CIA’s Role in the Study of UFOs, 1947-90 - PART II

An extraordinary 95 percent of all Americans have at least heard or read something about Unidentified Flying Objects (UFOs), and 57 percent believe they are real. (1) Former US Presidents Carter and Reagan claim to have seen a UFO. UFOlogists–a neologism for UFO buffs–and private UFO organizations are found throughout the United States. Many are convinced that the US Government, and particularly CIA, are engaged in a massive conspiracy and coverup of the issue. The idea that CIA has secretly concealed its research into UFOs has been a major theme of UFO buffs since the modern UFO phenomena emerged in the late 1940s. (2)

In late 1993, after being pressured by UFOlogists for the release of additional CIA information on UFOs, (3) DCI R. James Woolsey ordered another review of all Agency files on UFOs. Using CIA records compiled from that review, this study traces CIA interest and involvement in the UFO controversy from the late 1940s to 1990. It chronologically examines the Agency’s efforts to solve the mystery of UFOs, its programs that had an impact on UFO sightings, and its attempts to conceal CIA involvement in the entire UFO issue. What emerges from this examination is that, while Agency concern over UFOs was substantial until the early 1950s, CIA has since paid only limited and peripheral attention to the phenomena.

The 1970s and1980s: The UFO Issue Refuses To Die 

The Condon report did not satisfy many UFOlogists, who considered it a coverup for CIA activities in UFO research. Additional sightings in the early 1970s fueled beliefs that the CIA was somehow involved in a vast conspiracy. On 7 June 1975, William Spaulding, head of a small UFO group, Ground Saucer Watch (GSW), wrote to CIA requesting a copy of the Robertson panel report and all records relating to UFOs. (81) Spaulding was convinced that the Agency was withholding major files on UFOs. Agency officials provided Spaulding with a copy of the Robertson panel report and of the Durant report. (82)

On 14 July 1975, Spaulding again wrote the Agency questioning the authenticity of the reports he had received and alleging a CIA coverup of its UFO activities. Gene Wilson, CIA’s Information and Privacy Coordinator, replied in an attempt to satisfy Spaulding, “At no time prior to the formation of the Robertson Panel and subsequent to the issuance of the panel’s report has CIA engaged in the study of the UFO phenomena.” The Robertson panel report, according to Wilson, was “the summation of Agency interest and involvement in UFOs.” Wilson also inferred that there were no additional documents in CIA’s possession that related to UFOs. Wilson was ill informed. (83)

In September 1977, Spaulding and GSW, unconvinced by Wilson’s response, filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit against the Agency that specifically requested all UFO documents in CIA’s possession. Deluged by similar FOIA requests for Agency information on UFOs, CIA officials agreed, after much legal maneuvering, to conduct a “reasonable search” of CIA files for UFO materials. (84) Despite an Agency-wide unsympathetic attitude toward the suit, Agency officials, led by Launie Ziebell from the Office of General Counsel, conducted a thorough search for records pertaining to UFOs. Persistent, demanding, and even threatening at times, Ziebell and his group scoured the Agency. They even turned up an old UFO file under a secretary’s desk. The search finally produced 355 documents totaling approximately 900 pages. On 14 December 1978, the Agency released all but 57 documents of about 100 pages to GSW. It withheld these 57 documents on national security grounds and to protect sources and methods. (85)

Although the released documents produced no smoking gun and revealed only a low-level Agency interest in the UFO phenomena after the Robertson panel report of 1953, the press treated the release in a sensational manner. The New York Times, for example, claimed that the declassified documents confirmed intensive government concern over UFOs and that the Agency was secretly involved in the surveillance of UFOs. (86) GSW then sued for the release of the withheld documents, claiming that the Agency was still holding out key information. (87) It was much like the John F. Kennedy assassination issue. No matter how much material the Agency released and no matter how dull and prosaic the information, people continued to believe in a Agency coverup and conspiracy.

DCI Stansfield Turner was so upset when he read The New York Times article that he asked his senior officers, “Are we in UFOs?” After reviewing the records, Don Wortman, Deputy Director for Administration, reported to Turner that there was “no organized Agency effort to do research in connection with UFO phenomena nor has there been an organized effort to collect intelligence on UFOs since the 1950s.” Wortman assured Turner that the Agency records held only “sporadic instances of correspondence dealing with the subject,” including various kinds of reports of UFO sightings. There was no Agency program to collect actively information on UFOs, and the material released to GSW had few deletions. (88) Thus assured, Turner had the General Counsel press for a summary judgment against the new lawsuit by GSW. In May 1980, the courts dismissed the lawsuit, finding that the Agency had conducted a thorough and adequate search in good faith. (89)

During the late 1970s and 1980s, the Agency continued its low-key interest in UFOs and UFO sightings. While most scientists now dismissed flying saucers reports as a quaint part of the 1950s and 1960s, some in the Agency and in the Intelligence Community shifted their interest to studying parapsychology and psychic phenomena associated with UFO sightings. CIA officials also looked at the UFO problem to determine what UFO sightings might tell them about Soviet progress in rockets and missiles and reviewed its counterintelligence aspects. Agency analysts from the Life Science Division of OSI and OSWR officially devoted a small amount of their time to issues relating to UFOs. These included counterintelligence concerns that the Soviets and the KGB were using US citizens and UFO groups to obtain information on sensitive US weapons development programs (such as the Stealth aircraft), the vulnerability of the US air-defense network to penetration by foreign missiles mimicking UFOs, and evidence of Soviet advanced technology associated with UFO sightings.

CIA also maintained Intelligence Community coordination with other agencies regarding their work in parapsychology, psychic phenomena, and “remote viewing” experiments. In general, the Agency took a conservative scientific view of these unconventional scientific issues. There was no formal or official UFO project within the Agency in the 1980s, and Agency officials purposely kept files on UFOs to a minimum to avoid creating records that might mislead the public if released. (90)

The 1980s also produced renewed charges that the Agency was still withholding documents relating to the 1947 Roswell incident, in which a flying saucer supposedly crashed in New Mexico, and the surfacing of documents which purportedly revealed the existence of a top secret US research and development intelligence operation responsible only to the President on UFOs in the late 1940s and early 1950s. UFOlogists had long argued that, following a flying saucer crash in New Mexico in 1947, the government not only recovered debris from the crashed saucer but also four or five alien bodies. According to some UFOlogists, the government clamped tight security around the project and has refused to divulge its investigation results and research ever since. (91) In September 1994, the US Air Force released a new report on the Roswell incident that concluded that the debris found in New Mexico in 1947 probably came from a once top secret balloon operation, Project MOGUL, designed to monitor the atmosphere for evidence of Soviet nuclear tests. (92)

Circa 1984, a series of documents surfaced which some UFOlogists said proved that President Truman created a top secret committee in 1947, Majestic-12, to secure the recovery of UFO wreckage from Roswell and any other UFO crash sight for scientific study and to examine any alien bodies recovered from such sites. Most if not all of these documents have proved to be fabrications. Yet the controversy persists. (93)

Like the JFK assassination conspiracy theories, the UFO issue probably will not go away soon, no matter what the Agency does or says. The belief that we are not alone in the universe is too emotionally appealing and the distrust of our government is too pervasive to make the issue amenable to traditional scientific studies of rational explanation and evidence.

Notes

(1) See the 1973 Gallup Poll results printed in The New York Times, 29 November 1973, p. 45 and Philip J. Klass, UFOs: The Public Deceived (New York: Prometheus Books, 1983), p. 3.

(2) See Klass, UFOs, p. 3; James S. Gordon, “The UFO Experience,” Atlantic Monthly (August 1991), pp. 82-92; David Michael Jacobs, The UFO Controversy in America (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1975); Howard Blum, Out There: The Government’s Secret Quest for Extraterrestrials (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1990); Timothy Good, Above Top Secret: The Worldwide UFO Cover-Up (New York: William Morrow, 1987); and Whitley Strieber, Communion: The True Story (New York: Morrow, 1987).

(3) In September 1993 John Peterson, an acquaintance of Woolsey’s, first approached the DCI with a package of heavily sanitized CIA material on UFOs released to UFOlogist Stanton T. Friedman. Peterson and Friedman wanted to know the reasons for the redactions. Woolsey agreed to look into the matter. See Richard J. Warshaw, Executive Assistant, note to author, 1 November 1994; Warshaw, note to John H. Wright, Information and Privacy Coordinator, 31 January 1994; and Wright, memorandum to Executive Secretariat, 2 March 1994. (Except where noted, all citations to CIA records in this article are to the records collected for the 1994 Agency-wide search that are held by the Executive Assistant to the DCI).

(4) See Hector Quintanilla, Jr., “The Investigation of UFOs,” Vol. 10, No. 4, Studies in Intelligence (fall 1966): pp.95-110 and CIA, unsigned memorandum, “Flying Saucers,” 14 August 1952. See also Good, Above Top Secret, p. 253. During World War II, US pilots reported “foo fighters” (bright lights trailing US aircraft). Fearing they might be Japanese or German secret weapons, OSS investigated but could find no concrete evidence of enemy weapons and often filed such reports in the “crackpot” category. The OSS also investigated possible sightings of German V-1 and V-2 rockets before their operational use during the war. See Jacobs, UFO Controversy, p. 33. The Central Intelligence Group, the predecessor of the CIA, also monitored reports of “ghost rockets” in Sweden in 1946. See CIG, Intelligence Report, 9 April 1947.

(5) Jacobs, The UFO Controversy, p. 156 and Quintanilla, “The Investigation of UFOs,” p. 97.

(6) See US Air Force, Air Material Command, “Unidentified Aerial Objects: Project SIGN, no. F-TR 2274, IA, February 1949, Records of the US Air Force Commands, Activities and Organizations, Record Group 341, National Archives, Washington, DC.

(7) See US Air Force, Projects GRUDGE and BLUEBOOK Reports 1- 12 (Washington, DC; National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomena, 1968) and Jacobs, The UFO Controversy, pp. 50-54.

(8) See Cabell, memorandum to Commanding Generals Major Air Commands, “Reporting of Information on Unconventional Aircraft,” 8 September 1950 and Jacobs, The UFO Controversy, p. 65.

(9) See Air Force, Projects GRUDGE and BLUE BOOK and Jacobs, The UFO Controversy, p. 67.

(10) See Edward Tauss, memorandum for Deputy Assistant Director, SI, “Flying Saucers,” 1 August 1952. See also United Kingdom, Report by the “Flying Saucer” Working Party, “Unidentified Flying Objects,” no date (approximately 1950).

(11) See Dr. Stone, OSI, memorandum to Dr. Willard Machle, OSI, 15 March 1949 and Ralph L. Clark, Acting Assistant Director, OSI, memorandum for DDI, “Recent Sightings of Unexplained Objects,” 29 July 1952.

(12) Stone, memorandum to Machle. See also Clark, memorandum for DDI, 29 July 1952.

(13) See Klass, UFOs, p. 15. For a brief review of the Washington sightings see Good, Above Top Secret, pp. 269-271.

(14) See Ralph L. Clark, Acting Assistant Director, OSI, memorandum to DDI Robert Amory, Jr., 29 July 1952. OSI and OCI were in the Directorate of Intelligence. Established in 1948, OSI served as the CIA’s focal point for the analysis of foreign scientific and technological developments. In 1980, OSI was merged into the Office of Science and Weapons Research. The Office of Current Intelligence (OCI), established on 15 January 1951 was to provide all-source current intelligence to the President and the National Security Council.

(15) Tauss, memorandum for Deputy Assistant Director, SI (Philip Strong), 1 August 1952.

(16) On 2 January 1952, DCI Walter Bedell Smith created a Deputy Directorate for Intelligence (DDI) composed of six overt CIA organizations–OSI, OCI, Office of Collection and Dissemination, Office National Estimates, Office of Research and Reports, and the Office of Intelligence Coordination–to produce intelligence analysis for US policymakers.

(17) See Minutes of Branch Chief’s Meeting, 11 August 1952.

(18) Smith expressed his opinions at a meeting in the DCI Conference Room attended by his top officers. See Deputy Chief, Requirements Staff, FI, memorandum for Deputy Director, Plans, “Flying Saucers,” 20 August 1952, Directorate of Operations Records, Information Management Staff, Job 86-00538R, Box 1.

(19) See CIA memorandum, unsigned, “Flying Saucers,” 11 August 1952.

(20) See CIA, memorandum, unsigned, “Flying Saucers,” 14 August 1952.

(21) See CIA, memorandum, unsigned, “Flying Saucers,” 19 August 1952.

(22) See Chadwell, memorandum for Smith, 17 September 1952 and 24 September 1952, “Flying Saucers.” See also Chadwell, memorandum for DCI Smith, 2 October 1952 and Klass, UFOs, pp. 23-26.

(23) Chadwell, memorandum for DCI with attachments, 2 December 1952. See also Klass, UFOs, pp. 26-27 and Chadwell, memorandum, 25 November 1952.

(24) See Chadwell, memorandum, 25 November 1952 and Chadwell, memorandum, “Approval in Principle – External Research Project Concerned with Unidentified Flying Objects,” no date. See also Philip G. Strong, OSI, memorandum for the record, “Meeting with Dr. Julius A. Stratton, Executive Vice President and Provost, MIT and Dr. Max Millikan, Director of CENIS.” Strong believed that in order to undertake such a review they would need the full backing and support of DCI Smith.

(25) See Chadwell, memorandum for DCI, “”Unidentified Flying Objects,” 2 December 1952. See also Chadwell, memorandum for Amory, DDI, “Approval in Principle – External Research Project Concerned with Unidentified Flying Objects,” no date.

(26) The IAC was created in 1947 to serve as a coordinating body in establishing intelligence requirements. Chaired by the DCI, the IAC included representatives from the Department of State, the Army, the Air Force, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the FBI, and the AEC.

(27) See Klass, UFOs, p. 27.

(28) See Richard D. Drain, Acting Secretary, IAC, “Minutes of Meeting held in Director’s Conference Room, Administration Building, CIA,” 4 December 1952.

(29) See Chadwell, memorandum for the record, “British Activity in the Field of UFOs,” 18 December 1952.

(30) See Chadwell, memorandum for DCI, “Consultants for Advisory Panel on Unidentified Flying Objects,” 9 January 1953; Curtis Peebles, Watch the Skies! A Chronicle of the Flying Saucer Myth (Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1994). pp. 73-90; and Jacobs, The UFO Controversy, pp. 91-92.

(31) See Fred C. Durant III, Report on the Robertson Panel Meeting, January 1953. Durant, on contract with OSI and a past president of the American Rocket Society, attended the Robertson panel meetings and wrote a summary of the proceedings.

(32) See Report of the Scientific Panel on Unidentified Flying Objects (the Robertson Report), 17 January 1953 and the Durant report on the panel discussions.

(33) See Robertson Report and Durant Report. See also Good, Above Top Secret, pp. 337-38, Jacobs, The UFO Controversy, p. 95, and Klass, UFO’s, pp. 28-29.

(34) See Reber, memorandum to IAC, 18 February 1953.

(35) See Chadwell, memorandum for DDI, “Unidentified Flying Objects,” 10 February 1953; Chadwell, letter to Robertson, 28 January 1953; and Reber, memorandum for IAC, “Unidentified Flying Objects,” 18 February 1953. On briefing the ONE, see Durant, memorandum for the record, “Briefing of ONE Board on Unidentified Flying Objects,” 30 January 1953 and CIA Summary disseminated to the field, “Unidentified Flying Objects,” 6 February 1953.

(36) See Chadwell, letter to Julius A. Stratton, Provost MIT, 27 January 1953.

(37) See Chadwell, memorandum for Chief, Physics and Electronics Division/OSI (Todos M. Odarenko), “Unidentified Flying Objects,” 27 May 1953.

(38) See Odarenko, memorandum to Chadwell, “Unidentified Flying Objects,” 3 July 1953. See also Odarenko, memorandum to Chadwell, “Current Status of Unidentified Flying Objects (UFOB) Project,” 17 December 1953.

(39) See Odarenko, memorandum, “Unidentified Flying Objects,” 8 August 1955.

(40) See FBIS, report, “Military Unconventional Aircraft,” 18 August 1953 and various reports, “Military-Air, Unconventional Aircraft,” 1953, 1954, 1955.

(41) Developed by the Canadian affiliate of Britain’s A. V. Roe, Ltd., Project Y did produce a small-scale model that hovered a few feet off the ground. See Odarenko, memorandum to Chadwell, “Flying Saucer Type of Planes” 25 May 1954; Frederic C. E. Oder, memorandum to Odarenko, “USAF Project Y,” 21 May 1954; and Odarenko, T. M. Nordbeck, Ops/SI, and Sidney Graybeal, ASD/SI, memorandum for the record, “Intelligence Responsibilities for Non-Conventional Types of Air Vehicles,” 14 June 1954.

(42) See Reuben Efron, memorandum, “Observation of Flying Object Near Baku,” 13 October 1955; Scoville, memorandum for the record, “Interview with Senator Richard B. Russell,” 27 October 1955; and Wilton E. Lexow, memorandum for information, “Reported Sighting of Unconventional Aircraft,” 19 October 1955.

(43) See Lexow, memorandum for information, “Reported Sighting of Unconventional Aircraft,” 19 October 1955. See also Frank C. Bolser, memorandum for George C. Miller, Deputy Chief, SAD/SI, “Possible Soviet Flying Saucers, Check On;” Lexow, memorandum, “Possible Soviet Flying Saucers, Follow Up On,” 17 December 1954; Lexow, memorandum, “Possible Soviet Flying Saucers,” 1 December 1954; and A. H. Sullivan, Jr., memorandum, “Possible Soviet Flying Saucers,” 24 November 1954.

(44) See Gregory W. Pedlow and Donald E. Welzenbach, The Central Intelligence Agency and Overhead Reconnaissance: The U-2 and OXCART Programs, 1954-1974 (Washington, DC: CIA History Staff, 1992), pp. 72-73.

(45) See Pedlow and Welzenbach, Overhead Reconnaissance, pp. 72-73. This also was confirmed in a telephone interview between the author and John Parongosky, 26 July 1994. Parongosky oversaw the day-to-day affairs of the OXCART program.

(46) See Jacobs, The UFO Controversy, p. 135.

(47) See Peebles, Watch the Skies, pp. 128-146; Ruppelt, The Report on Unidentified Flying Objects (New York: Doubleday, 1956); Keyhoe, The Flying Saucer Conspiracy (New York: Holt, 1955); and Jacobs, The UFO Controversy, pp. 347-49.

(48) See Strong, letter to Lloyd W. Berkner; Strong, letter to Thorton Page; Strong, letter to Robertson; Strong, letter to Samuel Goudsmit; Strong, letter to Luis Alvarez, 20 December 1957; and Strong, memorandum for Major James F. Byrne, Assistant Chief of Staff, Intelligence Department of the Air Force, “Declassification of the `Report of the Scientific Panel on Unidentified Flying Objects,'” 20 December 1957. See also Berkner, letter to Strong, 20 November 1957 and Page, letter to Strong, 4 December 1957. The panel members were also reluctant to have their association with the Agency released.

(49) See Wilton E. Lexow, memorandum for the record, “Comments on Letters Dealing with Unidentified Flying Objects,” 4 April 1958; J. S. Earman, letter to Major Lawrence J. Tacker, Office of the Secretary of the Air Force, Information Service, 4 April 1958; Davidson, letter to Berkner, 8 April 1958; Berkner, letter to Davidson, 18 April 1958; Berkner, letter to Strong, 21 April 1958; Davidson, letter to Tacker, 27 April 1958; Davidson, letter to Allen Dulles, 27 April 1958; Ruppelt, letter to Davidson, 7 May 1958; Strong, letter to Berkner, 8 May 1958; Davidson, letter to Berkner, 8 May 1958; Davidson, letter to Earman, 16 May 1958; Davidson, letter to Goudsmit, 18 May 1958; Davidson, letter to Page, 18 May 1958; and Tacker, letter to Davidson, 20 May 1958.

(50) See Lexow, memorandum for Chapin, 28 July 1958.

(51) See Good, Above Top Secret, pp. 346-47; Lexow, memorandum for the record, “Meeting with the Air Force Personnel Concerning Scientific Advisory Panel Report on Unidentified Flying Objects, dated 17 January 1953 (S),” 16 May 1958. See also La Rae L. Teel, Deputy Division Chief, ASD, memorandum for the record, “Meeting with Mr. Chapin on Replying to Leon Davidson’s UFO Letter and Subsequent Telephone Conversation with Major Thacker, [sic]” 22 May 1958.

(52) See Edwin M. Ashcraft, Chief, Contact Division (Scientific), memorandum to Chief, Chicago Office, “Radio Code Recording,” 4 March 1955 and Ashcraft, memorandum to Chief, Support Branch, OSI, 17 March 1955.

(53) The Contact Division was created to collect foreign intelligence information from sources within the United States. See the Directorate of Intelligence Historical Series, The Origin and Development of Contact Division, 11 July 1946­1 July 1965 (Washington, DC; CIA Historical Staff, June 1969).

(54) See George O. Forrest, Chief, Chicago Office, memorandum to Chief, Contact Division for Science, 11 March 1955.

(55) See Support Division (Connell), memorandum to Dewelt E. Walker, 25 April 1957.

(56) See J. Arnold Shaw, Assistant to the Director, letter to Davidson, 10 May 1957.

(57) See Support (Connell) memorandum to Lt. Col. V. Skakich, 27 August 1957 and Lamountain, memorandum to Support (Connell), 20 December 1957.

(58) See Lamountain, cable to Support (Connell), 31 July 1958.

(59) See Support (Connell) cable to Skakich, 3 October 1957 and Skakich, cable to Connell, 9 October 1957.

(60) See Skakich, cable to Connell, 9 October 1957.

(61) See R. P. B. Lohmann, memorandum for Chief, Contact Division, DO, 9 January 1958.

(62) See Support, cable to Skakich, 20 February 1958 and Connell (Support) cable to Lamountain, 19 December 1957.

(63) See Edwin M. Ashcraft, Chief, Contact Division, Office of Operations, memorandum for Austin Bricker, Jr., Assistant to the Director, “Inquiry by Major Donald E. Keyhoe on John Hazen’s Association with the Agency,” 22 January 1959.

(64) See John T. Hazen, memorandum to Chief, Contact Division, 12 December 1957. See also Ashcraft, memorandum to Cleveland Resident Agent, “Ralph E. Mayher,” 20 December 1957. According to this memorandum, the photographs were viewed at “a high level and returned to us without comment.” The Air Force held the original negatives. The CIA records were probably destroyed.

(65) The issue would resurface in the 1970s with the GSW FOIA court case.

(66) See Robert Amory, Jr., DDI, memorandum for Assistant Director/Scientific Intelligence, “Flying Saucers,” 26 March 1956. See also Wallace R. Lamphire, Office of the Director, Planning and Coordination Staff, memorandum for Richard M. Bissell, Jr., “Unidentified Flying Saucers (UFO),” 11 June 1957; Philip Strong, memorandum for the Director, NPIC, “Reported Photography of Unidentified Flying Objects,” 27 October 1958; Scoville, memorandum to Lawrence Houston, Legislative Counsel, “Reply to Honorable Joseph E. Garth,” 12 July 1961; and Houston, letter to Garth, 13 July 1961.

(67) See, for example, Davidson, letter to Congressman Joseph Garth, 26 June 1961 and Carl Vinson, Chairman, House Committee on Armed Services, letter to Rep. Robert A. Everett, 2 September 1964.

(68) See Maxwell W. Hunter, staff member, National Aeronautics and Space Council, Executive Office of the President, memorandum for Robert F. Parkard, Office of International Scientific Affairs, Department of State, “Thoughts on the Space Alien Race Question,” 18 July 1963, File SP 16, Records of the Department of State, Record Group 59, National Archives. See also F. J. Sheridan, Chief, Washington Office, memorandum to Chief, Contact Division, “National Investigation Committee on Aerial Phenomena (NICAP),” 25 January 1965.

(69) Chamberlain, memorandum for DCI, “Evaluation of UFOs,” 26 January 1965.

(70) See Jacobs, The UFO Controversy, p. 199 and US Air Force, Scientific Advisory Board, Ad Hoc Committee (O’Brien Committee) to Review Project BLUE BOOK, Special Report (Washington, DC: 1966). See also The New York Times, 14 August 1966, p. 70.

(71) See “Congress Reassured on Space Visits,” The New York Times, 6 April 1966.

(72) Weber, letter to Col. Gerald E. Jorgensen, Chief, Community Relations Division, Office of Information, US Air Force, 15 August 1966. The Durant report was a detailed summary of the Robertson panel proceedings.

(73) See John Lear, “The Disputed CIA Document on UFOs,” Saturday Review (September 3, 1966), p. 45. The Lear article was otherwise unsympathetic to UFO sightings and the possibility that extraterritorials were involved. The Air Force had been eager to provide Lear with the full report. See Walter L. Mackey, Executive Officer, memorandum for DCI, “Air Force Request to Declassify CIA Material on Unidentified Flying Objects (UFO),” 1 September 1966.

(74) See Klass, UFOs, p. 40, Jacobs, The UFO Controversy, p. 214 and Everet Clark, “Physicist Scores `Saucer Status,'” The New York Times, 21 October 1966. See also James E. McDonald, “Statement on Unidentified Flying Objects,” submitted to the House Committee on Science and Astronautics, 29 July 1968.

(75) Condon is quoted in Walter Sullivan, “3 Aides Selected in Saucer Inquiry,” The New York Times, 8 October 1966. See also “An Outspoken Scientist, Edward Uhler Condon,” The New York Times, 8 October 1966. Condon, an outgoing, gruff scientist, had earlier become embroiled in a controversy with the House Unamerican Activities Committee that claimed Condon was “one of the weakest links in our atomic security.” See also Peebles, Watch the Skies, pp. 169-195.

(76) See Lundahl, memorandum for DDI, 7 February 1967.

(77) See memorandum for the record, “Visit of Dr. Condon to NPIC, 20 February 1967,” 23 February 1967. See also the analysis of the photographs in memorandum for Lundahl, “Photo Analysis of UFO Photography,” 17 February 1967.

(78) See memorandum for the record, “UFO Briefing for Dr. Edward Condon, 5 May 1967,” 8 May 1967 and attached “Guidelines to UFO Photographers and UFO Photographic Information Sheet.” See also Condon Committee, Press Release, 1 May 1967 and Klass, UFOs, p. 41. The Zaneville photographs turned out to be a hoax.

(79) See Edward U. Condon, Scientific Study of Unidentified Flying Objects (New York: Bantam Books, 1969) and Klass, UFOs, p. 41. The report contained the Durant report with only minor deletions.

(80) See Office of Assistant Secretary of Defense, News Release, “Air Force to Terminate Project BLUEBOOK,” 17 December 1969. The Air Force retired BLUEBOOK records to the USAF Archives at Maxwell Air Force Base in Alabama. In 1976 the Air Force turned over all BLUEBOOK files to the National Archives and Records Administration, which made them available to the public without major restrictions. Some names have been withheld from the documents. See Klass, UFOs, p. 6.

(81) GSW was a small group of UFO buffs based in Phoenix, Arizona, and headed by William H. Spaulding.

(82) See Klass, UFOs, p. 8.

(83) See Wilson, letter to Spaulding, 26 March 1976 and GSW v. CIA Civil Action Case 78-859.

(84) GSW v. CIA Civil Action Case 78-859, p. 2.

(85) Author interview with Launie Ziebell, 23 June 1994 and author interview with OSI analyst, 21 July 1994. See also affidavits of George Owens, CIA Information and Privacy Act Coordinator; Karl H. Weber, OSI; Sidney D. Stembridge, Office of Security; and Rutledge P. Hazzard, DS&T; GSW v. CIA Civil Action Case 78-859 and Sayre Stevens, Deputy Director for National Foreign Assessment, memorandum for Thomas H. White, Assistant for Information, Information Review Committee, “FOIA Litigation Ground Saucer Watch,” no date.

(86) See “CIA Papers Detail UFO Surveillance,” The New York Times, 13 January 1979; Patrick Huyghe, “UFO Files: The Untold Story,” The New York Times Magazine, 14 October 1979, p. 106; and Jerome Clark, “UFO Update,” UFO Report, August 1979.

(87) Jerome Clark, “Latest UFO News Briefs From Around the World,” UFO Update, August 1979 and GSW v. CIA Civil Action No. 78-859.

(88) See Wortman, memorandum for DCI Turner, “Your Question, `Are we in UFOs?’ Annotated to The New York Times News Release Article,” 18 January 1979.

(89) See GSW v. CIA Civil Action 78-859. See also Klass, UFOs, pp. 10-12.

(90) See John Brennan, memorandum for Richard Warshaw, Executive Assistant, DCI, “Requested Information on UFOs,” 30 September 1993; Author interviews with OSWR analyst, 14 June 1994 and OSI analyst, 21 July 1994. This author found almost no documentation on Agency involvement with UFOs in the 1980s.

There is a DIA Psychic Center and the NSA studies parapsychology, that branch of psychology that deals with the investigation of such psychic phenomena as clairvoyance, extrasensory perception, and telepathy. The CIA reportedly is also a member of an Incident Response Team to investigate UFO landings, if one should occur. This team has never met. The lack of solid CIA documentation on Agency UFO-related activities in the 1980s leaves the entire issue somewhat murky for this period.

Much of the UFO literature presently focuses on contactees and abductees. See John E. Mack, Abduction, Human Encounters with Aliens (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1994) and Howard Blum, Out There (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1990).

(91) See Charles Berlitz and William L. Moore, The Roswell Incident (New York: Berkeley Books, 1988); Moore, “The Roswell Incident: New Evidence in the Search for a Crashed UFO,” (Burbank, California: Fair Witness Project, 1982), Publication Number 1201; and Klass, UFOs, pp. 280-281. In 1994 Congressman Steven H. Schiff (R-NM) called for an official study of the Roswell incident. The GAO is conducting a separate investigation of the incident. The CIA is not involved in the investigation. See Klass, UFOs, pp. 279-281; John H. Wright, Information and Privacy Coordinator, letter to Derek Skreen, 20 September 1993; and OSWR analyst interview. See also the made-for-TV film, Roswell, which appeared on cable TV on 31 July 1994 and Peebles, Watch the Skies, pp. 245-251.

(92) See John Diamond, “Air Force Probes 1947 UFO Claim Findings Are Down to Earth,” 9 September 1994, Associated Press release; William J. Broad, “Wreckage of a `Spaceship’: Of This Earth (and U.S.),” The New York Times, 18 September 1994, p. 1; and USAF Col. Richard L. Weaver and 1st Lt. James McAndrew, The Roswell Report, Fact Versus Fiction in New Mexico Desert (Washington, DC: GPO, 1995).

(93) See Good, Above Top Secret; Moore and S. T. Friedman, “Philip Klass and MJ-12: What are the Facts,” (Burbank California: Fair-Witness Project, 1988), Publication Number 1290; Klass, “New Evidence of MJ-12 Hoax,” Skeptical Inquirer, vol. 14 (Winter 1990); and Moore and Jaime H. Shandera, The MJ-12 Documents: An Analytical Report (Burbank, California: Fair-Witness Project, 1990), Publication Number 1500. Walter Bedell Smith supposedly replaced Forrestal on 1 August 1950 following Forrestal’s death. All members listed were deceased when the MJ-12 “documents” surfaced in 1984. See Peebles, Watch the Skies, pp. 258-268.

Dr. Larry Bland, editor of The George C. Marshall Papers, discovered that one of the so-called Majestic-12 documents was a complete fraud. It contained the exact same language as a letter from Marshall to Presidential candidate Thomas Dewey regarding the “Magic” intercepts in 1944. The dates and names had been altered and “Magic” changed to “Majic.” Moreover, it was a photocopy, not an original. No original MJ-12 documents have ever surfaced. Telephone conversation between the author and Bland, 29 August 1994.

SOURCE: Central of Intelligence Agency (CIA) – Gerald K. Haines is the National Reconnaissance Office historian.

Historical Document

• Posted: Apr 14, 2007 04:51 PM
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11-05-2020 om 01:08 geschreven door peter  

Artist’s concept of a black hole via ESO.

• Originally published on May 6, 2020, by the European Southern Observatory.

A team of astronomers from the European Southern Observatory (ESO) and other institutes has discovered a black hole lying just 1,000 light-years from Earth. The black hole is closer to our solar system than any other found to date and forms part of a triple system that can be seen with the unaided eye. The team found evidence for the invisible object by tracking its two companion stars using the 2.2-meter telescope at ESO’s La Silla Observatory in Chile. They say this system could just be the tip of the iceberg, as many more similar black holes could be found in the future.

Prior to this discovery, the closest-known black hole was A0620-00 in the constellation of Monoceros at a distance of 3,000 light years.

Petr Hadrava of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic in Prague, a co-author of the research, said:

We were totally surprised when we realized that this is the first stellar system with a black hole that can be seen with the unaided eye.

Located in the constellation of Telescopium, the system is so close to us that its stars can be viewed from the Southern Hemisphere on a dark, clear night without binoculars or a telescope.

ESO scientist Thomas Rivinius, who led the study published May 6, 2020, in Astronomy & Astrophysics (doi: 10.1051/0004-6361/202038020), said:

This system contains the nearest black hole to Earth that we know of.

This chart shows the location of the HR 6819 triple system, which includes the closest black hole to Earth, in the constellation of Telescopium. This map shows most of the stars visible to the unaided eye under good conditions and the system itself is marked with a red circle. While the black hole is invisible, the two stars in HR 6819 can be viewed from the Southern Hemisphere on a dark, clear night without binoculars or a telescope.

Image via ESO/ IAU/ Sky & Telescope.

The team originally observed the system, called HR 6819, as part of a study of double-star systems. However, as they analyzed their observations, they were stunned when they revealed a third, previously undiscovered body in HR 6819: a black hole. The observations with the FEROS spectrograph on the 2.2-meter telescope at La Silla showed that one of the two visible stars orbits an unseen object every 40 days, while the second star is at a large distance from this inner pair.

Dietrich Baade of ESO in Garching and co-author of the study, said:

The observations needed to determine the period of 40 days had to be spread over several months …

The hidden black hole in HR 6819 is one of the very first stellar-mass black holes found that do not interact violently with their environment and, therefore, appear truly black. But the team could spot its presence and calculate its mass by studying the orbit of the star in the inner pair. Rivinius, who is based in Chile, commented:

An invisible object with a mass at least 4 times that of the sun can only be a black hole.

Astronomers have spotted only a couple of dozen black holes in our galaxy to date, nearly all of which strongly interact with their environment and make their presence known by releasing powerful X-rays in this interaction. But scientists estimate that, over the Milky Way’s lifetime, many more stars collapsed into black holes as they ended their lives. The discovery of a silent, invisible black hole in HR 6819 provides clues about where the many hidden black holes in the Milky Way might be. Rivinius explained:

There must be hundreds of millions of black holes out there, but we know about only very few. Knowing what to look for should put us in a better position to find them.

Baade added that finding a black hole in a triple system so close by indicates that we are seeing just “the tip of an exciting iceberg.”

Already, astronomers believe their discovery could shine some light on a second system. Marianne Heida, a postdoctoral fellow at ESO and co-author of the paper, said:

We realized that another system, called LB-1, may also be such a triple, though we’d need more observations to say for sure. LB-1 is a bit further away from Earth but still pretty close in astronomical terms, so that means that probably many more of these systems exist. By finding and studying them we can learn a lot about the formation and evolution of those rare stars that begin their lives with more than about 8 times the mass of the sun and end them in a supernova explosion that leaves behind a black hole.

The discoveries of these triple systems with an inner pair and a distant star could also provide clues about the violent cosmic mergers that release gravitational waves powerful enough to be detected on Earth. Some astronomers believe that the mergers can happen in systems with a similar configuration to HR 6819 or LB-1, but where the inner pair is made up of two black holes or of a black hole and a neutron star. The distant outer object can gravitationally impact the inner pair in such a way that it triggers a merger and the release of gravitational waves. Although HR 6819 and LB-1 have only one black hole and no neutron stars, these systems could help scientists understand how stellar collisions can happen in triple star systems.

• Bottom line: An invisible object has 2 companion stars in the triple star system HR 6819. The 2 companion stars can be seen with the unaided eye. The invisible object can only be a black hole, these astronomers said. It’s located only 1, 000 light-years from Earth, closer than any other black hole found so far.
• Source: A naked-eye triple system with a nonaccreting black hole in the inner binary
• Via ESO

{ https://earthsky.org/ }

10-05-2020 om 23:56 geschreven door peter  

An exoplanet and its atmosphere pass in front of its star (artist’s impression, from an imaginary point near to the planet). 

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

Hydrogen-breathing aliens? Study suggests new approach to finding extraterrestrial life

The first time we find evidence of life on a planet orbiting another star (an exoplanet), it is probably going to be by analysing the gases in its atmosphere. With the number of known Earth-like planets growing, we could soon discover gases in an exoplanet’s atmosphere that are associated with life on Earth.

But what if alien life uses somewhat different chemistry to ours? A new study, published in Nature Astronomy, argues that our best chances of using atmospheres to find evidence of life is to broaden our search from focusing on planets like our own to include those with a hydrogen atmosphere.

We can probe the atmosphere of an exoplanet when it passes in front of its star. When such a transit happens, the star’s light has to pass through the planet’s atmosphere to reach us and some of it is absorbed as it goes. Looking at the star’s spectrum – its light broken down according to its wavelength – and working out what light is missing because of the transit reveals which gases the atmosphere consists of. Documenting exoplanet atmospheres is one of the goals of the much-delayed James Webb Space Telescope.

• Read more: Exoplanets: how we used chemistry to identify the worlds most likely to host life

If we were to find an atmosphere that has a different chemical mix to what we would expect, one of the simplest explanations would be that it is maintained that way by living processes. That is the case on Earth. Our planet’s atmosphere contains methane (CH₄), which naturally reacts with oxygen to make carbon dioxide. But the methane is kept topped up by biological processes.

Another way to look at this is that the oxygen wouldn’t be there at all had it not been liberated from carbon dioxide by photosynthetic microbes during the so-called great oxygenation event that began about 2.4 billion years ago.

Look beyond oxygen atmospheres

The authors of the new study argue that we should start investigating worlds larger than the Earth whose atmospheres are dominated by hydrogen. These may not have any free oxygen, because hydrogen and oxygen make a highly flammable mixture.

Hydrogen is the lightest of all molecules and escapes to space easily. For a rocky planet to have gravity strong enough to hang on to a hydrogen atmosphere, it needs to be a “super-Earth” with a mass between about two and ten times the Earth’s. The hydrogen could either have been captured directly from the gas cloud where the planet grew, or have been released later by a chemical reaction between iron and water.

The density of a hydrogen-dominated atmosphere decreases about 14 times less rapidly the higher up you go than in an atmosphere dominated by nitrogen like the Earth’s. This makes for a 14-times greater envelope of atmosphere surrounding the planet, making it easy to spot in the spectra data. The greater dimensions would also improve our chances of observing such an atmosphere by direct imaging with an optical telescope.

Hydrogen-breathing in the lab

The authors carried out laboratory experiments in which they demonstrated that the bacterium E. coli (billions of which live in your intestines) can survive and multiply under a hydrogen atmosphere in the total absence of any oxygen. They demonstrated the same for a variety of yeast.

Although this is interesting, it does not add much weight to the argument that life could flourish under a hydrogen atmosphere. We already know of many microbes within the Earth’s crust that survive by metabolising hydrogen, and there is even a multicellular organism that spends all its life in an oxygen-free zone on the floor of the Mediterranean.

Earth’s atmosphere, which started out without oxygen, is unlikely ever to have had more than 1% hydrogen. But early life may have had to metabolise by reacting hydrogen with carbon to form methane, rather than by reacting oxygen with carbon to form carbon dioxide, as humans do.

Biosignature gases

The study did make an important discovery though. The researchers demonstrated that there is an “astonishing diversity” of dozens of gases produced by products in E. coli living under hydrogen. Many of these, such as dimethylsilfide, carbonyl sulfide and isoprene, could be detectable “biosignatures” in a hydrogen atmosphere. This boosts our chances of recognising life signs at an exoplanet – you have to know what to look for.

That said, metabolic processes that use hydrogen are less efficient than those using oxygen. However, hydrogen breathing life is already an established concept so far as astrobiologists are concerned. Sentient hydrogen breathers have even made appearances in some rationally-based science fiction, such as the Uplift novels of David Brin.

The authors of the new study also point out that molecular hydrogen in sufficient concentration can act as a greenhouse gas. This could keep a planet’s surface warm enough for liquid water, and hence surface life, further from its star than would otherwise be the case.

• Read more: Twin civilisations? How life on an exoplanet could spread to its neighbour

{ https://theconversation.com/uk }

10-05-2020 om 23:21 geschreven door peter  

Other mysteries of the Great War include an 'angel' appearing in the middle of a battle and thousands of British troops abducted by Aliens

By Warren Manger - Features Writer

Legends: The 'Red Baron' (right) believed he shot down a UFO while the 'Angel of Mons' (left) reportedly appeared during a battle Stranger and scarier things than fighter pilots were patrolling the skies above the battlefields of France, according to a new book.

During the First World War soldiers and civilians reported a string of paranormal phenomena that historians and UFO experts have struggled to explain.

So much so that it raises the question, were aliens watching us 30 years before the fabled crash landing at Roswell, New Mexico?

Some of these spectacular sightings feature in a new book, UFOs of the First World War, by Nigel Watson.

The most famous flyer of the First World War was the German pilot Manfred Freiherr von Richthofen, better known as the Red Baron.

No human pilot could match his skills in the air - and apparently neither could aliens.

He supposedly spotted an UFO that looked like an upside down silver saucer with orange lights during an early morning mission in the clear blue skies above Belgium in the spring of 1917.

Fellow German Air Force ace Peter Waitzrick, who reportedly witnessed the dogfight, said: “We were terrified because we’d never seen anything like it before. The Baron immediately opened fire and the thing went down like a rock, shearing off tree limbs as it crashed into the woods.”

Two occupants allegedly survived the crash and clambered from the wreck before running into the trees.

Waitzrick and his squadron initially thought the UFO was a secret US aircraft, until he read reports about flying saucers and then had no doubt that was what he saw.

Baron:Manfred Freiherr Von Richthofen is rumoured to have shot down a flying saucer while patrolling the skies over the trenches

However, he did not share the story until 80 years after the event, when he was 105 years-old, and the headline appeared in the Weekly World News in August 1999.

Waitzrick said: “There’s no doubt in my mind that the Baron shot down some kind of spacecraft from another planet and those little guys who ran off into the woods were space aliens of some kind.”

However, historians have questioned the story, pointing out that the Fokker triplanes the squadron were allegedly flying were not put into operation service until August 1917, several months after the encounter.

The disappearing soldiers

During the disastrous Gallipoli Campaign up to 4,000 men from the Royal Norfolk Regiment was supposedly snatched by aliens who swooped over the battlefield in giant grey clouds.

Three New Zealand soldiers said they saw several hundred British soldiers marching towards Hill 60 at Sulva Bay in Turkey on August 21, 1915.

At the top of the hill was a “more solid looking cloud” that was 800 feet long, 220 feet high and 200 feet wide.

Their statement, made in April 1965, said: “When they arrived at this cloud they marched straight into it with no hesitation, but no one ever came out to fight. About an hour later this cloud very unobtrusively lifted off the ground until it joined other similar clouds, then they all moved away northwards.”

The soldiers insisted the British demanded the return of the regiment when Turkey surrendered, but the Turks denied any knowledge of the soldiers.

While many have dismissed the statement as a hoax, it has since been corroborated by the final report of the Dardanelles Commission, written in 1917 and finally declassified in 1965.

The Aldeburgh platform

Closer to home, there was a strange sighting in the skies above Suffolk. Daily Mirror reader A. E. Whiteland wrote to the newspaper in 1968 about an aircraft his mother saw from the upstairs window of her home in the town of Aldeburgh during the First World War.

His mother, then 84, told him the story many times over the years and he was keen to find out what happened.

Whiteland wrote: “A little above the level of the house eight to twelve men appeared on what seemed to be a round platform with a handrail around it, which they were gripping tightly.

“She could see them so clearly. They were wearing blue uniforms and little round hats, not unlike sailors’. She heard no sound from the machine as it came off the marshes.

“It turned a bit and went over the railway yard to disappear behind some houses.”

The initial explanation was that Whiteland’s mother had seen an observation carriage lowered from a zeppelin.

However, aviation historian Charles Gibbs said this was certainly not the case, as an observation platform was so tiny it could only take one man and would not be lowered so near the ground.

UFO research Carl Grove carried out a full investigation, but was never able to come up with any plausible explanation.

The Angel of Mons

It was supposedly a sign that God was on Britain’s side. As British soldiers fled at the Battle of Mons in 1914 a strange figure appeared and fended off the German troops so they could make their escape.

Despite the full scale retreat, the British losts just 1,600 men - a fraction of the huge losses suffered during other battles later in the war.

At the time it was widely described as St George, St Michael or a crowd of angelic warriors. News of the miracle spread so rapidly it was even reported in the Evening Standard. However, many UFO enthusiasts now believe the ‘angel’ was an alien visitor that took on a form the soldiers would recognise.

UFO expert Kevin Goodman said: “The UFO enigma was unknown during the First World War conflict, so the troops would relate to an event such as this in the only way they could, by thinking that they had a sign from God.”

Flaming onions

The so-called ‘flaming onions’ terrified WW1 fighter pilots because no-one knew what theory were and they moved too fast for an aircraft to take evasive action.

Cambridge historian Denis Winter recounted in his booked, The First of the Few, that the flaming onions were “green glowing balls which twisted about like live things and seemed to chase an aeroplane, turning over end on end in a leisurely way.”

The mystery of these UFOs has never been solved, though one explanation is that they may have been strings of flares fired by a German five barrelled anti-aircraft gun called the Lichtspucker, or light spitter.

Lady Sopwith

First spotted by Lieutenant Frederick Ardsley as he flew from Amiens to Villers Bocage in northern France on an early morning patrol on January 9, 1918.

He spotted an identical S.E. 5 biplane flying next to his and was stunned when the pilot removed their goggles with a loud laugh to reveal a cascade of golden hair. The beauty blew a kiss at Ardesley before performing a Can Can dance on the edge of her cockpit.

When Ardesley tried to shoot her down and pursued her plane she darted, rolled and dipped with such skill he could not keep up. Eyewitnesses on the ground reported watching the dogfight.

This was just the start of the legend of Lady Sopwith, who reportedly shot down German pilots who nicknamed her The Valkyrie, and was spotted by civilians including a six year-old boy.

Some believed her to be the tomboy sister of British flying corps ace Captain Albert Ball, who was killed in May 1917. However, it has been suggested she was little more than a myth that began when some mechanics saw a pilot in wearing drag climb into the cockpit of an S.E. 5 after a Christmas concert party.

UFOs of the First World War by Nigel Watson is published by The History Press and is available to buy now.

Meanwhile a more recent UFO sighting is reported to have taken place in London earlier this month.

The video below shows flying over Wood Green in the early evening.

{ https://www.mirror.co.uk/ }

10-05-2020 om 23:10 geschreven door peter  

SPACEX CREW DRAGON ASTRONAUT SAYS 3 FACTORS NEED TO ALIGN TO GET TO MARS

Getting humans to Mars is going to require the species to work together in a wide variety of ways.

NASA astronaut Doug Hurley is set to make history this month, when he launches into space alongside Bob Behnken inside a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule. The mission, set for May 27, will be the first time SpaceX has sent humans to the International Space Station, and the first time since 2011 that NASA has sent astronauts into space from the United States.

Both NASA and SpaceX have spoken about their aims to spark a new era of space exploration, returning humans to the moon, establishing permanent bases, and even sending humans to Mars.

Speaking with Inverse ahead of the launch, Hurley says that achieving these breakthroughs will require collaboration between the private sector, the public sector, and international players:

"To do great things in space, going outside of low-Earth orbit, going to the moon, going to Mars, venturing out into the solar system, I think absolutely it's going to be a combination of the public and private sector in order to be able to accomplish that. There's just too much work. Flying in space is expensive, to a degree, depending on your point of view, and just the innovation and the agility a private company can offer, I think adds a huge amount of capability to be successful in those types of missions. And not only public and private but an international aspect of it as well."

The mission is the culmination of years of development. SpaceX and Boeing are both NASA partners on the Commercial Crew program, aimed at developing a capsule that can ferry humans to and from the space station. Ever since NASA's shuttle program ended in 2011, the agency has been using seats on Roscosmos' Soyuz rockets flying from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

Beyond bringing the flights a bit closer to NASA, the flight also paves the way for more ambitious missions. SpaceX is developing the Starship, and NASA the SLS, with a view to sending humans to Mars. Hurley says that to reach these Mars missions, it's going to require big collaborations.

"That all needs to happen, those types of collaboration need to happen for us to venture out into the solar system. Certainly to go to Mars, as a species, is going to most likely involve all those entities."

FLYING THE CREW DRAGON – Hurley has experience with flying a range of craft. He served as a test pilot in the United States Marine Corps, before being selected as an astronaut in 2000. Hurley has been on two spaceflights before: the STS-127 shuttle mission in 2009, and the STS-135 mission in 2011, the shuttle's final mission.

Crew Dragon is fitted with a slew of touchscreens, and SpaceX's suits look set to impress. But Hurley, who is in charge of launching, landing and recovery, explains how it's not just surface-level differences with his previous experience.

"In this case it's quite a bit different because, from an entry perspective, a capsule, as well as shuttle, you adjust the heat shield such that it absorbs the plasma as you're re-entering, and that is done automatically by Crew Dragon. Shuttle was also automatic for the most part, but we could fly it manually in the phase of flight as well. And then we have some ability, depending on if there are certain failures, to be able to deploy the chutes manually, both the drogues and the main. But with a capsule landing in the water, obviously the precision of where you're landing is not quite as great as it was with the shuttle where you absolutely needed to land on a runway, and a big runway at that."

Although the capsule is designed to autonomously dock with the space station, Hurley says the team has to remain alert to take over if necessary.

"Sitting in the commander seat, for Dragon, you're responsible all the way to that thing is docked with the station. Every phase of flight. Bob and I have trained a while with this vehicle, and that's our responsibility, to monitor and if it's available to take over manually if it's not going in the way it's supposed to."

When the pair arrive at the space station they will be staying for an extended period, before returning to Earth after an as-yet undecided length of stay. When they return, they will have provided SpaceX and NASA with reams of data that could prove vital for future missions to the likes of Mars.

It may seem like one small trip to the space station, but it could represent one giant leap for manned spaceflight.

Videos, selected by peter2011

{ https://www.inverse.com/ }

10-05-2020 om 22:01 geschreven door peter  

SPACEX STARSHIP: INCREDIBLE ELON MUSK PHOTO SHOWS THE ROCKET’S TRUE SIZE

The Starship, SpaceX's under-development ship for sending humans to Mars, has been captured in a new image that reveals its sheer size.

Ahead of a planned static test fire, CEO Elon Musk shared an image on Twitter Monday of the underside of the rocket, with a single Raptor engine attached. The final ship is expected to use six engines, paired with a Super Heavy booster adding up to 37 more that's designed to help the ship leave Earth. From there, it will be set to reach the moon, Mars and beyond.

The "SN4" prototype in the image is set for a static test fire that fires the engine at a stationary position, a precursor to a potential "hop test" that would see the prototype jump in the air. That test may be postponed, however, after Musk posted on Twitter that a Monday morning static fire "seems unlikely right now."

"SN4 🔥 soon," Musk posted on Twitter. "Raptor looks so smōl."

It's the latest step toward a fully-reusable ship that can send humans to the moon, Mars and beyond, and Monday's photo also helps to demonstrate the sheer size of the ship in question. SpaceX has been upfront about the ship's size: a diameter of around 30 feet, a Starship measuring 164 feet high, a Super Heavy booster measuring around 229 feet, and a total system height of around 393 feet – figures that Musk has changed as the design has evolved.

But prototype models of the ship, under development at the Boca Chica facility in Texas, have been somewhat hard to visualize from far-away shots. Photos like these show the impressive design and indicate that it's clearly pretty big, but it's still hard to picture the exact size. This is a ship designed to transport 100 people into space – its size is one of its biggest breakthroughs.

But with this latest image of the Raptor attached to the underside, the viewer gets a clearer picture of the rocket's scale. Compare the Raptor attached there to the Raptors pictured in April, where the image shows a workspace with more common items that help visualize its size:

With the size of the Raptor in mind, the Starship's size becomes easier to understand.

Musk also revealed Monday that the Super Heavy, the booster designed to push the Starship out of the Earth's atmosphere, will pack 31 Raptor engines:

Will have 31 engines, not 37, no big fins and legs similar to ship. That thrust dome is the super hard part. Raptor SL thrust starts at 200 ton, but upgrades in the works for 250 ton.

At the firm's September 2019 event, Musk stated that the booster could use a minimum of 24 engines or a maximum of 37 engines, but 31 was likely the ideal figure. The official Starship website claims the booster will pack 37 engines, as demonstrated in an on-site mockup:

The Super Heavy booster visualized.

SpaceX

Musk's latest tweet, however, suggests the team is settling on 31 engines.

THE INVERSE ANALYSIS 

– The Starship is one huge machine, and Musk's tweet demonstrates its incredible size. The ship is expected to have around 1,000 cubic meters of cabin space, enough to send up to 100 humans into space with around two or three people per cabin. It's also designed to send over 150 tons of cargo into space with its alternate configuration. A more restricted 1,000-person version is expected to send people around the Earth within an hour. But while these numbers sound huge on paper, Monday's post brings home just how huge this ship is expected to be.µ

{ https://www.inverse.com/ }

10-05-2020 om 21:17 geschreven door peter  

One of the many significant things that surfaced while I was doing research into my new book, The Rendlesham Forest UFO Conspiracy, was the connection between the military and strange, aerial phenomena. As just about everyone with an interest in UFOs will know, when the December 1980 events took place in Rendlesham Forest, Suffolk, U.K., they involved a significant number of military personnel. I have several other cases in my files that involve (a) a fairly large military presence; and (b) unusual things seen in the sky. Based on what I discovered during the course of that same research, I strongly suspect that Rendlesham was not the first fabricated UFO event in the U.K.

We’ll begin with the experience of Paul Greensill. His confrontation of the mystifying type happened back in 1962. He retired from the British Army in August of that year, after having served with 9 Parachute Squadron, Royal Engineers. With a successful military career behind him, Greensill then enlisted in the Army Reserve. The Ministry of Defense provides background: “The Army Reserve is the largest of the Reserve Forces. The Army Reserve provides support to the Regular Army at home and overseas, and throughout its history almost every major operation has seen reservists operate alongside their Regular counterparts. Army Reserve Soldiers come from all walks of life and work part-time as soldiers for the British Army alongside full-time Regular soldiers.”

It was in August 1963 when Greensill and his comrades were taking part in a training-based military operation not too far from Ripon, Yorkshire, England. It was an exercise that was comprised of around forty personnel and that began shortly before midnight. Suddenly, a globe-like, dazzling ball of light shot across the skies and stopped over the amazed troops at a height of no more than about eighty or ninety feet. It hung silently in the sky for several minutes, after which it accelerated away at a fast speed. It then briefly returned, after which it yet again soared away into the starlit night. No official report was made, said Greensill. But, just about everyone was excitedly talking about the events the following day – which is not at all surprising. Despite the lack of official paperwork created, Greensill said that the higher-ups were keen to see what the regular troops thought of it all. Today, interestingly, 9 Parachute Squadron RE is stationed at Rock Barracks at…Woodbridge, Suffolk, where the December 1980 events occurred. What goes around certainly comes around, it would seem. With that case addressed, here’s another one for you.

Approximately two years before the dense trees of Rendlesham Forest were lit up, and lives were forever changed, something similar occurred on the U.K.’s expansive and wild Yorkshire Moors. Yes, Yorkshire, again. The witnesses were Mike Perrin and “Titch” Carvell. At the time, both men were with the British Army’s Royal Armored Corps. As the name of the RAC suggests, its role is to provide the armor capability of the Army, such as tanks. Perrin and Carvell were part of a military exercise on the moors when a decidedly strange intruder suddenly appeared on the scene – and right at the time the pair, in their Land Rover, was carefully negotiating a winding stretch of road. Suddenly, a circular, silvery thing appeared out of nowhere and hung in the air at a precarious level and at a distance of around 140-150 feet. Even at that distance they could hear a loud, “strange buzzing” coming from the object. Suddenly, the engine of the Land Rover died and the vehicle coasted to a stop. That was most assuredly not a good thing. In fact, it was a decidedly ominous thing.

Land Rover

Perrin said: “It was about the size of five Land Rovers and had portholes. Lights inside were flashing red and white. I tried to start our vehicle, but the engine was totally dead. We watched the UFO for five minutes, then it shot off and all the power returned to our engine. It’s Army policy to dismiss UFO reports, but when we went back to the area next morning with a sergeant, we found a large circle of burnt grass where the object had hovered.” The event was over. That “UFOs” should have appeared on two occasions in Yorkshire, England – and when military operations were going on – make me suspect that these events (just like Rendlesham) were deliberately hoaxed. The purpose: to determine how military personnel react when faced with strange phenomena and unforeseen events.

VIDEOS, SELECTED BY PETER2011

{ https://mysteriousuniverse.org/ }

10-05-2020 om 20:04 geschreven door peter  

Most Extensive System of Haze Layers Ever Observed in The Solar System Discovered

A rich variety of meteorological phenomena take place in the extensive hydrogen atmosphere of the planet Saturn, a world about ten times the size of the Earth. They help us to better understand those that operate in a similar way in the Earth’s atmosphere. Featuring among them due to its uniqueness is the well-known “hexagon”, an amazing wave structure that surrounds the planet’s polar region and whose shape looks as if it had been drawn by a geometrician.

Credit: UPV/EHU

Discovered in 1980 by NASA’s Voyager 1 and 2 spacecraft, it has been observed without interruption since then, despite the planet’s long, strong cycle of seasons. A fast, narrow jet stream flows inside this gigantic planetary wave where winds reach maximum speeds of about 400 km/h. Yet, strangely enough, the wave itself remains almost static; in other words, it barely shifts with respect to the planet’s rotation. All these properties mean that the “hexagon” is a highly attractive phenomenon for meteorologists and planet atmosphere researchers.

Cassini, which was in orbit around the planet between 2004 and 2017, took a vast quantity of images from a whole range of distances from the planet and viewing angles. In June 2015 its main camera obtained very high-resolution images of the planet’s limb which are capable of solving details of between 1 and 2 km; they captured the hazes located above the clouds that shape the hexagonal wave. In addition, it used many colour filters, from ultraviolet to near infrared, thus enabling the composition of these hazes to be studied. 

To complete this study, images produced by the Hubble Space Telescope taken 15 days later and showing the hexagon not on the limb but seen from above were also used. “The Cassini images have enabled us to discover that, just as if a sandwich had been formed, the hexagon has a multi-layered system of at least seven mists that extend from the summit of its clouds to an altitude of more than 300 km above them,” said Professor Agustín Sánchez-Lavega, who led the study. “Other cold worlds, such as Saturn’s satellite Titan or the dwarf planet Pluto, also have layers of hazes, but not in such numbers nor as regularly spaced out”.

The vertical extent of each haze layer is between approximately 7 and 18 km thick, and according to the spectral analysis, they contain minute particles with radii of the order of 1 micron. Their chemical composition is exotic for us, because, owing to the low temperatures in Saturn’s atmosphere ranging between 120° C and 180° C below zero, they could comprise hydrocarbon ice crystallites, such as acetylene, propyne, propane, diacetylene or even butane in the case of the highest clouds.

Another aspect studied by the team is the regularity in the vertical distribution of the hazes. The hypothesis put forward is that the hazes are organised by the vertical propagation of gravity waves that produce oscillations in the density and temperature of the atmosphere, a well-known phenomenon on the Earth and on other planets. The researchers raise the possibility that it could be the very dynamics of the hexagon itself and its powerful jet stream that may be responsible for the formation of these gravity waves. On the Earth, too, waves of this type produced by the undulating jet stream travelling at speeds of 100 km/h from West to East in the mid-latitudes have been observed. The phenomenon could be similar on both planets, even though the peculiarities of Saturn mean that it is the only case in the solar system. This is an aspect that remains subject to future research.

Agustín Sánchez-Lavega is professor of physics at the UPV/EHU-University of the Basque Country, head of the GCP-Planetary Science Group and holder of the 2016 Euskadi Award for Research. Teresa del Río-Gaztelurrutia and Ricardo Hueso are tenured lecturers, and Santiago Pérez-Hoyos is a permanent research doctor; they all belong to the GCP.

Contacts and sources:

• Matxalen SotilloUniversity of the Basque Country

Publication: 

• “Multilayer hazes over Saturn’s hexagon from Cassini ISS limb images” A. Sánchez-Lavega, A. García-Muñoz, T. del Río-Gaztelurrutia, S. Pérez-Hoyos, J. F. Sanz-Requena, R. Hueso, S. Guerlet & J. Peralta.Nature Communications http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-16110-1

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10-05-2020 om 18:01 geschreven door peter  

The Mystery of Giant Viruses Thawing from Beneath the Ice in Siberia and Antarctica

Giant virus

Credit: Cryo-EM facility, Michigan State University

In a new study, a team of Michigan State University scientists shed light on these enigmatic, yet captivating giant microbes and key aspects of the process by which they infect cells. With the help of cutting-edge imaging technologies, this study developed a reliable model for studying giant viruses and is the first to identify and characterize several key proteins responsible for orchestrating infection.Cartoon schematic of Samba infecting a cell.  

Credit: Cryo-EM facility

Giant viruses are bigger than 300 nanometers in size and can survive for many millennia. For comparison, the rhinovirus — responsible for the common cold — is roughly 30 nanometers.

“Giant viruses are gargantuan in size and complexity,” said principal investigator Kristin Parent, associate professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at MSU. “The giant viruses recently discovered in Siberia retained the ability to infect after 30,000 years in permafrost.”

The outer shells — or capsids — are rugged and able to withstand harsh environments, protecting the viral genome inside. The capsids of the species analyzed in this study — mimivirus, Antarctica virus, Samba virus and the newly discovered Tupanviruses — are icosahedral, or shaped like a twenty-sided die.

These species have a unique mechanism for releasing their viral genome. A starfish-shaped seal sits atop one of the outer shell vertices. This unique vertex is known as the ‘stargate.’ During infection, the ‘starfish’ and ‘stargate’ open to release the viral genome.

During the study, several roadblocks needed to be addressed. “Giant viruses are difficult to image due to their size and previous studies relied on finding the ‘one-in-a-million’ virus in the correct state of infection,” Parent said.

To solve this issue, Parent’s graduate student Jason Schrad developed a novel method for mimicking infection stages. Using the university’s new Cryo-Electron Microscopy microscope and the university’s Scanning Electron Microscope, Parent’s group subjected various species to an array of harsh chemical and environmental treatments designed to simulate conditions a virus might experience during the infection process. “Cryo-EM allows us to study viruses and protein structures at the atomic level and to capture them in action,” Parent said. “Access to this technology is very important and the new microscope at MSU is opening new doors for research on campus.”

The results revealed three environmental conditions that successfully induced stargate opening: low pH, high temperature and high salt. Even more, each condition induced a different stage of infection.

With this new data, Parent’s group designed a model to effectively and reliably mimic stages of infection for study. “This new model now allows scientists to mimic the stages reliably and with high frequency, opening the door for future study and dramatically simplifying any studies aimed at the virus,” Parent said.

The results yielded several novel findings. “We discovered that the starfish seal above the stargate portal slowly unzips while remaining attached to the capsid rather than simply releasing all at once,” Parent said. “Our description of a new giant virus genome release strategy signifies another paradigm shift in our understanding of virology.”

With the ability to consistently recreate various stages of infection, the researchers studied the proteins released by the virus during the first stage. Proteins act as workers, orchestrating the many biological processes required for a virus to infect and hijack a cell’s reproductive capabilities to make copies of itself.

“The results of this study help to assign putative — or assumed — roles to many proteins with previously unknown functions, highlighting the power of this new model,” Parent said. “We identified key proteins released during the initial stages of infection responsible for helping mediate the process and complete the viral takeover.”

Jason Schrad freezing Samba viruses in liquid ethane, which is part of preparing the grids for cryo-EM data collection. 

Photo by John A. Dover

As for future study? “The exact functions of many of these proteins and how they orchestrate giant virus infection are prime candidates for future study,” Parent said. “Many of the proteins we identified matched proteins that one would expect to be released during the initial stages of viral infections. This greatly supports our hypothesis that the in vitro stages generated in this study are reflective of those that occur in vivo.”

That many of the different giant virus types studied responded similarly in vitro leads the researchers to believe they all share common characteristics and likely similar proteins.

Whether giant viruses are capable of infecting humans ­– unlike the coronavirus ­– is an evolving topic of discussion amongst virologists.

The study, “Structural and Proteomic Characterization of the Initiation of Giant Virus Infections,” appears in Cell.

Try This Egyptian Copper Secret! You'll Never Believe What It Does Until You See the Blood Video!

Parent credits Jônatas S. Abrahão and Juliana R. Cortines, researchers at Federal University of Minas Gerais and Federal University of Rio de Janeiro respectively, for their dedication in the field to discovering and capturing giant virus specimens and their intellectual contributions for the study.

Contacts and sources:

• Kim Ward
• Michigan State University

Publication:

• Structural and Proteomic Characterization of the Initiation of Giant Virus Infection Jason R. Schrad   Jônatas S. Abrahão Juliana R. Cortines Kristin N. Parent.  
• Cell  http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2020.04.032

Videos about virus, selected by peter2011

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10-05-2020 om 17:44 geschreven door peter  

Alien Life Form Found On Mars In NASA Rover Photo, UFO Sighting News.

• http://www.gigapan.com/gigapans/220603

{ https://www.etdatabase.com/ }

10-05-2020 om 16:23 geschreven door peter  

UFO Shoots Slowly Over Rome, Italy On TV News! May 2020, Video, UFO Sighting News.

Date of sighting: May 8, 2020

Location of sighting: Rome, Italy TV News.

 

This UFO was seen on Italian TV News during a broadcast coming from Rome. A blue disk is seen moving from left to right of the screen in the background. 

 

I took a screenshot and enlarged it. When I added contrast and shadow to it...it had other lights within it of different colors. What this tells me is that it was not a search light. Because a search light would have the same color throughout, but its not. Also a search light would appear circular, this however appears like a disk seen from the side. 

 

The fact that the UFO is so close to the camera, giving us a great view of the UFOs shape, speed, direction is absolutely proof that aliens are highly interested in Rome, watching over them during the  Pandemic. 

 

I wonder...was the UFO coming from Vatican City? It is its own country and the Pope has American astronomers working in Astrobiology (search for intelligent life). The pope may have called for a meeting with the aliens about ending this virus once and for all. Vatican City is its own county and as such...would have the authority to meet with aliens....thus aliens would be more likely to meet with them too.

 

Scott C. Waring - Taiwan UFOlogist

Look at the screenshot below. It shows many different colors within it which means its not a search light. Search lights beam would appear solid or one even color. This...is unique and complex. It shows some of the areas are different colors, which means this is a solid craft and the red areas might be transparent window like areas of the ship. SCW

{ https://www.etdatabase.com/ }

10-05-2020 om 16:16 geschreven door peter  

TicTac UFO Seen Over California, Moving Slowly On Video, May 7, 2020, UFO Sighting News.

Date of sighting: May 7, 2020
Location of sighting: Monterey, California, USA

Here is a great capture of a tactic shaped UFO over Monterey, California this week. The object appears to be a long cyclyder white craft with no tail, no wings no engine or windows. Very odd, but I do notice that there is an aura around the craft...an energy aura from the propulsion systems. This aura around the craft is all the evidence I need to confirm its an alien craft, but the fact that its shape has nothing to indicate its an aircraft of any known kind also helps. California is home to many US military bases, its possible that this craft is a US military experimental craft using alien technology. 
Scott C. Waring 

{ https://www.etdatabase.com/ }

10-05-2020 om 16:11 geschreven door peter  

Asurf webcam located at Beacons accidentally recorded a glowing USO (Unidentified Submerged Object) which suddenly appeared along the coast of Encinitas, California on May 7, 2020.

The witness, who submitted the video to Mufon, describes the remarkable UFO sighting as follows: "Around 10:30 pm my son was viewing the surf webcam video located at Beacons in Encinitas. Around the 3 min mark you can see an orange object in the lower left quadrant of the screen."

"We observed the object rises up from the ocean then submerge. All the while being able to see the orange object with an orange tail/exhaust hovering above the ocean. Then submerged, then began flashing while the light moving very fast. When it looked like it was at the horizon, ascended, flashed and then disappeared."

"The day after this particular sight had been shut down and the video was gone. Luckily my son had saved the video."

This is another proof that there is a secret underwater UFO base off the coast of California?

  

{ http://ufosightingshotspot.blogspot.com/ }

10-05-2020 om 16:01 geschreven door peter  

UFO near chemtrail over London, UK 9-May-2020

This UFO photo of a unidentified flying object or orb was taken over London, United Kingdom. Date: Saturday, 9th May 2020.

Witness report: 

I was taking a picture of a chem trail and posted that on FB, when a friend commented I looked at the picture again and noticed it… During lockdown here in the UK, the weather has been really good strangely. This morning it was a beautiful day, not a cloud in sight. I noticed a single plane flying overhead leaving a massive Chem Trail so I took a picture of it. My friends think I’m mad when I mention Chem trails as they don’t believe it or me, even though it’s obvious and not a Con trail.. I posted the picture on FB mentioning that ‘there we go another chem trail ruining this beautiful day’ type thing. My friend replied and that’s when I noticed this little silver/grey object which just seems to be observing something or the trail. I didn’t even notice it at the time, gutted about that I would have loved to see if or how it moved.. anyway, I just wanted to let you have a look and see what you think.

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

10-05-2020 om 15:01 geschreven door peter  

*MUST SEE* UFO filmed over Palm Coast, Florida 9-May-2020

This really unique UFO event was taking its place on Saturday, 9th May 2020 over Palm Coast, Florida.

Witness report: 

It was 3:45 am I was out on porch having tea. Stargazing and observed bright orb that appeared to be quivering and morphing. I used my phone to observe this in Palm Coast Florida Northeast above tree line This video is after I enlarged on IPad and re-filmed it. Your thoughts?

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

10-05-2020 om 14:53 geschreven door peter  

The year 1110 CE is noteworthy for a few big events – battles of the Crusades were being fought everywhere, King Henry V of Germany married the 8-year-old Matilda, daughter of King Henry I of England, who was busy adding a chapel to Windsor Castle. Oh, and the Moon disappeared completely. Wait … what?

“On the fifth night in the month of May appeared the Moon shining bright in the evening, and afterwards by little and little its light diminished, so that, as soon as night came, it was so completely extinguished withal, that neither light, nor orb, nor anything at all of it was seen.”

That eyewitness account reported in the Peterborough Chronicle — one of four Anglo-Saxon Chronicles, which are records of the history of England after the Norman Conquest – might today be dismissed as a lunar eclipse … except no lunar eclipse extinguishes the light of the Moon so completely that no faint shadow or corona can be seen. A new report in the journal Scientific Reports may finally settle nearly 1,000 years of arguments about the mysterious lunar disappearance.

“Here we show that a unique medieval observation of a “dark” total lunar eclipse attests to a dust veil over Europe in May 1110 CE, corroborating the revised ice-core chronologies.”

One of the most accurate ways of determining what happened in a given ancient year or time period it to study ice cores from long-frozen, glacier-covered lands like Greenland and Antarctica. The ‘disappearing moon of 1110’ is well-known and researchers figured they had it solved when an ice core from Greenland showed a layer containing evidence of an eruption in 1004 by Iceland’s Hekla volcano, known as the ‘Gateway to Hell’ for its frequent violent eruptions. Huge deposits of sulfur in the 1110 zone and years after it indicated a heavy layer of volcanic dust floating around the world, causing climatic change and non-sun-related lunar eclipses. Case closed on the 1110 ‘really total’ lunar eclipse … right?

“A few years ago, one study concluded that a timescale called the Greenland Ice Core Chronology 2005 (GICC05) was off by up to seven years in the first millennium CE, and by up to four years early in the next millennium.”

Oops. That miscalculation pushed the Hekla eruption back to 1104, meaning its clouds would have been gone by 1110. The prompted co-author and palaeoclimatologist Sébastien Guillet from the University of Geneva in Switzerland and his team to look at an ice core from Antarctica for a more accurate reading. That core sample showed evidence of a significant atmospheric event beginning in 1108 and continuing into 1110 and beyond. They then went back to historical records to see what other volcanoes might have erupted around then. That’s when they found a Japanese reference to an event in 1108.

“The sources of these eruptions remain unknown, but we propose that Mt. Asama, whose largest Holocene eruption occurred in August 1108 CE and is credibly documented by a contemporary Japanese observer, is a plausible contributor to the elevated sulfate in Greenland.”

Mount Asama

Mount Asama is the most active on Honshū, the main island of Japan. In May 1783, Mount Asama began a three-month eruption that killed at least 1,400 people and a plume that was responsible for the was responsible for the five-year “Great Tenmei Famine” that killed at least 20,000 more. While the records are not as detailed, they indicate that the eruption of Mount Asama in 1108 was twice as large.

Guillet’s research found “severe climatic anomalies” across Western Europe between 1109 and 1111 CE. This time, the ice core was accurate – it matched similar layers of sulfur in tree rings from the same period. NASA records indicate seven total lunar eclipses would have been observable in Europe between 1100 and 1120 CE. And astronomers note that clouds and haze caused by volcanoes can affect the brightness of lunar eclipses. Now we know that they extinguished one in 1110 like a candle in the wind.

You can’t hide from the core.

{ https://mysteriousuniverse.org/ }

09-05-2020 om 22:34 geschreven door peter  

Just days after releasing its first official recruiting video, the U.S. Space Force announced its next mission – the launch of the secret X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle (OTV-6) on May 16 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida. Yes, we were wondering the same thing — how will launching an unmanned spacecraft help Space Force recruiting?

“The X-37B team continues to exemplify the kind of lean, agile and forward-leaning technology development we need as a nation in the space domain. Each launch represents a significant milestone and advancement in terms of how we build, test, and deploy space capabilities in a rapid and responsive manner.”

U.S. Space Force Chief of Space Operations Gen. John “Jay” Raymond sounds excited about the X-37B launch while revealing as little as possible under the circumstances. The press release points out that the X-37B is currently the only ship capable of testing new systems in space and returning them to Earth. That may be true, but is that enough to meet the rallying cry to potential Space Forcers in the recruiting video? (Watch it here.)

“Some people look to the stars and ask, ‘What if?’ Our job is to have an answer.”

That’s not exactly “To infinity and beyond!” or even “I believe that this Nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to earth,” but apparently that’s the best we can do in 2020 without the aid of JFK or Buzz Lightyear.

John F. Kennedy

(Credit: NASA)

This is actually the second Space Force mission – the first was the equally uninspiring launch (to us, at least) of a communications satellite in March. Russia didn’t like that, nor the announcement of the Space Force’s first new(ish) weapon – a satellite jammer to immobilize enemy communications. Not exactly a Millennium Falcon or even a flying Jeep. If you’re hoping there’s something more exciting in the works, Secretary of the Air Force Barbara Barrett lets the air out of that space balloon.

“In today’s age of electrons, space systems track storms, locate stranded motorists, timestamp credit card transactions, and monitor treaty compliance.”

Locating stranded motorists? Darth Vader would have to lift his helmet to catch his breath after laughing at that one. Barrett also pushes the reusable capability of the X-37B. Any comments, Elon Musk?

Sorry to sound disappointed, but that’s what this announcement is. While not a fan of military operations in space, this writer is a fan of space travel and exploration, and the pace of the U.S. space programs these days make a snail on glue look speedy and Tang look innovative. (Ask your grandpa.) Of course, there’s one group that is probably happy.

“This launch is a prime example of integrated operations between the Air Force, Space Force, and government-industry partnerships.”

Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein hits the nail on the head – this is a good thing for “government-industry partnerships.” They’re not in it for the discovery … they’re in it for the economy. Unfortunately, “To profitability and beyond!” isn’t a great recruiting slogan either.

It doesn’t do much for inspiring kids to get excited about space. The same for writers.

{ https://mysteriousuniverse.org/ }

09-05-2020 om 22:07 geschreven door peter  

Secret Astronaut Says He Saw Grey Aliens, Who Warned Them Off the Moon

COAST TO COAST AM – Officially, NASA history timelines state that Apollo 17 was the last astronaut launch with Commander Eugene Cernan, Command Module Pilot Ronald Evans and Lunar Module Pilot Harrison Schmitt.

But according to extraordinary testimony from whistleblower Jon Harold Lavine, whom Linda interviewed over three segments, he was a “secret Apollo astronaut” brought in as a last-minute replacement for one of the Apollo 17 crew.

While on the December 1972 moon mission, Lavine says he photographed (with a Hasselblad high-resolution camera) a Grey non-human alien who was just a few feet away from him. The being telepathically conveyed to him that the astronauts should not return to the moon.

Other videos, peter2011

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09-05-2020 om 21:25 geschreven door peter  

Two Faces On Moon, Male And Female, Shows Bond, 100% Proof Of Intelligent Life, UFO Sighting News.

• https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/ru/6/60/A17_Geophone_Rock.jpg

{ https://www.etdatabase.com/ }

09-05-2020 om 20:34 geschreven door peter  

On May 8, 2020 Mrmb333 noticed a huge radar anomaly and thought it was just a Dopler radar signature until he realized that it was over 500 miles wide moving from Northern Idaho into the Saskatchewan/Alberta border within a split second.

Given the incredible speed it jumped from South West to North East, it must have been something other than a flock of birds or a cloud of small pieces of aluminium, called chaff.

Although it remains unclear, could it be that the weather radar has reflected on something that came from space?

  

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09-05-2020 om 19:57 geschreven door peter