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
Zoeken in blog
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.
20-02-2019
Dr. John Alexander – UFO Research and the U.S. Government – February 19, 2019
Dr. John Alexander – UFO Research and the U.S. Government – February 19, 2019
Open Minds UFO Radio: John Alexander is a retired Army Colonel who has been a critical figure in the field of non-lethal weapons and also played a role in U.S. Army Intelligence research in the paranormal. In the 1980s John put together a group of intelligence officials, members of all branches of the military and the defense aerospace industry to investigate UFO secrecy. His group was called the Advanced Theoretical Physics (ATP) project. In this episode, we discuss the similarities between John’s ATP and the Pentagon’s Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program (AATIP). Due to the attention the disclosure of the existence of AATIP has garnered, there is a resurgence of interest in the UFO topic in Washington D.C. Relying on John’s insider knowledge on how the government works, we also discuss the difficulties a UFO research program would have functioning inside the government, the concerns the military or other credible organizations may have hosting a UFO program, and whether a government UFO program is the best option for resorcin into the UFO Phenomenon.
John began his Army career in 1956, and he retired a colonel in 1988. His Army career included positions in special operations, intelligence, and research and development. From 1966 to 1969 John commanded special forces teams in Vietnam and Thailand. His last military assignment was as Director, Advanced System Concepts Office, U.S. Army Laboratory Command. After retiring from the Army, John joined Los Alamos National Laboratory. As a program manager, he conducted non-lethal warfare briefings at the highest levels of government including the White House Staff, National Security Council, Members of Congress, Director of Central Intelligence, and senior Defense officials. John also met with heads of industry, presented at academic institutions, including Columbia, Harvard, and MIT. He has advised the CIA, US Special Operations Command, and the National Intelligence Council. In 2003, John served as a mentor to Afghan Ministry of Defense senior officials through the Office of Military Cooperation – Afghanistan, (Coalition Forces) Kabul. Academically, he holds an M.A., Pepperdine University, Ph.D., Walden University, and later attended the Anderson School of Management at UCLA, the Sloan School of Management at MIT, and the Kennedy School of Government general officer program “National and International Security for Senior Executives” at Harvard University.
Dr. John Alexander - UFOs: Myths, Conspiracies, and Realities
Dr. John Alexander - UFOs: Myths, Conspiracies, and Realities
This is retired Army Col. John Alexander's International UFO Congress lecture from 2011.
Alexander’s presentation will include an insider’s view of how the U.S. government deals with UFOs and other phenomena with detailed explanation about specific events. While supporting the physical reality of UFOs, he will discuss some of the myths that have been built up over time. Noting that real disclosure has happened yet gone unnoticed, Alexander will examine disclosure and address its actual confirmation.
John Alexander is a retired U.S. Army Colonel and a leading advocate for the development of non-lethal weapons. For the first time anywhere his new book, UFOs: Myths, Conspiracies, and Realities, which provides a government insider’s look at the UFO phenomena, will be available. In his book, Alexander discusses the organization he created while on active duty to explore this topic. Comprised of members across the Department of Defense and aerospace industries, Alexander was surprised at what he learned when he briefed the leaders of many of these agencies. A very important aspect of this book is a description of how government agencies really work, and how an individual’s belief system impacts the organization’s operations.
COMMENTS POLICY: We encourage polite and respectful conversation. Foul language, rudeness, insults, hate, hostility, or negativity may be removed and you may lose your ability to comment.
Open Minds UFO Radio:Nick Pope investigated UFOs for the United Kingdom’s Ministry of Defense (MoD) for several years in the early 1990s. He was skeptical about the phenomenon when he began looking into the matter. However, after having reviewed several credible cases Nick concluded that UFOs pose a real mystery, and unidentified vehicles in our airspace could pose a threat to national security. Since he has left the MoD, Nick has authored a book on the UK’s most credible and famous UFO case, Encounter in Rendlesham Forest: The Inside Story of the World’s Best-Documented UFO Incident. He is also a journalist and media commentator.
Recently, Nick was able to obtain Department of Defense (DoD) files regarding Advanced Aerospace Identification Program (AATIP), often referred to as the Pentagon’s secret UFO project. These are some of the very few official releases of documents related to AATIP that have surfaced. In this episode, we discuss what is in the files and how he received them. Nick also explains what we can infer from the documents, and why they are significant.
For more information about Nick, visit: NickPope.Net.
The latest episode of History’s Project Blue Book takes the furthest deviation yet from the facts of the real Project Blue Book program. However, it is very entertaining and it mixes in real conspiracy theories expertly in a manner that is intelligent and makes the viewers think.
I have been reviewing the show for Den of Geek, and my review of the latest episode can be found here:
Project Blue Bookepisode 4 takes a nosedive into the rabbit hole, but the wild storylines follow real conspiracy and UFO mythologies that are popular on the web. It also presents an intriguing alternate theory to the idea that UFOs have anything to do with aliens at all.
Take an odd part of history, add a bit of conspiracy mythology, then sprinkle with magic Hollywood dust and up sprouts a huge, beautiful tree of fantasy. That would sum up my feelings on “Operation Paperclip.” I am a student of history, so I relish in historical accuracy. However, I am also a sci-fi buff, and this latest episode frustrated the history buff in me while exciting my sci-fi side.
Let’s get into it. The show begins with Hynek on an airplane. The first mystery presented was that the passenger cabin of the aircraft looked more like a train with curtains over the windows and seats that faced one another. However, in a tweet, show creator and writer David O’Leary wrote: “Yes, these old 1950s planes really did have train-like booths that faced each other. And lots more leg room!” Score one for historical accuracy! Granted, it’s one of the few points that I will award in this category for this particular episode.
Hynek then sees a UFO flying around the airplane. We are lead to believe Hynek is experiencing this sighting, but then he wakes from a dream. He was dreaming about his most recent UFO case - a sighting by the passengers and crew of a commercial aircraft near Huntsville, Alabama.
Quinn feels certain he knows who is responsible for this UFO incident and he is not very happy about it. Quinn explains that after World War II, German scientists were snatched up by the U.S. as part of Operation Paperclip. He says Huntsville was set up to house German scientists working on rocket technology, led by Werner von Braun. Having fought in World War II, Quinn is with the situation.
Hynek and Quinn travel to Huntsville to find out what the Germans are up to. Quinn is convinced that the UFO that buzzed the airplane was a rocket built by the former German scientists, who he believes were not concerned with endangering the lives of the passengers.
Security denies Hynek and Quinn access to the base, but Quinn crashes through the barricades anyway. This does allow them an audience with Von Braun but also lands Quinn a suspension. Von Braun says he is familiar with Hynek’s work, shows them a secret rocket launch and offers Hynek a job. He admits it was one of his rockets that buzzed the airplane, but Hynek doesn’t believe him.
To make a long story short, after leaving, Hyenk and Quinn break into the base again. This time they sneak around and find a body floating in a suspended animation container. It looks like an alien. The base alarms sound, so the two race off, only to be caught. Von Braun tells them what they saw was a monkey that had been sent into space and was undergoing testing as to the effects of space on its body. Hynek tells him he is suspicious of their project because the rocket explanation for the UFO sighting did not fit the witness testimony. There is something von Braun is hiding.
At the end of the show, we see what that is. After Quinn and Hynek have left, General Harding, Quin’s boss, shows up to join von Braun on a tarmac. A large saucer-shaped object is then wheeled out of a hangar, and a pilot in a flight suit is put into the craft. This pilot is complaining he doesn’t want to do this, but he seems drugged and unable to struggle. The craft looks like human technology, but when it is started up, a weird field surrounds it, then it disappears. The show is mostly full on science fiction with modern UFO and conspiracy mythologies expertly weaved into the story. The visuals are also stunning. It all makes for a fun and exciting show.
Project Blue Book, the TV show, is getting more exciting, and maybe that is due to its divergence from reality. Many feel the show does not need to move away from the real Project Blue Book investigations to be exciting, and that may be the case. I know first hand proving that to a producer is near impossible. However, I find this particular journey into conspiratorial sci-fi is intelligent in that it is expertly incorporating the UFO and conspiracy mythologies while making the viewers think about alternate explanations to the UFO mystery.
The Project Blue Book Files
Huntsville is a city built by rockets. It is the home of NASA’s Marshall Space Center, but before NASA was created, the military had been testing missiles in the area since World War II. After the war ended, rocket testing continued. Operation Paperclip was real, and Werner von Braun was a real rocket scientist brought to the U.S. The U.S. first brought the German rocket scientists to Fort Bliss, Texas, but in the ‘50s, von Braun and his team were moved to Huntsville.
Von Braun’s popularity was primarily due to his involvement in the development of the V-2 rocket. This rocket terrified the allies during the war because it was the first ballistic missile. While the space program was a real thing, the real importance to the military was the development of bigger and better rockets. Especially with the prospect that a ballistic missile would be the ideal delivery system for the newly developed atom bomb.
In UFO circles, there have been many rumors about von Braun. From the belief that he had to be in the know regarding alleged crashes of alien spacecraft such as Roswell, to a rumor that he knew the government was faking emergencies to distract the public and that one day a UFO scare would be used for that purpose.
The Nazi’s also have a UFO history according to many conspiracy theories. It is believed they communicated with aliens and were able to develop technologies based off of alien technology. You can even find pictures online of saucer-shaped craft with Nazi symbols and guns mounted on them. It is rumored that the Nazi’s tried to mount weapons on alien spacecraft and it disrupted the propulsion systems and would not work. There are also rumors that the Germans were developing anti-gravity. In particular, a bell-shaped craft creatively named The Bell. The propulsion system consisted of two cylinders filled with a mercury-like substance that spun in opposite directions.
The way the craft disappeared at the end of Project Blue Bookis reminiscent of another conspiracy theory, one known as the Philadelphia Experiment. This mythology was first brought forth in a UFO book, although the author did not find the story credible. Despite the author’s opinion, this theory has a wide following. The story was that the U.S. developed technology that could render a ship invisible. Allegedly in 1943, the USS Eldridge, a 300 ft long Navy destroyer, was used to experiment with the technology. When the invisibility machine was enabled, the ship disappeared. When it reappeared crewmen reported feeling sick, and some were killed by somehow being embedded into the steal of the vessel.
In reality, the Germans were undoubtedly ahead of their time. At the time, technology such as jet propulsion and rockets were very advanced, and the Germans were way ahead of the U.S. in these areas. They even had a jet shaped like a stealth bomber that did partially inspire some of the stealth bomber’s characteristics. However, beyond rumors, there is no evidence they developed anti-gravity or canoodled with aliens.
The end of this Project Blue Bookepisode seems to suggest UFO sightings are actually due to experimental aircraft. The CIA has suggested this as well. In a CIA report regarding the development of aircraft at Area 51, there is a section titled “U-2s, UFOs, and Operation Blue Book.” In this section, they claim that many UFO reports were due to unwitting civilians spotting test flights of the U-2 spy plane. The report claims, “This, in turn, led to the Air Force’s Operation Blue Book.” The problem with the last statement is that the U.S. Air Force began investigating UFO sightings in 1947 with Project Sign and Project Blue Book began in 1952. The U.S. did not conduct test flights of the U-2 until the mid to late 50s. It is highly likely U-2 test flights did cause UFO reports, but it is not possible for the U-2 test flights to have caused the creation of Project Blue Book.
Open Minds UFO Radio: In this episode, Alejandro and Martin review fresh UFO news including the recent release of files related to the Pentagon’s UFO program.
We take a look at the serious topic and related issues of objects observed in the skies above us that remain a mystery. Host Alejandro Rojas shares updates and credible information regarding Unidentified Flying Objects (UFOs) including the search for extraterrestrial life and our quest to become a space fairing species.
This week’s Project Blue Book episode featured the Lubbock Lights UFO case. It was a case that left Project Blue Book Chief Edward Ruppelt baffled after his own investigation. Many of the case’s interesting nuances were featured in the show, however, the show did go down some conspiratorial routes that were not part of the real Project Blue Book investigation. The show is historical-fiction, and fortunately History posts articles on the real cases and they have a good one on theLubbock Lights.
If you want a thorough review including links to the Blue Book files, Ruppelt’s investigation, and photographs that were taken of the lights, see my review on Den of Geek here:Project Blue Book Episode 3 Review: The Lubbock Lights.
Project Blue Book gets one of its most puzzling cases while the show continues to slide into mythological UFO conspiracy.
This Project Blue Book review contains spoilers.
Project Blue Book Episode 3
The latest episode of Project Blue Bookcenters around the mysterious case of the Lubbock Lights. Hundreds of local witnesses in Texas spotted strange lights in the sky, including scientists. The show preserves many of the salient aspects of this real-life UFO event, but there was a hard turn into make-believe land that is continuing to propel the show into conspiracy and intrigue. The show is venturing pretty deep into La-La land, which is entertaining, but I hope the facts don’t get too lost in a sea of conspiracy. Then again, that is what I’m here for.
The episode begins with a young man in a control tower flirting with a girl over the phone when suddenly he captures something strange on the radar. Soon, he spots a V-shaped row of lights shooting by. I love the CG effects and dramatization of the sightings, it adds to the mystery and the idea that something is going on that is hard to explain.
The next scene is an interview with UFO author Donald Keyhoe. Keyhoe was a real-life UFO researcher, and this scene mimics a popular video that can be found online of Mike Wallace interviewing Keyhoe. On the show, the interviewer is not identified, but they discuss flying saucers and the Air Force coverup, including Roswell. After the filming, Keyhoe is approached by a man who wants to let him in on the phenomena witnessed in Lubbock, Texas, the town he is from. Keyhoe eventually gives him time and agrees to look into the sighting. As the two men talk, it is revealed they are being watched, and their stalker is taking pictures.
It turns out the photographer works for the Air Force guys who are pulling strings behind Project Blue Book, Captain Quinn’s superiors, General Hugh Valentine (Michael Harney) and General James Harding (Neal McDonough). They decide Keyhoe is a threat, so they have him brought in and have him roughed up a bit. Keyhoe tells them their intimidation will not work on him, so they shove a gun in his face. We do not see him again after that, but Valentine and Harding receive a visit from a plainclothes man who appears to be their superior.
Harding and Valentine have been warned that criminality is not acceptable, and if they continue breaking the law, the president will get informed of their secrets. But we are left wondering if the message was understood and if Harding will continue to go to extreme lengths to accomplish his goal. We did learn at the end of the second episode that Harding views himself as a protector of the people. His duties, managing the secret behind the flying saucers, justify his actions in his mind.
Back in Texas, Hynek and Quinn are dispatched to Lubbock to figure out what is going on. They visit a University to gather witnesses. Quinn gets sidetracked flirting with a college girl, and then they walk into a room to talk to witnesses. The place is full, and Quinn assumes these are mostly students trying to get out of class. He tells those people to scram, but no one leaves. Hynek takes over and asks everyone who has seen the lights to raise their hands. They all raise their hands.
Hynek has filled the chalkboard with notes on the sightings, and once everyone is gone, he explains how he has ruled out any conventional explanation for the lights he can think of. That is when a professor enters and tells them he needs the room for his class. Hynek and Quinn protest, but the professor claims to have solved their case anyway. He pulls out a picture of the lights that look just like what everyone has described. However, he tells them he has figured out they are birds called Plovers that have been illuminated by the recently installed streetlights in town.
Skeptical of the bird answer, Hynek talks Quinn into going to town and watching for UFOs. In town, the local townsfolk get in a tizzy over strangers looking around. Locals seem to get in a tizzy often in this show. The locals tell Hynek and Quinn they already had a visit from other men who were looking into the lights. After sharing a WTF glance at one another, Hynek and Quinn then seek a more secluded location to look for the UFOs.
Now in a field, the two chit chat and admire the stars sans UFOs. Hynek senses Quinn would like to find the girl he was flaring with earlier, so they decide to leave. Hynek chooses to take one last look while Quinn starts the car. Suddenly, the lights and the radio in the car start going in and out. Then Quinn appears to be captured by an electrical field. They had seen this happen to a witness to the lights in the hospital. Hynek runs to help Quinn, who mutters for Hynek not to touch the car. As Hynek tries to open the door, he receives an electrical shock that throws him to the ground. Hynek gets up again and then sees the V-shaped lights in the sky. He watches them, and as they get further away, the car returns to normal. Quinn gets out of the car in time to see the lights in the distance.
Quinn actually agrees with Hynek that this experience confirms there is something more to the Lubbock Lights than reflecting Plover bellies. They two then visit Harding and Valentine, but Harding explains that what everyone had been seeing was a Top Secret v-shaped aircraft. To keep the aircraft secret, they are ordered to tell the public the Lubbock Lights were birds. Hynek protests, but is essentially told to quit his bitchin’.
There is more intrigue with Mimi, who continues to spend time with Susie, the Russian spy. Another mystery man is also seen keeping an eye on Mimi for unknown reasons. Mimi also ends up buying an Atom Bomb shelter. The shelter serves not only as a device to give insight into the concerns people had in that era, but to also highlight that Mimi is feeling alone and a bit frightened being alone with Hynek gone so often. A feeling she expresses to him when he gets home.
The Project Blue Book Files
Now to the real-life case of the Lubbock Lights. The Lubbock Lights sightings took place mostly in August and September of 1951. The case was so baffling that Project Blue Book Chief Edward Ruppelt personally investigated them. Ruppelt also included an entire chapter to this investigation in his book The Report on Flying Saucers. It can be read in its entirety online.
Simply put, there were three major components: objects caught on radar, strange lights/objects observed by hundreds - often several times in one day, and one outlier report by a woman and her daughter who claim to have seen a pear-shaped metallic object flying around.
The radar report came from Larson Air Force Base on August 26th of an object observed on the radar for six minutes traveling at 900 miles per hour.
“Object was on a course of 340 deg with only slight deviations enroute (sic),” the Project Blue Book Report states. “[Altitude] 13,000 ft but accuracy of measurement questionable due to brief length time the object was detected. F-86 scrambled but radar contact with the object was lost before a/c were airborne (sic).”
Ruppelt says the submitter was curt and wanted him to know they absolutely ruled out weather interference. As Ruppelt covers in his book, Project Blue Book at this point was known for explaining away cases. Sure enough, the Advanced Technical Intelligence Center (ATIC) still claimed the readings were likely weather interference. Ugh.
However, Project Blue Book closed the report of the pear-shaped object by the two women as “unidentified.” This was the designation for cases in which they really had no explanation and generally indicates the Air Force found the witnesses credible. In this case, the two women say they were driving in Matador, Texas, about 80 miles northwest of Lubbock, when they spotted a pear-shaped metal object “drifting” about 150 feet off the ground. It was August 31, just before 1 pm. They estimated the object to be 40 feet long and 16 feet in diameter. They watched it for a short period. Then it accelerated up into the sky to the east. It was out of view in a few seconds.
The latter incident was much different than the bulk of the sightings. Most sightings were of groups of bright lights zipping through the night sky. They were not always in a v-formation, most often they were grouped randomly. On the evening of August 25th, a young Lubbock resident waiting up to see the lights everyone was talking about was kept an eye on the night sky. He saw the lights and rushed outside with his camera, but the lights were gone.Fortunately, they returned, and he snapped a couple of pictures. The objects then came back again, and he got a few more shots. The photos made it into the local newspaper, and it is one of these images, or a reproduction of it, that Historyused in the Lubbock Lights Project Blue Book episode. The lights in the show also looked just like the v-formation in the images.
There was one particular group of witnesses Ruppelt especially appreciated, a group of professors from Texas Technical College. One evening four professor of various disciplines were sitting around outside drinking tea when they saw the lights several times. Their sightings triggered an investigation by them and other colleagues who were interested in the mystery or were witnesses themselves.
They were able to discover the lights flew north to south, and they appeared at about 45 degrees off the northern horizon and disappeared at about 45 degrees off the southern horizon. This calculation could give them an estimate of the speed of the objects, but they could not determine how far the objects were or how large. The group never did figure out the secret of the mystery.
Another witness claimed to have more luck. He said he discovered they were Plovers. He said he saw the lights and admittedly got excited but then was able to determine they were indeed just Plovers reflecting light from the town. However, Ruppelt did not believe Plovers could explain the entire phenomenon. One reason being Plovers only fly in pairs or small groups, not large groups like in the photos or the large groups of lights witnesses reported. Another was that two of the Lubbock Lights encounters were during the day, and in both cases, the witnesses reported seeing a silent flying wing craft fly above them with rows of lights along the wings, which would appear as V-shaped lights viewed at night. Ruppelt’s investigation showed it was highly unlikely these were human-made craft.
In his book, Ruppelt said the case was baffling, and he could not come up with an answer. However, he says an anonymous scientist did. Ruppelt says he promised not to divulge the identity of this scientist, and in sharing how the scientist made the discovery and what the revelation was he would be exposing the scientist’s identity, so he can not say. Talk about a letdown.
Further, just like in the show, the Air Force decided to close the case with the Plover explanation. The real Lubbock Lights case did not include effects to vehicles, like in the program. However, UFO witnesses have reported this sort of thing before. One of the most baffling was a case in November 2009 in which a witness’ car stopped during a sighting of a cigar-shaped object above his head. After the encounter, investigators discovered the car was emitting an unusually strong magnetic field. They guy was so freaked out by it he sold the car.
Ruppelt’s book leaves one with the impression that the Air Force was as baffled by these cases as everyone else. In History’s Project Blue Book, as in UFO mythology, the Air Force knows much more than it is sharing. The later makes for a more exciting program, but alas, the prior seems more plausible. Unfortunately, we may never know what the Air Force really knows about UFOs, but in History’s Project Blue Book universe new revelations come weekly.
I look forward to new revelations on either front.
Open Minds UFO Radio: David is an Emmy award-winning filmmaker and producer. He has also had a lifelong interest in UFOs. Like many of us, David was excited about the news that the Pentagon had a secret UFO project. He was also excited about the extraordinary UFO encounter that was also featured in the New York Times article that broke the Pentagon UFO news. The encounter involved the USS Nimitz carrier strike group and occurred in November 2004 near San Diego. During training exercises a white object described as looking like a Tic Tac was spotted, jets went in to get a closer look, and then things got weird.
Some of the military personnel involved with the encounter have come forward since the NYT broke the story, including David Fravor, the lead pilot who got the closest look. As a filmmaker, David saw an opportunity to help tell the story by taking all of the details publicly available and recreating the encounter. In this episode, we talk to David about his inspiration to make the film, and the details and behind the scenes behind the film’s production.
Open Minds UFO Radio: Ryan Sprague is a UFO journalist, podcaster, and author. He is also a professional playwright and screenwriter. He was a frequent contributor to Open Minds Magazine, and has participated as a staff member or speaker at several International UFO Congress events. Ryan hosts the podcast Somewhere in the Skies and Rogue Planet’s Unknown. Ryan’s latest project was co-hosting CW’s Roswell: Mysteries Decoded. Alejandro also appeared in the show and served as a consulting producer.
In this episode, we talk about the production of the CW’s Roswell special, what was left out, and our thoughts on how the production came out. We also discuss the Roswell case and the mysteries surrounding the most famous alleged crash landing of an alien spacecraft.
Open Minds UFO Radio: Hosts Alejandro Rojas and Martin Willis are joined by author and producer Lee Speigel to review the best UFO news stories of 2018.
2018 was a banner year for UFOs. It could be argued 2018 was the tipping point when UFOs became a serious topic in the mainstream. Some even argue it was the first full year we lived in a post UFO disclosure world. In this episode we review the stories and information that made 2018 so important for the UFO topic.
Links to some of the stories we mention:
FAA releases audio and radar data of UFO encounter with multiple pilots over California and Oregon, jets were scrambled:
Paul Hynek has worked in tech and entertainment and is currently a business consultant. Paul is also a former adjunct professor at Pepperdine University, and is presently a consultant for HISTORY’s new series Project Blue Book, based on a real project to investigate UFOs from 1952 to 1969. Paul is the son of Dr. J. Allen Hynek, an astronomer who worked with the U.S. Air Force investigating UFO cases from 1948 to the end of Blue Book in 1969. A character based on J. Allen Hynek is the lead character in the series.
Paul’s father began his investigation with USAF as a skeptic, but by the time Blue Book ended, he was convinced some UFO cases posed a real mystery. The HISTORY series is not sticking strictly to the facts, but it is attempting to portray the people and events as accurately as possible. In this interview, we talk to Paul about the production of the new series, his father’s UFO work, and how he hopes the show will affect viewers and perceptions of the UFO phenomenon.
In reflecting on the past year, we often think of those individuals we have lost. In the field of UFOlogy, it is no different. Indeed, in recent years, we have lost many pioneers in this field of inquiry. One such pioneer was a man named Larry Hatch who passed away on August 3rd, 2018. Unfortunately, many were not familiar with his passing or the legacy he has left this field of study.
Larry was a computer programmer by trade. His high level of intelligence was rivaled only by his creative talent for developing innovative ideas using the latest technologies. This went way back to Larry’s childhood. At the age of fourteen, he created his own private telephone system for his neighborhood friends to communicate with. We are not talking about the old cup and string concept. Rather, he developed his own actual stand-alone telephone system as this old news clipping from the San Mateo Times reported in the 1960s.
Later in life, Larry’s intellectual prowess persisted. It was no surprise that he eventually became part of the burgeoning computer industry in California where he was born and raised. Larry held many positions starting as a Senior Electronics Technician followed by a long career working for National Semiconductor as an Engineer.
Later, in 1993, Larry branched out on his own as an independent computer contractor. It was during this time that he focused his computer skills on a subject that was always near and dear to his heart – UFOs. Since early childhood, Larry was fascinated with the subject and had some personal experiences that he preferred to keep private.
Larry created from the ground level one of the most robust UFO databases up until that time – the *U* UFO Database. This was a database that the public could use on their home PCs. The *U* Database itself could do queries based on word search, geography, or UFO characteristics. There was also an impressive UFO mapping tool that visually displayed any relevant UFO cases based on your search criteria. This was amazing considering the database was written in a DOS-based environment.
UFO Map from the *U* UFO Database by Larry Hatch
Despite various computer UFO catalogs that had existed, there were only a few computer UFO databases before the *U* Database’s creation. There were the IBM punch data cards employed by the Battelle Memorial Institute in the 1950s used to examine Project Blue Book cases. Then, based on this concept, there was another computer database, compiled at Northwestern University in the 1960s. This included all unidentified cases from Project Blue Book through the efforts of Dr. J. Allen Hynek, Jacques Vallee, et al. This work was eventually turned over to the Condon study at the University of Colorado in 1968 and eventually formed the basis for David Saunders’ UFOCAT database. Other UFOCAT versions were to follow in subsequent years.
The *U* Database also had several updates in later years after its release in 1994 when I first heard of Larry’s creation. Obviously, I had to have a copy for my own UFO research and purchased one of the first versions. After my initial contact with Larry, I had a number of emails interspersed with a few phone calls in the early to mid-nineties. In maintaining ties with him, I was always on the list for any later software updates but also was in a position to eventually provide case material for his latest 2002 update.
Larry had spent thousands of hours combing every possible UFO book and periodical he could get his hands on. In doing so, he took each case documented therein and then converted it into code for database entry. The last tally I saw was over 17,000 UFO cases that Larry personally entered into the database! Most of us cannot imagine the time, dedication, and personal sacrifice he made doing all of this work.
Although he was the sole individual that did all the data entry, he was not alone in gathering the relevant UFO case files and information. Despite avoiding the social scene, Larry was well connected with leading UFO researchers and historians worldwide. Some of these included: Jan Aldrich, Barry Greenwood, Jacques Vallee, Dominique Weinstein, etc.
Jan Aldrich recently informed me that his role was two-fold in collaborating with Larry. First, to properly vet the UFO data for removal of IFO reports or spurious cases. Second, to add interesting cases not formerly in the system. Jan emphasized Larry’s continual work in this area to ensure not only the quantity of information but quality information.
Additional reflections on Larry’s work were conveyed to me by Vallee in the writing of this article. Vallee stated,
“From my point of view, the most memorable lesson from his life is the observation of how much good research can be done by a single person with talent and the willingness to pursue a well-focused goal. Larry single-handedly accomplished what the leading UFO organizations of the time were unable to do with their resources, membership fees and access to media: an effective, well-functioning, cleverly interfaced graphic database of important UFO events! He also managed to build it in a way that made it economically accessible and legible to hundreds of people, on personal computers.”
He further added,
“I was part of Larry’s extensive correspondence network and brought him items that might be of interest in his work. I enjoyed visiting his house “down the Peninsula” and discussing the sightings, as well as gossiping about technology trends: He was indeed a very gifted software designer and implementer, and a kind man with no interest in the quarrels that plagued ufology. He remains an inspiration to me.”
The saddest part regarding the life of the *U* Database was that it was written in a DOS environment. As technology began to improve with numerous versions of Microsoft Windows and Macintosh or Mac computers, the DOS platform went the way of the dinosaur. Consumers then, like today, wanted the latest and greatest. As a result, DOS-based software programs and their followers diminished. So too did the *U* Database audience – for the most part.
Larry Hatch
Over time, I eventually lost touch with Larry in the early 2000s. I always meant to re-connect at some point. But I had heard rumors years later through the UFO grapevine that he was in ill-health. I had also heard that he retired to a nursing home. However, in speaking with older researchers who knew Larry more than myself, they too weren’t 100% sure what his status was at the time. It was a mystery.
Recently in November of 2018, after many years of losing touch with Larry, I saw items for sale on eBay that stated they were from the Larry Hatch collection. Eager to have these for my UFO research library, I purchased the items. I noticed the return address had the name of the seller, Yvonne Hatch. I thought to myself this must be a relative of Larry’s. My suspicions were proven correct.
I was able to email and then eventually call Yvonne Hatch who turned out to be Larry’s niece. She regrettably informed me that her late-uncle had passed away due to medical complications on August 3rd, 2018. She and other family members were dealing with the aftermath of his passing. This is what resulted in some of his UFO items surfacing on eBay.
Yvonne was gracious with her time, and she told me things about Larry I did not know from his personal life. She provided the photos included with this article. Yvonne stated her late-uncle was a man of high-intellect who had a passion for the subject of UFOs as evidenced by his tenacious data gathering and data entry that ultimately created the *U* Database. From the conversations we had, I could also feel the bond she had with her uncle and the subsequent loss with his passing.
I am not ashamed to admit that I have in my UFO research room to this day a fully-functioning DOS-based computer that is still running my version of the *U* Database. It was and continues to be extremely instrumental in my UFO studies. When fellow-researchers come to visit, I always try to make it a point to introduce them to the database as it proves useful in many research endeavors.
But more importantly, I tell them about the creator of the *U* Database, Larry Hatch. He was a man who was never to be seen at a UFO conference or UFO meeting. He never wanted to be the focus of attention. Instead, he wanted to be a facilitator in providing UFO data in a manageable form for serious researchers. To that end, he succeeded – admirably.
I wanted to pay tribute to Larry and let the UFO community know about his demise. But, as in these types of situations, not to just mourn his passing. It is a time to also celebrate the man’s contributions to the UFO research field. I hope memories of him and his *U* Database will live on. As Vallee stated, “He remains an inspiration.”
LAS VEGAS - 2018 was a big year for UFO news. It was a year ago this month when the Pentagon admitted it has been secretly studying unidentified flying objects and also released a few videos recorded by military pilots.
The sudden re-emergence of official interest in these unknown aircraft has also resulted in a closer look at older UFO cases and testimony, including one story that started in Las Vegas.
A new documentary film about UFO whistleblower Bob Lazar is out and there's no way I-Team Reporter George Knapp would miss the world premiere.
It was 29 years ago that Lazar came forward, claimed he worked on technology out in the Nevada desert, and suddenly the Area 51 base became known all over the world.
The I-Team has done occasional updates with Lazar over the decades but it is never easy to get him to open up. The premiere of the new film has fired up many of the same arguments about his credibility, but the first audience to see the movie didn't need much convincing.
The line of eager fans stretched around a city block in downtown Los Angeles. A sellout crowd of 1,600 people filed into the historic United Artists theater to see a film narrated by movie star Mickey Rourke and to hobnob with like-minded enthusiasts, some brought their Area 51 saucer model kits. At least one wore an ET mask.
A few famous faces were in the audience when director Jeremy Corbell took the stage and explained why he was inspired to tackle this particular slice of UFO history.
"The reason I made this film is because I wanted to know the truth," said Jeremy Corbell, documentary filmmaker. "People that are haters, debunkers talk smack. Some of you are in this audience. You don't know the story. You didn't get it right."
As the lights dimmed and the projector fired up, the subject of the movie Bob Lazar took a seat alongside other interested parties.
"There are nine flying saucers, flying discs out there..."
That 1989 interview on KLAS TV changed things forever for Bob Lazar, whose identity was made public months later. His story about alleged alien technology being stored and analyzed at S-4, a camouflaged facility built into a mountain south of Groom Lake, the heart of the now infamous Area 51 military base, set off a stampede.
UFO researchers by the busload made the pilgrimage to the Nevada desert, along with major news organizations. The story put Area 51 on the map worldwide, inspired movies, TV shows, and books, led to the creation of the E.T. highway and a namesake professional baseball team.
In our periodic interviews with Lazar over the last 29 years, he expressed regret about ever coming forward. In Corbell's film, Lazar opens up even more.
"I worked at a secret base called S-4 near Area 51. It changed my life, mostly for the negative. At this point in my life, I would probably lean toward not saying anything," Lazar said.
In the film, Lazar goes into specific detail about the technology he says he saw, technology that is remarkably similar to the objects seen in videos released one year ago by the Pentagon and first obtained by the To The Stars Academy.
These craft can generate gravity and bend space-time, Lazar said nearly three decades ago, and now, the topic is once again generating waves of media coverage.
Audience response to the film's premiere was overwhelmingly positive enough to coax a visibly uncomfortable Lazar onto the stage with the director to answer a few questions, including the attacks on his credibility that are a staple on social media. Lazar says he doesn't blame people for their skepticism.
"I understand it is an incredible story and I myself would have a hard time believing it. As I said in the film, the events portrayed occurred just like they were shown. Frankly, I'd prefer that people didn't believe it so I don't get bothered and asked questions at all."
Open Minds UFO Radio: The holidays are upon us and Karen Brard, the owner of the International UFO Congress, has filled the official International UFO Congress store full of super cool UFO and Alien merchandise that is perfect for holiday gift giving — even if you are giving the gift to yourself. Karen and Open Minds UFO radio host have been traveling around the country promoting the International UFO Congress and selling merchandise and Karen has been learning what people want and offering it at a great price.
In this episode, Karen shares some info and advise about the cool merchandise she is offering. Karen and Alejandro also share some observations and stories regarding some of the events they have attended.
For more information about the International UFO Congress visit:UFOCongress.com
Open Minds UFO Radio: Jeremy Corbell is an investigative filmmaker and runs the websiteExtraordinaryBeleifs.com. Many of his projects, including his most recent, focus on the paranormal and UFOs. In September, Corbell released his film Hunt for the Skinwalker based off of the 2005 book of the same the same name. Much of this film included archival footage and reports from Las Vegas reporter George Knapp, who along with scientist Colm Kelleher, author the Skinwalker book. However, the subject of this episode is Corbell’s latest project based on Bob Lazar, the alleged whistleblower whose claims made Area 51 famous. The film is titled Bob Lazar: Area 51 and Flying Saucers, and is set to premiere on December 3, 2018.
Lazar claims that he worked at a secret underground lab called S-4 near Papoose Lake, just south of Area 51. Everyday he would fly into Area 51 and be bused to S-4. At this base, he says he worked back-engineering advanced propulsions systems on a craft he says could only have been made by alien technology. In this episode, Corbell discusses how the film came about and his approach to tackling the controversial subject.
At the UFO DATA conference in October 2007, I met up with veteran UFO investigator David Beezer. I’ve known David for many years and he has regularly attended many of our public events. David wanted me to read a report he had received from a RAF officer, but on the day I simply did not have the time. David made me a copy of the report in question and I read it a day or two after the conference had finished.
The report came from a Mr. Alan Turner, Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (MBE), and concerned a UFO observed on radar at Royal Air Force (RAF) base Sopley in the summer of l971. I subsequently contact Mr. Turner and have his permission to document the following. His report is published in full.
Alan Turner was aged twenty-five when he joined the Royal Air Force in l966 and was commissioned that year as an Air Traffic Control Officer. RAF Sopley was a wartime bunker, which had been converted into a joint military/civilian Air Traffic Control Radar Unit (ATCRU): it closed in l974 when both the civil and military ATC functions were transferred to West Drayton.
Alan Turner remained in the RAF eventually to command the Central ATC School from 1990 to 1992. In July 1995, he was discharged from the RAF in the rank of Wing Commander.
1982: This was taken in l982 when Alan Turner was the Senior Air Traffic Control Officer at RAF Lossiemouth. He is pictured on the right.
This is Wing Commanders Turner’s account of what he personally observed at RAF Sopley in the summer of l971 in full:
In the summer of 1971, I was the Duty Military Supervisor at RAF Sopley, which was a joint military/civil Air Traffic Control Radar Unit (ATCRU). It was a Tuesday afternoon but I cannot remember the exact date. The Duty Civil Supervisor drew my attention to a situation on radar the likes of which neither of us had ever encountered.
Emanating from a point some twenty nautical miles east of the eastern extremity of the Salisbury Plain Danger Area were a series of six or seven blips moving on a south-easterly track each being separated from the other by about six miles. At about forty miles from the point they appeared on radar they disappeared to be followed almost immediately by a replacement at the point of origin.
I put the FPS 6 Height Finder onto some returns to discover that they were about 3000 feet when they came into radar cover and climbing extremely rapidly so that, by the time they disappeared from radar, they were in excess of 60,000 feet. To climb to such a height in only forty miles was beyond the ability of any fighter aircraft at the time.
The phenomenon was witnessed by four civil and six military controllers on duty at the time. I called Heathrow Radar to discover that they, also, were seeing a similar picture. The same situation prevailed in the Fighter Control Operations Rooms at RAF Neatishead. The three units involved operated different radars from each other thus different frequencies were in use. The weather forecast from the south of England was calm and sunny. I called the Met Office to confirm the strength of the upper winds to find that they were also relatively calm and were about fifty degrees off the southeasterly track of the blips; they also confirmed that there were not Met balloons/probes airborne at the time.
The winds were not strong enough, nor in the right direction, to cause the blips to travel on their observed track, especially at the speed they were travelling. It was estimated that they were doing around 250 knots, but it must be borne in mind that this was a lateral speed as seen on radar – they must have been travelling very much faster to climb over 50,000 feet in less than forty miles. Equally the weather was such that there were no ‘angels’ to affect the radar picture. “Angels” was a euphemism for, what were believed to be, ionozed pockets of air which, under very specific atmospheric conditions, were often seen on radar screens in those days: when seen, these ‘angels’ traveled extremely slowly simply drifting along haphazard tracks. In those days all radars were ‘raw’. That is to say that, whatever was within the coverage of the radar envelope and capable of bouncing (returning) the radar pulse back to the receiver, would be seen on the radar tube. Today’s radars are computerised thus such interference is processed out so as not to affect the picture.
Looking around for some other method of checking what was going on, I discovered that a controller had two Canberras on frequency returning from Germany. One of the pilots agreed to investigate so I assumed control of his aircraft and, having confirmed he was in good visual met conditions, I vectored him on to the blips keeping him regularly updated on their position relative to the Canberra. The aircraft was flying at around nineteen thousand feel and when it got within a mile or so of one particular blip, the pilot reported, in a very agitated voice, that his radar had picked something up heading down his port side by about a quarter of a mile and ‘climbing like the clappers’, it was on a reciprocal heading to the Canberra. The pilot admitted that neither he nor his navigator made any visual contact and confirmed that the weather conditions were such that they would have had no difficultly seeing something that close.
The whole episode lasted for twenty minutes or more before the blips stopped appearing. I impounded the R/T tapes and the Radar Video film and made appropriate entries in the log. Each person in the Ops Room who witnessed the incident was required to write a report. The Squadron Leader in charge of Operations collated the reports and informed higher authority. Within a couple of days I was interviewed in the Squadron Leader’s office by two men who were not identified to me. I, along with all the others in the Ops Room on the day in question, were told in no uncertain terms not to relate what we had seen until cleared to do so. About four years later I was serving at RAF Wattisham when the Station Commander asked to see me. I was told that he had a communication from the MoD about the incident at Sopley and that as ‘nothing could be confirmed’ the situation was such that doubt would be cast on anything I said about it. I took this to mean that I was no longer to remain silent.
I am at a loss to explain what I, and many other people, saw. In those days aircraft could not climb at such a rate. To be seen on displays by three different ground radars, plus the airborne radar in the Canberra, is also a mystery. The weather conditions were very definitely VMC or Visual Met Conditions; the aircraft was clear of cloud by at least a thousand feet vertically and with a forward visibility of at least five nautical miles.
Alan Turner MBE 10th November 2007.
Map: Map of the area showing the track on the unidentified radar target. Map supplied by Alan Turner.
In Mr. Turner’s letter to be dated 10th November 2007 he apologised for not remembering the exact date of the incident and believes that there are those out there that will use this to discredit his account. I’ll leave you with his final comments on the incident; “Please use the information in any way you see fit; I stand by what I saw because I know what I saw.”
1984: This is Wing Commander Alan Turner and his wife Diane at Buckingham Palace where he received his MBE from Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II in l984.
1994: Alan Turner at a social function during his last appointment with the RAF in l994.
Thanks must go to David Beezer for supplying the information and contact details and special thanks to Alan Turner MBE for allowing me to publish his account.
All photographs copyright Alan Turner MBE and reproduced with his kind permission.
Open Minds UFO Radio: Nick Redfern is a journalist, author, and UFO researcher. He is originally from England, but now lives in Texas. The topics in his books range from Men in Black, UFOs, Cryptozoology and other paranormal topics. His latest book, just released this month, is titled Top Secret Alien Abductions.
In this episode, we discuss his latest book. However, the majority of the show is regarding the topic of his 2010 book, FINAL EVENTS and the Secret Government Group on Demonic UFOs and the Afterlife. In a recent interview on Open Minds UFO Radio, investigative journalist George Knapp discussed the influence religious government insiders had in squashing funding of UFO and paranormal investigations. He referenced Nick’s work investigating religious cabals in the government. Just this week, Luis Elizondo, former head of the recently revealed UFO program, wrote an article for To the Stars Academy of Arts and Sciences in which he claimed these same insiders ruined his predecessor’s career.
Open Minds UFO Radio: Chris is one of the hosts of the Mad Scientist Podcast. He received his Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering focusing on the study of nanomaterials for use as catalysts and adsorbents from Northeastern University. He has a bachelors degree in chemical engineering and philosophy from the University of New Hampshire. The Mad Scientist podcast covers the history and philosophy of science and fringe science claims and examines how societies accept technologies and sciences.
In this episode, we discuss the science necessary to prove whether an extraterrestrial civilization made a particular object. We also discuss scenarios related to the discoverers might handle such a discovery, and how mainstream science may react.
Open Minds UFO Radio: Nick Pope – Renewed Government Interest in UFOs
Open Minds UFO Radio: Nick Pope – Renewed Government Interest in UFOs
Open Minds UFO Radio: Nick Pope investigated UFOs for the United Kingdom’s Ministry of Defense (MoD) for several years in the early 1990s. He was skeptical about the phenomenon when he began looking into the matter. However, after having reviewed several credible cases Nick concluded that there was UFOs pose a real mystery, and unidentified vehicles in our airspace could pose a threat to national security. Since he has left the MoD, Nick has authored a book on the UK’s most credible and famous UFO case, Encounter in Rendlesham Forest: The Inside Story of the World’s Best-Documented UFO Incident. He is also a journalist and media commentator.
In this episode, we discuss the renewed interest the U.S. government appears to be showing in the UFO topic since the revelation that the Pentagon has its own UFO research program, that allegedly continues to this day. We discuss the fact that several individuals have addressed congressional subcommittees recently, and what that means to the future of government involvement in UFO research. Nick gives his unique perspective a being one of the few who has worked on a government-sponsored UFO research program. For more about Nick visit: http://nickpope.net/
Watch Nick’s new documentary Aliens at the Pentagon on iTunes:
In the recent world of fringe science, there has been an explosion of interest in so-called meta-materials allegedly “recovered from unidentified aerial phenomena.” Although this announcement has created a great deal of excitement, there has been very little context to these claims. The public, therefore, has no real baseline by which to critique or even understand the claims or methods being employed to confirm the potentially anomalous nature of the material. For example, how can a member of the public understand whether or not the testing methods suggested by a variety of individuals are sufficient? And how will the evidence such testing provides be understood and analyzed by the scientific community, and how best can that be expressed to the general public? In this report our group will give this context, helping the public to construct informed opinions on these testing methods, results, and the very nature of the tests performed.
As a first pass on this analysis, we must understand what questions are being asked. In other words, let’s suppose we were given a piece of material that was believed to have come from another, potentially alien civilization. The challenge presented to our scientific team is to prove whether or not this material really did, or at least most likely must have, come from some non-Earth intelligence. How would we begin to develop a plan to test if the evidence supported this hypothesis? This question can be broken down into a number of significant portions. Firstly, we would want to identify if the material has come from outer space by comparing it to similar materials or samples we find on Earth. Does it show significant enough differences to cause us to believe it did not come from our planet? Second, is there evidence that the material has been engineered or designed in some way? Does it show properties or applications that we wouldn’t expect to occur naturally, or is it engineered or composed in a way to give it specific properties? And third, does it show advanced techniques or knowledge with which we are unfamiliar. Are there super-heavy elements which we have yet to discover here on Earth, does it show crystal structures or solid phases that have not yet been documented by the materials science community, does it show composition and engineering which is beyond the scope of science today?
This artist’s concept depicts Kepler-186f, the first validated Earth-size planet to orbit a distant star in the habitable zone — a range of distance from a star where liquid water might pool on the planet’s surface.
(Image Credit: NASA)
If these three questions are answered in the affirmative and supported by evidence this would be enough to support the hypothesis. This would show that this material is not only from outer space but from a civilization that had engineered it for a specific purpose. Each question answered in the affirmative would be a tremendous milestone for the person who found the material, but not enough to support the extraordinary claim of alien engineering on its own. For instance, if the material were found to be from outer space with evidence of unknown properties it may be a meteorite or other piece of space debris, but not necessarily from another civilization. At the same time, if the material showed evidence of engineering and was also found to have unknown properties it could be from an experimental aircraft or another device that is currently unknown to the public and scientific community. One possibility we cannot ignore here is that our current science may not be able to understand or determine the properties or applications for which a given material has been engineered. This may give a false negative to our question 3 above and lead us to unfairly characterize some samples as not passing the high threshold we have set. Ultimately if a material has been engineered, it is almost implied that there would be a reasoning behind this engineering, some application for which it would be used. Therefore, I would anticipate that although we may not currently understand its application that does not imply that an application was not in mind when the material was initially designed. This suggests that for cases where engineering is suspected as well as a non-Earth point of origin careful consideration must be given to potential applications we do not expect, as well as a variety of tests that may not be obvious to the engineer or scientist.
Materials science is a broad field with applications across the breadth of scientific, engineering, and medical studies. It deals primarily with the analysis and study of solid materials, both in their bulk form (for example the properties of a gallon of sand) and at the level of individual particles (a single grain of sand). This science deals with both crystalline materials, those with repeating patterns of atomic arrangement into what are known as crystalline phases (one of the most well-known examples of a crystalline solid is diamond, although crystals do not need to be gem-like, for example, salt), and amorphous solids, those without repeating atomic arrangements (one of which is aluminosilicate glass materials such as those used for dishware or windows in homes). Other materials which are well known to the reader are metallic solids such as Iron (a bulk collection of iron atoms held together by shared electrons) and steel (an alloy of iron with other metals, creating a solid mixture of components into a roughly homogeneous material). These materials are all, more or less, simplistic in their composition and manufacturing processes. For the majority of our time as a civilization, we have either mined them from the Earth for our direct use, or performed slight modifications such as melting, remixing, and re-casting to make them more useful. It is potentially true that other civilizations, having obtained the ability to make their way to our distant corner of the universe, will have also had their bronze or iron ages far in the past, and come to roughly the same conclusions as our metallurgists, scientists, and engineers when it comes to how to shape and utilize these materials at the bulk scale (assuming of course that these beings are physical things at all, something that is out of the scope of this discussion).
In recent years, materials engineering has focused on the creation of novel materials for directed applications. In particular, this has focused on the creation of materials with nanoscale properties, those which become apparent at the bulk scale but are due to properties of the material at the scale of 1 x 10-9 meters long. Of particular interest to the study of potentially engineered materials, the behavior of nanoengineered solids is such that they would not, in general, be possible in nature as far as we understand it. These may include the creation of composite materials (e.g. solid particles covered in polymer molecules, layers of unlike oxides and metallic compounds with polymer or soft matter layers, designed or engineering crystal or polymer phases, and others), the creation of non-standard geometries (asymmetrical crystal growth or properties, designed crystal defects at regular positions, pillaring or other mixed porosity structuring), or the creation of materials that are post-synthetically functional (in other words materials that can be reversibly altered through the application of heat, chemical impulse, electromagnetic field, or some other energy/force). Probing structures of this sort is a complicated process, but one which has a tremendous amount of literature background available for the interested scientist or engineer. The pathway is apparent to those with the wherewithal to follow it; however, the jargon and specifics may be confusing and difficult to the interested public. In general, however, there are a number of properties that would be of immediate interest to a material scientist faced with the three hypotheses we have posited above.
2. Atomic and Isotopic Make-Up
The first piece of useful information is what the material is composed of. This question in the first place helps to narrow down our later searches significantly, provides information to hint at the origin point of the material, and may even help us answer if the material has been engineered or not; as has been gone over consistently in the popular articles on this subject one of these tests would include something like EDS (Energy-Dispersive X-Ray Spectroscopy) or XRF (X-ray Fluorescence). In both of these tests, a material sample is bombarded with X-Rays in a test chamber, causing the atoms within the sample to become excited. These excited atoms eventually relax back to their initial ground state, by releasing photons which are then collected by a detector within the test chamber. The released photons are dependent on the atomic number of the elements within the sample, and in some testing methods, the oxidation state of the atoms within the material can be determined as well. These tests provide information on the elements within the sample, as well as a rough estimate of the chemical makeup of the bulk solid. In the unlikely case that the material contains an unknown element, it is these sorts of tests that would show the scientist that further testing should likely be performed. These tests may also suggest the presence of elements we don’t expect to find normally on the surface of the Earth, or even percentages of elements that are uncommonly found. For example, there are elements which are not naturally occurring but instead result from our nuclear weapons testing. Elements of this sort such as Strontium and Cesium would not be anticipated in high percentages in a normal sample of material, although again this would only suggest that the material is not from a standard source and not that it is extraterrestrial in origin.
Another type of information which has been held up as the holy grail of material testing in pop science is isotopic testing and ratio analysis. Isotopes of a given element are defined by their atomic number (the number of protons in their nucleus, which gives the element it’s identity and placement on the periodic table) and their mass (the number of protons and neutrons, each defined as one atomic mass unit, within the nucleus). The relative abundance of an isotope of an element on the surface of the Earth is, very roughly, averaged to give the atomic mass listed on the periodic table for that element. Isotopes vary due to their stability (with radioactive isotopes decaying and therefore becoming less abundant with time), and therefore the relative ratio of isotopes within a given sample would normally be expected to fit within the range of other samples found on the Earth. However, the variation of isotopes across the Earth’s surface can vary significantly, with radioactive testing and other geological or historical factors potentially playing a part. Therefore, it is important to be nuanced and careful in the analysis of these tests, a fact that has not been fully appreciated to date by those claiming to have extraordinary samples. At best isotopic testing would tell us that material is outside of the range of terrestrial samples we usually find, warranting further study by other means. It may also tell us if the sample is from before or after the Earth or even our solar system formed, or what local chemical or geological make up may have looked like over the lifetime of the sample. However, isotopic testing alone is not sufficient to answer the question of whether or not a sample has been engineered or left behind by some advanced civilization.
Isotopic testing is generally performed utilizing magnetic mass spectrometry techniques such as Isotope-Ratio Mass Spectrometry (IRMS) or Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICPMS). In these tests, the material sample is first atomized, either by grinding or very fast heating and dispersion in a carrier solution, which also causes them to take on a net positive or negative charge and thereby become ions. These ions are then carried with the carrier gas or plasma through a magnetic field towards an ion detector. The magnetic field is set up in such a way that ions will be separated from one another based on their mass to charge ratio, a value which is specific to ions of isotopes of a given element. Essentially, isotopes which are heavier will flow more slowly with the carrier gas, and those with higher charges will be more attracted to the magnetic field. This allows us to obtain a readout of the mass to charge ratio of the atoms within a sample, which when compared to a standard set of samples can then be used to determine the isotopes within the sample as well as their relative abundance based on the number of hits the detector reads. The results of these tests can be extremely accurate, down to parts per million of a sample if given the correct calibrations and analysis methods being employed.
Mass Spectrometry Machine at the University of Toronto
(Image Credit: Flickr/Nayuki)
3. Crystallography and Surface Characterization
If an advanced civilization has engineered a material for a specific purpose, one of the avenues to discover the trademarks of this engineering may be in the specifics of the solid components that make up the material. This includes the surface characteristics of the individual solid components (for example are they patterned or etched, do they show evidence of atomic deposition or other surface treatments for growth or sealing, are the surfaces polished or show a lack of imperfections), the porous structure of the support (is the surface area very high, are their complex porous channels that appear to have some separation or adsorption potential, are the pores engineered to include secondary chemical sites for chemisorption or catalysis of some sort), the crystal structure or phase of the components (is it a crystal structure that currently exists on Earth, is it a single crystal compound, does it show multiple materials combined together in a way which is unexpected), and the bulk properties of the solid (how does it respond to temperature, pressure, shear stresses, radiation, etc). The range of possible properties that can be probed in this case is vast; however, there are a few tests which I would consider to be absolutely necessary for a true analysis of any potentially engineered solid. These include X-Ray Diffraction, Pore/Surface analysis via adsorption isotherm, Raman or FTIR Spectroscopy, Electron Microscopy, and Thermogravimetric Analysis/Differential Scanning Calorimetry. These cover the broad gamut of materials characterization, giving a view of the materials properties as they currently exist, and would hint at potential other applications or methods of engineering should they exist.
X-Ray Diffraction consists of the analysis of how an X-Ray beam is diffracted off of a materials crystal lattice. You can imagine a crystal structure like a regularly repeating pattern of atoms, each placed in a fixed position to one another in 3-dimensional space. During X-Ray diffraction, the crystal lattice is bombarded with photons, which are being shot as a beam at a given angle. Photons will interact and collide with atoms within the crystal lattice if they come into contact and be diffracted off of the solids lattice. In X-Ray Diffraction the photons that are diffracted are collected at each given angle and analyzed to determine information about the geometry of the crystal structure, how well defined the crystal is, and even in some cases how much stress or strain the material is under. For our analysis, the first important characterization is if the material is a crystal structure or not. If it is a crystal, is it a sort of crystal structure that we would find in the scientific literature, or is it something novel to materials science? From the hints that we have received so far by those in possession of these materials, we may expect that the solid is layered, or lamellar. These layered solids possess diffraction patterns at the lowest X-Ray angles, between 0.1 and 5 degrees 2 theta (2 thetas being the measured angle of the X-Ray beam). This corresponds to very large spaces between repeating planes, with most layered materials in the open literature showing d spacings of between 10 and 40 Angstroms. This would be a quick and easy test to run and would immediately tell us if the structure is layered in any way which would make it outside of the scope of naturally occurring lamellar structures such as clays or layered hydroxides.
X Ray diffraction patterns at the Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester.
(Image Credit: Flickr/Duncan Hull
Spectroscopy occurs similarly, probing the structure with photons of a given energy and observing the excitation of the material surface to tell us something about the chemical bonds likely present on the material. Raman spectroscopy is generally utilized in this field for metallic structures, although the information obtained in this way is generally limited. The true use of these spectroscopic techniques from a materials science perspective is in the ability to see if there are secondary chemical functionalities present on the material’s surface. For example, we may expect that catalysis or separation applications on some other planet would require the same careful control of chemical binding sites as we use on Earth for our catalysis and separations applications. This would be clear by the presence of secondary chemical species not often found on the surface of solid materials. Sensors on a material surface, coatings for different applications, and other potential surface species adsorbed onto the material being studied (such as debris from entry into the upper atmosphere, chemical species from the atmosphere of where ever this material has been, and other surface alterations) would also potentially be observable from such an analysis. This in tandem with isotherm analysis for porosity and surface area information would also be extremely useful. Materials with very high surface areas may show potential as catalysts or adsorbents and would show at least that the material was likely created and not naturally occurring (surface areas as high as 3000 m2/g have been achieved on Earth, although only for synthetic materials).
Electron Microscopy via Scanning Electron Microscopy and Transmission Electron Microscopy would give information as to the solids bulk surface properties, although outside of that the information gleaned from such analysis is likely to be limited. Of particular interest would be whether the surface is patterned or altered in some way. For example, on Earth we are currently studying the effect of rough surface patterning on anti-bacterial or microbial properties of surfaces, as well as what effect surface etching or patterning can have on the ability to repel or absorb water. We may expect that other intelligences would also find these properties useful to tune and would utilize them to provide beneficial properties to their materials. There may also be other surface patterning alterations which provide additional benefits, for example, radar cloaking or resistance to heat or radiation. On top of that if the material has been fabricated at the micron or bulk scales, then these microscopic techniques would tell that story, providing direct evidence of engineering. Thermal analysis may also provide some benefit, although this would again be limited. TGA and DSC work by heating the material slowly over time and observing what changes are made to the temperature of the material or the weight of the material. This may provide information on organic content, the ability of the material to withstand increased temperatures or heat fluxes, and how the solid behaves under the extreme heat of entry into the atmosphere from space.
4. Current State of Materials Study and Conclusion
As far as can be gleaned from the information available to the general public, it appears that efforts to date concerning the analysis of solids potentially occurring from some unknown civilization have focused on the first class of studies, those concerning the elements making up the material and their isotopes. However, as has been suggested by this work that is only a small portion of the entire picture needed before any definitive conclusions can be made. There are other, more specific tests that would need to be run to determine the potential applications of any material, how it was potentially fabricated, and where it may have come from. However, as any first-year materials science student can tell you, these are the basic analytical techniques which would be utilized for a serious investigation. Of particular concern to the interested public should be any study that purports to give evidence without reporting clearly and in detail their methods, potential sources of error, the accuracy of their measurements, and other information required to replicate their results. Without these pieces of information, it is impossible to verify any claims regarding a material’s properties, let alone more extraordinary claims regarding potential engineering by a non-Earth civilization. It is the authors hope that this report has been informative to the general public, and it is our sincere hope that this work may be of some use to those interested in these subjects who are not sure what to make of extraordinary claims of materials with special properties or exotic origin points.
Prepared by Christopher F. Cogswell, Ph.D. in association with the Scientific Association for the Investigation of Unexplained Phenomena.
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Over mijzelf
Ik ben Pieter, en gebruik soms ook wel de schuilnaam Peter2011.
Ik ben een man en woon in Linter (België) en mijn beroep is Ik ben op rust..
Ik ben geboren op 18/10/1950 en ben nu dus 75 jaar jong.
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