Saturday 27 October 2012

Spacing Out! Ep. 25 - A look inside the 2012 Paradigm Symposium (Video)

Published on 26 Oct 2012 by openmindstv
 
The very first Paradigm Symposium took place October 18th through 21st in Minneapolis, Minnesota. We attended this event that explored topics including ancient aliens, archeology, UFOs, and science-fiction. We talk about our experience at this event, plus we discuss a recent mass UFO sighting, we talk about engineered microbes that could build structures on Mars, and other space and UFO news on this episode of Spacing Out!

UFO Documentary / Close Encounters - Proof of Alien Contact (Video)



UFO News Links For Saturday 27th October 2012

 
Festival on the trail of UFOs, crowds in Presidio - Houston Chronicle

Ojibwa tale of a ‘Skyman’ visitor may have been alien – Orangeville Banner

5,000-year-old Ancient Language on Verge of Being Decoded | Trending Now - Yahoo! News

Aliens could mean philosophical implications – The Reflector

UFO Resembling 'Fluorescent Bulbs' Spotted in Kentucky - The Epoch...

Why It’s Right To Keep Gary McKinnon Out Of US Hands – Express

Texas Witness Says V-Shaped Object Hovered Over Tree Line

Curious About Life: Interview with Felipe Gomez – Space Daily

Cigar-Shaped UFOs Appear Over Southern US.

Kansas City Witness May Have Explanation For Some Cigar-Shaped UFOs

What was that mysterious object in the sky over Millstadt? – Belleville News Democrat

Paradigm Symposium: The Million-Year Event | Intrepid Blog

Museum hosts things that go bump in the night – Daytona Beach News-Journal

NASA is Photoshopping Mars photos... Why?

I (Think) I Saw a UFO – Artvoice

hidden experience: sychronicity and the UFO abductee

Man snaps pics of UFO near Hecker, IL – WTVR

UFO Disclosure Countdown Clock: `White Tube' UFO Seen Again In Kentucky?

Search for alien life about to step up a gear – Windsor Star

UFO: Aliens visit International Space Station alleges Analyst : The Canadian National Newspaper

Aliens amoung us? Curious. – Hazard Herald

Scariest Shadow People Encounters

Alien hunting: how to find DNA on Mars – New Scientist

UFO Disclosure Countdown Clock: The October 8th Keene, Kentucky UFO Pictures - MUFON Report

Emerald’s mystery UFO solved: Chinese lanterns to blame – Central Queensland news

Grave of ancient king who laid foundations for Mayan civilisation in 700 B.C. discovered by archaeologists | Mail Online

Meteorite Nazi Buddha Exposed As Likely Fake

Multiple UFOs Videotaped over Dallas

By UFO Casebook
UFO Image
Original video on Oct 21, 2012 by Raul Molinar
Ladies and gentlemen, it’s time to wake up. It’s time to acknowledge the scientific fact that UFOs are real.
I mean, just look at this footage from downtown Dallas on October 20. The driver of a car traveling west on I-30 had the good sense to get out his phone or camera and film this shocking, revealing footage of UFOs hovering in the sky. There are obviously mysterious lights there. I only have a few questions:
- Why aren’t more people getting out and looking?
- Were the UFOs just trying to avoid getting hit by the ongoing meteor shower, which was peaking around that time?
- Why isn’t this guy watching the road as he drives?
- Was this a test run for the UFOs’ plan to burn down Big Tex?
That’s not all, though. Similar occurrences happened on the same day elsewhere on the planet, like Mansfield and France (the video title for which quite confidently states that it is a “UFO fleet landing,” because, I mean, obviously). All this according to this website that is connecting all the dots behind the whole thing. “They are trying to tell us something?” Indeed.
I mean, it’s not as if there have ever been UFO pranks or false sightings before.
And it’s definitely not like there’s a very easy way to fake this exact kind of UFO effect with animation/game software. Not at all.
Of course, earlier this month we also started hearing reports of some sort of ultra-giant UFO over Texas, so maybe this is related.
I might spend my entire work day tomorrow getting to the bottom of this. Then again, every time I think of UFOs, I think of this great video featuring Neil DeGrasse Tyson’s views on the matter:
The truth is out there, folks.
Of course UFOs are real. They’re Unidentified Flying Objects. That doesn’t mean they’re alien spaceships.

Mass UFO sighting in southern Illinois (Video)

Date of sighting: Tuesday, October 23rd 2012

Curiosity’s detection of methane on Mars could suggest extraterrestrial life



Curiosity, NASA’s Mars Science Laboratory, has been busy exploring the red planet. The recent discovery of shiny particles in the Martian soil excited researchers, but another discovery by Curiosity could steal the spotlight.
 
Curiosity’s Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM). (Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech)

Curiosity’s on-board Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) instrument recently detected the presence of methane gas on Mars. As Space.com explains, “On one hand, methane can be geological in origin. But then there’s the prospect that the gas is biotic, or caused by living organisms — meaning it could be the gaseous residue of long-extinct microbes or even the output of Martian organisms alive and well today.”
Researchers are understandably enthusiastic about Curiosity’s methane detection, but scientists discovered methane in the planet’s atmosphere back in 2003. In that case, a research team opted for the geological explanation. According to an article published by ScienceDaily in May 2012, researchers were able to show that methane escapes from a meteorite “if it is irradiated with ultraviolet light under Martian conditions.” Therefore, the team concluded that the methane detected in the Martian atmosphere is a result of high-energy UV radiation triggering the release of methane from meteorites.
 
A Mars dust devil. (Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UA)

Nancy Atkinson of Universe Today reported another possible explanation for methane on Mars in September 2012–dust devils. A team of researchers, led by Arturo Robledo-Martinez from the Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana, Azcapotzalco, Mexico, published a paper in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, detailing their proposal that “the discharges, caused by electrification of dust devils and sand storms, ionize gaseous CO2 and water molecules and their byproducts recombine to produce methane.”
With methane having already been detected in the Martian atmosphere, Curiosity was expected to detect the gas on the planet’s surface. But the variability of the methane Curiosity detected wasn’t expected. The next step is to monitor the methane levels over time to track variation. Chris McKay, space scientist and Mars specialist at NASA’s Ames Research Center, explains that, if the methane levels remain constant, “then this can be reconciled with normal processes and a meteoritic source of organics,” but “if it’s highly variable, then all bets are off.”

Dr Greer's Alleged Alien Remains / Microbiologist Dr. Tyler Kokjohn Remains Unimpressed

By

Microbiologist Dr. Tyler Kokjohn commented on the latest incredible claims put forth by Dr. Steven Greer, suggesting Greer's lack of verifiable details make his assertions all but impossible to accept at face value. Greer continued his ongoing public discussion concerning an alleged dead extraterrestrial being, this time enhancing the storyline with alleged world authorities involved in its analysis. Kokjohn countered by pointing out Greer's tale is virtually void of any established scientific protocol whatsoever, and informed this writer that supposing any such authorities would jeopardize the validity of such an unprecedented discovery is an insult to intelligence.

Kokjohn further pointed out that producing X-rays and computed tomography (CT) scans, as Greer claimed were obtained, requires certain authorization and specific equipment. Only “a damn fool or an utter ignoramus,” Kokjohn wrote on UFO UpDates List, would attempt such procedures without conditions of full biological containment, even if they received clearance to use the equipment under such extraordinary circumstances.

“Who wants to get their CT scan after ET was in there?” Kokjohn asked.

Kokjohn went on to inform us that the lack of opportunity for independent verification makes Greer's claims virtually meaningless from a practical perspective. He added that scientists and professional researchers most certainly know this to be the case. Dr. Kokjohn additionally wrote:

Time for Disclosure

Funding scientific research is always a gamble. If investigators are truly traversing uncharted territory, predicting results and anticipating experimental pitfalls may be almost impossible. How does one maximize the odds an investment in a research project will produce tangible results? Use the 3 Ds - Disclosure and due diligence.

Before any money is allocated, scientists perform a detailed due diligence assessment of the investigator’s skills, the equipment available and work plans. Investigators with a strong track record of experience and publications in the areas they propose to explore, who have the necessary facilities and equipment available for their use and who put forth a clear plan of work will be favored heavily. Investigators are expected to disclose preliminary results that bolster the central research hypothesis and provide all information that will enable their proposals to be evaluated fully. In addition, investigators must stipulate that the research will be conducted following all applicable guidelines and regulations for biosafety and work with human subjects. It is very simple, if you want money, it is up to you to prove you can actually run something besides your mouth and do it safely.

Dr. Greer has offered a pale imitation of the evaluative process used by scientists. He asserts recognized experts are collaborators, he (or someone) holds exciting preliminary data and research is proceeding apace. All good components of strong research, the problem is he does half a job and just quits right there. Failing to disclose the qualifications of key investigators, providing a work plan to judge or allowing not even so much as a glimpse at supporting data stymies any hope for informed, unbiased assessments completely. For a guy who carved a career niche out of demands for disclosure, he appears remarkably reluctant to either acquire full information from his collaborators or provide a full story to the public.

To help those wondering whether to contribute money to his effort, Dr. Greer could disclose some of the data and allow persons unaffiliated with the project or documentary to assess the value of his results thus far. How about revealing the names and qualifications of your expert collaborators? Since they are part of a team that is working on what would be the greatest discovery of our age, wouldn’t they want to have their names front and center? What is their expert opinion of the data? Let’s see the CT data and with it the particulars regarding the equipment that produced the scans and the computational parameters employed for image acquisition. While you are at it, how about the name of the institution supporting this work – you know, the organization that allowed the use of its CT facilities, computers and technicians to acquire and analyze the images. Did anyone (like an Institutional Review Board or Biosafety Committee) express concerns about putting a dead unknown entity inside a specialized piece of rather expensive equipment? Better yet, did anyone ask about how work with a possible entity unknown to science would be conducted in a safe and responsible manner?

Those are pretty easy questions, ones any scientist doing such a project would be able to answer – before any work commenced. Will the doctor follow his own prescription?

Strange Alien-Like Mummy Discovered in Egypt

By TechEBlog
 

Though not connected to these UFO mysteries, this discovery is puzzling nonetheless. According to Beforeitsnews, "the body of a perfectly preserved, carefully mummified an alien was found buried in an ancient pyramid. A mysterious creature from between 150 and 160 centimeters was found by an archaeologist near Lahun when exploring a small pyramid near the Dynasty doceaba of Senusret II." Continue reading for one more picture, a bonus video, and additional information.
 

According to Egyptian sources, the alien mummy was discovered by Dr. Viktor Lubek, Czechoslovakian citizen and retired professor of the University of Pennsylvania. Archaeologist located the hidden compartment while conducting an investigation into a small pyramid south of the main pyramid, Senusret II, which contains the queen of the pharaoh. At the site also found some gold and clay mixtures covering the body, and traces of cloth linen like appearance, the skin covering the enigmatic being.

"The truth is, that every expert who has seen the mummy have concluded that it is not of earthly origin," said the source. "There is a sense that this is an alien who somehow ended up advising an Egyptian king." But everyone in the government is moving away from that conclusion that would support the new ideas that the ancient Egyptians had help from aliens in building their extraordinary civilization. "The Egyptians refuse to believe that their heritage came from outer space."

Secret Spying and a Contactee

 
In the early to mid 1950s, numerous people, all across the planet, claimed contact with human-looking ETs from far-away worlds. The aliens in question were usually seen attired in one-piece-outfits, while sporting heads of long blond hair. Not only that: the cosmic visitors assured those of us who they deemed worthy of contact that they were deeply concerned by our warlike ways. They wished us to disarm our nuclear arsenals, live in peace and harmony with one another, and elevate ourselves to whole new spiritual levels. The aliens in question became known as the Space Brothers; while those whose lives were forever changed by their encounters with such alleged extra-terrestrial entities were an elite body of people known as the Contactees.
It was against this background of high-strangeness that many of the Contactees found themselves watched closely and secretly by none other than J. Edgar Hoover’s Federal Bureau of Investigation, the FBI. Indeed, I wrote about many of the now-declassified FBI files on the Contactees in my 2006 book On the Trail of the Saucer Spies. But, just recently – and thanks, specifically, to good mate and fellow Fortean, Greg Bishop – I obtained a copy of the Bureau’s file on a certain friend of the Space Brothers who still provokes controversy years after his death, and whose FBI dossier I had previously not seen: George Hunt Williamson.

Williamson – also known, at various times, as Michael (or, according to the FBI, Michel) d’Obrenovic, Ric Williamson, and Brother Philip – was born in Chicago, Illinois in 1926, became entranced by the occult in his teens, and evolved into a significant player on the flying saucer scene of the 1950s. Indeed, in 1954 he famously combined his fascination with the occult and flying saucers by trying to contact extraterrestrial-intelligences with a home-made Ouija board.
It was also in 1954 that the FBI sat up and took notice when Williamson planned to speak at an event in Ohio with yet another Contactee, Truman Bethurum. Beyond any shadow of doubt, the number of people who can claim aliens wrecked their marriages is infinitely small. But, such claims have been made – the most memorable being that of construction-worker Bethurum. His idea of a close encounter was very different to those of other UFO witnesses: his alleged liaisons in the summer of 1952, atop Mormon Mesa, Nevada with Space Captain Aura Rhanes, a supposed citizen of the planet Clarion, ultimately led his outraged wife to file for divorce!
As for why the FBI took so much interest in the Bethurum/Williamson gig, the answer is very simple. The government was already keeping tabs on Bethurum, for one particularly interesting reason: he had made certain statements linking his experiences with Aura Rhanes to matters of a communist nature. In Bethurum’s own words:
“Two or three fellows who had sons in Korea and who read a lot in the newspapers about the Communist underground in this country, were convinced in their own minds that I was, if making contact with anyone at all, making it with enemy agents. They even went so far as to tell me belligerently that they intended to get guns and follow me nights, and if they caught up me having intercourse with any people from planes, airships of any kind, they’d blast me and those people too.”
And, as an amusing aside, it also led the FBI to refer to Aura Rhanes in its files as a “ravishing woman commandant”! Even the Bureau, it seems, was infected by Aura’s hotness!
Next on the cards for the FBI was a development that occurred in March 1955. Hoover’s agents noted in secret memoranda that, along with one Henry Maday, Williamson had then-recently established The Flying Saucer Council of America, which – the FBI also noted – was championing and promoting a new documentary-style film on flying saucers titled We’ve Seen the Saucers.
More alarming to officialdom: Williamson had apparently got his hands on priceless film-footage of UFO activity that appeared in the film. Reportedly, the footage showed “the astounding sighting at White Sands, New Mexico when two saucers trailed an experimental rocket to an altitude of one-hundred ten miles above the earth, and then speed off at the incredible speed of 7,200 mph.”
Of this matter, the FBI carefully recorded that the film at issue “was procured in California by Ric Williamson,” one of the man’s several pseudonyms.
 

Also in 1955, the FBI noted in its file on Williamson: “…according to an article in the Detroit Times on March 10, 1949, Ray L. Dimmick, a Los Angeles businessman, had seen a wreckage of a flying saucer which he said crashed near Mexico City. Dimmick reportedly inspected the wrecked saucer at a secret military installation at Mexico City and was escorted there by Mexican business associates. Dimmick described the saucer as being forty-six feet in diameter. He reported that Mexican officials and some scientists believed it was from Mars or another planet. He was reportedly told by Mexican officials that the Saucer was piloted by a strange type of man twenty-three inches tall. He said the pilot was killed in the crash. Dimmick stated that military and government officials from the United States inspected the Saucer.”
 

The FBI then immediately thereafter turned its attentions to Williamson and matters of a crashed UFO nature: “Ric Williamson and Henry Maday while in Saginaw, Michigan, prior to conducting a Flying Saucer Council program, met a prominent photographer of Saginaw, who stated that his son had revealed to him the following: The photographer’s son was stationed at Wright-Patterson Air Base about the time of the incident described in the March 10, 1949 Detroit Times above and while at Wright-Patterson Air Base, a huge semi-truck came to the Air Base with heavily canopied material jutting out, of immense size.”
Echoing the claims that Wright-Patterson AFB is home to the legendary Hangar 18 – a supposed secret storage-area on-base where crashed UFO materials are held – the FBI noted of the “canopied material” that: “…no one seemed to know anything about it except that it was driven to a far hangar where no windows or accessible doors could be discerned.”
As far as the declassified files are concerned, the next entry in the FBI’s dossier on George Hunt Williamson dates from 1962. Its subject matter: the possibility that Williamson had been involved in the smuggling into the United States of priceless Mexican artifacts of an historic and archaeological significance.
For a while the FBI deeply pondered on whether or not they should get further involved in the pursuit of a potential crime that had occurred outside of its jurisdiction and in another country – Mexico – but finally dropped the matter; rather fortunately, it must be said, for Williamson. There is one particularly curious aspect of this particular affair: a number of the relevant documents are heavily censored according to category B1 of the Freedom of Information Act. Intriguingly, B1 covers nothing less than matters that may have a potential effect on US national security.
Williamson might have overstepped the line to a degree with his Indiana Jones-style escapades in Mexico in 1962, but they hardly seem like matters that would have had a bearing on issues relative to the national security of the United States. Unless, of course, there are additional files on Williamson that the FBI has still yet to declassify, and which remain behind closed doors for reasons tantalizing and unknown.
And there, so far as we can tell at least, ends the FBI’s surveillance of George Hunt Williamson. Enigmatic, controversial and shrouded in mystery until the very end, he died in 1986, a figure by then largely forgotten by, or completely unknown to, the UFO research community of the day. But, maybe, not forgotten by the FBI.
 

And if you want to find out more about what the FBI thought of the man himself, you can do so in a new edition of Williamson’s book, Road in the Sky, which has just been republished by Timothy Green Beckley and which includes a 22-page article from me on this strange saga of Space Brother-based spying in the early years of the Cold War…