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Wyvern publicly releases 25 hyperspectral images
May 20, 2025
ST. LOUIS — Canadian hyperspectral startup Wyvern is publicly releasing 25 additional images including scenes of Afghanistan’s Kandahar Airfield and an Iranian port explosion.
Wyvern launched its Open Data Program in February “to help catalyze the use of hyperspectral data across industries and research communities,” Kristen Cote, Wyvern co-founder and chief technology officer told SpaceNews by email.
“By making this data openly available, our goal is to help researchers, developers, analysts and even students experiment, build, extract insights and generally familiarize themselves with what hyperspectral imagery can do.”
Imagery of Iran’s Shahid Rajaei Port after an April explosion shows, for example, how hyperspectral sensors can identify and map chemical residue, detect contaminated soil and water, assess damage to infrastructure and determine fire intensity.
Similarly, a Kandahar Airfield image reveals how hyperspectral instruments detect pavement wear, oil leaks and recent repairs.
In addition, analysts can differentiate among aircraft or vehicle types based on paint or coatings. By tracking changes in exposed soil, vegetation or dust, researchers can infer recent activity.
“Instead of just seeing color or light intensity, hyperspectral sensors detect hundreds of narrow spectral bands, giving us a ‘spectral fingerprint’ of each material on Earth’s surface,” Cote said.
“This means we detect things can like chemical residues, subtle material differences, and even vegetation health in a way that’s not possible with other types of imagery.
With this new release, we’re giving the GEOINT community access to images that can unlock insights into industrial accidents, military activity, environmental changes, and infrastructure health, all from space.”
Also being added to Wyvern’s Open Data Program are before and after images of a March drone strike on the Engels airfield in southern Russia.
This type of hyperspectral imagery can reveal destroyed or damaged buildings and aircraft, recovery efforts, vehicle movement and burn scars in surrounding vegetation.
Wyvern has four instruments in orbit including Dragonette-004 onboard Loft Orbital’s YAM-8 mission launched in March.
Dragonette-004, which is scheduled to begin supplying commercial data this summer, “will allow us to capture more frequent hyperspectral data across more regions, Cote said.
Plus, the new satellite “has a much larger capacity than our first three satellites,” she added.
https://spacenews.com/wyvern-publicly-releases-25-hyperspectral-images/
https://wyvern.space/open-data/
https://spacenews.com/gabbard-signals-shift-in-u-s-intelligence-collection-priorities/
Gabbard signals shift in U.S. intelligence collection priorities
May 19, 2025
Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard announced a reorientation of U.S. intelligence collection efforts toward border security and counternarcotics operations, describing it as “the biggest shift in collection priorities in ODNI history.”
Speaking May 19 at the GEOINT 2025 Symposium, Gabbard outlined how the Trump administration’s national security priorities will reshape the work of the nation’s 18 intelligence agencies, placing unprecedented emphasis on domestic border surveillance while maintaining America’s global intelligence capabilities.
“A focus on border security, counterterrorism and counternarcotics is a new front in many ways,” Gabbard said. “There hasn’t been an emphasis on collection in this area, so immediately we will be ramping up that focus.”
The shift would affect thousands of intelligence professionals across the geospatial intelligence sector, which specializes in analyzing imagery, maps and location-based data to understand activities and physical environments.
“Not isolationist”
Gabbard, who oversees the budget and activities of all U.S. intelligence agencies in her cabinet-level position, sought to clarify that President Trump’s approach to foreign policy should not be misinterpreted.
She noted that while Trump has said the United States should not be the “world’s police… this view of the world should not be seen as isolationist.”
Instead, she described a realignment of collection assets that would increase focus on both the southern and northern U.S. borders, requiring unprecedented coordination between agencies.
“It’s collection, but it is also fusion and complete understanding that requires our national intelligence capabilities working very closely with federal, state and local law enforcement,” she added.
“We can’t have these silos in information and intelligence.”
Budget concerns linger
Gabbard’s remarks come against a backdrop of ongoing funding cuts and workforce reductions across the U.S. intelligence community, which she acknowledged indirectly.
She noted that while “parts of the government have seen severe cuts,” intelligence priorities have been “largely protected so far.”
Describing herself as “just a normie who has been a consumer of much of your work throughout my career, both in the military and in politics,” Gabbard drew on her background as both a military officer and congressional representative to connect with the specialized audience.
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Without directly criticizing the performance of intelligence professionals, Gabbard referenced longstanding frustrations within military and congressional circles regarding intelligence delivery.
“As someone who served in uniform for over 22 years and served in Congress for eight years on the foreign affairs and armed services committees, I had been a customer of intelligence for a long time, and had a lot of first hand frustrations based on the products that were being delivered,” Gabbard said.
She added that “a lot of folks in Congress have the same frustrations, which is that intelligence, in order for it to be useful, has to be timely, has to be relevant, and it has to be objective and unbiased.”
Technology integration challenges
During a fireside chat with Ronda Schrenk, CEO of the U.S. Geospatial Intelligence Foundation, Gabbard expressed admiration for innovations on display at the symposium.
“I was thoroughly impressed with the innovation and the problem solving mindset that I saw on display,” she said after touring the exhibit hall.
However, she identified persistent barriers to adopting commercial solutions within government.
“The problems that I have seen just in the short time that I’ve served in this role are when people in government with the best of intentions try to solve problems that someone in the private sector has solved 10 times better,” she said.
Gabbard indicated her office would direct the streamlining of contracts across intelligence agencies to eliminate duplicative efforts, “so that we can save a lot of money and make sure that our IC elements are getting the most bang for the buck.”
AI and open-source intelligence
The DNI also emphasized the need to better leverage artificial intelligence technologies while acknowledging widespread apprehension about AI’s role in intelligence work.
“It is the buzzword, everybody’s talking about it,” she said of AI. “There’s no replacement for humans in life or work, including in geospatial intelligence, but we have to look at this challenge as an opportunity to change our roles.”
Gabbard called on intelligence analysts to “understand, engage in direct AI for the amplification and maximization of their own work and capabilities,” while noting that “there’s a lack of understanding of AI, not only of its capabilities, but because of this lack of understanding, there’s a lot of fear.”
She also called for greater integration of open-source intelligence (OSINT) — the process of gathering and analyzing publicly available information — with traditional intelligence disciplines.
“OSINT is an area of relatively new focus from Congress,” Gabbard said, adding that intelligence operators have told her they are limited by authorities that don’t allow for OSINT integration with other intelligence capabilities.
“Human intelligence, signals intelligence, and geospatial intelligence should all be integrated, as well as OSINT,” she said.
“We can really maximize maintaining that qualitative edge when we are maximizing all of our collection capabilities across the board.”
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NATO allies to pledge capabilities to address growing threats
May 19, 2025
At the June NATO summit in the Netherlands, allies will outline specific capabilities to contribute to the alliance.
“It won’t just be a pledge,” UK Royal Marines Maj. Gen. Paul Lynch, NATO deputy assistant secretary general for intelligence, said May 19 at the GEOINT Symposium 2025.
“It has to be a plan in order for us to be able to ensure that we have sufficient materiel, people, capabilities to be able to continue to deter an increasingly belligerent adversary in Russia.”
NATO allies are expected to boost defense spending as high as 3.5 percent of their gross domestic products in response to growing threats.
“China continues to display increasingly aggressive behavior towards its neighbors, while acting as the decisive enabler for Russia’s war effort,” Lynch said.
“But it’s not just state-level challenges that we face. Many other dangers persist, from terrorism to nuclear proliferation and hybrid or destabilizing threats.”
And while NATO leaders rarely mention the Trump administration in speeches, it is one of the factors spurring allies to boost defense spending.
Clear Signals for Industry
“We need to discuss how to make sure that NATO will be stronger,” NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said May 15 at a meeting of NATO foreign affairs ministers in Turkey. “That means more defense spending; that means more defense industrial production.”
If the 3.5 percent target were adopted, NATO allies collectively would spend an additional $400 billion a year. Lynch refrained from predicting the level of future financial commitments but said allies will work closely with industry to adopt advanced technology.
“We know that we must send clear, long-term demand signals to industry,” Lynch said. “With this demand, industry will need to step up, continue to innovate, adopt new technologies and achieve economies of scale.”
Space Technology
Rather than asking nations to commit to providing a specific number of aircraft, for instance, NATO will offer flexibility while being “crystal clear on what we require nations to bring to the fight,” Lynch said.
“We need to continue to innovate because technology is changing so fast.” Space technology is an important component of NATO’s modernization campaign.
“NATO must continue to maximize its ability to leverage capabilities from space while also delivering security to space,” Lynch said.
“We all understand the fact that space underpins NATO’s ability to do many things: navigate and track forces, robust communications, detect missile launches, assure effective command and control, and the list goes on.”
Lynch cited two promising space-related programs: Allied Persistent Surveillance from Space, a program aimed at ensuring NATO can collect data on any location at any given time, and the Strategic Space Situational Awareness System for NATO headquarters.
Indo-Pacific
Beyond Europe and North America, NATO is engaged in dialog and exercises extending to the Indo-Pacific region.
“China is seen at the moment in the alliance as a strategic challenge,” rather than a threat, Lynch said. “But clearly to some allies, it’s very much a threat.”
NATO is enhancing its support of allies focused on the Indo-Pacific region, while ensuring “a max amount of deterrence and, if necessary, defense of every single inch of [NATO] territory,” Lynch said.
https://spacenews.com/nato-allies-to-pledge-capabilities-to-address-growing-threats/
Air Force seeks partner for commercialized on-base lodging
May 19, 2025
The Department of the Air Force is moving forward with plans to transition on-base lodging at 58 installations across the U.S. and its territories to a commercial partner through the Commercial On-Base Lodging initiative.
The service is seeking a national hotel partner for a 50-year lease to ensure long-term sustainment and revitalization of these facilities.
A 2023 analysis by DAF leadership determined that commercialization of DAF lodging offers the best path to sustainment.
Over time, evolving funding priorities and the transition to a fully nonappropriated funds model have presented challenges for facility upkeep and improvements.
Addressing these challenges, the Air Force Installation and Mission Support Center is executing the COBL initiative to ensure the continued quality and availability of accommodations.
“Quality lodging is critical for Airmen, Guardians and their families,” said Robert Moriarty, deputy assistant secretary of the Air Force for Installations.
“Whether for training, relocation or temporary duty assignments, ensuring reliable, well-maintained lodging is vital to readiness, mission success and resilience.”
The COBL program management office will implement a phased approach to ensure financial stability, continuous lodging operations, and minimal disruption. The first group of 23 installations, Group A, slated for transition includes:
• Altus Air Force Base, Oklahoma
• Barksdale AFB, Louisiana
• Beale AFB, California
• Buckley Space Force Base, Colorado
• Davis-Monthan AFB, Arizona
• Dobbins ARB, Georgia
• Edwards AFB, California
• Eglin AFB, Florida
• Goodfellow AFB, Texas
• Hurlburt Field, Florida
• Joint Base Andrews, Maryland
• JB Charleston, South Carolina
• JB Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska
• JB McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, New Jersey
• Little Rock AFB, Arkansas
• MacDill AFB, Florida
• Maxwell AFB, Alabama
• Nellis AFB, Nevada
• Robins AFB, Georgia
• Seymour Johnson AFB, North Carolina
• Shaw AFB, South Carolina
• Sheppard AFB, Texas
• Travis AFB, California
Installations were selected based on financial modeling using historical data, industry benchmarks, and projected recapitalization needs. The deputy assistant secretary of the Air Force for Installations will oversee the selection process.
https://www.spaceforce.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/4190635/air-force-seeks-partner-for-commercialized-on-base-lodging/
DoD announces USAF, USSF winners of the 2025 Commander in Chief's Annual Award for Installation Excellence
May 20, 2025
Secretary of Defense Peter B. Hegseth announced the 2025 recipients of the Commander in Chief's Annual Award for Installation Excellence May 16.
Department of the Air Force installations conducted its own intra-Service competition before elevating winners to the Department of Defense level.
The Commander in Chief's Annual Award for Installation Excellence recognizes the outstanding and innovative efforts of the people who operate and maintain U.S. military installations.
Recipients of this highly competitive presidential award were selected for their exemplary support of DoD missions.
The 2025 Commander in Chief's Annual Award winners for Installation Excellence for U.S. Air Force and U.S. Space Force are:
Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Virginia
Commanding Officer: Col. Matthew R. Altman, U.S. Air Force
Vandenberg Space Force Base, California
Commanding Officer: Col. Mark A. Shoemaker, U.S. Space Force
Defense Supply Center Richmond, Virginia
Commanding Officer: Brig. Gen. Chad R. Ellsworth, U.S. Air Force
Installations competed on how well they achieve the Department's objectives in several areas of installation management, including mission support, quality of life and unit morale, real property management, safety, health and security, communications, and public relations.
Excellent installations enable better mission performance and enhance the working and living conditions for military men and women, DoD civilians and their families.
Each of the winning installations succeeded at being the best in performing installation management within their military service and the Defense Logistics Agency.
Each winning installation will receive a commemorative trophy, flag and a congratulatory letter from the President.
https://www.spaceforce.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/4192611/dod-announces-usaf-ussf-winners-of-the-2025-commander-in-chiefs-annual-award-fo/
https://www.acq.osd.mil/eie/library.html
Ukraine, Russia say drone strikes continue after Trump-Putin call
Updated 6:50 AM EDT, Tue May 20, 2025
Ukraine and Russia accused each other of launching attack drones on one another overnight, hours after Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke by phone with his US counterpart Donald Trump - and again refused an immediate ceasefire.
Russia launched 108 Shahed drones and “various types of decoy drones,” Ukraine’s Air Force said on its Telegram channel Tuesday, adding air defenses had destroyed 93 of them in the east, center and north of the country.
The strikes come after Trump and Putin spoke for nearly two hours on Monday – Trump from the Oval Office and Putin phoning in from a visit to a music school in the city of Sochi.
Following the call Trump said Kyiv and Moscow would begin ceasefire negotiations ‘immediately.’
But Putin said the Kremlin was ready to work with Ukraine on a “possible ceasefire for a certain period of time, provided the corresponding agreements are reached.”
Neither Putin nor Trump discussed a timeframe for a possible truce, said Kremlin presidential aide Yury Ushakov.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Tuesday that Moscow is attempting to delay negotiations in order to continue the conflict.
“It is obvious that Russia is trying to buy time in order to continue its war and occupation,” Zelensky wrote on social media after a discussion with Finnish President Alexander Stubb that touched on Trump’s call with Putin.
Putin has previously ignored a proposal from Washington and Kyiv for a 30-day ceasefire and last week snubbed Zelensky’s call to meet face-to-face for talks in Istanbul.
As the Turkey talks sputtered, Trump said he didn’t think there would be a significant breakthrough on peace talks until he spoke directly with Putin.
“Unfortunately, following the Trump–Putin phone call, the status quo has not changed,” said Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to Zelensky
European leaders decided to increase pressure on Russia through sanctions after Trump briefed them on the call with Putin, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said in an X post late on Monday.
Trump said he would not join in any new sanctions on Russia “because there’s a chance” of progress.
“I think there’s a chance of getting something done, and if you do that, you could also make it much worse. But there could be a time where that’s going to happen,” Trump said.
Following the call Zelensky said discussions would take place about the future location of a further round of talks – which would be aimed first at achieving a ceasefire.
Russian state news agency TASS cited Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov as telling reporters that “so far, no specific decisions have been made regarding the location for the continuation of possible future contacts” with Ukrainian officials.
“We are primarily interested in a prompt settlement by eliminating the root causes of this conflict,” Peskov said.
Putin “wants Ukraine to surrender,” William Taylor, former US Ambassador to Ukraine and Distinguished Fellow at the Atlantic Council, told CNN’s the Newsroom with Rosemary Church.
“He wants Ukraine to capitulate. He wants Ukraine to disarm… to be in a position where… the Ukrainians cannot defend themselves,” said Taylor.
“That’s what Putin means when he says ‘the root causes.’”
https://www.cnn.com/2025/05/20/europe/russia-ukraine-drone-strikes-trump-call
Opportunity knocking
HMP Long Lartin: Drone stopped and two men arrested
May 20, 2025
TWO men have been arrested after a drone was spotted flying over a Worcestershire prison.
The men, a 19-year-old and a 33-year-old, were arrested yesterday (May 19) after officers stopped a car near Long Lartin prison in South Littleton and recovered a drone.
Both men were arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to convey prohibited items into a prison, and the 33-year-old was also further arrested for driving while under the influence of drugs.
Locals reported the sighting at around 10.30pm, and the car was stopped around 20 minutes later.
Detective Chief Inspector James Bamber said: “We are continuing to crack down on incursions around HMP Long Lartin and have seized another drone suspected to be used in criminal activity.
“Our response to the issue is not slowing down, and we will continue our sustained efforts to detect and disrupt drones around the prison.”
Both men remain in police custody.
https://www.cotswoldjournal.co.uk/news/25179060.hmp-long-lartin-drone-stopped-two-men-arrested/
Amazon drones can now deliver smartphones, AirTags and more
Tue, May 20, 2025, 9:44 AM PDT
Amazon will now deliver a bunch of new products via drone, as mentioned in a company blog post.
This includes stuff like smartphones, video doorbells and food thermometers. This is thanks to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) giving approval to several new item categories.
Newly-available items include Apple iPhones, AirTags and AirPods, in addition to Samsung Galaxy smartphones, Ring doorbells and Alpha Grillers Instant Read Food Thermometers.
All told, customers can now choose from more than 60,000 items for drone delivery.
These deliveries will typically arrive within an hour, assuming the package is under five pounds and the customer lives in a drone service area.
Unfortunately, these areas are extremely limited. As of this writing, Amazon only offers drone deliveries to parts of Texas and Arizona. The company plans on expanding to the UK and Italy in the near future.
Weather also plays a part when determining the availability of a drone delivery. Amazon won't offer the service “during heavy winds, or during heavy rain,” the company wrote in another blog post.
It isn't being overly cautious here. The drones can get into serious trouble when trying to navigate foul weather, as shown by recent crashes that forced the company to put the platform on hold for a while.
Last year, the FAA gave Amazon permission for its drones to fly beyond the visual line of sight (BVLOS). This has allowed the company to use its newest MK30 model to make deliveries within an hour.
https://www.engadget.com/transportation/amazon-drones-can-now-deliver-smartphones-airtags-and-more-164413100.html
https://twitter.com/amazon/status/1924775500192366964
==Sudan accuses UAE of May 4 drone attacks on Port Sudan
May 20, 202510:47 AM PDT
CAIRO, May 20 (Reuters) - Sudan said the United Arab Emirates was responsible for an attack on Port Sudan this month, accusing the Gulf state for the first time of direct military intervention in a war between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces.
The UAE denied the allegations in a statement and said it condemned the attack.
"It is deeply regrettable that the Port Sudan authorities continue to perpetrate violence against their own citizens, yet seek to deflect blame from their own responsibility for Sudan's internal conflict by making unfounded allegations against others," a UAE official said.
Speaking in New York on Monday, Sudanese ambassador to the United Nations al-Harith Idris alleged that the May 4 strike on the army's wartime capital Port Sudan was carried out by MQ-9 or MQ-9B warplanes and kamikaze drones launched from an Emirati base on the Red Sea with the aid of Emirati ships.
Idris alleged that the strike on Port Sudan was revenge for an army attack a day earlier on an alleged Emirati warplane in the RSF-controlled city of Nyala, which he said had killed 13 foreigners including "Emirati elements."
Sudan cut diplomatic relations with the UAE this month, saying the Gulf power was aiding the RSF with supplies of advanced weaponry in the devastating conflict that broke out in April 2023 following disagreements over the integration of the two forces.
https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/sudan-envoy-un-says-uae-carried-out-may-4-attacks-port-sudan-emirati-red-sea-2025-05-20/
Fisherman’s Drone Rescue: Girl Seconds from Drowning Saved
May 20, 2025
A shark fisherman uses a drone to save a girl from drowning in Pensacola beach, by flying a flotation device out to her, reports The Guardian.
On May 15, Florida man Andrew Smith made the last minute decision to try new fishing waters in Pensacola Florida.
Smith says he’d only been there for about 10 minutes before a girl came running asking if he or his friend could swim. Due to a seizure disorder Smith was diagnosed with he could not.
“She was running and screaming, and nobody [else] could swim,” Smith stated to CBS12.
After seeing the girl getting sucked farther and farther away by a rip current she was stuck in, Smith sprang into action. She had been stuck in the current for about 5 minutes; Smith knew she realistically was losing steam.
Fisherman’s Split-Second Decision Turns Drone into Lifesaver
Smith looked down at the drone he had and used to position the bait. Most fishers use kayaks but due to his seizures, it’s not safe for him.
All of a sudden Smith had the idea that “The drone can swim [even if] I can’t”.
Attaching a nearby flotation device to the drone, Smith made his first attempt at rescuing the girl.
“I was shaking pretty badly,” Smith stated. “It was nerve-wracking – I almost cried”.
He used the drone to fly the flotation device out to the girl, but in the chaos of everything, he released the device way too early and with the wind it was a complete miss.
Overwhelming him more, Smith knew that this second chance might be the last one he had to save the girl. A bystander gave him a second flotation device, which he loaded onto his drone to try again.
This time he flew the drone back out slowly, taking his time to lower it down to the girl slower than the first attempt.
Smith says he remembers the distressed girl reaching up to the drone with her hand, trying to grab the flotation device. He reported that this was his cue to slightly lower the drone and release the device.
The second attempt was successful, the girl was able to climb on and start floating.
Beach Safety Warning: Hero Uses Spotlight to Educate Public
Lifeguards were not scheduled to patrol the beach until after Memorial Day on May 26th, therefore it took another five minutes before First Responders were able to make it to the scene.
Smith reports that local Police, EMS, and lifeguards told him that if his second attempt had failed “she wouldn’t have made it”.
After the girl was removed from the water, she was examined and evaluated by medical professionals where she received a clean bill of health.
A bystander, Robert Nay filmed the rescue which has now gone viral on social media, says that he’s “never seen anything like that” and that Smith is “a true hero”.
Due to a no-fly rule in Fort Pickens, if the girls had been any farther down the beach, Smith would not have been able to perform the rescue.
Smith recalls that the girl’s father has called him “his guardian angel” for saving his daughter’s life.
Using the attention Smith had earned, he reminds people to pay attention to the flag system on the beach, warning people when it is safe to swim and when it is not.
https://dronexl.co/2025/05/20/drone-rescue-girl-drowning/
https://weartv.com/news/local/shark-fisherman-uses-drone-to-save-teenage-girl-from-rip-current-at-pensacola-beach
Jordanian Army intercepts drone smuggling narcotics on northeastern border
2025-05-20 08:19
On Tuesday, the Jordan Armed Forces – Arab Army announced that its Eastern Military Zone had successfully thwarted an attempt to smuggle narcotics using a drone along the northeastern border.
"The drone was intercepted and brought down, along with its cargo, inside Jordanian territory," an official military source from the General Command of the Armed Forces said, confirming that the seized materials were handed over to the relevant authorities for investigation and legal procedures.
The source emphasized that the Jordanian Armed Forces remain vigilant and prepared to confront any attempts to compromise the country's security or sovereignty.
"They will respond with full force and decisiveness to prevent all forms of infiltration or smuggling," he added.
https://shafaq.com/en/Middle-East/Jordanian-Army-intercepts-drone-smuggling-narcotics-on-northeastern-border
https://www.nationalguard.mil/News/Article-View/Article/4192438/air-national-guard-drone-training-bridges-gap-for-first-responders/
Air National Guard Drone Training Bridges Gap for First Responders
May 20, 2025
OTIS AIR NATIONAL GUARD BASE, Mass. – The Emergency Management Office at the 102nd Intelligence Wing facilitated Drone Awareness and Threat Picture (DATP) training May 2 on Otis Air National Guard Base.
“I attended the in-residence Drone Assessment and Response Tactics (DART) course in June in Socorro, New Mexico, and was impressed with the depth of the course,” said Joel Ferguson, 102nd IW emergency manager.
“With the recent unmanned aircraft system sightings all over the country, the need to train military and community first responders in detection, identification, tracking and reporting is important.”
The goal of the training was to provide emergency personnel with the knowledge and skills necessary to detect, identify, track, assess, respond to and report unmanned aircraft system (UAS) activity.
The training aligns with the National Domestic Preparedness Consortium (NDPC).
“Under direction from my squadron commander, I developed the DAPT course to reinforce the DART training and give Airmen, specifically civil engineers and logistics readiness personnel, a general idea of what is being used against us today and how to detect, track and report to the proper authorities, specifically security forces,” Ferguson said.
Participants in the DART training included emergency managers, security forces and intelligence personnel.
Attendees represented the 102nd Intelligence Wing of the Massachusetts Air National Guard, 143rd Airlift Wing of the Rhode Island National Guard, 6th Space Warning Squadron from Cape Cod Space Force Base, as well as Soldiers from the Massachusetts Army National Guard and Coast Guard personnel from U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) Sector Southeastern New England Enforcement and USCG Port Security Unit 301.
Community partners from Barnstable County Emergency Management and first responders from the North Shore, South Shore, Cape Cod and the islands also participated.
Also attending were SWAT drone teams from the Metropolitan Law Enforcement Council (MetroLEC), Southeastern Massachusetts Law Enforcement Council (SMLEC) and Cape Cod Regional Law Enforcement Council (CCRLEC).
“We host NDPC Mobile Delivery courses regularly on Joint Base Cape Cod to give our members and community partners cutting-edge training with regard to emergency management, law enforcement and anti-terrorism,” Ferguson said.
“This particular training was tailored to fit into an eight-hour course and highlight detection, tracking and reporting skills.”
Attendees learned to recognize UAS uses and components and the threat posed by the criminal and terrorist use of commercially available UAS technology.
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Recent reports of unauthorized drone sightings near sensitive U.S. military installations and critical infrastructure have raised national security concerns.
These incidents highlight vulnerabilities to potential surveillance, espionage or even weaponized drone attacks and emphasize the need for enhanced counter-drone technology and training programs for military and law enforcement personnel to effectively detect, identify and neutralize drone threats, safeguarding national assets and preventing potential harm.
The training used real-world examples of drone attacks. Examples included a 2011 case where a U.S. citizen attempted to load C-4 explosive onto a remote-controlled model airplane and planned to use GPS to guide it into two federal buildings.
Another case study involved an individual who attempted to use a UAS quadcopter to drop improvised explosive devices onto members of a town select board. No injuries resulted in either case.
Feedback on the courses was positive, and plans are underway to offer the training again.
“All participants felt the information gleaned from the courses was beneficial,” Ferguson said. “We will offer DART again due to the response.
DATP will be offered to other units in the wing, as well as to our USCG and Army National Guard counterparts, in addition to our community partners.”
This training enhances the region’s preparedness for drone-related incidents and has prepared agencies, specifically on the upper Cape, to respond to unlawful or dangerous drone operations.
Drone technology and availability are increasing every year, and the ability to respond needs to keep pace.
“DART was offered from a military standpoint to Air National Guard and U.S. Air Force security forces and emergency management, and to U.S. Coast Guard law enforcement.
From a community standpoint, it was offered to first responders, emergency management, and MetroLEC, SEMLEC and CCRLEC drone team operators for local knowledge,” Ferguson said.
The National Guard’s commitment to the safety and security of our communities is strengthened through partnerships with local organizations and leaders. Collaborative training, such as DART and DATP, reinforces these bonds.
“Other Air National Guard and emergency management agencies should take advantage of NDPC mobile delivery courses,” Ferguson said. “They are no-cost and provide cutting-edge training on current threats and management skills.
Second only to the content is the networking opportunity these training courses provide. Units that network with their community partners create an invaluable resource if – and more specifically, when – a man-made disaster strikes.”
Whether responding to natural disasters, supporting civil authorities or providing essential resources, collaborative efforts ensure the ability to effectively meet the needs of the people served.
This teamwork exemplifies the dedication of both the National Guard and community partners to build a more resilient and secure nation.
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https://www.armytimes.com/news/your-army/2025/05/20/from-drone-delivery-to-transfusions-blood-plays-vital-combat-role/
From drone delivery to transfusions, blood plays vital combat role
May 20, 2025, 07:03 AM
From transfusion training to drone deliveries and even simulated fluid, the Army is finding ways to get blood where it’s needed most.
On May 15, soldiers with the 173rd Airborne Brigade’s Charlie “Lifeline” Company, 173rd Brigade Support Battalion conducted drone-based blood resupply in a full-scale hospital exercise at Pabrade Training Area, Lithuania, as part of Exercise Swift Response 2025.
“Aerial resupply of blood is pretty cool for us,” said Capt. Jessica Knoll, commander of Charlie Company. “One big initiative we’re working on is getting whole blood as far forward as possible.
Having drone capability means we’re not risking soldiers driving into hostile areas just to deliver blood. A drone — not to say it’s expendable — but it’s more expendable than a soldier’s life.”
Soldiers used a TRV-150 drone to deliver simulated blood to Role 1 field carte locations.
The exercise, which included elements from the 160th Forward Resuscitative Surgical Detachment, the 519th Field Hospital, the 68th Theater Medical Command and the 7384th Blood Detachment, bridged the gap between point of injury and higher-level medical care, according to the release.
It also showed how troops can reduce risk to medics while increasing soldier survivability in austere locations.
“This is our third time working with Flying Basket to drop blood using drones,” Knoll said. “We’ve tested a few methods — paratroopers jumping with blood at Saber Junction, pushing blood out of airplanes — but this drone delivery is really buying down risk. Instead of sending an entire medic crew forward, we can now send a drone with Class VIII supplies or blood.
“So far, we’ve flown about 3 kilometers with the drone, but it’s capable of more. That’s just what we’ve trained for now.”
And where did those blood products come from?
The Landstuhl Regional Medical Center Blood Services Program recently partnered with the 86th Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron at Ramstein Air Base to provide real and simulated blood products for the Defender Europe 25 Exercise on May 14 and 15.
Defender Europe is the largest annual Army deployment to the European Theater. An estimated 25,000 U.S., allied and partner troops, 29 allied and partner nations and 18 host nations participate in the exercise.
For the exercises, troops at the center prepared more than 1,000 real and simulated blood products for transport on U.S. Air Force aircraft to Lithuania.
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A U.S. military report estimates that 15% to 20% of traumatic deaths are preventable, and 66% to 80% of those deaths occur from hemorrhage, according to the release.
“Providing both real and simulated blood products is crucial for supporting real-world contingencies and the fighting military force,” said U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Raymond Clark, non-commissioned officer-in-charge of the LRMC Blood Services Program.
“Real blood ensures immediate availability for transfusions during combat casualties, addressing critical needs for volume resuscitation and oxygen-carrying capacity.”
But simulated blood has its role, too.
“Simulated blood products, on the other hand, play a vital role in training and preparedness,” Clark added.
“They allow medical personnel to practice life-saving procedures in realistic scenarios without depleting limited real blood supplies.
This dual approach ensures readiness, improves medical skills, and ultimately enhances the survivability of our soldiers on the battlefield.”
Not to be outdone, the skills portion of the exercise was on display in the theater as well.
On May 18, combat medics and medical personnel with the 501st Aviation Battalion, 1st Armored Division conducted point-to-point blood transfusions in Hohenfels, Germany.
Medics participating in Exercise Combined Resolve 25-2 focused training on providing blood to simulated critically injured troops in a simulated mass casualty event using a “walking blood bank” tactic, according to the release.
“A point-to-point blood transfusion entails taking blood from one person and ensuring that it’s the same blood type or something acceptable for the recipient’s blood type,” said Capt. Aaron Chapman, an air medical physician assistant with the 501st Aviation Battalion, 1st Armored Division.
That’s a crucial skill for what experts expect to be a daunting casualty care environment in future battles.
“In today’s world, in a large-scale combat environment, we won’t have the luxury of someone coming to get us when we want a MEDEVAC,” he said.
“What that means is when we have guys who are losing a lot of blood, this will help us save those who need that blood using battle buddies, peers and other people who we know are willing and able to help.”
The exercise involved taking blood from a patient and then returning it to them. This is known as autologous blood transfusion, according to the release.
“The idea is that this simulates real transfusion of blood in an emergency setting, but it significantly reduces the risks of having a blood transfusion reaction if we move blood from one patient to another patient,” said British Army Maj. Catriona Kemeny, a medical officer with the 4th Regiment, Army Air Corps.
“If we can train hard, maybe we can fight easy, so that actually when we have to do it in reality, we’re already well practiced,” Kemeny said.
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IDF says drone strike killed Hezbollah commander in southern Lebanon
May 20, 2025, 4:46 pm
The IDF confirms carrying out a drone strike in the Lebanese town of al-Mansouri, close to Tyre, today, killing a Hezbollah operative.
According to the military, the operative was the commander of Hezbollah’s forces in al-Mansouri.
The IDF says he was involved in advancing numerous attacks on Israel during the war, restoring Hezbollah’s infrastructure in the al-Mansouri area, and smuggling weapons.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/idf-says-drone-strike-killed-hezbollah-commander-in-southern-lebanon-2/
https://twitter.com/idfonline/status/1924819120769441952
Anduril Offers Rare Glimpse of Its Next-Gen Fighter Drone ‘Fury’
May 20, 2025
Anduril just gave the world a closer look at “Fury,” its next-generation uncrewed fighter jet built to team up with human pilots in the skies.
An episode of CBS’s 60 Minutes aired Sunday featured Anduril founder Palmer Luckey walking viewers through the aircraft’s development, offering a rare look inside the hangar where the drone is being pieced together.
In one scene, two engineers are seen bolting the wing into place, a small but telling sign that Fury is closing in on the final stages of assembly.
The footage also showed off the drone’s sleek and compact frame, with clear emphasis on stealth with its angular surfaces, streamlined shape, and advanced sensor pods.
A concept animation included in the broadcast imagined how it might perform in action: three Fury drones flying ahead of a crewed fighter, identifying and striking a target before it even gets close.
“These (Fury drones) fly out ahead of manned fighters, and they’re able to find the enemy first, able to engage the enemy well before a manned fighter has to be seen or is in range,” company CEO Brian Schimpf told CBS.
Collaborative Combat Aircraft
Fury is Anduril’s entry into the US Air Force’s Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) program, an initiative to build AI-powered drone wingmen for future sixth-generation jets.
It made its international debut in March at the 2025 Avalon Air Show in Australia and has been officially classified as a Group 5 unmanned aerial system, weighing over 1,320 pounds.
Fury runs on a single Williams FJ44-4M turbofan engine and can reach speeds close to Mach 1 while climbing up to 50,000 feet (15,240 meters).
Under the hood, it is powered by Anduril’s Lattice software, an AI-driven system that enables advanced data processing by fusing data from onboard and external sensors.
The aircraft cleared critical design review in late 2024, bringing it closer to flight testing and official deployment.
Once it enters service, the drone is set to carry the official US military designation, “YFQ-44A.”
https://nextgendefense.com/anduril-fighter-drone-fury/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f3EtEYE8QWE
https://twitter.com/PalmerLuckey/status/1924254257827696731
Berkeley to close Cesar Chavez Park Tuesday and Wednesday as a drone tests for methane leaks
May 19, 2025, 4:58 p.m.
Cesar Chavez Park will be fully closed for two days this week as Berkeley flies a drone over the landfill-turned-park to test if toxic gas is leaking into the air.
The waterfront park will be closed on Tuesday, May 20, and Wednesday, May 21, “while a drone does a regulator-required aerial survey” of the former landfill, according to a one-sentence notice posted on the city’s website.
Other parts of the Berkeley Marina will be closed for “no longer than 30 minutes” on a “rolling closure basis” Wednesday and Thursday, according to the city.
The testing is being mandated by the Bay Area Air District, which previously alleged Berkeley mismanaged methane in the old landfill buried under Cesar Chavez Park, allowing some of the toxic gas to leak into the atmosphere.
The city agreed to pay $130,000 in fines for the violations in April 2024.
Ralph Borrmann, a spokesperson for the air district, said the drone survey is a requirement of an abatement order from February 2024, which asks the city to prove landfill gas is not leaking out of the Berkeley Landfill and not migrating to surrounding areas.
Martin Nicolaus, a retired attorney who volunteers as the CEO of the Cesar Chavez Park Conservancy, wrote in a blog post Sunday that SCS Engineers — the firm Berkeley has long contracted with for landfill maintenance — has for years tested for possible methane leaks without needing to close the park: by having an employee roll a “sniffer device approximately two inches off the ground on a 100-foot grid pattern.”
A scan using this method was completed in April and found methane levels to be safe, Nicolaus wrote, though Berkeleyside has not been able to independently verify.
The city taped paper notices of the closures this week to A-frames placed around the Berkeley Marina, though as of late Monday afternoon, it had not alerted residents in its newsletters.
The notice cites “public safety” as the reason for the closure.
City offices were closed Monday for Malcolm X’s birthday, and city spokespeople did not immediately respond to Berkeleyside’s requests to comment for this story.
Scott Ferris, the city’s parks director, said questions about the landfill should be directed to the city’s public works department or the city spokesperson.
Claudia Kawczynska, a frequent park-goer and vice chair of the city’s parks and waterfront commission, said she believed the signs were put up several days ago.
“They didn’t give us much previous notice,” she said, noting she was not speaking on behalf of the commission.
The impacted areas for the rolling closures Wednesday and Thursday will include Spinnaker Way (and the circular turnaround at its west end), the DoubleTree Hotel and parking lots, the Dry Boat Storage Area, the parking lots for Docks D and E, the Public Boat Launch and Parking Lot, the Berkeley Marine Center, the Kite Shop, and Model Sailing School and Club, according to the notice.
Berkeley briefly closed sections of Cesar Chavez Park last fall as UC Berkeley nuclear engineering experts flew a drone to measure radiation levels in the park.
The testing, which was mandated by the San Francisco Regional Water Quality Control Board after archival documents emerged showing that a chemical company may have dumped 11,100 pounds of potentially toxic industrial waste there in the 1960s and ’70s, found normal radiation levels at the park’s surface.
https://www.berkeleyside.org/2025/05/19/cesar-chavez-park-closure-drone-methane-test-landfill
McMinnville’s out-of-this-world parade
May 20, 2025
Almost every parade I have ever covered as a journalist begins with a police escort.
The same was true for the 2025 UFO Festival Parade in McMinnville, the seat of Oregon’s Wine Country, on Saturday, May 17.
What used to be a sleepy little town in rural Yamhill County became one of the epicenters for UFO aficionados after the local paper printed a photo in 1950 of what was allegedly a flying saucer spotted in the evening sky above the Trent farm, just outside of McMinnville in the small rural community of Sheridan.
The photos made a big splash across the country, with Life magazine and many newspapers reprinting them.
The incident was investigated by the Air Forces’ UFO-investigating Project Blue Book, and was included in the “Scientific Study of Unidentified Flying Objects” report, nicknamed the Condon Report.
At the time the report was written it was concluded that the Trent’s sighting was a real UFO. The report was later discredited.
It is still considered one of the most famous UFO sightings in the country.
The festival is sponsored by the McMenamins chain, which owns The Hotel Oregon. The historic hotel is in the center of the downtown area on Third Street, and isalso the center of the celebration.
The hotel was built in 1905 and was a staple of the community at the time of the sighting. The parade is sponsored by the McMinnville Downtown Association.
McMenamins brings in UFO experts and hosts an assortment of entertainments, but the highlight for locals and area communities is the parade.
The event often draws folks from all over the state and nation. It is a favorite event for Portland and Salem day-trippers.
The parade is an opportunity for everyone to get their alien freak on, and do they. It includes an assortment of villains and heroes from just about every sci-fi universe with a fandom.
The standouts are always the stans, serious uber fans of fandoms, who usually take their cosplay to the next level. Star Wars, Star Trek, and Men in Black are some of the most represented sci-fi universes.
Just as fun are the imaginative made-up costumes and creatures, which draw from just about anything for inspiration. It is an opportunity to get creative and share that creation with the world at large.
Once the parade is over the sidewalks and street become a peacock walk as everyone in costume struts about showing off their costumes.
As things slowly return to nearly normal, folks head home to where they will spend the night looking up at the sky.
https://www.orartswatch.org/mcminnvilles-out-of-this-world-parade/
UAP EP 132 Ashton Forbes part 1 – Brand New Evidence on the Disappearance of MH370
May 20, 2025
Did Ashton Forbes just discover the definitive truth behind the disappearance of Malaysian Airlines flight 370?
Get ready to hear the names “Gorgon Stare” and “Sierra Nevada Corp” as Stephen Diener brings Ashton back on the show for what might be their most revealing interview yet.
Also, listen as Ashton makes a real time discovery during the interview that could prove once and for all that the orb teleportation video might actually be real!
https://www.1057thepoint.com/episode/uap-ep-132-ashton-forbes-part-1-brand-new-evidence-on-the-disappearance-of-mh370/
https://www.youtube.com/@UAPodcast/
https://www.youtube.com/@JustXAshton
https://x.com/JustXAshton
Ex-ambassador’s astonishing UFO tales of 1962 wither under scrutiny
May 20, 2025 5:45 am
As former Ambassador Harald Malmgren told it, his adventures in 1962 would have put to shame the young Jack Ryan of fiction.
Before his death on Feb. 13 at age 89, Malmgren said in multiple interviews that in 1962, when he was 27 with a doctorate in economics, he was personally recruited by President John F. Kennedy’s national security adviser, McGeorge Bundy.
He said he was then immediately assigned to serve as Defense Secretary Robert McNamara’s personal liaison to the National Security Council.
As McNamara’s representative, he faced down Gen. Curtis LeMay in a Pentagon war room at the height of the Cuban Missile Crisis, averting a nuclear catastrophe.
Malmgren further asserted that he had held an unlimited Q security clearance from the Atomic Energy Commission, and that so empowered, he had investigated on Kennedy’s behalf a nonhuman unidentified flying object, knocked down by the Oct. 26, 1962, Bluegill Triple Prime nuclear test and recovered by the AEC.
Malmgren said he went to Los Alamos, New Mexico, and personally handled UFO pieces. Malmgren also said he was “an accepted inner circle person” in the Kennedy family, close with Sargent Shriver, the president’s brother-in-law.
Malmgren carried an air of credibility because he held influential positions during the Nixon and Ford administrations, albeit in the specialized area of trade policy.
From 1972 to 1975, he served as the Senate-confirmed deputy special representative for trade negotiations, with the rank of ambassador. After that, he worked for decades as a consultant, lobbyist, think tank expert, college professor, and lecturer.
Despite that respectable pedigree, my four-month journalistic investigation found that Malmgren’s claims about his purported high-level 1962-64 associations and extraordinary tasks were brazen fabrications.
I have now published on my free blog, Mirador, a 20,000-word article comparing 10 specific Malmgren claims to the historical record, embedding much of the primary contemporary documentation that I uncovered.
None of Malmgren’s marvelous claims emerged intact from this scrutiny.
In response to my FOIA request, the National Archives and Records Administration declassified key documents from Malmgren’s 1970-71 FBI files.
I also obtained Malmgren’s complete Official Personnel File, the voluminous documentary record of his federal jobs, including federal job applications and histories that Malmgren himself signed and certified in 1963, 1964, and 1970.
The documents dissolved multiple key cornerstones of Malmgren’s tales. They show that Malmgren actually spent 1962-64 working as an unglamorous economics researcher and analyst at the Institute for Defense Analyses, a think tank and Pentagon contractor.
They also show that on Aug. 25, 1971, Malmgren signed and certified under penalties of law a detailed Standard Form 86, Security Investigation Data for Sensitive Position, which the FBI used in a field investigation related to the clearance he needed for his work in the Office of the Special Trade Representative.
Question 27 on that form required Malmgren to list every time he had been the subject of a background investigation by any federal agency.
Malmgren listed four security-clearance background checks, the first being for a 1962 top secret clearance granted by a Navy component — perfectly consistent with his true work history as an IDA economist.
However, Malmgren did not list any AEC security clearance — the key credential claim in his 2024-25 UFO-alien stories. Omitting such an impressive credential from his Form 86 would have been absurdly self-defeating.
It would also have been a federal crime to attempt to conceal such a material fact.
It was Malmgren’s 2024-25 claim to have held an AEC clearance that was the lie.
None of the documents show any evidence of association between Malmgren and Kennedy or his National Security Council, or with Bundy, or with McNamara personally — all great resume-builders had they been real.
Nor could professional archivists or I find such evidence at the NARA facilities in Washington and its Maryland suburbs or at the pertinent NARA-affiliated presidential libraries.
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https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/op-eds/3415987/harald-malmgren-ufo-tales-1962-wither-under-scrutiny/
https://www.geopolitica.institute/hal
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09KP8XVf5nY (Jesse Michels - Presidential Advisor: “I Directly Handled UFO Material” (Ft. Harald Malmgren - Apr 22, 2025)
Ex-ambassador’s astonishing UFO tales of 1962 wither under scrutiny
May 20, 2025 5:45 am
As former Ambassador Harald Malmgren told it, his adventures in 1962 would have put to shame the young Jack Ryan of fiction.
Before his death on Feb. 13 at age 89, Malmgren said in multiple interviews that in 1962, when he was 27 with a doctorate in economics, he was personally recruited by President John F. Kennedy’s national security adviser, McGeorge Bundy.
He said he was then immediately assigned to serve as Defense Secretary Robert McNamara’s personal liaison to the National Security Council.
As McNamara’s representative, he faced down Gen. Curtis LeMay in a Pentagon war room at the height of the Cuban Missile Crisis, averting a nuclear catastrophe.
Malmgren further asserted that he had held an unlimited Q security clearance from the Atomic Energy Commission, and that so empowered, he had investigated on Kennedy’s behalf a nonhuman unidentified flying object, knocked down by the Oct. 26, 1962, Bluegill Triple Prime nuclear test and recovered by the AEC.
Malmgren said he went to Los Alamos, New Mexico, and personally handled UFO pieces. Malmgren also said he was “an accepted inner circle person” in the Kennedy family, close with Sargent Shriver, the president’s brother-in-law.
Malmgren carried an air of credibility because he held influential positions during the Nixon and Ford administrations, albeit in the specialized area of trade policy.
From 1972 to 1975, he served as the Senate-confirmed deputy special representative for trade negotiations, with the rank of ambassador. After that, he worked for decades as a consultant, lobbyist, think tank expert, college professor, and lecturer.
Despite that respectable pedigree, my four-month journalistic investigation found that Malmgren’s claims about his purported high-level 1962-64 associations and extraordinary tasks were brazen fabrications.
I have now published on my free blog, Mirador, a 20,000-word article comparing 10 specific Malmgren claims to the historical record, embedding much of the primary contemporary documentation that I uncovered.
None of Malmgren’s marvelous claims emerged intact from this scrutiny.
In response to my FOIA request, the National Archives and Records Administration declassified key documents from Malmgren’s 1970-71 FBI files.
I also obtained Malmgren’s complete Official Personnel File, the voluminous documentary record of his federal jobs, including federal job applications and histories that Malmgren himself signed and certified in 1963, 1964, and 1970.
The documents dissolved multiple key cornerstones of Malmgren’s tales. They show that Malmgren actually spent 1962-64 working as an unglamorous economics researcher and analyst at the Institute for Defense Analyses, a think tank and Pentagon contractor.
They also show that on Aug. 25, 1971, Malmgren signed and certified under penalties of law a detailed Standard Form 86, Security Investigation Data for Sensitive Position, which the FBI used in a field investigation related to the clearance he needed for his work in the Office of the Special Trade Representative.
Question 27 on that form required Malmgren to list every time he had been the subject of a background investigation by any federal agency.
Malmgren listed four security-clearance background checks, the first being for a 1962 top secret clearance granted by a Navy component — perfectly consistent with his true work history as an IDA economist.
However, Malmgren did not list any AEC security clearance — the key credential claim in his 2024-25 UFO-alien stories. Omitting such an impressive credential from his Form 86 would have been absurdly self-defeating.
It would also have been a federal crime to attempt to conceal such a material fact.
It was Malmgren’s 2024-25 claim to have held an AEC clearance that was the lie.
None of the documents show any evidence of association between Malmgren and Kennedy or his National Security Council, or with Bundy, or with McNamara personally — all great resume-builders had they been real.
Nor could professional archivists or I find such evidence at the NARA facilities in Washington and its Maryland suburbs or at the pertinent NARA-affiliated presidential libraries.
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Shriver’s son, Mark Kennedy Shriver; the head of the Shriver Foundation, Lucy di Rosa; and his biographer, Scott Stossel, all knew nothing of Malmgren. Kai Bird, author of an acclaimed biography on Bundy and his brother, told me, “Sorry, I never heard of him.”
Sheldon M. Stern, the chief historian from 1977 to 2000 at the Kennedy Presidential Library and the author of three books on the Cuban Missile Crisis, told me, “Malmgren’s claim to have been appointed as ‘liaison between McNamara and McGeorge Bundy and JFK’ is ludicrous.
There is no such record at the JFK Library on tape or on paper.”
Tall tales such as those told by Malmgren are not innocent fun.
Malmgren hijacked the personas of real people to serve as characters in his self-glorifying fantasies — McNamara, Bundy, Shriver, and LeMay, among others.
He put words into the mouths of these men that they never said and imputed to them actions that they never took.
Richard Bissell, a leader of the early CIA, suffered the worst misuse at Malmgren’s hands, as Malmgren attributed to him corroboration of various unsubstantiated UFO-alien stories, including a tale of an alien survivor of the 1947 Roswell incident.
Some of the Malmgren claims are now receiving wide exposure in certain quarters. A final interview, issued as a 3-hour, 49-minute video by YouTube channel owner Jesse Michels on April 22, drew over 650,000 views in less than a month.
Ross Coulthart of the NewsNation network has repeatedly and enthusiastically promoted Malmgren’s claimed credentials and adventure tales without any evident attempt at serious fact checking. Others are similarly engaged.
In a recent controversy over Malmgren’s Wikipedia profile, Michels suggested that it was “shameless” for editors to challenge Malmgren’s claims because Malmgren “can’t defend himself.”
The premise is absurd, antithetical to fundamental requirements of historical research and investigative journalism.
Malmgren’s claims, if true, would have the most profound public policy implications, including his claims that the U.S. government gained possession of nonhuman craft in 1933, 1947, 1962, and perhaps other times, with the corollary that the government has lied about this for decades.
That would be important, if true. When the allegations are that serious, the credibility of the person making them is the first test — and it deserves serious scrutiny before such claims are publicly embraced and widely disseminated.
Yet, this is far from the first time that the credibility of persons making similar claims has collapsed under a modicum of sustained scrutiny.
I have personally investigated three other such cases, all of which proved beyond a reasonable doubt to be hoaxes, including the shoddy “Trinity UFO crash” hoax that ufology icon Jacques Vallee continues to promote.
The enthusiastic audience for exciting made-up stories appears to outstrip the demand for the products of tedious, time-consuming fact-checks.
I’d be delighted if it were definitively revealed that the government actually has alien craft squirreled away, although I would also be very unhappy that officials had lied about it for so long.
But if a claimant cannot produce old-fashioned evidence, such as contemporary documents of unquestionable authenticity, videos of impeccable provenance, hardware, or the like, he had better at least be able to prove, for starters, that he was who and where he claimed to be.
Malmgren flunked that test. Badly. Those who promote his fabrications do a disservice both to their audiences and to the real people whom he cast as cardboard cutouts in his egocentric fan fiction.
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Part Car, Part UFO, the IAD Venus Was All Concept
19 May 2025
It looked as though it had crash-landed from outer space, but then the International Automotive Design Venus was apparently inspired by science fiction.
IAD’s design director, Alan Jackson, told Autocar in April 1990: “I can imagine a Stephen King movie and a small American town closing down for the night.
A guy comes home in his Venus and puts it in the garage for the night. Then he goes to bed. In the silence of the garage echo all the creaks and noises that a car makes when it cools down.
Then I can imagine Venus coming to life. It’s a creature, this car, and it goes out into the town, then returns to the garage before daybreak.”
Quite. It’s hard to believe that beneath the car’s sci-fi exterior lay the foundations of a Lotus Esprit—engine, steering, suspension, and all.
The team that produced it, designer Michael Ani (pronounced Arni), design engineer Charles Nurse, and lead clay modeler Steve Manko, created the initial 1:1-scale mock-up in time for the November 1989 Tokyo motor show.
Theirs had been a simple-sounding brief: to create a sports car of the future. And by future, we mean 40 or 50 years down the line.
rejected other ideas, not least a “four-wheel motorcycle” (a sort of freakishly modern Lotus Seven) and a four-seater Paris-Dakar–type off-roader-cum-super coupe, they came up with this.
The first running prototype was completed by the time the 1990 Turin Motor Show rolled around, just three months after the big reveal in Japan.
Underpinning it was an Esprit that was left largely unmodified save for the front box-section crossmember, which was changed to ensure the body dovetailed into it.
The fiberglass body featured scissor doors and shrouds that covered all four wheels, while each flank bulged outward like a bloated insect. The A-pillars were shaped like “… mandibles of a giant ant.”
Inside, it was no less out there; even if the analog instruments appeared a little low-tech, the steering wheel and pedals were telescopically adjustable.
Not only that, a large switch purportedly activated a clutch-less gear-change system similar to the Valeo set-up found on the works Lancia Delta rally cars.
Obviously, it didn’t actually activate anything; this was a concept car, after all. But it did foretell the sort of fingertip gear-change arrangements we are so accustomed to nowadays.
The Venus was 157.5 inches long and 76.8 inches wide, while the front and rear track were both 66.1 inches.
Lotus apparently contributed the rolling chassis, complete with a normally aspirated 2.2-liter, 16-valve four-cylinder engine, but its involvement was otherwise minimal.
As for whether the Venus succeeded in its mission, it racked up plenty of column inches in period, and not just in the specialist press. For IAD, that was all that mattered.
For obvious reasons, there was never any talk of the Venus entering even limited production. “I would be kidding you if I were to say it might,” Jackson admitted. “It’s simply a concept designed to show what we can do here.”
Based in Worthing, south of London on the English Channel, IAD employed 1300 people at the time, and its turnover in 1989 was an impressive £47M (roughly $73M).
The once highly respected consultancy was even bestowed with a Queen’s Award for Export and Industry in that era.
IAD worked for several major automotive brands, often below the radar (much of the first Mazda Miata, for example, was penned there).
Unfortunately, IAD hit the skids during the early 1990s recession, and its assets were eventually sold to Daewoo.
As to what happened to the Venus subsequently, your guess is as good as ours.
A dusty border town after dark somewhere in the U.S. is perhaps as good a place to look as any.
https://www.hagerty.com/media/automotive-history/part-car-part-ufo-the-iad-venus-was-all-concept/
Stunning Ancient Artifacts Show Impossible Engineering Way Ahead of their Time
May 19, 2025
David Hatcher Childress presents a compelling argument in this cinematic exploration, uncovering stunning global clues—massive stone blocks in Baalbek, stargate-like doorways in Peru, and precision-cut ruins in Egypt—that hint at an advanced and forgotten chapter of human history.
From 1,000-ton megaliths to interdimensional portals and subterranean UFO bases, this video challenges the official narrative and invites you to dive deep into the sacred, the strange, and the suppressed.
00:00 – The Megalithic Marvel of Baalbek
04:30 – The Mystery of the Devil’s Door / Door of Amaru Muru
07:00 – Ancient Engineering: Keystone Clamps and Megablocks
10:30 – The Sphinx and Lost Egyptian Temples
14:00 – Atlantean Architecture: Osirion and Cusco Stonework
18:00 – Global Megalithic Connections: Peru, Egypt, Japan
22:00 – Hidden Portals and Stargates in the Andes
27:00 – Tiahuanaco and Subterranean Secrets
32:00 – UFOs and Underwater Bases in Lake Titicaca
36:30 – Puma Punku: Impossible Stone Cuts
41:00 – Suppressed Truths and Mainstream Archaeological Denial
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zCib85xDyck
https://www.youtube.com/@AdventuresUnlimited