The purpose of this blog is the creation of an open, international, independent and free forum, where every UFO-researcher can publish the results of his/her research. The languagues, used for this blog, are Dutch, English and French.You can find the articles of a collegue by selecting his category. Each author stays resposable for the continue of his articles. As blogmaster I have the right to refuse an addition or an article, when it attacks other collegues or UFO-groupes.
Druk op onderstaande knop om te reageren in mijn forum
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Deze blog is opgedragen aan mijn overleden echtgenote Lucienne.
In 2012 verloor ze haar moedige strijd tegen kanker!
In 2011 startte ik deze blog, omdat ik niet mocht stoppen met mijn UFO-onderzoek.
BEDANKT!!!
Een interessant adres?
UFO'S of UAP'S, ASTRONOMIE, RUIMTEVAART, ARCHEOLOGIE, OUDHEIDKUNDE, SF-SNUFJES EN ANDERE ESOTERISCHE WETENSCHAPPEN - DE ALLERLAATSTE NIEUWTJES
UFO's of UAP'S in België en de rest van de wereld Ontdek de Fascinerende Wereld van UFO's en UAP's: Jouw Bron voor Onthullende Informatie!
Ben jij ook gefascineerd door het onbekende? Wil je meer weten over UFO's en UAP's, niet alleen in België, maar over de hele wereld? Dan ben je op de juiste plek!
België: Het Kloppend Hart van UFO-onderzoek
In België is BUFON (Belgisch UFO-Netwerk) dé autoriteit op het gebied van UFO-onderzoek. Voor betrouwbare en objectieve informatie over deze intrigerende fenomenen, bezoek je zeker onze Facebook-pagina en deze blog. Maar dat is nog niet alles! Ontdek ook het Belgisch UFO-meldpunt en Caelestia, twee organisaties die diepgaand onderzoek verrichten, al zijn ze soms kritisch of sceptisch.
Nederland: Een Schat aan Informatie
Voor onze Nederlandse buren is er de schitterende website www.ufowijzer.nl, beheerd door Paul Harmans. Deze site biedt een schat aan informatie en artikelen die je niet wilt missen!
Internationaal: MUFON - De Wereldwijde Autoriteit
Neem ook een kijkje bij MUFON (Mutual UFO Network Inc.), een gerenommeerde Amerikaanse UFO-vereniging met afdelingen in de VS en wereldwijd. MUFON is toegewijd aan de wetenschappelijke en analytische studie van het UFO-fenomeen, en hun maandelijkse tijdschrift, The MUFON UFO-Journal, is een must-read voor elke UFO-enthousiasteling. Bezoek hun website op www.mufon.com voor meer informatie.
Samenwerking en Toekomstvisie
Sinds 1 februari 2020 is Pieter niet alleen ex-president van BUFON, maar ook de voormalige nationale directeur van MUFON in Vlaanderen en Nederland. Dit creëert een sterke samenwerking met de Franse MUFON Reseau MUFON/EUROP, wat ons in staat stelt om nog meer waardevolle inzichten te delen.
Let op: Nepprofielen en Nieuwe Groeperingen
Pas op voor een nieuwe groepering die zich ook BUFON noemt, maar geen enkele connectie heeft met onze gevestigde organisatie. Hoewel zij de naam geregistreerd hebben, kunnen ze het rijke verleden en de expertise van onze groep niet evenaren. We wensen hen veel succes, maar we blijven de autoriteit in UFO-onderzoek!
Blijf Op De Hoogte!
Wil jij de laatste nieuwtjes over UFO's, ruimtevaart, archeologie, en meer? Volg ons dan en duik samen met ons in de fascinerende wereld van het onbekende! Sluit je aan bij de gemeenschap van nieuwsgierige geesten die net als jij verlangen naar antwoorden en avonturen in de sterren!
Heb je vragen of wil je meer weten? Aarzel dan niet om contact met ons op te nemen! Samen ontrafelen we het mysterie van de lucht en daarbuiten.
11-01-2025
'Prophet' who predicted assassination attempt on Trump claims mega earthquake is poised to hit US
'Prophet' who predicted assassination attempt on Trump claims mega earthquake is poised to hit US
A Christian 'prophet' who predicted the assassination attempt onDonald Trump three months prior to his near-miss in Pennsylvania has an alarming new prediction.
Brandon Dale Biggs, an Oklahoma pastor, claims God showed him another vision that would rock the heart of America this spring.
'It was so big, there were 1,800 people who died [along that stretch],' Biggs said in the video. All the houses on cinder blocks were completely shaken to the foundation, they just fell.'
He claimed the Lord told him that the New Madrid earthquake would hit three days after 'they try to divide Jerusalem with the two-state solution,' which is a proposed approach to resolving the Israeli–Palestinian conflict in the Middle East.
Briggs' visions suggested that the earthquake would happen in the spring as he saw 'Sycamore leaves on the trees...trying to come out.. like they were fresh.'
Biggs shared his eerie prediction in a video posted posted April 2024 — three months before the Trump assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania rally on July 13.
Brandon Dale Biggs, an Oklahoma pastor, claims he receives visions from God about future events. He predicted the assassination of Donald Trump three months prior
The 150-mile-long New Madrid Seismic Zone (NMSZ) stretches through parts of Missouri , Arkansas , Tennessee , Kentucky and Illinois. A pastor who claims to see visions from God said a major earthquake will hit the area
In that same video, in which he was interviewed by Christian author Steve Cioccolanti, Biggs revealed how he foresaw the attempt on the now president-elect's life.
'This bullet flew by his ear, and it came so close to his head that it busted his eardrum,' he said
Also during the segment, Biggs said he saw red waves in Michigan and Oklahoma during the 2024 Election, which went on to happen in both states.
Now that those predictions have come and passed, portions of the video showing Biggs discussing the major earthquake in the New Madrid Seismic Zone (NMSZ) have resurfaced.
'[The] New Madrid earthquake [is] so big [and] when it happens the Mississippi River starts it goes out another direction,' he said.
In 1811 and 1812, the fault line unleashed a trio of powerful jolts - measuring magnitudes 7.5 to 7.7 - that rattled the central Mississippi River Valley.
Biggs shared his visions with pastor and Christian author Steve Cioccolanti, saying how he foresaw the attempt on the now president-elect's life. He said he saw a bullet pass through Trump's ear. The prediction was shared in a video posted in April 2024
Chimneys fell and boats capsized. Farmland sank and turned into swamps. The death toll is unknown, but experts don't believe there were mass casualties because the region was sparsely populated then.
Were that to happen today, more than 5,000 people would be killed, but the pastor's '10 magnitude' would possibly see a death toll ranging in the hundreds of thousands to millions, according to experts.
Experts have also said that there is a 'virtually zero' likelihood of such a major earthquake.
The strongest earthquake ever recorded was the 1960 Valdivia earthquake in Chile (magnitude 9.5), which occurred in a subduction zone.
The NMSZ is a mid-continental fault system, not a subduction zone that sits on the coast that is prone to much larger earthquakes.
While a 10 magnitude is not off the table, scientists have speculated it would only be possible long a fault system that is at least 6,200 miles long.
The NMSZ stretches for 150 miles.
But the scientific data has not caused Biggs to backpedal on his prophecy.
He told Cioccolanti that he saw Chinook helicopters flying in to bring aid, saying: 'They were flying so low that they were shaking the houses.'
'The Lord told me that when they try to divide Jerusalem with the two-state solution... you will see a three-day window,' said the pastor. 'That the time for people to flee.'
2024: 'Prophet' predicts events in Las Vegas and New Orleans
Biggs released a video two months ago where he saw visions of an attack in New Orleans, which happened on January 1
During the same vision, Biggs said an attack would also happen in Las Vegas. Matthew Livelsberger detonate explosives he packed into a Cybertruck outside the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas
Scientists have said that the NMSZ is likely to see a major earthquake in the next 50 years, which would be a 6.0 magnitude or higher.
'They were not able to bring in supply trucks from east to west,' Briggs said, noting that was because there were no bridges left standing.
He added that all aid came by airplanes, but food and medicine. was transported through the Mississippi.
'it was so bad, I remember it lasted for months,' said Briggs.
While the prediction was made last year, the pastor shared another vision in October that appeared to also come true.
'I just seen a glimpse of Vegas,' he said in the video with his eyes closed.
'Oh, these are are these all on the same day. I pray over Las Vegas.
'It is interesting, I now just seen a glimpse of New Orleans Bourbon Street, it it is an attack simultaneously.
NASCAR legend Mark Martin recently recalled the time he claims to have seen aUFOwhile flying home from a race.
Martin was flying his plane home to Florida from an East Coast race in the late 1990s when the incident occurred.
Martin was inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame in 2017 and is often described as the best race car driver to never win a championship. And now, maybe the best racecar driver to have a UFO sighting.
'We were coming home, just me and my pilot in my jet. We were coming back from one of the northeast races... We fly at 45,000 feet, but going over Jacksonville going home to Daytona where I lived, you know, they would bring you down to 18,000 feet or so,' Martin told Garage Guy Chase.
'We were descending. For some reason, a lot of times after the race I would get in the back and let my - was a single pilot aircraft so I’d let my pilot fly me home and I’d sit back there and rehash the race or something or just relax. But this particular time, and I did it from time to time, I wanted to fly... and there’s no stars out.'
'So, it’s black. Everything except the lights in Daytona, Orlando, and you know, Miami. You can see the lights down at Miami even. And I see a light that is solid white light, looks solid light that’s not flashing, and that could only be like a landing light is the only thing that would make sense would be a spotlight looking light like that, and it would have to be far away because I couldn’t see the green and red-wing tip lights. Because they got a green one and a red one and the red one is on the right. That way you know if a plane’s coming toward you or going away... Didn’t see any of that.'
NASCAR legend Mark Martin recalled the time he claims to have seen a UFO in the late 1990s
Martin is often described as the best racecar driver to never win a season championship
'So, I keep it in my eye, I keep checking up there and checking up there and it gets closer and closer, I didn’t say anything to (pilot) Jason (Simpson) I’m just flying along. Finally, I just start, I fixate on it. Plane’s on autopilot… and so I’m fixated on it and it gets closer and closer and closer and then it gets like, "Oh my God, we’re going to hit that!"'
'And I grabbed the yolk and kicked it off autopilot and was getting ready to jerk the plane to the right and Jason was like, "What?" And I said, "Look!" And when he looked, he pulled out a camera, he had a camera on him, and he pulled out a camera and put it up there in the windshield and tried to take a picture because he saw it! We both saw this and almost, we thought we were going to hit it. Then it starts pulling away, gradually pulling away, slowly pulling away.'
Martin also said when air traffic control was contacted about the sighting, they told Martin he was flying the only aircraft in that general airspace.
Martin surely would not have made up his adventure to talk about it so publicly. His story is not the first to have seen a UFO over the years.
It’s a wrap forCES 2024! We told you AI would be the loudest buzzwordat the show, finding its way into all kinds of consumer tech, and we were right. AI was everywhere, but the future isn’t only AI.
At Inverse, we obsess over the past, present, and future of technology. The past shows us the progress we’ve made, the present keeps us grounded in reality, and the future opens our eyes to what’s possible.
CES 2024 had plenty of announcements for devices that you’ll be able to buy in the next 12 months, but it was the experimental, ambitious, and far-flung tech innovations that had us at the edge of our seats. The future is exciting only when you have dreamers trying to build it with wild ideas and products, after all. Not all of these 18 CES 2024 tech innovations will stick the landing, but we hope most of them do.
CES 2024 had Qi 2 chargers aplenty, but looking further out, what we really want is for our gadgets to charge wirelessly over the air without contact with a pad. Enter Infinix’s AirCharge, a base that can supply 7.5W of power to devices. Over-the-air charging tech has a long way to go — the AirCharge only works up to a distance of 20cm or about 7.87 inches — but it is double the distance of similar technology from Oppo, according to Engadget.The progress is slow, but we’re making some. Hopefully, air charging will be mainstream by the end of the decade.
Automakers are obsessed with self-driving car tech, but if you think about it, better self-parking features should be the higher priority. Hyundai’s Mobion EV has an “e-Corner System” aka crab-walking tech, which is exactly the kind of feature every car should have. Many cars now have self-parallel-parking or some kind of assistance for backing into a parking space, so why not the ability for the wheels to rotate and shift the car into a cramped space?
Everyone loves a new TV, but one trend that is gaining traction is hiding the black screen in plain sight. Samsung’s Frame TV has done a good job disguising TVs as picture frames. The natural next step might be TVs that fold up and contract into an art piece or media center. C Seed’s N1 does just that, unfolding into a 137-inch 4K TV with micro-LEDs and then compressing into an unassuming metal sculpture.
15. Xpeng AeroHT eVTOL Flying Car
FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP/Getty Images
Still waiting for flying cars? XPeng AeroHT’s electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) might be the closest thing on the horizon. The flying car is basically a supercar with rotors strapped to the top. Xpeng AeroHT, an eVTOL-focused sibling to Xpeng Motors, says the eVTOL flying car isn’t a concept and is preparing to mass produce it for a launch in 2025, with pre-orders in the fourth quarter of the year. We’ve heard similar promises from other companies, but if the company does pull it off, we’ll finally be able to cross flying cars off our list of sci-fi tech that’s made a reality.
14. Sennheiser Momentum Sport Wireless Earbuds
Sennheiser
Smartwatches have proven to be an excellent form factor for health and fitness-tracking functionality. However, the next wearable for sensors to call home might be wireless earbuds. Sennheiser's Momentum Sport give us an early look at the near future with real-time body temperature and heart rate monitoring. It also makes us wonder: Can technology miniaturization lead to wireless earbuds, not smartwatches, becoming the more dominant companion to our phones?
Compared to the rest of the innovations in this roundup, Intel’s Thunderbolt 5 is pretty boring. While it won’t garner the same kind of attention as a transparent TV, Thunderbolt 5 will be the backbone that enables next-gen computing. We’re looking at data transfers of 80Gbps and 120Gbps for video output in a USB-C port. The first laptop with Thunderbolt 5 at CES 2024 was Razer’s Blade 18, but expect laptops and desktops to adopt the new protocol fairly soon.
12. Samsung Ballie and LG Agent Personal Robots
Samsung, LG
Samsung’s Ballie and LG’s AI Agent personal robots promise to understand our needs using computer vision and AI. Ballie can patrol the home and project videos onto surfaces. The AI Agent can also patrol homes and functions more like an autonomous smart home hub on wheels, capable of doing stuff like switching the lights on and off for you. Amazon’s Astrorobot may have fizzled out, but the dream of home robots doing our bidding so we can live more leisurely lives.
VR headsets and smart glasses may displace TVs and monitors one day, but until that happens, gaming companies are going bigger with their physical screens. The biggest one announced at CES 2024 was Acer’s Predator Z57, a 57-inch curved ultra-wide behemoth. With an 8K resolution and 120Hz, the 32:9 aspect ratio monitor shows gamers have a preference for even larger screens. Check back in a few years and 57-inchers will be as commonplace as 27-inch monitors are today.
10. Honda Sallon and Space-Hub EV Concepts
Getty Images: Andrej Sokolow/picture alliance and FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP
We don’t see eye to eye with Elon Musk about a great many things, but we do agree on one thing: the future of cars should look like they’re from the future. We’re not saying the Cybertruck’s sharp, brutalist design is not it, but most people would prefer EVs with a curvier body. Something more like the Saloon and Space-Hub concepts that are part of Honda’s Zero Series EVs. From gull-wing doors to spacious cabins with massive glass roofs to infinity head and tail lights, Honda's EV concepts are more like a step into zen retreat than a vehicle to escape the apocalypse.
9. MSI Claw A1M Handheld PC
MSI
Sony’s PS5 continues to sell well for a gaming box that you put under your TV, but Valve’s Steam Deck, along with the dozens of Windows-powered handheld PCs released in the last year, strongly favors the hybrid console design that Nintendo popularized with the Switch. MSI’s Claw A1M is a first look at what will surely be a trend of more increasingly powerful Windows handheld PCs; it’s already got the Asus ROG Ally beat in a number of ways. Handheld PCs like the Claw A1M prove you don't need to decide between performance and portability. You can get both in one device.
8. Lenovo ThinkBook Plus Gen 5 Hybrid Windows Laptop and Android Tablet
Lenovo
You can always count on Lenovo to show up at CES with a form factor that, at the very least, has a shock factor. Case in point: the ThinkBook Plus Gen 5 Hybrid. It’s a Windows 11 laptop with a display that snaps off and functions as an Android tablet — two birds with one stone. What we’re saying is that different platforms can play nice, and we want to see more companies making hardware that acknowledges the strengths of each one.
Have you ever looked at a foldable phone and wished that it could fold all the way backward? Samsung's Flex In & Out concept takes the foldable screen of the Galaxy Z Flip 5 and pairs it with a hinge that lets you bend it 360 degrees. How practical such a screen and design will be in a commercial device is questionable, but it’s nice to see that Samsung is still working hard to come up with new phone form factors. Somebody has to!
6. Volkswagen EVs with ChatGPT
Volkswagen
We told you that AI would be the major theme of CES 2024, flowing through everything, even if it might seem unnecessary. So it’s no surprise to see Volkswagen integrating ChatGPT into its IDA voice assistant. Leveraging large language models (LLMs), you'll be able to talk to your car with natural language, like Michael Knight did with his car KITT in Knight Rider, as opposed to commanding a voice assistant like it’s some robot serf. As AI makes its way into every computer we own, we'll look back in the distant future at this integration and chuckle at how tame it was.
5. Xreal Air 2 Ultra and Asus AirVision M1 Smart Glasses
Xreal, Asus
In about three weeks, we'll find out whether Apple Vision Pro really is the start of the “spatial computing” era. Even if it isn’t, we feel confident that video glasses such as Xreal’s Air 2 Ultra and Asus’ AirVision M1 that offer multiple high-res virtual screens are here to stay. They’re also more nails in the coffin for physical TV and monitor screens. We’re starting to think physical screens might not have many years left in this world.
4. Samsung Micro-LED and LG OLED T Transparent TVs
Ethan Miller/Getty Images News/Getty Images, LG
If folding TVs don’t become mainstream (the C Seed N1 is $200,000), we could settle for transparent TVs. Both Samsung's Transparent Micro LED TV and LG’s OLED T tout holographic-like visual experiences. The idea is the same as any folding or rollable TV — fully or partially hiding it so your home can look more like photos featured in an interior design magazine. Transparent TVs are still 2D for now, but give them a few years, and maybe they’ll be capable of 3D holograms.
3. Segway Xyber and Xafari E-Bikes
Segway Xyber and Xafari e-bikes announced at CES 2024
Are these e-bikes or e-motorcycles? Both? Now that the e-bike revolution is well on its way, e-bikes like Segway’s Xyber and Xafari will blur the lines between what requires and doesn't require a motorcycle license. Honestly, we're all for beefier e-bikes with motorcycle-like builds, suspension, speed, and range. We’re also into the Cybertruck-like aesthetic.
2. Razer Project Esther Haptics Gaming Cushion
Razer
Video games have been chasing immersion since Pong, and while the term can mean many things (more realistic graphics, controls, and in-game physics), tactile feedback is one that always comes up. Razer’s Project Esther is a cushion for gaming chairs with 16 “Sensa HD” vibration actuators. The idea is that you can feel the action of a game around your body instead of only on your controller. You can think of Project Esther as a mini version of the 4D movie theater experiences that vibrate your chair. Do we want to feel like we've been shot in the back? Razer thinks so, or its designers have watched Ready Player One too many times.
1. Rabbit R1 AI Pocket Companion
Rabbit
AI, specifically generative AI through ChatGPT and chatbots and “copilots” that make use of LLMs took the world by storm in 2023. This year, the AI hardware arrives. Leading the pack is Rabbit’s R1, a $199 “pocket companion” designed by Teenage Engineering that doesn't just understand what it “sees” through its rotating camera and “hears” via its two far-field microphones, but can take actions on them on your behalf. Essentially, the R1 will control your apps and services instead of you having to tap and click your way through. Having pre-sold over 30,000 units since its announcement, maybe Rabbit is on to something here; maybe it’s really time we move away from apps and let AI do repetitive computing for us.
The Soviet Union’s fall and the subsequent end of the Cold War forced a reexamination of spending priorities. No longer were defense projects simply handed a blank check. The F-22's production was eventually halted.
Story by Harrison Kass
The Cold War competition with the Soviet Union inspired the United States to invest heavily in defense. Partially realism, partially paranoia, the Cold War atmosphere resulted in impressive military developments including, but not limited to, intercontinental ballistic missiles, stealth aircraft, fourth-generation tanks, nuclear-powered aircraft carriers, and the Apollo moon missions. The realm of aerospace, in particular, saw bounding progress, as the Soviets and Americans spurned one another onward.
The Americans, feeling pressure from the consistently competent Soviet aerospace designers, Sukhoi and Migoyan, initiated the Advanced Tactical Fighter (ATF) program in the late 1980s to develop a fighter that would be unmatched. The ATF fighter would become the world’s first fifth-generation fighter, a technological marvel that was nearly a generation ahead of its time: the F-22 Raptor.
No Expenses Spared
Creating the world’s first fifth-generation fighter was neither easy nor cheap. But the Cold War climate inspired heavy defense spending; the primary motivation for the ATF program would be fielding a competitive aircraft, regardless of the costs—which is the attitude that would be needed to craft technologies that the world had never seen before.
The Americans succeeded. The F-22 was remarkable, “a foray into the future where no one had gone before,” wrote engineer and pilot Patrick Bindner. “While it is almost everyday stuff now—it was nothing less than Star-Wars hardware in comparison with existing equipment at both [Lockheed Martin] & the USAF [who] were learning how to do it as they went along that pathway. It was a piece of extreme exotica using cost-is-no-object engineering & materials. It looks like an airplane but it was the very first full-on stealth fighter.”
The F-22 was so far ahead of its time that even today, three decades later, the jet remains unmatched with respect to air superiority.
Yet, despite being so capable, the F-22’s production was halted after less than 200 airframes were built.
End of an Era
The Soviet Union’s fall and the subsequent end of the Cold War forced a reexamination of spending priorities. No longer were defense projects simply handed a blank check. The Air Force entered a period of sequestration. The F-22's production was eventually halted. And soon, the mighty F-22 will be phased out of the Air Force entirely in favor of the sixth-generation Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) fighter.
The NGAD has not been designed yet, so the jet’s production is still years away. But one thing seems sure: the designers won’t have the budget latitudes that the F-22 designers enjoyed; the NGAD program was recently paused over cost concerns. Still, the NGAD is expected to be a remarkable machine—it will have to be if it means to replace the F-22.
Harrison Kass is a defense and national security writer with over 1,000 total pieces on issues involving global affairs. An attorney, pilot, guitarist, and minor pro hockey player, Harrison joined the US Air Force as a Pilot Trainee but was medically discharged. Harrison holds a BA from Lake Forest College, a JD from the University of Oregon, and an MA from New York University. Harrison listens to Dokken.
Image: Wikimedia Commons.
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UFO-shaped clouds form over Queensland's Darling Downs as BOM predicts more rain
UFO-shaped clouds form over Queensland's Darling Downs as BOM predicts more rain
By Gemma Ferguson
By Janelle Miles
This shot was taken on the Darling Downs about 5:15 on Thursday morning.
(Supplied: Kylie Craig Menkins)
It looks like a UFO, or an alien ship, but these oddly-shaped clouds snapped by locals west of Brisbane on Thursday morning are an indicator of Queensland's wild weather.
Kylie Craig Menkins photographed the storm cell from Gowrie Junction, near Toowoomba on the Darling Downs, about 5am.
She jokingly captioned it with "aliens come down", but told the ABC the spectacular display made her day.
"It was absolutely beautiful," she said.
The weather phenomenon, pictured here from Yalangur Lilyvale Road, is known as shelf clouds.
(Supplied: Ken Manteit)
Ken Manteit also snapped photos of the other-worldly cloud formation from Yalangur Lilyvale Road looking towards Oakey.
"It was so weird," his wife Roxanne said.
Kevin Humphrey's photos of the storm cell at Glencoe, south-east of Oakey, were posted to social media with the caption "Spaceship at Glencoe".
"I thought it looked a bit UFOish," he said.
This shot from was taken about 5:30am, showing the "UFOish" clouds moving over the Darling Downs.
(Supplied: Kevin Humphrey)
Daniel Hayes from the Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) said a "series of storms" over the Darling Downs on Thursday morning was what caused these "photogenic clouds".
"They can sometimes look quite weird in shape, and definitely look a bit like a UFO or a spaceship," he said.
What do they mean?
Mr Hayes said the phenomena — known as arcus or shelf clouds — was a sign to check your weather app for any active warnings.
While the clouds weren't necessarily a cause for concern, "the strength of the gust front is often what brings damaging winds".
"You'll often get that cool breeze come through ahead of a big thunderstorm during these summer periods," Mr Hayes said.
"That's cold air coming down, out of the storm itself, moving ahead of [it]."
The GreenAg Free Range poultry farm captured this shelf cloud forming at Cutella.
(Supplied: Bernie Lomax)
He said other types of clouds, like lenticular clouds, could also present in a unique shape — but this particular formation was generally associated with a thunderstorm.
"Through Queensland, you can get nice big storms [and] well-developed shelf clouds on these," Mr Hayes said.
Mr Hayes said while shelf clouds weren't uncommon, they were much more noticeable in isolated storm cells and areas with vast flat landscapes.
He explained arcus clouds formed along "the leading edge" of a storm, or the cell's "gust front".
He said shelf clouds were triggered when the cool air mixed with the warm, moist atmosphere near the ground and pushed upward.
"The bigger the storm, the more potential mixing there is, and the more potential strength to those downdrafts," Mr Hayes said.
He said the formation did not always need humid conditions, but dew point could indicate "what that available moisture is for storms to tap into".
What's the weather outlook?
Mr Hayes said similar weather was expected to continue over the weekend, with an inland trough moving through Queensland.
"We're expecting to see increasing showers and storms through the southern inland and south-east Queensland areas over the next few days," Mr Hayes said.
"There is the potential that we could see some more severe storms in that mix."
Brisbane could see more rain over the weekend.
(ABC News: Chris Gillette)
Damaging winds, large hail, and heavy rainfall were possible, with showers expected on Sunday but easing into next week.
"If [rain] falls very quickly, or we have slow-moving storms, we could have a flash flooding risk [and] some riverine responses," Mr Hayes said.
Meanwhile heatwave conditions were building in Queensland's west, with temperatures expected to push into the 40s over the weekend.
As clouds clear from the coast, the heat will move across into central and eastern Queensland.
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Is it an alien invasion? No...it's just UFO-shaped clouds
Could a new, fifth force of nature provide some answers to our biggest questions about dark matter and dark energy? We’re working on it.
The Standard Model is, for all intents and purposes, the supreme accomplishment of modern physics. It describes four forces of nature, a zoo of particles, and how they all interact. It is perhaps the most successful scientific theory of all time.
And it’s fantastically incomplete.
It turns out that the Standard Model is able to account for less than 5% of all the matter and energy in the cosmos. Another 25% or so is Dark Matter, an unknown kind of matter that is for all intents and purposes invisible. The rest is known as Dark Energy, a mysterious entity that is causing the expansion of the universe to accelerate.
One of the first things astronomers noticed when they first discovered dark matter and dark energy was their apparent similarity. Why in the world are the two dark components of our universe roughly the same strength? I know, 25% and 70% don’t sound very similar, but when it comes to astronomy – and especially cosmology – they’re basically the exact same number.
Maybe it’s just a coincidence that they have about the same strength, and we’re overthinking it.
Or maybe it’s something else. Clever physicists have proposed connections within the “dark sector” of the universe, where dark matter and dark energy talk to each other. This would allow them to follow each other’s evolution, ensuring that they have roughly equal contributions to the energy budget of the universe for long periods of time.
To make them talk to each other, you need a force. But this force can’t be any of the known ones, otherwise dark matter and/or dark energy must also interact with normal matter, and we would have seen more directly evidence of them already.
So it has to be a new force, a fifth force of nature, completely different from electromagnetism, gravity, strong nuclear, and weak nuclear. While ideas like this remain only in the realm of hypothesis, some of the ideas already have names.
One name is quintessence, the fifth essence of the universe. Another is dark photons, a particle that travels the cosmos like a photon but is, as its name suggests, dark.
To test these ideas we have to turn to the cosmos for answers. If a fifth force exists, it must be very subtle. Stronger manifestations of the fifth force have already been ruled out by observations of galaxy clusters, the expansion of the universe, and even the behaviors of neutron stars. So we have our work cut out for us – it will take a truly massive amount of data to tease out some signal that differs from expectations.
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Technicians recently integrated the payload – telescope, instrument carrier, and two instruments – for NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope in the big clean room at the agency’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. NASA/Chris Gunn
Scheduled for launch in 2027, the Nancy Grace Roman Telescope is slowly being readied for operation. This week, NASA announced that they have started to joined the mission’s telescope, instrument carrier and instruments onto the spacecraft. Having completed the construction, they will now move to the testing phase where the instrument will be subjected to more tests. These will include exposure to electromagnetic radiation expected during launch along with vibration and thermal changes too. If it passes these tests, the new space telescope will be on the home straight.
The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope is often referred to as the Roman Space Telescope. It’s been developed by NASA and was named after former chief astronomer Nance Grace Telescope. It has a mirror 2.4m in diameter so is similar in size to the Hubble Space Telescope but has a wider field of view. On board are instruments that enable it to explore exoplanets and the large scale structure of the universe. It will also investigate the nature of dark energy and try to understand more about the accelerated expansion of the universe through the study of gravitational lenses.
NASA’s Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope (WFIRST) is now named the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, after NASA’s first Chief of Astronomy. Credits: NASA
It’s fitting that the telescope has been named after Roman who was a leading American astronomer and astrophysicist. She was instrumental in the development of the Hubble Space Telescope so has often been called the ‘Mother of Hubble.’ She was born on 16 May 1925 and became one of the first female executives of NASA, including a role as Chief of Astronomy.
In a recent press release, NASA confirmed that a team of technicians have successfully integrated the telescope with instrument carrier, known as the Instrument Payload Assembly. Two instruments have been installed, the Coronagraph Instrument which will be used to block starlight to reveal and study exoplanets, the Optical Telescope Assembly and the Wide Field Instrument. The Wide Field Instrument is made up of 18 detectors that will give the telescope images with a field 100 times larger than Hubble’s but with the same resolution. I really can’t wait to see the images it produces. The whole assemble is now safely connected to the spacecraft that will take the observatory into its orbit.
This image of NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope was taken on May 19, 2009 after deployment during Servicing Mission 4. NASA
Mark Clampin, acting Deputy Associate Administrator for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate said “With this incredible milestone, Roman remains on track for launch and we’re a big step closer to unveiling the comos as never before.”
Launch is a little way off but before then, the instrumentation will under its next testing phase. There has been a significant amount of testing so far but this next test phase is designed to to ensure the individual components operate when integrated. By subjecting it to simulated launch conditions, the tests will check that the vibrations will not cause problems, that the communications equipment won’t create electromagnetic interference and to check, across a range of conditions, that the optics and instrumentation can cope with the predicted thermal variations.
NASA engineers and technicians position the James Webb Space Telescope (inside a large tent) onto the shaker table used for vibration testing. Credits: NASA/Chris Gunn
On completion of these tests, which are expected to last a few months, the aperture cover will be added to the outer barrel assembly with the solar panels soon after. Once this has been completed, the structure will be added to the spacecraft during autumn. To date though, all is going well with the testing and all is on track for launch no later than May 2027.
Real Alien Footage? James Fox Uncovers Astonishing Evidence from the Varginha UFO Incident
Real Alien Footage? James Fox Uncovers Astonishing Evidence from the Varginha UFO Incident
James Fox, a renowned filmmaker and UFO investigator, has spent decades delving into the mysteries surrounding UFOs and extraterrestrial encounters. His work, which includes documentaries like Moment of Contact and The Phenomenon, has consistently pushed the boundaries of what we know—or think we know—about UFOs and non-human intelligence. In one of his most compelling investigations, Fox revealed tantalizing details about the existence of footage capturing what may be a real alien being.
The Varginha Case: A Turning Point in UFO Research
One of the key events discussed by James Fox is the Varginha UFO incident in Brazil, which took place in 1996. According to multiple credible witnesses, a UFO crash occurred near the small town of Varginha. This incident reportedly involved the capture of extraterrestrial beings—one alive and one deceased—by Brazilian authorities, with subsequent involvement by U.S. officials.
Fox’s investigative journey into this case spanned over a decade. He spoke with military personnel, doctors, and local witnesses who had firsthand knowledge of the event. Their testimonies consistently pointed to a disturbing yet fascinating reality: a UFO crash had occurred, and alien beings were encountered and recovered. Among the evidence allegedly collected during this event was a piece of footage that could potentially show a real alien.
The Enigmatic Alien Footage
During his investigation, Fox learned of a video allegedly showing one of the recovered alien beings. This footage was reportedly recorded at the Humanitas Hospital in Varginha, where medical personnel had a close encounter with the entity. Witnesses, including doctors and nurses, provided compelling accounts of what they saw, describing the creature as having a frail, humanoid appearance, with large eyes and unusual features.
Fox and his team tracked down the source of this footage—a hard drive believed to contain the video. After a long and arduous journey, they obtained the hard drive. However, their excitement was short-lived. Despite extensive efforts to decrypt the drive, the video could not be located. This led Fox to conclude that the footage might still exist but remains inaccessible or deliberately hidden.
Eyewitness Testimonies Add Credibility
Throughout his career, Fox has emphasized the importance of eyewitness testimonies. In the case of the Varginha incident, these accounts have been remarkably consistent. Witnesses who were close to the events described:
The capture of the alien beings: Military and fire department personnel reportedly worked together to capture the entities.
Unusual behavior by authorities: Witnesses recounted seeing American officials at the scene, fueling speculation about international involvement.
Physical effects on witnesses: Those who handled the alien beings experienced strange health issues, further corroborating their stories.
These accounts, combined with the elusive nature of the alien footage, suggest that the Varginha case holds secrets yet to be fully uncovered.
The Bigger Picture: What This Means for UFO Research
Fox’s revelations raise profound questions about government secrecy, the nature of extraterrestrial life, and humanity’s place in the universe. The existence of alien footage, if proven, would mark one of the most significant discoveries in human history. However, its concealment underscores the challenges faced by investigators like Fox.
Despite skepticism and ridicule, Fox remains steadfast in his pursuit of the truth. His dedication to uncovering the Varginha story—and other UFO cases—has inspired a new generation of researchers and enthusiasts to continue the search for answers.
Conclusion: A Call for Transparency
The possibility of footage showing a real alien being is both thrilling and unsettling. James Fox’s work serves as a reminder that the UFO phenomenon is more than just lights in the sky; it encompasses tangible, real-world encounters with potential non-human intelligence. As governments and institutions begin to disclose more about UFOs, the hope remains that one day, the world may finally see the footage Fox and others have long pursued.
Until then, the Varginha case and its mysterious alien footage remain a pivotal chapter in the story of UFOs, urging us to keep asking questions and seeking the truth.
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A new video shows a human-shaped ‘robot’ escaping from a miniature jail by transforming itself into a liquid metal state and then slipping through the bars, evoking imagery from popular films like Terminator 2.
Eerily, just like the villain from the aforementioned movie, the robot used in the demonstration was also able to coalesce back into its original shape once it was free.
To accomplish a task right out of a science fiction movie, researchers from Carnegie Mellon University and The Chinese University of Hong Kong had to create an entirely new type of material that includes magnets and metal. Dubbed a “magnetoactive solid-liquid phase transitional machine,” the futuristic material was made by embedding magnetic particles into a base of gallium. The researchers chose gallium due to its low melting point of only 85.6 °F (or 29.8 °C).
You can see a video featuring this fascinating–and unusual–accomplishment below:
Magnetic Particles and Gallium are the secret ingredients in a Shape Shifting liquid metal robot
According to the researchers involved, the magnetic particles offer other benefits, too.
“The magnetic particles here have two roles,” explained senior author and mechanical engineer Carmel Majidi of Carnegie Mellon University. “One is that they make the material responsive to an alternating magnetic field, so you can, through induction, heat up the material and cause the phase change.”
Along with this unique heating ability that doesn’t require an outside heating source to change from a solid state to a liquid one, Majidi says the magnetic particles also give the robots the ability to move in response to the magnetic field. This is particularly significant since the primary function of any robot is the ability to move around and perform various functions.
“Giving robots the ability to switch between liquid and solid states endows them with more functionality,” says Chengfeng Pan, an engineer at The Chinese University of Hong Kong who led the study.
Liquid Metal Robot Passes a wide range of tests
To understand the limits of their new shape-shifting liquid metal robot, the researchers put it through a number of tests. This included using magnetic fields to make the robot jump over moats, climb walls, and even split itself into two smaller robots to move other objects around before coalescing back together.
“Now, we’re pushing this material system in more practical ways to solve some very specific medical and engineering problems,” said Pan.
To test some of those potential bio-medical applications, the team used the robot to remove a foreign object from a model of a human stomach and then deliver on-demand drugs to the same stomach.
“Future work should further explore how these robots could be used within a biomedical context,” said Majidi, “but much more study will be required to delve into how this could actually be used for drug delivery or for removing foreign objects.”
To show how it could help screw together parts in hard-to-reach places, the team melted some of the metal into the threaded screw socket and then allowed it to harden in place. They even used the conductive ability of their liquid metal robot to show how it could perform soldering tasks in extremely tight confines by melting into them and then re-hardening to perform its tasks.
Extreme Liquid Phase Allows For Sci-Fi Jailbreak
In the case of the video provided by researchers, the ability to change from a solid state to a liquid metal state allows the robot-shaped metal to escape a tiny prison. This is due to what the researchers describe as an “extremely liquid phase.” Other shape-shifting materials typically have a liquid phase that is much more viscous than the newly created material.
“What we’re showing are just one-off demonstrations, proofs of concept,” said Majidi.
Of course, the robot from the video wasn’t able to travel back in time or track down a tween-aged John Connor. But given its ability to shape-shift from a solid metal state to a liquid one and then back to a solid, it’s pretty much guaranteed that if the robot could talk, it would say, “I’ll be back!”
Christopher Plain is a novelist, comedian, and Head Science Writer at The Debrief. Follow and connect with him on Twitter, learn about his books at plainfiction.com, or email him directly at christopher@thedebrief.org.
Real-Life T-1000? Watch This Liquid Metal Robot Escape Jail! #ai #robotics
Ten Mythical Creatures in Ancient Folklore from Around the World
Mythical creatures, legendary beasts, and supernatural, mystical, and god-like beings have fascinated us since ancient times. They have filled folklore, stories, songs, and works of art. Sometimes living animals or fossils have inspired these mythical creatures. From the powerful dragon to the soaring phoenix, these mythical creatures continue to thrill, terrify, entertain, and inspire us.
Some mythical creatures, such as the Loch Ness Monster or Sasquatch, continue to be spotted and sought out. While the origins of such fabulous creatures are varied, and often disputed, they have played significant roles in human society, serving to stimulate the imagination and desire that is ingrained in human nature to experience more than this physical world. Whether they truly exist in physical form is indeed secondary to their existence in the minds of so many people throughout the world and history.
A Kraken, a giant mythical creature from Scandinavian folklore, attacking a ship.
According to Scandinavian mythology, the Kraken is a giant mythical sea creature, said to be 1 mile (1.61 km) long, that attacks ships and is so huge that its body could be mistaken for an island. It is first mentioned in the Örvar-Oddr, a 13th century Icelandic saga involving two sea monsters, the Hafgufa (sea mist) and the Lyngbakr (heather-back).
The Hafgufa is supposed to be a reference to the Kraken. The existence of the Kraken was even acknowledged in scientific texts, including the first edition of Systema Naturae [1735], a taxonomic classification of living organisms by the Swedish botanist, physician, and zoologist Carolus Linnaeus. Within this scientific work, Linnaeus classified the Kraken as a cephalopod, designating the scientific name Microcosmus marinus.
Although any mention of Kraken was omitted in later editions of the Systema Naturae, Linnaeus described the mythical creature in his later work, Fauna Suecica [1746], as a “unique monster” that “is said to inhabit the seas of Norway.” Accounts of the Kraken are believed by many historians to have originated from sightings of the giant squid, which can reach a staggering 59 feet (18 meters) in length.
Vikings carrying the head of Grendel, the beast that attacked the feasting hall in Beowulf.
Beowulf is an Old English heroic epic poem set in Scandinavia and cited as one of the most important works of Anglo-Saxon literature of all time. Dated between the 8th and early 11th century, the epic poem tells the story of Beowulf, a hero who comes to the aid of Hroðgar, the king of the Danes, by defeating a beast known as Grendel who had been terrorizing the great mead hall built by Hroðgar and threatening the entire kingdom.
Archaeological research has verified that the great hall commissioned by Hroðgar did indeed exist, and was located in the country’s earliest royal capital, Lejre, 23 miles (37.01 km) west of modern Copenhagen. Whether Grendel (meaning quite literally “the destroyer”) originally existed in some less legendary form – perhaps symbolizing a malevolent spirit responsible for disease and death, or a particularly fierce-looking human enemy – is as yet unknown.
A Kappa water demon as shown in the “Bakemono no e” (meaning “Illustrations of Supernatural Creatures”), a Japanese handscroll depicting mythical creatures from circa 1700.
3. Kappa, the Japanese Mythical Creature Devouring Disobedient Children
In ancient Japanese folklore, the Kappa is a water demon that inhabits rivers and lakes and devours disobedient little children. The Kappa, a word meaning “river child,” is usually depicted with the body of a tortoise, a beak, and the limbs of a frog, and has a hole filled with water on top of his head. While they are primarily water creatures, they are believed to occasionally venture onto land.
According to legend, the head cavity must be kept wet when the Kappa ventures out of the water, or he will lose his powers. The Kappa is one of the most well-known folk legends in Japan and many believe the mythical creature to be real.
In fact, there are signs near some lakes in Japan warning people of their presence. However, others maintain it is much more likely that the legend of the Kappa is connected with sightings of the Japanese Giant Salamander, or hanzaki, which is known to be aggressive and to grab its prey with its powerful jaws.
The legendary Nian, one of the mythical creatures of Chinese folklore.
(Author supplied)
4. The Legend of Nian
According to tales and legends, the beginning of Chinese New Year started with the fight against a mythical beast called Nian, which had the body of a bull and the head of a lion. It was said to be a ferocious animal that lived in the mountains and hunted for a living. Towards the end of winter when there was nothing to eat, Nian would come on the first day of New Year to the villages to eat livestock, crops, and even villagers - especially children.
To protect themselves, the villagers would put food in front of their doors at the beginning of every year. It was believed that after the Nian ate the food they prepared, it wouldn’t attack any more people. The villagers would live in terror over the winter, but over time they learned that the ferocious Nian was afraid of three things: the color red, fire, and noise. So, when the New Year was about to come, the villagers would hang red lanterns and red spring scrolls on windows and doors. They also used firecrackers to frighten away the Nian.
From then on, Nian never came to the villages again. According to legend, the mythical creature was eventually captured by Hongjun Laozu, an ancient Taoist monk, and Nian became Hongjun Laozu's mount. After Nian was captured, there were huge celebrations and the ritual involved in banishing him was repeated the following year. These symbolic rituals were passed down from generation to generation and the custom of celebrating the New Year with firecrackers, noise, and the color red has persisted to this day.
A Naga statue at the Wat Phra Kaew temple in Thailand.
The Naga is a legendary aquatic, serpentine creature that resides in oceans, rivers, lakes, or waterfalls. Nagas are said to have black scales and can grow to hundreds of feet in length. Nagas are traditionally worshipped as personifications of water deities and considered bringers of rain and clouds.
Nagas are guardians of temples and holy places. Most Kaliyatran believe that the superior God directs the actions of the Nagas, and these sea serpents are honored with many titles such as the Maharaja Sarpa and the “Naga who is God.” It is commonly believed that Nagas live in underground cities, are capable of speech, and can use their heavenly powers to control weather and assume humanoid form at will.
The female Piasa bird, is one of the mythical creatures of Native American mythology.
The legend of the Piasa bird dates back to long before European explorers came to North America. It has been traced to a band of Illiniwek Indians who lived along the Mississippi in the vicinity north of present-day Alton. This tribe, led by a chief named Owatoga, hunted and fished the valley and the river and lived a contented life until the so-called “great beast” came.
The mythical creature Piasa bird was described by French missionary priest Jacques Marquette in 1673 as follows: “it is as large as a calf, with horns like a roebuck, red eyes, a beard like a tiger and a frightful countenance. The face was something like that of a man, the body covered in scales, and the tail so long that it passed entirely around the body, over the head and between the legs, ending like a fish.”
As with the Illini tribes, there can be found traditions of similar large birds and dragons throughout the world. The Dakota tribe believed that thunder was a monstrous bird flying through the air and claimed that these birds were large enough to carry off human beings.
In the ancient Buddhist caves of India there can be found a number of carved and painted dragons that easily fit with the descriptions of Piasa. Some have questioned whether these mythical creatures could have been an ancient species of bird that actually existed. That so many cultures and groups of people separated by thousands of miles and years have similar tales of immense flying creatures is curious to say the least.
A modern depiction of the Menehune dwarves of Hawaiian mythology.
In Hawaiian mythology, the Menehune are said to be an ancient race of small-stature people who lived in Hawaii before settlers arrived from Polynesia. Many scholars attribute ancient structures found on the Hawaiian Islands to the Menehune. However, others have argued that the legends of the Menehune are a post-European contact mythology and that no such race existed.
The mythology of the Menehune is as old as the beginnings of Polynesian history. When the first Polynesians arrived in Hawaii, they found dams, fish-ponds, roads, and even temples - all said to have been built by the Menehune who were superb craftspeople. Some of these structures still exist and the highly-skilled craftsmanship is evident.
According to legend, each of these mythical creatures was a master of a certain craft and had one special function they accomplished with great precision and expertise. They would set out at dusk to build something in one night, and if this was not achieved, it would be abandoned. To date, no human skeletal remains of a physically small race of people have ever been found on Kaua’I or on any other Hawaiian Islands.
While this does not disprove that a race of small people existed, it does draw the truth behind the legend into question. Nevertheless, there is compelling evidence, both archaeological and in the numerous legends passed down over generations, that suggests that there was indeed an ancient race of highly-skilled people who inhabited the Hawaiian islands long before the Polynesians arrived.
Cipactli is one of the mythical creatures from Aztec legends.
8. Cipactli, the Aztec Creator with an Insatiable Appetite
The Aztecs of Mexico held the belief that the Earth was created from the destruction of a large sea demon, created by and known to the gods as Cipactli. Cipactli was described in many fashions: a crocodile with toad and fish characteristics, a sea demon, or a monster. Regardless of the description, the Aztecs considered this asexual sea being as the source of the cosmos.
Cipactli’s appetite was insatiable and each joint of the mythical creature bore a mouth. As the gods began the process of creation, they soon realized that their other creations would fall into the void and be devoured by the demon, so they decided to destroy Cipactli. Tezcatlipoca lured the monster in and lost a foot to its insatiable appetite before the gods were able to defeat it.
Cipactli put up a fight, but in the end the gods prevailed. They pulled Cipactli’s body in four directions and freed the universe from it. Then Tezcatlipoca and Quetzalcoatl created the heavens and the Earth and everything therein from Cipactli’s body. The creature’s head became the thirteen heavens, its tail the underworld, and its midsection the Earth.
Griffins are ancient mythical creatures with the head and wings of an eagle and the body of a lion.
The griffin is a legendary mythical creature with the head and wings of an eagle, and the body, tail, and hind legs of a lion. As the eagle was considered the king of the birds, and the lion the ‘king of the beasts’, the griffin was perceived as a powerful and majestic creature.
During the Persian Empire, the griffin was seen as a protector from evil, witchcraft, and slander. While griffins are most common in the art and mythology of ancient Greece, there is evidence of representations of griffins in ancient Persia and ancient Egypt dating back to as early as the 4th millennium BC. On the island of Crete in Greece, archaeologists have uncovered depictions of griffins in frescoes in the Throne Room of the Bronze Age Palace of Knossos dating back to the 15th century BC.
The four mythical creatures of China; the Azure Dragon of the East, the White Tiger of the West, the Black Tortoise of the North, and the Vermillion Bird of the South.
(Author provided)
10. The Four Mythical Creatures of China
In ancient Chinese astronomy, the sky ecliptic was divided into four sections. Each of these sections contained seven mansions, and together they formed the 28 Mansions. The 28 Mansions may be considered to be equivalent to the zodiacal constellations in Western astronomy, although they reflect the movement of the Moon through a sidereal month rather than the Sun in a tropical year.
This enabled the ancient Chinese to mark the traveling positions of the Sun and the Moon, as well as to determine the time and seasons. Each section of the sky is assigned to a mythical creature, collectively known as the Four Symbols. These mythical creatures are the Azure Dragon of the East, the White Tiger of the West, the Black Tortoise of the North, and the Vermillion Bird of the South. Apart from their astronomical significance, each of the Four Symbols is surrounded by various mythological associations.
Top image: Mythical creatures from around the world include the legendary Griffin shown here.
A Stonehenge-Like Monument Has Been Mysteriously Moving for Thousands of Years
A Stonehenge-Like Monument Has Been Mysteriously Moving for Thousands of Years
Tim Newcomb
Mysterious ‘Stonehenge of the East’ Is MovingWikimedia Commons
Rujm el-Hiri, dubbed the “Stonehenge of the East” with a 492-foot diameter, has baffled experts since it was discovered in 1968.
A new study shows that the tectonic plates near the Sea of Galilee monument have moved every year for over 4,000 years, virtually eliminating the possibility the site was constructed as an astronomical observatory.
Theories over the impetus for the construction have found little in the way of real clues to back them up.
Rujm el-Hiri, an ancient labyrinth-style structure believed to be nearly 5,000 years old, has quite a few nicknames. It’s been called the Stonehenge of the East, the Levantine Stonehenge, and, coolest of all, the Wheel of Ghosts. For all those nicknames, however, there are just as many theories as to why the structure was ever built in the first place.
A new study published in the journal Remote Sensing looks to eliminate one popular idea. Rujm el-Hiri couldn’t have been an astronomical observatory, at least as we view it today. Why? Because the earth beneath it is moving.
Every year, the tectonic plates in the area around Golan Heights shift between 0.3 and 0.6 inches. That means Ruim el-Hiri, located about 10 miles east of the Sea of Galilee, has shifted 131 feet over the past 4,000 years, completely changing the alignment of the stone structure.
“The Rujm el-Hri site has rotated counterclockwise and shifted from its original location by tens of meters,” the authors write. “This means that the current orientation of the radial walls and entrances was not the same as 4000-2000 B.C., and the speculation that they were aligned with celestial bodies of the past are not supported.”
“Therefore,” they add, “Ruim el-Hiri was unlikely an observatory.”
First discovered in 1968, the site has yielded little in the way of clues to its purpose, even as archaeologists have searched the area for key hints. The site features a central stack of stones—dubbed a cairn—ringed by concentric circles of basalt stones and radial walls. With a diameter of 492 feet, the total circumference of the monument site stretches to about 1,640 feet.
Such a large site so intricately designed must have had a distinct—and likely important—purpose, experts believe. In addition to the (probably) untrue astronomical observatory, theories have ranged from a military fort to an an elaborate burial ground for a lauded figure from thousands of years ago.
The recent study notes that the “spatial distribution” in the sizes of the flower-like clusters of fencing, the potential burial ground may connect to other archaeological features suggesting “that they might serve diverse functions.”
“Most archaeological structures in the region were reused long after their original construction,” the study authors write. “This involved adding new features, building walls over older ones, and reshaping the landscape with new objects. Rujm el-Hiri is a prime example of such a complex sequence.”
When a 1998 study tied Rujm el-Hiri’s layout, including everything from entrances to measurements, to the Bronze Age sky, experts latched onto the site as a likely observatory. The new study shatters all that. “The tectonic blocks of northern Isreal have continually moved along an elliptical trajectory in a counterclockwise direction,” the authors write.
Until now, there perhaps hasn’t been a single person to have interacted with the monument in any way that was aware of how much it’s moved since first constructed.
So, the “Wheel of Ghosts” may be the most apropos descriptor we have, with the continual shifting of the site “challenging theories of the alignment of its walls with astronomical bodies and raising questions regarding its possible identification as an observatory.”
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A geophysical analysis of the area around Rujm el-Hiri.
(Khabarova et al., Remote Sensing, 2024)
"The geological structure of the Rujm el-Hiri's area has been shaped by the tectonic evolution of the region, leading to the rotation of blocks and, therefore, the migration of its location and the direction of the main entrance and the radial walls over time," write the researchers in their published paper.
(a) Geographic location of Rujm el-Hiri; (b) Aerial view; (c) Distance-height profile of the surrounding area relative to the northernmost point of the Sea of Galilee (vertical axis – altitude below/above sea level, in miles; horizontal axis – the distance in kilometers). The vertical line indicates the location of Rujm el-Hiri.
The stylish $300,000 Manta M4 offers space for one passenger and takes off from land and sea, but can only land in water.
The Manta M4 travels up to 65 miles per hour and weighs as much as a small jet ski.
The vehicle is steered using a joystick, allowing riders to soar up to 500 feet above the ground — about the height of two Statue of Liberty, or half the height of the Empire State Building.
Riders are protected by a glass hood, which will protect against wind speed and keep users safe from the craft's three propellers.
The craft gets 30 minutes of power with an electric battery or three hours using one of its hydrogen fuel cells.
Revealed at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Nevada, founder David Simchon told DailyMail.com how his vehicle would surely be the next pleasure craft of the skies.
Only a model of the vehicle was shown, but the company, called SimTechLabs, says the full product will be unveiled at a boat show in Florida next month when it hits the market for the first time.
Pictured above is a model of the Manta M4, which will debut at a boat show in Florida next month
The device uses three propellers to take off from land or water, and can fly at 65mph for up to 30 minutes using its electric battery
Simchon said that users will not need a license due to the craft’s lightweight design that is at under 300lbs, meaning it is considered ultra-light, a point where the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) does not require users to have a license.
However, owners without a pilot's license will have to follow the FAA's regulations and airspace restrictions.
Manta M4 has a thermal onboard system to detect and warn of birds and other dangers in the air and a system emitting ultrasonic sounds to scare away sharks that may be lurking in the water beneath.
The base features a 360-degree camera, allowing riders to capture breathtaking views of the world below while they fly — or check the water below for any signs of rocks or sharks.
It also features eight ultrasonic sensors, 16 sonar disruptions sensors and four thermal cameras to capture scenes of its surroundings and avoid oncoming obstacles.
In a worst-case scenario of the craft losing power, it has three parachutes that will deploy to ensure a safe landing.
It is the second craft to be launched by SimTech labs after it launched a flying aircraft called the Icarus Project in 2024.
Flying aircraft and taxis — some autonomously operated — are expected to be routinely whizzing around US skies within the next few years, according to the FAA.
And it’s the same in the UK, where the Government says it expects them to be ‘routinely’ in operation by 2028.
Manta M4 has a thermal onboard system to detect and warn of birds and other dangers in the air and a system emitting ultrasonic sounds to scare away sharks that may be lurking in the water beneath
Developer SimTechLabs prices the craft at $300,000 for one. Ten are set to go on sale
The former head of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Sergio Cecutta and who resigned in 2023, said at the time that one of his major achievements was fast-tracking progress to get electric airtaxis into the skies.
Another UFO-like craft was also revealed at CES — called the ‘Invo Moon’ — that could carry up to three passengers through US skies.
And Toyota debuted its Joby aircraft which is expected to go on sale later this Year.
The American astronauts who have been stranded in space for seven months have hinted at the toll their unexpected mission is taking.
Butch Wilmore, 62, and Sunita Williams, 59, were heard telling NASA bigwigs 'eventually, we want to go home' during a video call on Wednesday.
The pair first landed at the International Space Station (ISS) on June 5 and they have been stuck there ever since.
Their visit was only supposed to be eight days long. But due to safety concerns, NASA decided to send the Boeing Starliner spacecraft they arrived on back to Earth without anyone inside.
On Wednesday, Wilmore and Williams joined fellow astronauts Nick Hague, 49, and Don Pettit, 69, at the ISS to share more details about their lives in space.
The astronauts participated in a video call with NASA Administrator Bill Nelson and Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy.
Williams shared how she and Wilmore have been feeling about their shocking circumstances and adapting to their extended space stay.
'Yeah, eventually we want to go home, because we left our families a little while ago, but we have a lot to do while we’re up here,' she revealed.
NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore, Nick Hague, Don Pettit and Suni Williams (from left to right) spoke about their experiences in space on Wednesday
Butch Wilmore, 62, and Suni Williams, 59, have been stuck at the ISS since June when their spacecraft had to leave without them
'We’ve got to get all that stuff done before we go home.'
They are expected to return home in early April alongside the rest of Crew-9, which is the ninth crew rotation of the ongoing Expedition 72.
Williams has become the commander of Expedition 72. Wilmore, Pettit and Hague are flight engineers, according to NASA.
Wilmore and Williams did not seem worried about their conditions and debunked rumored safety concerns about a lack of clothes or resources.
When the pair first came to space in June, they were short on clothes because the Starliner needed more room for cargo, so some personal items had to be sacrificed.
Wilmore said: 'It was well known that when we came up here we swapped out a couple of components that we needed on the space station for some of our clothes.
'So we wore [the same] clothes for a while, but that doesn’t bother us, because, you know, clothes fit loosely up here.
The Boeing Starliner that Wilmore and Williams arrived to the ISS was sent back without the crew due to safety concerns
Williams has become the commander of Expedition 72. Wilmore is a flight engineer for the mission
'It’s not like on Earth where you sweat and it gets bad. I mean, they fit loosely, so you can wear things, honestly, for weeks at a time, and it doesn’t bother you at all.'
The astronauts have since been resupplied with clothes brought by Crew-9 in September.
Wilmore and Williams joined Crew-9 when Hague, the crew's commander, and mission specialist Aleksandr Gorbunov arrived. They cannot leave until Crew-10 arrives in late March.
While reiterating that the astronauts are not in harm's way, Melroy cheekily said: 'So what you’re telling us is you’re not channeling ‘Cast Away,’ and you don’t have a volleyball with a handprint on it that you call Wilson.'
Williams replied: 'No, we’ve got a whole team up here, so we’re not worried about that. And there’s a lot to do as well with the team on the ground.
Williams said they are not 'cast away' in space, but the pair would like to get back to their families as soon as they can
'It’s just a great team, and, no, it doesn’t feel like we’re cast away.
'We had tons of science experiments with SpaceX 31 [a cargo resupply mission]. We’ve got space walks coming up. It was really busy when we were waiting for Nick to get up here.
'And it’s just been a joy to be working up here, particularly with our counterparts on the other end of the space station.'
Williams and Hague are set to go on a spacewalk later this month. A week after that, Wilson and Wilmore may go out for one as well.
According to NASA, the goal of Expedition 72 is to 'explore a variety of space phenomena to benefit humans on and off the Earth including pharmaceutical manufacturing, advanced life support systems, genetic sequencing in microgravity, and more.'
DailyMail.com has reached out to NASA for comment.
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Scientists at ETH Zurich and the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) have found massive structures deep beneath the Pacific waters that 'shouldn't exist'.
This mystery material – which is making seismic waves in the region behave strangely – could be evidence of a lost land from hundreds of millions of years ago.
According to current scientific theories, the anomalous material in the lower mantle, about 600 miles (1,000km) beneath the water, 'should not be found' there.
Described as a 'major mystery', the findings challenge 'our current understanding of how the Earth works', according to researchers.
'Determining Earth's structure is paramount to unravel its interior dynamics,' say the team in their paper, published in Scientific Reports.
'These findings suggest more diverse origins for these anomalies in Earth's lower mantle.'
Using a new model, researchers uncover zones in the Earth's lower mantle where seismic waves travel slower (red) or faster (blue) - and cannot come from subducted plates. The large blue zone in the western Pacific (right above the center of the image) was previously unknown
From Atlantis to El Dorado and Avalon, legend tells us that Earth is dotted with lost lands that once met a dramatic downfall. Pictured, a depiction of Atlantis
The problem is, no-one can see inside the Earth, nor can anyone drill deep enough to take rock samples from the mantle.
Instead, scientists study the speeds of seismic waves – the vibrations caused by earthquakes and explosions – as they travel through the planet's interior.
Seismographic stations record these waves and on the basis of these recordings experts can draw conclusions about the structure and composition of the Earth.
'This is very similar to how doctors use ultrasound to image organs, muscles or veins inside the body without opening it up,' ETH Zurich said.
It's also well known that Earth's lithosphere – its rocky, outermost shell, comprising the upper portion of the mantle and the crust – is formed of around 15 tectonic plates.
Seismic activity can be detected along the tectonic plate's borders, where the plates rub up against each other.
But in the ancient past, large plates have since disappeared into Earth's mantle by means of 'subduction'.
Earth is made up of three layers – the crust, the mantle and the core, which was later separated into 'inner' and 'outer'. A recent study suggested the existence of an 'innermost core' too
The anomalous findings, described as a 'major mystery', challenge 'our current understanding of how the Earth works'. In this image, A and B show the locations of seismic stations along the Pacific. C to F show the seismic wave anomalies in traditional map view and as cross-section
How do scientists know about Earth's interior?
No one can see inside the Earth, nor can drill deep enough to take rock samples from the mantle, the layer between Earth's core and crust.
So geophysicists use indirect methods to see what's going on deep beneath our feet.
For example, they use seismograms, or earthquake recordings, to determine the speed at which earthquake waves propagate.
They then use this information to calculate the internal structure of the Earth - similar to how doctors use ultrasound to see inside the body.
This is the geologic process in which one edge of one plate is forced below the edge of another – and over time an entire plate can be lost.
In the past, seismologists have determined the position of submerged tectonic plates throughout the Earth's mantle, but they've always been under subduction zones.
In the new study, the ETH Zurich and Caltech researchers used a computational technique called 'full-waveform inversion' which constructs a 3D image of the Earth using seismic wave data.
They identified areas below the Pacific that seem like remains of submerged plates, but far away from plate boundaries with no geological evidence of past subduction.
The Pacific is one large plate so it should not have any subduction material under it anyway.
This suggests the anomalies are not lost subducted plates. However, what the material is instead – or what it means for Earth's internal dynamics – is something of an enigma.
'It's like a doctor who has been examining blood circulation with ultrasound for decades and finds arteries exactly where he expects them,' said co-author Professor Andreas Fichtner, seismologist at ETH Zurich.
Seismic activity can be detected along the tectonic plate's borders, where the plates rub up against each other. But in the ancient past, large plates have since disappeared into Earth's mantle by means of 'subduction'
The Pacific is one large plate so it should not have any subduction material under it. Plate boundaries are pictured here in red
'Then if you give him a new, better examination tool, he suddenly sees an artery in the buttock that doesn't really belong there. That's exactly how we feel about the new findings.'
However, the researchers do present a few theories behind the the anomalies, which would need more information from waves – not just their speed – to form any robust conclusions.
They could be ancient, silica-rich material that has been there since the formation of the mantle about four billion years ago.
Alternatively they could be zones where iron-rich rocks accumulate as a consequence of mantle movements over billions of years.
'There is a diverse range of potential explanations for the detection of positive wave speed anomalies in Earth's (lower) mantle other than the presence of subducted slabs,' they conclude in their paper.
'Our research underscores the critical role of full waveform inversion as an indispensable tool in mantle exploration.'
Tectonic plates are composed of Earth's crust and the uppermost portion of the mantle.
Below is the asthenosphere: the warm, viscous conveyor belt of rock on which tectonic plates ride.
The Earth has fifteen tectonic plates (pictured) that together have moulded the shape of the landscape we see around us today
Earthquakes typically occur at the boundaries of tectonic plates, where one plate dips below another, thrusts another upward, or where plate edges scrape alongside each other.
Earthquakes rarely occur in the middle of plates, but they can happen when ancient faults or rifts far below the surface reactivate.
These areas are relatively weak compared to the surrounding plate, and can easily slip and cause an earthquake.
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A flight attendant caught on camera a mysterious spherical object flying above the plane she was working on, thousands of feet above the Bahamas.
Cassandra Martin, a flight attendant for private air service Surjet, was flying with two pilots in an empty jet on December 23 when Miami air traffic control alerted them to a 'foreign object' as they were flying back to Fort Lauderdale.
The eerie footage showed a rounded blur of white light that faded into a green color, with a circular halo surrounding the object.
'All of a sudden, I heard traffic control say, "We have a foreign object, can you please identify",' Martin said.
'I looked to the left, and pilot saw three objects, I only saw one, and I grabbed my phone, I just pressed it to the window to see if I could get a video of what the object was.'
'I don't know what it was, and it turned slightly green, almost kind of like it had an electric field around it of some sort, and it stayed with us for about 45 minutes and then we didn't see it again, and we were about 43-, 45,000 feet and it was way above us,' she added.
Martin added that the object moved around in zigzag patterns. The height the object and the aircraft were flying at, however, is too high for a drone to operate, NBC 6 reported.
'I think we were astonished, and it was something that you really can't explain but I don't have the qualifications to know what that is,' Martin said, recalling the conversation she had with the pilots on board.
Cassandra Martin, a flight attendant for private air service Surjet, was flying with two pilots in an empty jet on December 23 when air traffic control alerted them to a 'foreign object'
'It had capabilities just to zigzag and change color, so that was a little daunting, to the say the least, but you know, it's also something fascinating that I was able to see and capture with my phone,' Martin said
Defense expert Bryan Bender, who works with a nonprofit advocacy group Americans for Safe Aerospace, said: 'I think the video is compelling, so you know, this video and this testimony rhymes a lot with a number of cases we heard from military pilots going back even 10 or 15 years and that is these orbs.
'In some cases, they called them Tic Tacs, they were more oblong in shape but flying at very high altitudes but also being able to maneuver in ways that don't seem to make a lot of sense to us, at least we know physics.
'And so, the question is, are these foreign adversaries that have made some breakthrough, or is it something else, and of course, that something else could be many things.'
Bender added that the Pentagon had an office to investigate such sightings, and said it is imperative for national security and aviation safety that they find out what these unidentified anomalies are, NBC 6 reported.
'Was it a little bit eerie? Yes, because again, we were pretty high up and whatever we saw was even higher than us,' Martin said. 'It had capabilities just to zigzag and change color, so that was a little daunting, to the say the least, but you know, it's also something fascinating that I was able to see and capture with my phone.'
The sighting comes after a mysterious 'orange UFO orb' was seen flying over military base Fort Campbell along the Tennessee-Kentucky border on New Year's Day.
An anonymous user on Reddit captured footage of a mystifying 'bright orange light' hovering relatively low as it traveled over the military base.
The user, who witnessed the perplexing 'celestial' event alongside their father, who is a seasoned Army veteran, said that they 'couldn't explain' what they were seeing in the skies above.
An anonymous user on Reddit captured footage of a mystifying 'bright orange light' flying relatively low as it traveled over Fort Campbell - a military base along the Tennessee-Kentucky border, on New Year's Day
Around 12:10am on January 1, the user, who was visiting family in a city just outside Nashville, then tried to capture the object 'as quickly as possible,' snapping a near 35-second clip of the glowing orb
'My dad, a former soldier with nearly 30 years of Army experience and extensive knowledge of the aircrafts that fly over his house, said he couldn’t explain what he saw - this was unlike anything he’d encountered before,' the post reads.
Around 12:10am on January 1, the Redditor, who was visiting family in a city just outside Nashville, tried to capture the object 'as quickly as possible,' snapping a near 35-second clip of the glowing orb.
'Just after midnight, my dad was outside watching fireworks when he noticed a bright orange light flying relatively low and maintaining a steady, consistent speed as it traveled from the northwest - where both Fort Campbell and the local airport are located,' the user claimed.
The curious onlookers were mystified at the unidentified flying object as it did not appear to have any additional lights as they suspect most drones do.
'My friend, dad, and I watched the object together and were surprised it had no additional lights, as one might expect on a drone,' the post adds.
'Initially, I thought it might be a hobbyist drone capturing footage of the fireworks for the New Year, but the apparent distance it was flying has made me second-guess that assumption.'
As more sightings are being reported across the country, many to the National UFO Reporting Center (NUFORC), they continue to fuel public interest and speculation about the nature of these unidentified aerial phenomena.
A UFO expert has lifted the lid on some of his wildest encounters as we reveal the top five hotspots in the UK.
Nick Pope, who previously ran the British Government’s UFO Project, spoke about his experiences with extraterrestrial life in an exclusive chat with The Sun.
Nick Pope is former head of the MoD's UFO research programme
Credit: Chris Loomis / National Geographic
Nick lifted the lid on some extraterrestrial mysteries
For over two decades, Nick worked as a civilian employee at the MoD, with his most prominent role beginning in the early 1990s, where he ran the department's UFO program.
Nick was at the helm of the project, an initiative that monitored and investigated reports of unidentified flying objects to assess their potential impact on national security and aviation safety.
Although the program was never formally named, it was often referred to as the “UFO desk” or “UFO program” by a number of media outlets.
When looking at the distribution of these sightings across the UK, Nick and his team discovered that the hotspots were not necessarily the rural or remote locations that many assumed.
Nick told The Sun: “It’s interesting because when we mapped out the UFO sightings, they didn’t necessarily occur in remote, rural areas.
“The hotspots were often London, Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool, and Glasgow – all the major cities and urban areas.
"The reason for this is simple - the more people there are in an area, the more likely someone is to spot something unusual in the sky.”
These cities, with their dense populations, provided more potential witnesses.
It meant that if something strange appeared in the sky, the chances of someone witnessing it were far higher.
Nick also notes that other areas, like Warminster have been known for their frequent UFO sightings.
“People used to go up Cradle Hill and Flea Hill in Warminster, and even some 1960s pop songs referenced the place,” he added.
Bonnybridge, in Scotland, saw a huge surge in UFO sightings in the 1990s, to the extent that local councillor Billy Buchanan lobbied the government for an inquiry.
“I ended up drafting the replies to Buchanan’s letters, which were sent to the Ministry of Defence,” Nick recalls.
“He wasn’t very happy with me because the government line was always to play down the significance of UFO sightings.”
Despite the official stance, Nick acknowledges that Bonnybridge was, indeed, a hotspot.
However, Nick also cautions against confirmation bias, adding: “When people go to these hotspots for sky watches, they may already be believers, which can affect how they perceive what they see.
"They may be more likely to misperceive something or to see what they expect to see.”
Another factor is the issue of light pollution in cities, which can obscure the view of the sky.
Despite this, urban areas remained UFO hotspots due to the sheer number of potential witnesses.
Even more intriguing, Nick pointed out, was the fact that UFO sightings seemed to cluster around military bases, particularly air force bases.
While some argue that these sightings are due to secret military aircraft or advanced aerospace technology, the fact remains that military bases are more heavily surveilled, and the likelihood of sightings there is higher.
From Rendlesham Forest to Cosford, Nick has worked on some of the most high-profile cases in UFO history, all while trying to navigate the Ministry’s official stance on the phenomenon.
And according to Nick, the number of UFO sightings reported in the UK was far higher than most people realise with reports representing only the tip of the iceberg.
"We’d get about 200 to 300 reports a year, and at its peak, that number went up to 700 or 800,” he recalls.
“But even that number is misleading because many sightings went unreported due to fear of ridicule or simply not knowing who to contact.”
In reality, Nick believes the actual number of UFO sightings in the UK each year could be in the tens of thousands.
The MoD had a national reporting system for UFO sightings, with people reaching out to local police stations, military bases, and airports.
However, sightings reported to the media or civilian UFO research groups were not always included in the official data.
What to do if you spot a UFO?
“If you see something, say something,” Nick advises anyone who observes a UFO.
He recommends capturing the best possible image or video, though with caution regarding the zoom feature on smartphones, which can distort images.
If the sighting occurs in the daytime, it’s vital to include some ground features in the shot.
He added: “If you’re just looking at something against the blank sky, you have no idea how far away it is, how high it is, or how big it is.
"But if you capture hills, trees, rooftops, something like that, we can triangulate. We can make those calculations.”
Calvine UFO Incident updated version with Nick Pope
The Calvine Incident
Among the most compelling pieces of evidence Nick Pope encountered during his time at the MoD was the Calvine Incident.
Nick said: "I think, the best photographic evidence we had came from a case called the Calvine Incident in August of 1990.
"This was just before my posting on the UFO desk, so my predecessor would have handled the investigation, but I certainly got involved in it."
The case involved two hikers in Scotland who captured six crystal-clear photographs of a large, diamond-shaped craft.
Nick, who inherited the investigation, recalls: “These photographs were examined by the UK’s top imagery analysts—Defence Intelligence Staff, Joint Air Reconnaissance Intelligence Centre.
“We concluded that this was the real deal. This wasn’t a hoax.”
The photos showed an object about 70 to 90 feet in diameter, with no visible means of propulsion, a detail that intrigued Nick and his colleagues.
The absence of conventional aerodynamic features, like wings or rotor blades, made the object even more mysterious.
The incident also featured a military jet circling the UFO, possibly trying to intercept it or gather data.
“This was a genuine mystery on our hands,” he adds, noting that the object in the photographs moved in ways that defied conventional aircraft design.
Nick also highlights the potential connection between the timing of the sighting and the geopolitical events unfolding in August 1990.
Reflecting on the mystery, he said: "The photographs were taken just two days after Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait, a moment that sparked preparations for military action.
“We wondered if this could have been a military prototype or reconnaissance aircraft.
“We asked both our own people and the Americans about this, but the Americans denied it."
Despite the U.S. government’s denials, Nick and his team remained unconvinced. “Sometimes we thought, ‘This is not just next generation; this is something a generation ahead.’ And if that’s the case, where is it now?”
Nick asks. "Where is the Rendlesham UFO? Where is the Cosford UFO now? Ten years later, these should have been unveiled. We should be seeing them at the Farnborough Air Show, but we’re not."
The question of whether UFO sightings could be attributed to advanced human technology is one that constantly resurfaced in Nick’s work.
“At any given time, there will be tech that’s 5, 10, even 15 years ahead of what the public knows,” Nick explains.
He points to historical examples, such as the U-2 spy plane and the SR-71 Blackbird, which were years ahead of their time when they were first introduced.
Dr. David Clarke - The 1993 Cosford Incident
Cosford Mystery
A key event from Nick’s time at the MoD was the Cosford UFO sighting in March 1993.
He said: "It took place over a series of 6 hours or thereabouts on March 30, the and March 31, 1993. So that was right in the middle of my posting.
"So of course, I led the investigation into this and my case file, which is over a hundred pages of documents."
Over many hours, several witnesses, including police officers and military personnel, saw a large, triangular-shaped craft in the sky.
One of the most detailed reports came from a meteorological officer at RAF Shawbury, who described the object as being the size of a craft somewhere between a C-130 Hercules and a Boeing 747.
It emitted a low-frequency hum, and a beam of light appeared to be scanning the ground below.
“We had dozens of witnesses to the Cosford sighting, including police and military personnel,” Nick says.
“Some people even described the object as being like ‘two Concorde aircraft glued together.’ The most intriguing part of the case was the beam of light that seemed to track back and forth, almost like it was searching for something.”
Nick’s investigation into the sighting led to some theories, including the possibility that the sighting could have been related to the re-entry of a Russian rocket. However, this theory didn’t fully explain all the reports, and Nick wasn’t convinced it was the definitive answer.
Ultimately, Nick and his team were left with more questions than answers, he said: “We couldn’t definitively explain what happened, but there were certain things that gave us pause for thought.
"The speeds and manoeuvres reported by the witnesses were orders of magnitude above anything that we had or anything that we knew our adversaries had.
“I thought, maybe, this really is the real deal. Maybe this is extraterrestrial.
“It wasn’t a firm intelligence assessment, but it was one of the theories we put forward.”
Uncovering the Truth: The UKs Greatest UFO Conspiracies
UK trailing in UFO 'race'
When it comes to how the UK and the US are handling UFO research, Nick is critical of the UK’s lack of progress.
While the US government has made significant strides in acknowledging and investigating UFOs in recent years, the UK has been far slower to act - something Nick believes this is a dangerous oversight.
“In the 1960s, there was talk of a missile gap and a space race. Today, we have what I call a UFO gap,” he argues.
“The US is leading the way, and other countries are falling behind. Something is in our airspace, and we need to figure out what it is. If something can outpace your cutting-edge aerospace technology, it’s a threat, but it could also be an opportunity.”
Pope criticises the UK’s decision to axe its UFO programme in 2009. “I think that was a mistake,” he says.
“It leaves a gap that adversaries could exploit. We’ve seen this in recent incidents, like the Chinese spy balloon saga. If we’re not keeping an eye on UFO sightings, we could miss important intelligence.”
FAMOUS UFO INCIDENTS
The ‘Night of the UFOs’ is among many famous unexplained encounters with strange objects in the sky that have happened down the years.
Perhaps the most striking was a video known as the 'Tic-Tac' – which showed an unidentified object being pursued by fighter planes.
While flying off the coast of California 2004, two pilots from the USS Nimitz on a routine training mission spotted an object "shaped like a 40ft Tic Tac sweet".
Then in 2005, a veteran pilot of an F/A - 18 fighter aircraft witnessed a raft of strange objects in the sky during a training exercise off the coast of Florida.
The two videos were sensationally released by the Pentagon in 2017.
Tragically the pursuit of UFOs has also claimed lives, notably that of US Air Force Captain Thomas Mantell.
He died after being sent to chase a mysterious object in his fighter aircraft in 1948.
Other encounters with the air force include a claim that UFOs disabled weapons at a nuclear base.
Captain Robert Salas said the bizarre incident unfolded in 1967 while he was the on-duty commander of a secret underground launch control facility at Montana’s Malmstrom Air Force Base.
US forces based in Britain also had an encounter with a strange glowing in the sky in Rendlesham Forest in Suffolk.
Two airmen, Staff Sgt Jim Penniston and Airman John Burroughs, claim they got so close to a triangular craft they actually touched it.
Earlier this year, US military documents were released showing how a warship was shadowed by two "ball of light" UFOs deepening the mystery around the case.
In contrast, the Pentagon has embraced UFO research through its All Domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO), which investigates UFOs, particularly military sightings.
While the UK is peripherally involved through intelligence-sharing agreements like the Five Eyes Forum, Nick believes the UK needs to take a more proactive approach.
He claims it is time for the UK to reinstate its UFO desk and begin taking public reports again.
“Something is in our airspace. Whether it’s Russia, China, extraterrestrials, or something else, it’s making us look foolish,” Nick warns.
“We need a proper UFO research program in the UK. We have the resources — radar systems, satellites, and space tracking. What we need is the political will to use them.
“You’re not looking at huge new costs — it’s just a case of using what you have to investigate UFOs properly.”
Changing attitudes
Reflecting on his own journey, Nick admits that before he began working on the UFO desk, he hadn’t given much thought to UFOs at all.
He was sceptical, and certainly not someone who actively believed in extraterrestrial life.
But his time working in the government’s UFO desk opened his eyes to the possibility that there was something more to these sightings than misidentifications or hoaxes.
“I wasn’t a true believer,” he says, “but now I’m much more open-minded. I don’t rule anything out.”
He notes that there seems to be a consistent pattern that suggests a “core phenomenon” that might be underpinned by advanced intelligence and technology.
The potential knowledge that could be gained from a civilisation far more advanced than ours is something Nick considers too important to ignore.
For the ex-MoD man, even the possibility of such a discovery makes it worth investigating the phenomenon further.
“Sceptics have to be right every day, but believers only need to be right once,” he points out.
"If just one UFO sighting turns out to be genuine, the impact on humanity would be transformative. Whether it’s extraterrestrials, time travellers, or something else entirely, the implications would be profound.
“There’s no part of society that wouldn’t be deeply affected. If extraterrestrial life were confirmed, it would change everything—from politics and religion to science, technology, and philosophy."
He continued: "People will look back on that day as the moment everything changed. Millions of years from now, they’ll say that’s the day it happened.”
Scottish city listed in UK's top 5 UFO hotspots amid reports of 'massive stretches of light'
Scottish city listed in UK's top 5 UFO hotspots amid reports of 'massive stretches of light'
Whether you’re captivated by the stories of strange shapes in the sky, or curious about what drives these reports, one thing is clear - Scotland's UFO phenomena are
UFO spotters looking out over the Forth Valley in central Scotland where unexplained sightings are said to be frequent in Bonnybridge, Stirlingshire
(Image: Colin McPherson/Sygma via Getty Images)
Scotland has been treated to a wave of earthly activity recently, from seeing the Northern Lights overhead to feeling earthquakes beneath our feet. Now, there are murmurings of movements from extra-terrestrial life.
Scots have always been partial to a UFO sighting. Just days before Christmas, an orange ball of light in the skies over Alva, Clackmannanshire, was recorded on a database of potential UFO sightings.
The spate of happenings may move people to wonder how Scotland fares against the rest of the UK in terms of spotting glowing teardrops, speedy silver circles, massive stretches of light, or simply bizarre objects in the skies.
According to Slotwise, Glasgow ranks fourth in the UK cities with the most number of UFO sightings. The Dear Green Place notes 51 sightings, only pipped to the post by London, Manchester, and Birmingham, which recorded 280, 88, and 73 reports of phenomena respectively. Maybe aliens are big fans of Glasgow Green or Kelvingrove Park.
One of the most intriguing aspects of UFO sightings is the description of the objects. According to reports, one UFO truther in the West Dunbartonshire town of Dumbarton said they saw a "massive stretch of light going at least 500mph".
Glasgow ranks highly in the top 5 places in the UK for UFO sightings(Image: Mike Kiev)
The year with the most UFO sightings in the UK was 2009 with 286. In comparison, 2024 was a relatively quiet year, with 89 supposed sightings over the 12 months. Saying that, certain months see a noticeable spike in sightings.
Summer evenings often producing the most reports. With Earth bustling and lively during these months, it might just be the perfect time for intergalactic tourists to pay a visit. Either that or the skies are brighter and it’s easier to see mysteries at twilight.
UFOs seem to come in all shapes and sizes, too, according to the data. The most common thing people see when they believe they spot one is a beam of light. Circles and triangles are the second and third most popular shapes.
X owner Elon Musk has been blamed for a record number of UFO sightings over Germany, Austria and Switzerland.
The Central Research Network for Extraordinary Celestial Phenomena (CENAP) told media on January 7 it had received almost 1,100 reports of unidentified flying objects from the general public last year.
“Usually, we record an average of 600 to 800 reports per year,” the organisation’s director, Hansjürgen Köhler, told Der Spiegel on January 10.
Köhler expressed doubt as to whether any of those reporting to his organisation actually saw alien spacecraft, with the expert instead putting the sightings spike down to tech billionaire Musk’s Starlink satellite service.
The US company had a record year for launches in 2024. Köhler said Starlink satellites were particularly striking just after launch, as they often followed one another in a regular pattern across the sky.
Other sightings, he added, could often be put down to people mistaking planets such as Venus and Jupiter for mysterious craft, as well as Sirius, the brightest star in the sky.
Reported UFO sightings also ended up being balloons of various kinds, as well as drones, private aircraft, helicopters and sometimes meteors, Köhler added.
CENAP has already received 30 reports of UFOs over territory it covers so far this year.
Italy’s potential use of Elon Musk’s SpaceX’s Starlink satellite service for strategic communications has raised concerns among opposition figures over a possible risk to national security.https://t.co/Ur2P8rR3OH
UFO Fleet Over San Antonio, Texas On Jan 1, 2025, UAP Sighting News.
UFO Fleet Over San Antonio, Texas On Jan 1, 2025, UAP Sighting News.
Date of sighting:
Location of sighting: Credit: NUFORC UFO website.
Guys this just in. Some glowing UFOs were seen over Texas last week and the video is just mind blowing. The craft move silently across the sky and are about car size. Each followed the other like military pilots following one another, but possibly alien military. The evidence is mounting high.
Scott C. Waring
Eyewitness states:
Fireball-like objects appeared from 0° North and seemed to fly in the southwestern direction in the 200° range. The first one I saw lasted only 17 seconds before vanishing out of nowhere. This one was first seen at 10:40 PM. Ten minutes later, my mom and my neighbor saw three of these fireballs flying in the same direction. Each disappeared at different times, but without a discernible pattern. The first fireball in the fleet disappeared after 1 minute and 26 seconds, the second after 1 minute and 50 seconds, and the third after 2 minutes and 36 seconds. These time frames are based on when I started recording. Another fireball appeared at the same location at 10:54 PM and vanished after 33 seconds. Later, at 11:08 PM, another fireball appeared in the same location and disappeared after a minute. All the fireballs seemed to have appeared at the same location and flown in the same direction at different times. At first, I thought they might be drones, but I’ve never seen drones without flashing red and green lights. These fireballs didn’t flash any lights and maintained their color and brightness until they disappeared out of nowhere. What was particularly strange about the fireballs was their complete silence. Despite their quick speed, they emitted no noise whatsoever. My neighbor filmed the event as well, and this was the first time any of us had seen something like this.
Fears are continuing to grow in America over the mysterious nationwide drone sightings, as security officials are criticised for their 'lack of transparency' on the issue.
Multiple sightings of unmanned drones flying across the sky have been reported in a number of US cities and bases in the last month - including New Jersey, New York and Washington DC.
Their presence has raised both alarm and confusion with few answers forthcoming.
This has led many people to offer numerous suggestions and conspiracy theories online, with some believing they are Government nuclear weapon detector drones or the result of foreign powers spying on the country.
The FBI, Department of Homeland Security, Federal Aviation Administration, White House and Pentagon released a joint statement on Saturday stating there was no evidence of large-scale or malicious drone activity.
They also dismissed many of the sightings as manned aircraft such as aeroplanes.
But this response was described as 'disturbing' by James Dodd, mayor of the town of Dover, New Jersey.
Meanwhile, Larry Hogan, the former governor of Maryland, took to social media to vent his frustrations with the White House's 'dismissive attitude' to the situation.
Mr Hogan said he had witnessed 'what appeared to be dozens of large drones in the sky' above his home for about 45 minutes on Thursday night.
Multiple sightings of unmanned drones flying across the sky have been reported in a number of US cities and bases in the last month - including New Jersey, New York and Washington DC. (pictured )
A mysterious 'glowing orb' seen hovering in skies above New Jersey - where most of the drones have been documented
Larry Hogan, the former governor of Maryland, took to social media to vent his frustrations with the White House's 'complete lack of transparency and the dismissive attitude' to the situation
He said: 'Like many who have observed these drones, I do not know if this increasing activity over our skies is a threat to public safety or national security. But the public is growing increasingly concerned and frustrated with the complete lack of transparency and the dismissive attitude of the federal government.'
Airing his grievances to the Financial Times, Mr Dodd said: 'We could shoot a missile down 5,000 miles away, but we can't determine where these drones are originating from?'
Dodd said he was left 'frustrated' by the 'scant information on a serious issue', having attended a briefing on the matter hosted by New Jersey state police this week.
The meeting was set up after the authorities in the state were flooded with reports of drones dotting the night sky, sometimes in groups and without any apparent purpose.
A wave of footage has emerged of the drones since they were first spotted last month, with some of the clearest video yet coming this week in New Jersey.
Video captured in Somerset County shows three 'mystery drones in the air' as two move extremely close as if they are interacting with each other.
The FBI has received more than 3,000 tips since the first sighting on November 18, with reports of varying levels of credibility cropping up in at least 12 counties throughout New Jersey, as well as eastern Pennsylvania and Orange County, New York.
Swarms of drones have been spotted in the skies of New Jersey for weeks, sparking officials to call for a 'limited state of emergency'
Mysterious drones are terrorizing US cities from coast to coast as the eerie objects have now been spotted in California, Massachusetts, Florida, Wyoming, Maryland, New York and New Jersey. Pictured: A New Jersey resident saw what appears to be multiple drones flying over their Bernardsville home
And the crisis deepened last night, after DC locals claimed to have spotted drones floating in the sky around the US Capitol, as other videos purported to show objects on flight paths heading towards LaGuardia Airport.
Charlie Kirk, 31, a conservative political activist and close confidant of president-elect Trump, took to X on Friday to claim America is 'f****d' as he suggested the recent mass drone sightings are part of Project Blue Beam.
'WE ARE F****D. THE DRONES ARE PROJECT BLUE BEAM,' Kirk posted on X.
'LOOK FOR VIDS OF THEM TRANSFORMING FROM BALLS OF LIGHT TO PLANES WHEN FILMED TO SEE FOR YOURSELF. THE GOVERNMENT IS NOT INVESTIGATING. THEY ARE DOING THIS. WHATEVER YOU SEE IN THE COMING DAYS IS NOT GOOD.'
Project Blue Beam is a conspiracy theory dating to the 1990s that claims global elites, including government and military organizations, are planning to use advanced technology to stage celestial events in order to manipulate the world's population.
The theory has recently found traction again online as commentators such as Kirk claim that the US government could stage an alien invasion as a pretext for imposing authoritarian rule.
The outlandish theory is among many that have been amplified over the last week in the vacuum of information left in the wake of the Biden administration's failure to tell the public where the drones are coming from or who is behind them.
And Donald Trump called for urgent action yesterday, taking to the Truth Social platform to say: 'Mystery drone sightings all over the country. Can this really be happening without our government's knowledge? I don't think so! Let the public know, and now. Otherwise, shoot them down!'
The sightings started mid-November with footage capturing 'car-sized' drones with flashing lights
Charlie Kirk, 31, a close advisor to Donald Trump issued a grave warning to the American public as he claims the countrywide drone sightings may be linked to a spine-chilling conspiracy theory
NJ residents describe what the unidentified flying objects look like
The lack of clarity on the situation has left critics questioning how such incidents can remain unresolved in an era of advanced surveillance.
'How is it possible that the Pentagon doesn't know? I'm not buying it,' remarked Fox Business anchor Maria Bartiromo, voicing the skepticism felt by many Americans.
Gordon Chang, a senior fellow at conservative think tank the Gatestone Institute and an expert on Chinese affairs, said the drones appeared to be highly sophisticated and are not being controlled by amateurs.
'These activities are too large and well-organized to be the work of hobbyists,' Chang told Fox Business.
'That leaves foreign powers. It could be Iran in connection with China, but clearly, somebody is trying to divert our attention.'
Chang suggested that while the drones themselves are unsettling, he was more troubled by the fact that they could be a distraction for a far greater threat.
'What really worries me is what they might be doing elsewhere. We could very well get hit,' he told Fox.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul also slammed the Biden administration's bumbling response to the crisis, telling the White House the bizarre episode 'has gone too far.'
The Biden administration has maintained that the drones are not a public safety risk and pose no threat to the nation's security.
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