. But an intermediate range produced systems matching the present day Solar System.
The successful scenarios shared common characteristics. The flyby object had to be relatively low mass, between 3 and 30 Jupiter masses, placing it firmly in the brown dwarf or free-floating planet category. It needed to pass within roughly 20 astronomical units of the Sun, directly perturbing the planetary system rather than just the outer disk. Only 20 simulations, less than one percent of the sample, matched both the giant planets' orbits and preserved the cold classical Kuiper belt, a population of small bodies whose pristine orbits constrain how violent any ancient encounter could have been.
Artist impression of a brown dwarf
(Credit : NASA/JPL-Caltech)
The probability calculation depends critically on the abundance of free floating planets and low mass brown dwarfs. Recent observations of young star clusters suggest these objects are more common than standard models predict. If their numbers are even modestly underestimated by a factor of four, the probability of a flyby triggered instability rises from roughly one percent to five percent.
The work offers a fourth possible trigger for the giant planet instability, joining scenarios involving gas disk dispersal, spontaneous destabilisation, and gravitational interactions with the outer planetesimal disk. Distinguishing between these mechanisms remains challenging, particularly since flyby triggered instabilities could still be delayed by tens of millions of years after the encounter itself.
Paths of Starlink satellites as of Feb 2024. Credit - NASA Scientific Visualization Studio.
A “House of Cards” is a wonderful English phrase that it seems is now primarily associated with a Netflix political drama. However, its original meaning is of a system that is fundamentally unstable. It’s also the term Sarah Thiele, originally a PhD student at the University of British Columbia, and now at Princeton, and her co-authors used to describe our current satellite mega-constellation system in a new paper available in pre-print on arXiv.
They have plenty of justification for using that term. Calculations show that, across all Low-Earth Orbit mega-constellations, a “close approach”, defined as two satellites passing by each at less than 1km separation, occurs every 22 seconds. For Starlink alone, that number is once every 11 minutes. Another known metric of Starlink is that, on average, each of the thousands of satellites have to perform 41 maneuvers per year to avoid running into other objects in their orbit.
That might sound like an efficiently engineered system operating the way it should, but as any engineer will tell you, “edge cases” - the things that don’t happen in a typical environment, are the cause of most system failures. According to the paper, solar storms are one potential edge case for satellite mega-constellations. Typically, solar storms affect satellite operation in two ways.
Fraser discusses current methods to avoid satellites carshing into each othe
First, they heat up the atmosphere causing increased drag, as well as positional uncertainty for some of the satellites. Increasing their drag causes them to use more fuel to maintain their orbit, but also to initiate evasive maneuvers if their path might cross that of another satellite. During the “Gannon Storm” of May 2024 (which, unfortunately, appears not to be named after the Zelda villain) over half of all satellites in LEO has to use up at least some of their fuel on these repositioning maneuvers.
Second, and perhaps more devastatingly, solar storms can take out the navigational and communications systems of satellites themselves. This would make them unable to maneuver out of harm's way, and, combined with the increased drag and uncertainty caused by the heated atmosphere, could least to an immediate catastrophe.
Kessler syndrome is the most famous embodiment of this catastrophe, where a debris cloud around Earth makes it impossible for humans to launch anything into orbit (or beyond) without it being destroyed. But Kessler syndrome takes decades to fully develop. To showcase the immediacy of the problem these solar storms can cause, the authors came up with a new metric - the Collision Realization and Significant Harm (CRASH) Clock.
Papaer author Sarah Thiele discusses the legal frameworks around orbital debris.
According to their calculations, as of June 2025, if satellite operators were to lose their ability to send commands for avoidance maneuvers, there would be a catastrophic collision in around 2.8 days. Compare that to the 121 days that they calculated would have been the case in 2018, before the megaconstellation era, and you can see why they are concerned. Perhaps even more disturbingly, if operators lose control for even just 24 hours, there’s a 30% chance of a catastrophic collision that could act as the seed case for the decades-long process of Kessler syndrome.
Unfortunately, solar storms don’t come with much warning - maybe only a day or two at most. And even when they do, we can’t necessarily do anything about them other than trying to safeguard the satellites they could effect. But the dynamic environment they introduce into the atmosphere necessitates real-time feedback and control to effectively manage those satellites. If that real-time control goes down, according to the paper, we only have a few days to get it back up before the entire house of cards comes crumbling down.
This isn’t idle speculation either. The 2024 Gannon storm was the strongest in decades, but we already know of a stronger one - the Carrington Event of 1859. That was the strongest solar storm on record, and if a similar event happened today it would wipe out our ability to control our satellites for much longer than 3 days. Essentially, a single event, of which there has already been precedence in historical memory, could wipe out our satellite infrastructure and leave us Earth-bound for the foreseeable future of humanity.
That doesn’t sound like a future readers of this blog would like to live in. And while there are trade-offs between utilizing the technical capabilities LEO mega-constellations give us and the risk that they pose to future space endeavors, it's best to have a realistic assessment of those risks. When it comes to the potential of losing access to space for generations because of one particularly bad solar storm, it's best to at least make informed decisions, and this paper certainly helps to create those.
Paths of Starlink satellites as of Feb 2024. Credit - NASA Scientific Visualization Studio.
A “House of Cards” is a wonderful English phrase that it seems is now primarily associated with a Netflix political drama. However, its original meaning is of a system that is fundamentally unstable. It’s also the term Sarah Thiele, originally a PhD student at the University of British Columbia, and now at Princeton, and her co-authors used to describe our current satellite mega-constellation system in a new paper available in pre-print on arXiv.
They have plenty of justification for using that term. Calculations show that, across all Low-Earth Orbit mega-constellations, a “close approach”, defined as two satellites passing by each at less than 1km separation, occurs every 22 seconds. For Starlink alone, that number is once every 11 minutes. Another known metric of Starlink is that, on average, each of the thousands of satellites have to perform 41 maneuvers per year to avoid running into other objects in their orbit.
That might sound like an efficiently engineered system operating the way it should, but as any engineer will tell you, “edge cases” - the things that don’t happen in a typical environment, are the cause of most system failures. According to the paper, solar storms are one potential edge case for satellite mega-constellations. Typically, solar storms affect satellite operation in two ways.
Fraser discusses current methods to avoid satellites carshing into each othe
First, they heat up the atmosphere causing increased drag, as well as positional uncertainty for some of the satellites. Increasing their drag causes them to use more fuel to maintain their orbit, but also to initiate evasive maneuvers if their path might cross that of another satellite. During the “Gannon Storm” of May 2024 (which, unfortunately, appears not to be named after the Zelda villain) over half of all satellites in LEO has to use up at least some of their fuel on these repositioning maneuvers.
Second, and perhaps more devastatingly, solar storms can take out the navigational and communications systems of satellites themselves. This would make them unable to maneuver out of harm's way, and, combined with the increased drag and uncertainty caused by the heated atmosphere, could least to an immediate catastrophe.
Kessler syndrome is the most famous embodiment of this catastrophe, where a debris cloud around Earth makes it impossible for humans to launch anything into orbit (or beyond) without it being destroyed. But Kessler syndrome takes decades to fully develop. To showcase the immediacy of the problem these solar storms can cause, the authors came up with a new metric - the Collision Realization and Significant Harm (CRASH) Clock.
Papaer author Sarah Thiele discusses the legal frameworks around orbital debris.
According to their calculations, as of June 2025, if satellite operators were to lose their ability to send commands for avoidance maneuvers, there would be a catastrophic collision in around 2.8 days. Compare that to the 121 days that they calculated would have been the case in 2018, before the megaconstellation era, and you can see why they are concerned. Perhaps even more disturbingly, if operators lose control for even just 24 hours, there’s a 30% chance of a catastrophic collision that could act as the seed case for the decades-long process of Kessler syndrome.
Unfortunately, solar storms don’t come with much warning - maybe only a day or two at most. And even when they do, we can’t necessarily do anything about them other than trying to safeguard the satellites they could effect. But the dynamic environment they introduce into the atmosphere necessitates real-time feedback and control to effectively manage those satellites. If that real-time control goes down, according to the paper, we only have a few days to get it back up before the entire house of cards comes crumbling down.
This isn’t idle speculation either. The 2024 Gannon storm was the strongest in decades, but we already know of a stronger one - the Carrington Event of 1859. That was the strongest solar storm on record, and if a similar event happened today it would wipe out our ability to control our satellites for much longer than 3 days. Essentially, a single event, of which there has already been precedence in historical memory, could wipe out our satellite infrastructure and leave us Earth-bound for the foreseeable future of humanity.
That doesn’t sound like a future readers of this blog would like to live in. And while there are trade-offs between utilizing the technical capabilities LEO mega-constellations give us and the risk that they pose to future space endeavors, it's best to have a realistic assessment of those risks. When it comes to the potential of losing access to space for generations because of one particularly bad solar storm, it's best to at least make informed decisions, and this paper certainly helps to create those.
This celestial display is famous for its bright, multi–coloured meteors that light up the sky in yellow, red, green, and blue.
The shower is active until December 20, but will be at its most spectacular this evening.
The best times to watch this incredible show will be between midnight and 02:00 am local time, but they will start to appear any time after dark.
And with the crescent moon at just 26 per cent of its normal brightness, keen stargazers should be in for a great view of the approaching meteors.
All you need to see tonight's show will be your own eyes, a warm coat, and a bit of patience – with no need for specialist binoculars or telescopes.
So, here's everything you need to know to watch the Geminid Meteor Shower tonight.
The best meteor display of the year is not far away as the Geminids reach their dazzling peak tonight. Here's everything you need to know to see them. Pictured: The Geminids over Broadway Tower, Worcestershire
What are the Geminids?
Dr Greg Brown, astronomer at the Royal Observatory Greenwich, told Daily Mail: 'Space is not quite as empty as we might think. As objects like asteroids and comets roam through our solar system, they leave behind trails of dust and gas.
'The Earth regularly passes through these trails, sweeping up vast numbers of bits of debris like bugs on the windscreen of a car.'
As our planet crashes through this minefield, chunks of rock and dust crash down into our atmosphere, where they burn up with a bright flash.
During the Geminids, particles as small as a grain of sand race through the upper atmosphere at speeds up to 43 miles per second (70 km/s).
Since this cloud of debris is always in the same location, the meteor shower always occurs at the same time of year.
However, the Geminids are unique in that they come from the rocky asteroid 3200 Phaethon, rather than an icy comet like most other meteor showers.
Since this asteroid is rich in metals, the resulting meteors can flare in a stunning array of colours as they burn up in the atmosphere.
The Geminids are unique in that they are the debris from a rocky asteroid called 3200 Phaethon (artist's impression), rather than an icy comet
Due to the metals from 3200 Phaethon, the Geminids have a distinctive coloured glow and can flash yellow, green, or blue. Pictured: A Geminid meteor over Arizona, USA
What are meteors?
A meteor is not technically a type of space rock, but rather the bright flash of light produced by falling space debris.
When a small space rock, known as a meteoroid, hits our atmosphere, friction and air pressure create an enormous amount of heat.
Eventually, this heat becomes so powerful that the rock is vaporised in a flash of glowing light.
When the number of meteors dramatically increases for a short period, scientists call this a meteor shower.
'Like burning chemicals in your secondary school science lab, the colour of the flame is dependent on the chemicals that burn,' says Dr Brown.
'While many of the meteors will still be white, if elements like sodium and calcium are present, then coloured displays of yellow and violet can occur.'
Using anything like binoculars or a telescope will only restrict your field of view, so all you need is your own eyes and a bit of patience.
The Geminids appear to emerge from a single point, known as the radiant, located in the constellation Gemini from which they get their name.
You can find Gemini by looking up and left over the 'shoulder' of Orion and searching for the bright star Castor.
However, for the best view, you should focus your eyes a little to the side of the constellation so that the meteors appear in your more light–sensitive peripheral vision.
The Geminids will appear to emerge from the constellation Gemini, near the bright star Castor. To get the best view, wait until 2:00 am local time when this constellation is highest in the sky
Upcoming Meteor showers
Geminids: 14 December, 2026
Ursids: 22 December, 2025
Quadrantids: 4 January, 2026
Lyrids: 22 April, 2026
Eta Aquariids: 6 May, 2026
Alpha Capricornids: 30 July, 2026
Dr Shyam Balaji, of King's College London, told Daily Mail: The best time to view the Geminid meteor shower is around 2 am local time when the radiant point is highest in the sky.
'However, you can start watching from mid–evening onward.'
In good conditions, viewers can expect to see upwards of 100 shooting stars an hour, or one or two every minute.
When viewing conditions are poor, you will be able to see fewer stars in the sky, so it's important to make sure you find the right stargazing location.
Dr Robert Massey, Deputy Executive Director at the Royal Astronomical Society: 'With a meteor shower what you want is the widest possible view – you want to be lying down, looking up at the broad panoply of stars, and watching for meteors.
'The best view is if you're away from sources of light pollution, so try and get away from at least direct lights in towns and cities, ideally out in the countryside.
'Obviously you also need a clear sky – if it’s cloudy you're not going to see anything.'
You should soon start to see short streaks of light that last for a second or two.
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Under optimal conditions, you may see as many as 150 shooting stars per hour. To get the best view, make sure to find a place with a clear view of the sky and limited light pollution. Pictured: The Geminid Meteor shower seen from Virginia, USA
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After a week of stormy weather, the Met Office is forecasting light cloud cover and only sporadic rain for Sunday night
Meteors usually aren't visible for long enough for you to point them out to someone else, so you will need to keep your eyes peeled.
Luckily, after a week of storms, the weather conditions for Sunday night are looking better for sky watching.
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The Met Office forecasts largely clear skies over the East of England and Scotland, with some patches of cloud over the South West and Wales.
Thanks to the waning crescent moon, the sky should also be dark enough for some excellent views of the Geminid Meteor Shower.
However, if you do miss out on the shower's spectacular peak, there will be opportunities to see the Geminids until December 20, albeit at a reduced rate.
'Lost' books of the Bible expose secrets the Church is hiding about Jesus
By ROB WAUGH
The Bible is often seen as a fixed text that has remained largely unchanged for generations, but it was not always so.
There are 66 books in the modern Bible, across the Old and New Testaments, but over 70 writings were circulated in early Jewish and Christian communities that were never accepted into the canon.
These 'lost' books date from the late Second Temple period through the third century AD, spanning roughly the first century when Jesus lived up to about 300 AD.
Many of these works were controversial or heretical, offering radically different portrayals of angels, giants, Jesus and humanity's origins.
They reveal a world of competing ideas about faith, morality, and divine intervention that early church leaders ultimately rejected.
Some describe heavenly beings mating with humans, others present Jesus in ways that conflict with the New Testament, and still others depict familiar figures in startlingly different roles.
Though these texts were influential at the time, they were eventually excluded from Jewish and Christian scripture, leaving only fragments or references in historical records.
Today, they survive mostly in manuscripts like the Dead Sea Scrolls or isolated copies preserved by groups such as Ethiopian Christians.
Many of these works were controversial or heretical, offering radically different portrayals of angels, giants, Jesus and humanity's origins
One of the most famous of these texts is the Book of Enoch, which expands on the mysterious Nephilim, giants mentioned briefly in the Old Testament.
According to the book, 200 fallen angels took human wives and had children, who became violent giants that devoured humanity's resources.
God commands the angel Michael to bind the angels, and later, the Nephilim perish in the Flood.
While it is not included in most Jewish or Christian canons, the Book of Enoch was widely read in antiquity and still holds canonical status for the Ethiopian Orthodox Church.
The Book of Enoch was not accepted due to its controversial apocalyptic visions, detailed angelology, like the Watchers' descent, mystical themes, and perceived theological inconsistencies with evolving doctrines
Other texts offer unexpected portrayals of Jesus. The Apocalypse of Peter, written in the second or third century, describes Jesus laughing during the crucifixion, reflecting Gnostic beliefs that his physical body was an illusion.
In it, Peter asks, 'What am I seeing, O Lord? Is it you whom they take? … Who is this one above the cross, who is glad and laughing?'
The Apocalypse of Peter was excluded from the Bible because its theology, particularly its hints at universal salvation, that everyone eventually would be saved from hell and its depiction of Christ's crucifixion, suggesting only the human Jesus suffered, not the divine Christ, contradicted emerging orthodox Christian doctrines.
The earliest known manuscript fragment of the Infancy of the Gospel of Thomas was only discovered in 2024, discussing one of Jesus' early miracles
The Infancy Gospel of Thomas offers another radical departure, depicting a young Jesus wielding supernatural powers.
He brings clay birds to life, curses a child who dies, blinds nearby adults, and later reverses these acts, even resurrecting someone who falls from a roof.
But it also portrays a darker side, depicting Jesus as vengeful, even cursing a child to death for striking him on the shoulder.
After Jesus kills the child for accidentally bumping into him, the villagers become upset and complain to Joseph and Mary. In response to their accusations, Jesus strikes the accusers with blindness.
In another episode, Joseph takes Jesus to a teacher to learn the alphabet, and the teacher becomes irritated when Jesus laughs at his instructions.
The omitted book begins when Jesus is just five years old, while the traditional Bible's first mention is of him at 12 years old.
The Infancy Gospel of Thomas was rejected by the early Church because it portrayed Jesus as a violent, petulant child and conflicted with orthodox Christian teachings.
Its late composition date and association with Gnostic literature further led leaders to deem it inauthentic and heretical.
Perhaps the most controversial is the Gospel of Judas, rediscovered in the 1970s in a limestone box near the Nile.
However, it was not written by the Apostle Judas who betrayed Jesus by handing him over to the Romans.
Unlike the traditional New Testament account, this text portrays Judas Iscariot as Jesus' chosen disciple, entrusted with a divinely appointed betrayal.
Jesus tells him, 'You will become the thirteenth … and you will be cursed by the other generations, and you will come to rule over them.'
The Gospel of Judas presents Judas as someone who understands Jesus' mission better than the other disciples, challenging centuries of conventional interpretations.
These lost books, whether depicting angels and giants or offering alternative visions of Jesus' life and mission, provide a fascinating glimpse into the diversity of early Jewish and Christian thought.
An ancient cube-shaped skull unearthed in Mexico is rewriting our understanding of the ancient world, revealing a completely unique member of a society from 1,400 years ago.
This remarkable skull belonged to a man over 40 years old who lived during Mexico's Classic period, roughly between 400 and 900 AD, according to specialists from the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH).
Researchers determined through bone and teeth analysis that the man was born, lived his entire life, and died right there in the local mountains, with no evidence he ever moved or lived in another region.
The team added that the find was 'unprecedented' in this part of the world as a skull deformed to resemble a cube had never been found near Huasteca before.
The skull's unique appearance was the result of intentional cranial deformation, a practice where flat boards and bandages were pressed against a baby's soft head for years to mold it into a square shape.
This deformation was likely done without causing pain, as the skull bones of an infant are malleable, allowing families to gradually reshape the head as a cultural tradition.
Experts believe such rituals were performed to signify beauty, social status, or even spiritual connections in ancient Mesoamerican societies.
Researchers in Mexico have discovered a man's skull which was deformed to take the shape of a cube roughly 1,400 years ago (Pictured)
The skull was found at the Balcón de Montezuma archaeological site in the northern Huasteca region of Mexico's Tamaulipas state
Archaeologists have previously uncovered a variety of intentionally modified skulls across ancient Mexico, particularly elongated cone-like shapes among the Olmec and Maya.
Those cone-shaped skull changes are believed to have been achieved by gently binding infants' soft heads with cloth and bandages during the first months or years of their lives.
To the ancient Mesoamericans, these oddly-shaped skulls held a different significance depending on the ancient civilization making the changes to their babies. For example, the ancient Maya are believed to have done this for social status and beauty.
However, the newly discovered cube skull has left researchers with a mystery, as the team from INAH could not explain why this man was the only human to undergo this procedure in Tamaulipas.
Cube-shaped skulls, with their flattened tops that create a boxy profile, have typically been found at distant sites like El Zapotal in Veracruz and scattered Maya settlements in southeastern Mexico, far from the northern mountains where this fossil turned up.
With that in mind, the research team decided to test if the 40-year-old was truly a native of the northern Huasteca region.
Scientists looked at specific clues hidden in his bones and teeth. These clues are called 'stable oxygen isotopes,' or different versions of oxygen atoms that don't change over time.
The exact mix of these oxygen versions in bones and teeth come from the water a person drinks throughout their life.
The research team was able to confirm that this man spent his entire life in the region, making his cube-shaped skull more of a mystery since this ritual was unusual for the area
Water in different places, such as in rainy mountains or dry coasts, has its own unique oxygen 'fingerprint' because of the local climate and geography.
By testing those oxygen fingerprints in the man's tooth enamel, which formed in childhood, and bone collagen, which updates through adulthood, researchers saw the same mountain water pattern in both.
That made it a match for the local mountain water this person likely drank his whole life in Mexico's northern mountains.
Physical anthropologist Jesús Ernesto Velasco González said: 'Stable oxygen isotope studies in collagen and bioapatite samples from bone and teeth, a technique used to infer the geographic origin of the second individual's skeletal remains, indicate that he was born, lived, and died in this part of the mountains.'
'Therefore, the results rule out a direct mobility relationship with the groups of El Zapotal or those further south,' the researcher continued in a statement translated to English.
While the team is still trying to crack the mystery behind the cube-shaped skull, they said it likely wasn't just about looking different, but may have been a symbol of belonging to a larger cultural family that stretched across hundreds of miles of Mexican coastline.
If you've ever dreamed of soaring over traffic on your daily commute, your dreams could soon be a reality – as the 'world's first' flying car enters production.
The Alef Model A Ultralight uses eight propellers hidden in the boot and bonnet to take off at any time.
After more than a decade of development, the US–based Alef Aeronautics has finally announced that the first customers will soon get their flying cars.
The futuristic vehicles will be hand–assembled in the company's facility in Silicon Valley, California.
However, Alef Aeronautics says that each car will take 'several months' of craftsmanship before it is safe to send out to customers.
The first handmade cars will only be delivered to a few customers to test out the experimental vehicles in real–world conditions.
The company says this slow rollout will allow it to work out any potential issues before the flying car enters mass production.
The 'world's first' flying car (pictured) has finally entered production, as Alef Aeronautics announces that its first all–electric vehicle will be hand assembled in the US
Alef Aeronautics' futuristic vehicle can be driven around like a normal car on the streets or take off and fly using eight propellers hidden in its carbon–fibre mesh body
Jim Dukhovny, CEO of Alef Aeronautics, says: 'We are happy to report that production of the first flying car has started on schedule.
'The team worked hard to meet the timeline, because we know people are waiting. We're finally able to get production off the ground.'
The Model A is both a road–legal vehicle and an aircraft capable of taking off without wings via eVTOL (electric vertical take–off and landing).
On the ground, the Model A drives just like a normal electric car, thanks to four small engines in each of the wheels.
But the driver's seat is also surrounded by powerful propellers that provide enough thrust for flight at a cruising speed of 110 miles per hour (177 km/h).
The carbon–fibre mesh body – measuring around five metres by two metres – allows air to pass through the car while keeping the spinning blades safely covered.
The company says that the car will have enough room for the pilot and one passenger, and have a range of 200 miles (321 km) on the ground and 110 miles (177 km) in the air.
The company says that the flying car will have a range of 200 miles (321 km) on the ground and 110 miles (177 km) in the air
Mr Dukhovny claims the car, which is aimed at the general public, is relatively simple to use and would take just 15 minutes to learn.
The entire car weighs just 385 kg (850 lbs), so that it can be classified as an ultralight 'low speed vehicle' – a legal classification for small electric vehicles like golf carts.
That means the car will be capped at 25 miles per hour (40 km/h) on public roads despite being able to drive faster.
Having received airworthiness certification from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in 2023, Alef Aeronautics is now edging closer to making the Model A a reality – over a decade after the company was founded.
The company reports that it has received 3,500 pre–orders, collectively worth more than £800 million.
However, don't expect to see The Jetsons–style flying cars filling the air near you just yet.
Alef Aeronautics says that the first customers will only be allowed to test their flying cars under 'very controlled conditions'.
Alef Aeronautics will send a limited number of its flying cars to customers for them to test in 'very controlled conditions'
The company adds that each customer will need to receive training in compliance and maintenance before flying.
Likewise, creating each car involves robotic, industrial, and hand manufacturing, with rigorous testing of individual parts and a large number of test flights.
Mr Dukhovny has previously said he wanted to bring sci–fi to life and build an 'affordable' flying car, with the cost likely to be closer to £25,000 when built at scale.
Eventually, Aleph Aeronautics says that the production process of the full–size Model A will be automated but, for now, only a limited number can be produced.
Advances in electric motors, battery technology and autonomous software has triggered an explosion in the field of electric air taxis.
Larry Page, CEO of Google parent company Alphabet, has poured millions into aviation start-ups Zee Aero and Kitty Hawk, which are both striving to create all-electric flying cabs.
Kitty Hawk is believed to be developing a flying car and has already filed more than a dozen different aircraft registrations with the Federal Aviation Administration, or FAA.
Page, who co-founded Google with Sergey Brin back in 1998, has personally invested $100 million (£70 million) into the two companies, which have yet to publicly acknowledge or demonstrate their technology.
AirSpaceX unveiled its latest prototype, Mobi-One, at the North American International Auto Show in early 2018. Like its closest rivals, the electric aircraft is designed to carry two to four passengers and is capable of vertical take-off and landing
Airbus is also hard at work on an all-electric, vertical-take-off-and-landing craft, with its latest Project Vahana prototype, branded Alpha One, successfully completing its maiden test flight in February 2018.
The self-piloted helicopter reached a height of 16 feet (five metres) before successfully returning to the ground. In total, the test flight lasted 53 seconds.
Airbus previously shared a well-produced concept video, showcasing its vision for Project Vahana.
The footage reveals a sleek self-flying aircraft that seats one passenger under a canopy that retracts in similar way to a motorcycle helmet visor.
Airbus Project Vahana prototype, branded Alpha One, successfully completed its maiden test flight in February 2018. The self-piloted helicopter reached a height of 16 feet (five metres) before successfully returning to the ground. In total, the test flight lasted 53 seconds
AirSpaceX is another company with ambitions to take commuters to the skies.
The Detroit-based start-up has promised to deploy 2,500 aircrafts in the 50 largest cities in the United States by 2026.
AirSpaceX unveiled its latest prototype, Mobi-One, at the North American International Auto Show in early 2018.
Like its closest rivals, the electric aircraft is designed to carry two to four passengers and is capable of vertical take-off and landing.
AirSpaceX has even included broadband connectivity for high speed internet access so you can check your Facebook News Feed as you fly to work.
Aside from passenger and cargo services, AirSpaceX says the craft can also be used for medical and casualty evacuation, as well as tactical Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR).
Even Uber is working on making its ride-hailing service airborne.
Dubbed Uber Elevate, Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi tentatively discussed the company’s plans during a technology conference in January 2018.
‘I think it’s going to happen within the next 10 years,’ he said.
The Bermuda Triangle might be one of the world's greatest mysteries, but scientists have just discovered something even more baffling in the area.
Researchers have spotted an enormous stone structure hidden beneath Bermuda that is 'unlike anything else on Earth'.
The 12.4 mile (20km) layer of rock sits underneath the ocean crust below Bermuda.
No structure this thick has ever been found before, according to the team – who say it could help to answer one of the biggest questions about the famous island.
Bermuda sits on a raised area of ocean crust known as an 'oceanic swell', which lifts it above the surrounding area.
These formations are typically associated with volcanic activity, but there is no evidence to show that a volcano is to blame for Bermuda's strange geology.
There hasn't been an eruption on the island for more than 31 million years, and any volcanic swelling should have subsided over that time.
The new discovery suggests the last eruption injected molten rock into the crust where it froze into a raft, lifting the island 500 metres (1,640 ft) out of the sea.
Scientists have discovered a vast rock structure beneath Bermuda (pictured) that is 'unlike anything else on Earth'
Scientists found the raft of less–dense rock by tracking how seismic waves from distant earthquakes were deflected by the materials beneath the island
In a paper published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, researchers looked at recordings from a seismic station on Bermuda.
They traced the passage of powerful but distant earthquakes as they made their way through the rock 31 miles (50km) beneath the island.
By looking at where these seismic waves unexpectedly changed course, the researchers found the strangely thick layer of rock.
Dr William Frazer, a seismologist at Carnegie Science, told Live Science: 'Typically, you have the bottom of the oceanic crust and then it would be expected to be the mantle.
'But in Bermuda, there is this other layer that is emplaced beneath the crust, within the tectonic plate that Bermuda sits on.'
For geologists, this could represent a major step towards cracking Bermuda's biggest mystery.
While Bermuda is famous for its record of unexplained ship and aircraft disappearances, the bigger mystery for scientists is why its oceanic swell exists.
Island chains like Hawaii typically form because of volcanic activity above mantle hotspots – places where hot molten rock from the mantle rises towards the surface.
Scientists found a 12.4–mile–thick (20 km) layer of rock that sits underneath the ocean crust below Bermuda and lifts the island 500 metres (1,640 ft) out of the sea
Bermuda's most famous mystery is its history of shipwrecks, such as that of the SS Sapona (pictured), but scientists say the bigger puzzle is why the crust beneath the island is pushed so high above the surrounding terrain
As this hot material pushes its way through the crust to create islands, it also lifts the tectonic plate upwards to create an oceanic swell.
When the tectonic plate moves away from the hotspot, these swells gradually subside over time.
Since Bermuda has no evidence of volcanic activity for the last 31 million years, scientists couldn't explain why its swell was still so high.
However, since this newly–discovered layer is less dense than the surrounding rock, it both deflects passing seismic waves and pushes the island upwards.
Previous research has found that old lava on Bermuda is low in the mineral silicon, which suggests that it came from a layer of the Earth that is very low in carbon.
This carbon likely emerged from deep in the Earth's mantle when the supercontinent Pangea opened up to form the Atlantic Ocean 900 to 300 million years ago.
This could be what makes Bermuda so different from hotspot islands in the Pacific or Indian oceans, which are comparably much older oceans.
The researchers are now examining other islands around the world to see if there are any similar layers, or if Bermuda is truly one of a kind.
Dr Frazer says: 'Understanding a place like Bermuda, which is an extreme location, is important to understand places that are less extreme and gives us a sense of what are the more normal processes that happen on Earth and what are the more extreme processes that happen.'
Bermuda's more famous mystery is why so many ships seemingly vanish without a trace within the region known as the Bermuda Triangle.
Located between Florida, Puerto Rico and Bermuda, the Bermuda Triangle's long history of deadly wrecks has prompted endless supernatural speculation.
Dr Simon Boxall, an oceanographer from the University of Southampton, says that the Bermuda Triangle's record of disappearances is due to 'rogue waves'.
Towering up to 100 feet (30 metres) in the air, rogue waves are abnormally steep and can hit unexpectedly from directions other than the prevailing wind.
According to Dr Boxall, a large ship trapped by one of these killer swells could 'sink in a matter of two or three minutes'.
THE BERMUDA TRIANGLE
The Bermuda Triangle is a section of the Atlantic Ocean roughly bounded by Miami, Bermuda and Puerto Rico where dozens of ships and airplanes have disappeared.
Unexplained circumstances surround some of these accidents.
Although a range of strange theories have been proposed regarding the Bermuda Triangle, none of them prove that mysterious disappearances occur more frequently there than in other well–travelled sections of the ocean.
Many people navigate the area every day without incident.
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