2022 Could Be a Turning Point In the Study of UFOs (space.com) 121
In 2021, there was an upsurge in peculiar sightings reported, thanks to people with smartphones or other video gear that captured these strange glimmers in the sky. In 2022, UAP will get more attention from both the scientific community and the federal government, experts told Space.com. From the report: One potential major development in 2022 will be UFO detection, according to Mark Rodeghier, scientific director of the Center for UFO Studies in Chicago. "The effort to detect, track and measure the UFO phenomenon in the field, in real time, has recently entered a new phase," Rodeghier told Space.com. "The technology has gotten better, software tools have improved and the current interest in UFOs has attracted new, qualified professionals. "While one can't predict how soon we will gain new, fundamental knowledge about UAP/UFOs, I believe that these efforts are very likely to succeed and set UFO research onto a new foundation of reliable, physical data," Rodeghier added. "And as a consequence, we will have even more evidence -- as if it was needed -- that the UFO phenomenon is real and can be studied scientifically."
One upcoming initiative, called the Galileo Project, will search for extraterrestrial equipment near Earth. It has two branches. The first aims to identify the nature of interstellar objects that do not resemble comets or asteroids -- like 'Oumuamua, the first known interstellar object to visit the solar system. The second branch targets UAP, similar to those of interest to the U.S. government. "The Galileo Project's data will be open to the public, and its scientific analysis will be transparent," said Harvard astronomer Avi Loeb, who is spearheading the project. "The related scientific findings would expand humanity's knowledge, with no attention to borders between nations." The Galileo research team includes more than 100 scientists who plan to assemble the project's first telescope system on the roof of the Harvard College Observatory in spring 2022. "The system will record continuous video and audio of the entire sky in the visible, infrared and radio bands, as well as track objects of interest," Loeb said. "Artificial intelligence algorithms will distinguish birds from drones, airplanes or something else. Once the first system will operate successfully, the Galileo Project will make copies of it and distribute them in many geographical locations."
Currently, there is a lack of coordination among organizations involved in UAP detection equipment, but that may change this year, said Robert Powell, an executive board member of the Scientific Coalition for UAP Studies (SCU) in Austin, Texas. "I believe that will improve as we go into 2022," he said. A number of SCU members are involved with the Galileo Project, and the organization has partnered with several groups, including UFODATA, the UFO Data Acquisition Project (UFODAP) and UAPx. "UFODAP already has a working model that has been sold into the marketplace and is reasonably priced in the $2,000 to $5,000 range, depending on the accessories desired," Powell told Space.com. "This system has already been used by a group known as UAPx to collect data. Our goal is to coordinate these activities in a way such that we use a system with standardized equipment set to collect data." But before that happens, Powell said, the groups need to plot out exactly what that equipment is trying to measure and verify that the system can achieve that goal.
One upcoming initiative, called the Galileo Project, will search for extraterrestrial equipment near Earth. It has two branches. The first aims to identify the nature of interstellar objects that do not resemble comets or asteroids -- like 'Oumuamua, the first known interstellar object to visit the solar system. The second branch targets UAP, similar to those of interest to the U.S. government. "The Galileo Project's data will be open to the public, and its scientific analysis will be transparent," said Harvard astronomer Avi Loeb, who is spearheading the project. "The related scientific findings would expand humanity's knowledge, with no attention to borders between nations." The Galileo research team includes more than 100 scientists who plan to assemble the project's first telescope system on the roof of the Harvard College Observatory in spring 2022. "The system will record continuous video and audio of the entire sky in the visible, infrared and radio bands, as well as track objects of interest," Loeb said. "Artificial intelligence algorithms will distinguish birds from drones, airplanes or something else. Once the first system will operate successfully, the Galileo Project will make copies of it and distribute them in many geographical locations."
Currently, there is a lack of coordination among organizations involved in UAP detection equipment, but that may change this year, said Robert Powell, an executive board member of the Scientific Coalition for UAP Studies (SCU) in Austin, Texas. "I believe that will improve as we go into 2022," he said. A number of SCU members are involved with the Galileo Project, and the organization has partnered with several groups, including UFODATA, the UFO Data Acquisition Project (UFODAP) and UAPx. "UFODAP already has a working model that has been sold into the marketplace and is reasonably priced in the $2,000 to $5,000 range, depending on the accessories desired," Powell told Space.com. "This system has already been used by a group known as UAPx to collect data. Our goal is to coordinate these activities in a way such that we use a system with standardized equipment set to collect data." But before that happens, Powell said, the groups need to plot out exactly what that equipment is trying to measure and verify that the system can achieve that goal.
fusion power, Linux on the desktop, UFOs (Score:5, Funny)
Re:fusion power, Linux on the desktop, UFOs (Score:5, Funny)
My fusion-powered UFO runs on Linux, you insensitive clod!
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Once upon a time, there might have been enough Slashdot trolls for a Creimer-centric subset of them to give him that many views through trolling. Well maybe not a million per month, but at least 100-200k under the right circumstances. He's really playing to the wrong crowd if he wants exposure in 2022.
Re: fusion power, Linux on the desktop, UFOs (Score:2)
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UFOs are already here. [hulu.com] (That documentary The UFO Phenomenon does a good job of presenting various evidence over the years.)
--
"You mean you have to PAY to live on the planet you were born on??" -- unknown alien
Kookery (Score:4, Insightful)
Is this Slashdot now? Not enough scamdemic and climate mongering; we need UFO garbage?
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we need UFO garbage?
It could save us. If they follow standard Imperial procedure, we just hang out here for a while where nobody notices, then float away with the rest of the garbage. [youtube.com]
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Those UFOs run on blockchain.
On Blockchain!
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Ya, what does climate have to do with anything?
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Is this Slashdot now? Not enough scamdemic and climate mongering; we need UFO garbage?
Yep. Focusing on actual tech might not result in equal involvement of trans bipoc eskimos.
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Hope it works (Score:1)
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> Tinfoil theory land is growing.
How is it possible that this even has to be stated?
If anyone ever needs evidence that it is possible to have too much of a good thing and/or idle hands are the devil's playthings, the rise of anti-science BS is it. Of course, the people involved don't believe in evidence, so...
Re: Hope it works (Score:1)
Re:Hope it works (Score:4, Insightful)
Pretty cool to see UFOs get some real interest and move out of tinfoil theory land
It's a complete waste of money and effort.
It's obvious by now that the tinfoil people won't change their minds with any amount of new evidence to the contrary.
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It's a complete waste of money and effort.
I would be fine with spending the money and effort if they put "No, it's not aliens" in big letters at the top of the page. Figuring out the cause of UFO/UAPs could add to our knowledge of basic physics (if they're some kind of electrical or optical effect), maybe climatology/meteorology (if they're caused by some oddity in the composition of the atmosphere), or international relations (if they're aircraft developed by other nations).
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It's obvious by now that the tinfoil people won't change their minds with any amount of new evidence to the contrary.
You're not any smarter or more know-y than they are; you still think you can prove negatives!
They're right to reject complaints like yours. They're stupid to believe claims with low quality, conflicting evidence that has better explanations. But they'd be even stupider to believe in negative evidence.
You think that how strongly you believe should result in other people changing their minds! That's completely irrational. The exact problem is that people don't understand the likely causes of various visual ef
Re: Hope it works (Score:3)
Lack of evidence of absence isn't proof of existence.
Go get vaccinated.
And if you believe in clean coal & carbon capture, boy do I have a bridge to sell you. Second thought, then don't get vaccinated.
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And if you believe in ... carbon capture, boy do I have a bridge to sell you
I believe in carbon capture, it's called a "tree."
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Gin Rummy [youtube.com] couldn't have said it better.
btw if you're investing in fusion, you wouldn't be investing in clean coal . . .
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So? Proof of existence requires evidence.
I've watched the UFO crazes since shortly after Roswell and there have been none that turned up a UFO. Much like the believers in living dinosaurs in the heart of Africa need to show up with a dinosaur, UFO believers need to deliver to convince.
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My standard for whether or not something is likely to be real is whether or not a redneck has caught/killed one and driven it around in the back of their truck showing people.
If that hasn't happened, either it's not likely real or it's a deep sea critter. Anything that's near the surface of the water, on land, or flying in the air has ended up caught and killed, shown off, eaten, and stuffed and mounted.
Humans are THE apex predator, and there's very little that we haven't killed on this earth.
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Much like the believers in living dinosaurs... believers need to deliver to convince.
You can buy one at the supermarket, it is called a "bird." See also: Chicken, Turkey, Game hen
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A decedent of a dinosaur is not a dinosaur ...
Otherwise you and myself are dinosaurs, too.
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We don’t descend from dino’s.
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Of course the person wasn't referring to the scientific definition, and the person who replied to them was, so it's a mismatch. They're both right.
Dinosaur has a common meaning, and a scientific meaning.
The common meaning is of course extinct Dinosauria, but scientifically, birds are Dinosauria.
Dinosaurs didn't die out- they evolved.
And no, we're not dinosaurs. We did not descend from dinosaurs, at all. The nearest common ancestor be
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Dinosaurs didn't die out- they evolved.
And that is why they are not Dinosaurs. They are birds. The things into which SOME Dinosaurs evolved.
The nearest common ancestor between us would have been Amniotes- which are decidedly not dinosaurs.
Really?
But according to your logic above, Dinosaurs ARE Amniotes - because they evolved from them, so did we humans. So if Dinosaurs are Amnimotes and Humans are Amniotes: Humans and Dinosaurs are the same. Obviously "simple logic" does not apply in such strange definition
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And that is why they are not Dinosaurs. They are birds. The things into which SOME Dinosaurs evolved.
I think you don't understand what dinosaurs are.
Both humans, and their common ancestors with Chimpanzees are primates.
Dinosaur is a word like primate. it is a clade, scientifically speaking.
As humans are primates, birds are dinosaurs.
But according to your logic above, Dinosaurs ARE Amniotes - because they evolved from them, so did we humans. So if Dinosaurs are Amnimotes and Humans are Amniotes: Humans and Dinosaurs are the same. Obviously "simple logic" does not apply in such strange definitions, hence Birds are not Dinosaurs, but decandents.
Wait, what?
Correct. Dinosaurs are amniotes.
Why are you confused by that?
Birds are dinosaurs.
Some educational material for you [livescience.com], if you're interested in doing something besides putting your foot in your mouth.
Quit fucking arguing about things you have no. fucking. clu
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Dinosaur is a word like primate. it is a clade, scientifically speaking.
As humans are primates, birds are dinosaurs.
That is wrong, sorry. Lol you keep entertaining me, but it is not amusing.
Quit fucking arguing about things you have no. fucking. clue. about.
That is what I always tell you. But you insist to do otherwise.
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Sometimes I feel sorry for you. You seem like you live a really sad life.
But then other times, I sit here and I watch you speak confidently about things you have no fucking clue about, and I think- I have to say something.
When dumbfucks like you spread misinformation, and someone doesn't contest it, it becomes some other sad idiot's truth after he stumbles upon it.
Dinosaurs [nhm.ac.uk] are [birdlife.org] dinosaurs [audubon.org], illiterate [birdgap.com] fuckstain. [dinosaur-museum.org]
You could have an opinion- like, "cladistics is s
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I think you are pretty out of the loop of recent developments regarding UAFs ....
I would say a Nimitz class carrier having them on radar and an AEGIS cruiser having them on radar and several fighter jets chasing them, filming them and pilots having them on radar and visual contact: is pretty strong evidence that the UAF is there.
They just don't know what it is: the U stands for unknown or unidentified
And if you all that above don't have caught up in the recent 2 or 3 years: you must have lived under a rock.
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It's unexpected, but only time will tell if it's just a confluence of noise.
Some examples,
The radar used in systems like AEGIS is susceptible to many kinds of processing artifacts. A huge amount of training goes into ferreting those out so that you don't make really bad decisions and shoot down airliners crossing the Persian gulf.
Humans are susceptible to, frankly, seeing shit that isn't there. Susceptible isn't even strong enough of a word- hum
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Well, if you watch those "Nimitz UAF" videos you hear the radio between pilots and the carrier, and the AEGIS cruiser.
I'm convinced there was something, that they actually picked up. But the main point is: too many people here jump up and shout "aliens" (meaning: "three are no aliens, if one believes otherwise he is in an idiot), while the whole thing is only about unidentified things. And not really about aliens. Yes, the story is mentioning detecting extraterrestrials - but that has at first nothing to do
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There is no such thing as a "black bear," they're a myth invented to distract people from the widespread presence of Sasquatch.
I'm not even joking. People don't comprehend how words work. There are lots of idiots who don't understand synonyms. There are lots of idiots who think that using a synonym is "wrong." Look up the controversy of Armenian Blackberry vs Himalayan Blackberry; lots of idiots with letters next to their names insisting other people are using the "wrong" word even though they already (supp
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Objection: assumes facts not in evidence. It's still solidly in tinfoil theory land. The headline might just as well say "2022 Could Be A Turning Point In Natalie Portman Pouring Hit Grits".
Is there an app for this ? (Score:3)
A tracking app where multiple people with mobile phones can upload and send location data ?
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A tracking app where multiple people with mobile phones can upload and send location data ?
That’s actually a very good idea!
Re: Is there an app for this ? (Score:2)
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It's called iNaturalist, and I still say it was not an immature Red-tailed Hawk, it was a mature Rough-footed Hawk!
Year of the Linux Desktop too! (Score:2)
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Wow, year of the linux desktop, year we crack UFOs, 2022 is set for all sorts of totally plausible and realistic surprises.
You forgot "the year Windows updates don't wreck systems."
Oh yes, oh yes... (Score:2)
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You really set a high bar for 2022. If we do all that this year, what will be left for next season?
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It's scary that your second list of events is far more likely to happen than your first one.
Re: Oh yes, oh yes... (Score:2)
Re: Oh yes, oh yes... (Score:5, Insightful)
Ya, being surrounded on all sides by cultures that would like nothing more than the complete annihilation of your country and citizens would have that effect. :/
Re: Oh yes, oh yes... (Score:5, Insightful)
What part might constant assault by their neighbors have to do with that?
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For us to all be dead probably would make the planet pretty uninteresting for aliens too. What with the global nuclear winter and all that radiation...
And if that doesn't happen... truthfully? At this point I'm not sure it would be that much worse under alien rule :D.
Re: Oh yes, oh yes... (Score:2)
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Well, along with your prognostications, I do believe that there was a recent article here discussing that this could finally possibly maybe the year of Linux on the Desktop(tm). OTOH we may have finally turned the corner on the heartbreak of psoriasis.
More like people with too much time (Score:3)
So no "turning point". Just more disconnected fantasies.
There are no aliens (Score:2)
Aliens would make themselves known instead of watching us secretly. I mean, the only possible value we can provide to aliens is comedic entertainment, but it is safe to say that if they have spaceships that can traverse across light years they probably have a well developed entertainment industry too. Same thing with food, they probably have synthetic food that tastes a lot better than us.
Re: Every Alien is different. (Score:1)
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Don’t worry, we have already sent the signals and any aliens with intelligence are probably already on their way. We won’t even see their ships, we will just get bombarded wi
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So, you're saying within a century's worth of light years out there is a hostile civilization with FTL (needed to get here anywhere close to 100yrs) intent on destroying us? Got any rationale for that?
I said signal potential. Our nuclear bombs can be heard in a radius of 76 light years already perhaps 50 star systems as of “today”. Any alien civilizations within ten light years or so, around 12 star systems, with slower than light drives could already be pulling in. The bubble demonstrating our violent nature just keeps expanding at the speed of light. Just Give it another 50-100 years and we still likely won’t have any defenses for deflecting multiple impacts and yet the chances just
Re: Every Alien is different. (Score:1)
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You are commenting from the perspective of a hostile intelligence though. If they are a peaceful intelligence, then extermination is the final recourse, better to contain us.
I think you are getting it backwards. We have demonstrated hostility, bar none, broadcast it in a cosmic gunshot and detailed the horrors in a long whisper. A peaceful intelligence would see the threat because of our clear murderous intent and proclivity to expand and consume exponentially. What is a tiny uneven blister can spread deep enough into space and metastasize in a way that’s very difficult to remove. A cancer to be stopped because it was spotted early. But why destroy? Because herding
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OTOH: Wildlife documentaries usually hide the cameras... or even build robots to blend in with the natives.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com]
Re: There are no aliens (Score:2)
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Maybe so.
These days they don't have to land on the planet. All they need is a PC with youtube access and a narrow beam transmitter that's synchronized to switch off when things pass overhead.
https://platform.leolabs.space... [platform.leolabs.space]
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They came, they observed, and they decided to mark the solar system uninhabitable and without useful resources once they understood us. They're made out of meat! [mit.edu]
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Unless they have a common origin to life on earth they probably couldn't eat anything here anyway. If aliens are here then they're either here to study us or they're here for our art.
Re: There are no aliens (Score:1)
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Nah, there's asteroids that are mostly gold. It wouldn't make any sense to come down here for it. If you have that kind of technology then you can just send robots to go mine asteroids for you.
Believers will be believers. (Score:2)
So literally nothing will change. Unless a UFO lands somewhere and aliens get out to get definitive proof of existence, trying to prove they don't exist is a waste of time and money, because the UFO "enthusiasts" won't believe anything anyone says. Ever.
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trying to prove they don't exist is a waste of time and money, because the UFO "enthusiasts" won't believe anything anyone says.
The problem is people being credulous, but your complaint is that they're credulous of somebody else, instead of you.
You don't prove negatives. People saying that are lying liars who aren't half as sciencey as they wish they were.
Boy news (Score:2)
A very easy prediction (Score:5, Insightful)
Seriously. There have been none, and there will be none. And everything else is the equivalent of a speck on the lense. In biochemistry, there are substances called PAINS: Pan Assay INterference compoundS. When looking for potential drug substances, there are methods to sort hundreds and thousands of experiments, often automatically performed, in those worth a second look, and those dismissed outright. There are some substances that bind to the chemicals used for sorting. They thus trigger a positive response while sorting, and not in the original experiment. They interfere with the pan assay. Curcuma is a famous example for PAINS. It once was famous for being a potential wonder drug. In the end, it proved to be coupling to the sorting substances without actually having a measurable influence on the original test, thus none of the potential uses materialized after having a closer look.
UFO zealots look to me like people who are easily jumping to conclusions just because there is a less well understood side effect of some recording setup. But if your base line is close to zero, the probability of each positive to be a false positive rises up to nearly one. And just throwing more recording setups at a baseline of zero produces nothing else than more false positives.
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> I predict that the number of recorded alien visits will increase tenfold in the next decade, from Zero to Ten Times Zero.
No need to predict: the amount of photocathode coverage of the sky has increased perhaps 100 billion times since 2000, yet the UFO stories are all about things that happened years/decades ago.
I recall back in the crop circle era (yup, that old) someone who charted the number of crop circles to the number of news stories of crop circles. After a short period where the number of circle
Smartphones (Score:2)
I would say that anything that gets people outside and off their smartphones is a good thing, but all of this will happen on smartphones.
Still waiting... (Score:2)
Still waiting for any sort of pics that aren't just fuzzy weird light patches, or obvious fakes. I think I'll be waiting a while longer. Seriously, with modern cell cameras, if there were any UFOs flying around, we'd have 10megapixel pics of them all over the Internet.
How do people simultaneously believe in aliens from outer space, and in a flat earth that is the center of the universe, and in...never mind, let's just stop there...
Assumption immediately apparent (Score:1)
[blockquote]"The effort to detect, track and measure [b]the UFO phenomenon[/b] in the field, in real time, has recently entered a new phase," Rodeghier told Space.com. [/blockquote]
This statement implicitly assumes a unified explanation for all of the unexplained observations.
I, for one, welcome our new UFO overlords. (Score:2)
Critical mass (Score:2)
All that is necessary is a critical mass of idiots.
yep (Score:2)
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Unidentified sightings exist. Aliens near earth do not exist.
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Larger Population, more phones with cameras... (Score:1)
Yes, we have larger population, more phones with cameras, social media... idiots believing the long debunked nonsense of UFOs will increase. So will old half-senile astronauts or pilots looking for a moment of fame pushing debunked nonsense.
There does seem to be a change coming (Score:2)
So many phones but no pics of UFOs (Score:2)
Great. (Score:2)
I hope the turning point is huge masses of people realizing "Unidentified" means "I don't know" and not "aliens".
In other news... (Score:2)
In other news, unicorn tracking technology is advancing at a rapid rate, and unicorn proponents think we are better positioned than ever to detect these ellusive creatures.
*massive eyeroll* (Score:2)
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it's the UFOs man.
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Which is disappointing, because biblical angels are much cooler. Imagine the Sistine chapel covered with these dudes:
https://static.tvtropes.org/pm... [tvtropes.org]
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No it isn't. First reports of "aliens" were of monstrous beings. "Sightings" then evolved over time to what is commonly accepted today.
Your own link disputes your consistency claim. Visuals "of Bashar, his home world Essasan..." was enough to discount your link as BS. Bashar is **channeling** an alien.
I highly recommend people here do go and look at that link (just a promo for another site) and then that site to see the quality of the "evidence" being believed.
Re: Spectral analysis of individual UFO lights? (Score:2)