Saturday, September 25, 2010

UFOs, nuclear weapons and disclosure

Hi readers

As you will be aware I have been examining the topic of "disclosure" in a number of previous posts. Here's a new angle.

On 27 September 2010 a press conference is scheduled at the National Press Club in Washington, DC in the USA. The subject of the press conference is UFO incursions at American nuclear weapons sites.

The conference is to be hosted by Robert Hastings and Bob Salas. Hastings is a UFO researcher and Salas is a former USAF officer. Interestingly, one of the other witnesses to be presented is Charles Halt, of the UK Rendelsham Forest case from 1980. For more information on this event click here

There is debate about some of the information which will be the subject of the conference, see for example (click here)

Introducing Keith Basterfield

Keith Basterfield here. I have been interested in the UFO phenomenon since the mid 1960's. In those years I lived in the United Kingdom and looked on, in amazement, as UFO report after UFO report appeared in the British media.

Moving to Australia in 1968, I joined a local UFO group and spent several years investigating reports first hand, both locally in South Australia and also in other states of Australia.

In these early days, the UFO phenomenon was one of observations of classic metallic objects often leaving ground traces. There was no published Australian abduction events, although "occupants" had been recorded.

Over the thirty years, during the period 1970-2000, I interviewed numerous Australians who came forward to report UFO encounters, including abductions. I spent quite a bit of time documenting my findings, and contributing to the global debate on the subject.

Between 2003 and 2008 I spent most of my time working with members of the Adelaide based Australian UFO Research Association (AURA) looking at the Federal Government's UFO files via both the Freedom of Information Act, and in the National Archives.

Also, during the latter period along came the rise of the Internet which allowed anyone to air their views to a broad audience. Serious research became buried under an avalanche of hoaxes, of the weird, of the bizarre, and of the unbelievable.

In response to a number of factors, I decided to give up my UFO research, in 2008.

Now, two years later, with a fresh perspective provided by time away from the subject, I have decided to return to this topic. I have initially decided to focus my limited time available on a couple of specific areas of research.

1, Cold cases. Old, classic UFO cases may be examined out of the media spotlight, and the demand for immediate responses. Perhaps, a more leisurely re-examination of "cold cases" may reveal a missed piece of data, a possible clue as to the case's cause.

2. Abduction/contactee cases. AURA in South Australia have been running a project now for about three years looking at abductee/contactee experiences. Some of their excellent research has already been published in the magazine "The UFOlogist." I aim to contribute to this area of research.

In addition, I look forward to some electronic intellectual discussions with "Pauline Wilson" who has been running this blog for over 12 months now. Thanks Pauline, for the opportunity to contribute to this blog.

New contributor to this blog

Dear readers

In quite a few of my posts, I have referred to the work of Adelaide researcher Keith Basterfield. Keith is regarded by many, as one of Australia's leading UFO researchers into the UFO phenomenon. Two years ago he took his leave of the field.

Keith's retirement from the field was one reason I started up this blog. Since the 1950's, South Australia has contributed to the study of UFOs and I want to keep up this tradition.

Now, some good news. With his pending retirement from full time work (effective from 1 October 2010) Keith has decided to put a small percentage of his time back into UFO research. After some discussion, Keith will shortly start contributing to this blog, which will provide a South Australian perspective, drawn from global resources.

Happy reading!

Space and time

One of the more exotic explanations for UFOs is that they are a space-time phenomenon.

Some researchers point out cases where a UFO is said to have simply contracted in size and winked out of existence, in front of a witness.

The 7 August 2010 issue of the magazine "New Scientist" pages 28-31 has an article by Anil Ananthaswamy, of special interest.

The article reports on the work of physicist Petr Horava, University of California. (Click here.) In January 2009 Horava published an article which galvanised physics. It revolved around reconciling "Einstein's general theory of relativity...and quantum mechanics." (p28.)

"...Horava began looking for ways to tweak Einstein's equations..." (p30.)

">>>So Hovra did the unthinkable and amended Einstein's equations in a way that removed Lorentz's symmetry..."

In short,Hovra's idea was to break the symmetry between space and time. (p31.)

If you have a chance, read the article.

"Unconventional flying objects" part 3

Hi readers

This is the final part of my look at Paul R Hill's book.

Section 6 takes a look at the sounds associated with UFOs.

"Saucers emit a characteristic noise generally referred to as a hum, buzz or whine...the data quite clearly shows that the forcefield cycles at the hum frequencies." (p119.)

A later section ponders the silent operation of UFOs; and looks back to another of his own observations, in 1962. Then, Hill watched "...a fat aluminium or metallic coloured 'fuselage'...approaching from the rear." The craft accelerated rapidly and was lost in clouds. There was no noise associated with the observation. Hill wondered how it would be possible to have noiseless, supersonic flight?

Artifacts

"First of all, the UFO is such a reliable machine that broken or discarded parts are extremely rare." (p225.)

Looking to explain sightings of the filament style "Angel Hair" Hill concludes: "This line of reasoning suggests that angel hair may be a liquid on board the various UFO types, stored under pressure and released to the atmosphere through small orifices, solidifying when it hits the lower pressure and temperature conditions of the atmosphere." (p244.)

Summary

Section 20 concludes "Analysis of the structural properties of UFOs shows that they are some form of craft having weight, mass, solidarity, high density and a hard or tough structural shell." (p311.)

"Being knowledgeable of US Government secrets on propulsion, I have know from the start that UFOs could not possibly be of Earth technology manufacture." (p311.)

The seven appendices of the book are full of technical analysis of aspects of the author's arguments made throughout the work.

Comment

This was not an easy book to read, due to the technical nature of much of the material. However, it did give some insight into lines of argument and logic in which Hill engaged, when analysing raw data from actual UFO sightings.

One of the few criticism I have of the work of Hill's interpretations from some of the UFO case data. It seems to me that from the perspective of looking back 40-50 years, that some of his conclusions, rest on shaky case data. If this data is not good, then his line of argument could be incorrect.

However, for anyone of a technical bent, I would recommend you track down a copy of this book and form your own conclusions.

Sunday, September 19, 2010

"Unconventional flying objects" Part 2

Hi

from a wonderful spring day in Adelaide. 17 degrees C, partly cloudy but with a hint of sunshine.

Continuing my look at Paul R Hill's book.

Hill then took a look at the question of the "performance" of UFOs. In each section of his work Hill would link his theoretical comments to a representative group of UFO accounts which related to the area under discussion.

In "performance' he provides details of his own, personal UFO sighting on 16 July 1952, when he was employed at the Langley research Center.

At about 8pm, two amber coloured lights approached from the south of his position. The lights passed overhead and headed west. They then started revolving around each other. later, two more amber spheres joined the formation (pp44-45.) Hill later found that other observations had been made of these anomalous lights by other people in the area.

Illumination

"There is really no secret as to what this illumination and illuminated sheath of atmosphere around the UFO is. It is a sheath of ionized and excited air molecules often called a plasma." (p53.)

Noting an observation in which UFOs move from a stationary position, and brighten, the author relates this to "The brightness changes together with the UFO power change clearly shows that the UFO radiation causing the brightness is an integral part of the power system." (p65.)

Section 4 of the book takes a look at UFO radiation, and after examining a few reported cases concludes "...that UFOs radiate between 25 electron volts...and 3 million electron volts, which is the lower end of the gamma ray spectrum. This radiation readily accounts for the radiation sickness reported in various cases." (p81.)

Section 5 is where hill poses the question "Are UFOs propelled by the ejection of any of the elementary particles of matter?" After examining the evidence, he concludes "We have effectively eliminated all particles (except the neutrino) as possibilities for the near-Earth propulsion of UFOs because their characteristics do not fit the observed operational facts." (p91.)

"We are now ready to examine the positive evidence that UFOs utilise a force or acceleration field as their means of propulsion." (p97.)

"UFOs are propelled by s force akin to gravity, but of an opposite nature..." (p118.)

Saturday, September 18, 2010

"Unconventional Flying Objects" Part 1

Hi

Recently, I was very pleasantly surprised to come across an excellent book which I had not heard of before.

The book is a relatively old one having been published in 1995. The author is Paul R Hill, the title "Unconventional Flying Objects." Publisher is Hampton Roads Publishing. ISBN 1-57174-027-9.

Even more delightful, according to the back cover blurb was that the author "...acted as an unofficial clearing house at NASA, collecting and analyzing sightings reports for physical properties, dynamics etc."

Comment

I find the idea of an "unofficial" clearing house to be intriguing. In previous posts I noted that Christopher "Kit" Green, of the CIA held a similar "unofficial" role, monitoring UFO research, and indeed the paranormal in genera. In my own country of Australia, Harry Turner of the Joint Intelligence Bureau (JIB), was an "unofficial" liaison between the Royal Australian Air Force's UFO investigators and the JIB. How "official" is "unofficial?"

Where did Paul Hill's UFO interest come from?

"I made my beginning analysis of unconventional flying objects maneuvers in the 1950's. This work was no doubt stimulated by my own sighting of unconventional objects on July 16, 1952." (pp22-23.)

"My background of flight experiments with rocket-supported platforms was pertinent to the understanding of the control of unconventional objects..." (p23.)

What did his employer think of his UFO interests?

"I was prevented from making nay pronouncement about this application of my work by official National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) policy. That policy was that flying saucers were non existent." (p24.) NACA later became NASA.

Hill did not like the term UFO

"It is assumed that anyone with a good dictionary can see why unidentified is a misnomer...Unconventional objects, or craft, don't fly. They are vectoring along trajectories...Even the word object is almost totally undescriptive..." (pp26-27.)

Hill as a scientist initially looked at the physical properties and effects of the objects.

"Physical evidence exists that UFOs are real, solid massive, machine-like vehicles..." (p31.)

"Other evidence for solidity and hardness is given by the sound of bullets striking UFOs. UFOs have been shot at hundreds of times..." (p38.)

Thursday, September 9, 2010

Precursor to an abduction?

Hi

I have the flu at the moment, and have been spending the day in bed. Lying here, listening to ABC FM radio classical music,I had a thought about migraines (see previous post 28 August) and abductions. I am always surprised when these "connections" between two topics come to me, for I never feel that I have been consciously thinking about them.

In my 28 August post about migraines, I noted the following quote from a book:

"Aura onset
Migraines are often augured by incipient sensations, an undefined prodrome that may occur days, hours or just minutes before-hand..."

I just went back to the copy of "Migraine Auras: When the Visual World Fails" by Richard Grossinger, to see what else he had written on this topic. He said:

"A few people report a roaring sound, as of the sea heard in a shell, just before the appearance of phosphenes. Others feel persistent, strong tingling or a sensation of vibrating wires (paresthesias) in the feet, hands, face, and/or tongue area..." (page 69.)

"Sometimes an aura 'rehearses' for days by propelling bright flickers or stars or luminous sparks across the field of vision..."

Connection

So, what is the connection which my brain came up with?

It goes back to a post of mine dated 9 March 2010. This post was about the experiences of an English abductee/contactee Mike Oram as told in his book "Does it rain in other dimensions?"

Mike mentions, time after time, that "...I was strongly aware that something was about to happen..." (page 126.) "I sensed quite strongly that something was about to happen..." (page 136.) "I had a feeling that something was going to happen for the past two hours..." (page 138.)

In summary, Mike describes a sequence where he knows something is going to happen, a buzzing sound starts in his head, then vibrations spread through his body, then the event happens.

Comment
Could these "knowing" experiences, followed by noise and vibrations, which Mike describes actually be a migraine prodome? Could Mike have integrated these normal but little understood and little known sensations, into a tale of being an abductee/contactee? Remember that a percentage of people who have migraines never experience the classic migraine headache and just experience auras. There could be a number of people who have these sensations, never have a headache and do not realise they are experiencing a migraine.

Dear readers, if you are an abductee/contactee what do you think of this hypothesis?

Another connection

In the same 9 March 2010 post, I referenced the story of Robert Monroe, who wrote of his out-of-body experiences in his 1971 book "Journeys out of the body." On page 24 Monroe describes how his experiences involved a "feeling" which swept his entire body and a roaring sound caused by these vibrations. This sounds to me exactly like a migraine prodome. What do you readers think?

In closing

The end words of my 9 March post were:

"Could there be a physiological or neurological explanation for someone experiencing a sound, vibrations and then a sense of floating off to somewhere else? In addition Oram's sense that he "knew" sometimes something was about to happen reminds me of the advance notice people get of the onset of a migraine headache." A perceptive comment from me, six months before I read Grossinger's book!

Over to you for comments.

Alien survey

Hi readers

Well, Adelaide continues to receive more rain. Our reservoirs now have about 3 years worth of water in them, more capacity than for many years.

The Fortean Times, FT 263 contains an article (page 28) on the results of a poll taken of 23,000 adults in 22countries.

"...young people in India and China are the most likely to believe that aliens exist and walk among us disguised as humans (40 per cent of those polled.) In contrast, those least likely to believe are Europeans, particularly those who live in Belgium, Sweden and the Netherlands (8 per cent each)..."

"Predictably, UFO believer Stephen Bassett saw the results as confirmation that three billion people "now believe that some UFOs are extraterrestrial in origin.""

European Parliament member and UAP

Five Eyes Out of the Five Eyes partners, which consists of the U.S.A., the U.K., Canada, Australia and New Zealand; questions about UAP hav...