Tag: extraterrestrial

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The WOW! signal, Part 1: Not made by humans?

Dawn at Big Ear, Ohio State University, http://bigear.org

At a quarter past ten in the evening on August 15, 1977
a once-in-a-lifetime event took place in Delaware:

A very strong signal arrived at the “Big Ear” radio telescope. It had all the characteristics of having come from an extraterrestrial intelligent source.

The OSU Big Ear radio observatory was aligned in North/South direction. The parabolic reflector is in the South.

No one was at the telescope at the time. The receiver and telescope computer were doing their jobs all by themselves. Therefore, the signal was actually first detected by a machine, a twelve-year-old computer.

BITS OF INFORMATION
The IBM 1130 had first been built in 1965. It looked and felt like an old battleship. It had only 1 megabyte of memory. For that reason, the only record of the radio signal is a 6-digit printout on endless paper. There’s no audio recording of the signal. Today we would have a complete audio recording of it, measuring megabytes, if not gigabytes. But in those days, just six characters on paper had to suffice as a record.

After a few days, the stack of computer printouts from the Selectric printer was bundled by Big Ear technician Gene Mikesell and brought to Jerry Ehman’s home.

Press to stop printing. An IBM 1130 printer, this was the type used at the Big Ear radio-telescope in 1977.

THE ANALYSIS
Jerry Ehman was a SETI volunteer with Ohio State University. Together with Bob Dixon, he had written the software for the Big Ear computer in FORTRAN and assembler.

Around the 19th of August, Jerry began analyzing the printouts from the radio telescope at his home, looking for unusual radio signatures.

A few pages into the pile of paper, he saw a peculiar sequence of numbers and characters.

He was astonished. After highlighting in red pen the six characters “6EQUJ5,” Jerry wrote the notation “Wow!” in the left margin of the computer printout opposite them.

The Wow! signal printout

The characters and numbers denoted a very strong narrow-band transmission. Apparently it had come from outer space. Narrow-band transmissions usually don’t occur naturally and are a sign of artificial origin.

Conventionally speaking, all artificial things are made by humans. That’s because human language, and the Cambridge Dictionary, defines “artificial” as “made by humans.” That definition may have to be revised.

OPTIMUM CHANNEL
The Wow! transmission had all the hallmarks of a radio signal from a non-human extraterrestrial civilization. In the 1959 article “Searching for Interstellar Communications,” Giuseppe Cocconi and Philip Morrison explained that using the 21 cm hydrogen frequency was a logical choice for SETI.

And that was precisely the frequency of the Wow! signal. It had come from the direction in the sky where the constellation Sagittarius is found. 

The Big Ear radio and computer shack.

If we transfer the number codes from the Wow! printout to plotting paper we can see the waxing and waning strength of the 1420 mHz radio beam that reached the radio telescope. Each of the letters and numbers corresponds to a certain signal intensity, as the next graph illustrates.

The signal may have been transmitting for centuries and was never detected because no one looked for it before. The signal source did not move in the sky. The only thing that moved over for 72 seconds was the Earth, rotating majestically from East to West as the radio receiver moved in and out of the signal beam.

And then the signal vanished. Gone. The signal would have been picked up again by the second horn antenna of Big Ear. But it was no longer there.

The rise and fall of the signal we see in the graph above was due to the antenna pattern, the signal itself remained at constant strength.

The graph below shows a similar signal pattern in “OV-221,” the radio source to the right of the Wow! signal. (OV-221 is also known as MSH 19–203 (Mills Slee Hill Radio Sources)).

In this broadband continuum record the Wow! signal does not show up because it is too narrow-band.

Today I’m waiting to hear if OV-221 corresponds to the center of the Milky Way galaxy, Sagittarius A*, but no one seems to know the old radio source designations anymore.

After Jerry Ehman showed the computer printout of the Wow! signal to John Kraus and Bob Dixon, they immediately talked about it, speculating and making hypotheses. Quickly, John and Bob began to investigate the various possibilities.

Dr. John Kraus was a physicist and the designer of the Big Ear radio telescope. He actually invented several types of radio antennas.

Bob Dixon was the director of SETI at Ohio State University radio telescope.

Together they excluded the possibility of the signal having been a plane, planet, asteroid, comet, satellite, spacecraft, ground-based transmitter, or any other known natural source.

Now, since the Wow! signal appeared to be unnatural and no known human cause for it could be found, it was suspected that it could have come from a technological alien civilization.

It was decided to go back to the region in space where the signal had come to see if it could be found again. The scientific method calls for the reproducibility of any experiment or result.

Weeks turned to months, and years into decades as astronomers from all over the world searched the region in space where the Wow! signal had been detected.

The Wow! signal was never found again.

Calculations on the space region of the Wow! signal

Image by The Planetary Society, license https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/

The Wow! signal was observed for 72 seconds. In this time a region of space equivalent to 18 arcminutes was scanned, according to the following calculations:

24h x 60 min = 1440 mins/day = 86400 sec
360° / 86400 = 0.0041° per second
72 seconds = 0.3°

An arcminute (denoted by the symbol ‘), is an angular measurement equal to 1/60 of a degree or 60 arcseconds. To convert a degree measurement to a minute of arc measurement, we multiply the angle by the conversion ratio.

The angle in minutes of arc is equal to the degrees multiplied by 60:
0.3 x 60 = 18 arcminutes.

As seen from the Earth, the Sun and Moon both have angular diameters of about 30 arcminutes. The full moon’s average apparent size is about 31 arcminutes (or 0.52°).

In other words, the Wow! signal spanned an area of about half the size of the Sun or the Moon, as seen from Earth in the sky. That is a rather large area in astronomy.

On the basis of this simple calculation, I cannot readily agree that the Wow! signal came from a pointlike source. That may or may not be a problem. It can be resolved by agreeing that the resolution of the Big Ear radio telescope was not any better!

The frequency and speed of the Wow! signal source

It’s assumed that aliens that use the hydrogen frequency do so in a manner to compensate for the motion of their planet with respect to the motion of Earth. Otherwise, the precise frequency of the hydrogen becomes higher or lower.

That’s why it’s important to look at the precise frequency of the signal.

John Kraus, the director of the observatory, gave a frequency value of 1420.3556 MHz in his 1994 summary written for Carl Sagan.

Jerry Ehman in 1998 gave a value of 1420.4556±0.005 MHz. 

This is (50±5 kHz) above the hydrogen line value of 1420.4058 MHz.

Only one of those frequencies could be the correct one. The explanation of the difference between Ehman’s and Kraus’s values was that a new oscillator had been ordered for the frequency of 1450.4056 MHz.

The university’s purchasing department then made a typographical error in the order and wrote 1450.5056 MHz instead of 1450.4056 MHz. The software used in the experiment was then written to adjust for this error. When Ehman computed the frequency of the Wow! signal, he took this error into account.


After all errors are accounted for, the Doppler shift of 1420.4556 MHz indicates that the Wow! signal source moved at a speed of 37,893 km/h towards Earth. The following calculations show how I arrived at that speed:

Calculations on the Doppler shift of the Wow! signal

The Wow! signal was detected at 1420.4556 MHz. First we need to convert the frequency to the wavelength. The wavelength is given by the frequency and the speed of light, how far one wave crest travels in a given time span.

Frequency to wavelength calculator:
https://www.everythingrf.com/rf-calculators/frequency-to-wavelength

The frequency of the Wow! signal 1420.4556 MHz is equal to a wavelength of (Δλ) 21.105373 cm. That’s the distance between each wave crest.

The presumed origin signal of hydrogen has a precise frequency of 1420405751.768 Hz, equivalent to the wavelength of (λ) 21.106114054160 cm. Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrogen_line

The Doppler shift speed from delta lambda and lambda = 299 781 932.02409 m/sec. https://www.vcalc.com/wiki/sspickle/speed+from+delta+lambda+and+lambda

Now we subtract
299 781 932.02409 m/sec
[Doppler shifted Wow! signal speed from v = (Δλ/λ) * c]
-299 792 458 m/sec [ speed of light (c)]
______________________

10 526 m/sec = 37 893 km/h or 10.526 km/sec.

Ref. 1: The source of the Wow! signal approached Earth at a speed of 37 893 km/h or 23 545 mph, if the transmission frequency was from hydrogen.

The average speed of asteroids is 18-20 km/s vs. the 10.52 km/s from the Wow! signal. Comets that impact Earth usually are also faster, at 30 km/s.

End of part 1.

Now read The WOW! Signal, Part 2:
Evidence Suggests Origin from Unknown Object, Moving Towards Earth

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https://contactproject.org
A proposal to make radio contact with UAPs/UFOs

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The Wow! Signal: A Cosmic Riddle Solved by Mathematics?

Can a mathematical equation be considered evidence that the source of the Wow! signal approached Earth (and was of extraterrestrial origin)?

This discussion is about the paper “The Wow! Signal Doppler Shift Equations“:

The Wow! Signal Doppler Shift Equations
The Wow! signal has been the strongest and only serious candidate for ETi radio communication for almost half a century. New calculations support that the Wow! signal may have originated from a moving source heading for Earth, adding to its

Mathematical equations can be considered evidence, but the context in which they are used is crucial. This is particularly evident when we examine events like the Wow! Signal, where data interpretation plays a significant role.

In the case of the Wow! signal, which was a strong narrowband radio signal detected by the Big Ear radio telescope in 1977, considering a mathematical equation as evidence requires careful consideration. It is important to consider the context and underlying assumptions.

Context of the Wow! Signal

Observational Nature: The Wow! signal was a one-time event that has not been observed again since its detection. This raises questions about reproducibility and the reliability of the interpretation of the signal.

Doppler Effect: The Doppler equation suggests blueshift (indicating that the signal source was approaching Earth). This is based on the principles of the Doppler effect. The Doppler effect describes how the frequency of emitted waves changes depending on the relative motion of the source and the observer. If a source is moving toward the observer, the waves are compressed, leading to a higher frequency (blueshift).

Mathematical Equation as Evidence

(Daguerreotype of Christian Andreas Doppler, 1803-1853)

In this instance, the mathematical equations associated with the Doppler effect can serve as supportive evidence.

This is possible if the following conditions are met:

Interpretation of the Signal: The mathematical model using the Doppler effect must be appropriately applied to the observed frequency of the Wow! signal. If the frequency of the signal is higher than what would be expected if the source were stationary, this shift can indeed be calculated. Then, using the Doppler equation, it provides a logical framework supporting the hypothesis that the source is moving towards Earth.

Consistency with Observations: For the equation to be considered evidence, it must be consistent with other data. We need to consider the characteristics of the signal (frequency, duration, etc.) and any additional analysis. For example, the lack of nearby astronomical sources that could explain the signal.

Limitations and Alternatives: While the Doppler equation suggests that the source was approaching, it is crucial to acknowledge the limitations of this interpretation. The single observation leaves room for alternative explanations. For example, it could have been interference or another cosmic phenomenon.

But we need to acknowledge that terrestrial interference or cosmic phenomena have long ago been ruled out by Dick Arnold, Bob Dixon, Jerry Ehman Ed Teiga and John Kraus.

Conclusion

The application of the Doppler equation supports the idea that the Wow! signal source was approaching Earth.

The Wow! Signal equation serves as evidence for a hypothesis, rather than serving as conclusive proof. The scientific method requires ruling out other explanations. Obtaining corroborating evidence through multiple observations or analyses is necessary before drawing definitive conclusions.

“There is no evidence that can’t be contradicted either by fact or lies.”

Erich Habich-Traut

In human discourse, where perception and persuasion play roles, that statement reflects a pragmatic reality: evidence is often subject to challenge, whether valid or not.

What type of evidence is logically or empirically unassailable?

Call for Action

Okay, we are looking for corroborating evidence for the hypothesis that Earth is being visited by extraterrestrial spacecraft, and has been for some time. We are looking for multiple observations as corroborating evidence. Does anyone have “corroborating evidence”?

(There are literally hundreds of thousands of reported unexplained sightings. Here is just a small number, two of which are mine. This explains my interest in this subject.)

Exhibit A: the Calvine UFO

What really happened in Calvine? The mystery behind the best UFO picture ever seen
In August 1990, two hikers sent photos of a strange diamond-shaped aircraft to the press – but the story never appeared. Was it a prank, a hoax, an optical illusion or something else entirely?

Exhibit B: the Puerto Rico UFO

50-Year-Old “Best Photograph Of A UFO Ever Taken” Goes Viral
The photo was taken by Sergio Loaiza in September, 1971, as he flew over Costa Rica on a mission to survey land for the construction of a hydroelectric project.

Exhibit C: the Salthill Sighting, my own sighting, 1986, Mufon #11680

THE SALTHILL UFO
THE SALTHILL UFO SIGHTING, GALWAY, 22nd February – 1st of March 1986

Exhibit D: the M6 sighting, my own sighting, 1995, Mufon #82139

My “lost” UFO sighting
Why I’m coming forward now During April 2020 I had a lot of time on my hands. It was the first Corona lockdown in Germany. I decided to sort through old 35 mm negatives in an old drawer in our basement. The drawer serves as a storage box. As I was pulling the film strips … Continue reading “My “lost” UFO sighting”

Exhibit E: the Pentagon UFO (UAP) videos

Pentagon officially releases UFO videos | CNN Politics
The Pentagon has officially released three short videos showing “unidentified aerial phenomena” that had previously been released by a private company.
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The Wow! Signal: Debunked or Misunderstood?

The Wow! signal, a mysterious radio transmission detected in 1977, continues to provoke debate within the astronomical community. Some claim that the signal has been debunked, primarily by a new generation of undergraduate radio astronomers working within the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI). These aspiring scientists often seek to make a name for themselves by challenging existing theories and offering alternative explanations for promising SETI candidate signals.

Recent Attempts to Debunk the Wow! Signal

The latest attempt to debunk the Wow! signal stems from undergraduates involved in the Laser SETI project. They recently published a thesis arguing that the Wow! signal was a byproduct of a strong natural radio emission from a nearby star, which purportedly excited a nearby hydrogen cloud. However, this theory is fraught with problems. To elaborate, not only has this behavior never been observed in nature, but calculations also indicate that no star could emit sufficient radiation to adequately excite a hydrogen cloud to produce such a signal—this discrepancy is by an order of several magnitudes.

Celebration and Media Reaction

In response to their findings, the students involved in Laser SETI celebrated their work with accolades and disseminated their conclusions through social media platforms, claiming to have “solved” the mystery of the Wow! signal. As is often the case, the media quickly picked up this narrative, declaring the Wow! signal debunked. Millions of readers absorbed this information without questioning its validity.

Contradictions in the Hydrogen Cloud Theory

Furthermore, it is important to note that the characteristics of the Wow! signal, as it was actually detected, strongly contradict the hydrogen cloud theory. Specifically, the signal exhibited a blue shift, indicating that it was approaching Earth, a behavior that is inconsistent with the expected properties of hydrogen clouds.

The Importance of Critical Examination

In conclusion, while the search for answers continues, it is crucial to approach claims of debunking with a critical eye. The Wow! signal remains one of the most intriguing phenomena in the field of radio astronomy, prompting continued investigation and discussion. Rather than hastily dismissing it, scientists and enthusiasts alike should remain open to the numerous possibilities the Wow! signal presents, as we persist in our quest to understand the cosmos.

Questioning the Intentions of SETI Researchers

The image below is from the presentation of Laser SETI regarding the Wow! signal. Is SETI supposed to find extraterrestrial intelligence, or is it employed to obfuscate and deny every credible claim?

Laser SETI astronomers Dr. Lauren Sgro and Dr. Franck Marchis
Laser SETI astronomers Dr. Lauren Sgro and Dr. Franck Marchis, via YouTube

Look at the guys from Laser SETI grinning and giving the thumbs up sign. Whose side are they on? Do they believe that SETI serves as a lucrative venture, allowing them to conduct insignificant studies that yield no results, only to receive taxpayer funds into their bank accounts, all while feigning a diligent pursuit of truth and the advancement of humanity?

I have doubts.

Why did not ONE radio astronomer publish the Doppler calculations of the Wow! signal? Did they not even think of doing it?

Here are the equations, after 48 years:
PDF: Doppler Blueshift Calculations for WOW! signal (1977): [download here]

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From Hydrogen Fusion to Alien Signals: A 1977 UFO Enigma Unravels

I have been contemplating the implications of the blue shift observed in the Wow! signal equations, as well as the nature of its source.

Background: this article explains the Wow! signal equations:

The Wow! Signal: A Cosmic Riddle Solved by Mathematics?
Learn about the Wow! Signal, its unique characteristics, and how the Doppler effect plays a role in interpreting this event.

So, why would the Wow! signal have been blue-shifted?

Hydrogen-Fusion Drive

1: The signal source is the emission of a hydrogen fusion drive for object deceleration. Hydrogen fusion drives currently exceed human technology. The signal source “object” had a speed similar to that of Apollo capsules during their entry into the Earth’s atmosphere.

I am not categorically suggesting that this “object” entered the atmosphere; rather, I am stating that the speed of the signal source was comparable to that of the Apollo capsules. However, it cannot be excluded that the Wow! signal source (the object the hypothetical fusion drive was attached to) entered the Earth’s atmosphere and landed.

An artist’s rendering of the Apollo command module’s re-entry into the Earth’s atmosphere. Image by NASA

Hydrogen Maser

2: The signal source was a hydrogen maser that was approaching the Earth and emitted a signal. The reason for this is unknown. Was extraterrestrial intelligence attempting to attract attention? If so, then why was the signal not repeated?

Image: Space hydrogen maser, ESA

3: As a consequence, were there unusual UFO sightings on or after August 18, 1977? Or did other extraordinary events occur after 18. August 1977?

Image: The Petrozavodsk phenomenon, aka the Jellyfish UFO, September 1977.

A. Two days later, on August 20, 1977, NASA successfully launched the first Voyager spacecraft. It carried a golden record with sounds and images of Earth, intended as a message to any intelligent life form that might encounter it.

Voyager Golden Record

B. On October 6, 1977, the United Nations Assembly debated the existence of UFOs. The researchers presented a proposal to investigate the phenomenon.

U.N. Hears Call to Debate U.F.O.’s
UNITED NATIONS, N.Y., Oct. 7 Grenada’s Prime Minister picked a drowsy Friday afternoon to share a personal revelation with fellow diplomats.

C. On November 26, 1977, a strange transmission interrupted a news program on ITN, a British television channel. A distorted voice claiming to be Vrillon, a representative of the Ashtar Galactic Command, replaced the sound.

Southern Television broadcast interruption – Wikipedia
The Southern Television broadcast interruption was a broadcast signal intrusion that occurred on 26 November 1977 in parts of southern England in the United Kingdom. The audio of a Southern Television broadcast was replaced by a voice claiming to represent the “Ashtar Galactic Command”, delivering a message instructing humanity to abandon its weapons so it could participate in a “future awakening” and “achieve a higher state of evolution”. After six minutes, the broadcast returned to its scheduled programme.

A, B and C are just some examples that immediately come to mind, when thinking about 1977—they are not inclusive.

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On the existence of “Pleiadians”

The Contact Project couldn’t call itself a “Contact Project” if it ignored thousands of contactees, experiencers, and mediums who have claimed to have made contact with non-earthly beings. I don’t believe they are all eccentrics and oddballs.

As a supporter of the extraterrestrial UFO hypothesis, I don’t exclude the possibility that humans from the future will visit Earth in the present day. This is as Michael Paul Masters has laid out in his books. Also, I have reason to believe that it is possible to travel faster than light in a warp bubble. For instance, see the work of Erik Lentz, on plasma warp bubbles. This automatically opens up the possibility of time travel into the past.

Listen to Seth Lloyd, MIT, on time travel:

Theoretical Foundation

1: I believe it is highly likely that future humanity will have spread out into the cosmos. Therefore, when they come to visit us from the future in the present, they will travel in spaceships. The mechanism for physical time travel is laid out in this short article: “Notes about Time Travel.”

2: In addition, the theory for telepathic communication (ESP in general) can be found in this series of articles: “Superluminal Brainwaves: Imagine a World Where Particles Travel Faster Than Light In A Different Dimension. This is the basis for credible claims of instantaneous telepathic communication, potentially spanning lightyears.

The concepts laid out in paragraphs 1 & 2 of the Theoretical Foundation are unique to this website. They have never been published before, neither in Science Fiction nor science.

Who are the Pleiadians?

The term Pleiadians—or Nordic aliens—refers to humanoid beings described in UFO lore as originating from the Pleiades star cluster.

The Pleaides star cluster is part of the constellation “Taurus”, as is Aldebaran.

According to accounts from contactees and channelers, these entities hail from the planets Erra and Temmer in the Taygeta star system. Taygeta is a double star in the constellation of Taurus. It is a member of the Pleiades open star cluster (M45). The Pleiades are also known as the “Seven Sisters.” In Mesopotamia, these “Divine Seven” were known as the minor gods “Sebitti.” Praying to them prevented enemies from causing harm.

Image: The Pleiadian Ashtar Sheran refers to an extraterrestrial being or group (of most likely “seven”), that some people claim to have channeled.

The Pleiadians are often described as tall, with fair skin, blue eyes, and blond hair, resembling the Nordic or Scandinavian human races. They are a highly evolved, spiritually advanced race that aims to help humanity progress toward greater understanding and harmony. These narratives derive solely from personal testimonies of experiencers and mediums.

Communication Claims and Contradictions

Pleiadians are allegedly encountered through direct contact or channeling. A prominent figure in these accounts is Ashtar, an extraterrestrial entity first mentioned by UFO contactee George Van Tassel in 1952.

Van Tassel’s claims inspired other mediums to report contact with Ashtar, though their messages often conflicted. Notably, predictions of imminent spacecraft landings linked to Ashtar repeatedly failed, undermining the credibility of such narratives.

Astronomical Context: The Pleiades Cluster

The Pleiades, a young open star cluster in Taurus, lies approximately 440 light-years from Earth. There are about 1000 stars in total in the Pleiades. Taygeta, a binary star within this cluster, is part of a system with no confirmed exoplanets. Crucially, the cluster’s age—100–150 million years—poses a significant problem for claims of native intelligent life.

On Earth, simple life emerged after 500 million to 1 billion years, with complex organisms requiring billions more. Given the Pleiades’ youth, the evolution of indigenous humanoid life there is astronomically improbable.

The Human Mind and Anthropomorphic Projection

Human cognition often interprets unfamiliar phenomena through familiar frameworks.

This tendency appears in Carl Sagan’s Contact. In it, aliens take the form of the protagonist’s deceased father to make an incomprehensible encounter relatable.

Similarly, descriptions of Pleiadians as Nordic humans may reflect a psychological need to frame extraordinary experiences in culturally recognizable terms. Specifically, projecting Aryan-like features onto alleged extraterrestrials. Furthermore, when someone tells of meeting or channeling “Pleiadians,” it is essentially their way of trying to understand the experience. By doing so, they provide a human frame with blond hair and Nordic features.

In summary, these descriptions may serve to bridge the gap between the extraordinary and the familiar. They help individuals make sense of their encounters.

Historical Fascination and Modern Speculation

Humanity’s interest in the Pleiades spans millennia, as evidenced by artifacts like the 3,600-year-old Nebra Sky Disc, which depicts the cluster. While the Pleiades’ stars are too young to host native civilizations, some speculate that advanced beings from older regions of the galaxy might have colonized the cluster. Yet, no credible evidence supports this hypothesis.

Conclusion

Claims of Pleiadians are rooted in mythology, channeling, and UFO culture. Scientifically, the Pleiades’ age and lack of confirmed planets render the existence of indigenous humanoids implausible. While extraterrestrial settlers could theoretically inhabit the cluster, such ideas remain speculative. Ultimately, the Nordic alien narrative likely reflects humanity’s enduring desire to find familiarity and peace—in the heavens as on Earth.

Image: The author’s finger with a replica of the Phaistos Disc from the Minoan civilization on Crete from approx. 1600 BC. Several Pleiades or “Seven Sisters”-like logos or shields appear on it. The alphabet and language on the disk are unknown. 

The magnificent Seven

From the second millennium BC onward, the “Sebitti” (Pleiades) were often represented as groups of seven dots. They were always of masculine character, not “sisters.” The icon on the Phaistos disk is therefore possibly a depiction of the Sebitti, as there was a lively exchange between the Mesopotamian/Akkadian civilization and Crete.

On a more fundamental level it appears that the Mesopotamian Sebitti Gods have found a modern expression. This is seen in the belief in the New Age Pleiadians, Ashtar Sheran among them.

Fact Check

  • Distance: Pleiades is 444 light-years from Earth.
  • Age: 100–150 million years old (vs. Earth’s 4.5-billion-year history of life development).
  • Planets: None confirmed in the cluster due to its youth and unstable stellar environment.
  • Life Potential: Simple life would require 500 million+ years to emerge; complex life far longer. The Pleiades’ timeline makes native intelligence virtually impossible.

Curious about the mysteries of the universe? Dive deeper into the world of UFO lore, time travel theories, and the fascinating stories surrounding extraterrestrial encounters. Explore our collection of articles and stay informed—unlock the secrets of the stars today!

Taurus: the” “Sacred Horns” of a bull at the palace of Knossos on Crete.
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Is humanity equipped for extraterrestrial contact?


A Call for Preparedness

Humans standing at the edge of space

Imagine, for a moment, a solitary spacecraft drifting beyond the edge of our solar system. Onboard, a golden record spins silently, carrying whispers of human laughter, the songs of whales, and the crackle of a mother’s heartbeat. This artifact, this Voyager, is a testament to our yearning—a bottled message cast into the cosmic ocean. Yet, as it voyages through the interstellar dark, one question lingers like a shadow: If its call were answered, would we truly be ready?

The Fragile Mosaic of “Humanity”

We speak of “humanity” as a single chorus, but ours is a symphony of dissonance and harmony. Seven billion souls, fractured by borders, ideologies, and creeds, yet bound to a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam. Could we, in the face of an extraterrestrial Other, set aside ancient grudges and newfound fears? Or would we splinter further, our divisions magnified under the cold gaze of the universe?

Are we, in our adolescence as a species, prepared to shield our flame—and to recognize the light of another?

Equipped: Beyond Ray Guns and Radio Telescopes

To be “equipped” is not merely to wield the tools of detection—the arrays of antennas listening for faint stellar murmurs or laboratories teasing apart Martian soil for microbial hieroglyphs. It is to cultivate the wisdom to wield them well.

The Moral Universe: Whose Ethics Will Guide Us?

What ethical compass will steer us if we encounter beings whose very biology defies earthly logic? Creatures who breathe methane, communicate in ultraviolet, or perceive time as a spiral rather than an arrow? The Golden Rule, ancient and universal, may falter in the face of such radical difference.

Passive Dreamers or Active Architects?

We are the ones whispering into the void, sending probes and involuntary signals like children skipping stones into a bottomless sea. But what if the sea answers? Have our antennas maybe already picked up a signal—a cosmic “hello”, that may rewrite our theology, science, and philosophy, if understood?

A Call to Cosmic Citizenship

The challenge before us is to mature as a species—to see ourselves not as tribes or nations, but as Earthlings. To recognize that every war, every injustice, and every act of ecological myopia weakens our readiness for the cosmos.

In the words of Sagan, “Our planet is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark. In our obscurity, in all this vastness, there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves.” The universe does not care if we fail. But if we succeed—if we unite in curiosity, compassion, and foresight—we might yet earn a place among the stars.

So let us gaze upward, not with fear, but with the courage to confront our flaws. Let us craft a future worthy of the cosmos we seek to join. The night sky is alive with possibilities. The question is: Are we?

After all, the stars are not just distant suns. They are mirrors, reflecting back who we are—and who we might become.

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Rediscovering the Unknown: My 25-Year-Old UFO Sighting Comes to Light

My Lost UFO Sighting: Why I’m Coming Forward Now

In April 2020, during the first COVID-19 lockdown in Germany, I found myself with plenty of time on my hands. I decided to sort through old 35mm negatives that I had stored away in a drawer in our basement. The drawer had acted as a storage box for years.

While scanning the film strips, I stumbled upon negatives from England, where I had lived in 1995. Among those negatives were two frames of particular interest.

Frames 7 and 8 of the Ilford XP2 film revealed an Unidentified Aerial Phenomenon (UAP). I was unprepared to find these images, having completely forgotten about this UFO sighting for 25 years. The only others who knew about it were my friend and her father, both of whom were with me during the sighting.

I had taken two exposures of the object while driving straight at 70 mph on the motorway.

I recall being quite disappointed when the film was developed in 1995; the images were small and blurry, failing to capture the clarity of what I had seen with my own eyes that night.

After that, I completely forgot about the sighting.

In 2020, I was genuinely excited to rediscover the film. I purchased a digital microscope to examine the negatives in greater detail.

I scanned the negatives and submitted a report to BUFORA, the British UFO Research Organization, given that the sighting occurred in the UK. BUFORA suggested that what I had seen was an advertising blimp parked near the M6 motorway.

An advertising blimp? What I witnessed was a white object with no advertising on it. The whiteness wasn’t due to overexposure, nor did it bear any markings. You would need to have been sitting with me in the Land Rover back in 1995 to understand that.

Additionally, the object appeared to decrease in size by 25% as we approached it—an unusual characteristic for a stationary advertising blimp. For the blimp to appear smaller, it would have had to travel faster than 70 mph, yet a blimp’s top speed is only 55 mph.

I took out a ruler and measured angles and distances from the two photos. The straight lane divider on the motorway made it possible for me to actually triangulate distance, speed and size of the object.

The triangulation gave me an even higher speed for the object:

MUFON case number 82139

But who knows? Maybe I made a calculation error and someone can give me a better speed, distance and size estimate.

UFO Alert!
That leaves me with the question: what did I see?

This is the reason I am stepping forward now. I would like to propose an idea for definitively answering the question, “Are we alone?”:

The Contact Project
The goal of the ‘Contact Project’ is to discover whether or not humanity is equipped to respond to extraterrestrial contact.

The project can grow by discussion and criticism and is adaptable. It would be nice to engage radio amateurs to try and make contact. But it’s not a requirement. A search partner can be anyone who cares.

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Can information travel faster than light

When there is no time, there is no space (and vice versa)

…from the photon’s perspective, time does not exist. At the speed of light, time effectively shouts: “HALT!” Whether or not photons actually speak German is irrelevant. Important is: “When there is no time, there is no space.”

Image: hologram of a photon, Univ. of Warsaw

One of Günter Nimtz’s claims regarding superluminal tunneling is that the tunneling process occurs faster than light. Most physicists concur with this assertion; for instance, Aephraim Steinberg stated that the results on quantum tunneling are “robustly superluminal.” The contention arises from Nimtz’s suggestion that a signal can be transmitted faster than light, which anyone can hear, thereby challenging the no-communication theorem https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No-communication_theorem .

Thus, on one hand, physicists agree that particles can quantum-tunnel faster than light, while on the other hand, they maintain that this phenomenon cannot be used to transmit information. Yet, it raises the question: if we can perceive such signals, how does this reconcile with the established limits of communication in physics?

Interestingly, Aephraim Steinberg from the University of Toronto has called quantum tunneling “robustly superluminal.” (https://www.quantamagazine.org/quantum-tunnel-shows-particles-can-break-the-speed-of-light-20201020/). He has measured this by using “Larmor clocks,” which is a different way of saying he measured the spin of photons before and after entering the tunnel.

So, he transmitted the spin position of a photon at superluminal speed. How is this not “transmitting information?” He transmitted information about the state of the photon, and measured its change after superluminal travel through the quantum tunnel. Didn’t he violate the no-communication theorem? And why is he allowed to transmit information on the photon spin at superluminal speed, and Nimtz from the University of Cologne can’t transmit AM modulated waves with Mozart?

SIMPLIFIED string theory

For simplification, I have described a photon as a quantum entity, a point, or a 0D (zero dimension) brane. The word “brane” comes from the word “membrane” and the physicists who came up with string theory left out the “mem”. When the photon undergoes tunneling, it behaves like a 1D (one dimensional) string. A 1D string is a “one-brane” membrane, but the physicists who came up with string theory thought it would sound better to give it a different name. I think.

NerdBoy1392, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

So, In both 0D and 1D contexts, the concepts of time and space, as we know them, do not exist. You need the fourth dimension to have space and time. What I have done here is to illustrate the particle/wave duality.

My simplification has not much in common with “real” string theory. I called it “string” theory because two points (photons) connected by a line look like a string. A string can be a wave. A point is a particle.

Moreover, there is a common assertion that “in quantum mechanics, particles exist in spacetime.” From our perspective, a photon certainly exists in spacetime as it travels from point A to point B.

However, from the photon’s perspective, time does not exist. At the speed of light, time effectively shouts: “HALT!” Whether or not photons actually speak German is irrelevant. Important is: “When there is no time, there is no space.”

This agrees with time-dilation at c.

————————

Second opinion: “A Photon’s Point of View”

by Steve Nerlich (PhD), Director, International Research and Analysis Unit, Australia

“A photons view” by Christopher Vitale of Networkologies and the Pratt Institute

“From a photon’s point of view, it is emitted and then instantaneously reabsorbed. This is true for a photon emitted in the core of the Sun, which might be reabsorbed after crossing a fraction of a millimeter’s distance. And it is equally true for a photon that, from our point of view, has traveled for over 13 billion years after being emitted from the surface of one of the universe’s first stars. So it seems that not only does a photon not experience the passage of time, it does not experience the passage of distance either.”
End quote

The photon follows a null geodesic; this is the path that massless particles follow. That’s why it’s called “null”; its interval (its “distance” in 4D spacetime) is equal to zero, and it does not have a proper time associated with it.

Difference of SIMPLIFIED string theory to “real” string theory

In real string theory, any particle, at any time, is a string. In my simplified version, a particle following a null geodesic, not influenced by gravity or fields of any kind, is a 0D (zero dimensional) point.

“Real” string theory vs the simplified version

It is only by interacting with external fields, gravitational, electromagnetic or objects, that the particle (photon) gains the first dimension. The photon is slowed down, and it becomes a “string.” The length of this string is analogous to its deceleration and possible wave “length.”

So, a very high energy-photon, for instance in the gamma ray spectrum, is a relatively short “string,” which translates into a short wavelength. A short string makes short wavelengths.

If the photon is slowed down more, for instance, by hitting the dense atmosphere of a planet, it becomes longer and can express an infrared wavelength. A longer photon string makes longer wavelengths, and it interacts differently with its environment.

QED

A Photon’s Point of View (archive)
https://web.archive.org/web/20240423185232/https://phys.org/news/2011-08-photons-view.html

A Photon’s Point of View
https://phys.org/news/2011-08-photons-view.html

Images
left: Hologram of a single photon, Univ. of Warsaw
https://geometrymatters.com/hologram-of-a-single-photon/

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Exploring the Cosmos: How Extraterrestrial Life Could Enrich Religious Beliefs

“The Implications of the Discovery of Extraterrestrial Life for Religion.”, Ted F. Peters 2011, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A
This is a summary written by Erich Habich-Traut for the Contact Project, 2021

Three crosses on a hill at sunset. Free Church of Scotland, Reverend Sandy Sutherland, used with permission

The implications of the discovery of extraterrestrial life for religion. Theologian Ted Peters wrote about the future of religion. He asked the following questions:

Will confirmation of extra-terrestrial intelligence (ETi) cause terrestrial religion to collapse?

Ted Peters decided to challenge conventional wisdom a few years ago. Along with his Berkeley research assistant, Julie Louise Froehlig, he devised a survey: the Peters ETI Religious Crisis Survey:

Would the discovery of an extraterrestrial civilization cause a crisis in religious beliefs? Peters surveyed evangelical, Protestant, Catholic, and Orthodox Christians, and also Mormons, Jews, Buddhists, and Atheists:

‘No’ is the answer based upon a summary of the ‘Peters ETI Religious Crisis Survey.’ The discovery of an extraterrestrial civilization would not cause a crisis in religious beliefs.

When we turn away from one’s own personal beliefs and ask respondents to forecast what will happen to the world’s religions, including beliefs other than one’s own, something startling is revealed:

What the survey question above shows is the conventional wisdom of non-religious persons. They make a prediction about what will happen to religious persons: Atheists believe that religions will face a crisis.

Conversely, the Peters survey shows evidence that religious believers themselves do not fear that contact with ETI will undercut their beliefs or precipitate a religious crisis.

Then the paper examines four specific challenges to traditional doctrinal belief likely to be raised at the detection of ETI:

(ii) What is the scope of God’s creation?
This entire universe can be viewed as the product of God’s creative power and loving grace.

(iii) What will be the moral character of the alien intelligences we meet?
Will our extra-terrestrial neighbours be subject to sin? Will they have fallen, so to speak? Or, might the aliens have escaped the scourges that plague us here on Earth?

(iv) Is one earthly incarnation in Jesus Christ enough for the entire cosmos, or should we expect multiple incarnations on multiple planets?
What theologians agree on is that the incarnation we have witnessed within our own planetary history is that of the divine Logos, the divine mind through which everything in physical reality has come into being. They presume continuity between this incarnation and whatever exists despite its distance from us. 

(v) Will contact with more advanced ETI diminish human dignity?
Suppose we Earthlings begin to recognize that we are outclassed by our superior space neighbors. Might we lose our dignity?

“Hand Of God”, NASA

The existence of a more advanced extrasolar civilization does not preclude our being an object of divine concern. Contact with alien intelligence will not disenfranchise us from being created in God’s image.

The belief that God has revealed himself in a supreme way, frees one to look for that which is of God outside that particular revelation. Christians should expect to learn new things about God from an encounter with aliens.

Conclusion
Contrary to popular belief, it is implausible to predict that any of Earth’s major religious traditions will face a crisis, let alone collapse, if we confirm an encounter with extraterrestrial intelligence.

Ted Peters believes that contact with extraterrestrial intelligence will expand the existing religious vision that all of creation—including the 13.7 billion-year history of the universe replete with all of God’s creatures—is the gift of a loving and gracious God.

Reference:
Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society: https://www.academia.edu/14721074/_The_Implications_of_the_discovery_of_extra_terrestrial_life_for_religion_Royal_Society_presentation_and_article

Ted Peters biography:
http://mttaborslc.org/ted-peters

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1977: The Year We Made Contact?

The year 1977 was a remarkable time for those fascinated by the possibility of extraterrestrial life. A series of events, both earthbound and celestial, captivated the imagination of people around the world. These events sparked a renewed interest in the search for life beyond our planet.

It began on August 15, 1977, when a strong, narrowband radio signal was detected by a radio telescope at Ohio State University. Dubbed the “Wow!” signal, it remains one of the most intriguing examples of an unexplained signal in the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI).

Just five days later, on August 20, 1977, NASA launched the first Voyager space probe. It carried a Golden Record containing sounds and images of Earth, intended as a message to any intelligent life form that might encounter it.

As the year progressed, the United Nations Assembly debated the existence of UFOs. A proposal to study the phenomenon was presented on October 6, 1977, as reported by The New York Times. This marked a significant moment in the history of UFO research. It brought the topic into the mainstream and sparked a global conversation about the possibility of extraterrestrial life.

The release of Steven Spielberg’s movie “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” on November 16, 1977, further fueled the public’s fascination with UFOs and alien life. The film’s depiction of a peaceful encounter between humans and extraterrestrials resonated with audiences. It helped to shape the cultural narrative around the topic. It’s iconic 5-note melody by John Williams is famous to this day.

But perhaps the most bizarre and unexplained event of the year occurred on November 26, 1977, when a strange broadcast interrupted a news program on ITN, a British television network. At 5:10 p.m. GMT, a deep buzzing sound replaced the audio. This was followed by a distorted voice claiming to be Vrillon, a representative of the Ashtar Galactic Command. The voice delivered a message of peace and wisdom, stating,

“For many years, you have seen us as lights in the skies. We speak to you now in peace and wisdom, as we have done to your brothers and sisters all over this, your planet Earth.”

While the “authenticity” of this broadcast remains a topic of debate, it has become a fascinating footnote in the history of UFO research.

The broadcast itself may have been achieved by technological hacks. Nevertheless, its 1977 message is thought-provoking and still valid today:

It speaks about the need for humanity to come together in peace and harmony to avoid disaster. The message also discusses entering a new age of enlightenment, referred to as the “New Age of Aquarius.” The speaker warns about the presence of false prophets and guides who may exploit people’s energy and resources. The message encourages listeners to be aware of their choices, to protect themselves, and to use their imagination to create a better world.

A well-researched podcast about the Southern Television Broadcast interruption is found here:

Archive: The Interruption | Stak
On 26th November 1977, a mysterious alien voice calling itself “Vrillon” broke onto the Five O’Clock News. Vrillon had a simple warning for the viewers of Southern Television: live in peace or leave the galaxy. For forty-five years, those responsible have not been identified. Tommie Trelawny has reopened the case.

Whether or not 1977 was truly a year of contact, it was undoubtedly a year that sparked a renewed interest in extraterrestrial life and intelligence. It continues to inspire scientific inquiry and popular fascination to this day.