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Vandenberg Space Force Base plans a Minuteman III test launch
February 18, 2025
LOMPOC, Calif. (Tribune News Service) — The Air Force test squadron responsible for evaluating U.S. intercontinental ballistic missile capability plans a test launch late Tuesday or early Wednesday from Vandenberg Space Force Base on California’s central coast.
The 377 Test and Evaluation Group, assigned to Kirtland Air Force Base in Albuquerque and based at Vandenberg, conducts a few test launches a year to evaluate the system’s performance and accuracy.
The tests are also a demonstration of the Department of Defense’s nuclear arms capability. The most recent test was carried out successfully in November.
“An airborne launch validates the survivability of our ICBMs, which serve as the strategic backstop of our nation’s defense and defense of allies and partners,” Gen. Thomas Bussiere, commander of the Air Force Global Strike Command, said in a statement following the Nov. 6, 2024 test.
Tuesday’s launch will be observed by Air Force Col. Michael Power, 377 Air Base Wing and installation commander at Kirtland, overseeing the ICBM test organization as well as other operations and programs in space, missile and laser technology.
Power assumed command of the 377th in 2023. The test will launch an unarmed Minuteman III missile, of which 400 are in service at bases in Wyoming, Montana and North Dakota, according to the Air Force.
Weighing nearly 40 tons and propelled by three solid-fuel rocket motors, the missile travels at speeds reaching 15,000 miles per hour.
Besides the ground-based ICBM system, the U.S. nuclear weapon arsenal includes submarine-launched missiles and bombs designed to drop from the air, together known by the Department of Defense as the “nuclear triad.”
Regular test launches are scheduled years in advance and the missiles are randomly selected from the U.S. arsenal. Preparation for the test is tightly scheduled.
It begins early Tuesday morning ahead of a six-hour flight window in the evening.
The conditions are also carefully coordinated on the ground and in the airspace from Vandenberg to the target test site on Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands — a distance of approximately 4,200 miles.
The Minuteman series has been in service for more than 50 years and is slated to be replaced in the coming years by the Sentinel missile.
Yet the timeframe for that changeover has been unclear since the Pentagon announced a restructuring of the program last year in response to cost overruns.
https://www.stripes.com/branches/air_force/2025-02-18/icbm-test-launch-vandenberg-16871448.html
CSO, CMSSF represent Space Force at Daytona 500
Feb. 17, 2025
The roar of NASCAR engines wasn’t the only powerful force at the Daytona 500 this year; the U.S. Space Force made a strong showing at the iconic race to recruit the next generation of service members on February 16, 2025.
Chief of Space Operations Gen. Chance Saltzman, and Chief Master Sgt. of the Space Force John Bentivegna, represented the Department of the Air Force at the event, engaging with fans and potential recruits.
“Not everyone is willing to do what you’re about to do,” Saltzman said to a group of enlistees and Reserve Officer Training Corps cadets ahead of the race.
“Thank you for taking on this tremendous challenge. Your nation is counting on you, and I know you’re going to do all the right things.”
Saltzman and Bentivegna also visited the Air Force Recruiting Enhanced Cognitive Human Ops Activation booth (E.C.H.O.), where attendees could learn more about opportunities to serve.
There, they presented coins to recognize the efforts of supporting recruiters.
Space Force recruiting is currently supported by the Air Force as the service works toward standing up its own recruiting capabilities.
Additionally, Saltzman led an enlistment ceremony on the Daytona Track Stage, during which he welcomed 22 new military members.
“We’re here to honor these bold young people who have decided to raise their right hand in support of our great nation,” Saltzman said. “It’s my distinct honor now to give them the Oath of Enlistment.”
While most enlistees present accessioned into the Air Force, the Space Force offers unparalleled opportunities for growth, development, and the chance to make history.
“The Space Force is a young service with a bright future,” Bentivegna stated.
“We are looking for the best and brightest minds to join our ranks - the innovators, the problem solvers, the ones who want to be a part of something truly groundbreaking.”
By highlighting the crucial role of space and the exciting career paths available, the service hopes to inspire a new generation to reach beyond the sky and join the Space Force.
“It’s not just about launching rockets; it's about securing our future.
The future of space security is being written now, and the U.S. Space Force is actively seeking the talented individuals who will write the next chapters,” Bentivegna said.
https://www.spaceforce.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/4068983/cso-cmssf-represent-space-force-at-daytona-500/
SpaceX Starlink Mission
February 18, 2025
SpaceX is targeting Tuesday, February 18 for a Falcon 9 launch of 23 Starlink satellites to low-Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
Liftoff is targeted for 6:15 p.m. ET, with backup opportunities available until 9:35 p.m. ET. If needed, additional opportunities are also available on Wednesday, February 19 starting at 6:05 p.m. ET.
A live webcast of this mission will begin about 15 minutes prior to liftoff, which you can watch here and on X @SpaceX. You can also watch the webcast on the new X TV app.
This is the 16th flight for the first stage booster supporting this mission, which previously launched Ax-2, Euclid, Ax-3, CRS-30, Astra 1P, NG-21, and 9 Starlink missions.
Following stage separation, the first stage will land on the Just Read the Instructions droneship, which will be stationed in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of The Bahamas.
There is the possibility that residents of and visitors to The Bahamas may hear one or more sonic booms during the landing, but what may be experienced will depend on weather and other conditions.
https://www.spacex.com/launches/mission/?missionId=sl-10-12
Report: US Drones Search for Mexican Drug Labs
Feb 18, 2025 9:20 AM CST
A secret government program to send US drones to look for fentanyl labs in Mexico has been dialed up under the Trump administration, reports the New York Times.
Started under President Biden, the drone flights have increased under President Trump and his CIA director, John Ratcliffe, who've promised more aggressive action against Mexican drug cartels, officials say.
While the Biden administration reportedly partnered with Mexican authorities for the flights, the Trump administration made no mention of Mexican partners when communicating the more recent flights to Congress, a source tells CNN.
The MQ-9 Reaper drones—reaching "well into sovereign Mexico," according to one source—scan for fentanyl labs, which are easily detectable from the air due to the chemicals they emit, then pass the information to Mexican officials, the Times reports. Such drones have been used to target suspected terrorists abroad, per CNN.
However, the ones flying over Mexico are reportedly not armed nor authorized to take lethal action. They've "caused consternation in Mexico" nonetheless, per the Times.
Trump has been pushing Mexico to do more to thwart the fentanyl trade even after it deployed 10,000 troops to the southern border this month.
In addition to the drone flights, US Northern Command has conducted more than two dozen surveillance flights over the border, though without breaching Mexican airspace, an official tells the Times.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has indicated the border flights are "part of the dialogue, the coordination, that we have."
But US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth suggested this month that cross-border raids against Mexican cartels could also happen. "All options are on the table," he said. (More Mexico stories.)
https://www.newser.com/story/364453/report-us-drones-search-for-mexican-drug-labs.html
Drone footage of Surrey sinkhole shows extent of damage – video
Tue 18 Feb 2025 10.59 EST
Drone footage shows the extent of the damage caused by a sinkhole that opened up in Godstone in Surrey.
Families were evacuated from their homes after the huge hole opened up in the street.
The hole first appeared in Godstone High Street late on Monday night and had grown to at least 65ft by Tuesday lunchtime
https://www.theguardian.com/world/video/2025/feb/18/drone-footage-of-surrey-sinkhole-shows-extent-of-damage-video
Unidentified drone spotted over restricted Ram temple area in Ayodhya
February 18, 2025
The Ayodhya Police have anticipated a security threat from a drone spotted flying in the restricted area of the city.
The incident occurred on Monday near gate number 3 while a huge crowd was entering the Ram temple.
According to sources, the police found the drone amidst the crowd.
Later , a bomb squad was called to shoot down and examine the drone. The drone camera blowers are being checked.
The police suspect it to be a conspiracy to create a stampede-like situation in the Ram temple area where, let alone drone flying, even airplanes do not have the permission to fly.
Katra Outpost Incharge Sunil Kumar has lodged an FIR in this case at the Ram Janmabhoomi police station.
According to the FIR, the illegal drona was detected at 7 pm on Monday near duty point Duty in the Ram temple complex.
It was feared that the drone had been dropped in the temple premises in view of the huge crowd of devotees so that there could be a stampede and loss of life.
Due to the Mahakumbh, a large number of devotees are reaching Ayodhya at this time.
Circle Officer( CO) Ayodhya Ashutosh Tiwari said here on Tuesday that in this case, the drone may be associated with some wedding ceremony in the vicinity.
The anti-drone system of the Ram temple draws any flying drone in a two-and-a-half km radius.
He said the police were exploring all the aspects of the incident .
https://www.msn.com/en-in/news/India/unidentified-drone-spotted-over-restricted-ram-temple-area-in-ayodhya/ar-AA1zhmEu
https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/uttar-pradesh/police-neutralise-drone-over-ram-temple-in-ayodhya-fir-registered/article69233854.ece
Russia’s Syrian Khmeimim Airbase Struck by Drones
February 18, 2025, 1:24 pm
Russia’s Khmeimim Airbase in northern Syria was reportedly struck by drones in the early hours of Tuesday, Feb. 18.
Sabereen News, an Iraqi Shiite group-affiliated channel, reported the attack, with Russian milblogger Oleg Blokhin corroborating the claims on Telegram, Russian opposition news outlet Meduza reported.
Footage shared by Sabereen News reportedly showed air defenses intercepting aerial targets over the airbase.
It said the drones were launched by unknown parties, while Blokhin claimed they were launched by the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the rebel group that ousted the Moscow-backed Assad regime in December and holds de-facto control of Syria’s interim government.
“At 2:30 local time, a combat alert was declared. It was designated as ‘attack by a ground enemy.’
Almost immediately, the ‘Pantsir’ [air defense system] was activated. Shooting and explosions were heard,” Blokhin’s update says.
“Terrorists will always remain terrorists. And HTS is exactly that,” Blokhin said in a later update.
Kyiv Post cannot verify the authenticity of the statements made by both. Moscow has yet to comment on the alleged attack at the time of publication.
Following the ousting of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad, Russia’s military presence in Syria – negotiated with the Assad regime – has been left in question.
Moscow’s lease on the Tartus Naval Base, its only base in the Mediterranean, was terminated in January, while Bloomberg reported Monday that Moscow is close to securing a deal to maintain a limited military presence in Syria.
The Financial Times reported on Wednesday, Feb. 12, that Moscow secured a deal with Sudan to establish a naval base in the Red Sea as a replacement for Tartus.
https://www.kyivpost.com/post/47339
https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2025/02/18/russian-air-base-in-syria-attacked-by-drones-reports-a88057
https://www.newsweek.com/mystery-drones-swarm-russian-middle-east-air-base-2032476
Bill protects police who shoot down drones near Arizona-Mexico border
Feb 18, 2025 Updated 2 hrs ago
PHOENIX — State lawmakers are looking to immunize police officers who disable drones they suspect are being used for drug smuggling.
Or, as Attorney General Kris Mayes put it Monday, “blow them out of the sky.’’
Rep. David Marshall said his HB 2733 “will give law enforcement a critical tool that will help combat cartels and secure our southern border.
The Snowflake Republican said criminals are using the drones not only to surveil police but to actually transport fentanyl and other drugs from Mexico deep into Arizona, avoiding having to try to smuggle them across the border themselves.
Mayes, a supporter of the measure, said what it seeks is not unusual. She said Border Patrol already has technology to bring down the drones electronically.
“In a perfect world, the president and the prior presidents would have hired enough Border Patrol and have enough drone jammers to do this through the federal government,’’ Mayes said. “But they are not doing this right now.’’
The proposal, unveiled Monday at a news conference, drew a series of questions about the extent of the ability of law enforcement to fire the weapons into the air without having to worry they will wind up in court, not just for damaging the drone but also for injuring someone on the ground.
Marshall said he’s not worried that some innocent person is going to be harmed. “Think about this: You’re out in the desert 10 o’clock, 12 o’clock at night on the border,’’ he said.
“What are you doing there?,’’ Marshall said. “There’s nothing good happening on the border at midnight.’’
He said it is absolutely necessary to “support law enforcement doing what they need to stop the narcotics and the poison of fentanyl coming across our border.’’
“If the drones are flying near the border, they’re not children out there doing this,’’ Marshall said.
“What are you out there looking for? Tortoises?’’ he asked. “Cactuses? No,’’ he continued. “Most likely it’s going to be drones with narcotics on it.’’
But the legislation does not just cover the border.
As crafted, it would provide permission to disable drones anywhere up to 30 miles from the border, though there is a proposal to scale that back to 15 miles.
And Mayes said she’s not concerned that the zone where drones can be electronically disabled or shot out of the sky includes some urban areas.
“I believe in and trust in our law enforcement to do the right thing and to shoot these drones down in an appropriate location’’ she said.
Ditto, the attorney general said, about having police fire bullets into the air in an effort to bring drones down.
The measure drew support from Chris Hines, chief of the Sierra Vista Police Department.
“This bill will empower us in local law enforcement to do more and protect our communities, to be proactive with drones,’’ he said, especially when they “get in the hands of the wrong people.’’
Mayes said there are lots of reasons that police would have “reasonable suspicion’’ — the standard to let them be brought down without fear of legal ramifications — that the drones are being used for nefarious purposes.
Some of it, she said, is that many of the drones are being flown at night.
There’s also the fact that those actually carrying drugs would clearly have a package attached underneath.
Mayes said the drone operators have the packages dropped in the desert and then notify others working with them of the specific GPS location where they can be picked up.
And then there’s the issue that these are far more sophisticated than the typical toys used by amateurs, and are sometimes capable of flying up to 70 miles into the state, she said.
Still, Mayes acknowledged after the news conference that criminals aren’t the only ones using drones that are more technologically advanced than one might pick up at a department store. Media outlets also use them — and have broadcast images from drones flying along the border.
“Maybe there’s too many drones along the border that are not law enforcement,’’ she said. And if police disable or destroy a drone operated for a legitimate reason?
“If I have to sacrifice one of the television station’s drones in the effort to get after the drug cartels, then I’m OK with that,’’ Mayes said.
“Once they sue me, that’s OK, too,’’ she said. “I’ll pay for their drone.’’
https://tucson.com/news/state-regional/government-politics/bill-protects-police-who-shoot-down-drones-near-arizona-mexico-border/article_80f74f98-ed43-11ef-b36d-63f2bff021e6.html
https://apps.azleg.gov/BillStatus/BillOverview/79570
>>22594646 PB
>Area 51 veterans getting cancer as DOD denies they were there
US government handed workers at Area 51 a 'death sentence': Veteran
Feb 17, 2025
American veterans helped guard the first stealth bomber at Area 51, and years later, they're discovering common health struggles they all face.
Pomp Braswell, a veteran who worked at Area 51, tells NewsNation's Natasha Zouves that he believes the U.S. government purposely gave everyone who worked there a death sentence.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XVFiNUlpXNc
Area 51: Veteran shares health battle linked to the base
Feb 17, 2025
American veterans helped guard the first stealth bomber at Area 51, and years later, they're discovering many of them are sharing the same health struggles.
Randy Groves, a veteran who worked at Area 51, shares his health struggles with NewsNation's Natasha Zouves, explaining the moment he and the other Area 51 veterans starting figuring out they were all sick with similar tumors.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XCByuZU9cDY
Area 51 Veterans: ‘The base is to blame for our health battles’
Feb 17, 2025
American veterans helped guard the first stealth bomber at Area 51, and years later, they're discovering many of them are sharing the same health struggles.
When seeking assistance, they are met with pushback, because there is no record of their secretive work.
Mike Nemcic, a veteran who worked at Area 51, shares the details of his health battles with NewsNation's Natasha Zouves, and his regret about bringing other veterans to the base to be part of his team.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FSJOrNdeWX0
Area 51 took my entire family: Daughter of veterans
Feb 17, 2025
American veterans helped guard the first stealth bomber at Area 51, and years later, they're discovering health struggles they all share.
Jennifer Callahan, daughter and granddaughter of Area 51 veterans, shares details of her loved ones' final moments with NewsNation's Natasha Zouves and says she's worried about her family's health after sharing a home with her mother, who died of cancer.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3XFadO9jQy0
https://www.newsnationnow.com/us-news/military/area-51-veterans-cancer-dod-denies-they-were-there/
https://www.newsnationnow.com/us-news/military/area-51-facts-fiction/
Red Triangle UFO Spotted Near O’Hare Airport in Chicago, Illinois
February 18, 2025
If you've traveled through O'Hare, you know that one of the benefits is that there are plenty of huge windows in the terminals.
Very recently one visitor saw something odd zoom by one of those windows. It was a huge red triangle-shaped object.
There are several interesting aspects about the newest Illinois report to the National UFO Reporting Agency website.
First, the sighting happened at 9:55am Chicago time on February 11, 2025. It was reported almost immediately (16 minutes later) to the NUFORC site.
They were in terminal 3 at O'Hare when this encounter happened.
The report says the object was large and they saw it at an approximately 45 degree angle. Here is a snippet of their exact eyewitness testimony about what they saw:
"A red craft moving at a smooth yet fast speed flew across the terminal until I couldn’t see it anymore. It went in a straight line but glided similarly to a bird.
Triangular and red. Fast. Smooth way of flying."
If I were a skeptic (and I very much am), I would wonder how there are not more reports of this object since terminal 3 at O'Hare is always screaming busy.
I would also wonder why the air traffic controllers wouldn't report any unusual object especially near such a busy airport like O'Hare.
All that being said, that doesn't mean I would just dismiss this report as a figment of this traveler's imagination.
I've traveled through O'Hare myself and just about everyone had their face buried in their device, so no other eyewitnesses is actually believable.
It's also possible the powers that be are suppressing air traffic controller reports so we don't all freak out.
Since this happened just a few days ago, I will keep my eyes on the NUFORC site to see if any corroborating reports are submitted.
https://101theeagle.com/red-triangle-ufo-spotted-near-ohare-airport-in-chicago-illinois/
https://nuforc.org/sighting/?id=187654
UFO alert in Türkiye’s Gaziantep: Flights halted
Feb 18, 2025 10:21 AM
Flights were suspended at Gaziantep Airport on Monday night after pilots reported a luminous, unidentified flying object (UFO).
At around 10:00 p.m. local time (GMT+3), pilots of an aircraft reported spotting a bright, unidentified object at an altitude of approximately 8,000 to 10,000 feet. UFO alert in Türkiye’s 6th biggest city led to a brief chaos at the airpot
The object, which did not appear on radar, was reported to air traffic control, prompting authorities to halt flights as a precaution.
Following the suspension, authorities conducted investigations in and around the airport. After confirming no immediate threat, flights resumed approximately three hours later.
Investigations are ongoing, with officials considering the possibility that the object might have been a drone.
UFO panic in Istanbul’s Sabiha Gokcen Airport
Seperately, on January 29, pilots using Istanbul’s Sabiha Gokcen Airport received traffic collision avoidance system (TCAS) warnings, prompting an extensive search in the region.
However, authorities have been unable to determine the source of these alerts.
Upon receiving the warnings, pilots immediately informed air traffic controllers, leading to coordinated search efforts in the air, at sea, and on land.
While some pilots speculated that the alerts could be caused by a drone or a ship at sea, search teams found no conclusive evidence.
Radio transmissions between pilots and air traffic control revealed the urgency of the situation.
One pilot reported: “On final approach at 300 feet, we received a traffic alert. It could be a drone or another aircraft. For your information.”
The control tower’s response indicated that similar warnings had been reported earlier: “Sir, we have been dealing with this for the past two and a half hours.
Several flights before you also received this warning. We have reported it to coastal authorities.”
https://www.turkiyetoday.com/turkiye/ufo-alert-in-turkiyes-gaziantep-flights-halted-120856/
https://thehill.com/opinion/national-security/5149386-house-republicans-demand-ufo-transparency/
House Republicans demand UFO transparency
02/18/25 7:00 AM ET
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and some of President Trump’s most vocal supporters in the House do not agree on much, but they are in agreement that the government is hiding critical information on UFOs — also known as unidentified anomalous phenomena or UAP — from the American public.
Schumer and key House Republicans say that the government must come clean on what it knows about this decades-long mystery, which has seen 80 years of highly credible, consistent, multi-witness reporting of objects exhibiting extreme performance characteristics.
On Feb. 11, House Oversight Committee chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) announced the establishment of the Task Force on the Declassification of Federal Secrets. Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.), a member of the bipartisan UAP Caucus, will lead the effort.
Comer and Luna sent letters to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and CIA Director John Ratcliffe requesting a briefing on all UAP-related records in their possession, with the ultimate goal of “deliver[ing] transparency to the American people.”
Notably, Rubio and Ratcliffe, along with National Security Advisor Mike Waltz and Trump himself, have made remarkable statements about UAP in recent years.
Ditto for Schumer. Shortly after Trump signed an executive order declassifying all government records on the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr., Schumer challenged Trump to extend the same transparency to UAP.
Schumer’s eyebrow-raising social media jab is no accident. In 2023, he sponsored what is arguably the most extraordinary legislation ever introduced in Congress.
The bipartisan Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena Disclosure Act alleged that shadowy elements of the government have secretly retrieved and are attempting to reverse-engineer craft of “non-human” or unknown origin.
Astoundingly, the 64-page legislation defined “non-human intelligence” and would have required the government to take possession of “any and all” recovered craft and “biological evidence of non-human intelligence” transferred to private defense contractors.
Although the House ultimately quashed key elements of the legislation, Rubio was one of five Senate cosponsors of the bill.
In two remarkable 2023 interviews, Rubio stated that multiple officials with “very high clearances and high positions within our government” approached the Senate Intelligence Committee alleging the existence of secret UAP retrieval and reverse-engineering programs.
Rubio, who is set to appear alongside more than 30 government officials in a new UFO documentary, characterized the whistleblowers’ claims as potentially “the biggest story in human history.”
Rubio said that the high-level current and former officials who spoke to the Intelligence Committee have “firsthand knowledge” of illicit UAP reverse-engineering activities.
Asked about the credibility of the individuals, Rubio asked rhetorically, “What incentive would so many people with that kind of qualification — these are serious people — have to come forward and make something up?”
In January, an Air Force veteran named Jacob Barber alleged in an interview that he participated in these shadowy UAP retrieval efforts.
Decorated special forces veterans and a retired Army lieutenant colonel vouched for Barber’s credibility.
Barber also spoke to both the Senate Intelligence Committee and the Pentagon’s UAP analysis office, known as AARO, behind closed doors.
1/2
Responding to an eyebrow-raising question from Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) during a November hearing, AARO director Dr. Jon Kosloski made an intriguing revelation.
According to Kosloski, his office has spoken to witnesses with “firsthand” allegations of unreported UAP-related activities, an apparent reference to Barber.
Barber is willing to testify under oath to the existence of the UAP retrieval efforts that he alleges he took part in. He would not be the first to do so.
At a Nov. 13 House Oversight Committee hearing, former Department of Defense official Luis Elizondo testified under oath to the existence of unreported retrieval and reverse engineering programs.
Air Force veteran and former intelligence official David Grusch alleged the existence of a “multi-decade [UAP] crash retrieval and reverse engineering program” during a July 2023 congressional hearing.
The internal watchdog overseeing America’s spy agencies deemed Grusch’s allegations that information on UAP was inappropriately concealed from Congress “credible and urgent,” triggering mandatory notifications to the intelligence committees.
The intelligence community’s first inspector general serves as Grusch’s attorney, adding significant weight to the underlying assertions.
In June 2023, Mike Waltz, then in the U.S. House and now Trump’s national security advisor, stated that Grusch “certainly seems to be very credible.”
Waltz, an Army colonel with special forces experience, served on both the Intelligence and Armed Services Committees.
Asked about UAP, Waltz responded in another 2023 interview that “I think we need to take this incredibly seriously.” According to Waltz, “You can’t deny this stuff.
[There] is real, hard data that is showing objects that are doing things that can’t be explained.”
Indeed, the Pentagon’s UAP analysis office has admitted that it is stumped by several “true anomalies,” while several scientifically perplexing military UAP videos and accompanying eyewitness accounts have emerged in recent years.
Waltz’s comments echo those of Trump’s CIA director. In a 2021 interview, Ratcliffe, who served as director of national intelligence in the first Trump administration, stated that UAP have been tracked by multiple sensors, including satellites, and “engage in actions that are difficult to explain, movements that are hard to replicate [and] that we don’t have the technology for.”
Ratcliffe said that UAP exhibit “technologies that we don’t have and, frankly, cannot defend against.” And in 2023, Ratcliffe stated that “there should be more transparency on this issue.”
For his part, Trump frequently recounts how Air Force pilots told him that they were left baffled by mysterious spherical objects that outperformed their advanced fighter jets.
Asked during a September interview whether he would release UAP footage if he returned to the White House, Trump responded, “I would do that. I’d love to do that. I have to do that.”
Will Trump and his key appointees follow through?
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US alien whistleblower Tim Burchett has seen 'proof of things I can't discuss'
18 February 2025
Tim Burchett, a Republican Congressman from Tennessee, claims that the Pentagon is using "dark money" to carry out secret UFO research and called for US president Donald Trump to make the American government's X Files public for the world to learn the truth.
Burchett told CNN: "There's some things I've seen proof of that I can't discuss and I've urged the White House to disclose these things.
"They've spent hundreds of millions of dollars researching something and you have one group telling us they don't exist while I've got the best pilots in the world telling me this thing was 14ft 'from my canopy'."
The Congressman continued: "I've seen things that I wish the public could see. They tell us these things don't exist and then they issue these redacted reports.
"We had testimony saying they have a recovery unit, so what are they recovering? We have a right to know."
https://www.femalefirst.co.uk/bizarre/alien-whistleblower-tim-burchett-seen-proof-things-discuss-1413899.html
A weird ice that may form on alien planets has finally been observed
February 18, 2025
A strange type of ice thought to dwell deep in the oceans of alien planets has finally been proven to exist.
For the first time, researchers have directly observed a sort of hybrid phase of water called plastic ice, which forms at high temperatures and pressures and exhibits traits of both solid ice and liquid water.
The observations, reported February 12 in Nature, may help researchers better understand the internal architecture and processes of other worlds in our solar system and beyond, some of which might be habitable.
Plastic ice is “something intermediate between a liquid and a crystal, you can imagine that it is softer when you squeeze it,” says physicist Livia Bove of Sapienza University of Rome.
It’s called plastic ice because it is more easily molded or deformed than typical crystalline ice, exhibiting a property scientists call plasticity, she says. “Like something that can [squeeze] through a hole and come out, even if it’s still solid.”
Most of the ice on Earth’s surface — including ice cubes, glaciers and snow — consists of water molecules arranged in a hexagonal lattice that resembles a honeycomb. Scientists classify this common ice as ice lh.
But in addition to ice Ih, there are at least 20 other known ice phases that form in different pressure and temperature conditions.
At pressures above 20,000 bars — or 20,000 kilograms per square centimeter — ice lattices compress into Ice VII, a polymorph with a dense, cubic structure in which molecules are ordered like the cubies in a Rubik’s Cube.
Ice VII has been found trapped in diamonds originating from Earth’s mantle and is thought to occur inside other planets too.
And Kurt Vonnegut fans may be interested to hear that an ice IX was discovered in 1996, though it lacks the terrifying ability to freeze entire oceans.
There are also ice phases that have only been theorized to exist. Over 15 years ago, computer simulations showed that when ice VII is heated and subjected to extreme pressures, its individual water molecules should start to rotate freely, as if a liquid, while occupying fixed positions, as in a solid.
Since the hypothetical phase shared the same cubic crystal structure as ice VII, it became known as plastic ice VII.
But because performing experiments at such high pressures was technically infeasible at the time, solid evidence of plastic ice’s existence eluded scientists for years.
For the new study, Bove and colleagues utilized a relatively new tool at the Institut Laue-Langevin in Grenoble, France that’s able to measure the motions of molecules under extreme pressures.
In experiments, they pointed a neutron beam at water samples and subjected the samples to temperatures up to 326° C and pressures up to 60,000 bars.
As the incoming neutrons interacted with the water molecules in the samples, they gained or lost energy depending on how much the water molecules were moving and rotating, before being scattered away toward a detector.
Measuring the scattered neutrons’ energies allowed Bove’s team to characterize the molecules’ motions and identify the phase that had formed.
Above 177° C and over roughly 30,000 bars — about 28 times the pressure at the deepest point in Earth’s oceans — Bove’s team observed a phase of ice that possessed a cubic crystal lattice with water molecules rotating about as fast as those in liquid water.
They identified the phase as plastic ice VII, finally confirming its existence.
However, one observed detail diverged from predictions. Rather than revolve freely, the water molecules appeared to swivel in jerky motions.
As the molecules rotate, they break their hydrogen bonds with one neighbor only to rapidly turn and bond with another, Bove explains.
Plastic ice VII may have existed during the early formational stages of Europa, Titan and other icy moons in our solar system, before all the water had escaped from their high-pressure interiors, says planetary scientist Baptiste Journaux of the University of Washington in Seattle.
The new observations could help researchers piece together the story of how these moons evolved into the ocean worlds they are today, he says.
And beyond our solar system, the strange ice may repose at the bottom of giant oceans on exoplanets, some of which are thousands of kilometers deep and potentially habitable, Journaux says.
Investigating how easily plastic ice VII incorporates salts into its lattice could help determine whether the strange phase’s presence enhances the exchange of salts between exoplanet seafloors and the oceans above, he says.
“That would actually feed the ocean with more nutrients.”
https://www.sciencenews.org/article/plastic-ice-alien-planets-liquid-solid
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-025-08750-4