Is It a UFO?

The mind’s eye likes to categorize images based on reference, circumstance and familiarity. Be it dark or daylight skies, we thrive on recognizable predictability. From contrails to crescent moon, ominous storm clouds to constellation Orion, familiar skyscapes fit like comfortable slippers. By virtue of our nature, everything we see is processed according to common knowledge. So what happens when perception defies instinctive categorization? When “I’ve never seen a cloud like that” or “that can’t possibly be an airplane” muddies reflexive comprehension? Void of immediate explanation some ask themselves, is it a UFO?

Ponder this image. How does your mind’s eye categorize eerie concentric circles punctuated with a tilted ascending beam of blue light? Extraterrestrial origin or definable illusion? In December 2009 a failed Russian ballistic missile test created this illusion in skies over Norway. Rings of light stem from spiraling trajectory following third stage missile failure.

Russia admits missile caused UFO lights (nbcnews.com)

How about this –

UFO? No, it’s a Iridium flare. “Iridium” flare terminology stems from a constellation of communications satellites first launched in 1997 by Iridium Communications. Satellites generally appear as slow moving “stars” to the untrained eye. The original 66 Iridium satellites have been phased out, replaced by second generation SpaceX low orbit installations. That said, for the past 20 years momentary bright flashes occurred up to four times a day when reflective antenna caught sunlight.

Understanding Iridium Flares (thoughtco.com)

And this –

Lenticular cloud over Mount Fuji.

Lenticular cloud forms above mountains when stable moist air rises, meets cold air which forces it to settle in oscillating rings. A phenomenon associated with storm fronts.

UFOs In The Clouds — Lenticular Clouds, That Is — Fire Our Imaginations Of Alien Visitors | HuffPost Canada (huffingtonpost.ca)

From weather balloons, drones, funky clouds, upper atmosphere ice crystals bending light, low orbit satellites to bright magnitude planet Venus, the mind’s eye demands explanation. Is it a UFO? Probably not. 99.9% of the time there’s a perfectly logical explanation.

15th Detached Foot

15 running shoes containing detached human feet washed up on British Columbia shores since 2007. News of the 15th broke on February 11, 2019 when West Vancouver police and the British Columbia Coroner Service issued a plea for public assistance in identifying the missing person who wore this Nike men’s size 9.5 sneaker with an OrthoLite insert. Trouble is number 15 landed on a West Vancouver beach in September, 2018, so why did authorities wait 5 months before going public?

Officially 10 of 15 detached feet are identified as belonging to 7 people who died by accident or suicide, 5 remain a mystery. Be that as it may, where are the rest of their bodies? Feet only detach from water logged bodies when they’re encased in a running shoe? Why a cluster of detached feet in Southwestern B.C.? Why 5 months between finding #15 and going public? Surely there’s a reasonable explanation, unfortunately what that might be remains ponderously elusive.

https://vancouversun.com/news/local-news/another-foot-the-15th-since-2007-washes-up-on-a-b-c-beach

 

Project Blue Beam

Why do strains of virulent conspiracy invade brackish minds? What force is credited with churning reality into conspiracy? Does conspiracy germinate unexpectedly or metastasize over time? Is refusal to consider competent treatment conspiracy’s defining characteristic? Perhaps conspiracy is misunderstood – could it be integral to human development, a hyper sensitive manifestation unique to certain individuals, people of heightened intellect able to recognize what others can not? Toss that! Reasonable skepticism, investigation, research is one thing – conspiracy crosses the bat shit line.

Ponder Project Blue Beam – case history, torn from conspiracy’s textbook. In 1994 Quebec journalist Serge Monast publicly buckled with conspiracy fever. Alleging that in 1964,  NASA (with support of the United Nations ) launched methodical step by step plans to create a new age religion ruled by the antichrist. Success of a new world order hinged on exhaustive groundwork, culminating in a technologically simulated “second coming”.

Blue Beam scoffed at whispers of vague suspicion, only conspiracy sissies sprinkle doubt – Monast came to play. Play arrived with four elaborately detailed steps toward world domination. The first step required “breakdown of all archeological knowledge” – decimate foundations of religious belief by staging earthquakes at specific locations, followed by claims of history altering archeological discoveries at those locations – an attempt to erode Muslim and Christian beliefs. Step two calls on NASA’s penchant for technological deception. Dubbed “space show” it requires simultaneous global holographic projection of predominant deities. Speaking in all languages, apparitions morph into one – the antichrist. Next is “Telepathic Electronic Two-Way Communication”, step three insists low frequency radio waves will convince people God is speaking telepathically with them.

Marching to a new world order demands total commitment, mankind has to beg for guidance/direction. Step four unleashes the trinity of conspiracy hysteria – alien invasion, belief the rapture is imminent and forces traveling through electronic equipment to install microchips in each and every living person. Chaos would facilitate an oath of allegiance to Lucifer, cementing humanity’s protection under a new world order. Resistance is futile.

Tried and true conspiracy dogma pushed buttons in every fringe of society. Blaming NASA pulled in fake Moon landing nutters. Involvement of the UN widened the scope to include world governments. Manipulation/corruption of religion frothed the faithful, generous portions of technology paranoia collided with alien invasion. But for logic, a perfect conspiracy.

Below – a Blue Beam snippet taken from http://www.theforbiddenknowledge.com/hardtruth/operation_blue_beam.htm

“For those who will not accept the new world order, who will reject it, the new world order people have already built re-education concentration camps and, for those camps, they have established what they call the “rainbow classifications” of the new world order prisoners.

The rainbow is considered as the “bridge” leading to the Satanic empire of the new world order.

We already know, for instance, that everyone will have to take an oath to Lucifer in order to cross that bridge into the new age. All who resist that initiation will be sent to detention facilities where they will be separated into different categories, known as the rainbow classification of the new world order prisoners.

1. Classification of Christian children, as planned, is to be as human sacrifices where, within the black mass ceremonies, they will forced to participate in any kind of sexual orgies or be kept as sexual slaves.2. Classification of prisoners to be used in medical experiments where drugs and new technologies will be tested on humans.

3. Classification of healthy prisoners for the International Organ Donation Center where vital organs will be removed one by one while they are kept alive by mechanical devices.

4. Classifiaction of all healthy underground worlkers. The new world order is basically a worldwide dictatorship based upon the Luciferian religion; a dictatorship with the illusion of democracy. In order to maintain the illusion of democracy, camps and slave labor will be hidden underground in massive colonies that are being built as we write this report.

5. Classification of “Uncertain Prisoners.” In the international “re-education” center, political and religious prisoners will be re-educated (by whatever means are required) so that they may repent on international televison programs and glorify the virtues of the one world government for the benefit of all humanity.

6. Classification of the International Execution Center. Clear enough!

7. Classification seven. We are still waiting on the details of the Seventh Classification, and we are awaiting verification of the colors to be assigned to these classifications of prisoners, but this is the basic agenda of those who have planned the new “paradise” world of the future.

You must understand that when I decided to release, about six months ago, some of their plans and information concerning their most important project, which is the NASA Blue Beam Project, I wasn’t certain if I would survive my stand against the new world order’s plans to put down on their knees all of the world’s cultures and religions.”

The site below claims detailed proof of holographic projection by government/military conspirators –

http://truthstreammedia.com/2015/10/19/project-blue-beam-yes-the-govt-researched-projecting-holograms-of-god-as-a-mass-psyop/

Monast’s death in December 1996 (heart attack at age 51) tossed gas on blue beam fires. Supporters contend he was “silenced” by government enforcers. The same supporters convinced Monast’s two home schooled children were “kidnapped” rather than seized by family services for their protection.

One last link and excerpt, this one from transcripts of a radio interview with Monast. Full text at link below –

“If we go deeper in that process of mind control over the people we find that the equipment and technology has been used to influence politics in a much more direct fashion. Michael Dukakis, the Democrat candidate running against George Bush in the 1988 election was targeted with microwave technology in order to impede his public speaking performance once the public opinion polls showed he posed a serious threat to Bush’s election prospects. He also claims that the equipment was used against Kitty Dukakis and drove her to the brink of suicide. In the Disneyland world of U. S. politics, a presidential candidate with problems such as these, would obviously lose their race to the White House. In the December 1980 edition of the U. S. Army Journal, called the Military Review, a column by Lt. Col John B. Alexander, entitled, ‘The New Mental Battlefield: Beam Me Up, Spock,’ provides further insight into the technical capabilities at the disposal of the comptroller. He writes:

“Several examples will demonstrate areas in which progress have been made. The transference of energy from one organism to another; the ability to heal or cause disease to be transmitted over a distance, thus inducing illness or death from no apparent cause; telepathic behavior modification which includes the ability to induce hypnotic states up to a distance of 1,000 kilometers have been reported.”=

Project Blue Beam and the Real Rapture

 

Overtoun Bridge

In 1895 Lord Overtoun constructed an arch bridge over a stream on his estate. The bridge towers 50 feet above the Overtoun Burn in Milton, near Dumbarton Scotland.

In the 1950s reports surfaced of dogs jumping to their death from Overtoun Bridge. The phenomenon has become a regular occurrence, with strikingly similar details. Actual numbers of doggie suicides vary from 50-600, what remains constant are circumstances of those deaths. Canine suicide is exclusive to long nosed breeds such as Labs, Collies and Retrievers. All dogs jump from the same spot – approaching Overtoun Estate on the right hand side of the bridge, between the last two parapets, and only on sunny days.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-411038/Why-dogs-leapt-deaths-Overtoun-Bridge.html

Overtoun Bridge – Scotland’s Mysterious Canine Suicide Spot

Happy Pi Day

The circumference of a circle, regardless of size is 3.14 times longer than the diameter (distance across). Circumference divided by diameter is a mathematical constant known as Pi. By definition Pi is a mathematical constant because it isn’t changed by the size of numbers it’s used to equate. Pi is irrational, meaning it has an infinite number of digits which never repeat. In 2018 physicist Peter Trueb calculated Pi to 22.4 trillion digits – 22,459,157,718,361 to be precise. Limitless as Pi may be, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory requires a mere 15 Pi digits to calculate interplanetary travel, mathematician James Grime argues 39 digits is enough to calculate circumference of the known universe. In 1988 physicist Larry Shaw organized the first Pi Day at San Francisco’s Exploratorium science museum on 3.14. In 2009 U.S. Congress officially recognized the fourteenth day of the third month as Pi Day.

Antiquity was no stranger to Pi, ancient Egypt and Babylon calculated approximations of Pi between 1900-1600 BC. In 250 BC Greek mathematician Archimedes is credited with the first algorithm calculating Pi as 3.14. Chinese mathematician Zu Chongzhi (429-501) calculated Pi to 6 decimal places.

March 14 ignites ponders of my Pi soft spot. Gavrinis, a Neolithic site inhabited between 5000-3500 BC on a tiny island off the Brittany coast of France. In the 1930’s French archeologists discovered a burial chamber on Gavrinis containing stone slabs with intricate carvings resembling fingerprints. Mathematicians saw it as indecipherable code, modern computer analysis blew our minds – Gavrinis code indicates the exact number of days in a year, reference to solstice and equinoxes, precise longitude/ latitude of the island, and the “mathematical constant Pi.

Happy Pi Day.

Gavrinis

http://www.geek.com

Death Valley Sliders

For well over a century, tales of “sliding stones” crept from the desolate floor of Death Valley into mainstream consciousness. An area known as Racetrack Playa, is tattooed with cheeky testament to the phenomenon.  Size, shape, and weight, seemingly inconsequential to movement – more baffling is that they only “move” every few years. Rough or flat bottomed stones tend to move in straight lines while smooth or rounded rocks wander about. Similar size and shaped rocks might travel beside each other for a time, then inexplicably go their own way.

Death Valley has the lowest elevation in North America at 282 feet below sea level – surrounded by mountains, and only 84 miles from Mount Whitney, the highest elevation in the U.S. at 14,505 feet – Death Valley behaves like a natural convection oven. Vast areas void of vegetation adsorb sunlight, rising heat cools rapidly when climbing steep mountainous borders, forcing hot air into strong winds trapped within the valley perimeter. On July 10, 1913, Death Valley recorded the highest temperature recorded on Earth – 134 degrees Fahrenheit, or 57 Celsius.

In 2011, cousins Richard D. and James M. Norris founded the Slithering Stones Research Initiative. With the help of NASA, and Scripps Institution of Oceanography they erected a weather station near Racetrack Playa – depositing 15 GPS fitted stones into the mix. On December 4 and 20, 2013 time lapse cameras recorded some of their GPS markers “moving” at up to 15 feet per minute. By January 2014, some marked rocks had traveled several hundred feet.  They managed to record first ever visuals of stone movement, and solve the mystery.

Stones “slithered” not from high winds, pressure exerted by frost heaves or being pushed along by winter ice – stones “floated” on thin sheets of window pane ice when a precise combination of moisture, morning sunlight and favorable winds aligned.

“In contrast with previous hypotheses of powerful winds or thick ice floating rocks off the playa surface, the process of rock movement that we have observed occurs when the thin, 3- to 6-millimeter “windowpane” ice sheet covering the playa pool begins to melt in late morning sun and breaks up under light winds of ~4–5 meters/second.

Floating ice panels tens of meters in size push multiple rocks at low speeds of 2–5 meters/minute along trajectories determined by the direction and velocity of the wind as well as that of the water flowing under the ice.”

Credit – PLOS ONE

There had to be a perfectly reasonable explanation for this stunning exhibition of “nature works in mysterious ways”. Rather than kick myself for not laying eyes while in the vicinity – all I can do is pencil Death Valley onto my bucket list.

 

What moves the sailing stones of Death Valley?

 

 

Paracus Mounds, Geoglyphs and Arrogant Nonsense

I doubt many people of my generation escaped  Erich Von Daniken’s Chariots of the Gods. Published in 1968, Daniken popularized ancient astronaut theory, replacing Area 51 conspiracy hub bub with  fantastic examples of actual ancient archeological mysteries.The Nazca Lines stood out as most perplexing – why indeed would ancient people create massive geoglyphs discernible only from above? I wasn’t ready to concede ancient alien intervention, yet Daniken  fueled endless ponders of civilization lost.

The Paracus people pre-dated Nazca in the highlands of Peru. UCLA researcher Charles Stanish studied a 30 square kilometer area once inhabited by the Paracus – specifically using GPS to plot geoglyphs and ceremonial mounds. What he found was a direct correlation between geoglyph lines and mounds, each set of lines leading to a mound illuminated by the rising sun on the winter solstice. His research published at Sciencemag.org suggests the lines served as markers for people to follow across the desert for notable celestial gatherings.

Parascus geoglyphs may be crude next to Nazca artistry  similar in that they look like nothing standing next to them – bound together by  the motivation of ancient cultures. Azraq Oasis in Jordan – a another little known example of geoglyphs, discovered only when aerial and satellite imaging revealed ancient desert “wheels”, further fans ancient geoglyph speculation.

Azraq Oasis wheels number in the thousands – wheel shaped patterns, complete with spokes dot middle eastern deserts – standing next to one you wouldn’t be able to pick it out from the surrounding landscape.

http://www.livescience.com/16046-nazca-lines-wheels-google-earth.html

Image courtesy crystlinks. com – Azraq wheels in Jordan

Ancient Peruvian culture predating Nazcas used desert lines to guide people to solstice festivities

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/05/140505-paracas-rock-solstice-geoglyphs-archaeology-science/

Notions of intricate, purposeful and astronomically aligned geoglyphs standing guard for centuries in barren deserts around the globe is no small ponder. Learning of a scientific study verifying Paracus geoglyphs appear to align with ceremonial mounds where people gathered for solstice celebrations, fuels my suspicion ancient cultures kicked ass. Sorry Von Daniken, I’m not caving to your ancient astronaut theories. Instead my heart soars over a sneaky gut feeling that lost civilizations deserve some respect.

Inability to fathom ancient wisdom doesn’t immediately translate into other worldly intervention. Vast bodies of knowledge have been eradicated – lost to time, geology or religious destruction. The Maya calculated the length of a year within 3 decimal points, kept precise records of leap years going back centuries and aligned temples to mark celestial events.

Give credit where it is due – just because we’re lazy self absorbed nincompoops doesn’t mean ancient civilizations had alien help to figure it all out. Personally, I’m pondering possibilities had lost civilizations been left to their own devices. “Ancient astronaut” jibber-jabber strikes me as demeaning – a slap in the face to accomplishments blowing modern minds dysfunctional without micro chip assistance.

Would it kill us to admit that ancient people put us to shame. That awareness, observation and ingenuity defined our world long before modern smarty pants thought they were the bee’s knees? Ancient geoglyphs in a miniscule section of Peru seem to serve as public service billboards along the road to building stronger communities. Get over the alien nonsense or smugly dismissive apathy.

Ancient civilization could run circles around modern stupidity.

Fermi Paradox

In 1950 physicist Enrico Fermi posed a question pointing to the contradiction of probability for extra-terrestrial civilizations and the lack of contact with such civilizations. His pondering is known as the “Fermi Paradox”. In 1961, Frank Drake tried to come up with the statistical answer using a mathematic equation. Drake assigned values for rate of star formation in the galaxy, fraction of those stars with planets, fraction of those that would develop life, of those – the fraction with intelligent life, fraction of intelligent life willing and able to communicate, and expected lifetime of intelligent civilizations.

http://fermisparadox.com/Fermi-paradox.htm

It doesn’t take a physicist to figure out flaws in Drake’s formula; how can anyone determine the lifetime of any given civilization or possibly understand definitions of cosmic life. We’ve only glimpsed at our solar system, haven’t set foot on the moon in decades, Voyager 1 has taken 36 years to travel 19 billion Km. give or take a few million – and is still about 11 billion Kms. from our sun. There are billions upon billions of stars in the universe; almost incomprehensible, despite attempts such as “picture all the grains of sand in the world – remove one – that’s our sun”.

Science, religion and philosophy toss the paradox around – all searching for a definitive “solution”. Science equates likelihood of an “encounter” to a fly travelling from one end of a football field to the other – a person reaching up and grasping at the air – there’s a chance they could grab the fly. Religion, steadfast and unwavering that no proof of extra-terrestrial life “proves”  God put us here. (Apparently a lot of Christians missed a memo from the Vatican that extra-terrestrial life is possible as there is no limit to God’s power)

I’ll close by pondering how lovely it would be if we could simply focus on discovery and knowledge. Imagine understanding dark matter, black holes or the fourth dimension. Debating Fermi’s Paradox is a worthy diversion; an entertaining way to stretch your mind. Buckling down to the business of pure science will change lives – forget “ancient aliens”, I want parallel dimensions.

http://fermisparadox.com/

Aurora, Texas 1897

I love a good UFO conspiracy – not so much for the conspiracy as the legend and folklore surrounding it. Area 51 and Roswell, New Mexico fuel UFO speculation and government cover-up to the point of hysteria. I’ll admit; depending on your frame of mind or the conviction of believers – it does pose some questions.

Pondering UFO abductions, sightings or crashes is tricky business. It’s one thing to say you don’t believe we’re alone in the universe, another to state you buy into specific cover ups. I don’t believe we could possibly be alone, that said I find it difficult to digest many UFO theories being bantered about. Cautiously forging ahead – ponder Aurora, Texas in 1897.

On April 19, 1897 the Dallas Morning News reported an incident on April 17 in Aurora, Texas. A “cigar shaped” flying object hit a windmill and  crash landed on the property of Judge J.S. Proctor. Witnesses claim a single occupant perished; the body mangled and described as “not of this world”. A Mr T.J. Weems – U.S. signal officer on duty in the area – reported to conveniently be an expert on astronomy – declared Mars to be mystery ships’ home planet. Further evidence; papers found on deceased Martian contained script in undefinable hieroglyphics. A “Christian burial” scheduled the following day.

The incident was never mentioned in press again. Local legends tell of the mysterious metal craft partially buried with the “alien”, the rest tossed down Judge Proctor’s well. In 1945 the property was purchased by Brawley Oates who developed a acute case of arthritis after trying to clear debris out of the old well. Oates later sealed the well with a concrete slab and built a shed on top of it. The Texas Historical Commission erected a marker outside Aurora’s cemetery detailing the “legend”.

UFO enthusiasts, historians, and idle gawkers ponder events at Aurora with interest ranging from curiosity to conspiracy. Naturally no evidence exists – the legend lives on. Never mind original reports of a slow moving cigar shaped craft – think Zeppelins since they were the only aircraft of reference. Take folded papers containing Martian hieroglyphs with a grain of salt – obviously alien travellers carried note pads when crossing galaxies.

Hard as I ponder, I can’t think of one good reason why we need “proof” of alien visits. We can’t cope with our own nonsense let alone deal with ramifications of other worldly beings. Religion would bend it into utter nonsense, business would find ways to turn it into a cash cow and fear would make survivalist wing nuts look like the next best thing.

I’m perfectly happy in my belief we’re not alone – and equally convinced we couldn’t process the truth.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aurora,_Texas_UFO_Incident

Vinland or Bust

Despite school yard rhymes “in fourteen hundred and ninety two, Columbus sailed the ocean blue” or America’s Columbus Day holiday – it is generally accepted Christopher Columbus rode on the coat tails of much earlier European discovery of America. Discovery of a Viking settlement at L’Anse aux Meadows in Newfoundland, proved Vikings found America almost 500 years before Columbus bumped into the Caribbean – never underestimate a good publicist.

Written references to “Vinland” date back to the 11th century; Adam of Breman’s “Description of the Northern Islands” describes it as an island discovered by many in an ocean where grape vines grow by themselves, producing the best wine. Vinland is synonymous with the Norse, and accepted as the name given to North America.

I rarely link to Wikepedia, in this case I’m making an exception – a fairly good history of Vinland folklore and historical accounts…

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vinland

Truth be told, it’s the Vinland Map that got me pondering. In the early 1960’s Yale University paid a million dollars for a map – a map offering definitive proof the Vikings discovered America hundreds of years before Columbus. Yale purchased the map a few years prior to the Newfoundland bombshell. In 1966 the Smithsonian cast doubt on authenticity of the map; a 1974 test of ink on the map showed traces of titanium dioxide, an element that didn’t surface in ink until the 1920’s. In 2002, Yale surrendered a sliver of paper; carbon dating concluded 1430 or thereabouts stood, as Yale believed, to be the year its paper was made.

Backing up a little; Vinland Map has a tricky, more accurately “slippery” history. It was originally offered for sale as an “extra”, as in “unexpected discovery” inside the pages of a authentic and verified book called “The Tartar Relation” – dated to 1440, a book written by a Franciscan friar on the “manners and history” of the Mongols. Rather an odd place for a Viking map to land; fueling speculation it was a forgery, penned on paper taken from the verified book.

This link allows you to click on areas of the map for points of interest, speculation and debate – basically, you decide. My mind needn’t ponder long to arrive at the conclusion Columbus basked in credit he didn’t earn or deserve. An  intrepid explorer – perhaps –  discovered America? Oh hell no, not even close.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/ancient/vinland-map.html

I can’t help but find it incredible how we quibble over minor details. If almost 50 years of “science” still draws debate; that’s one masterful forgery. Speculation by historian Kirsten Seaver that German priest Joseph Fischer forged the map in 1930’s Germany as a protest against the Nazis (she contends the map has Catholic symbolism; a protest against Nazi persecution of Catholics and a “take that Adolf” bitch slap for Germany likening itself to the Aryan Norse people – last laugh on you Hitler – Vikings were Catholic and discovered the known world) are still just a best guess.

The Vinland Map is a good mystery, in the end it doesn’t change a thing. We know the Vikings were in North America long before the Columbus show. Who honestly cares at this point if they set foot in Minnesota. Nobody is trying to take Columbus Day holiday away from you. Knock yourselves out public education system; who cares where Newfoundland is anyway – until a Norse settlement rises in New York state, Columbus discovered America when he bumped into the Caribbean and everything hinges on a questionable map.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/transcripts/3205_vinland.html