Friday, 23 November 2012
Spacing Out! Ep. 29 - Nephilim & Reptilian Mythology With Guest Scotty Roberts (Video)
Published on 23 Nov 2012 By openmindstv
Scotty Roberts is the founder of Intrepid Magazine. He's also an historian and theologian who has researched and written about possible evidence in the early books of the Bible that could support the ancient alien theory. We talk with Scotty about this and other interesting biblical topics. We also discuss an armada of UFOs filmed over Melbourne, a recent, substantial donation to the SETI Institute, and other space and UFO news, on this episode of Spacing Out!
UFO News Links For Friday 23rd November 2012
Sci-Fi Worlds: Reflections on Ancient Astronauts in Prometheus
Alien Life Unlikely Around Dying Stars – Space.com
Strange marks on the ground taken on the surface of Mars by Curiosity
Alien invasion… from Bawtry – The Star
Physics on the Fringe: Dr. Kaku Answers Questions from Science Channel Viewers | Dr. Kaku's Universe | Big Think
Could Curiosity rover have discovered organic material on Mars? – Wired UK
The Haunted Skies Project: Haunted Skies update
USA ‘disappointed’ by Gary McKinnon extradition decision – London24
Twilight Language: Saucer Smear's James W. Moseley Dies
UFO investigator explains recent sightings – News10
UFO Infrared Sighting: Melbourne Man Films Strange Flying Objects Not Visible to Naked Eye [VIDEO] - International Business Times
Alien face seen in the Northern Lights – Daily Mail
UFO Magazine - UFO Magazine Blog - Strieber Stunned!
Did Kentucky Town Fight Off Aliens In 1955? – LEX18
Tourist Group Photographs Unknown Object over Area 51
‘Super Jupiter’ Planet: Newly Discovered Alien World Orbits Kappa Andromedae Star – Huffington Post
Inexplicata-The Journal of Hispanic Ufology: Argentina: Alleged UFO OVer Nevado de Cachi
Glasgow’s ghosts and little green men attract 144 police calls – STV Local
UFO Departs Base Over Hawaii? (Video)
By UFO Casebook
Originally published on Nov 1, 2012 by StephenHannardADGUK
Filmed from Mount Kea on October 30, 2012
Time-lapse footage which clearly shows a UFO leaving and returning to a possible base in the mountains of Hawaii.
These are not planes. Objects like aircraft on time-lapse videos are stretched, long, thin, cigar-shaped if you like.
As you can clearly see these object/objects are spherical shaped and are huge. Watch as the object goes behind the mountain on the right for a comparison of its size, etc.
(Editor's Note: This video was very pixelated. We did what we could to clean the file up as much as possible.)
Doomsday 2012 Hoax: NASA Scientist David Morrison Debunks End Of World Theories
By Lee Speigel
Is the world going to end right in the middle of the upcoming holiday season? While that wouldn't be good for retail sales, many people feel that Dec. 21, 2012 is a date that will linger in our minds forever -- assuming we all survive the calamities that are supposedly headed our way.
The ancient Mayan civilization calendar is believed to end this year on Dec. 21. And somehow, through word-of-mouth, movies, books, the Internet, etc., a cult-like belief system has sprung up in our culture suggesting any number of awful things will take place on that date.
Some of these include:
- An unknown planet on a collision path with Earth.
- A close encounter between Earth and a black hole in deep space.
- More natural disasters around our planet.
- A shifting of Earth's magnetic poles.
Many believe it goes back thousands of years to the ancient Sumerian culture who reportedly discovered a twelfth planet they called Nibiru -- aka Planet X -- which was predicted to have a close encounter with Earth in 2003.
When that didn't happen, a new Doomsday was moved to December 2012.
On the other hand, there are some who believe the December date heralds not doom and gloom, but a more positive transformative experience for Earth and its inhabitants.
It all sounds rather sketchy, especially to a scientist.
"It's all a hoax, and it's based on absolutely no factual information. None of the things that are supposed to happen are real, and so it's kind of hard to even have a scientific discussion about what they're worried about because there's no science there," said David Morrison, a leading space scientist and director of the Carl Sagan Center for Study of Life in the Universe at the SETI Institute in California.
Watch this Doomsday video with David Morrison
While SETI scientists are involved with the ongoing search for extraterrestrial intelligence, they also want to quiet any fears the public has about the alleged Doomsday.
To that end, Morrison created a special Doomsday 2012 Fact Sheet in September that's posted on both SETI and NASA websites.
According to this fact sheet, "opinion polls suggest that one in 10 Americans worry about whether they will survive past December 21 of this year."
"Think about that. It means when you walk down the street and look around, there are 25 million people who presumably have no stake in anything because their world's going to end in [December]. That is scary," Morrison told The Huffington Post.
When Morrison was researching information for his Doomsday fact sheet, he didn't find anything that confirmed that the Mayans left us any dire predictions.
"The Maya scholars I've talked to say flat out they did not make any such predictions. The question then is does their calendar end? Well, that's not true, either, because there are written references to dates that are hundreds of years in the future, which indicates the calendar must keep going," he said.
"So, this is not a Maya thing -- they don't think anything bad's going to happen, and it's only meaningful if you believe the Maya could predict the future."
Morrison assured HuffPost that he's not building a bunker in his backyard to protect himself and his loved ones.
"I am not. And that's a whole other thing that's part of this mythology about how the government has been frantically building bunkers to house millions of people underground -- the elite, of course, not the rest of us. And that's just crazy."
Check out this video about the ancient Sumerians and Planet X
There is, however, one part of this whole Doomsday scenario that the NASA/SETI scientist is very concerned about.
"I think it is wrong to put out a website or make a YouTube video in order to frighten children," he said. "That is something we should be truly offended by. And my main concern is that children have said they are contemplating suicide. A science teacher in Stockton, Calif., said the parents of two of her students told her they were planning to kill the children and themselves in a family suicide before the 21st of December.
"For children who are asking, 'Will Christmas come this year, Daddy?' I think that's evil," Morrison said.
That's also a concern of Jonathan Alpert, a New York City-based psychotherapist and author of "Be Fearless: Change Your Life in 28 Days."
"I have adults who see me and have beliefs that the world is ending, and they have kids, so it permeates into the kids' thinking," Alpert told HuffPost. "They're instilling fear in their young ones. Kids learn from adults, so if you're a kid and you witness your parents getting frenetic and anxious around the end of the world, and they're hoarding water and this and that, then naturally you'll develop a similar response."
Alpert says that, even though scientists reject the Doomsday scenario, it still affects people.
"In a way, it's like a folklore," Alpert explained. "People want to feel like they're part of something. They want to believe in things, even if those things are somewhat outrageous. There's a feeling of belonging-ness."
To help parents and children cope with any Doomsday issues, Alpert offers some advice.
"I would say stick with the facts. Kids are impressionable and easily influenced and ideas can be perpetuated in an unhealthy way, so parents should certainly take an active role in knowing what their kids are being exposed to and subsequently re-educating their kids."
UFOs in advertising: Peter Robbins lecture (Video)
Peter Robbins on the advertising industry's treatment of UFOs and extraterrestrials...
Friday, 16 November 2012
Spacing Out! Ep. 28 - Talking Star Trek, Star Wars, and UFOs with Dan Madsen (Video)
Published on 16 Nov 2012 By openmindstv
Dan Madsen ran the official fan clubs for both Star Trek and Star Wars, and he worked closely with the people involved with both franchises. We talk with Dan about his interesting career, his thoughts about the recent sale of Lucasfilm to Disney, and about UFOs. We also discuss the possibility of upcoming manned moon missions, a recent UFO sighting in Denver, and other space and UFO news, on this episode of Spacing Out!
UFO News Links For Friday 16th November 2012
The
Gralien Report » Helicopters Chasing UFOs Over Iowa? Sky spotters fear ET may have lost his way – The Times
UFOs - scientific research: New book alert - Clarke - The UFO Files 2nd ed.
"Friendship" and Its Collateral Effects
Human Face as Proof of Ruined Civilization on Mars? – International Business Times AU
UFO Disclosure Countdown Clock: U.S. Department Of State Google's `UFO Disclosure Today' (UDCC's 700th Post)
Warm Martian water could have harbored microbes – TG Daily
Unraveling The Secret Life Of The Mysterious George Hunt Williamson: Renowed Ancient Astronaut Theorist, Occultist and Witness To The Flying Saucer Contacts of George Adamski
Stunning Increase In Orange Light UFO Sightings Nationwide
‘Rogue’ alien planet found wandering nearby – Fox News
California witness says object lights moved in sequential pattern ...
What Did Dr. J. Allen Hynek Believe About UFOs in 1967: And When Did He Say It? Part II
Man tells police he saw UFO in Flint Township – The Flint Journal
UFO Sighting Confirmed By Denver News Station [Video] - The Inquis...
UFO hovers over Stevenage – girls draw identical mystery machine – Comet 24
Confirmation of UFO Over London
Men in Black: The UFO Buff's Bogeymen - LiveScience.com
Denver ‘UFO’ Likely Has Earthly Explanation – Discovery News
Investigators offer explanation for UFO recorded in Pitlochry, Scotland
The Courier reports that Musat, who lives in the Walker Court area of Pitlochry, first observed the bright object from his living room window at approximately 7:30 am. He saw the UFO again at approximately 5:30 pm that evening, but this time, the object emitted pulsating light. He estimates the flashing UFO was approximately five meters wide, and claims the object’s colors were constantly changing.
Musat took his video to The Courier, then subsequently sent a copy to the British UFO Research Association (BUFORA).
An example of a harvester used by the Forestry Commission.
(Credit: Forestry Commission)
Before the Courier published the initial story about this UFO, they posted the following message on their Twitter account: “We had a serious power cut tonight. Ahead of our exclusive Pitlochry #UFO story. Coincidence? Or conspiracy? See Tuesday’s paper for more!” Although this comment was most likely made in jest, there are sure to be many who suspect something much more spectacular than a spotlight was recorded by Musat, and is therefore being covered up by the Forestry Commission and others.So what do you think? Does the object in Musat’s video look like a “spotlight on a forestry vehicle,” or is the true identity of the UFO something else?
Topic: UFO - Today's Guest - Joe Taylor - "Giants Against Evolution" (Video)
Published on 10 Nov 2012 By Topic UFO
Your host Rick Scouler welcomes guest Joe Taylor, owner and curator of the Mt. Blanco Fossil Museum in Crosbyton, Texas U.S.A.
Angry Aliens? Call Obama...
By Irene Klotz
Democrats and Republicans may not agree on much, but here's something that apparently brings people together -- more than two-thirds of a U.S. poll say President Barack Obama would be better suited than Mitt Romney to handle an alien invasion.
So reports National Geographic Channel, which recently polled Americans on their UFO beliefs. More than one-third, by the way, say UFOs exist, 11 percent say they've spotted one and one-in-five people know someone who claims to have seen one.
Overall, 65 percent say they'd rather have Obama face a force of angry aliens than Romney. Here’s hoping we can leave that stone unturned.
Image: Like
the election, the role of alien-fighter-in-chief goes to Obama. Credit: NASAWatch.com
Qualcomm Co-Founder Donates Millions To Search For Extraterrestrial Life
By KPBS City News Service
A co-founder and chief scientist of San Diego-based Qualcomm donated $3.5 million to improve the search for life on other planets, the SETI Institute announced today.
SETI The Allen Telescope Array.
The antenna feed will be named after Antonio.
The telescopes are generally aimed toward stars where the existence of planets have been deduced by earthbound astronomers and through use of the Kepler telescope.
The institute also announced it will seek another $1 million in a fundraising campaign.
"Donations will help support our scientists to make a difference in the world,'' said Jill Tarter, co-founder of the SETI Institute. "People who value creativity, education and technology support SETI Institute's mission.''
A variety of efforts involving SETI, which stands for Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence, took place during the 1970s and 1980s, but NASA pulled funding during the early 1990s, so current programs are run privately.
Three Silent Lights Videotaped over Phoenix, Arizona
By UFO Casebook
Phoenix, Arizona - 11-02-12
After eating dinner at Baja Fresh, my wife and I came out and were getting in the car. I noticed three solid white lights coming from the southeast followed by a helicopter.
I could hear the helicopter, but heard no other sound from these white lights. I have heard other choppers being being clumped together in travel and I didn't hear that from these lights.
So I grabbed my iPad and started recording the lights. I didn't feel funny or anything like that.
I just happened to be with it enough to grab my iPad and record what I witnessed with my wife.
(Editor's Note: At first appearance this doesn't look like a big deal, but the three lights appear to be moving as a group. We have added a close-up at the end, and if you look real close to the right of the three objects you can see the helicopter mentioned by the submitter.)
Two New Reports on the Chilean "UFO" Videos Produce Conflicting Results
By Leslie Kean
Two new studies on the controversial video tapes from the El Bosque case in Chile have just been released. Richard Haines, chief scientist for the National Aviation Reporting Center on Anomalous Phenomena (NARCAP) and Bruce Maccabee, retired Navy physicist, performed independent, meticulous analyses of the tapes.
For necessary background on this case, please see my previous articles: March 2012 with Ralph Blumenthal, and April 2012. I will not be repeating information here from these two posts but will assume everyone has read them.
Last June, I went to Santiago partly to seek further resolution on this case. General Ricardo Bermúdez, Director of the CEFAA, told me that the objects did not appear to be bugs, "but we can't be 100 percent sure; it's still under investigation." During my second visit to the CEFAA office in September, the general informed me that the case is now being put to rest, but it remains unsolved.
In June, the Director General of Chile's DGAC invited me to make a presentation at a closed meeting for military brass, foreign attachés and scientists. (Photo Courtesy of DGAC)
With CEFAA staff: (from left) Gustavo Rodriguez, General Ricardo Bermúdez, Jose Lay (DGAC)
It is both intriguing and puzzling that the two scientists disagreed about the most crucial question in this case: Did the same unidentified aerial phenomenon, or UAP, appear on two separate cameras? If the exact same UAP was filmed by the two cameras 20 to 30 feet apart simultaneously, then we would know the object was large, distant and not a bug. Haines concluded that the two cameras captured the same UAP in one sequence, while Maccabee concluded they did not.
"This investigation was carried out with the hope that at least two videos would provide image data that would allow for a triangulation and subsequent calculation of distance and size," Maccabee states in "Analysis of 'UAP' Images in two Videos Obtained During the El Bosque Air Show of November 5, 2010." Triangulation requires that the same object be filmed at the same time by observers at separate locations; without this, the distance to the object cannot be estimated and therefore its actual size cannot be determined. "Unfortunately, the two most promising videos did not show the same object at the same time from two locations," Maccabee concludes.
He analyzed only the UAP images that appeared during the Halcones fly by, the first planes to take off during the event at the Air Force base. These included footage of the approach of the Halcones, and their departure into the distance, which is where Haines discovered a "temporal coincidence" (the same UAP in two videos at the same time) and Maccabee determined that the images were different. "My analysis does not preclude the possibility that there might have been a temporal coincidence at some other time but I am unaware of such a coincidence," he says.
Maccabee's sometimes technical report includes section headings such as "Relative sizes and distances of the UFO if there were no motion blur," "Apparent motion of the object," and "Estimate of the distance traveled during the time between frames." His analysis of frames from one section includes calculations of possible distance-size-speed relationships "ranging from insect size and speed to "saucer" size and (great) speed."
He points out that some of the dark on the bottom of the two best images of the object may be due to the camera's electronics reacting to the presence of a bright top portion. "Video cameras often create a dark 'reaction' to a very bright, small object in the field of view," he explained in an email.
Maccabee concludes that the objects are not anomalies. "Without further information that would show the objects were distant and hence large, it must be considered most likely that the objects were small and nearby such as insects." In a recent email he explained that "Since I could not accomplish a triangulation of any of the objects I analyzed, I have to accept the scientifically conservative conclusion that the objects I studied could have been small and nearby."
The object(s) from the El Bosque video in two different sequences taken by the same camera. The second camera did not capture images as distinct as these so no triangulation was possible for these images. ( Photo courtesy of CEFAA)
Haines takes a different position, as shown in his 108 page report titled "The El Bosque Video Case: A Preliminary Study of Anomalous Objects in Active Airspace." His analyses consisted of plotting the trajectories of as many different UAP as he could find as well as enlarging and enhancing the UAP images from selected frames. "That at least one of these UAP was not a flying insect near the cameras is supported by analysis of video images of the same UAP recorded by two separated cameras," he writes.
And further, he explains that "the relatively short 'flight' durations, high angular velocities and high-speed changes in direction and small angular size of the UAP, recorded during seven of the ten airplane formation fly-overs, help explain why no one saw them at the time; these characteristics would appear to qualify these UAP as anomalous; they cannot be explained in prosaic terms."Haines states that "NARCAP's interest in this case lay mainly in aviation safety" and it is for this reason that he conducted the study. He suggests that these UAP could have presented a risk to flight operations, but acknowledges that without knowing for sure whether they possessed finite mass it is not possible to say.
Many provocative questions are posed at the end of his paper: Why were there more UAP appearances associated with the fly-overs of certain types of airplanes than others? What are their energistic characteristics? What mechanism(s) guided their movements? What caused their changes in shape within very short periods of time?
The contradictory element of these two new studies, and the questions they raise about the nature of the UAP depicted in the videos, adds to the increasing complexity of this case. This material has proven itself worthy of scientific scrutiny, initially in Chile and now in the United States, and as been given a great deal of attention. And how encouraging it is to see high-ranking military officers, scientists and aeronautic specialists in Chile recognizing the existence of the "UFO phenomenon" and taking it seriously! I have observed this firsthand and talked to many of these officials in person.
It is in the well-established tradition of science that research results differ sometimes, and debate follows. The issues usually get ironed out over time - although with this case, that may not happen.
The controversy surrounding this case has centered around whether the object(s) could simply be bugs. It seems that if they are not some kind of anomaly, or "UFO," they are likely bugs. There are not many other realistic alternatives.
Maccabee has deduced that these objects most likely are bugs. "Lacking conclusive proof that a flying insect could not make an image such as recorded on the video, one may conclude that the 'anomalous phenomena' images were, in fact, images of insects," he writes. Others have put forward the same position on various internet blogs.
As I mentioned in my previous article, entomologists in the U.S. with knowledge of Chilean insects stated fairly uniformly that it is impossible to determine whether the objects were bugs; there was nothing in particular that would lead them to conclude that they were. Most thought it was unlikely. While in Chile, I talked to two independent scientists who believed the object(s) may be insects, but who also said we can't know for sure. And of course, none of them were photo experts.
I was curious: If indeed this were a bug, which species would it most likely be? Perhaps by observing the candidate in flight, we could see if it resembled the objects in question, particularly the two still images that show a consistent shape in two different parts of one video. This would not be a "scientific" process...but it could be interesting.
Last month, the CEFAA contacted Mario Elgueta, a leading Chilean entomologist with over 30 years of experience and Chief of the Entomology Department of the National Museum of Natural History in Santiago. When first looking at the images, Elgueta said "there is no noticeable detail in them to make me think on an insect right away" and that the images were too distorted for him to be of help.
With the assistance of the CEFAA, I followed up and asked him: If this were a bug, which species would it most likely be? After consulting with his colleague Fresia Rojas, Elgueta said that "by the rounded shape and convex back" the images suggest a species of Coleoptera from the Coccinellidae family. "Several of these species are frequent in spring [when the videos were taken] appearing even in very populated areas.," he replied. This family consists of the small dome-shaped beetles we call "ladybugs."
Elgueta sent this photo of a species of ladybug common in Santiago. (Photo courtesy of Guillermo González)
The size of a ladybug relative to a paperclip. (Graphic courtesy of National Geographic)
When a ladybug flies, its tiny wings flap, while it separates it's otherwise convex shell into stationary wing sheathes and raises them up like two umbrellas that never come down. Thus, it's clear that the domed shape of this insect at rest is not sustained when in fight. In fact, it looks entirely different because of the way its shell is split and suspended up above.
When a ladybug flies, it no longer has a uniform convex back because its shell is raised above its wings like two small umbrellas. (Photo courtesy of Guillermo González)
Furthermore, if you look at the body of the ladybug in flight, it looks elliptical and rather soft, since it has no shell covering it. It doesn't look much like the dome-shaped bug that we see sitting on a leaf or crawling.
Could this be a quarter-inch ladybug, flying two feet from the camera at 12 mph?
I sent Elgueta the links to some videos of ladybugs in flight, and asked him to comment on the fact that the flying bug does not look like the domed "thing" in our video. First he reiterated that it is impossible to say if they are bugs or not. "We estimate that no experienced entomologist regardless of what country can give a definite answer about these images."
Regarding specifically the videos of the flying ladybugs, he made the astute observation that these videos, "made with short focus in centimeters scale, cannot be compared with others made in a different scale. Perhaps, you can make new technical studies with videos that can be equivalent concerning speed, focus, lighting and distance." Maybe this is the next step if anyone wants to continue this exploration.Haines makes some interesting observations as to why he believes at least some of the El Bosque objects are not bugs, even beyond his conclusion that the same UAP appears on two cameras 20 to 30 feet apart. He includes an image of an actual insect, dark and blurred, taken from one of the El Bosque videos. I recall quite a few bugs on this footage near the camera that looked like blurred, black blobs.) "Virtually all of the UAP images reviewed in this report were in sharper focus than was this alleged insect suggesting that they were all at a distance greater than the hyperfocal distances of these cameras!" Haines writes.
On the question of whether all the UAP could have been insects, Haines states that "on balance, the answer is very likely no." He offers a host of reasons why: "Because of the linearity of their flight, their high angular velocity, their occasional spontaneous and unexpected appearance within a video frame, their apparent trajectories relative to the different airplane formations, their almost consistent oval shape and nearly horizontal orientation, their lack of any color other than gray and white and perhaps most importantly, for one UAP at least found in Figures 8 and 11, its relatively large distance from the two cameras."
"Nevertheless," he concludes, "this hypothesis must be left unanswered at this time."
And after all this, what is the final position of the CEFAA on this case? I received this official response to that question: "After hearing from the entomologists who have looked at the images, we at the CEFAA agree that these photos do not show anything which allows for the conclusion that they are bugs. But since we are unable to identify the objects in the videos, the case remains unsolved. We are posting on our web page diverse analysis and opinions on this case, to allow each interested person to draw his/her own conclusions."
Along with the two new American reports, the CEFAA web page includes four Spanish studies which also provide conflicting results. Marcelo Moya, a Chilean photo analyst, affirms that "the object that caused a commotion because of its brightness would with a high probability correspond to the flight of an insect, the hypothesis being it is a fly or a botfly (the latter being a bigger size) that passed by the focus of the camera."
However, Carlos González Sasso, a photo expert from the DGAC Air and Space Museum in Santiago, states that the image of the same object shows something metallic, "a defined geometry, not being an object of biological origin, with an inclination that suggests ascending forward movement, this being reinforced by a flash of clear light at the base."
I commend the CEFAA for working so hard on this case with experts from many branches of the Chilean government, and for making whatever information they could available to these scientists. It's not clear what these videos show. At this point, each of us can form our own opinions about something that science cannot determine, or we can simply accept that we will likely never know.
Tuesday, 13 November 2012
UFO TV - UFOs - The Stanton Friedman Story
Are Flying Saucers Real? Take a biographical look at Stanton T. Friedman, who for the past 40 years has been the world's foremost investigator and lecturer on the UFO phenomenon, also credited with breaking the famous Roswell UFO case. He has authored over 70 UFO articles, and is the author of two books "Crash at Carona" and "Top Secret MAJIC."
UFO News Links For Tuesday 13th November 2012
UFO investigation after chef spots mystery object hovering in sky – stv
'The Host': new trailer and poster for body-snatching alien movie
Clooney to star in ‘alien’ movie – BigPond News
Annapolis man wants to take a scientific look at UFOs - CapitalGaz...
Man says he saw UFO fly over Carrboro – Charlotte Observer
UFO investigation launched after father records flying saucer hove...
Mystery over UFOs on Indo-China border cracked – Kashmir Times
Stunning Increase In Orange Light UFO Sightings Nationwide
Denver UFOs Mystify Local Media And Aviation Expert Steve Cowell – Huffington Post
Another UFO Hovering Above PA Highway!
Helena author pens book on UFOs in Montana – Helena Independent Record
TV Show To Probe Famous Livingston UFO Encounter
By NewsScotsman.com
IT is perhaps Scotland’s most famous “close encounter” and one which has fascinated scientists, investigators and UFO hunters from around the world.
Robert Taylor
The mystery of what happened to a forestry worker called Robert Taylor on a chilly November morning more than 30 years ago is one that has baffled all who have examined the case – including the police, who keep the file open and consider it “unexplained”.
The fact that the police were not able to come up with some rational explanation is one of the enduring elements of a story which Mr Taylor continued to insist was true up until his death in 2007.
And now it is the subject of more scrutiny, thanks to a new show being produced by the National Geographic channel.
UFOs: The Untold Story aims to take a look at some of the most famous – and supported – UFO encounters from around the world, and it seems only fitting that Mr Taylor’s story should be among those told.
It started for him on November 9, 1979, when he worked for the Livingston Development Corporation ensuring that no cattle or sheep wandered into Dechmont Woods. It was a job he’d done for a long time with no unusual incidents – something that was about to change.
He arrived for work as normal in his company-owned pick-up truck with his Irish red setter Larah and started to walk down the path into the woods. But as he rounded the path into a clearing he was absolutely astonished to see what he later described as a “large dome-shaped object” of about 20-30ft circumference hovering 15ft above the surface of the grass.
He said that parts of it seemed to disappear around the edges – it would seem to dematerialise so he could see the trees behind it, then solidify again.
As he watched it, what resembled two WWII sea mines dropped from beneath the object and rolled towards him. Just before they reached him a burning smell, like burning brake lines, flooded the area and he heard a loud swishing noise. The “mines” rolled across the grass and rods came out of them, which attached themselves to his hips and began to pull him towards the object.
At this point he lost consciousness. He didn’t know for how long but thought it could only have been for one or two minutes. When he came to the objects were gone and there were marks and holes on the ground, more than 20 circular or triangular indentations in the grass. Robert also had a nasty graze on his forehead and another one on his chin, and an incredible thirst.
He stumbled back to his truck and tried to drive off, but he was so shocked and disorientated he reversed it into a ditch and couldn’t get it out. He then tried to radio his base to tell them what had happened but found he had lost his voice.
He staggered back to his home in Deans near Livingston. When his wife saw him she thought he had been attacked because of the injuries to his face and the fact that his trousers were torn and his clothes were muddy. She asked him what had happened and he said he had been attacked by a spaceship.
His wife called his boss Malcolm Drummond who came to the house. He knew Robert and knew he wasn’t the type of man to make up stories and that if he said that was what he saw, then that was what he saw.
That was when the police were contacted. Because Robert had been injured it was deemed to be an assault and they took him back to look at the scene and saw the marks on the grass for themselves. They fenced off the area and Robert’s torn trousers were sent for forensic testing at Bathgate Police Station.
The scientists who examined them said they had been ripped upwards in a manner consistent with pulling by a mechanical device and that the rips hadn’t been made by forest debris.
Malcolm Robinson, below, a founder member of Strange Phenomena Investigations (SPI) and a prolific author, was among those to speak to Robert immediately after the event and to this day believes it could be one of the few genuine cases of a UFO encounter.
“About 95 per cent of UFO sightings have a natural solution but it’s the five per cent minority that we are trying to provide answers for,” he says.
“I was there the following day. I saw the marks and I met Bob, who struck me as a very sane and rational gentleman who didn’t want any of the publicity he had been thrust into. He never changed his story. To his dying day, which unfortunately came in 2007, he said: ‘Until the end of time I will say that I saw what I saw.’
“I’m so pleased National Geographic are re-examining the case so that a new generation of Scottish people, and others around the world, can hear about it.”
The programme also spoke to Nick Pope, a leading authority on UFOs who worked on the Ministry of Defence UFO Project and has examined reports of alien abductions, crop circles and animal mutilations. He too believes the Dechmont case merits closer study.
“This case is truly bizarre and remains unexplained to this day,” he says.
“The MoD had a file on the incident, which would have been investigated by one of my predecessors. It’s a significant case because of the physical evidence.
“Robert Taylor seemed to be an honest man who had little to gain and much to lose by coming forward with this story. MoD should have used metal detectors and a Geiger counter at the site of the encounter, but it was difficult, once the police got involved, as word would have got out and it was always MoD policy to downplay the extent of our interest.
“There’s not much middle ground with this case: either some practical joke got out of hand, or Robert Taylor genuinely encountered something bizarre.”
• UFOs: The Untold Story is on National Geographic on Tuesday, November 20, at 8pm.
Alien Life On Jupiter’s Moon In New Movie (Trailer)
By
Robbie Graham
First trailer for ‘The Europa Report’
The viral marketing campaign for upcoming sci-fi movie The Europa Report – in which astronauts seek out life on Jupiter’s frigid moon of Europa – has been underway almost a year now. See, for example, the website for faux aerospace corporation Europa Ventures, where you’ll find a ‘live’ video feed showing astronauts onboard the spacecraft Europa 1. The site’s intro text reads:
“For decades, scientists have theorized
the existence of liquid water oceans on Jupiter's moon, Europa. We've recently
discovered new, captivating evidence that these sub-surface oceans do exist and
could support life.
We've sent six astronauts from space
programs throughout the world on a three year journey to Europa to explore its
oceans and confirm these findings.
We're proud to be at the forefront of
the effort to prove the existence of extra-terrestrial life within our solar
system, within our lifetimes.”
Now, the first teaser trailer has
landed over at ComingSoon.net, giving us the first look at the
spaceship Europa and a taste of the score by composer Bear McCready (The
Walking Dead and Battlestar
Galactica)...
Directed by Sebastian Codero (Cronicas) The Europa
Report stars Sharlto Copley (District 9), Michael Nyqvist (Mission: Impossible - Ghost
Protocol), Daniel Wu, Anamaria Marinca (4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 Days),
Christian Camargo and Karolina Wydra.
Here’s the official synopsis:
“A group of astronauts, handpicked from around the world, make the arduous journey to Jupiter's frigid, glacial moon Europa in search of extraterrestrial life. The only thing more intimidating and unpredictable than the trip itself is what the team will encounter upon arrival...”
“A group of astronauts, handpicked from around the world, make the arduous journey to Jupiter's frigid, glacial moon Europa in search of extraterrestrial life. The only thing more intimidating and unpredictable than the trip itself is what the team will encounter upon arrival...”
The Europa
Report is scheduled for release in 2013.