Note: The following piece is a collection of meandering thoughts: It is not in the least bit analytical.
I was traveling home from a trip to the north of Germany, trying to sleep away some of the insistently boring landscape. As one is apt to do, when confronted by miles and miles of farm land, my mind started to drift and meander. Ideas, thoughts, images began to flow: not all of them coherent. However, one sequence of thoughts / images did escape the trash bin of my mind, to form a fairly coherent narrative.
Follow me if you will -and I will show you the world in a grain of sand.
One man, sitting on a train with approximately 300 other people.
One train, out of several dozen moving throught out Germany.
One country, of about 80 million people in Europe.
One continent*, of about 855 million people.
One world, of about 7 billion people.
One planet, of 8* in our solar system.
One sun, of about 200 billion stars in our galaxy.
One question, are we alone?
In perspective, in context, the absurdity of saying "we're alone" should be self evident. How utterly arrogant is it to say, "we are the sole arbiters of logic, reason and understanding" To proclaim to the heavens above "I think, therefore I am- And I am the only capable of thought and reason" Yes, the inverse would be true too; to proclaim "we're not alone" and I know it because, I can think, reason and deduce.
Dare I say, the only "reasonable" course to take, is one of agnostic skepticism, armed with our clumsy, but trustworthy, sword of scientific method? It seems to be the only solution is just that- after all, it is all we have.
While researching something completely unrelated, I came across this "possibly" new method of treating cancerous cells. In essence, the technique proposed, would inject iron-nano particles into the cancerous tumor, and via magnetic fields, heat up the cells, tumor to (at least) 40 degrees Celsius. With the extreme heat, the cells would ´be killed (actually, out right destroyed) and thus preventing further growth of the tumor. Intrigued, I decided to dig a little further, and came across this technical paper on the whole procedure (from Rice University 2006)
And, of course this got me thinking. What they are proposing, in essence is a phazer of sorts to "zap" the cancerous cells. Granted, in the procedureas described above, they would add "targeted nano-iron particles" to ensure that only those cells with the extra iron would be destroyed. However, as we all know, the human body already contains a significant amount of iron, In fact according to the American Red Cross, one pint of blood contains about 250 milligrams of iron: which may at first not sound like very much; but for this use may be enough.
Imagine for a moment if you will, what would happen if every iron atom in your body suddenly increased in temperature- basically, causing the boiling of blood within a few moments. And if the heat increase were fast enough, one would think there would not be an explosion per se, rather an instantaneous vaporization; very much like the phazers of sci-fi lore.
-Just something to think about, and how our current technology very much represents (and is) something most strange indeed.
In December of 2000, the Defense Intelligence Analysis Staff of the British MOD complied a report on UAP sightings over the United Kingdom. Contained within this report, amongst other insightful tidbits: were the annualized numbers of sightings from 1959 through 1997. Now it occurred to me, that these data provided by the MOD, were bound to be more reliable than data collected by private organizations: primarily based on the fact that the ratio of pranksters, and bored drunken youngsters would be of representative insignificance. That is to say, it is easy for a bored teen to prank a private organizations, as compared to the British Ministry of Defense. Further, the two years which will be discussed presently, are from a time just before "the internet" became widely available to universities, let alone private connections. Lastly, these years also present a time, of a slightly more "conservative" Briton (as compared to contemporary society.) And as such, are probably some of the more reliable numbers to be found in regards to UAP sightings.
The MOD technical report's annualized "event reports" for 1977 and 1978 were chosen for this brief meta-analysis, as they represent one of the more striking contrasts of the whole 36 year period. Ideally, a deeper analysis should be made of the whole period, with the goal of teasing out any predictive qualities which might be contained therein.
1977 - 1978
In the year 1977 there were 425 reported sightings to the MOD. In the year 1978 there were nearly twice as many.(750) The first and most pertinent question to be asked about these data, would be, what was the cause of the seemingly dramatic increase in UAP sightings between those two years? One approach to addressing this question would be to compile all atmospheric data for the corresponding years, and compare any such anomalous events from year on year. By comparing these data from year on year, any corollary between weather phenomenon (as suggested in the MOD report) and Unidentified Aerial Phenomenon could be found. This is something which is being done presently; however, and as always, I am more than open to volunteers and suggestions to this path of investigation.
For this brief analysis however, a social-cultural perspective has been used. Choosing to research any possible correlations between the reported UAP events and that of cultural / social events is in the real of "overview" at best, and at worst could lead down false paths of investigation. Having that said though, there are some interesting cultural events which do seem to have played (at least to some extent) a part in the increase of UAP sightings over the United Kingdom. In the following Headlined sections, some of the more interesting (possible) causes will be highlighted.
Now it would seem, with these two movies alone, the collective consciousness of the UK would be literally buzzing with the idea of UFOs / UAPs. And to some extent I am sure that is correct; however, this would be another area, where looking into later years, and other theatrical releases would be of benefit. Further, to reiterate what was said earlier, these numbers are UAP events reported thttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifo the Ministry of Defense, and not that of the local radio show.
The above events too could hold a key to the increase in reported sightings, though again, they alone may not offer a full explanation. Further, as an aside, this year (1978) NASA was pretty much ran over by the Soviet space program: That is to say, during this time, the soviets had several successful launchers, whereas NASA had only one, and if failed after 10 days.
Religion. August 6 – Pope Paul VI dies in Rome. August 26 – Pope John Paul I succeeds Pope Paul VI as the 263rd Pope. September 28 – Pope John Paul I dies after only 33 days of papacy. October 16 – Pope John Paul II succeeds Pope John Paul I as the 264th pope.
The above almost speaks for itself as for relevance; it is of note however, that Briton, does have a rather mixed history with the Catholic Church.
___________________________________
As stated before, the above is more of a thumbnail sketch, a "meta-analysis" of cultural / social causes to mass UAP / UFO sightings. Any predictive qualities, (unlike the atmospheric proposal) would be difficult, at best to define. Further, evaluating social causes to these sightings is a rather subjective affair; making it harder to concretely say: When popes die, people see UFOs.(or the reverse, when people see UFOs, popes die.) What would be of note, and worthy of further research would be a combination of the two meta-analysis (cultural and atmospheric) combined with a greater data-set (the whole 36 year period). This would provide a fuller picture of the "current" situation, and perhaps allow elements of predictability to emerge.
A total of 19 countries have officially engaged in UFO/UAP investigation and research. Some of these countries have subsequently released files to the public. Either there is something behind UAP/UFO if it be natural, or other. Otherwise, if there isn't then this is the worlds largest delusion, a delusion beyond an Jungian meta-crisis. The magnitude of such a shared delusion, reaching every corner of the globe, would in itself be more unbelievable than the ETH for UFO/UAP.
-Food for thought.
Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Chile, Denmark, France, Ecuador, United Kingdom, Ireland, Italy, Canada, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Spain, Ukraine, Uruguay, USA.
And these are only the countries who have "officially" investigated and released documentation, presumably, the actual number is much greater.
In other news, we are still trying to form an open science project to actively (as opposed to the passive collection of data points) research these phenomenon. Any and all suggestions are welcomed.
A Brief Critique of UFO Research and some suggestions of future course.
A troubling aspect of current research seems to be a tendency to apply exotic theories and explanations to the physics of UFOs / UAPs. Further, these theories are presented without first looking into the possibility that current technology may account for some (if not all) of the observed phenomenon. A case in point would be radar returns (or lake thereof) from encountered UAPs.
Though I am hopeful that duel static passive radar, as described by Peter Davenport may be of use; the point being made here has more to do with "radar" being some sort of defining variable between what is "real" and what is not. Leslie Kean and many others put forward these "5%" figures of UAPs which have been observed visually (often by multiple witnesses) and also were monitored and recorded by ground radar systems. Granted, the 5% which has both radar and witness evidence would be the logical place to being research; lack of radar returns should not mean that the visually observed phenomenon be discounted. The reason why these occurrences of witness only observations should not necessarily be discounted is based on the simple fact that stealth technology does exist. Not only does the technology exist to render aircraft virtually invisible to radar returns, the technology is practically "commercial" in availability. As of this writing, known states which posses this technology are: USA, Russian Federation, and China. Presumably the United Kingdom and pretty much every NATO member at this point, either has in operation or soon will the same stealth capabilities.
Almost needless to say, being "invisible" to radar is something that science and engineering overcame nearly thirty years ago; in which case, not having radar returns, does not necessarily "mean" anything. On the other hand, it does still go, that having some sort of returned signature from ground based radar stations could be used as a "further" validation- but lack of returns should not be used to dismiss observations.
The radar problem is but one example of where research should take into account our current abilities, and what light they might shed on the observed phenomenon. Unfortunately, "often" researchers construct theories without taking a good accounting of the current state of the art; and thus base subsequent (maybe logically derived) conclusions on a faulty premise.
Update: DIY Science.
I have yet to hear anything back from anyone in regards to requests for thoughts, proposals and suggestions on implementing a true "open" science project. At this point I have posted on several more forums, sites and social sites with the same request. It is slowly becoming apparent that the UAP community in many ways is a passive / perhaps closed community which does not like to engage in these types of discussions. My next step will be to present some of the ideas which I have formed to pre-established communities, which might take an interest. i.e Amateur Astronomers, Open Source Hardware, 3d printing communities. I am still hopeful to gather a team of like minded (science minded) individuals who feel a project like this is worth the doing. Will keep things updated as they progress.
This weeks post will be a short thought experiment; after which I will reiterate my requests for "like minded" volunteers to start the first International UAP Research Group. What would happen to western society in general, if and when it becomes common* knowledge that UFOs / UAPs are commanded and controlled by Extraterrestrial intelligences? Which institutions do you think would be the first to fall, and which would survive?
The institutions which would fail, may seem self evident; but, as often is the case, in the exopolitical community there is too much emphasis placed on the obvious and not the subtle. The obvious would entail: Banking and all of its affiliated parts, Science (industry) and many universities, Aerospace industry (in general and maybe only at first) and various other sectors fragile to sudden shocks. Government for the most part would not be one of them. The idea of others being out there, if anything, would drive people closer to their power base for protection and succor. The collapse or social disintegration as speculated before, would occur culturally and only if it were proved to be too rigid to the introduction of a new paradigm.
Generally speaking these are the areas which have been discussed as having the most to lose from total disclosure. Science, Aerospace and especially Banks all have something to lose if the general populace becomes united from a(n) "in your face" disclosure event. It is clear these ares would fight tooth and nail to insure their survival, and in fact go to great lengths to forestall any kind of legitimate discourse on ETIs and disclosure in general.
However, this is where I would like to turn this into a true thought experiment and pose the question: Which areas would actually thrive and grow under disclosure? In whose interest would it be to have the UAP and ETI question resolved?
Naturally, the "meta" benefactor would be the human race as in the words of Arthur C Clarke- Two possibilities exist: Either we are alone in the Universe or we are not. Both are equally terrifying. Unfortunately, our current geo-political climate is not as such, conducive to the better part of the curious man- rather it is caught up in the "real" politic of the now. I will not proffer any speculation now, rather that is for the reader to think about! And, once thought about, and some sector divined (which I am sure there must be at least one) go out and educate, support and promote them to the forefront; as it will be those areas that have something to gain from total disclosure which will be the true bastions of progress.
-I am still "trying" to form a working group as to how to bring applied science to UFO/UAP research. I have sent several emails, and have yet to receive a reply: Namely from Peter Davenport. on his dual static passive radar idea. The longer this takes, the longer disclosure takes.
*What I mean by common, is much akin to that of the CIA smuggling cocaine into LA. Everyone living in Southern California knew of their involvement five years before it became news. (and even then, it took MSM another 3 years to report on it)
