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'We are preparing to make history': NASA's Parker Solar Probe gears up for epic sun flyby on Christmas Eve
December 11, 2024
On Christmas Eve, NASA's Parker Solar Probe will swoop within 3.8 million miles (6.1 million kilometers) of the sun's surface at a whopping 430,000 mph (690,000 kph), breaking its own records for speed and closest approach to our star.
The spacecraft, roughly the size of a small car, completed its final swing past Venus last month, setting it on a path to come closer to the sun than any human-made object ever has before.
On Dec. 24, the Parker Solar Probe is expected to cut through plumes of plasma that are still rooted to the sun and even fly through a patch of a solar eruption, akin to a surfer diving under a crashing wave.
In October, the sun reached its most turbulent phase in its 11-year cycle, meaning the spacecraft will soon get to study powerful solar flares occurring on top of each other, providing scientists with up-close data about the chaotic workings of our star.
"We are preparing to make history," Nour Rawafi, who is the project scientist for the mission, told reporters at the Annual Meeting of the American Geophysical Union (AGU) on Tuesday (Dec. 10).
"Parker Solar Probe is opening our eyes to a new reality about our star," he said, adding the data sent home by the probe "is going to take us decades to sort through."
The probe's Christmas Eve feat is expected to occur at 6:40 a.m. EDT (1140 GMT), but mission control will be out of contact with the spacecraft at this time.
Shortly before and after the closest approach — on Dec. 21 and Dec. 27 — scientists will look for a beacon tone from the probe that will confirm its health.
If all goes to plan, the first images following the encounter may come as soon as the New Year kicks in, with science data following in the weeks after, said Rawafi.
Since its launch in 2018, the probe has helped decode longstanding mysteries about our star, chief among them being how its tenuous outer atmosphere, the corona, gets hundreds of times hotter the farther it stretches from the sun's surface.
In 2022, a chance alignment of the probe with Europe's Solar Orbiter spacecraft provided scientists the rare opportunity to study the same patch of solar wind, revealing how energy-packed plasma waves accelerate the solar wind to its unexpectedly high speeds.
Among its other discoveries, the Parker Solar Probe has also provided the first compelling evidence for the long-theorized but elusive dust-free zone around the sun, which is created by sunlight heating cosmic dust to high temperatures and turning it into gas.
A key reason for the spacecraft's good health for six long years and counting is the mission team's remarkable engineering, including a custom heat shield and an autonomous system that protects the probe from the sun's wrath even while pointing it toward our star to allow the coronal material to touch the spacecraft.
During its upcoming closest approach to the sun, the front of the heat shield is expected to reach a sizzling 1,800 degrees Fahrenheit (982 degrees Celsius).
That's pretty hot, but the mission team is confident the spacecraft and its instruments can handle temperatures up to 2,500 degrees F (1,371 degrees C).
"It's really great to see all the science that is enabled by the fact that we overprepared," said Elizabeth Congdon, who is the lead engineer for the probe's thermal protection system.
A specially designed white coating will reflect much of it back into space such that the spacecraft itself will witness relatively comfortable room temperatures, she added.
https://www.space.com/the-universe/sun/we-are-preparing-to-make-history-nasas-parker-solar-probe-gears-up-for-epic-sun-flyby-on-christmas-eve
Small twin-engine plane crashed on Texas highway; 4 people injured: Video
Updated 11:09 a.m. CT Dec 12, 2024
A small, twin-engine aircraft with only the pilot inside crashed near a busy highway in Texas on Wednesday, according to officials.
The incident, under investigation by the Federal Aviation Administration, occurred in Victoria − a city about 117 miles from San Antonio.
During a news conference, police said that they discovered the plane and three damaged vehicles when they arrived at the scene.
"We're able to confirm five people are involved, and four have been transported," Deputy Chief Eline Moya told reporters.
The dashcam video obtained by USA TODAY shows the aftermath of the crash, which led to road closures.
Moya said that three people suffered from non-life-threatening injuries. Another victim was taken to an out-of-town hospital for "higher level treatment," she added.
The pilot was also evaluated. Neither the drivers nor the pilot have been publicly identified.
Tony Poynor, who captured the footage on his dash camera, told KPRC that he saw the Piper PA-31 crash and helped the motorists who were impacted.
“I thought the plane was going to hit me. I saw the shadow on the wall of the overpass and knew it was too close,” Poynor told the outlet.
"[I feel] blessed for everybody else that was there that they survived, and, you know… walk away from this thing."
https://www.statesman.com/story/news/nation/2024/12/12/plane-crash-highway-victoria-texas-video/76940690007/
UK sets out position on unidentified aerial phenomenon
December 11, 2024
In a written question posed by David Reed (Conservative – Exmouth and Exeter East), the Ministry of Defence (MOD) was asked to clarify its policy on reporting Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP) and whether any new material on the subject had been classified since the UK’s previous declassification programme.
Luke Pollard, Armed Forces Minister, provided a detailed response, stating:
“Whilst we are aware of the differing approaches currently being undertaken by other countries and allies in the investigation of Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP), the Ministry of Defence’s (MOD) position on UAP remains unchanged, which is, that in over 50 years, no sighting reported to the Department has indicated the existence of any military threat to the United Kingdom.”
Pollard further highlighted that the MOD ceased to investigate reports of UAP in 2009. He explained the reasoning behind this decision:
“It has been deemed more valuable to prioritise MOD staff towards other Defence-related activities.”
Pollard also confirmed that no new material has been classified on the subject since the cessation of investigations, stating:
“The MOD ceased to investigate reports of UFO or UAP in 2009 and has not classified any new material on the subject since.”
For those interested in historical reports, Pollard noted:
“All MOD files relating to UFOs that were created up until 2009 have been released to The National Archives (TNA).”
While acknowledging the “differing approaches” taken by allies and other nations, the MOD made it clear that there are no plans to form a dedicated team to investigate alleged sightings, emphasising the lack of evidence for a military threat.
Despite public curiosity and the evolving international landscape, the UK has chosen to prioritise other defence-related activities over investigations into UAP.
https://ukdefencejournal.org.uk/uk-sets-out-position-on-unidentified-aerial-phenomenon/
Holler if he needs anything
UFOHub.org Launches New Platform for UFO Research and Documentation
December 12, 2024 1:01 PM EST
UFOHub.org, a new online platform dedicated to UFO research and documentation, announced today the launch of its comprehensive website featuring multiple channels for user engagement and content sharing.
The platform aims to serve as a centralized hub for documenting and discussing Unidentified Flying Object (UFO) and Unidentified Aerial Phenomenon (UAP) sightings.
"UFOHub.org is more than just a website; it's a community dedicated to uncovering the mysteries of our universe.
We invite everyone to join us in this exciting journey of discovery and understanding. You can upload your footage on our site as well," said Lars Stahl, CEO of UFOHub.org.
The platform launches amid increased public interest in UAP sightings and recent congressional hearings on the topic.
"The recent surge in unexplained drone and UFO sightings across the USA, with New Jersey serving as just one example, alongside global incidents in places like the UK, has captured attention worldwide.
These mysterious events are being closely monitored by federal agencies, including the FBI, and signify that such phenomena are likely to become more frequent.
At UFOHub.org, we are at the forefront of exploring these occurrences.
Join us as we delve into these mysteries and connect with experts and enthusiasts around the world," added Stahl.
The new platform features include:
Online TV channels with documentaries and expert interviews
Video and photo sharing capabilities
Community article submission
AI-assisted content creation tool
Integration with major social media platforms
Educational courses with certification options
Merchandise store featuring UFO-themed products
https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/233430/UFOHub.org-Launches-New-Platform-for-UFO-Research-and-Documentation
https://www.ufohub.org/
Pilot Encountered Mystery Objects 'Moving at Extreme Speed': FAA
Dec 12, 2024 at 6:48 AM EST
The Federal Aviation Authroity (FAA) has confirmed to Newsweek that a pilot reported "unidentified lights" while flying near Eugene, Oregon, last Saturday.
It comes after an audio recording surfaced of communication between two pilots and air traffic control, with the controller telling one to "maneuver as necessary left and right to avoid the UFO out there."
The pilots, reported seeing unidentified red, circular lights and objects moving erratically toward the ocean and returning at various altitudes, with one saying the objects moved in corkscrew patterns and at extreme speeds.
When asked to verify the recording by Newsweek, a spokesperson for the FAA said, "a pilot reported seeing unidentified lights while flying in Seattle Air Route Traffic Control Center airspace on Saturday, December 7."
In the 44-minute recording, which was posted to social media on Sunday, a United Airlines pilot, flying over Willamette national forest told air traffic control, "Looking straight west to Eugene.
We're seeing 3 or 4 targets… they're at all altitudes, up and down, it's pretty crazy." United Airlines and LiveATC.net, the website which hosted the recording, declined to comment.
Another pilot, flying a medical evacuation plane over Siuslaw National Forest, told the controller, "just had another one show up, at my 1 o'clock, about 1,000 feet high, zipping towards us and then back out towards the ocean.
Red in color. Moving at extreme speed, I just don't know how to describe it."
The controller replied: "Roger. You are clear to maneuver as necessary left and right to avoid the UFO out there. And uh, all of the reports you're giving us are good information, appreciate it."
The pilot later continued, "It's weird. It's a red circular shape, and it keeps zipping out towards the ocean and then coming back in about 20 miles or closer to us, and then zips back out to the ocean and we can't see it."
The FAA said it documents Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP) sightings whenever a pilot reports one to an air traffic control facility.
If supporting information such as radar data corroborates the report, the FAA shares it with the UAP Task Force, which was established in 2020.
The UFO reports in Oregon follow mysterious drone sightings in New Jersey and, more recently, in New York, that are currently under investigation by the FBI.
During a Tuesday hearing on drone threats to homeland security, several members of Congress questioned how the FBI could have so few answers more than a month after drones were first reported, with some seen in the skies over sensitive military sites.
The session raised more questions than answers with regards to the spate of sightings of unidentified drones and other objects over the U.S., whose origin and purpose remain unknown.
The phenomenon has fueled rumors and speculation, including about crash sites, clocks changing time and even extra-terrestrial involvement.
https://www.newsweek.com/pilot-encountered-mystery-objects-moving-extreme-speed-faa-ufo-drones-1999690
https://archive.liveatc.net/keug/KEUG3-ZSE06-125800-Dec-08-2024-0430Z.mp3
https://defensescoop.com/2024/12/10/uap-aaro-2025-ndaa-counter-uas-task-force/
NDAA directs Pentagon’s UAP office to team with new counter-drone task force
December 10, 2024
The conferenced version of the fiscal 2025 National Defense Authorization Act would require the Pentagon office charged with investigating unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP) to partner with a new counter-drone task force that lawmakers want the U.S. military to establish.
UAP is the modern term for UFOs and mysterious transmedium objects.
The bill, released Saturday by the House and Senate Armed Services Committees, includes provisions aimed at beefing up the Defense Department’s capabilities for detecting and defeating unmanned aerial systems — which are a growing threat in the United States and abroad.
Just last month, U.S. and U.K. military personnel were actively monitoring installations around and airspace over Royal Air Force Lakenheath, RAF Mildenhall, RAF Feltwell and RAF Fairford for mysterious small drones that have been repeatedly spotted near those bases.
Law enforcement agencies have also been responding to public reports about strange drone sightings in New Jersey, according to news outlets.
Section 925 of the NDAA would task the secretary of defense, no later than 30 days after the enactment of the legislation, to establish or designate from existing organizations and personnel of the department a “C-UAS Task Force.’’
“Not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, acting through the C-UAS Task Force, shall review and, if necessary, consolidate and update all Department of Defense memoranda and directives related to the countering of unmanned aircraft systems in United States airspace to provide clarity to and an expedited decision-making process for commanders with respect to effectively countering unmanned aircraft systems or unmanned aircraft incursions at military installations in the United States,” the bill states.
In addition to issuing new guidance related to authorities to counter drones, the head of the DOD would be responsible for ensuring that such guidance is included in pre-briefings for any officers that assume command of a military installation in the United States on or after July 1, 2025.
“Not later than 60 days after the issuance of the memoranda, directives, and guidance required by [this legislation] … each commander of a military installation shall issue operating procedures specific to their military installation for countering unmanned aircraft systems at the installation,” the bill states.
The Pentagon chief would also have to provide a report to the congressional defense committees, within 120 days after the date of the enactment of the NDAA on the U.S. military’s counter-drone training efforts.
After the task force is stood up, lawmakers want it to partner with the Pentagon’s All-Domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO), which investigates reports of UAP.
That organization recently reached “full operational capability,” officials told DefenseScoop. Section 1089 of the NDAA would mandate cooperation between the UAP office and the task force.
“The Director of the All-Domain Anomaly Resolution Office of the Department of Defense shall designate one or more employees of the Office to act as a liaison with the Counter Unmanned Aerial Systems Task Force … to improve coordination of efforts and support enabling capabilities of mutual benefit,” the bill states.
The liaisons would be responsible for conducting information-sharing between AARO and the task force on identified or suspected drones, including incident reporting, incident responses, and data on the technical characterization of the known or suspected threats; coordinating the development of technical capabilities for sensing and response to threats; and developing coordinated tactics, techniques and procedures for incident response.
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The NDAA must be passed by the full House and Senate and signed by the president to become law.
The bill is moving forward amid concerns among lawmakers and others that some UAP cases could be advanced drones developed by foreign adversaries.
Officials are hoping that sensor technologies built to aid AARO’s work can be used to detect unmanned aerial systems. That office has a prototype system called Gremlin that is being deployed.
The Georgia Tech Research Institute developed the Gremlin architecture, which has “several sensing modalities to detect, track, characterize and identify UAP in areas of interest,” officials wrote in a recent AARO report.
At a Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Emerging Threats and Capabilities hearing last month, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., chair of the subcommittee, noted her concerns about drone incidents near sensitive national security facilities, such as Langley Air Force Base.
“UAS continue to pose significant threats to our national security. In addition to safety of flight issues, these UAS create for our own pilots and air crew, the UAS present clear and undeniable counterintelligence concerns around some of the most sensitive airspace.
While standard UAS are not part of AARO’s mission, your work on sensors at military installations across the country will be critical to making sure that we have the domain awareness necessary to accurately identify and track these objects,” she told AARO’s new director, Jon Kosloski. “I expect your office to also pay close attention to any anomalous characteristics that these systems could present in the future.”
Kosloski was asked how his organization might assist the U.S. military and intelligence community with analyzing and identifying drones.
“We are generally going to be supporting them through an advisory capacity as an organization that naturally needs to conduct baseline experiments of the environment to see what normal looks like, whether it’s balloons, birds, anomalous activity, or drones flying through an environment.
We’re going to gather a lot of data that will allow us to characterize an environment very well, and then detect and follow those tracks, hopefully rather efficiently.
There’s also a lot of overlap in the type of sensors that are going to be used for the counter-UAS mission and the UAP mission, whether that’s active detection, like radars or passive like cameras.
And so as AARO is trying to push the bounds on detectability for UAP, we’re hopefully going to have best practices that we can also provide to the counter-UAS [community], and potentially we might have additional technologies that we can offer them to support,” he said.
Last week, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin issued a new classified strategy for countering uncrewed systems. An unclassified fact sheet about the strategy did not explicitly mention AARO.
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Benny Johnson suggests there may be a fake alien invasion to “steal Trump's swagger”
12/11/24 12:21 PM EST
BENNY JOHNSON (HOST): Now some people, Mark Dice and others, have said, you know, what's gonna happen is they're gonna stage a fake alien invasion to try and — this is just one of their dirty tricks that they're gonna use to try and punk Trump and to try and, like, steal Trump's swagger and create a emergency that's gonna take away, you know, from Trump's agenda.
You can't cut government spending, right, if there's — if the aliens invade. Right? It's creepy, man. And but, like, did — could anybody have predicted COVID? Like, they clearly cooked that up in a lab just for this time, just for this moment, ladies and gentlemen.
https://www.mediamatters.org/benny-johnson/benny-johnson-suggests-there-may-be-fake-alien-invasion-steal-trumps-swagger
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yifsueMN2xo
12.11.24 | Fox News | Rep. Jeff Van Drew Sounds the Alarm on Potential Threat from Iran
https://vandrew.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=1788
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1sx7Ewz66X0
N.J. Gets Specialized Radar in Response to Mystery Drones
Thursday, 12 December 2024 11:34 AM EST
As drones continue to circle the skies of New Jersey with no answers as to why, the federal government is sending some help.
The federal government is sending the state specialized radar technology to help investigate the mysterious drones, Gothamist reported.
Lawmakers have been demanding answers and assistance from the federal government since the drone sightings began last month and have little to show for it.
State Republican Sen. Jon Bramnick, who represents parts of Morris County, released a statement Tuesday demanding a ban on all drones "until the public receives an explanation regarding these multiple sightings."
Appearing on "Rob Schmitt Tonight," Rep. Jeff Van Drew, R-N.J., said Iran was responsible for the drones, citing unnamed people with top security clearances.
Van Drew suggested the drones might be connected to a potential Iranian "mothership," noting that Iran has technological capabilities and connections with China.
"Iran does have a mothership, does have the technology. That mothership is [supposed to be] in Iran right now, and they don't know exactly where it is," Van Drew stated.
Drone sightings have been made in eight New Jersey counties as well as parts of New York and Pennsylvania.
New Jersey Democrat Gov. Phil Murphy on Wednesday held a briefing call with Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, representatives in Congress, and state police to discuss the drone reports, The Guardian reported.
Murphy told reporters Monday that although nothing was seen that would warrant concerns for public safety, authorities were taking the drone sightings "deadly seriously" and that he was participating in discussions with the White House and Homeland Security leaders on Sunday.
Robert Wheeler, an FBI official in charge of investigating the matter, told a House subcommittee on Tuesday that federal investigators have received more than 3,000 reports of drone sightings since beginning an investigation this month into unexplained objects hovering over New Jersey.
The Federal Aviation Administration has prohibited drone flights over Trump National Golf Club in Somerset County and the Picatinny Arsenal military base in Morris County.
The mayors of 21 towns in the state recently sent a letter to Murphy pleading with him to take more action. Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., also sent a letter to federal agencies calling for more transparency.
"There is a growing sense of uncertainty and urgency across the state — from constituents and local officials alike — despite assurances that the drones pose no known threats to public safety," Booker wrote.
https://www.newsmax.com/us/drones-iran-fbi/2024/12/12/id/1191417/