In the last couple of
days, there have been two news stories that are of interest here. First, the
conventional wisdom is that liquid water is necessary for life to develop on
other worlds. The planet needs to orbit in what is called the “Goldilocks
Zone,” which means not too close or too far from the star. That zone is defined
as the region in which liquid water can exist on the planet. On a planet
circling a star designated as K2-18, is a planet designated as K2-18B, meaning
it is the second planet from the its star in the system. According to the
latest findings there is atmospheric water. This water vapor, which would
suggest surface water, was discovered as the planet passed in front of its
star. That was, of course, a significant discovery.
Now, there is evidence
of methane in that same atmosphere. This is a second, important discovery,
because it suggests life, as we would define it, might be found on that planet.
Methane suggests the breakdown of organic material which, suggests some sort of
carbon-based life. This is an astonishing discovery, if verified. I mention
this because if the discovery was universally accepted, it would be major news.
Or, at least, I would think that it would be major news.
K2-18, is a red dwarf
star, which in the past, astronomers thought of as unimportant because there
are so many red dwarves in the galaxy. K2-18 is 124 light years away so it is,
more or less, in our galactic neighborhood. But since it is so far distant, we
do not have the technology to travel there. I do wonder, however, if the SETI
people have turned their attention to that star system. There are clues there
that might lead to additional discoveries.
Second, in a somewhat related
story, the Inspector General of the Intelligence Community said, in response in
a query about UAP from Congress:
As a matter of discretion, IC IG
notes that it has not conducted any audit, inspection, evaluation or review of
alleged UAP programs within the responsibility and authority of the DNI
(Director of National Intelligence) that would enable this office to provide a
fulsome response to your questions.
Congressional
Representative Tim Burchett, had suggested in a response to the IG’s response that
this was a cover up. Burchett wrote:
The
IC IG office did nothing to look into the information they received from David
Grusch on UAP crash retrieval programs? They have no information they can give
to Congress???
David Grusch who is partially responsible for the latest round of reports. |
Or, in other, more precise words, nothing has been done, no closed hearings have been conducted, and none of the responsible agencies have bothered to begin their real work. As I noted last week, the NASA report was more of “This Is How We’ll Conduct the Investigation” rhetoric but gave no real indication of what is being done, which suggests that regardless of the Congressional interest, nothing is being done.
And while NASA and the
government worry about how to conduct their investigations, interesting
sightings are still being reported. On September 8 of this year, near Morse,
Louisiana, three witnesses noticed a stationary light that was flashing. As
they approached the light, they spotted another one and then a third. They
reported that after they started to video the lights, the lights began to move
faster. They said that the lights emitted beams and changed color. They watched
for fifteen minutes.
A witness in Marlton,
New Jersey, reported a bright, circular light that hovered overhead on
September 9 of this year. It then began to move quickly, stopped again and then
flew off to the right and there is video of the light as well.
In a sighting that I
would normally ignore because of the short duration of less than two seconds,
the witness was watching a dog walk down the street when a large,
diamond-shaped UFO appeared about ten feet above the road in Houston, Texas on
September 9 of this year. It had circles that gave it a mottled gray appearance
and was about sixteen feet in length. It had no lights and made no sound but
what caught my attention, was the reported reaction of the dog. According to
the witness, the dog was startled by the appearance of the UFO.
You can find the videos
mentioned by searching the National UFO Reporting Center website and scrolling
down to the date and location mentioned. You can find that site here:
Animal reactions to
UFOs have been reported over the years. In some cases, it is the animal
reactions that led to a sighting. One of the best cases came from the European wave
in 1954, which was ignored in the United States for a long time. Maruis
Dewilde, who, on September 10, was awakened by his dog barking and howling,
attempting to get inside the house near Valenciennes, France. He grabbed his
flashlight and went outside to see what the trouble was. He saw a dark object
sitting on the railroad bed and not far away were two small creatures. He
described them as “…very short, probably less than three and a half feet tall,
but very wide in the shoulders, and the helmets protecting their heads looked
enormous. I could see their legs, small in proportion to their height… I
couldn’t see any arms.” They appeared to be wearing one piece diving suits.
Dewilde wanted to walk
closer and tried to grab one of them. When he was about six feet away, he was
blinded by a bright orange light from the craft that stopped him. He later
said, “I closed my eyes and tried to yell, but I couldn’t. It was just as if I
had been paralyzed. I tried to move, but my legs wouldn’t obey me.”
The light went out and
Dewilde was again able to move. The creatures then scampered back into the
craft which lifted off, climbing vertically into the night sky with a low
whistling sound. Later examination of the railroad ties revealed deep
depressions that suggested a craft weighing about 30 tons had been standing
there.
Although Dewilde
reported the sighting to the local police, his state of agitation caused the
police to believe he was crazy. He then he told the police commissioner who
took the case serious. There was an investigation that involved several
official agencies. A measurement of the indentations left by the craft
suggested it must have weight about 35 tons.
For more information on
the electromagnetic effects emitted by UFOs, search my blog by typing in
Levelland in the search engine. You can find that here:
Such cases, of animal
reaction to the appearance of a UFO, provides just another chain of evidence in
the search for the truth. Even if the presence of the UFO is eliminated, the
animal reacted to something in the environment. The identification of that phenomenon
would certainly add to our understanding of our world.
But as we can see, that
search, though being announced by various government agencies is not a priority
with them. They are busy designing their investigative priorities and ignoring
the reports of UAP around them. They seem uninterested in past cases that might
provide clues about where to look in the world today. None of this bodes well
for any sort of progress in the near future.
4 comments:
In the case of Mr. Grusch, nothing was done by the IC IG because nothing was given to them by Grusch. No type of evidence was given to them only unconfirmed hearsay by him. And when they asked who/what or where, Grusch would always say, "It's classified" or I can't say anything because it involves, "national security". A lot of tongue, but no evidence, Grusch cannot be taken seriously at all nor trusted by the UAP/UFO field.
I wouldn't get too excited over K2-18B. If K2-18 is a red dwarf, any planet in its "Goldilocks zone" is likely to be tidally locked. High UV output may rule out surface life on the planet's day side. In addition, UV causes photodissociation, degrading the atmosphere. Doesn't seem very promising for any life let alone what SETI is seeking.
I'm glad you brought up DeWilde '54. It's an interesting case with features similar to those of many others.
Starman: Anton Petrov has a YouTube channel where he talks about astronomy. He has several videos about red dwarfs and states they can support life even though most are tidally locked to their stars. The areas where life can form are a bit more limited but it is possible they can form on a red dwarf system.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qdKMBXXyhcE&ab_channel=AntonPetrov
@RedTornado2008:
Indeed some life is possible on a planet orbiting a red dwarf. I think, though, it would be much more limited than on Earth, largely because the theoretical advantages of a "goldilocks zone" are meaningless near a red dwarf. Given the UV flux, the surface on the day side is probably uninhabitable. The night side wouldn't have this problem, but neither would it have a source of energy except from a planetary interior. Another problem is availability of water. In the event of a 1:1 tidal lock, the bulk of volatiles, or at least water, would be frozen on the night side. Stellar heat would cause water to evaporate on the day side (i.e. that which isn't lost via photodissociation) and be transported to the night side where, once frozen, it would be very difficult to sublimate or melt. Glaciers might transport water back to the day side so the planet may have a water cycle, but it would be a pretty slow and cruddy one compared to ours. Little liquid water would be available to life, which could probably only exist in underground niches, or hot springs on the night side.
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