We both estimated it to be between Las Cruces and our house. This would be a distance of approximately 10-15 miles due east of us.
Again, this object was moving faster than an airplane. While it was climbing, I managed to get seven photos of it. In the eighth photo, it just disappeared.
We live in a restricted flight area. Airplanes flying overhead are either already at their flight altitude or if they are lower, they are military.
On March 20, 2005, the time being 0400 hrs, two witneses driving along National Highway No. 35 some 30 km south of Santa Rosa, near the vicinity of Parque Luro, saw a beam or "tube of light" some 50 meters from the paved road surface. Unable to see the source of said light, the noticed that the "tube" was projected from a height of some 8 meters in the air down to the ground, without touching the surface. "It seemed suspended [in mid-air]."
Faced with this circumstance, they slowed their vehicle, detecting that [inside the tube] "it was possible to see two figures in apparent descent, one on top of the other, with their legs slightly raised."
The witnesses add that the "tube" measured approximately 1 1/2 meter wide, was entirely white in color, and allowed [the witnesses] to see that the "the beings wore silvery clothing, like astronaut-type jumpsuits."
They further noticed that the beings "held their arms outstretched, as though carrying some element in their hands while the rest of the arm was slung downward and slightly away from the body".
Faced with the unexpected encoutner and their subsequent feelings of fear, they chose to speed away from the sight,looking back to see that the "tube of light" remained in place as they pulled away from the area.
Translation (c) 2005, Scott Corrales, Institute of Hispanic Ufology.
"Flying Saucer" Recovery At Hart Canyon (Part Three)---- The Witnesses
By Scott Ramsey 8-1-04
[Scott D. Ramsey has been researching the UFO Incident at Aztec since he first became aware of it back in 1988 while on a business trip to the four corners area. He has been aggressively tracking down witnesses and chasing any and all leads since 1990. He has traveled to 28 states in fourteen years, spent hundreds of hours in various archives, interviewed over 60 credible witnesses tied to the event; he has incurred over $200,000 dollars in expenditures during this ongoing investigation. The fruits of his labor will soon appear in his upcoming book about "The Aztec Incident."]
The Witnesses
Witness No.1
One argument against the Aztec Incident waged by critics over the years has claimed a lack of eyewitnesses; in our early research into the “Aztec Incident,” we found it very difficult to speak with anyone from the town that might “go on the record”; I was finding myself returning to the Four Corners area about every six to seven weeks, just as I thought I would. Over many weekends I researched the story, looking for an eyewitness to this historical event. Finally, people slowly started to come forward.
Our first witness was K. Farley. When we interviewed Mr. Farley, he was dying of a respiratory disease. He was on bottled oxygen when we met him north of Phoenix, Arizona. As Mr. Farley later described to me during our three-hour interview, he had been in Durango, Colorado on March 25th, 1948, visiting his Aunt as he was traveling to San Diego, California; he was supposed to meet a friend just north of Aztec (New Mexico) and then continue his drive.
As he arrived early that morning at a planned pick-up spot near Cedar Hill (a small town just north of Aztec), his “friend” told him about a lot of trucks and a police car, seen going out a small dirt road just south of their position. The drivers of the vehicles seemed as though they were in a hurry according to Mr. Farley. Thinking an emergency was underway, the two of them decided to go out and see what the problem was. Mr. Farley and his friend (anonymous) arrived at the mesa, now apparently busy with oilfield workers and what appeared to have been local ranchers.
Mr. Farley and his friend moved toward the west side of the mesa to get a better look at the large disc that sat silently there. Mr. Farley said there wasn’t “any noticeable damage”; the craft was “perfectly smooth on the outside, without any seams or marking except for around the middle of the craft.”
“Mr. Farley also described two police officers at the scene that were talking to the locals. Finally, the one officer walked over to Mr. Farley and his friend and told them that the military had been notified and that they should leave the area at once. Mr. Farley and his friend refused to leave because nobody else seemed to be listening to the officer. Mr. Farley recalls that some of the oilfield workers were climbing all over the damn thing, which he thought was dim-witted given the circumstances; some older folks started yelling at them to get the hell away from it!
Finally, later that morning according to Mr. Farley, the Military did arrive and discuss the incident individually with the people on the mesa. Mr. Farley has claimed they were “threatened with their lives” and sworn to secrecy. Since Mr. Farley was not originally from the area, he could not help me identify who the others might have been.
Witness No. 2
Doug Nolan and Bill Ferguson were employed by the El Paso Gas Company; Doug just nineteen years of age, had just picked up his boss, Bill Ferguson, at 5:00 am and Bill told him they needed to get to Hart Canyon rd., as fast as possible due to a bad brush fire that was spotted near a drip tank. As the two arrived, they were greeted by other oil field workers, who explained that the brush fire was under control, but that they needed to see “something else” on the mesa.
As they arrived at the mesa, Doug said they could not believe what they were looking at; a very large, metallic disc sat silently on the mesa. Doug explained that as they cautiously moved closer, they realized the craft was smooth with no seems, no noticeable rivets, bolts or weld marks. He said that it “looked as if it had been molded.” Doug and Bill climbed up on the craft and looked through a broken porthole. He recalls seeing two bodies slumped over what he thought was a control panel. Other oil field workers were climbing around the craft looking for a way to enter, when others started to arrive and advised the men to move away from the craft. A Mr. and Mrs. Knight (local ranchers running cattle out near the mesa) arrived in their pickup truck and began to walk slowly toward the craft. Nearing daybreak (as Doug would recall) a helicopter started to circle the mesa. Doug said this was unbelievable as well, because he had never seen a helicopter before! (Keep in mind that helicopters had just recently been introduced to the military at that time).
During my interview with Doug he recalled that the first law-enforcement officer to show up acted as though he didn’t know anyone. Doug approached the young officer and asked what they should all do? The officer explained that he was from the town of Cuba, New Mexico and that he had followed the low flying disc in the early morning hours, and then, finally, to the area of Hart Canyon road. He also explained to Doug that the town of Cuba had several sightings over those past few weeks. Doug would later recall that a second law enforcement officer also showed up. This officer was well known by most of the local people at the site.
Now, this ties in with Ken Farley's story about two police officers at the crash site. Doug was able to name everyone at the crash site, with the exception of two young men that stood on the western side of the mesa. He had not seen them prior to nor after the incident.
Witness No. 3
While working for the O.S.S. (Office of Strategic Services), Fred Reed and his group were sent to Aztec, New Mexico to “clean up the crash site,” early in April of 1948. [Reed didn’t work for the O.S.S. (he worked for another clandestine organization of the military) this is an “uncorrected error” that was missed in final editing by Scott.] Shortly after they arrived, it was apparent to them that something very large had been removed from the site. Their specialty was to make an area appear as if nothing had transpired there.
Fred revisited the crash site in 1999; I was able to interview him one week later.
In 1948 they were ordered to collect any foreign items they found and then bury them eighteen inches deep; to ‘soft landscape’ any areas where heavy equipment tracks were visible and to do an extensive survey on the entire mesa. He noted a newly cut road and an out-of-place, large concrete pad in the freshly altered and siltey soil, during the cleanup. Reed recalled thinking that they must have poured it to support a heavy structure, like a crane, used to move a large object.
At the time of the cleanup, his group was informed that it was simply a crash site. The entire cleanup was done in the usual quiet manner that they were accustomed to in the O.S.S. [O.S.S. is incorrect.] Years later, one of Reed's former Senior Officers would explain to him that it was not an aircraft crash, but that of a large metallic “flying disc.”
In my interview with Reed, he commented on how the crash site today looked as they had left it when they had finished. He recalled that the tops of the trees were broken and was fascinated with how they had weathered with time.
Witness No. 3
During our research on the Aztec Incident, we came across a name in several old declassified reports. This person kept receiving all the UFO reports. We figured since this person was getting all the “good reports,” maybe he would know something about the Aztec Incident; trying to keep this article in reasonable length, I’ll skip to the details on our interview after two years of hard research in tracking him down.
When I first contacted him by phone, I explained that I was doing research on his old Air Force group and that I would love to sit and interview him. He agreed and we met at a Hotel lobby bar for a drink on a cold winter night. I brought with me most of the files that I had declassified that talked about his Intel group from back then. I wasted little time in getting to the Aztec questions. He slowly and reluctantly talked about the Aztec Crash as he called it. He admitted that he was not at the crash site, but did read daily Intel reports on the clean up and progress of the removal.
His job was to keep track of the people at the site and carefully monitor all reports. He was stationed at Walker Field (Formerly Roswell Army Air Field) in March of 1948. He explained to me that everything was very compartmentalized during the recovery operation. His job was mainly to keep Personnel files on everyone involved and make sure that the records would never show them in that part of the country. He did see black and white photos of the “extremely large craft.” He told me during our interview, that after the botched attempt at Roswell, they were getting better at their Intel.” He explained to me that the only person he ever discussed this with was his wife before she passed away. When I asked him on how the Military felt about Frank Scully’s book, he recalled that the Military was not so upset with Frank Scully, but very concerned as to “who leaked the story to Scully.”
He was very good about confirming certain details about some of my questions, but very reluctant on some items. He told me that the work force at the site consisted of about 200 persons during the two-week recovery; “that” he could easily remember, because of the huge paperwork process that he did daily. He provided some clues to the crash-site, not knowing what we had obtained so far; it was great to hear some confirmations from him.
He mentioned a small delay in the first few days of the recovery do to some problems with a fresh cut road. The soil near the crash site was very moist and sandy and created problems moving in some heavy equipment.
He told me to look for some “footers” or “ concrete foundations” that had to be poured in order for the equipment to be stable. He did not remember exactly what equipment, but when I mentioned a crane, he thought that was correct. When asked where this craft was taken, he explained that he would not have been privileged to that information. However, after the recovery he explained, he was responsible for reclaiming some of the equipment that was used. The equipment he recalled, was at Los Alamos.
Witness No. 4
Virgel Riggs was a young man in the Air Force back in the early sixties. He had just arrived at RAF Welford near Newbury, Berkshire area of England. He had been at the base one month when he met a fellow Airman named John Doe. [Name withheld by author.] Upon learning that Virgel was raised in the Four Corners area of New Mexico, John was very curious to learn if Virgel had ever heard of the “Aztec UFO story.” Virgel responded that he had heard the story growing up as a child; as time went on, and Virgel and John became close friends, John tells Virgel that the Aztec UFO story was not just an old wise tale as some thought it was. When Virgel asked John what he meant by that, John stated that “that he was part of the recovery team in the aftermath of the ‘Aztec Incident.’”
This obviously shocked Virgel but he had no reason to doubt what his good friend was telling him. A year or two, later, John was shipped off to Viet Nam, and Virgel has never seen him since. During the past year, we have been looking for John Doe. By a stroke of luck, as Virgel was going through some records that he kept, he found a copy of some orders that listed John Doe and his AF #. We are currently trying to find John Doe, as it turns out that “John” was his nick-name.
So the Aztec story goes on from here. Our research continues as we speak. I have traveled to over 28 states, interviewed 60 credible people, traveled to several archives, and spent over $ 200,000.00 of our own money!!
This article is simply an overview of some of the Aztec research that we have done in sixteen years. The research continues and will continue until we feel that we have looked at every aspect of this Historical Event. Undocumented History has and always will be our driving force in researching this event.
Peter Jennings Defrauding: Inside The ABC News UFO Documentary Hoax
A Participant In The ABC's "The UFO Phenomenon -- Seeing Is Believing" Critique's The Result
Scoop Independent News By Steven M. Greer MD Director, The Disclosure Project 3-28-05
Of course, the title of the show was `Peter Jennings Reporting…' – if only that were so. This is the story of how, once again, the corrupt Big Media has defrauded the American people, from one who had a front row seat to the spectacle.
In the summer of 2004, as founder and director of The Disclosure Project ( www.DisclosureProject.org) I was approached by Jennings Productions producer Jordan Kronick. He explained how ABC News was going to make history by doing a serious expose of the UFO matter – for the first time on network news.
Initially skeptical – we have seen and heard this song and dance before - I agreed to meet with Kronick at our offices in Washington DC. Over the course of several hours, we discussed the subject and how The Disclosure Project had identified several hundred top secret military and government witnesses to UFO events and projects.
Kronick expressed great interest and repeatedly stated that this is exactly what Jennings, chief producer Mark Obenhaus and he were looking for. I offered to provide, pro bono, ALL Disclosure Project digital videotape interviews and full access to ALL Disclosure Project witnesses willing to cooperate with ABC News – including those witnesses not yet taped by us.
The reader at this point needs to know that these are not fuzzy, blacked-out deep throats anonymously telling stories of the night. These are hundreds of military, government and corporate insiders who have been identified by us over the past 14 years. They range from Generals, to Astronauts, to senior FAA officials who were privy to events, projects and cover-ups involving UFOs. Additionally, we have thousands of pages of uncontested official government smoking gun documents and physical evidence, photos, videos, landing trace events and other unambiguous proof.
The ABC News production team claimed to want exactly this type evidence – and especially the high-level government and military insider whistle-blowers who could credibly blow the lid off of decades of secrecy.
As a two-hour news special, ABC claimed that they could, at long last, give the subject the focus and rigor needed to achieve this objective.
But as discussions continued, it became more and more clear that Obenhaus and Jennings really wanted to do a human interest story – including anecdotal civilian witnesses, man-in-the-street interviews and the general silly season and carnival atmosphere surrounding most things ufological.
We agreed to cooperate with the filming of a CSETI (Center for the Study of Extraterrestrial Intelligence) research expedition to Mt. Shasta in August of 2004, at which time we were able to have discussions with Obenhaus, the senior producer in charge of the project.
We were incredulous as Obenhaus revealed to us that he was sure the matter was not really being kept secret but had just `fallen through the cracks' due to lack of follow through, laziness and so forth on the part of the government! It was clear he had not studied the data or evidence given to him, and had his mind made up to do a `light', human interest piece and not a real expose or research project.
This was later confirmed when, as summer turned to fall, the long promised serious research and interviews they claimed they wanted to do with these top-secret government witnesses were never followed up. I spoke a few more times to Kronick, who promised a sit down interview and follow- up with these high-ranking and conclusive witnesses. They never did.
Instead, the final ABC News show was weaker in evidence than most tabloid cable channel pieces on the UFO subject – with the bulk of the `documentary' being interviews with UFO personalities, debunkers and the carnival atmosphere of UFO hotspots like Roswell.
They fraudulently appeared to be ` balanced' by having both skeptics and `believers' – with the clear implication that the skeptics were `real scientists' and the `believers' were misguided flakes. Using the ruse of media `objectivity', ABC News would asymmetrically show, say, a Harvard scientist skeptic juxtaposed against an civilian who thought he had been sexually assaulted by aliens!
The few, very brief interviews with pilots and military people were overwhelmed by the spurious, carnival-like pseudo-ethnography of the UFO subculture mixed in with long segments of scientists pooh- poohing the entire matter.
While appearing objective and `balanced' to the general viewer, the project was, rather, a disinformation piece, carefully crafted to give the mere appearance of objectivity.
Otherwise, why spend so much air time interviewing UFO personalities, media figures and the like – while completely leaving out ALL high-ranking military, government and scientific witnesses and evidence given directly by us to them?
In light of the range and scope of material that we personally gave them, it is incomprehensible why ALL of it would be omitted – unless it was their intent from the beginning to do a disinformation and cover-up piece.
Why else would Peter Jennings state that the US Government has been out of the UFO matter since 1969, when Project Blue Book was closed, even though he and his team were directly given by us, official US government documents, senior government whistle-blower testimony and physical evidence – including radar tapes – to the contrary? Why would Jennings feature uninformed scientists rhetorically asking `where's the physical evidence' when abundant physical evidence is available and was offered to him?
Why indeed. We have received a CIA document from 1991 that clearly states that the CIA has contacts in the big media to change, kill or spin stories. From this document, dated 20 December 1991, and released 1 April 1992, to the Director of Central Intelligence from the Task Force on Greater CIA Openness, on page 6:
"PAO [the Public Affairs Office] now has relationships with reporters from every major wire service, newspaper, news weekly, and television network in the nation. This has helped us turn some intelligence failure stories into intelligence success stories…In many instances, we have persuaded reporters to postpone, change, hold or even scrap stories…"
And from a CIA document regarding the psychological warfare implications of UFOs, we find a reference to Disney Studios, now the parent company of ABC, being used as a source for doing cartoon-like portrayals of the subject for psychological warfare purposes. Can we be surprised ABC News has, again, defrauded the American people – only pretending to do news and real investigative reporting when in reality they are purveying disinformation to an accepting public?
Obenhaus, without any research or foundation in fact, went so far as to personally assert to me that the hybrid government – corporate complex is not keeping new energy, propulsion and related technologies hidden from the public! His prejudice on the matter was profound and unwavering: forget the facts, my mind is made up.
It is hard to reconcile ABC News' claims to doing a serious expose and investigative report when the senior producer of the project, without any investigation or research, espouses such closed-minded conclusions at the outset.
Those who know me, know that I like to stay positive, present the affirmative facts and present the promise of an advanced, sustainable civilization on earth benefiting from the knowledge of these new technologies. But it is time for the American people to wake up to the fact that the big media and their corporate masters are the central problem blocking the truth from coming out. As a former board member of Time Warner told me, the big media has become scribes taking dictation from the right hand of the king – and the fourth estate is essentially dead.
A CALL TO ACTION
The American people must demand that ABC News correct its fraudulent assertions – and do a real investigative report on the serious evidence, government documents and courageous military whistle- blower testimony that The Disclosure Project and others have identified. The reader may obtain much of this evidence from www.DisclousreProject.org.
Write Peter Jennings at ABC News at: support@ABCNews.go.com and demand an honest investigative report.
Additionally, please contact the FCC and register your complaint regarding the transparent fraud perpetrated by ABC News on the American public. Remember: ABC News, as a broadcast network, is given by the FCC access to the public airwaves. In exchange, we have the right to hold ABC News, as well as the other networks, to fairness, accuracy and honesty -and certainly to avoid blatant fraud and corruption. This was not the ABC entertainment division that perpetrated this fraudulent report on the American people, but its news division. That they would sanitize such an important two hour report of nearly all credible evidence and government insider witnesses requires that we demand a hearing on the matter by the FCC immediately. Who induced Obenhaus and Peter Jennings to cover-up this important evidence? Why? ABC News cannot claim ignorance on the matter as they were directly given extensive testimony and evidence, none of which appeared in the program.
Contact the FCC at www.fcc.gov.cgb.complaints.html and demand an immediate investigation into this matter and demand that the FCC require ABC to retract its false statements and present the evidence which they possess but are hiding from the American public.
And lastly, support Disclosure in any way you can. Help us get the truth out. Tell people about http://www.DisclosureProject.org where they can find the truth about this important matter. And help us identify backers who will help us start a new – and honest- news outlet that will truthfully report on these and related projects that are illegally kept secret from the public. Is it not time for us to form a news network –The Disclosure Network- that will produce and air real investigative reports on a wide range of government and corporate corruption? Matters now left completely hidden by the complicity of big media need to be known by the people if we are to renew and protect democracy and disclose the technologies now hidden and suppressed that could replace oil and nuclear power and give us a sustainable, peaceful world.
We can no longer trust ABC news or the rest of the big media to do this. We, the people, must take on the task of getting the truth out – and salvaging what is left of our democracy and planet. Big media, who have become shills for their corporate masters, are incapable or unwilling to tell the truth. It is time we did it for them.
Friday, April 1st, 2005 will mark the “Eighth Annual UFO Symposium”; it will be held at the “Aztec Convention Center,” located at 101 S. Park - Aztec, New Mexico 87410.
This year’s event will bring back a familiar face in Dennis Balthaser; “The Truth Seeker and renowned Ufologist” from Roswell, New Mexico to be “Master of Ceremonies.” Dennis is an independent researcher, journalist and lecturer who moved to Roswell in order to pursue his quest; Dennis' focus is the “Roswell Incident”; however, his research extends to investigations of Area 51, underground bases and ancient Egypt.
Dennis is a Certified Mutual UFO Network Field Investigator and belongs to the “Great Pyramid of Giza Research Association, as well as several other “UFO related” organizations.”
Featured speakers include:
Linda Moulten Howe John Greenewald Jr. Rob Swiatek Dr. David Rudiak Susan Swiatek Jim Hickman Moreen Scully Travis Walton Scott D Ramsey
Linda Moulton Howe has been a proponent of the “Aztec Incident” for quite some time; she’s an Emmy award winning television producer, reporter and author. She will address “UFO crash retrievals” and the government’s denial/cover-up” of the events.
John Greenwald Jr. (who I like to call “The Kid”) will also be speaking. He is the young man behind the “The Black Vault”; a web-site comprised of more then 181,000 government documents retrieved via FOIA requests. In addition his site has archived has over 10,000 news articles as well 14,000 photographs. He began his UFO trek at the age of “15!” He’s a published author, and at the ripe old age of “23,” he’s in the process of developing a series for TV. He will tackle the “government’s involvement with UFOs-past and present.”
One of the most “hair-raising, factual” accounts of “alien abduction” is that of “Travis Walton,” a former logger whose narrative begins in the mountains of northeastern Arizona back in 1975. His experience was detailed in the hit movie “Fire in The Sky,” and later a book “in his own words” of the same name. The event will be “relived” through his lecture on his experiences.
Canadians Leery of 'Missile Defense System' With NORAD
NORAD at turning point in mission
By Pam Zubeck The Gazette 3-28-05
Canada wants to opt out of NORAD’s Star Wars mission, which could foreshadow changes in the way the United States fights the war against terrorism.
The two nations are negotiating the first post-Sept. 11 agreement for operation of the North American Aerospace Defense Command, based at Peterson Air Force Base.
The United States wants NORAD to add monitoring of maritime and land threats to its 47-year-old mission of watching the skies and space. The U.S. also wants to add a system to shoot down enemy missiles.
Canada’s decision to opt out of the missile defense system could be a sign that other areas of cooperation are in jeopardy, some experts fear.
Noted Parapsychologist Fernando Jimenez del Oso-Dead at 63
La Estrella Digital (EFE, Madrid) 3-28-05
Parapsychologist Fernando Jimenez del Oso dies at age 63 at Madrid's La Princesa Hospital
Jimenez was the author of books and articles on magic, spiritism, the occult, divination, UFOs and other mysteries -- subjects that intrigued him from a young age.
Fernando Jimenez del Oso, doctor of psychiatry and parapsychologist, died yesterday at age 63, as confirmed by sources in Madrid's La Princesa Hospital. Born in Madrid in 1941, he studied medicine at Universidad Complutense, specializing in psychiatry, which he practiced for many years.
He wrote books and dozens of articles and was the editor of encyclopedias and collections such as "La Puerta del Misterio" on magic, spiritism, the occult, divination, UFOs and other mysteries which fascinated him since his youth. He established and edited a number of specialized publications, such as "Mas Allá" and also devoted himself to reporting in an infinity of radio and TV programs.
In early 1976 he took over the "Mas Allá" program and returned to television in 1982 with "La Puerta del Misterio". That very same year the series "La España Mágica" commenced, devoting 13 chapters to the subject of UFOs. He subsquently hosted the "Punto de Encuentro" shwo.
In 1989 he wrote, directed and presented two television documentaries on Mexican and Peruvian culture with the titles "El Imperio del Sol" and "El Otro Mexico".
By Patrick L. Barry, Dr. Tony Phillips Science @ NASA 3-28-05
By measuring the shape of space with exquisite precision, NASA's Gravity Probe B aims to confirm Einstein's theory of relativity ... or provide the first evidence against it.
This year marks the 100th anniversary of a revolution in our notions of space and time.
Before 1905, when Albert Einstein published his theory of special relativity, most people believed that space and time were as Sir Isaac Newton described them back in the 17th century: Space was the fixed, unchanging "stage" upon which the great cosmic drama unfolded, and time was the mysterious, universal "clock in the sky."
Even today, people commonly assume that this intuitive sense of space and time is correct. It's not.
Einstein's 1905 paper, along with another one he published in 1915, painted an entirely different and mind-bending picture. Space itself is constantly being warped and curved by the matter and energy moving within it, and time flows at different rates for different observers. Numerous real-world experiments over the last 100 years indicate that, amazingly, Einstein was right.
Deep impact spacecraft to 'meet' comet on July 4: NASA
By Peter Goodyear EarthTimes.org 3-27-05
NASA today confirmed that its Boulder-built Deep Impact spacecraft would keep its July 4 date with comet Tempel 1. However, officials are trying to determine why one of the cameras on the craft got blurred.
NASA said that the High Resolution Instrument had got some moisture on it during the time it was waiting for the Jan 12 launch. Engineers have tried to bake-out the moisture but the focus is still not picture perfect.
Rick Grammier, Deep Impact project manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), said, "This in no way will affect our ability to impact the comet on July 4. Everyone on the science and engineering teams is getting very excited and looking forward to the encounter."
He added the all other instruments on Deep Impact are in excellent condition. The sensors and other gadgets on the craft are expected to collect data on the material that is hurled out of the comet after the collision.
The July 4 mission has been undertaken to probe the origins of solar system. The spacecraft is expected to crash into the comet at a speed of 23,000 mph. The Hubble, Spitzer and Chandra space telescopes will observe the effect of the collision.
This mission will be the first one to get a detailed view of the inside of a comet.
SCOTTSDALE - Dr. Lynne Kitei was perfectly happy being a family physician and health educator before she reluctantly came forward to tell the world about her experiences with unexplained phenomena.
She and her husband, Frank, also a family physician, had seen strange lights more than two years before the 1997 "Phoenix Lights" event.
"As a physician, I went through a lot of years trying to let this sink in. I was resistant to it, too, because I am a scientist," she said.
Kitei said she hopes her documentary, The Phoenix Lights, touches people and educates them.
"Something is out there. I don't know what these things are. I just know that they are," she said.
The documentary has sparked renewed debate over what Arizonans saw eight years ago. Was it flares? An airplane formation? Top-secret military craft? UFOs?
Just north of the almost-Ghost Town of Hooper in Colorado's beautiful and weird San Luis Valley, there's a truly oddball roadside attraction known as the UFO Watchtower. Local rancher Judy Messoline opened the elevated viewing platform (and the required gift shop full of Flying Saucer trinkets & gewgaws) to capitalize on the valley's long history of bizarre aerial phenomena and the wave of UFO-conspiracy teevee shows in the 1990s.
Visitors know they're getting close when they see the 3-foot tall plywood aliens along the roadside. But the humorless anti-American drones of the Colorado Department of Transportation, otherwise known as CDOT, have decided the colorful little critters must go:
Nancy Shanks, a CDOT spokeswoman, said the state recognizes the need for directional signs for tourism. Blue signs with white lettering are available for that purpose.
"The state law mirrors the national law on roadside beautification. These laws on roadside advertising are in place for very specific reasons, from highway safety, uniformity, maintenance and highway beautification," Shanks said.
She said the Department of Transportation is making a special effort to remove illegal signs in southwest Colorado, where a new employee is taking a fresh look at the violations.
In Messoline's case, the alien signs are on her property. She owns a section of land that is split by Colorado 17. The business is on the west; the signs are on the east. They are therefore illegal because they are not contiguous to the business.
An 8-foot alien on the west side of the road is allowed because it's next to the business.
"I feel it is harassment. I honestly feel it's harassment," Messoline said. "What they want us to do is buy the CDOT signs, the little blue signs with the arrow. Well, you can't even read them. They're $250 a year per sign."
That's right, the signs in question are on the lady's own property.
The UFO Watchtower isn't the only tourist attraction in the area that will suffer from CDOT's zealous attempts to rid the area of its local charm and local businesses: Jay Young, owner of the Colorado Alligator Farm, also on Colorado 17, estimates that 50 percent of visitors drop by because they have seen one of the attractions' signs on private property.
"Our livelihood comes from those signs. Realistically, we can't survive without those signs," Young said.
"I feel that it's encroaching on our freedom, our freedom of speech as well as our right to promote our tourist-oriented business," he says. "It's going to be hard for us to deal with."
Even if the petty bureaucrats win this alien war, the tower will remain ... and you can rest assured that Messoline's UFO viewing platform will continue to be surrounded by myriad representations of the standard big-headed big-eyed alien in various shades of green and gray.
The UFO Watchtower is 2.5 miles north of Hooper on Colorado Highway 17. There are "primitive campsites" available, and summer usually sees some sort of crazy festival or another.
If the Watchtower's not enough to bring you to the San Luis Valley — the largest alpine valley in the world — how about the Great Sand Dunes National Park & Preserve, the Nature Conservancy's majestic Medano-Zapata Ranch, the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railway (the longest narrow gauge railroad in North America) and the Sangre de Cristo and San Juan mountain ranges?
Those interested in the paranormal will find much to see, too. Start by reading this two-part article from 1996, "The Mysterious San Luis Valley."
If someone told you there was a single geographic region with indigenous legends telling of doorways used by star people piloting flying seed-pods, hundreds of UFO sightings, the first publicized unusual animal death case, waves of cattle mutilations, bigfoot encounters, alien abductions, rumors of secret underground bases and the world's most unusual sand-dune desert, would you believe them? And if they told you a large phantom fire was recently reported in this area to local sheriffs by NORAD during a (still continuing) "UFO sighting flap," or that it was a place where various localized spook lights lurk up the road from towns where a legendary devil makes occasional appearances, all within sight of privately owned 14,000-foot mountains, would you believe such a place existed?
Welcome to south-central Colorado and north-central New Mexico's San Luis Valley.
Jupiter will rise at 7:14 this evening about six degrees south of due east. Although the eastern sky will be dominated by the full moon, Jupiter will be its second brightest object, much brighter than anything else nearby.
Look at Jupiter with a small telescope or good binoculars anytime before 10:48 p.m. and you will see all four of the moons discovered by Galileo in 1610. Europa will be about three Jupiter diameters above and to the right of the planet.
In one version of classical myth, Europa was the daughter of Aegenor, king of Phoenicia. Zeus, who had an eye for young women, was attracted by her beauty. Taking the form of a white bull, he abducted her and carried her away from Phoenicia to Crete. Minos, one of the three sons she bore him there, later became the island's king.
Europa is slightly smaller than our moon and nearly twice as far from Jupiter as our moon is from Earth. Europa orbits the giant planet once every 85 hours.
Like nearby Io, Europa's interior appears to be mostly silicate rock, but it probably lacks the iron core responsible for Io's significant magnetic field. Before the 1979 Voyager flyby, terrestrial telescopes had shown that Europa's surface was covered mostly with water ice.
Astronomers were nevertheless surprised by the Voyager photographs of Europa's face. This moon of Jupiter turns out to have the solar system's flattest surface, with features that appear strikingly similar to those of the pack ice covering Earth's Arctic Ocean. Moreover, instruments carried by the Galileo spacecraft detected weak and variable magnetic fields around Europa, fields of the type that might be generated by electric currents flowing through salty water.
It turns out that everything we have so far seen or measured on Europa is consistent with the existence of a relatively warm and salty subsurface ocean of liquid water, perhaps 50 to 100 miles deep, lying at most a few miles beneath its icy crust. It is this ocean's surprising presence that makes Europa rival the planet Mars as a possible haven for extraterrestrial life.
But getting down there to look for it is not going to be easy.
Jon Nance is a professor emeritus at Southwest Missouri State University.
Extraterrestrial Minerals, The End of Dinosaurs and Colossal Asteroid Impact!
Mystery minerals formed in fireball from colliding asteroid that destroyed the dinosaurs
Physorg.com 3-23-05
Scientists at the American Museum of Natural History and the University of Chicago have explained how a globe-encircling residue formed in the aftermath of the asteroid impact that triggered the extinction of the dinosaurs. The study, which will be published in the April issue of the journal Geology, draws the most detailed picture yet of the complicated chemistry of the fireball produced in the impact.
The residue consists of sand-sized droplets of hot liquid that condensed from the vapor cloud produced by an impacting asteroid 65 million years ago. Scientists have proposed three different origins for these droplets, which scientists call "spherules." Some researchers have theorized that atmospheric friction melted the droplets off the asteroid as it approached Earth's surface. Still others suggested that the droplets splashed out of the Chicxulub impact crater off the coast of Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula following the asteroid's collision with Earth.
But analyses conducted by Denton Ebel, Assistant Curator of Meteorites at the American Museum of Natural History, and Lawrence Grossman, Professor in Geophysical Sciences at the University of Chicago, provide new evidence for the third proposal. According to their research, the droplets must have condensed from the cooling vapor cloud that girdled the Earth following the impact.
Ebel and Grossman base their conclusions on a study of spinel, a mineral rich in magnesium, iron and nickel contained within the droplets.
Sign rule means 2 roadside aliens may not be long for this world
By Erin Emery Staff Writer Denverpost 3-23-05
The Colorado Department of Transportation plans to seize Judy Messoline's aliens, a move she believes is an invasion of intergalactic proportions.
Messoline's aliens are red, made of plywood and stand 3 feet tall. The signs point tourists to the UFO Watchtower, her business along Colorado 17 north of Alamosa where tourists watch for UFOs in an area noted for such sightings.
CDOT says Messoline's signs are illegal.
This month, the department sent letters notifying property owners that signs advertising businesses are illegal if located within 660 feet of a highway right of way and not on the businesses' properties.
Now she has to take the signs down within 60 days.
"That's going to hit right at our tourist season," Messoline said. "If we don't have those signs up, the tourist traffic is going to go right on by. To take away our directional signs is going to kill us."
One hundred years ago, Albert Einstein revolutionized physics.
March 23, 2005: Albert Einstein was exhausted. For the third night in a row, his baby son Hans, crying, kept the household awake until dawn. When Albert finally dozed off … it was time to get up and go to work. He couldn't skip a day. He needed the job to support his young family.
Walking briskly to the Patent Office where he was a "Technical Expert, Third Class," Albert worried about his parents. They were getting older and frail, and his relations with them were strained: they didn't approve of his marriage to Mileva.... Albert glanced at a passing shop window. His hair was a mess; he had forgotten to comb it again.
Work. Family. Making ends meet. Albert felt all the pressure and responsibility of any young husband and father.
To relax, he revolutionized physics.
In 1905, at the age of 26 and four years before he was able to get a job as a professor of physics, Einstein published five of the most important papers in the history of science--all written in his "spare time." He proved that atoms and molecules existed. Before 1905, scientists weren't sure about that. He argued that light came in little bits (later called "photons") and thus laid the foundation for quantum mechanics. He described his theory of special relativity: space and time were threads in a common fabric, he proposed, which could be bent, stretched and twisted.
Oh, and by the way, E=mc2.
Before Einstein, the last scientist who had such a creative outburst was Sir Isaac Newton. It happened in 1666 when Newton secluded himself at his mother's farm to avoid an outbreak of plague at Cambridge. With nothing better to do, he developed his Theory of Universal Gravitation.
For centuries historians called 1666 Newton's annus mirabilis, or "miracle year." Now those words have a different meaning: Einstein and 1905. The United Nations has declared 2005 "The World Year of Physics" to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Einstein's annus mirabilis. (Nobel prize winners and other top scientists will meet with the public next month to discuss Einstein's work. Would you like to join them?)
Modern pop culture paints Einstein as a bushy-haired superthinker. His ideas, we're told, were improbably far ahead of other scientists. He must have come from some other planet--maybe the same one Newton grew up on.
"Einstein was no space alien," laughs Harvard University physicist and science historian Peter Galison. "He was a man of his time." All of his 1905 papers unraveled problems being worked on, with mixed success, by other scientists. "If Einstein hadn't been born, [those papers] would have been written in some form, eventually, by others," Galison believes.
What's remarkable about 1905 is that a single person authored all five papers, plus the original, irreverent way Einstein came to his conclusions.
For example: the photoelectric effect. This was a puzzle in the early 1900s. When light hits a metal, like zinc, electrons fly off. This can happen only if light comes in little packets concentrated enough to knock an electron loose. A spread-out wave wouldn't do the photoelectric trick.
The solution seems simple--light is particulate. Indeed, this is the solution Einstein proposed in 1905 and won the Nobel Prize for in 1921. Other physicists like Max Planck (working on a related problem: blackbody radiation), more senior and experienced than Einstein, were closing in on the answer, but Einstein got there first. Why?
It's a question of authority.
"In Einstein's day, if you tried to say that light was made of particles, you found yourself disagreeing with physicist James Clerk Maxwell. Nobody wanted to do that," says Galison. Maxwell's equations were enormously successful, unifying the physics of electricity, magnetism and optics. Maxwell had proved beyond any doubt that light was an electromagnetic wave. Maxwell was an Authority Figure.
Einstein didn't give a fig for authority. He didn't resist being told what to do, not so much, but he hated being told what was true. Even as a child he was constantly doubting and questioning. "Your mere presence here undermines the class's respect for me," spat his 7th grade teacher, Dr. Joseph Degenhart. (Degenhart also predicted that Einstein "would never get anywhere in life.") This character flaw was to be a key ingredient in Einstein's discoveries.
"In 1905," notes Galison, "Einstein had just received his Ph.D. He wasn't beholden to a thesis advisor or any other authority figure." His mind was free to roam accordingly.
In retrospect, Maxwell was right. Light is a wave. But Einstein was right, too. Light is a particle. This bizarre duality baffles Physics 101 students today just as it baffled Einstein in 1905. How can light be both? Einstein had no idea.
That didn't slow him down. Disdaining caution, Einstein adopted the intuitive leap as a basic tool. "I believe in intuition and inspiration," he wrote in 1931. "At times I feel certain I am right while not knowing the reason."
Although Einstein's five papers were published in a single year, he had been thinking about physics, deeply, since childhood. "Science was dinner-table conversation in the Einstein household," explains Galison. Albert's father Hermann and uncle Jakob ran a German company making such things as dynamos, arc lamps, light bulbs and telephones. This was high-tech at the turn of the century, "like a Silicon Valley company would be today," notes Galison. "Albert's interest in science and technology came naturally."
Einstein's parents sometimes took Albert to parties. No babysitter was required: Albert sat on the couch, totally absorbed, quietly doing math problems while others danced around him. Pencil and paper were Albert's GameBoy!
He had impressive powers of concentration. Einstein's sister, Maja, recalled "...even when there was a lot of noise, he could lie down on the sofa, pick up a pen and paper, precariously balance an inkwell on the backrest and engross himself in a problem so much that the background noise stimulated rather than disturbed him."
Einstein was clearly intelligent, but not outlandishly more so than his peers. "I have no special talents," he claimed, "I am only passionately curious." And again: "The contrast between the popular assessment of my powers ... and the reality is simply grotesque." Einstein credited his discoveries to imagination and pesky questioning more so than orthodox intelligence.
Later in life, it should be remembered, he struggled mightily to produce a unified field theory, combining gravity with other forces of nature. He failed. Einstein's brainpower was not limitless.
Neither was Einstein's brain. It was removed without permission by Dr. Thomas Harvey in 1955 when Einstein died. He probably expected to find something extraordinary: Einstein's mother Pauline had famously worried that baby Einstein's head was lopsided. (Einstein's grandmother had a different concern: "Much too fat!") But Einstein's brain looked much like any other, gray, crinkly, and, if anything, a trifle smaller than average.
Detailed studies of Einstein's brain are few and recent. In 1985, for instance, Prof. Marian Diamond of UC Berkeley reported an above-average number of glial cells (which nourish neurons) in areas of the left hemisphere thought to control math skills. In 1999, neuroscientist Sandra Witelson reported that Einstein's inferior parietal lobe, an area related to mathematical reasoning, was 15% wider than normal. Furthermore, she found, the Slyvian fissure, a groove that normally extends from the front of the brain to the back, did not go all the way in Einstein's case. Might this have allowed greater connectivity among different parts of Einstein's brain?
No one knows.
Not knowing. It makes some researchers feel uncomfortable. It exhilarated Einstein: "The fairest thing we can experience is the mysterious," he said. "It is the fundamental emotion that stands at the cradle of true art and true science."
It's the fundamental emotion that Einstein felt, walking to work, awake with the baby, sitting at the dinner table. Wonder beat exhaustion, every day.
By John Johnson, Times Staff Writer Los Angeles Times 3-23-05
Astronomers have for the first time measured the reflected light of planets outside our solar system, a breakthrough that could advance the search for habitable worlds in deep space.
Two teams of researchers announced their findings Tuesday about two Jupiter-sized planets 153 and 489 light-years from Earth.
Has a UFO been spotted in Penghu?! A tourist taking photos in Penghu harbor accidentally captured the image of an unidentified object in the sky. We've taken the photo to have it examined by professional photographers, and they confirm that the photo has not been digitally-manipulated.
It’s a beautiful night-time vista of Penghu Harbor -but a mysterious unidentified object appeared in the sky above the ocean. The object looked like a light bulb glowing in the dark sky. The tourist who accidentally caught the image with his camera was surprised when he spotted the light in the sky.
“I saw the UFO glowing in the sky for 1 or 2 seconds. Then it disappeared.”
Mr. Hsu said that he and other family members took a trip last month to Penghu. While they were taking photos of the nighttime scenes there, he spotted the light in the sky. He immediately used his brand-new digital camera to record the image.
“When I saw it, I immediately clicked on my digital camera. That’s how I caught it.”
Is the image the result of the photo having been digitally altered on a computer?
“We checked on the disc, and found that the photo has not been digitally-manipulated.”
Professional photographers have confirmed that the image was not placed there using a computer. But what exactly is the mysterious glowing object? Mr. Hsu said that he will send the photo over to the Flying Saucer Foundation, in hopes that they will be able to identify it.
San Francisco- The Mysterious Flying Light That Hovered Over St. Mary's College, Oakland, and Then Started for San Francisco; It Is Exactly Like That Described By Sacramentans, and Similar to the Cut Published a Few Days Ago in "The Call" a Description Furnished by The One Who Saw It.
The Air Ship of 1896 (Part One) By Frank Warren 3-19-02
On November 17th 1896 the Sacramento Evening Bee reported that a man named Leon was building a "flying machine" in Hoboken N.J., and he had told his friends he would cross the continent in two days. In fact, his friends accepted invitations to join him on this adventurous trip, with his new futuristic flying machine. Although Leon was very hush-mouthed about his project, one of his associates claimed that he already perfected the machine and it had risen to a height of two hundred feet in Chicago.
Feschino & Gordon at 4th Annual Pennsylvania Paranormal Conference
By Frank Warren 3-21-05
Gettysburg Pennsylvania–“Frank C. Feschino and Stan Gordon” were among the keynote speakers at this year’s “4th Annual Pennsylvania Paranormal Conference.”
Feschino is the author of the recently published book, “The Braxton County Monster,” a chronicle of an eerie UFO crash/encounter that took place over 50 years ago in Braxton, West Virginia.
According to eyewitnesses, “a group of schoolboys saw a UFO maneuver across the sky and seemingly fall to Earth . . .. The boys and two adults headed off to look for the object. Soon a twelve-foot tall being from the downed craft terrified these innocent people. This being became known as ‘The Flatwoods Monster,’ or ‘The Braxton County Monster.’”
Shortly before this horrific UFO encounter, several Air Force F94 Starfire jet fighters were reported missing while on a routine training mission. Although an extensive search was performed, the pilots and crews of the planes were never found, and the missing men were declared dead; records of the incident remain elusive.
The next day, Sept 13th, a family of Flatwoods also encountered the so-called, “monster.”
The afore mentioned events all took place in a 24 hour period; Feschino in his book endeavors to elucidate the incident(s) that took place in this rural area so many years ago.
“Stan Gordon” is the primary investigator for the UFO incident that occurred in Kecksburg, Pennsylvania; on December 9, 1965, a UFO landed near Kecksburg; it was described by eyewitnesses as “a fireball in the sky” and was seen in several U.S. states as well as Canada.
A multitude of witnesses were involved in this event, including firefighters, policemen, reporters from “print and radio sources,” and eventually the military arrived on seen.
Initially the official report was of a meteor falling in the area, but that was later reversed, and the powers-that-be denied anything happened at all!
By Colette Bancroft St Petersburg Times Floridian 3-20-05
FORT MYERS - The building wasn't designed for spaceships.
The graceful stucco structure that houses the Southwest Florida Museum of History was built for another kind of transportation. When it went up in 1923, it was the Fort Myers depot for the Atlantic Coast Line railroad.
Since renovation in 1982, it has housed the museum's collection of artifacts from Florida's past: dugout canoes and giant shark jaws, memorabilia from wars and railroads, old photos of families with names that match those on the city's street signs.
But since January, the biggest draw in the place - the biggest draw in its history - pulls visitors to the museum's back corner. The sign at the door says, "Area 51. Warning: Restricted Area. No trespassing beyond this point."
Above it, the title is superimposed over a photo of an empty patch of New Mexico brittlebush and sage: "The Roswell Exhibit."
This exhibit has nothing at all to do with Florida. Matt Johnson, who has been the museum's general manager for four years, says he was reluctant at first to bring in the traveling exhibit, which was produced by the International Museum Institute of Texas.
"Once I got a look at the exhibit, I was more comfortable with it," Johnson says. "It's really a scholarly look at the Roswell incident. It shows both sides.
Kudos to the First Amendment Center's Freedom-of-Information-Day Conference!
By Larry W. Bryant Director of CAUS (Citizens Against UFO Secrecy) 3-18-05
The "usual suspects" (i.e., white males over/near fifty, including at least one USAF colonel) were there, amidst the 120-or-so members of the audience during the annual conference coinciding with National FOI Day, held March 16, 2005, at the Arlington, Va.-based headquarters of the First Amendment Center. But one couldn't help noticing, as well, a healthy sprinkling of minorities, women, and young people in the crowd.
Despite a dearth of sunshine outside the building, the event's attenders, speakers, and panelists displayed lots of enthusiasm for the eclectic mix of "sunshine"-on/from-the-government topics, issues, lessons learned, inspirational tips, and morale reinforcement in these times of excess government secrecy and of additional hurdles tossed into the path of FOIA-armed seekers of heretofore undisclosed official information.
During breaks in the conference, I had the chance to meet for the first time such luminaries as Michael Ravnitzky, that young, indefatigable FOI powerhouse from Silver Spring, Md. Also on hand was investigative reporter Patrick Clawson, who'd helped CNN look into the now-famous 1980 Bentwaters (England) air base's encounter with an alleged alien spacecraft.
And, at Day's end, a Texas newspaper editor, upon his spotting my name-tag identity as director of the Washington, D.C., office of Citizens Against UFO Secrecy, approached me with a question: "Larry, how much success have you had in getting the federal freedom of information act to help you gain information for your cause [CAUS]?" Noticing that he was jotting down my response, I presumed he was going to write something about my FOI experiences, pro and con -- so I offered to fill him in (or up!) via subsequent e-mail. Alas, in the rush of adjournment, I forgot to mention to him my latest FOI success story -- not federal but STATE: via my use of the New Mexico open-records act to acquire a copy of the various citizens' correspondence sent to N.M. governor Bill Richardson several months ago in response to his suggestion that the Roswell UFO-crash-landing/retrieval operation of 1947 be reinvestigated. (Look for my article on that material to appear shortly in a special issue of the monthly newsstand magazine FATE.)
Also attending the event was a representative from my home-town newspaper, the Newport News, Va., Daily Press, which, on March 13, carried a frameable editorial extolling the virtues of greater, easier citizen access to the inert iceberg of official-records holdings.
White-male-over-fifty Paul McMasters's deft hand at orchestrating and leading the conference deserves as much praise as I can muster here, and I'm certain that James Madison (born on March 16th) and the other National Founders would've been quite proud of his leadership. Thank you, sir, and your associates, for giving me this opportunity to bask in, and learn from, your wealth of wisdom, counsel, and good-hearted repartee. See you next year!
Determining if a UFO is terrestrial or extra-terrestrial - Look for glowing lights around Extra-terrestrial UFOs, which manifest the subdued high intensity electromagnetic flux
Are all UFOs Extra-terrestrial? No, they are not. Many of the sightings are illusions and also are unknown experimental terrestrial aircrafts. But how do you distinguish between an extra-terrestrial UFO and a terrestrial UFO. According to some researchers there is a way to distinguish between terrestrial and extra-terrestrial UFOs.
Most UFOs are associated with some lights. According to these researchers, if you can see the light in the aircraft, it is a terrestrial UFO. Extra-terrestrial UFOs do not have lights similar to our aircrafts. In case of Extra-terrestrial aircrafts, the light that is visible comes from the subdued high intensity electromagnetic flux. The extra-terrestrial UFOs are mostly invisible. But the high intensity electromagnetic flux that surrounds them does emit visible spectrum of light when the flux intensity is brought down somewhat. That is exactly what happens when the extra-terrestrial UFOs bring their speed down to sonic levels. The electromagnetic flux surrounding the flying object is removed for a short while or the intensity brought down considerably. At that point of time one can see some glowing lights without any visible aircrafts associated with it.
Let us make one thing clear here. The high intensity electromagnetic flux that we are talking about, expressed in Maxwell or Weber is far beyond human imagination. Even the strongest super conductors that we know of are not capable of generating such high intensity electromagnetic flux.
Computer models have shown that very high intensity electromagnetic flux in a subdued mode does emit unpredictable visible spectrum of light. That is exactly what we humans can see in bare eyes. The glowing light unfortunately does not stay for long because the extra-terrestrial UFOs increase the intensity of the electromagnetic flux for stealth purpose after reaching the desired stable speed. That is the main reason why people sometimes see these glowing lights for a short while, and by the time they try to get a camera or other eyewitnesses, these lights are gone.
Computer models are showing the UFO flight patterns with the simulated high intensity electromagnetic flux around them. The goal of these models is to recreate simulated sightings so that the fight patterns, stealth, navigation systems and propulsion systems can be reverse engineered.
There are currently various efforts going on around the world to receive signals from alien intelligences. These go by the general name of SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence). The basic idea is that sensitive radio telescopes are pointed at likely sources and record any radio signals they receive. These signals are then analysed to see if there is any indication that they might be artificially generated.
Unfortunately, there are many natural sources of radio waves in space, so it may be hard to pick out a message from the background noise. One of the main problems in SETI is the amount of computing power required to analyse the vast amount of data recorded by the radio telescopes. One ingenious solution is the SETI@home project. This involves installing a small program which runs in the background on your computer. When your computer has some idle time, it downloads some data from the Internet and starts analysing it, uploading the results when it has finished. By distributing the work amongst many computers (over five million people have joined the SETI@home project) everything proceeds a lot faster.
Let’s suppose we do at some stage detect a clearly artificial alien signal. I am sure there would be a huge debate about whether or not to respond, but assuming that we did reply, the possibility of striking up an interstellar conversation arises. What kind of messages would be sent? Without any common language or background, how could we send messages that aliens would understand?
These subjects have been discussed at great length and the favoured scenario is to send pictures based on a rectangular array of dots where, for example, a ‘1’ means a dot and a ‘0’ represents no dot. Then we would send a signal which repeats, for example, every 10609 dots; the aliens should realise that as 10609 can only be factored in one way (it is the square of the prime number 103) the idea is that the dots should be arranged in a square array, forming a picture. By sending a series of pictures, eventually some sort of vocabulary could be built up and allow a significant exchange of information to take place.
I suspect that this method involves a lot more anthropocentrism than one might expect. Of course, one would ‘naturally’ send the dots from left to right and top to bottom. Why? Because that’s the way we write. But wait a moment ... not all human languages are read from left to right and top to bottom, so even amongst different human peoples it would be easy to get the picture reflected or upside down. With aliens the problems are going to be immeasurably worse. They might not see in pictures at all, or they may think in vector graphics rather than bitmap graphics, and so on.
Another important point is the motivation behind communicating in the first place. Why have the aliens sent us a signal? The assumption usually seems to be that an alien civilisation would ‘naturally’ send us lots of information about their science, technology and culture. However, this seems to me an unrealistic expectation.
Rochester Man Studies UFOs with a Historian's Tools
By Mark Hare The Rochester Democrat & Chronicle 3-17-05
Richard Dolan has never seen a UFO. But he believes they are real. Don't roll your eyes.
Dolan is a historian and researcher by trade. He has never had any interest in science fiction. If extraterrestrials have visited Earth, Dolan doesn't claim to know where they've come from or what they want.
He does believe, though, that the subject is worthy of inquiry.
Dolan, a Brooklyn native, earned a history degree from Alfred University, studied at Oxford University, and then studied American Cold War diplomacy at the University of Rochester in the 1990s. He earned a master's degree in history.
He left academia because he didn't want to spend his life "begging for adjunct instructorships." He now runs his own professional résumé writing service.
His passion, however, is researching and writing about UFOs. He has been a contributor to The History Channel, has written dozens of articles and, in 2000, published Volume One of UFOs and the National Security State: An Unclassified History. The book documents global UFO encounters from 1941 to 1973. Just in those years, he says, the book documents about 250 UFO encounters involving the military. He is working on a second volume that would present evidence through the 1990s.
"I have gone from the standard academic track to the fringe," he says, "and the fringe is the best place to be."
He has collected loads of official documents released to many researchers over the years through Freedom of Information Act requests.
At first, he says, American intelligence worried that the Soviet Union might have perfected the technology of extremely high- speed craft that can stop in midair and turn on a dime. That turned out not to have been the case, but the reports of sightings continued for decades.
As every television viewer knows, the government has long dismissed sightings as mistakes. Either witnesses have mistaken weather balloons or atmospheric conditions for unusual aircraft or they are hallucinating.
But when you have trained pilots telling similar stories, you have to listen, he says. "I would hesitate to use the words 'extraterrestrial spacecraft' in describing these things. This could well be so — but I really try to be less definitive. Call me picky, but I would simply describe them as military encounters with unconventional craft that vastly exceed our own capabilities."
You have to be skeptical of reports, but not closed-minded. So what's credible?
"I look at a few things. First, a detailed (Freedom of Information Act) report is something I consider credible," Dolan says. "A photograph that has gone through extensive analysis" is also credible.
In fact, he says, people need to be far more open to possibilities we cannot imagine. Might creatures capable of traveling vast distances have more sophisticated ways than low-flying metallic hovercraft to survey the Earth? A reasonable assumption, he says, but who knows?
In 1994, Dolan kind of stumbled into the field of UFO research, knowing quite well that most of the world finds the subject amusing, if not nuts. It doesn't bother him.
He has pursued his material methodically because, as he says in the introduction to his book, "this topic deserves a respectable history."
Dolan will speak on "UFOs, National Security and You" from 6 to 8 p.m. Monday, March 28, at Brighton High School. Advance registration is required. Call (585) 242-5191.
Underground Extra-terrestrial UFO bases all around the world – a mind boggling theory
Staff Reporter India Daily 3-17-05
Geologists in the East and West coasts are busy understanding a new theory that shows possible underground UFO bases all around the world.
According to this theory the UFO bases are along the interface of the seven large and many small tectonic plates meet each other. According to the UFO researchers, the underground UFO bases are deep under the ground where multiple tectonic plates push on top of each other. For example the Indian plate and Eurasian plates colliding against each other along the Himalayas makes it an ideal locations.
According to this theory, the UFO bases need to be deep under the ground because the UFO crafts need to be close to the mantle of the earth. Servicing of these crafts can be done in that electromagnetic environment only. In addition according to this theory the crust must be as thick as possible in that area. That is only available where one tectonic plate moves on top of another tectonic plate.
The UFO researchers are now predicting that there are many UFO bases at the sub-tectonic level. Most of these are in remote areas or under the ocean.
The UFO vehicles according to these researchers are fuelled and serviced in an environment that has much higher electromagnetic flux.
UFO Propulsion System - Bending time and space India Daily Staff Reporter 3-17-05
Defense Scientists and Engineers are finally starting to understand the ultimate propulsion system that can make instantaneous space travel possible. The UFOs use this propulsion system to travel great distances instantaneously.
The speed of light is 670,000,000 miles per hour – a number no human being can ever stand in any craft for a long time. Does that mean UFOs are unmanned or extra-terrestrial beings are totally different? It is possible but not likely. Theory of evolution in the Universe says that intelligent life forms are abundant in the Universe but they have evolved in a similar way.
Traveling even at the speed of light (670,000,000 miles) is just not enough to cover distant destinations in the Universe. For example even at that speed traveling from one constellation to another may take hundreds of years.
Then how can one travel such great distances in a short span of time? This is the million-dollar question that has made every country in the world keep quiet about UFOs and cover up their existence and interaction. Every country believes they will be the first to uncover the technology of “flash travel” which is the term used in traveling from point A to point B in the Universe instantaneously.
To understand the concept, imagine you have to travel from New York to New Delhi, two points in the opposite sides of the globe. Now think you have the technology of freezing time and then get back to current time. At 9AM (or any other time of a particular day), you take the instance of the globe and freeze it for travel. Now assume the globe is made of paper or some other flexible material. Now you deform the globe and bring NY and New Delhi touch each other. Then travel instantaneously from NY to New Delhi instantaneously because the distance is really very little since you deformed the globe. After completing the travel you put the globe back to its original configuration. And you transfer yourself to the current time.
This may seem complex but actually once the technology is mastered it is really simple. Another way to understand this is to hold a piece of rectangular paper in your hand. Bring the two opposite corners of the rectangular piece of paper together and make them touch each other. Now the distance between the two opposite corner is really zero.
Bending space and time is the concept where you do not travel to the destination; you bring the destination close to you. This is exactly how UFOs travel from one destination to another. That is the reason why those who are waiting with their telescope in the open sly to find UFOs will never find them.
Scientists and Engineers are now perplexed trying to understand how that kind of space travel is possible. The answer lies in using something known as dark energy. The dark energy allows disintegration or deformation of space. There are some early indications that dark energy also allows isolating time dimensions.
Physicists and Engineers are researching the use of dark energy. The purpose is to understand the process of bending the space and time. That requires UFO flight patterns; sighting information and a mathematical algorithm to back calculate their flight positions in a more than three dimensional geometry. Computer models are helping. We do not have the technologies to capture or isolate time dimension. Can you draw a block or a cube on a piece of paper? Yes, you can. It is called an isometric drawing
It is the process of drawing a three-dimensional drawing on a two dimensional paper. Similarly, complex algorithms are allowing reverse engineering the UFO Time and Space bending in a medium that is three-dimensional. The resulting map is showing the space and time (four dimensions) in a three dimensional environment.
Sometimes you wonder what any one can gain by spending so much time and money to hide and cover up all the UFO information? Why so much ridicule around something every country in running after since 1890? The answer is the fact that any one who can master this time and space bending technology will be ahead of others by many years.
There are early indications that scientists and engineers have got an early indication to the concept of bending time and space using dark energy. Interestingly, the whole concept starts with Einstein’s Theory of Relativity.
Sonora, California - Dr. Mark Olson reports that on March 10th he captured yet another video of a "triangular shaped craft" with "golden colored lights" coming over Lyons Bald Mountain. He states that "the object moved faster than those previously seen over Sonora it was totally silent, and did not have the FAA signal lights that are required on all conventional aircraft."
Ruben Uriarte, the Northern California Mufon State Director is currently investigating the matter; he's said, ". . .there are a number of other sightings in Northern California and we are checking with Mark's sightings events for any correlation . . .. There is something unusual occurring in Sonora; with Mark and a number of other people's assistance, we may get some answers. Time will tell."
For more information and to view the images of the numerous sightings in Sonora, visit Mark's web-site:
Pentagon Has Far-Reaching Defense Spacecraft in Works Bush Administration Looking to Space to Fight Threats
By Walter Pincus Washington Post Staff Writer 3-16-05
The Pentagon is working to develop a suborbital space capsule within the next five years that would be launched from the United States and could deliver conventional weapons anywhere in the world within two hours, defense officials said.
This year, the Falcon program will test a launcher for its Common Aero Vehicle (CAV), an unmanned maneuverable spacecraft that would travel at five times the speed of sound and could carry 1,000 pounds of munitions, intelligence sensors or other payloads. Among the system's strengths is that commanders could order a CAV -- an unpowered glide vehicle -- not to release its payload if they decided not to follow through with an attack.
The first-generation CAV, expected to be ready by 2010, will have "an incredible capability to provide the warfighter with a global reach capability against high payoff targets," Gen. Lance W. Lord, commander of Air Force Space Command, told the House Armed Services Committee last Wednesday.
Within the next three years, the Falcon program hopes to enter a second stage of the effort: flight-testing two versions of a reusable hypersonic cruise vehicle, sometimes referred to as a space plane, that could travel a suborbital path, about 100,000 feet high, carrying a CAV anywhere in the world. Unlike a missile, the vehicle could return to its base after releasing the CAV to deliver bombs or intelligence sensors.
The Falcon program vehicles "will improve the military's ability to quickly position intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance payloads, while reducing its reliance on forward and foreign basing," Anthony J. "Tony" Tether, director of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), told a Senate Armed Services subcommittee last week.
While most public attention today focuses on meeting threats abroad with traditional land, sea and air forces, the Falcon program reflects how the Bush administration is increasingly looking to space to meet dangers it anticipates.
The use of space "enables us to project power anywhere in the world from secure bases of operation," says the Pentagon's national defense strategy, which Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld signed on March 1. Among the key goals in the strategy paper are "to ensure our access to and use of space and to deny hostile exploitation of space to adversaries." The strategy paper, done every four years, provides the policy basis on which the armed services plan their research, development and acquisitions of weapons systems. This year's strategy, Rumsfeld wrote, "emphasizes the importance of influencing events before challenges become more dangerous and less manageable."
In congressional appearances over two weeks, Lord, Tether and other senior Pentagon officials have described a variety of new space initiatives for meeting challenges such as updating intelligence and communications satellite programs and even fielding systems that would allow the United States to temporarily silence enemy satellites if the need arose.
Space communications have already become important to U.S. warfighting. As Lord put it, "Our most recent operations in Afghanistan and Iraq prove our nation relies on capabilities coming from and through space more than ever before." For example, more than 60 percent of all communications at the height of Operation Iraqi Freedom came through satellites, which also guided munitions to targets and today transmit intelligence from the United States directly to troops fighting in the field.
Looking to the future, the defense strategy calls for the use of space vehicles that provide capabilities beyond the current intercontinental missiles to thwart any future adversaries that move to prevent U.S. use of land or sea bases.
Such abilities, Lord told the House members, are dubbed "prompt global strike" and represent "a top priority for our space and missile forces." Because CAVs, unlike missiles, can be recalled, they could be launched toward a potential target even before a final decision was made to attack. The system could, Lord said, "deliver a conventional payload precisely on target within minutes of a valid command and control release order."
The capability offered by CAV would also reduce the need for overseas bases and enable the United States "to react promptly and decisively to destabilizing or threatening actions by hostile countries and terrorist organizations," according to DARPA's early solicitation for bids put out in mid-2003.
John E. Pike, director of GlobalSecurity.org, a nongovernmental defense think tank, said yesterday that the Falcon and CAV programs will allow the United States "to crush someone anywhere in world on 30 minutes' notice with no need for a nearby air base."
In addition to creating attack weapons, the Pentagon is working on new defense systems to protect the ever-more-important satellites the United States has in space.
"I think everybody that I know in the United States military and the Department of Defense understands the important role that our space assets play in our national security," Gen. Richard B. Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told the House Armed Services Committee last Thursday.
Last October, the Pentagon announced deployment of its first mobile ground-based system that could temporarily disrupt satellite-based communications from an enemy satellite. The counter-communications system uses powerful electromagnetic radio frequency energy to silence transmissions from a satellite in a way that is reversible if the need passes. Two more units are due later this year.
There seems to be a lot of unnecessary confusion about that Santili autopsy film, and there is no reason for it, if one was to look at the realities.
When we screened the copy autopsy footage at our International UFO Congress that first year, when it came out and was being questioned by everybody, A man who offered credentials purporting to show that he was a government man from NRC, approached Graham Birdsall from England, publisher of the slick UFO Magazine out of Leeds, in England, and told him that the film was a fake produced by opportunists who had mutilated the body of a 12 year old dead girl from Dallas, for that film.
Evidently that man was unaware of the second autopsy film, also filmed by the same cameraman, of another identical cadaver that did not have the severe wounds to the right leg and wrist, now requiring the mutilation of a PAIR of identical twins, if that story was the case. Of course that was the real falsehood, deliberately perpetrated by a man claiming he was from a government agency.
Let us not forget that the specimen of original film of that autopsey sequence, tested by Robert Shell, Editor of a popular American Photography Magazine, proved that the film was manufactured by Kodak in 1947, was bought in bulk by the U. S. Government and was used within 4 months of its manufacture. The actual photographer described the site of the UFO recovery, its exact location and the events of the time when the U. S. Army had closed off the area of the impact and moved all residents in the area within site of the residue to motels and away from the scene. He described these details to Michael Hesemann, who came over here from Germany, made up a team consisting of myself, Ted Loman and his crew and my daughter Cece Stevens, and we went over to the scene and worked the site and area for 3 days confirming the evidence we had.
That recovery was _not_ from the Roswell crash as seems to be popularly believed, but was from the first of such crashes a month earlier on 1 June 1947, 7.2 miles west of Soccoro. There were 4 living survivors at the scene when the Army team and photographer arrived. A general, heading the team from Washington, accompanied by the Army photographer, upon hearing that the occupants had never let go of the black boxes they clutched closely to their breasts, ordered a sentry to bring him one of the boxes.
The sentry went over and tried to take the box from the injured one. It would not let go, and the sentry bashed it in the head and took the box. That was the one autopsied in the film shown by FOX TV. The occupants were all taken away, supposedly to White Sands, and the wreckage was also recovered by the White Sands recovery team.
The second one, also autopsied a short time later was also filmed by the same photographer.
To put Michael Hesseman down for his role in this is a disgrace, as he is the only one I know of who really went there and did the spadework. I was with him. I know this was strictly real, and there is no doubt about it in my mind.
The real 16mm film was so brittle from improper storage that it could not be run through a projector, and had to be transferred to video tape frame by frame to get what we all worked with.
To put this film down, in my view, reflects a certain amount of ignorance of the true facts.
Combining observations with ESO's Very Large Telescope and ESA's XMM-Newton X-ray observatory, astronomers have discovered the most distant, very massive structure in the Universe known so far.
It is a remote cluster of galaxies that is found to weigh as much as several thousand galaxies like our own Milky Way and is located no less than 9,000 million light-years away.
The VLT images reveal that it contains reddish and elliptical, i.e. old, galaxies. Interestingly, the cluster itself appears to be in a very advanced state of development. It must therefore have formed when the Universe was less than one third of its present age.
The discovery of such a complex and mature structure so early in the history of the Universe is highly surprising. Indeed, until recently it would even have been deemed impossible.
Serendipitous discovery
Clusters of galaxies are gigantic structures containing hundreds to thousands of galaxies. They are the fundamental building blocks of the Universe and their study thus provides unique information about the underlying architecture of the Universe as a whole.
About one-fifth of the optically invisible mass of a cluster is in the form of a diffuse, very hot gas with a temperature of several tens of millions of degrees. This gas emits powerful X-ray radiation and clusters of galaxies are therefore best discovered by means of X-ray satellites (cf. ESO PR 18/03 and 15/04).
It is for this reason that a team of astronomers [1] has initiated a search for distant, X-ray luminous clusters "lying dormant" in archive data from ESA's XMM-Newton satellite observatory.
Studying XMM-Newton observations targeted at the nearby active galaxy NGC 7314, the astronomers found evidence of a galaxy cluster in the background, far out in space. This source, now named XMMU J2235.3-2557, appeared extended and very faint: no more than 280 X-ray photons were detected over the entire 12 hour-long observations.
A Mature Cluster at Redshift 1.4
Knowing where to look, the astronomers then used the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope (VLT) at Paranal (Chile) to obtain images in the visible wavelength region. They confirmed the nature of this cluster and it was possible to identify 12 comparatively bright member galaxies on the images (see ESO PR Photo 05b/05).
The galaxies appear reddish and are of the elliptical type. They are full of old, red stars. All of this indicates that these galaxies are already several thousand million years old. Moreover, the cluster itself has a largely spherical shape, also a sign that it is already a very mature structure.
In order to determine the distance of the cluster - and hence its age - Christopher Mullis, former European Southern Observatory post-doctoral fellow and now at the University of Michigan in the USA, and his colleagues used again the VLT, now in the spectroscopic mode. By means of one of the FORS multi-mode instruments, the astronomers zoomed-in on the individual galaxies in the field, taking spectral measurements that reveal their overall characteristics, in particular their redshift and hence, distance [2].
The FORS instruments are among the most efficient and versatile available anywhere for this delicate work, obtaining on the average quite detailed spectra of 30 or more galaxies at a time.
The VLT data measured the redshift of this cluster as 1.4, indicating a distance of 9,000 million light-years, 500 million light years farther out than the previous record holding cluster.
This means that the present cluster must have formed when the Universe was less than one third of its present age. The Universe is now believed to be 13,700 million years old.
"We are quite surprised to see that a fully-fledged structure like this could exist at such an early epoch," says Christopher Mullis. "We see an entire network of stars and galaxies in place, just a few thousand million years after the Big Bang".
"We seem to have underestimated how quickly the early Universe matured into its present-day state," adds Piero Rosati of ESO, another member of the team. "The Universe did grow up fast!"
Towards a Larger Sample
This discovery was relative easy to make, once the space-based XMM and the ground-based VLT observations were combined. As an impressive result of the present pilot programme that is specifically focused on the identification of very distant galaxy clusters, it makes the astronomers very optimistic about their future searches. The team is now carrying out detailed follow-up observations both from ground- and space-based observatories. They hope to find many more exceedingly distant clusters, which would then allow them to test competing theories of the formation and evolution of such large structures.
"This discovery encourages us to search for additional distant clusters by means of this very efficient technique," says Axel Schwope, team leader at the Astrophysical Institute Potsdam (Germany) and responsible for the source detection from the XMM-Newton archival data. Hans Boehringer of the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics (MPE) in Garching, another member of the team, adds: "Our result also confirms the great promise inherent in other facilities to come, such as APEX (Atacama Pathfinder Experiment) at Chajnantor, the site of the future Atacama Large Millimeter Array. These intense searches will ultimately place strong constraints on some of the most fundamental properties of the Universe."
Biology Students Learn to Scan the Stars for Signs of Life
Spaceref.com 3-15-05
You have to learn to crack eggs if you're going to cook an omelet.
You have to jump in the water if you're going to learn to swim.
And you have to get your hands on telescopes that can search for signs of life beyond Earth if you're going to study extraterrestrial biology.
That's why 14 University of Washington graduate biology students will be at Kitt Peak National Observatory this week (March 17 - 21) to learn observing techniques from University of Arizona and National Optical Astronomy Observatory astronomers.
The UW students are specializing in a new science called "astrobiology" that involves studying biological processes on the Earth and beyond. It's a multidisciplinary science that combines research in physics, chemistry, biology, astronomy and planetary science.
The astronomy faculty and biology students will use Kitt Peak's world-class telescopes to study interstellar molecules, the sun, and sun-like stars that may be capable of supporting life. Interstellar molecules are molecules of chemical compounds in the space between the stars and the "building blocks" of astrobiology.
The telescopes and faculty involved in the program are:
The Kitt Peak 12-meter (40-foot) Telescope, part of UA's Arizona Radio Observatory, directed by Lucy Ziurys, UA professor of chemistry and astronomy. Ziurys and Steward Observatory's Aldo Apponi will conduct the lab, "Interstellar Molecules as Probes of Star Formation and Prebiotic Chemistry."
The McMath-Pierce Solar Telescope. Mark Giampapa, deputy director of the National Solar Observatory, will lead sessions in solar astronomy that measure magnetic fields and spectra of the sun as analogs to sun-like stars.
The 2.3-meter (90-inch) Steward Observatory Bok Telescope. UA astronomy Professor Nick Woolf, director of LAPLACE, and Steward Observatory's Daniel Apai and Paul Smith will conduct a lab on "Optical Spectroscopy of Young Sun-like Stars." LAPLACE is the Tucson-based Life and Planets Astrobiology Center, part of the NASA Astrobiology Institute.
The 2.1-meter (83-inch) Kitt Peak National Observatory Telescope. Michael Meyer, UA assistant astronomy professor, and UA astronomy graduate student Wayne Schlingman will use a near-infrared camera on the telescope for their lab sessions on "Near-Infrared Imaging of Extremely Young Star Clusters - Investigating the Formation of Sun-like Stars."
The Wisconsin-Indiana-Yale-NOAO (WIYN) 0.9-meter (35-inch) Optical Telescope. Astrophysicist William Sherry and Steward Observatory's Nick Siegler will lead a lab on the "Optical Imaging of Extremely Young Star-Clusters - Investigating the Formation of Sun-like Stars."
Kitt Peak Public Viewing Telescopes. Kitt Peak staff will assist the biology students in observing and photographing the night sky.
Other participants in the exchange include:
* Jonathan Lunine of the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory * Woody Sullivan of UW * Tom Olien, UA visiting professor from Humber College, Toronto * Anna Spitz, manager of the LAPLACE program * Cathi Duncan, LAPLACE program coordinator
The UW students' visit to Kitt Peak is part of a 2005 exchange program being sponsored by LAPLACE and UW. UA astronomy students will conduct marine biology field work, courtesy of the UW, next fall.
LAPLACE is a node of the NASA Astrobiology Institute, an international research consortium that studies the origin, evolution, distribution and future of life on Earth and in the universe. For more on LAPLACE, see http://www.laplace.arizona.edu.
As rovers and orbiters continue to scour Mars for more signs of water and the potential for extraterrestrial life, space scientists and enthusiasts are champing at the bit to put humans on the red planet.
In recent months, spacecraft roaming and orbiting Earth's closest neighbor have identified regions where large supplies of water may be accessible from the surface. They have also located areas where gases such as methane could support oxygen-producing bacterial life.
Such discoveries are raising the possibility that life lives on Mars today, did so in the past, and with the help of humans, could do so in the future. To find out for sure, space scientists and enthusiasts say humans need to travel to Mars.
"There's no question we'll ultimately go there. It's a matter of when, not if," said Lynn Rothschild, an astrobiologist at the NASA Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, California. (Astrobiology is a branch of biology that searches for extraterrestrial life-forms.)
Robert Zubrin is the president of the Mars Society, a Colorado-based organization that promotes human exploration and settlement of the red planet. He said the technology exists to put humans on Mars within a decade.
"We are much closer to being able to send humans to Mars today than we were to being able to send men to the moon in 1961, when [United States President John F. Kennedy] started the Apollo program," Zubrin said.
Under the leadership of Kennedy, humans first set foot on the moon July 20, 1969. Given similar visionary leadership, Zubrin said, humans can walk on Mars within the decade and begin the process of colonization.
Mars Colony
The surface temperature of Mars is –81° Fahrenheit (–63° Celsius). The planet is bombarded by ultraviolet radiation, and its atmosphere is about 95 percent carbon dioxide.
While such conditions are less than ideal for Earthlings, there's "nothing about Mars today except [ultraviolet] radiation on the surface that would preclude life from surviving there," Rothschild, the NASA astrobiologist, said.
Any life would need to be shielded from the high levels of ultraviolet radiation on the surface and presumed oxidants, she added.
Rothschild noted that surviving is different from thriving, multiplying, and spreading. For humans to thrive on Mars and to have a continued presence there, they will need to transform the atmosphere and climate to suit human needs: The atmosphere needs to be full of breathable oxygen and the climate warm enough for liquid water.
Many scientists believe that billions of years ago, Mars was a warm, wet place. Such conditions may have been more hospitable to life. Scientists also believe that the red planet can be transformed to support life again, including human colonies.
The process of transforming a planet to make it hospitable for humans is known as terraforming. NASA scientists, groups such as the Mars Society, and Internet-based communities such as Red Colony continually discuss how to colonize and terraform Mars.
While no single method or process is considered best, Rothschild said the common goal is breathable air and drinkable water. "If you get oxygen and liquid water, you can do a whole lot," she said.
Risky Exploration
Rothschild's major concern about human exploration of Mars is that the mere presence of humans will contaminate the planet and potentially compromise any life that may be there.
"If you're trying to look for indigenous life and you contaminate the area, it will be difficult to prove it's not just something you brought along with you," she said.
Zubrin said not to worry. Modern biological techniques allow scientists to determine the genetic identity of any microorganism.
By way of example, Zubrin pointed to the anthrax attacks in Washington, D.C., and New York City in the fall of 2001. "Scientists were able to determine that the microbes in question were not only anthrax, but that the anthrax stock in question originated from a lab in Ames, Iowa and, furthermore, that the [anthrax] had been taken from the Ames lab in 1987," he said.
Zubrin said scientists, using similar techniques, could determine if microbes potentially found on Mars are from a space-launch site on Earth, from material ejected during an asteroid impact millions of years ago, or truly Martian life-forms.
Rothschild, meanwhile, pointed out the potential political risks of endorsing Mars colonization. She said human lives may be lost during trips to Mars and few politicians have the will to allow astronauts to die under their watch.
"But there are plenty of people who are willing to take that risk," she said. "There are people who will take a one-way ticket to Mars. There are plenty of volunteers."
"Flying Saucer" Recovery At Hart Canyon (Part Two)
By Scott Ramsey 8-1-04
[Scott D. Ramsey has been researching the UFO Incident at Aztec since he first became aware of it back in 1988 while on a business trip to the four corners area. He has been aggressively tracking down witnesses and chasing any and all leads since 1990. He has traveled to 28 states in fourteen years, spent hundreds of hours in various archives, interviewed over 60 credible witnesses tied to the event; he has incurred over $200,000 dollars in expenditures during this ongoing investigation. The fruits of his labor will soon appear in his upcoming book about "The Aztec Incident."]
Now, let's look at the story and start adding in some facts, eyewitnesses and some good old fashion research behind the Aztec Incident.
Dr. Gee’s Claims of Top Secret Radar Bases
Both in Frank Scully's Behind The Flying Saucers, and then, Bill Steinman and Wendelle Stevens’ UFO Crash At Aztec, a reference to “secret radar bases” is found. The first mention of this comes from “Dr. Gee” of Frank Scully's book. Dr. Gee claimed that the U.S. Government had three “Top Secret” radar bases in northern New Mexico that were tracking the errant UFO the morning of March 25, 1948. I also noted the same claim by Steinman and Stevens in their book as well. In July of 1998, I started looking for these alleged “Top Secret radar bases.” I first investigated claims of a radar base located outside of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania that is still in existence, but is now used as an F.A.A. navigational radar system. The old base was once a Nike missile installation during the Cold War days. I soon found that they have a base “historian” at the site by the name of Pat McHugh. He was quite happy to sit with me and go over all of the old AC&W bases that he had in his files. Quickly, we both learned that New Mexico did not have a radar base that matched any of Dr. Gee’s claims.
The next step was to round up a group of adventurers and seek out some old USGS maps of New Mexico, and then try to find a logical spot as to where these bases may have been. By January of 1999 we had found our first radar base. It was called the 767th AC&W, located in El Vado, New Mexico, approximately 65 miles north of Los Alamos National Laboratory. After many painstaking hours spent searching the Air Force archives, we learned that these bases were built by The Atomic Energy Commission, back in 1946, as a means of protection for Los Alamos, Sandia National Labs and Kirkland Air Force Base. The bases were later turned over to the Air Force in 1950, but were closed by 1957-as newer technology had rendered them obsolete. By the end of our sixth trip to Maxwell Air Force Base, Montgomery, Alabama, we had by then located the other two. Finally, we had identified all three of the bases described by Dr. Gee in 1949.
Finding these bases now puts a feather in Dr. Gee’s hat. Now, we had most of the declassified documents naming the bases and we quickly realized that these were truly “Top Secret bases.” The military had been experimenting with some very powrful, new radar technology that was being tested for the U.S. Navy, while protecting the skies above New Mexico. After pouring over thousands of pages of monthly and quarterly reports, we soon learned the importance of these bases for the ‘40s and ‘50s.
Now, back to Dr. Gee. If someone back in 1949 knew about these bases, then they were someone that was “in the know” even then. This is but one of the many claims made by Dr. Gee over fifty years ago that had merit. In the interest in keeping this article short, we will elaborate more on this in the future.
The Witnesses
Witness No: One argument against the Aztec Incident waged by critics over the years has claimed a lack of eyewitnesses; in our early research into the “Aztec Incident,” we found it very difficult to speak with anyone from the town that might “go on the record”; I was finding myself returning to the Four Corners area about every six to seven weeks, just as I thought I would. Over many weekends I researched the story, looking for an eyewitness to this historical event. Finally, people slowly started to come forward.
Our first witness was K. Farley. When we interviewed Mr. Farley, he was dying of a respiratory disease. He was on bottled oxygen when we met him north of Phoenix, Arizona. As Mr. Farley later described to me during our three-hour interview, he had been in Durango, Colorado on March 25th, 1948, visiting his Aunt as he was traveling to San Diego, California; he was supposed to meet a friend just north of Aztec (New Mexico) and then continue his drive.
As he arrived early that morning at a planned pick-up spot near Cedar Hill (a small town just north of Aztec), his “friend” told him about a lot of trucks and a police car, seen going out a small dirt road just south of their position. The drivers of the vehicles seemed as though they were in a hurry according to Mr. Farley. Thinking an emergency was underway, the two of them decided to go out and see what the problem was. Mr. Farley and his friend (anonymous) arrived at the mesa, now apparently busy with oilfield workers and what appeared to have been local ranchers.
Mr. Farley and his friend moved toward the west side of the mesa to get a better look at the large disc that sat silently there. Mr. Farley said there wasn’t “any noticeable damage”; the craft was “perfectly smooth on the outside, without any seams or marking except for around the middle of the craft.”
Mr. Farley also described two police officers at the scene that were talking to the locals. Finally, the one officer walked over to Mr. Farley and his friend and told them that the military had been notified and that they should leave the area at once. Mr. Farley and his friend refused to leave because nobody else seemed to be listening to the officer. Mr. Farley recalls that some of the oilfield workers were climbing all over the damn thing, which he thought was dim-witted given the circumstances; some older folks started yelling at them to get the hell away from it!
Finally, later that morning according to Mr. Farley, the Military did arrive and discussed the incident individually with the people on the mesa. Mr. Farley has claimed they were “threatened with their lives” and "sworn to secrecy." Since Mr. Farley was not originally from the area, he could not help me identify who the others might have been.
University research fellow Christopher Mullis and his international team of astronomers are cosmic archaeologists. Just as conventional archaeologists dig through the accumulated sediment of hundreds and thousands of years to uncover relics from long ago, his group searches the skies for relics of a much younger universe.
Rather than shovels and picks, they travel back in time using telescopes, and they dig much deeper. They recently discovered an ancient object that pushes the limits of the observational universe to only five billion years after the universe began.
The object that they found is a massive galaxy cluster nine-billion light years away, the farthest ever observed. A light year is the distance light travels in one year, meaning that light from the cluster has been traveling across the vacuum of space for two-thirds the lifetime of the universe. In making the discovery, Mullis worked with astronomers from the European Southern Observatory, the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics and the Astronomical Institute at Potsdam.
NewScientist.com news service By Maggie McKee 3-14-05
On Monday 14 March, the 126th anniversary of Albert Einstein's birth, over 50,000 people around the world are helping in the hunt for the gravitational waves predicted by the great physicist nearly a century ago.
These people have already downloaded the distributed-computing program Einstein@Home, which was only launched on 19 February 2005, and more than 1000 people per day are still joining.
Dense moving objects such as spinning neutron stars or colliding black holes are predicted to send out ripples in space-time - gravitational waves - according to Einstein's General Theory of Relativity. But so far no gravitational waves have ever been observed.
Part of the problem lies with the computing power necessary to crunch data from the large and relatively new gravitational wave detectors. Einstein@Home, run by universities in the US and Germany, is enlisting anyone with an internet connection to help analyse data from two gravitational wave searches.
Like the program SETI@Home, which searches radio telescope data for signals from extraterrestrial life, Einstein@Home runs while the computer is idle, showing a screensaver with the portion of sky from which the data is taken.
"Flying Saucer" Recovery At Hart Canyon (Part One)
By Scott Ramsey 8-1-04
[Scott D. Ramsey has been researching the UFO Incident at Aztec since he first became aware of it back in 1988 while on a business trip to the four corners area. He has been aggressively tracking down witnesses and chasing any and all leads since 1990. He has traveled to 28 states in fourteen years, spent hundreds of hours in various archives, interviewed over 60 credible witnesses tied to the event; he has incurred over $200,000 dollars in expenditures during this ongoing investigation. The fruits of his labor will soon appear in his upcoming book about "The Aztec Incident."]
On March 25th, 1948, at approximately 5:00 a.m. an event took place of such great magnitude it’s ramifications would forever change the lives of those involved:
Doug Nolan and Bill Ferguson, local employees of the El Paso Oil Company were called-out to a mesa, just off of Hart Canyon road, to inspect a brush fire, sighted near one of the company’s drip tanks; upon arriving, the men discovered “a large disc” lying on the western side of the mesa.
“The craft was extremely large,” Doug recalled. I had interviewed him last August at his home in Las Vegas while he was still recovering from a series of recent strokes. He has told this same story, over the years, to selected people, but now he wanted it on record.
Since my research began on the Aztec Incident, I have always been amazed at how this story has been mostly overlooked for fifty-six years. I first started my research after a business trip that took me to the Four Corners area. A customer I was calling on at that time had employed a large number of Navajo Indians from the local reservation; I overheard them talking about a meeting planned for the following Saturday to hunt for mule-deer near “the old crash site.”
I cautiously asked them, “What old crash site?” They explained to me that a local story had been circulating in the area for years; that “a flying saucer had landed up on a mesa” off of Hart Canyon road, northeast of the town of Aztec, New Mexico, about twenty-two miles from where I was staying in Farmington, N.M.
After I returned from my business trip, I did a little digging into the old Aztec UFO story. I was shocked to discover that Frank Scully had devoted a book to the incident, in 1950. It was the second book published on the subject of UFOs after the one that Major Donald Kehoe (Retired) had written in paperback form, the previous year. After locating a copy of the book, I read with great interest about how Frank had been told of an amazing event, complete with “Top Secret” scientists and “Top Secret radar bases,” and how the story soon died a quick death.
Later I read articles by J.P. Cahn, claiming that the story was a big hoax and that Scully's sources were a bunch of con men. The more I dug into the story, the more nothing really made any sense. How could a popular writer like Frank Scully have been duped by a bunch of con men and have written a book that made it to the best-seller list in the ‘50s?
I read more articles over time, which really gave the Aztec case a black eye; but why? It seemed almost fashionable to “discredit” anything to do with Aztec. I decided (since my travels would take me to the Four Corners for business every two to three month's) that I would do my own research on the “Aztec Incident” as I like to call it. It seems that one area in which Aztec draws criticism is through claims of the lack of eyewitnesses the event.
First, let's look at who Frank Scully was (for all those that haven't followed the Aztec history). Frank Scully was a well-known writer back in the late-Forties up through the Sixties. He wrote for many popular magazines including Variety magazine and was one of the most popular journalists of his day. (Keeping in mind that newsprint and radio were the mainstream media of that time.) Scully would be compared to the present day Dan Rather, Peter Jennings or Tom Brokaw.
In 1949 he meets Silas Newton, an oil prospector who tells of a high-ranking scientist that had allegedly worked on a recovered “flying saucer program” for the U.S. Government. Scully had been approached because of his reputation as a highly respectable journalist at the time. The “scientist,” as Frank Scully later recalled, was not just one individual, but a group of eight scientists that he refers to collectively as “Dr. Gee.”
Scully's book, Behind The Flying Saucers, devoted a number of pages discussing the mysterious “Dr. Gee.” Many critics have alleged that Dr. Gee was actually Leo Gebauer, a close friend of Silas Newton’s who leaked the story to Frank Scully. As much as Frank Scully's book was very important to the history behind the Aztec Incident, I will use other methods in providing facts behind the story. Whoever Dr. Gee was, he was very much “in the loop” concerning government projects at the time. I examined several claims made by Dr. Gee in order to see if they could be proven, fifty years later.
This has been the Aztec Story from the beginning. Amazingly the story has remained consistent for over fifty-six years; that on March 25th, 1948, a large craft measuring about 100 ft. in diameter, 6 ft. in height and showing no signs of damage, “soft landed” on a mesa above Hart Canyon road, approximately twelve-miles northeast of the town of Aztec, N.M. There were from 14 to 16 humanoid bodies, apparently charred or burned, removed from the craft. The bodies ranged from 36 - 48 inches in height. They were wearing navy-blue colored, one-piece jump suits.
The craft was first discovered by two local oil field workers, and within hours, the mesa had attracted local ranchers, other oilfield workers, two law-enforcement officers, and then, finally, the military. After the military arrived, they swore all of the witnesses to secrecy and then reminded them of their ‘patriotic duty.’ After the manner and tone by which the oil field workers and ranchers had been warned, they quietly left the heavily patrolled mesa and went about their business.
In order to remove the craft, an access road had to be cut and a concrete slab had to be poured for supporting a large crane, used to remove the large craft. The removal process took two weeks. Heavy equipment was also brought in from three- to-four regional military installations. The hills around the mesa were patrolled by the military and not even the oil field workers could see what was going on! Finally piece-by-piece the object was removed to some remote government facility.
Portland, Oregon - Local media outlets began receiving reports of what was described as a “fireball” whizzing across the night sky at approximately 8:00 pm Saturday evening. (March 12th).
Witnesses reported seeing the “flaming object” from the “Newport area” south, to Vancouver, Washington in the north; although the reports varied about the color, quantity and flight path of the object(s), the time of the event was consistent. (7:45 pm-8:00 pm)
An observer in Forest Grove said, “it looked like a huge green comet flying across the sky. It disappeared behind some hills.“
A witness living in Siletz said, “at 19:44 this night 3-12-05 I was talking on the phone to my daughter when we both saw an object in the western sky. I was sitting and looking west out my window when I saw it. It seemed to fall over the west hills here."
Another eyewitness near Klatskanie reported, “It was a perfectly round green object with an orange comet-like tail. It dropped below the horizon of the hills and appeared to have been capable of hitting the ground.”
A family driving near the “Tillamook Airport” stated, “my family and I saw something in the sky, looked like a slow moving ball of fire with a tail . . .. It just 'went out' when it got close to the ground. It was an exciting sight to see. I called 911 and they were working on other reports of it. We are wondering who else has reported it."
A woman in Portland reported, “ . . . I was looking at the moon which looked interesting since you could clearly see the dark side. Something caught my eye up and to the left of the moon facing west and over Mt. Tabor. I saw what appeared to be falling star. The 'star' continued to fall at a diagonal and very quick rate of speed. It then changed shape, more oblong and cutting quite a path with green and orange colors. It fell behind Mt. Tabor. I did not hear anything, which lends me to believe it struck the earth a lot farther away than where I would think it would have. It was quite large and I am sure it did not burn up before striking the earth. I was with two others who saw the same thing . . .. “
A Washington resident while driving in Vancouver said, “ . . .Driving S. near I-5 & 179th St. in Vancouver, WA (near Clark County Fair grounds) 7:55 pm 3/12. Observed flaming green and orange ball of fire (Possible Meteorite?) streaking across sky from east to west. Looked very large. Fell beyond sight range to west of freeway.”
A couple and their neighbor from Forest Grove declared, “ . . . while BBQ’ing in our neighbor’s backyard we saw a large, greenish-yellow ball streak across the sky. The time was approximately 7:40pm. It was amazing and big. We saw two flashes as it went behind a hillside that is approximately 2 miles west. My wife said that she heard a slight boom, but I did not seem too hear it. It may be because I was so excited about what we were witnessing.”
A gentlemen and his grandson residing in Bandon, Oregon stated, “ . . . We are a block off the ocean and when it disappeared over rooftops of houses, there seem to be two large flashes as it hit the ocean."
An airline pilot in West Salem reported, “ . . . at about 7:45pm I saw a most amazing sight. It was a huge, bright, blue/white meteorite that I believe hit the earth because I saw an explosion light up the sky in the west. I live in West Salem and it appeared to hit due west about 25-50 miles away . . . I am 53 years old, have traveled the world, and seen many amazing things. This tops them all."
An amateur astronomer said, “I was just outside with my telescope, (I live just south of Lebanon, Or.) Between 8:40 and 8:45, when an extremely bright light behind me caused me to turn around. In the western sky, there was an enormous, white, fireball falling straight down. It wasn't moving particularly fast, and I probably observed it for 5 to 10 seconds. It left a trail of bright yellowish debris, like sparks, behind it, and appeared to burn out just before reaching the horizon. I have never seen anything like this before and I have know idea what it was.”
The following statement made by a “Cathlamet, Washington” resident is possible evidence where one of the objects impacted the earth: “I live in Cathlamet, WA and have a view from up on a hill. I saw the object fly from south to north at about 7:30 or so. It had a green tail and shot extremely fast from the sky and came down above the hills of Clatskanie or a bit farther where I saw it break apart kind of like a firework. It blew up in bright white and yellow crackles 'I could hear the explosion from my house' [emphasis added].”
It is unknown at this time if there will be any “official investigation” in regards to the “alleged impact site(s).”
It was independence day for Dubbo, and Paul Cremin didn't even know.
It wasn't until his friends showed him the photograph in yesterday's Daily Liberal of an unidentified flying object that he realised he had spooked all of the city.
"My neighbour came over laughing with the newspaper," he said, blushing.
Mr Cremin and his 13-year-old son Aidan fly kites and model aeroplanes as a hobby.
Last Sunday night, for five hours, he was flying a 'delta coyne' kite 140 metres in the air - directly in the part of the sky that Suzanne Fuller and her family reported seeing a UFO.
"We couldn't stop laughing when we read the story," he said.
"I called the police because I didn't want anyone to worry, and the policewoman couldn't stop laughing either."
Suzanne Fuller had called police on Sunday night to report seeing the object "about 50 miles away" in sky's south-east.
Shaky video footage of the object was later viewed by police who made an official report to Air Services Australia (ASA), and sent them a copy of the tape.
"It looked like a bird, but much larger... with a flat top and a deeper shape at the bottom," was how Mrs Fuller described what she had seen in the sky "for five hours".
It just so happens that's an almost exact description of the Cremin's kite. Mrs Fuller also said that she had seen a light from the object flashing on and off, once the sun set. But that too has now been accounted for.
"We use a torch to try and spot the kite in the sky once it gets dark," Mr Cremin said.
"Reading that they saw it move a bit to the left, and then back again, I knew it was the kite. It does exactly that," he said, shaking his head.
Police had commended the Fuller family for reporting the incident, and were themselves unable to explain the strange object in the sky. That is, until they got the call from Mr Cremin.
A member of the local area command called Suzanne Fuller to tell her that the object had been found.
"A black triangular object that made a number of movements and then speared off out of sight behind the trees."
That's how police have described footage claimed to be of an unidentified flying object (UFO) that was reported to police, and shot on a video camera, by a Dubbo family last Sunday night.
"I've never seen anything like it," Suzanne Fuller said.
"It was hovering there for five hours, and it was completely silent."
The police arrived to the scene at 8pm, viewed the videotape, and filed an official report to Air Services Australia (ASA), a federal airways monitoring bureau.
"It looked like a bird, but much larger, the size of a car, with a flat top and a deeper shape at the bottom."
Mrs Fuller also put a call into the UFO Researchers Independent Network, and described what they had seen to Moira McGhee.
"They said it looked about 40 to 50 miles away to the south-east," she said.
She said the family saw something between 7pm and 8.15pm. At first a male family member saw what he described to Ms McGhee as something "that looked like a stationary chopper".
"Now remember, it was still daylight at 7pm," she said.
Mrs Fuller said that together with her husband, and three daughters, they continued watching until after 11pm.
"Once the sun set, there was a light like from a lighthouse flashing on and off, every couple of seconds," she said.
"The police were here, and they said they had never seen anything like it before."
"Every now and then, it would move to the left again, and then back to the same spot again."
Duty Officer Inspector Alan Cusack commended the family for reporting the incident.
"We take these calls on their merit," he said.
"The family were genuine in their concern, they called the police and they did the right thing.
"We have proceeded in investigating the matter by referring the incident to the ASA and sending them the videotape for inspection."
Inspector Cusack said the ASA told police that there were "numerous reports of objects flying in the southern regions of Australia".
The sighting is not the first one in Dubbo. In 2002 a woman reported seeing an object "as large as a house" hovering in the sky about 500 metres off the ground, and allegedly moving and changing colours.
Ms McGhee said another sighting 10 years ago had a number of people in Dubbo report seeing an object "as big as a supermarket" in the sky.
By Robert Roy Britt Senior Science Writer Space.com 3-9-05
The space rock that carved Meteor Crater in Arizona hit the planet much more slowly than astronomers once figured, but still 10 times faster than a rifle bullet.
The new analysis, announced today, explains why there's a lot less melted rock in the crater than expected. The mystery has dogged researchers for years.
The big hole in the ground -- 570 feet deep and 4,100 feet (1.25 kilometers) across -- was blown into existence 50,000 years ago by an asteroid roughly 130 feet (40 meters) wide.
Previous calculations had the rock slamming into the ground at no less than 34,000 mph (15 km/sec), based in part on the expected speeds of large meteors in relation to Earth. Such an impact ought to have generated more melted rock in and around the crater than what's been found.
A new computer model, reported in the March 10 issue of the journal Nature, shows the incoming object would have slowed considerably during its plunge through the atmosphere, part of it breaking into a pancake-shaped cloud of iron fragments prior to impact.
About half the original 300,000-ton bulk remained intact, smacking the planet at about 26,800 mph (12 km/sec), said the study's lead researcher, Jay Melosh of the University of Arizona.
On 08/19/55, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed an executive order restricting the airspace over Area 51, Groom Lake, Nevada. The dry, lake bed remains restricted airspace to this day. Down through the past half century , the restricted area has grown both on the ground and in the air (over 22x20 nautical miles).
Only a handful of investigators make a serious effort to find out the commonly assumed 'secret' of Groom Lake. The rest of us have seemed to accept Area 51, Dreamland, (Groom Lake and Papoose Lake) as an area where the US government tests experimental aircraft. It is comfortable for us to believe that.
Wouldn't it be sadly disappointing if it WAS only a place for the Air Force to test planes? Do we want alien spacecraft to be out there?
If you have lived in Las Vegas, or any of the towns nearby, for any length of time, you know several people that have worked at the Nevada test site. That is, the overall site, including the Nellis Air Force Range, and possibly one or two that worked close to or in Area 51. Do they talk about it? No, they don't. They may answer an insignificant question or two. They might even make an occasional comment that leaves you thinking, but for the most part, they seem types that will take their secrets, if any, to the grave.
In the late 1980s, early 90s, copies of Bob Lazar's tape of the alien ships passed freely from person to person and office to office in Las Vegas. We stirred at his credible explanation of gravity propelled engines, but remained skeptical that the US Government would keep all of alien spaceships in one small area while they did research on them.
It makes for great science fiction. It also gives Nevada some unusual sites for tourist to visit; The Extraterrestrial Highway (the official name for Nevada Highway 375), The Little A'Le'Inn of Rachel, Nevada, and The Nevada Test Site ( Tours of the site where the US tested their nuclear bombs since 1951, run from Las Vegas every month).
All too soon, we will have another area of international interest in our state, America's high level nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain .
Now, if I were a writer of science fiction, I think that I would have to elaborate on a plot that had an underground tunnel (about 50 miles long) giving the folks at Area 51, access to the depleted, but not dead, radioactive waste so they can operate the duplicate little UFOs that we produce and maintain there. Of course!
We hope that Area 51 did not move to Utah as reported by some folks. We sort of liked having it around all these years. It feels as though it should be part of southern Nevada.
"Yellow Spheres" (UFOs) Flying in Formation Reported
West Kilbride is Tops for Close Encounters of the UK Kind
By Ian Bruce & Allan Laing 3-8-05
THE truth, as Mulder and Scully will tell you, is out there. If you live in North Ayrshire, it may be hovering closer than you think.
Files released by the Ministry of Defence under the Freedom of Information Act show that the village of West Kilbride was the UK's unlikely leading hot spot last year for sightings of unidentified flying objects.
There were 12 separate reports of "yellow spheres" flying either alone or in formation above the village in Ayrshire. All were referred to the air directorate of the RAF for possible investigation. The identities of the person or persons who reported them are withheld under the Data Protection Act.
The number of incidents is the highest for any part of the UK in 2004. It displaces Bonnybridge, near Falkirk, as Scotland's "flying saucer capital" and closest rival to the UFO mecca of Roswell in New Mexico, the site of an alleged alien spacecraft crash and government cover-up in 1947.
The MoD abandoned inquiries into the UFO phenomenon in 1951, but still logs accounts of sightings in case "the airspace of the UK might have been compromised by hostile or unauthorised air activity". The US air force gave up its secret "Blue Book" project on the subject in 1969.
The logs released report more than 90 sightings from Cornwall to Hamilton between January last year until mid-January this year.
All of the West Kilbride sightings revolved around "bright spheres" and eight of the 12 were concentrated in last April and May.
But if the village is a hot spot for flying saucers and wee green men it came as news yesterday to the locals.
"Mind you, you do get some awful nice sunsets here," said Sandra Perratt, of Castle Drive. "But I've never heard anyone talking about seeing a UFO. Maybe they're getting mixed up with the scarecrows."
West Kilbride is big on scarecrows. Last year, it had a festival for them. For a few days in the summer you couldn't move for scarecrows, apparently. The place was awash with 'em. Maybe this year they'll do the same for UFOs.
Aliens? Martians? They talked of little else in the Kilbride Tavern yesterday. Not.
"To be honest, I'm serving aliens all the time in here," said John Gardner, the proprietor. "If it wasnae for aliens, I'd be out of business."
For some reason, his eyes settled on regular patron Bobby McCallum, a bit of an alien himself since he comes from Kilbirnie.
"I must be drinking the wrong stuff," he said, "because I've never seen them."
Pointing his finger towards the rival King's Arms pub a few hundred yards along the road, he added: "The best place to see aliens is up there. They get aliens every night of the week in there. They come from Glasgow, or from Simpson Avenue."
Simpson Avenue, it turns out, is at the upmarket end of West Kilbride, a town which is popular with the retired middle class. One middle-aged man, fresh from a walk round the park with his golden retriever, had his own theory about the sudden increase in UFO sightings.
Wishing to remain nameless, for fear perhaps that he would be identified by extra-terrestrial creatures and spirited away in a spacecraft, he said: "I have lived here since I was zero and I've never seen or even heard of any sightings. But, while we know how many sightings have been reported, we don't know how many people reported them.
"My suspicion is that it was just one nutter on his own. It would be interesting to find out if anyone has moved to West Kilbride from Bonnybridge, that other so-called hot spot for UFOs, over the past year or so."
It was hard to find anyone yesterday who would admit to having seen a strange object in the sky, but not impossible.
Louise Riley, 29, a student from nearby Portencross, said: "It was a few years ago, late at night and the sky was clear. I was walking home and I saw this strange light up in the sky. It was moving ever so slightly from side to side." An aeroplane, perhaps, heading for Prestwick?
"I know what aeroplanes look like and it was not an aeroplane," she replied firmly. Three years ago, Scotland logged a higher concentration of UFOs per head of population than any other country. The 300 sightings then represented one per 17,000 inhabitants, compared with one per 61,200 for Canada and one per 136,000 for the US. Then, VisitScotland described the country as "the nearest thing to the Costa del Sol for aliens".
Graham Birdsall, editor of UFO magazine, said: "UFOs tend to be attracted to regions that are fairly remote. If you have a remote area, look out for air bases. Scotland is littered with them. However, in 90% of UFO reports, a bit of diligent research will produce a simple explanation, like runaway weather balloons or strange but natural atmospheric effects."
For anyone in West Kilbride who spots "little green men" this summer, the official advice is that it's more likely to be the Celtic squad training at nearby Seamill.
Spotters' log, star date 2004 The MoD's log records the West Kilbride incidents in 2004 as follows
April 2 12.30pm One sphere.
April 15 22.20 Yellow sphere, very bright.
April 16 22.40 Yellow sphere.
April 16 22.55 Yellow sphere.
May 10 22.47 Two yellow spheres, going at a tremendous speed.
May 15 (no time) Two spheres.
May 17 (no time) One sphere.
May 19 23.20 Large bright sphere.
May 25 (no time) One sphere.
May 30 12.15 Five bright spheres flying beside each other.
August 16 23.35 Five spheres spotted, flying together.
November 26 21.00 Witnessed at least 25 spheres, flying in groups of five, flying north over West Kilbride.
The list of UFO sightings 2004-2005 is:
1 West Kilbride, Ayrshire - 12 2 Wellingborough, Northamptonshire - 4 3 Leeds, West Yorkshire - 2 4 Peterborough, Cambridgeshire - 2 5 Skipton, North Yorkshire - 2 6 Hamilton, Lanarkshire - 2 7 Dumfries, Dumfries and Galloway - 2
FORGET Bonnybridge - the best place to spot UFOs is in Ayrshire. West Kilbride has topped the list for UFO sightings in the UK last year. Ministry of Defence files, released under the Freedom of Information Act, showed there were 12 reports of "yellow spheres" flying alone or in groups. The Clyde coast town displaces Bonnybridge, near Falkirk, as Scotland's flying saucer capital and closest rival to Roswell in New Mexico - site of an alleged spacecraft crash in 1947.
And it beats second-placed Wellingborough in Northamptonshire, where four reports of UFOs were logged. Hamilton and Dumfries and Galloway were also included in the list, each with two reported sightings. However, many West Kilbride residents today laughed off suggestions the village was a "hotspot" for flying saucers. One resident said: "I have lived here since birth and I've never seen or even heard of any sightings."
Advanced Guidance Systems From UFO Flight Patterns and Navigation Systems
India Daily Staff Reporter 3-7-05
Indian space scientists and technologists closely watch the UFO flight pattern and navigation systems. The extra-terrestrial flight patterns are quite different from terrestrial systems says the experts.
The flight patterns and navigation systems are input into computer models to extrapolate points of disappearances. The computer model uses predictive analysis to interpolate and extrapolate the flight patterns and navigation systems.
The involved engineers do not like to talk. But they do indicate that certain surveillance systems can occasionally view these bizarre flight patterns.
Replicating their navigation systems and flight patterns are impossible. But there are indications that the UFOs change their propulsion systems from optical levels to sonic levels after entering the earth’s atmosphere. After that a new propulsion system, guidance and navigation systems as well as flight pattern are followed.
The scientists in India working on these projects also mention that the UFOs have the capabilities of creating illusions and disappearing into the clouds of electromagnetic flux any time. That complicates the observation and at that point only the complex computational algorithms can only come to help of the technocrats.
In a particular case, an UFO was tracked and followed out of earth’s atmosphere. That follows though extrapolation provided excellent information on efficient guidance, navigation and propulsion systems.
Again the daunting problem is really believing these flight patterns because the extra-terrestrial UFOs can create illusions and virtually disappear any time.
PLANETARY SCIENTIST TO DISCUSS HUMAN AND ALIEN EXISTENCE
3-7-05
MADISON - One of the foremost authorities on the understanding of alien life and planetary evolution, David Grinspoon, will speak in Madison at a special lecture on Tuesday, March 8.
Grinspoon's lecture, "How Lonely is Our Planet? New Results in the Quest for Alien Life," will focus on his research on the studies of the potential of extraterrestrial life as a mirror for human evolution, history and universal existence.
The 7 p.m. lecture, to be held at UW Space Place, 1605 S. Park St., is free and open to the public.
By Bryan Appleyard 3-6-05 The Sunday Times - Review
Since June 24, 1947, when a businessman called Kenneth Arnold saw a squadron of alien spaceships in the Cascade Mountains in Washington state — generally regarded as the first authentic UFO sighting of the post-war era — aliens have poured from the abyss that lies between ourselves and the world.
We know them well. They are the grey aliens with slanting, black eyes and vestigial nostrils whose corpses are kept at Area 51, a secret military base in the Nevada desert. They are the tall “Nordics” who gently oversee complex surgical procedures on human abductees. They are ET, the Borg, the Klingons and the Vulcans, the Pleiadians and the Nine . . .
Over the years I have been involved in the making of a number of Documentaries about UFOs. These include "UFOs ARE Real", "Flying Saucers ARE Real-(2 Vols.)"; "Stanton T. Friedman IS Real!", "Do you Believe in MAJIC" and in numerous interviews for a wide variety of producers of shows that have aired on the History Channel, The Discovery Channel, TLC, etc.; therefore, I am really puzzled about certain aspects of the Peter Jennings Productions ) PJP UFO special seen on ABC on February 24, 2005.
The word is that 150 people were interviewed and only 50 made the cut. That is far more than would be required for a 2 hour special ... I had heard just before the broadcast that an interview was done with Dr. John Mack, Harvard Psychiatrist that would not be used.It surely would have made a good counterweight to the two Harvard psychologists falsely explaining away abductions as sleep paralysis enhanced with hypnosis It was only after the broadcast that I found out how many extended interviews with very sharp people hadn't been used. Richard Hall, Dr. Richard Haines,Dr. David Jacobs, Ted Roe of Narcap etc.I saw the people who interviewed Don Schmitt (no air time) and myself (20 seconds.. and referring to me as a promoter twice, and calling Roswell a Myth at least twice) in Roswell with Astronaut Dr. Edgar Mitchell. None of this is in the PSP show.Crews for PSP traveled a lot including, for example, the MUFON Conference in Denver. There was no mention of MUFON in the program though CUFOS was given a lot of time with old footage of J. Allan Hynek as well. Strangely he was portrayed as a courageous loner the only one standing up to the debunkers... a totally misleading portrayal.
The question thus arises as to why spend at least many hundreds of thousand dollars to collect far more footage than could possibly be used? Perhaps they will do another special using "the good stuff"? I doubt it.
But if one wanted a real state-of-the-art survey of Ufology, who knows what, is there a better cover story than that a company linked to Peter Jennings, the last remaining Big Time Network news anchor, is making a hard hitting 2 hour special? People are flattered to be asked to contribute. Many of us were questioned for more than an hour. It might also be possible when reviewing the tapes to get clues as to who might be speaking out of turn The crews were very tight about who all they talked to. Is it really surprising that the harshest attacks came down on Roswell, the reality of abductions and the reality of interstellar flight? Glorifying the Silly Effort To Investigate cultists provides a great deal of misdirection away from the reality of UFOs and the government coverup. The footage would be a feast for the minions of whatever group is taking Majestic 12's place to help plan their strategy for debunking and also for possible future release of data. I suspect they are also collecting reactions to the program.
I would like to hear of others whose testimony was taken and not used.
The producers in Roswell interviewed me for over an hour in July, 2004. Don Schmitt who has been active in Roswell research for many years was also interviewed. He and a film crew actually went out to the site, which was marked out for more archeological digging. I believe about 30 seconds of my interview was shown with none of Don’s nor of the scientific work site. I had been cautiously optimistic after hearing a few weeks before the showing that I had made the cut, but that 100 people had not. My optimism decreased when I heard that Seth Shostak, Frank Drake, and Jill Tartar, (SETI Specialists) and Michael Shermer, skeptic, were going to be on. Despite all their writing about SETI, it was clear that none knew anything about UFOs. Proclamation is not the same as investigation. I had jokingly told people that, after all, Peter Jennings and I were both dual citizens of the USA and Canada and, surprisingly, both had been born on July 29. How could I not trust him? I didn’t place enough emphasis on the fact that Benito Mussolini was also born on July 29.
I was favorably impressed with the first portion with interviews with aircraft crewmembers, comments about Blue Book’s focus on explaining away sightings and the interview with Major Friend whom I had met at Blue Book in the early 1960s. The second half of the show was like a horror film. The SETI people waxed poetic about their wonderful search for ET Signals. There was no indication of any knowledge of UFOs other than one of the sillier moments of the show when Jill Tartar described having a sighting of the moon partially obscured by clouds. This was worth recreating?? One can see why the SETI people don’t want to deal with eyewitness testimony. I think one could also see why I say that SETI stands for Silly Effort to Investigate and why I talk of the cult of SETI: Charismatic hand waving, very strong dogma (they must be out there, they can’t be coming here, we will make the most important discovery in Man’s history a signal from a distant civilization, and nobody could possibly come here… if they did, we would be out of a job) and strong irrational claims about the absence of evidence. Meaning “we don’t dare review it”. Dr. Tyson joined the crowd and proclaimed that eyewitness testimony may be OK in court, but not in science. Tell Jane Goodall that.
Several time PJ used the term mainstream science along with a proclamation about its non-acceptance of UFO reality. No evidence was presented. It appears that the only mainstream science he was talking about was astronomy. Think of chemists, biologists, and geologists, us physicists, etc. Much of science today was based on eyewitness testimony of something unusual. Think Roentgen and X rays. I believe that most mainstream scientists like me believe that the methodology has to suit the problem. Unpredictable, brief appearances of strange craft (not under the control of the observer or of Mother nature) behaving in strange ways require eyewitness testimony as of course do airplane crashes, crimes, etc. Shostak proclaims when he finds a signal they will tell everybody else who will then verify it and anybody can use his own antenna .. What happens if the transmission stops? How many can afford their own Hat Creek Telescope. System? Does he think the signal will be “Testing 1, 2” repeated over and over again? That we can order the saucer to stop while we do measurements?
PJ claimed that mainstream science doesn’t accept the UFO evidence. This was yet another misrepresentation. Polls have consistently shown that the greater the education the more likely to accept UFO reality. Two polls of R and D people showed that about 2/3 of them who expressed an opinion said flying saucers were real. But then they live in the real world unlike the SETI Cultists.
The program contained, as might be expected based on past experience, a major put down on star travel from people who know absolutely nothing about space travel. We were told that the Voyageur spacecraft, our fastest space craft launched 30 years ago, will take 73,000 years to reach the nearest star and that the fastest man made object goes only 11 miles per second compared to the speed of light at 186,000 miles per sec. Wow! Sounds like we sure can’t get there from here. These are both totally misleading. The Voyageur hasn’t been attached to a propulsion system since it left the vicinity of the earth!! It is coasting. This is like tossing a bottle into the ocean as a basis for estimating crossing time for the Queen Mary 2 or the SST or the space station.
We physicists have accelerated particles in the vacuum chambers of expensive accelerators to speeds of 99.99 % of the speed of light. 11mps is absurd. Space is a very large vacuum chamber. These totally misleading comments rank on a par with Dr. Simon Newcombe’s claim in October, 1903, (2 months before the Wright Brothers first flight) that the only way man would fly would be with the help of a balloon. Dr. Bickerton in the 1920s proved “scientifically” that it would be impossible to provide enough energy to put anything into orbit. Dr. Campbell in 1941 “Scientifically” calculated that the required initial launch weight of a rocket able to get a man to the moon and back would be a million million tons. He was, because of his total ignorance about space flight, off by a factor of 300,000,000. All three were, like the SETI cultists, astronomers. With this track record, why believe any of their proclamations? I was involved more than 40 years ago in work on a fusion propulsion system able to eject particles having 10 million times as much energy per particle as in a chemical rocket. This of course was not presented. After all, I was just a promoter.
A real hatchet job was done on Budd Hopkins in the show’s segment on UFO abductions. The witnesses were OK, but then we have the off the wall proclamations about sleep paralysis being the explanation coupled with hypnosis to generate false testimony from the witnesses. All the data provided by Budd about the fact that many abductions don’t take place in bed (Think Betty and Barney Hill, Travis Walton, etc), that there are many cases when more than one person is abducted (is sleep paralysis contagious?), that at least 30% of abduction investigations do not involve hypnosis, was left on the cutting room floor. Budd has worked with over 600 abductees. Had the 2 Harvard psychologists worked with more than a dozen? Why wasn’t any of Harvard psychiatrist John Mack’s interview run? The pronouncement that there is no benefit of hypnosis in memory enhancement is false. Phil Klass made the same claim to me, but stopped when I provided an article about a stonemason being able, under hypnosis, to describe tiny details on a particular stone that he had placed years earlier.
Finally we have the Roswell segment. I was introduced as a Roswell promoter.The term used twice. There was no mention of that fact that I was a nuclear physicist who had worked for the likes of GE, GM, Westinghouse etc. The totally unjustifiable term Myth was used at least twice.PJ should be ashamed. Jesse Marcel junior was filmed. There was no mention of the fact that he is a medical doctor, a Flight surgeon Colonel in the reserve, and serving in Iraq despite being 67. His father was called an intelligence officer, but without adding that the group was the most elite military group in the world, the 509th, which had dropped the A, bombs on Japan. Don’t these facts go to credibility? Of course I am a Roswell promoter. based on 27 years of research and investigation and the outlay of thousands of dollars and thousands of hours and finding loads of supporting testimony. all ignored by the noisy negativists and none presented in the program.
At the request of the producers I had provided a total of 57 videos from which they used a few clips. One video was the 105 minute “Recollections of Roswell”, which included testimony from 27witness including Retired General Thomas Jefferson DuBose. He told me of taking the call from General Clements McMullen head of SAC who was the boss of 8th Air Force Commander Roger Ramey (who was DuBose’s boss) saying to get the press off their back, send some wreckage up here today, and never talk about it again.
For reasons unknown they had historian Robert Goldberg tell the Roswell tale although he was seriously in error in his description of Roswell in his book about conspiracies and on the show. They gave Karl Pflock quite a bit of time with his Roswell debunking They blindly accepted the Mogul Balloon explanation even though there is no evidence to support it, the materials characteristics don’t match witness testimony, the dates and locations are wrong. They stressed the high security for Mogul… vastly overstated since several launches were allowed to just drop in the desert, no chase planes or ground teams. At least the Crash test dummies weren’t paraded. I have dealt with all the objections in my MUFON 2003 paper “Critiquing the Roswell Critics”.
The real promoters on the show were the SETI cultists with their myths. They have no evidence of any kind that there is anybody out there, that there are signals being sent, that they can receive and interpret such signals if there are any, using our primitive technology. An AM radio can’t pick up FM signals. They can’t admit that there is overwhelming evidence of alien visitation.
It appears that the producers were perfectly willing to present some interesting testimony though they left out things like Project Blue Book Special Report 14,or other large scale scientific studies, the statement by AF General Carroll Bolender that reports of UFOs which could effect national Security were not part of the blue Book system. But the three areas of investigation that clearly together establish both the cover-up and that the planet is being visited (Roswell and the abductions and the fact that interstellar travel is feasible with reasonable trip times) were trashed. Sounds like when push came to shove they lacked any courage at all. It was nice to give a neat segment at the end of the program to Michio Kaku saying that maybe visitors are well ahead of us and can warp space and time. Fusion propulsion systems are much closer in time. Blacked out and whited out government UFO documents force one to the conclusion that the government is not just incompetent with Blue Book, but lying through its teeth.
Perhaps I should mention that only 11.6 million people watched the show. The unsolved Mysteries program on NBC in 1989 about Roswell was seen by over 28 million people the first time around and 30 million the second time.
Particularly irritating was the frequent mention of lights in the sky, billions of stars, absence of physical evidence. There was not even the slightest mention of Ted Phillips’ 3000 + excellent physical trace countries from 90 countries. Why show Chris McKay digging in desert dirt and not the traces left by a UFO?
Frankly I was also bothered by the proclamations by nasty noisy negativist retired USAF officer James McGaha. We had a full-scale debate in Tennessee. The video is noted at my website www.stantonfriedman.com . It is easy to say we need both sides. But is that true when one does his research by investigation and the other does it by proclamation?
I was among the many serious UFO advocates whose videoed interviews and other contributed materials were left on the cutting room floor by the Peter Jennings Production people. Am I upset? No, it goes far beyond that. I am angry, depressed, and feeling that my almost lifetime effort to fight for serious attention to UFOs has come to naught, and here I am.... well, most of the images I think of are X-rated.
The Journal of Scientific Exploration asked me to review the program, so I did that for them. In that review I tell about my extensive interactions with several members of the production staff and all the material that I provided to them, only to feel like Charley Brown once again as Lucy pulled the football away at the last minute. What they told me the program would be, and what all of us viewed, are two quite different things.
I am beyond fed up, I'm outta here. I'm an old firehouse dog, so I am likely to jump up and follow the fire engine and start barking when provoked to do so, but the ignorant crap of the Greer's, Salla's, and other 'disclosure' freaks (not to mention the skeptibunkers) turns me off so totally that I can't help but wonder about who they are and where they are coming from, and whether they are disinformation agents. Yes, I am becoming paranoid, but not about government plots - "the government" is too diffuse and disorganized to be suspect - but instead about what some arrogant, self-serving, sub-group of government and their handmaidens may be up to.
By Larry W. Bryant Director of CAUS (Citizens Against UFO Secrecy) 3-04-05
Doubt not that, when they first heard about the Peter Jennings Productions' UFOdrama, most seasoned UFOlogists exhaled a sigh of "so what?". Some of them, like me, chose a hope-for-the-best approach; in my case, this included my dispatching a prebroadcast e-plea to ABC TV's "Nightline" that one or more segments of THAT program be devoted to expanding upon Peter's would-be ground-breaking assessment of today's UFOworld (see text of my letter, below).
Now that the video-Peter-gram has been delivered and digested, I have only to say that my plea has morphed into a pan. Place no bets, dear TV viewer, that anyone at "Nightline" will get around to providing a customized reply to my plea. And why should they? In their ballooning, self-satisfied hold on the public's short attention span, the ABC moguls needn't look any farther than such cookie-cutter productions as Jennings's for earning their paychecks. So long as they're willing to continue pandering to the Shallow Halls of Scientism as regards UFO reality -- and so long as the public accepts that status quo -- we can do little to open the eyes of those scientists beset by their own form of (intellectual) "sleep paralysis."
If Jennings's languid UFOmercial has proved anything, it has proved, once again, that -- in Amerika's corporate-driven, codified society -- we UFOlogists can expect little solace (or enlightenment) from mainstream media, vis-a-vis the UFO problem.
TEXT OF L.W.B.'s 2/7/05 LETTER TO" NIGHTLINE":
TO: Mr. Tom Bettag, Executive Producer of "Nightline" (at ABC News)
As most of us in the UFO-research community eagerly await the airing of Peter Jennings's new documentary on the state of public UFO awareness (Feb. 24 at 8:00 p.m. EST), some of us would like to see "Nightline's" cameras zoom in on the "politics of UFOlogy" (as exemplified by our decades-long efforts to seek a full, unequivocal accounting from pertinent government officials as to what they REALLY know (and when they knew it) about UFO reality . . . and why they've chosen to suppress that knowledge from public view).
We're aware that at least once in the past -- several years ago -- "Nightline" did air a program devoted to this hot-potato subject, but it failed to dig far enough for that elusive gold at the end of the UFO-coverup rainbow. Now, with Mr. Jennings's attempt to defuse this sociopolitical/cultural taboo, "Nightline" can capitalize on the public edification thus gained -- by helping us ferret out and cultivate certain whistleblower-derived data, further insider contacts, deathbed confessions, and "leaked" documentation. You could start the process by querying certain congressional committee chairs about their behind-the-scenes activity on the UFO-coverup issue; you could assign a team of investigative reporters for producing follow-up programs; and you thereby could export the wealth and worth of Jennings's trench work in helping tell this, the greatest story ever never told.
Unfortunately, the field of serious, sustained UFO research -- along with the concomitant pursuit of full UFO freedom-of-official-information/accountability -- remains replete with missed opportunities. "Nightline" can help close that public-access gap by marshalling its worldwide resources as a force multiplier for UFOtruth. Peter Jennings has placed an ABC-News foot into the UFO inner sanctum's back door; now let us have you folks at "Nightline" boldly barge into the FRONT door!
Meantime, I thank you all at ABC News for affording me this(unmissed) opportunity to urge you to let ALL the UFO evidence speak for itself.
LARRY W. BRYANT Director, Washington, D.C., Office of Citizens Against UFO Secrecy (and author of the 2005 Galde Press, Inc., edition of "UFO Politics at the White House: Citizens Rally 'round Jimmy Carter's Promise")
Conversations with our local ABC affiliate [WPTA-TV] here in Fort Wayne . the General Manager particularly, indicates that there is a distinct possibility that ABC and Jennings might consider a follow-up to its UFO Special because it did rather well in the Nielsen ratings (coming in second, bested only by two reality powerhouses: Survivor and The Apprentice).
Moreover, the airing brought so much feedback and controversy that ABC seems inclined to consider another foray into the topic.
(We sent off a note to Mr. Jennings, with whom we’ve communicated personally in the past, and if we get a reply, with any inkling of a “sequel,” we’ll make it known surely.)
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A strange and powerful burst of radio waves from near the center of our galaxy may have come from a previously unknown type of space object, U.S. astronomers reported on Wednesday.
Other experts nicknamed the mysterious source a "burper" and said there would be a race to scan for similar radio bursts.
"We hit the jackpot," said Scott Hyman, a professor of physics at Sweet Briar College in Virginia, who led the study.
"An image of the Galactic center, made by collecting radio waves of about 1 meter (3 feet) in wavelength, revealed multiple bursts from the source during a seven-hour period from Sept. 30 to Oct. 1, 2002 -- five bursts in fact, and repeating at remarkably constant intervals."
The burst came from the direction of the middle of the Milky Way galaxy, of which Earth is a part, and could have originated from as far away as 24,000 light-years or from as close as 300 light-years. A light-year is the distance light travels in a year, or about 6 trillion miles.
It cannot have come from a celestial object known as a pulsar, the researchers write in this week's issue of the journal Nature, but the source could be a brown dwarf of a magnetar -- an exotic star with an extremely powerful magnetic field.
They have named the presumed object GCRT J1745-3009.
"GCRT J1745-3009 will cause a stampede of further observations," Shri Kulkarni and Sterl Phinney of the California Institute of Technology wrote in a commentary.
"But perhaps even more important is the possibility that the radio heavens contain other fast radio transients (which, in anticipation of a trove of discoveries, we nickname 'burpers')."
Hyman and colleagues made the discovery by studying observations made by the National Science Foundation's Very Large Array radio telescope in New Mexico.
Whether it’s actually a speck of cottonwood fluff, a small bug darting around in the sun or an alien ship come to inspect life in Fort St. John, one local man is certain that for now, he has pictures of an unidentified flying object.
Mark Mann has been taking video footage of the sky for a couple of years now and has come up with some remarkable images by pointing his camera to a brightly lit area of the sky, where the sun has just tucked behind a building to leave a backlit area just to the side of it.
“There’s hundreds of these things, they’re just everywhere,” said Mann of the rounded objects he’s seen flitting across his video screen. When he slows down the tape frame by frame, Mann can spot the “spinning turnips” that seem to radiate light.
Mann has sent the footage to a UFO group in New York that estimated the object’s speed across the sky at up to 18,000 miles per hour and at a size of 15-25 feet in diameter.
“These things are highly polished and moving very fast,” he said. “I don’t know exactly what they are, but they’re solid and silent.
“The definition of UFO is an unidentified object…I can’t begin to imagine where they’re from, but they’re not ours. I’ve seen too many different shapes and different sizes, and too many people have been seeing them in different places.”
Mann has also been in touch with Brian Vike, a UFO enthusiast who collects reports of sightings. Vike, who lives in Houston, B.C., is a member of several national and international astronomical societies and appears regularly on radio programs in the Okanagan, Alberta and the U.S.
Vike has seen Mann’s nighttime footage and originally thought it could be a bright star. But when the object disappeared after two days, he wasn’t so sure.
“It stands out in the sky like a sore thumb…if it was a star it should have showed up again after two days.”
Vike said many sky observers have used a technique similar to Mann’s for daytime shots that reveal “little blobs flying around” that could be anything from cottonwood fluff to dandelions or, quite possibly, UFOs.
Environment Canada spokesman Bill Miller said they used to receive several UFO reports from the Peace region that were attributed to the lights of a weather balloon at night. But as for Mann’s sightings, Miller didn’t want to hazard a guess.
“Some could be bugs,” Vike offered. “With the sun behind the building if something comes between the camera and the sun it will look very bright. In Mark’s footage it looked like a giant hamburger, so I don’t know what it is.”
Graham Conway heads up a group called UFO B.C. And while he figures the bug explanation is reasonable, he doesn’t quite buy it.
“Depending on the time of year, say when it’s colder in the fall or winter, the insect theory doesn’t stand up.”
Vike has heard reports of sightings in the North Peace region from the 1970s but said there seems to be a lull right now, likely because people are afraid of the ridicule from friends and family.
Mann’s had his share of naysayers, but is adamant about what he’s seen.
“I’ve had friends who say no way, but seeing is believing. There’s nothing I can do to convince people until they see it for themselves.”
Vike can’t say for sure what’s in Mann’s photos, but he’s not ruling out some extraterrestrial visitors.
“We can’t be the only life form in this universe,” he said. “There’s a lot more questions and not enough answers, but we can’t be the only life form in this vastness.”
UFO Secrecy and the Death of the American Republic (Part Two)
by Richard M. Dolan 2-28-05
[The author would like to thank several careful and thoughtful readers for their assistance and feedback in preparing this paper. They know who they are.]
Of Science And Politics
The development of silent fascism in America is of such historical significance, you might ask, "why talk about UFOs?" There is no shortage of culprits, so why bring in the lunatic fringe?
Conversely, there are also UFO researchers who want no part of political analysis interfering with their field of study. This is a scientific issue, they maintain. Introducing political perspectives just muddies the waters. Analyze the evidence, know your facts, and stay objective.
But the UFO topic has important political implications. We cannot afford to ignore them. One of these is the damaging effect UFO secrecy has had on our society. It is an issue that intimately affects public policy, national security, and our very freedom. Indeed, as I will argue, the topic of UFOs and the extreme secrecy concerning them will determine a significant course of our civilization’s future.
Because UFO secrecy hasn’t been the only danger to our recent history, I tried in the first part of this article to provide some perspective, and by discussing some important non-ufological cancers that have eaten away at the American Republic. Such as the events of September 11, 2001.
UFO Secrecy and the Death of the American Republic
Part One of Two
by Richard M. Dolan 2-21-05
A Murder Mystery
Like the Agatha Christie twist in Murder on the Orient Express, there have been many killers of the American Republic.
There is of course the obvious culprit, finally and widely acknowledged these days. This is the Spirit (and reality) of Empire, which has provided a none-too-subtle knife in the back. Since the days of Rome, people have understood the incompatibility of republican institutions with the tools of conquest and empire. By the time of Caesar, for instance, Roman rule stretched throughout the Mediterranean, dominating peoples as diverse as those under American military hegemony today.
The problem back then was that the old Roman Senate, already with five centuries of history behind it, was designed for ruling Romans – in Rome. The Senate managed well enough during Rome’s conquest of Italy in the third century BC, and even during the pivotal Punic Wars with Carthage. But ruling faraway (and valuable) lands like Gaul and Egypt were not so simple. Caesar knew this as well as anyone. Solution: end of the Republic, and the creation of such offices as Dictator for Life. Then, after his assassination, Emperor. Indeed, we may wish to remember that Caesar’s successor, his nephew, the Emperor Augustus, stated that his own absolute rule was only temporary, and that he eventually intended to restore the republic.
Ultimately, republics cannot wear the armor of empire. That is because two central principles of republican philosophy – freedom and self-government – wither under its weight.
Empires mean war. Wars mean the stifling of dissent and constriction of free thought at home. This happens every time. Repeat: every time. It has happened in America today. Freedom of expression is a meaningless concept if everyone thinks the same. It is how dissenters are treated that enables us to measure how free a society is.
The definitive special about alien life ...has yet to be made.
Peter Jennings' report on UFOs was awaited with much excitement by people such as myself who have an interest in the subject of alien contact - excitement which was only partially tempered by the unfortunate news that the final interview given by Harvard's Dr. John Mack, a leading authority on the subject of alien contact, would not be presented in the finished program. Still, the potential for a powerful program remained, due to the high quality work which Peter Jennings Productions are known for. I duly tuned in the broadcast this evening.
It seems that the best of what Peter Jennings Productions (and the filmmakers at Springs Media) delivered was a strong 20 or 30 minute introduction to the UFO subject, and then (much later in the program) an all-too-brief couple of minutes of modern perspectives on how alien visitation could be possible (from internationally recognized authority in theoretical physics Dr. Michio Kaku).
The first segment persuasively argued that early investigations of flying saucers on the part of the Air Force or government were so weak as to be considered a squandered opportunity for knowledge. But from that segment on, the program seemed rather uninspired.
If the program had taken the lead of modern scientists such as Dr. Michio Kaku or Brian Greene this program could have been a grand statement about the current theories and ideas about ufos/alien encounters, and how we might investigate them if we apply this modern knowledge. I refer to knowledge which - as anyone who has looked into alien encounters would appreciate - involves theoretical physics' insights into the structure of reality as well as theories of consciousness or, to put it more simply, theories of how perception of reality is affected by different states of consciousness.
Instead, modernity was given a couple good minutes of limelight (in the form of Dr. Kaku explaining how modern physics believes that seemingly vast distances between worlds could be crossed in an instant) followed by far too many people who are retreading theories of the 1970s - including present day researchers who are parroting theories from that era (the people from SETI, Harvard's Dr. McNally, and - to be entirely fair - even some "pro" ufo folks).
If only Jennings' program had been as fascinated by contemporary theories as they were by the early days of the UFO era. It was evidently not to be, and therefore this special was itself an opportunity squandered.
Sadly, the definitive special about alien life has yet to be made.
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