Members Can Post Anonymously On This Site
Earth’s Strange Blobs Could be Huge Pieces of Alien Planet
-
Similar Topics
-
By USH
On January 25, 2025, an Oklahoma City man recorded a baffling UFO that he described as a "plasma-filled jellybean." A concerned neighbor also spotted something unusual in the sky and soon, the entire neighborhood gathered outside, to witness the anomaly.
The mysterious object emitted a glow and moved erratically, mesmerizing onlookers. In his recorded footage, Frederick can be heard narrating the event. "I don’t hear anything, and it's moving unpredictably," he noted. "It looks like a jellybean, but the interior appears to be plasma."
Frederick decided to launch his drone for a closer look, but upon attempting to deploy his drone, he encountered unexplained technical failures. "My controller provides voice notifications," he explained. "It repeatedly announced, ‘unable to take off, electromagnetic interference."
After multiple attempts, he finally got the drone airborne, reaching approximately 1,000 feet beneath the UFO. However, just after capturing three images, the drone’s video function failed, and its battery, despite being fully charged, suddenly drained. "It had a 35-minute flight time," Frederick stated. "But right after taking those three pictures, the controller alerted me: ‘low battery, return to home."
Seeking expert insight, Frederick shared his footage and images with University of Oklahoma physics professor Mukremin Kilic. When asked about the sighting, Kilic remarked, "I don’t know what it is" and suggested the object was likely a drone. However, this theory does not explain why Frederick’s own drone experienced interference, raising further questions about the true nature of the UFO.
View the full article
-
By NASA
An image of a coastal marshland combines aerial and satellite views in a technique similar to hyperspectral imaging. Combining data from multiple sources gives scientists information that can support environmental management.John Moisan When it comes to making real-time decisions about unfamiliar data – say, choosing a path to hike up a mountain you’ve never scaled before – existing artificial intelligence and machine learning tech doesn’t come close to measuring up to human skill. That’s why NASA scientist John Moisan is developing an AI “eye.”
Oceanographer John MoisanNASA Moisan, an oceanographer at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility near Chincoteague, Virginia, said AI will direct his A-Eye, a movable sensor. After analyzing images his AI would not just find known patterns in new data, but also steer the sensor to observe and discover new features or biological processes.
“A truly intelligent machine needs to be able to recognize when it is faced with something truly new and worthy of further observation,” Moisan said. “Most AI applications are mapping applications trained with familiar data to recognize patterns in new data. How do you teach a machine to recognize something it doesn’t understand, stop and say ‘What was that? Let’s take a closer look.’ That’s discovery.”
Finding and identifying new patterns in complex data is still the domain of human scientists, and how humans see plays a large part, said Goddard AI expert James MacKinnon. Scientists analyze large data sets by looking at visualizations that can help bring out relationships between different variables within the data.
Infrared images like this one from a marsh area on the Maryland/Virginia Eastern Shore coastal barrier and back bay regions reveal clues to scientists about plant health, photosynthesis, and other conditions that affect vegetation and ecosystems.John Moisan It’s another story to train a computer to look at large data streams in real time to see those connections, MacKinnon said. Especially when looking for correlations and inter-relationships in the data that the computer hasn’t been trained to identify.
Moisan intends first to set his A-Eye on interpreting images from Earth’s complex aquatic and coastal regions. He expects to reach that goal this year, training the AI using observations from prior flights over the Delmarva Peninsula. Follow-up funding would help him complete the optical pointing goal.
“How do you pick out things that matter in a scan?” Moisan asked. “I want to be able to quickly point the A-Eye at something swept up in the scan, so that from a remote area we can get whatever we need to understand the environmental scene.”
Moisan’s on-board AI would scan the collected data in real-time to search for significant features, then steer an optical sensor to collect more detailed data in infrared and other frequencies.
Thinking machines may be set to play a larger role in future exploration of our universe. Sophisticated computers taught to recognize chemical signatures that could indicate life processes, or landscape features like lava flows or craters, might offer to increase the value of science data returned from lunar or deep-space exploration.
Today’s state-of-the-art AI is not quite ready to make mission-critical decisions, MacKinnon said.
“You need some way to take a perception of a scene and turn that into a decision and that’s really hard,” he said. “The scary thing, to a scientist, is to throw away data that could be valuable. An AI might prioritize what data to send first or have an algorithm that can call attention to anomalies, but at the end of the day, it’s going to be a scientist looking at that data that results in discoveries.”
Share
Details
Last Updated Feb 10, 2025 Related Terms
Goddard Space Flight Center Artificial Intelligence (AI) Goddard Technology People of Goddard Technology Wallops Flight Facility Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASA
Missions
Humans in Space
Climate Change
Solar System
View the full article
-
By NASA
5 Min Read Planetary Alignments and Planet Parades
A sky chart showing Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, and Venus in a “planet parade.” Credits:
NASA/JPL-Caltech On most nights, weather permitting, you can spot at least one bright planet in the night sky. While two or three planets are commonly visible in the hours around sunset, occasionally four or five bright planets can be seen simultaneously with the naked eye. These events, often called “planet parades” or “planetary alignments,” can generate significant public interest. Though not exceedingly rare, they’re worth observing since they don’t happen every year.
Why Planets Appear Along a Line in The Sky
“Planet parade” isn’t a technical term in astronomy, and “planetary alignment” can refer to several different phenomena. As the planets of our solar system orbit the Sun, they occasionally line up in space in events called oppositions and conjunctions. A planetary alignment can also refer to apparent lineups in our sky with other planets, the Moon, or bright stars.
The planets of our solar system always appear along a line on the sky. This line, referred to as the ecliptic, represents the plane in which the planets orbit, seen from our position within the plane itself. NASA/Preston Dyches When it comes to this second type of planetary alignment, it’s important to understand that planets always appear along a line or arc across the sky. This occurs because the planets orbit our Sun in a relatively flat, disc-shaped plane. From Earth, we’re looking into that solar system plane from within. We see the racetrack of the planets from the perspective of one of the racers ourselves. When viewed edge-on, this disc appears as a line, which we call the ecliptic or ecliptic plane.
So, while planet alignment itself isn’t unusual, what makes these events special is the opportunity to observe multiple planets simultaneously with the naked eye.
Will the Planets Actually be Visible?
Before preparing to observe a planet parade, we have to consider how high the planets will appear above the horizon. For most observers to see a planet with the naked eye, it needs to be at least a few degrees above the horizon, and10 degrees or higher is best. This is crucial because Earth’s atmosphere near the ground dims celestial objects as they rise or set. Even bright planets become difficult or impossible to spot when they’re too low, as their light gets scattered and absorbed on its path to your eye. Buildings, trees, and other obstructions often block the view near the horizon as well.
This visibility challenge is particularly notable after sunset or before sunrise, where the sky is still glowing. If a planet appears very low within the sunset glow, it is very difficult to observe.
The Planets You Can See, and Those You Can’t
Five planets are visible without optical aid: Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn. Ancient civilizations recognized these worlds as bright lights that wandered across the starscape, while the background stars remained fixed in place. In fact, the word “planet” comes to us from the Greek word for “wanderer.”
The solar system includes two additional major planets, Uranus and Neptune, plus numerous dwarf planets like Pluto and Ceres. Uranus and Neptune orbit in the dim, cold depths of the outer solar system. Neptune absolutely requires a telescope to observe. While Uranus is technically bright enough to detect with good eyesight, it’s quite faint and requires dark skies and precise knowledge of its location among similarly faint stars, so a telescope is recommended. As we’ll discuss in the next section, planet parades necessarily must be observed in twilight before dawn or after sunset, and this is not a good time to try observing extremely faint objects like Uranus and Neptune.
Thus, claims about rare six- or seven-planet alignments which include Uranus and Neptune should be viewed with the understanding that these two distant planets will not be visible to the unaided eye.
What Makes Multi-Planet Lineups Special
Lineups of four or five planet naked-eye planets with optimal visibility typically occur every few years. Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn are frequently seen in the night sky, but the addition of Venus and Mercury make four- and five-planet lineups particularly noteworthy. Both orbit closer to the Sun than Earth, with smaller, faster orbits than the other planets. Venus is visible for only a couple of months at a time when it reaches its greatest separation from the Sun (called elongation), appearing just after sunset or before sunrise. Mercury, completing its orbit in just 88 days, is visible for only a couple of weeks (or even a few days) at a time just after sunset or just before sunrise.
Planet parades aren’t single-day events, as the planets move too slowly for that. Generally, multi-planet viewing opportunities last for weeks to a month or more. Even five-planet events last for several days as Mercury briefly emerges from and returns to the Sun’s glare.
In summary, while they aren’t once-in-a-lifetime events, planetary parades afford an uncommon opportunity to look up and appreciate our place in our solar system, with diverse worlds arrayed across the sky before our very eyes.
Other Planet Lineups
Other recent and near-future multi-planet viewing opportunities:
January 2016 – Four planets visible at once before sunrise Late April to Late August 2022 – Four planets visible at once before sunrise Mid-June to Early July 2022 – Five planets visible at once before sunrise January to mid-February 2025 – Four planets visible at once after sunset Late August 2025 – Four planets visible at once before sunrise Late October 2028 – Five planets visible at once before sunrise Late February 2034 – Five planets visible at once after sunset (Venus and Mercury challenging to observe) About the January/February 2025 Planet Parade
The current four-planet lineup concludes by mid-February, as Saturn sinks increasingly lower in the sky each night after sunset. By mid-to-late February, Saturn appears less than 10 degrees above the horizon as sunset fades, making it difficult to observe for most people. While Mercury briefly joins Saturn in the post-sunset glow at the end of February, both planets will be too low and faint for most observers to spot.
Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASA
Skywatching
Planets
Solar System Exploration
Moons
View the full article
-
By USH
The American Meteor Society website shared a video on their channel showing a fireball streaking across the skies of Michigan and Ohio on Sunday, January 19, 2025, around 01:31 UT.
Though, Meteor Society noted that the video might not actually depict a fireball event, leaving some viewers curious about the meaning behind this statement.
At the moment the fireball appears on camera, a strange object seems to materialize above it, expanding in size and partially obscuring the fireball before gradually fading out as the fireball continues its path through the sky.
This phenomenon has sparked varied interpretations. Some suggest it might indicate alien intervention, while others offer a more plausible explanation: the "object" is likely a water droplet on the camera lens, creating the illusion of interaction with the fireball.
However, since the Meteor Society suggested that it might not actually depict a fireball event, we might question whether it was truly a fireball, a meteor, including a water droplet, or something entirely different.
View the full article
-
By USH
In December 2024, reports began surfacing about strange events involving flashing streetlights house and building lights. These incidents, initially dismissed as isolated cases, have now been observed on a larger scale, spanning countries such as the U.S., Canada, and the UK.
Some observers theorize that drones or unidentified orbs might be responsible. These objects could emit electromagnetic interference, disrupting electrical systems and causing lights to flicker. However, no concrete evidence has linked these phenomena to drone activity.
Others suggest the lights could be a result of hackers targeting the power grid. Cybercriminals might be testing infrastructure vulnerabilities. While plausible, no definitive proof has emerged to support this explanation.
A more unconventional theory suggests that the flashing lights are a result of a phenomenon known as Streetlight Interference (SLI). Proponents argue that certain individuals, nicknamed "SLIders," possess psychic or psychokinetic abilities that unintentionally influence lighting systems. SLI remains scientifically unverified, with no successful replication in controlled settings.
Some experts believe it might be mechanical faults in the electrical systems or or fluctuations in the power supply. However, this theory seems unlikely due to the widespread and simultaneous nature of the phenomenon, which has been reported across multiple countries, suggesting it is not a localized issue.
Or is this phenomenon linked to extraterrestrial activity? Some argue that aliens might use electromagnetic propulsion systems, potentially interfering with electrical systems, akin to the effects portrayed in films like 'Close Encounters of the Third Kind'.
Could the cause of these flashing lights be a harbinger of an impending global or cosmic event, or might it stem from something entirely beyond our understanding?
The two videos below show, besides the on going mysterious drones/UFO/orb sightings, several locations where street lights are flashing.
View the full article
-
-
Check out these Videos
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.