For 15 years, scientists have benefited from data gleaned by U.S. classified satellites of natural fireball events in Earth's atmosphere – but no longer.
A recent U.S. military policy decision now explicitly states that observations by hush-hush government spacecraft of incoming bolides and fireballs are classified secret and are not to be released, SPACE.com has learned.
The satellites' main objectives include detecting nuclear bomb tests, and their characterizations of asteroids and lesser meteoroids as they crash through the atmosphere has been a byproduct data bonanza for scientists.
The upshot: Space rocks that explode in the atmosphere are now classified.
"It's baffling to us why this would suddenly change," said one scientist familiar with the work. "It's unfortunate because there was this great synergy...a very good cooperative arrangement. Systems were put into dual-use mode where a lot of science was getting done that couldn't be done any other way. It's a regrettable change in policy."
Scientists say not only will research into the threat from space be hampered, but public understanding of sometimes dramatic sky explosions will be diminished, perhaps leading to hype and fear of the unknown.
Incoming!
Most "shooting stars" are caused by natural space debris no larger than peas. But routinely, rocks as big as basketballs and even small cars crash into the atmosphere. Most vaporize or explode on the way in, but some reach the surface or explode above the surface. Understandably, scientists want to know about these events so they can better predict the risk here on Earth.
Yet because the world is two-thirds ocean, most incoming objects aren't visible to observers on the ground. Many other incoming space rocks go unnoticed because daylight drowns them out.
Over the last decade or so, hundreds of these events have been spotted by the classified satellites. Priceless observational information derived from the spacecraft were made quickly available, giving researchers such insights as time, a location, height above the surface, as well as light-curves to help pin down the amount of energy churned out from the fireballs.
To read the rest of the artical:
http://www.floridatoday.com/article/20090610/BREAKINGNEWS/90610048/1007/rss06
Saturday, June 13, 2009
China: Morphing UFO seen in Taiyuan, photos
On 6 June at around 6pm a Mr Goa was driving through the Chinese city of Taiyuan near the Yi-Fen bridge when he saw a totally unexplainable object or UFO hovering in the sky above him. Mr Goa pulled up at the side of the road and observed the object for around 40minutes. He managed to take a number of photos (below) with his mobile phone.
Mr Goa noted that the object changed shape from a diamond to an orb and while it generally stayed in the same area it swung from side to side before shooting up into the sky. At one point Mr Goa alleges that the UFO had a faint halo. Mr Goa handed his pictures in to the local astronomy station. He believes he witnessed an extraterrestrial vehicle.
China generally has more reported UFO sightings than any other country on earth and it is believed that the Chinese Government takes a keen interest in the topic.
Source: http://www.allnewsweb.com
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Any Ideas or Suggestions?
Sorry to any viewers of my Blog. I haven't posted in a couple days because I haven't found anything that moved me. I try to only post what I believe to be real, though even then, who knows. I do my best. But the last couple days its dried up a bit, and there are just small reports here and there. Im sure that a lot more is going on all over the world. If you have any suggestions for postings, let me know - just email me.
Be well,
claypaff
Be well,
claypaff
Sunday, June 7, 2009
Amazing photos of a craft/UFO near Rice Lake, Ontario Canada
Due to copyright I can't copy the artical, but I will post a link to the artical about a sighting in Ontario Canada from 2008 that is a must see. Its strange when they copyright this stuff, because it really limits who gets to see the information.
I will post a picture to provoke interest, and hope that doesn't get me in trouble.
Source: http://www.ufoarea.com/rc_unknownblackcraft.html
Saturday, June 6, 2009
Twenty UFOs fly in formation in Britain - Lanterns? Ballons? Flares? Or UFOs - The Mystery continues all around the world.
THIS incredible picture captured the strange sighting of more than 20 UFOs buzzing over awestruck Britain.
Stunned families watched as the lights in the sky lined up in a flying formation before disappearing upwards into space.
The close-encounter snap was taken by quick-thinking engineer Paul Slight on his mobile phone at about 10.30pm on Sunday.
He was coming home from a day out cycling with friends in Lincoln when they spotted the lights in the sky.
The eerie extra-terrestrial crafts were hovering in the night sky over the town moving in different directions before eventually shooting straight up into the atmosphere.
Mystery
In a series of stunning images taken over five minutes, Paul, from Lincoln, captured the objects together and even flying in an apparent formation.
Paul, 54, said: "There were 26 of them at first, dodging and darting in between each other like they were playing a game.
"After that, seven more arrived from the right hand side and weaved through the crowd of lights like strange kinds of aircraft.
"After five minutes of moving around, the flickering yellow objects hung in the air for a second then shot off into the sky and disappeared.
"I have no idea what they were - I'm not usually a believer but what I saw was really weird.
"I have flown planes and helicopters before and I know these were not them, helicopters couldn't line up like that or move that fast."
Former air hostess Claire Jackson, also from Lincoln, saw the same strange yellow objects circling in the sky that night.
Claire, 40, said: "I counted around 20 lights in the sky, they seemed to be moving around each other.
"They were definitely not aircraft or fireworks, they moved differently, it was really strange."
Phil Hoyle, from UK-based UFO Investigation Unit, said the way the UFOs had moved indicated a form of intelligence.
He said: "If these objects were circling one another you would have to rule out that they were fireworks.
"If they were dodging and darting around each other it would indicate intelligent movement."
Ruth Veron, spokesperson for nearby RAF Cranwell, said she did not know what the phenomena could be.
She said: "RAF Cranwell is closed over the weekend so it could not have been any aircraft from this base.
"I do not have any idea what the lights could be, we did not have any aircraft flying that night."
Source: Foxnews.com. and http://www.thesun.co.uk
More interesting NASA footage - UFO called a ground light, then a star by NASA
We must demand disclosure!
Saturday, June 06, 2009 - UFO buzz hits Gloucester
A UFO spotter could not believe his eyes when orange discs flew across the sky above Gloucester.
And it seems Steve Sparkes was not the only city resident to spot the unidentified flying objects whizz overhead.
Mr Sparkes, 49, of Hempsted, said: "We came out (of The Regal pub in St Aldate Street) and noticed door staff and security staff looking up at the sky,"
"We saw these circular objects that were red/orange.
"They were coming from a south westerly direction, moving rapidly across to the north east.
"I counted them and they had a fuzzy haze around them.
"The speed was very difficult to determine but they moved across the sky and out of sight in 20 or 30 seconds.
"I tried to count them and got to about 12 but there were more going off into the distance.
"There were possibly about 20."
Others have reported seeing the same sight on a national UFO website as well.
He said the UFOs gave off no noise but others who saw it experienced a strange phenomenon when they attempted to take a picture.
"I mentioned it to my neighbour and their friends tried to take pictures," he said.
"But their cameras did not work.
"It was like Close Encounters of the Third Kind."
Steve's wife Danxia, 35, is from China, and he is adamant the UFOs were not Chinese lanterns, which often fool people into thinking they have seen an alien visitation.
"I have been interested in this since the 1970s, on and off," said Steve. "And I know the difference between an aeroplane, a lantern and a UFO.
"Ninety per cent of UFO sightings can be explained but I believe this one falls in to the other 10%."
Police said no-one had reported the sightings to them.
Source: http://www.thisisgloucestershire.co.uk
And it seems Steve Sparkes was not the only city resident to spot the unidentified flying objects whizz overhead.
Mr Sparkes, 49, of Hempsted, said: "We came out (of The Regal pub in St Aldate Street) and noticed door staff and security staff looking up at the sky,"
"We saw these circular objects that were red/orange.
"They were coming from a south westerly direction, moving rapidly across to the north east.
"I counted them and they had a fuzzy haze around them.
"The speed was very difficult to determine but they moved across the sky and out of sight in 20 or 30 seconds.
"I tried to count them and got to about 12 but there were more going off into the distance.
"There were possibly about 20."
Others have reported seeing the same sight on a national UFO website as well.
He said the UFOs gave off no noise but others who saw it experienced a strange phenomenon when they attempted to take a picture.
"I mentioned it to my neighbour and their friends tried to take pictures," he said.
"But their cameras did not work.
"It was like Close Encounters of the Third Kind."
Steve's wife Danxia, 35, is from China, and he is adamant the UFOs were not Chinese lanterns, which often fool people into thinking they have seen an alien visitation.
"I have been interested in this since the 1970s, on and off," said Steve. "And I know the difference between an aeroplane, a lantern and a UFO.
"Ninety per cent of UFO sightings can be explained but I believe this one falls in to the other 10%."
Police said no-one had reported the sightings to them.
Source: http://www.thisisgloucestershire.co.uk
Friday, June 5, 2009
Dragonfly crop circle appears in Wiltshire
A 150ft long crop circle depicting a dragonfly has appeared in a barley field in the village of Yatesbury, Wiltshire.
The intricate pattern comes after the discovery of a 600ft jellyfish crop circle in Oxfordshire.
Crop circle enthusiasts claim the succession of animal designs have been created in an attempt make people more aware of the threat of climate change and predict they could continue throughout the summer.
Steve Alexander, a crop circle fanatic, from Gosport, Hampshire, said: "Some years you do get themes developing and often you are looking for why this happens.
"It could be to reflect the status of the world at the moment with its financial, political and more importantly, environmental problems.
"I imagine this will not be the last one we will see this summer and it has already been a busy summer for spotting them as they are well ahead of schedule."
In past years the crop circle season has typically run from July to August but already four have been found in barley fields stretching from Wiltshire to Oxfordshire this year.
They have been found across the ancient 'ley lines' - believed to have mystical qualities.
"There has certainly been a lot of activity and this is the busiest year since 1999 at the moment," said Mr Alexander.
"People believe they will increase in frequency up to 2012 where there will be some kind of cataclysmic world event."
Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk
The intricate pattern comes after the discovery of a 600ft jellyfish crop circle in Oxfordshire.
Crop circle enthusiasts claim the succession of animal designs have been created in an attempt make people more aware of the threat of climate change and predict they could continue throughout the summer.
Steve Alexander, a crop circle fanatic, from Gosport, Hampshire, said: "Some years you do get themes developing and often you are looking for why this happens.
"It could be to reflect the status of the world at the moment with its financial, political and more importantly, environmental problems.
"I imagine this will not be the last one we will see this summer and it has already been a busy summer for spotting them as they are well ahead of schedule."
In past years the crop circle season has typically run from July to August but already four have been found in barley fields stretching from Wiltshire to Oxfordshire this year.
They have been found across the ancient 'ley lines' - believed to have mystical qualities.
"There has certainly been a lot of activity and this is the busiest year since 1999 at the moment," said Mr Alexander.
"People believe they will increase in frequency up to 2012 where there will be some kind of cataclysmic world event."
Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk
Thursday, June 4, 2009
More on the texas pilot UFO sighting
WSPA
Published: June 4, 2009
A “unidentified flying object”—reported by a major airline pilot—headed into GSP.
Exactly what that pilot saw, remains a mystery. But it was spotted thousands of feet in the air, causing miles of speculation.
Flight 2822 was en route from Houston to the Upstate last friday—23 passengers and 3 crew were on board—the plane—11000 feet in the air, when the pilot says things got weird.
Somewhere over Southeast Texas, the captain of the Continental Express plane says he saw a strange object flying about 150 feet below the plane.
It wasn’t showing up on his radar either.
The pilot called it in to air traffic control, saying it was maybe a missle or a rocket—or—something else.
There was considerable concern and question, because whatever it was, it was flying very high in the air.
Its being called a UFO—after all it was an unidentified flying object—but just what kind is the big question.
We talked with flyers at GSP, who had differing opinions.
One said, “Yes…I believe that UFO’s can exist…I haven’t seen anything to rule them out.“
Another told us, “It could be a lot of things.“
He’s probably right—but—deputies in Texas have spent days looking for a possible launch or landing site for a surface to air item, but haven’t found anything.
Ironically, another Continental Airlines pilot reported a similar incident in May of last year, in roughly the same area.
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
June 3rd, 2009 - Lights over England generate UFO buzz
LINCOLN, England, June 3 (UPI) -- A group of yellow lights spotted over Lincoln, England, appeared to move in a flying formation before disappearing into the atmosphere, witnesses said.
Paul Slight, 54, who used his cell phone to take pictures of the lights, said he first spotted them in the sky at about 10:30 p.m. Sunday, The Sun reported Wednesday.
"There were 26 of them at first, dodging and darting in between each other like they were playing a game," he said. "After that, seven more arrived from the right hand side and weaved through the crowd of lights like strange kinds of aircraft. After five minutes of moving around, the flickering yellow objects hung in the air for a second then shot off into the sky and disappeared."
"I have no idea what they were … I have flown planes and helicopters before and I know these were not them, helicopters couldn't line up like that or move that fast," he said.
Phil Hoyle, from the British UFO Investigation Unit, said the way the lights moved suggested an intelligence behind the display.
"If these objects were circling one another you would have to rule out that they were fireworks," he said. "If they were dodging and darting around each other it would indicate intelligent movement."
A spokeswoman for the nearby Royal Air Force base at Cranwell said she did not know what caused the lights.
"I do not have any idea what the lights could be, we did not have any aircraft flying that night," she said.
Source: www.upi.com
Paul Slight, 54, who used his cell phone to take pictures of the lights, said he first spotted them in the sky at about 10:30 p.m. Sunday, The Sun reported Wednesday.
"There were 26 of them at first, dodging and darting in between each other like they were playing a game," he said. "After that, seven more arrived from the right hand side and weaved through the crowd of lights like strange kinds of aircraft. After five minutes of moving around, the flickering yellow objects hung in the air for a second then shot off into the sky and disappeared."
"I have no idea what they were … I have flown planes and helicopters before and I know these were not them, helicopters couldn't line up like that or move that fast," he said.
Phil Hoyle, from the British UFO Investigation Unit, said the way the lights moved suggested an intelligence behind the display.
"If these objects were circling one another you would have to rule out that they were fireworks," he said. "If they were dodging and darting around each other it would indicate intelligent movement."
A spokeswoman for the nearby Royal Air Force base at Cranwell said she did not know what caused the lights.
"I do not have any idea what the lights could be, we did not have any aircraft flying that night," she said.
Source: www.upi.com
June 2nd - "UFO" in Bratislava Slovakia TV JOJ news
Sorry, I have no idea what they are saying. Anyone who can translate; it would be much appriciated :-) Just e-mail me at: sighting.reports@gmail.com
Secret UFO Films Released 03/06/09
In the past week there has been news everywhere, CNN, FOX, AP, BBC etc etc, about the new release of NASA footage starting a new and more vibrant movement against secrecy. Whats rediculous is that all the news journalists are blantantly lying; claiming that the videos are breeding paranoia. What are they talking about??? I think the only people paranoid are the jouralists who can't handle the truth. Bring on the Disclosure baby. No paranoia here... Here is one of the videos - More to come...
June 3rd, 2009 - Authorities reviewing alleged UFO sighting
HOUSTON, June 3 (UPI) -- Police in Liberty County, Texas, say they are working with the FBI and the Federal Aviation Administration in a review of an alleged UFO sighting.
Ken DeFoor, Liberty County Sheriff's Department chief deputy, told The Houston Chronicle Tuesday an ExpressJet Airlines pilot claimed to have seen on object flying near Houston's George Bush Intercontinental Airport.
"The FAA is in the process of debriefing the pilot today (Tuesday)," DeFoor said. "We are going to try and come up with a more definite track of this object and its path. We are trying to find out where it came from, where it went, and who may be responsible for it."
"No people were injured and no evasive action on part of the airplane was taken," DeFoor added regarding the Continental Express jet the pilot was operating at the time of last Friday's sighting.
The pilot, whose identity was not reported, said the object appeared to possibly be a missile or rocket.
DeFoor told the Chronicle authorities were investigating the possibility the unknown object may have been launched from the ground.
Source: http://www.upi.com
-----------------------------------------------
Additional Coverage from: http://www.nbcdfw.com
Law officers in Liberty County found no evidence of a "strange object" flying about 150 feet beneath a Continental Express plane.
Sheriff's Department Cpl. Hugh Bishop said deputies looked for a possible launch or landing site.
A spokeswoman for ExpressJet Airlines, which operates Continental Express, told The Associated Press on Tuesday that the pilot followed standard operating procedures.
Kristy Nicholas said the pilot of the Embraer 145 told flight controllers that the "strange object" he saw never showed up on his radar Friday night.
Nicholas said the plane, with 23 passengers and three crewmembers, had just passed 11,000 feet, going to 16,000 feet.
Flight 2822 from Houston's Bush Intercontinental Airport continued safely on to South Carolina and Greenville-Spartanburg International Airport.
Ken DeFoor, Liberty County Sheriff's Department chief deputy, told The Houston Chronicle Tuesday an ExpressJet Airlines pilot claimed to have seen on object flying near Houston's George Bush Intercontinental Airport.
"The FAA is in the process of debriefing the pilot today (Tuesday)," DeFoor said. "We are going to try and come up with a more definite track of this object and its path. We are trying to find out where it came from, where it went, and who may be responsible for it."
"No people were injured and no evasive action on part of the airplane was taken," DeFoor added regarding the Continental Express jet the pilot was operating at the time of last Friday's sighting.
The pilot, whose identity was not reported, said the object appeared to possibly be a missile or rocket.
DeFoor told the Chronicle authorities were investigating the possibility the unknown object may have been launched from the ground.
Source: http://www.upi.com
-----------------------------------------------
Additional Coverage from: http://www.nbcdfw.com
Law officers in Liberty County found no evidence of a "strange object" flying about 150 feet beneath a Continental Express plane.
Sheriff's Department Cpl. Hugh Bishop said deputies looked for a possible launch or landing site.
A spokeswoman for ExpressJet Airlines, which operates Continental Express, told The Associated Press on Tuesday that the pilot followed standard operating procedures.
Kristy Nicholas said the pilot of the Embraer 145 told flight controllers that the "strange object" he saw never showed up on his radar Friday night.
Nicholas said the plane, with 23 passengers and three crewmembers, had just passed 11,000 feet, going to 16,000 feet.
Flight 2822 from Houston's Bush Intercontinental Airport continued safely on to South Carolina and Greenville-Spartanburg International Airport.
600ft jellyfish crop circle found in Oxfordshire field
Im not a big follower of Crop Circles, but this is a beautiful and interesting one, not to mention huge...
A 600ft jellyfish pattern has appeared in a barley field in Kingstone Coombes, Oxfordshire, in what is one of the most intriguing crop circles ever seen in Britain.
The vast pattern appeared in the field last week and experts are claiming it to be the first of its kind in the world.
Karen Alexander, a crop circle expert, said: "We have seen butterfly and bird patterns in the past, but this is the first jellyfish crop circle in the world.
"It is absolutely huge - roughly three times the size of most crop patterns and extremely interesting. People have been aghast at the size of it. It is a complete monster.
"We are looking into the meaning of it, but at present it just seems to have appeared out of nowhere."
Crop circle theorists known as 'croppies' - believe the patterns are created by UFOs during nocturnal visits, or caused by natural phenomena such as unusual forms of lightning striking the earth.
But it has been proven the patterns can be easily created artists.
Last year a crop circle described as the most complex ever to seen in Britain was discovered in a barley field in Wiltshire.
The formation, measuring 150ft in diameter, was a coded image representing the first 10 digits, 3.141592654, of pi.
Michael Reed, an astrophysicist, said: "The tenth digit has even been correctly rounded up. The little dot near the centre is the decimal point.
"The code is based on 10 angular segments with the radial jumps being the indicator of each segment.
"Starting at the centre and counting the number of one-tenth segments in each section contained by the change in radius clearly shows the values of the first 10 digits in the value of pi."
Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk
Video Source: youtube user: "kiuhy7"
A 600ft jellyfish pattern has appeared in a barley field in Kingstone Coombes, Oxfordshire, in what is one of the most intriguing crop circles ever seen in Britain.
The vast pattern appeared in the field last week and experts are claiming it to be the first of its kind in the world.
Karen Alexander, a crop circle expert, said: "We have seen butterfly and bird patterns in the past, but this is the first jellyfish crop circle in the world.
"It is absolutely huge - roughly three times the size of most crop patterns and extremely interesting. People have been aghast at the size of it. It is a complete monster.
"We are looking into the meaning of it, but at present it just seems to have appeared out of nowhere."
Crop circle theorists known as 'croppies' - believe the patterns are created by UFOs during nocturnal visits, or caused by natural phenomena such as unusual forms of lightning striking the earth.
But it has been proven the patterns can be easily created artists.
Last year a crop circle described as the most complex ever to seen in Britain was discovered in a barley field in Wiltshire.
The formation, measuring 150ft in diameter, was a coded image representing the first 10 digits, 3.141592654, of pi.
Michael Reed, an astrophysicist, said: "The tenth digit has even been correctly rounded up. The little dot near the centre is the decimal point.
"The code is based on 10 angular segments with the radial jumps being the indicator of each segment.
"Starting at the centre and counting the number of one-tenth segments in each section contained by the change in radius clearly shows the values of the first 10 digits in the value of pi."
Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk
Video Source: youtube user: "kiuhy7"
UFOs spotted in Cambridgeshire
These is the incredible picture of more than 20 UFOs buzzing over awestruck Britain. Photo: CATERS
Witnesses claimed to have seen up to 50 of the mystery bright beams at around 11.30pm in Huntingdon.
Scott Boswell, 37, a former pilot and soldier from nearby Hinchingbrooke, captured some of the lights on his camera.
Mr Boswell, a banker in the City of London, said: "I noticed three lights floating past our house, probably a couple of kilometres away, and thought nothing of it.
"But then I noticed a big long string of lights coming from the direction of Brampton and heading over the Stukeley Meadows direction. This was about 11.30pm and I got a couple of blurred shots. I'm pretty sure these weren't aircraft.
"There was no noise, no navigation lights and their heading and height was relatively constant until they disappeared out of sight."
The former solider said he did not think they were flares or weather balloons, the standard explanation for unusual objects in the sky.
Auberon and Suzi Hedgecoe, who run the Braywood Guest House in Huntingdon, saw around 50 orange lights in the sky.
Mr Hedgecoe said: "It was like an armada. There was no sound. They were travelling 15 at a time and every six minutes more seemed to be coming over the horizon.
"They were not planes. These were not balloons. Each one was the size of a building. If they had been balloons, then they would have had to have been huge and they looked weighty."
He said the lights were no higher than 3,000ft.
Mr Hedgecoe said it was so extraordinary that the couple woke up their 10-year-old son Barney and his friend Zac, who was staying over, to see the spectacle.
Another witness said she had counted 35 lights in the sky.
Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Ukraine's First Astronaut Claims UFOs Are Real
Leonid Kadeniuk, independent Ukraine's first astronaut and participant in NASA's Columbia International Mission STS-87 in 1997, has gone on record stating that he believes, "UFOs are real and of alien origin," in an interview with the Pravda Ukraine newspaper. Although he has not seen a UFO himself, he recalls that during his time as a fighter pilot in Moscow in the days of the old USSR he had met other pilots who had encountered them while on missions. He also mentions that he was warned by his superiors and trainers that, "In the event of seeing a UFO while flying he should avoid any contact and not attempt to approach them."
He has studied the topic and has come to the conclusion that UFOs use electro-magnetic and gravitational forces to fly. He argues that the current human method of travelling into space has run its course and it is time we too attempt to develop methods using these forces for space travel. He believes in this manner we will conquer space¡¯s mind-boggling distances.
Source: Pravda Ukraine newspaper, and www.nationalufocenter.com
CNN Idiots makes fun of Believers and the X-confrence - (Even mocking Former Astronaut Ed Mitchell)
CNN applies music and echos to mock believers who want disclosure. There is something seriously inappropriate about adding echo and sci-fi music to a serious statement by Ed Michell; who very much deserves respect.
Monday, June 1, 2009
Former minister a true believer in UFOs - Artical By Dave Brown, Ottawa Citizen Publishing
Dave Brown
Fantastic things beyond the ordinary ken, from sailing ships to space ships
Paul Hellyer, a former Canadian defence minister, is an outspoken believer that aliens have in the past, and still are, visiting Earth. He believes the future of our planet could depend on them.
When we sat down together at the Delta Hotel Wednesday, it wasn't a usual interview. No questions. It opened with a statement from the newspaper guy. "I'm a skeptic. Convince me."
An hour later, I had drawn several conclusions. The first being that Hellyer is well north of the sanity line. At 85 he still talks like a politician, easily coming up with names, dates and places. He backs up what he says by throwing in verbal margin notes. He talks about unidentified flying objects (UFOs) without a trace of doubt. They exist. That's all there is to it.
When we parted an hour later, I was still a skeptic, but a more cautious one. It was a discussion of galactic distances that triggered the caution. When our nearest inhabitable planet-neighbour is light years away, it would seem impossible to cross that gap. Hellyer said he didn't have all the answers, but suggested if a body found a way to harness the power of gravity, that may break the speed of light.
Getting the head around that involved going back, and looking at a similar situation faced by another North American skeptical elder, probably in 1497. He must have existed, and he must have wondered if there was another world on the other side, if there was one, of the Atlantic Ocean.
His likely conclusion: It was a moot point. Even if there was another world, people from there could not cross that water. Aside from distance, there were violent storms. No paddlers were strong enough to go the distance, or survive the storms.
That native American had heard rumours of alien visits from people with white skins and flame-coloured hair, going back hundreds of years. (Lief Ericson in Newfoundland in 1003.) But he had only a verbal history to rely on, and being a wise old man he knew time distorted details and fuelled imaginations. But now there were rumours of huge craft appearing on the horizon, but he hadn't seen one. Nobody he knew had seen one close enough to describe it in detail.
Being asked to commit to an opinion, he probably decided to stay skeptical. Nothing could cross that ocean. It never occurred to him that people could build a canoe big enough to ride out ocean storms, and find a power source by harnessing the wind. Why would it? He lived in a world that had not yet seen a wheel or a horse.
So the wise old man relied on his instincts and the knowledge of his lifetime, and said "nuts," or the equivalent.
A few weeks later he was invited to the seaside to meet a man named Giovanni Caboto (John Cabot, 1450-1498). It would have taken some time to get his head around the size and power of the strange craft. The men on it looked like none he had seen before. Swords. Boots. Hats. Gunpowder.
The new arrivals could have anything they wanted, because they had the power of technology. To the south, the alien invaders would take advantage of the power gap and steal land and gold. To the north, in what would become Canada, they engaged in a layaway plan. Take it now and pay later. We're still paying.
The wise old man, by betting against the impossible, lost the trust of his people.
Five hundred years later, another old man sat at a computer keyboard and tried to make sense of an hour with Paul Hellyer. He had too many answers. His beliefs are almost biblical. Everything he says is backed up by something written, or by witnesses. "People who have seen UFOs now number in the thousands, tens of thousands. They can no longer be denied."
Hellyer is also a conspiracy theorist. He believes a global "cabal" has cornered the market on alien visits. Downed spacecraft have been found and dissected and parts given out to be reverse engineered. These have led to the development of fibre optics and the unleashing of the power of the electron.
He says none of his beliefs come from information available to him during his terms as a cabinet minister. "I wasn't in the loop."
He also says he has seen a UFO and, like those Indians of 500 years ago who saw something on the horizon, he knows it's a hard sell. But he's trying.
A spaceship powered by gravity was part of the Dick Tracy comic strip (1931-1977) and so was a villain named Big Boy Caprice, who had the line needed for visitors from space. "Whoever you are, I know we can make a deal."
Source: http://www.ottawacitizen.com
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