For many months now, an incident involving pilots who attempted to intercept a strange, oblong-shaped white aircraft while part of a training mission with the U.S.S. Nimitz carrier group in 2004 has been at the center of the modern UFO discussion. The incident has received even more attention in recent weeks, following an appearance by Commander Dave Fravor, one of the principal witnesses, on the popular Joe Rogan Experience podcast.

No one who takes the UFO subject seriously would dispute that the incident is noteworthy. However, many with long-held interests in the subject will also recognize that it is only one of many similar instances where such an object has been observed. In fact, some accounts from the historic record detail sightings of remarkably similar things dating at least as far back as the 1940s.

Loren Gross was among the handful of historically-minded UFO chroniclers who, for many decades, collected and self-published annual UFO commentaries. Beginning in the late 19th century with the famous reports of “mystery airships” and proceeding up until around 1960, Gross’s historical record-keeping on the UFO topic had been noteworthy for its lack of sensational details (unlike the majority of the UFO writing of both then, and now).

One unique report from the early days of UFOs (that is, prior to Kenneth Arnold’s famous sighting) occurred in September 1944, near Oak Ridge, Tennessee; a site that would be notable for other UFO sightings over the years, which some commentators find unsurprising due to the area’s proximity to the Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

Oak Ridge National Laboratory

(Public Domain).

The report states that at about dusk on a September evening in 1944, a witness identified only as “Mr. Nelson,” who had been “in the company of two other Oak Ridge workers, A.C. Butler and Albert Profitt, were driving from Oliver Springs into Oak Ridge,” the report states. As the drivers reached a point about two miles outside of Oliver, they said: “a strange object showed up about 50 feet in front of the car ended about the height of the windshield.”

The report says that Nelson, the primary observer, described it as “glossy white in color, and the reflected light had a dimension of about 30 feet long and 4 feet wide.”

“When Nelson eased the car up to the object, it moved slowly away, and when he stopped the car, it also stopped. Nelson claims that he called people out from a house to the roadside to see what they were observing and they were as dumbfounded at the site as the three men were.”

This unusual cat-and-mouse game between the drivers and the strange object continued for several minutes, as Mr. Nelson moved the vehicle back and forth toward the object, watching as it appeared to mimic their movements, moving away as they approached, or following when they backed away.

“Finally, after Nelson had moved forward and stop again several times, the light rose high into the air and disappeared over Black Oak Ridge,” the report states.

Afterward, the incident was reported to several local authorities, along with the FBI’s Knoxville Field Office. According to Mr. Nelson (who had presumably been the one who made the report to the Bureau), “Nelson said that at first the FBI was very interested in the report but then they seemed to lose interest in it completely. He assumed that they found out that the object was some sort of secret weapon being developed at Oak Ridge and so it was no longer of any interest to them.” Whether or not this had actually been the reason for the FBI’s waning attention or not remains unclear.

Certain aspects of the craft observed–particularly the glossy white color and the oblong shape–are notable for their similarity to the now-famous “tictac” UFO observed during the equally well known U.S.S. Nimitz UFO incident of 2004 (Commander Dave Fravor, one of the witnesses to this incident, can be heard describing the object in his interview with Joe Rogan here).

Whether or not this truly indicates any continuity between the two object sightings, observed more than half a century apart, can’t be determined from their descriptions alone. The descriptions of their appearance could very likely be superficial, and the possibility that either or both cases might have been experimental aircraft tests cannot be ruled out.

However, it does appear to show that certain aspects of the UFO phenomenon–whatever it ultimately represents–that have been widely discussed in recent months are not particularly new… although that certainly isn’t news to the many of us who have studied this subject for years, if not decades.

It was on December 2, 1952 that the CIA’s Assistant Director H. Marshall Chadwell stated the following to agency personnel: “Sightings of unexplained objects at great altitudes and traveling at high speeds in the vicinity of major U.S. defense installations are of such nature that they are not attributable to natural phenomena or known types of aerial vehicles.” Chadwell did more than that; he prepared the following guidelines for the National Security Council: “The Director of Central Intelligence shall formulate and carry out a program of intelligence and research activities as required to solve the problem of instant positive identification of unidentified flying objects. Upon call of the Director of Central Intelligence, Government departments and agencies shall provide assistance in this program of intelligence and research to the extent of their capacity provided, however, that the DCI shall avoid duplication of activities presently directed toward the solution of this problem. This effort shall be coordinated with the military services and the Research and Development Board of the Department of Defense, with the Psychological Board and other Governmental agencies as appropriate. The Director of Central Intelligence shall disseminate information concerning the program of intelligence and research activities in this field to the various departments and agencies which have authorized interest therein.”

Two days later, the Intelligence Advisory Committee agreed with Chadwell’s plans and made a recommendation that “the services of selected scientists to review and appraise the available evidence in the light of pertinent scientific theories” should be employed. It was as a direct outcome of this development that what became known as the Robertson Panel was created; a group headed by Howard Percy Robertson, who was a highly respected consultant to the Agency. He was also a noted physicist, and the director of the Defense Department Weapons Evaluation Group. It was Chadwell’s job to select a group of individuals who were deemed to be the right people to tackle the UFO problem – which included anxieties concerning Russian propaganda. The group included Luis Alvarez, physicist, radar expert (and later, a Nobel Prize recipient); Frederick C. Durant, CIA officer, secretary to the panel and missile expert; Samuel Abraham Goudsmit, Brookhaven National Laboratories nuclear physicist; and Thornton Page, astrophysicist, radar expert, and deputy director of Johns Hopkins Operations Research Office. In rapid time they plunged into the heart of the mystery.

There have been longstanding rumors in the field of Ufology that the CIA knows all about the truth of the UFO enigma, of the Roswell incident of 1947, and of what really goes down at Area 51. The Robertson Panel’s conclusions, however, suggested that UFOs did not have a direct, significant impact on the United States’ national security. Rather, the major worry of the panel was how the public mindset could, in theory, be affected by bogus tales of UFO encounters – and created and weaved by the Reds. On this very matter, the Robertson Panel recorded these words: “Although evidence of any direct threat from these sightings was wholly lacking, related dangers might well exist resulting from: A. Misidentification of actual enemy artifacts by defense personnel. B. Overloading of emergency reporting channels with ‘false’ information. C. Subjectivity of public to mass hysteria and greater vulnerability to possible enemy psychological warfare [italics mine].”

Clearly, when it came to UFOs, it was those matters concerning “mass hysteria” and “false information” that dominated the thinking of the Robertson Panel. The possible presence of real aliens in the United States seemed to be very much in the background for the CIA. There was also a recommendation that a number of the public UFO investigative groups which existed in the United States at the time should be “watched” carefully due to “the apparent irresponsibility and the possible use of such groups for subversive purposes.” For the CIA, “subversive purposes” meant the actions of the Soviets, or, worse, of home-grown-and-groomed communists. Maybe, both. It’s entirely possible that at least some reports of fear-filled encounters with the so-called “Men in Black” in that era may have been provoked by such surveillance. Particularly so if UFO researchers were threatened by fedora-sporting and trench-coat-wearing government agents late at night – which typifies the appearances and actions of the MIB.

An archaeologist from the University of Arizona recently found over two dozen previously unknown Mayan sites all while sitting at his desk. Takeshi Inomata found a free lidar (light detection and ranging) map online and that’s what he used to make the huge discovery.

The lidar technology provides scientists with a way of scanning archaeological sites using airborne lasers. They can even see through dense forests and pick out shapes of old buildings and settlements that once stood at the location.

The free map that Dr. Inomata studied was originally published by Mexico’s National Institute of Statistics and Geography in 2011 and covered a total of 4,440 square miles in Tabasco and Chiapas, Mexico. While the map’s resolution was low, he was still able to find the ruins of 27 previously unknown Maya ceremonial centers. What’s even more incredible is that the ruins were constructed in a way that has never been seen before by archaeologists. Some of the large rectangular platforms that were very low to the ground measured as long as two-thirds of a mile and are believed to be as old as 1000 B.C. to 700 B.C.

Ancient Mayan temple

Dr. Inomata and his wife Daniela Triadan are currently leading excavations at the biggest ceremonial center (they named it Aguada Fenix) that was recently discovered in hopes of learning more about the Mayan culture’s rituals.

In 2005, he and his wife started excavating the ancient city of Ceibal which is located in the Petén rainforest in Guatemala. They uncovered several of the earliest known buildings in the Mayan culture with the ceremonial center being as old as 950 B.C.

“The stuff he is finding is crucial for our understanding of how Maya civilization developed,” stated Arlen Chase who is an archaeologist at Pomona College. For many years, Dr. Inomata has been interested in finding out how the Maya culture began between 1000 B.C. and 400 B.C. and his work is providing important information in figuring that out.

Charles Golden, who is an anthropology professor at Brandeis University, also took a look at some lidar maps and discovered numerous ancient settlements close to the Usumacinta River which borders Mexico and Guatemala.

In other news, a new study suggests that Mayans could have unintentionally caused their own demise by changing the climate. Researchers found evidence in Belize that indicates the Mayans created canals and wetlands to accommodate their rising population, as well as often performing “burn events” while they worked on their farms which created more carbon dioxide and methane in the air that they breathed.

Ancient Mayan temple

In a statement, the study’s lead author Tim Beach said, “We now are beginning to understand the full human imprint of the Anthropocene in tropical forests,” adding, “These large and complex wetland networks may have changed climate long before industrialization and these may be the answer to the long-standing question of how a great rainforest civilization fed itself.”

Takeshi Inomata identified this ancient Maya site, dubbed La Carmelita, using LiDAR maps, seen here in both low and high resolution.

Image courtesy of the Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Geografía/Nacional Center for Airborne Laser Mapping.

Takeshi Inomata identified this ancient Maya site, dubbed La Carmelita, using LiDAR. But the structures are difficult to see with the naked eye.

Photo by Takeshi Inomata.

According to their study, the Birds of Paradise wetland was “five times larger than previously discovered”. Additionally, they discovered another wetland field in Belize that was even larger. “These perennial wetlands were very attractive during the severe Maya droughts, but the Maya also had to be careful with water quality to maintain productivity and human health,” explained Sheryl Luzzadder-Beach who was the study’s co-author.

The increase in methane in the atmosphere is believed to have happened between 1,800 and 1,000 years ago which coincides with the growing number of Maya wetlands. “Even these small changes may have warmed the planet, which provides a sobering perspective for the order of magnitude greater changes over the last century that are accelerating into the future,” Beach stated. Their research can be read in full here.

How Lasers Are Utterly Transforming Our Understanding of the Ancient Maya, Bringing Their Whole Civilization Back to Light

A LiDAR scan can reveal ancient Maya ruins that might never be found by archaeologists on the ground

Archaeologists announced Sunday that they had discovered the remains of a massive bronze age settlement in northern Israel that could “change forever what we know about emergence of urbanization in entire area.” The site was discovered in Israel’s newest city, Harish, during excavations in preparation for a new highway interchange, which seems to be how about half of all recent history changing discoveries are made.

The 5,000-year old megalopolis covers 160 acres and is the largest Bronze Age settlement ever discovered in Israel. In addition, the Times of Israel reports that archaeologists found remains of an even earlier, 7,000-year old Chalcolithic settlement beneath the 5,000 year old buildings. That’s a pretty good find.  Dr. Yitzhak Paz, co-director of the excavation, says:

“It is much larger than any known site in the land of Israel — and outside the land of Israel — in the region of Jordan, Lebanon, southern Syria.”

Overhead view of the Bronze Age megalopolis discovered in Harish.

(Credit: Israel Antiquities Authority)

The site is filled with artifacts and that tell a story of a bustling Bronze age metropolis. The city was home to at least 6,000 people and traded with cultures all across the Mediterranean, and according to the archaeologists, the city was very carefully and thoughtfully planned. Excavation directors Itai Elad, Yitzhak Paz and Dina Shalem say in an IAA statement:

“This is a huge city – a megalopolis in relation to the Early Bronze Age, where thousands of inhabitants, who made their living from agriculture, lived and traded with different regions and even with different cultures and kingdoms in the area… This is the Early Bronze Age New York of our region; a cosmopolitan and planned city.”

Excavation directors (right to left) Itai Elad, Dr. Dina Shalem, and Dr. Yitzhak Paz, walk in a 5,000-year-old alley at the Early Bronze Age excavation site near modern Harish.

(Yoli Schwartz, Israel Antiquities Authority)

Thousands of youth and volunteers participated in the excavation at the Early Bronze Age excavation site near modern Harish.

(Yaniv Berman, Israel Antiquities Authority)

Archaeologists found remains of public and private buildings, streets and alleys, and a fortification wall surrounding the site. The site is in a fertile part of Israel and central to many trade routes, making it the perfect place for a large city. Two large cities, in fact. Dina Salem says in a IAA video:

“The excavation at this site revealed two main settlements. The earliest one is about 7,000 years old. It’s a very large agricultural settlement. Two thousand years later, another settlement became one of the first cities known in this area of the world.”

One of the buildings archaeologists discovered at the site is a temple that may shed some light on the spiritual practices of the Canaanites who lived in the city. The temple has a basin in the courtyard that archaeologists assume was used for ritualistic purposes, and a collection of burnt animal bones possibly used for sacrifices were found inside the temple.

Collection of figurines discovered at the ancient settlement.

(Credit: Israel Antiquities Authority)

Also found were tools, a mysterious cylindrical stamp of a man with his hands in the air, and several figurines of people and animals and tools imported from Egypt.

According to Yitzhak Paz, once it is fully researched and investigated, this site will rewrite history. He says:

“The study of this site will change forever what we know about the emergence [and] rise of urbanization in the land of Israel and in the whole region. And it means that what we know now will change what is written today in the traditional books when people read about the archaeology of Israel.”

And as far as the planned highway interchange goes, they decided to just build it higher up as to not destroy the settlement.