TYB
NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day
January 11, 2026
M104: The Sombrero Galaxy in Infrared
This floating ring is the size of a galaxy. In fact, it is a galaxy – or at least part of one: the photogenic Sombrero Galaxy, one of the largest galaxies in the nearby Virgo Cluster of Galaxies. The dark band of dust that obscures the mid-section of the Sombrero Galaxy in visible light actually glows brightly in infrared light. The featured image, digitally sharpened, shows the infrared glow, recently recorded by the orbiting Spitzer Space Telescope, superposed in false-color on an existing image taken by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope in visible light. The Sombrero Galaxy, also known as M104, spans about 50,000 light years and lies 28 million light years away. M104 can be seen with a small telescope in the direction of the constellation Virgo.
https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html
Magnetic Fields in Space, Solar Storm, Earthquake | S0 News and frens
Jan.11.2026
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GEkkrijhisI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bGfzs1lESx8 (Ray's Astrophotography: LIVE: The Sun Right Now ☀️ | Backyard Solar Imaging (Real-Time)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zwClCMHodDI (Ray's Astrophotography: Planetary Alignment 2026 — What’s Really Happening in the Sky)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yKUgLJFFofs (Stefan Burns: The Grand Solar System Convergence has Begun 💥 M6.4 Earthquake hits Indonesia)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mtDfIvnwJJY (MrMBB333: The REAL truth about Greenland and why its so HOT right now!)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NwQD5Q2jkQA (Chuck's Astrophotography: Live: Let's Capture the "Little Sombrero" Galaxy (NGC 7418))
https://www.ndtv.com/science/isros-aditya-l1-study-reveals-how-october-2024-solar-storm-affected-earths-magnetic-field-10636317
https://x.com/NWSSWPC/status/2010356022443901204
https://x.com/SchumannBotDE/status/2010366464935518384
https://x.com/MrMBB333/status/2010346790768533955
https://x.com/SolarHam/status/2010091591348932816
https://x.com/TamithaSkov/status/2010097366175732030
https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/news/moderate-g2-geomagnetic-storming-expected-10-11-january-2026
https://spaceweather.com/
https://usaherald.com/beyond-earths-borders-how-3i-atlas-and-planetary-defense-are-shaping-u-s-strategy-amid-global-turmoil/3/
https://www.thenews.com.pk/latest/1388027-comet-3iatlas-evidence-suggests-that-interstellar-visitor-is-older-than-the-sun
https://www.ibtimes.co.uk/baba-vanga-2026-alien-horror-comet-3i-atlas-spacecraft-blind-mystic-predicted-1769924
https://theyflyblog.com/2026/01/avi-you-were-presented-with-the-message-of-3i-atlas-in-2019/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jw7Y58AzKIs (15 Anomaliies of 3I/ATLAS With Prof. Avi Loeb and Robert Morningstar)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ny2dptEM9T0 (Clif High: 3i Atlas update and its connection to UFOs)
https://x.com/Michael812/status/2010211954485539142
https://x.com/SolarObserverX/status/2010068086175764582
https://x.com/maniaUFO/status/2010244660233412773
Beyond Earth’s Borders: How 3I/ATLAS and Planetary Defense Are Shaping U.S. Strategy Amid Global Turmoil
January 10, 2026
In a world roiled by geopolitical flashpoints and military brinkmanship, a cosmic wildcard has emerged as an unlikely but increasingly influential factor in U.S. and global defense strategy: the interstellar object known as 3I/ATLAS.
Spotted streaking through the solar system last year by NASA’s Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS) telescope — itself a cornerstone of Earth’s planetary defense architecture — 3I/ATLAS has captivated scientists and defense policymakers alike.
Though it poses no physical danger to Earth, its mere presence has catalyzed a new era of preparedness and international cooperation on planetary defense.
Cosmic Visitor Meets Terrestrial Conflict
The political landscape this month was dominated by the United States’ bold military operation that resulted in the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, an action that drew fierce reactions from capitals around the world.
European and NATO allies were among those offering support or measured responses, while numerous governments in Africa, Asia, and Latin America condemned the U.S. strikes as violations of international law.
Amid this geopolitical turbulence, many defense strategists are asking a provocative question: Can planetary defense — the monitoring of cosmic threats — become as central to national security strategy as conventional force projection?
For the Biden era and now the Trump administration, the implications are profound. Trump, having championed heightened defense spending and assertive international posture, has signaled ambitions to expand U.S. military and space capabilities beyond traditional theaters of war — and “beyond the atmosphere,” according to administration advisers.
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Discovered on July 1, 2025, 3I/ATLAS is only the third confirmed interstellar object known to pass through our solar system — and it was swiftly integrated into planetary defense exercises under the auspices of the United Nations and the International Asteroid Warning Network (IAWN).
Though classified as a comet by NASA and ESA scientists, the object’s unusual trajectory and interstellar origin have spurred unprecedented global drills and observation campaigns.
The U.N.’s latest planetary defense exercise — running through January 2026 — uses 3I/ATLAS as a live test case, drawing coordinated participation from space agencies and defense institutions around the world.
“This object is a reminder that security is not just terrestrial,” said a senior planetary defense official during a recent briefing. “We can’t predict every threat, but we can prepare to detect and respond to them collaboratively.”
Indeed, agencies across Europe, Asia, and the Americas have synchronized telescope networks and analytical resources to track and study the interstellar object — a level of cooperation usually reserved for climate monitoring or nuclear nonproliferation initiatives.
Strategic Implications for U.S. Defense Planning
For the U.S., this cosmic focus dovetails with broader defense ambitions.
The Pentagon’s emerging doctrine — one quietly gaining traction in classified planning circles — incorporates space-based threat surveillance, rapid global missile tracking, and planetary defense readiness into the same strategic framework that governs nuclear deterrence and advanced conventional force posture.
Trump advisers, according to defense sources, see planetary defense infrastructure as dual-use: tools and networks developed for asteroid tracking could be repurposed for early missile detection, hypersonic tracking, and command-and-control resilience.
Planetary defense observatories and space-domain awareness platforms are now discussed in conjunction with U.S. Space Command priorities, suggesting a blending of scientific and strategic missions.
Critics warn this approach could blur lines between scientific cooperation and militarization of space observation systems.
But proponents argue that planetary defense efforts such as ATLAS and IAWN provide a rare platform for shared global security interests — even among adversarial governments.
A Broader Vision of Defense?
“Earth’s safety doesn’t end at the atmosphere,” explained a former NASA official on background.
“We are learning that the technologies we develop to monitor the sky for cometary visitors also enhance our capacity to track any object, celestial or man-made, that enters our neighborhood.”
As 3I/ATLAS recedes into the outer solar system and beyond, scientists and strategists alike say its legacy could be a more integrated planetary defense posture — one that reshapes how nations think about security, sovereignty, and cooperation in an era where threats may come from Earth and the stars.
Whether this alignment of space science and national security becomes a cornerstone of 21st-century defense policy remains to be seen. But as global tensions persist, and as technological frontiers expand, the conversation about planetary defense is unlikely to fade.
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>>24105744 lb
NASA’s Pandora Mission, CubeSats Launch
January 11, 2026
NASA’s Pandora small satellite is preparing to launch to low Earth orbit, where it will study exoplanet atmospheres and their stars.
Pandora is part of the Twilight rideshare mission with SpaceX and is set to launch aboard the company’s Falcon 9 rocket.
SpaceX is targeting launch at 8:44 a.m. EST (5:44 a.m. PST) today from Space Launch Complex 4 East at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.
A live webcast of this mission will begin at 8:30 a.m. , watch the launch coverage here.
Pandora will examine at least 20 exoplanets, which are worlds outside our solar system, previously discovered by missions including NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, Kepler, and TESS (Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite), along with their host stars.
Pandora’s observations will build on these discoveries by determining whether a planet’s atmosphere contains hazes, clouds, or water, or whether the signals of those substances come from the star.
It will conduct long, continuous observations as the planets orbit their respective host stars, simultaneously collecting visible and near-infrared light. This data will help researchers distinguish between information about the planet and the star.
The data Pandora collects will help interpret measurements from Webb and future missions. Two NASA-sponsored CubeSats will launch with Pandora and other commercial payloads.
The first is NASA’s SPARCS (Star-Planet Activity Research CubeSat), led by Arizona State University in Tempe, and the second is BlackCAT (Black Hole Coded Aperture Telescope), built and operated at Pennsylvania State University in University Park, funded by NASA’s Astrophysics Research and Analysis program.
The SPARCS CubeSat, supported by Maverick Space Systems, is a telescope about the size and shape of a shoebox that will use thermal infrared cameras to study coronal mass ejections on small stars, aiming to understand how these eruptions impact exoplanet atmospheres.
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California also participates in the mission.
NASA’s BlackCAT, also supported by Exolaunch, is an X-ray telescope on a CubeSat platform that will observe X-ray flares from active galaxies with supermassive black holes as well as gamma-ray bursts, the most powerful explosions in the cosmos.
In addition to nearby short gamma-ray bursts that may accompany space-time ripples called gravitational waves, BlackCAT also will study rare and bright bursts from the early universe.
The agency’s CubeSat Launch Initiative (CSLI) selected SPARCS in 2022 for a ride to orbit.
The initiative is a low-cost pathway for conducting scientific investigations and technology demonstrations in space, enabling students, teachers, and faculty to gain hands-on experience with flight hardware design, development, and building.
The CubeSat is manifested as part of the Educational Launch of Nanosatellites (ELaNa) 60 launch grouping.
NASA awarded the launch services for the Pandora mission through its VADR (Venture-Class Acquisition of Dedicated and Rideshare) contract. NASA’s Launch Services Program, based at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, manages the CSLI and VADR contracts, which support agency efforts to facilitate new options for science and technology payloads and foster a growing U.S. commercial launch market.
https://www.nasa.gov/blogs/smallsatellites/2026/01/11/nasas-pandora-mission-cubesats-ready-for-flight/
https://www.nasa.gov/blogs/smallsatellites/2026/01/11/welcome-to-launch-day-for-nasas-pandora-mission-cubesats/
https://www.nasa.gov/blogs/smallsatellites/2026/01/11/liftoff-of-nasas-newest-planet-observing-satellite/
https://www.spacex.com/launches/twilight
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XtFHJJQH0Aw
NASA Marshall Removes Two Historic Test Stands
Jan 11, 2026
On Jan. 10, two test stands at NASA Marshall – the Propulsion and Structural Test Facility and the Dynamic Test Facility – were removed by carefully coordinated implosions.
The demolition of these historic structures is part of a larger project that began in spring 2022, targeting several inactive structures and building a dynamic, interconnected campus ready for the next era of space exploration.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-HIPpPKIhc
https://x.com/NASA_Marshall/status/2010091110987682169
https://www.nasa.gov/centers-and-facilities/marshall/nasa-marshall-prepares-for-demolition-of-historic-test-simulation-facilities/
Change of Command of International Space Station to Occur
January 10, 2026
NASA will provide live coverage of the International Space Station change of command ceremony starting at 2:35 p.m. EST Monday, Jan. 12. on NASA+, Amazon Prime, and the agency’s YouTube channel.
As Crew-11 prepares to depart from the space station, NASA astronaut Mike Fincke will hand command of Expedition 74 aboard the orbital complex to Roscosmos cosmonaut Sergey Kud-Sverchkov.
Following Crew-11’s departure on Wednesday, Jan. 14, NASA astronaut Zena Cardman and Fincke, JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Kimiya Yui, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Platonov will splash down off the coast of California at approximately 3:40 a.m. on Thursday, Jan. 15. NASA and SpaceX are reviewing weather conditions in the splashdown zones, which currently are favorable for return.
On Jan. 8, NASA announced its decision to return the agency’s SpaceX Crew-11 mission to Earth from the space station earlier than originally planned as teams monitor a medical concern with a crew member currently living and working aboard the orbital laboratory, who is stable.
Due to medical privacy, it is not appropriate for NASA to share more details about the crew member.
NASA will share more details about its coverage plans in the coming days.
https://www.nasa.gov/blogs/spacestation/2026/01/10/change-of-command-of-international-space-station-to-occur/
ICE ICE Baby 😎
https://x.com/DrClownPhD/status/2010039656700936400
Thomas Kent Carter, Space Jam star, dies at 69
Updated on: 11 Jan 2026, 6:25 am
Veteran actor Thomas Kent Carter, who has worked in projects like Space Jam, Doctor Detroit, and The Thing, has died at the age of 69.
According to a report by The Hollywood Reporter, Carter's publicist, Tony Freeman, said the actor was found dead at his residence in Duarte, California, USA.
Freeman also shared a heartfelt tribute on social media, remembering Carter as "a consummate professional and a genuine soul whose talent transcended genres".
Freeman also wrote that, "He brought laughter, truth and humanity to every role he touched. His legacy will continue to inspire generations of artists and fans alike."
Carter was born on December 14, 1956, in New York City; he began his career early as a stand-up comedian at the age of 12.
He made his acting debut in Police Woman in 1976, which helped gain him attention among the people. A breakthrough made him play the guest roles in Good Times and Quincy, M.E.
Carter also features in films such as The Thing (1982), where he played Naul, a skating chef in the horror film, as well as television series such as The Steve Harvey Show, Just Our Luck, Turbo Teen, Runaway Train, Ski Patrol, What a Cartoon, Family Matters, He's My Girl and many others.
He voiced characters for Monstar Nawt in Space Jam. The veteran actor last appeared on the 2023 American drama series The Company You Keep, in which he featured for only three episodes.
Thomas Kent Carter is survived by his wife, Janet Carter. He also has a biological son, Thomas Scott, who was later adopted by Bryon Scott.
https://www.cinemaexpress.com/english/news/2026/Jan/11/thomas-kent-carter-space-jam-star-dies-at-69
'A completely new manufacturing frontier': Space Forge fires up 1st commercial semiconductor factory in space
January 11, 2026
In-orbit manufacturing start-up Space Forge has produced its first plasma in orbit aboard the ForgeStar-1 satellite. It's a world first and a major step toward the company's vision of making novel semiconductors in space, which could revolutionize future electronic technologies.
UK-based Space Forge launched its pioneering ForgeStar-1 craft in June 2025 and has been bringing it to life since. In December 2025, the microwave oven-sized satellite fired up its miniature furnace for the first time and generated plasma — a stream of gas as hot as 1,832 degrees Fahrenheit (1,000 degrees Celsius).
In future missions, such plasma will help SpaceForge forge super efficient, out-of-this-world materials in weightlessness.
"Generating plasma on orbit represents a fundamental shift, it proves that the essential environment for advanced crystal growth can be achieved on a dedicated, commercial satellite — opening the door to a completely new manufacturing frontier," Joshua Western, CEO and co-founder of Space Forge said in a statement.
SpaceForge, founded in 2018, plans to use a similar furnace on a future satellite to manufacture a batch of novel semiconductors directly in the weightless environment of space. Such experiments have previously only been conducted aboard the International Space Station.
"The plasma demonstration confirms that the extreme conditions needed for gas-phase crystal growth — a core building block of semiconductor production — can now be created and controlled on an autonomous platform in low Earth orbit," the company said in the statement.
"The achievement establishes ForgeStar-1 as the first free-flying commercial semiconductor manufacturing tool ever operated in space."
Thanks to the absence of gravity, atoms in semiconductors grown in space align so accurately that the resulting material provides a superior performance to anything made on Earth.
Space Forge estimates that the improved efficiency of these semiconductors could enable reductions in the energy use of electronic devices by up to 60 percent.
The semiconductors, based on rare materials such as gallium nitride, silicon carbide or diamond, could be used in future telecommunications systems, electronic devices and next-generation computers.
The current ForgeStar-1 will only test the orbital factory equipment. The satellite will deorbit and burn up in the atmosphere later this year. Before its mission ends, the craft will run more experiments to analyze how the generated plasma behaves in microgravity and collect data to help the company's engineers fine-tune the future missions.
Space Forge raised a generous Series A funding round of £22.6 million ($30.5 million) last year that will allow the company to build the successor satellite ForgeStar-2, which will make the first batch of Space Forge's made-in-space semiconductors.
The spacecraft will be fitted with a novel heat shield to survive the atmospheric return and deliver its precious cargo safely to Earth.
https://www.space.com/space-exploration/a-completely-new-manufacturing-frontier-space-forge-fires-up-1st-commercial-semiconductor-factory-in-space
https://www.spaceforge.com/news/space-forge-ignites-a-new-industrial-era-delivering-world-first-capability-for-orbital-semiconductor-manufacturing
Watch India launch advanced military satellite on rocket's 1st flight since May 2025 failure
January 11, 2026
A powerful Indian rocket will return to flight tonight (Jan. 11), and you can watch its bounceback mission live.
A PSLV rocket carrying the EOS-N1 military satellite and 15 other payloads is scheduled to lift off from India's Satish Dhawan Space Centre tonight at 11:47 p.m. EST (0447 GMT and 10:17 a.m. India Standard Time on Jan. 12).
You can watch it live here at Space.com, courtesy of the Indian Space Research Organisation, or directly via ISRO. Coverage will start 30 minutes before launch.
The PSLV (Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle) is a four-stage rocket that debuted in 1993. Tonight's mission will be its first since a May 2025 failure that resulted in the loss of ISRO's EOS-09 Earth-observing satellite.
That was the third failure for the 145.7-foot-tall (44.4 meters) PSLV out of 63 total liftoffs.
The rocket has successfully lofted a number of high-profile payloads during its three decades of operation, including the Chandrayaan-1 moon probe in October 2008, the Mars Orbiter Mission in November 2013 and, in September 2023, Aditya-L1, India's first dedicated sun-studying spacecraft.
EOS-N1, also known as Anvesha, is a small Earth-observation satellite. Multiple sources identify it as a hyperspectral imaging satellite, meaning it will study our planet in hundreds of different wavelengths of light. And it will likely do so for the Indian military.
"The satellite will constantly scan the Earth's surface, sending back images that can generate valuable intelligence," wrote The Tribune, an English-language daily paper based in northern India.
"It will join India’s growing family of spy satellites that use radar and optical technology," the outlet added. "India has an active program to develop a fleet of military satellites for surveillance and communication."
The other payloads riding the PSLV tonight are a diverse bunch. Among them are a Thai-U.K. Earth-observing satellite, a Brazilian satellite designed to help distressed fishing boats, an in-orbit fueling demonstration by an Indian company and a reentry capsule from the Spanish startup Orbital Paradigm.
All of the payloads will head to low Earth orbit tonight except the reentry capsule, which is known as KID (Kestrel Initial technology Demonstrator).
It will separate from the PSLV's fourth stage late in the flight and come back to Earth for a splashdown in the South Pacific.
Tonight's mission will be the ninth organized by NewSpace India Limited, ISRO's commercial arm.
https://www.space.com/space-exploration/launches-spacecraft/india-eos-n1-military-satellite-15-payloads-pslv-launch
https://www.isro.gov.in/Mission_PSLV_C62.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GgYh2Vv87ik
US to secure $800bn in Ukraine reconstruction contracts – Telegraph
10 Jan, 2026 17:04
Washington and Kiev are preparing to sign an $800 billion agreement to rebuild Ukraine, The Telegraph has reported.
The deal is scheduled to be sealed at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos later this month, Western sources told the newspaper.
The agreement is reportedly structured around the rare earth minerals deal clinched by Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky and US President Donald Trump last year.
The accord grants Washington preferential access to the resources; however, the security guarantees long sought by Kiev are not included.
At the time, Trump promoted the agreement as a way to recover what he described as the massive financial aid provided to Kiev by the previous administration.
Earlier this week, he reiterated that a deal on rare earth metals was a condition for the White House to continue its efforts to peacefully resolve the Ukraine conflict.
“I said that if we want to move forward, we need rare earth metals,” Trump told Fox News on Thursday. “We want our money back.”
Officials told The Telegraph that the “prosperity” plan envisages attracting around $800 billion over ten years through a combination of loans, grants and private-sector investment.
The newspaper noted that US envoy Steve Witkoff called the agreement a crucial part of the overall ceasefire package he has been negotiating for the past few months.
The top state official reportedly said that the world’s largest investment group, BlackRock, would participate in the program.
Trump repeatedly criticized unconditional aid to Kiev in the past, calling Zelensky “the greatest salesman on earth.” Last year, he said his predecessor, Joe Biden, had “fleeced” America by committing $350 billion in military aid to Ukraine.
He has since argued that the US is now profiting from the conflict by sending Ukraine weapons which are being paid for by Washington’s European NATO partners.
Moscow has repeatedly condemned Western arms deliveries to Kiev, arguing that they prolong the fighting without altering its outcome.
https://www.rt.com/russia/630786-us-ukraine-reconstruction-deal/
Ukrainian drones strike Russian apartment blocks
10 Jan, 2026 22:49
Ukrainian kamikaze drones have struck apartment blocks in the Russian city of Voronezh, about 500 km south of Moscow, injuring at least four people, according to regional authorities.
Voronezh Region Governor Aleksandr Gusev said on his Telegram channel on Sunday that seven high-rises and six smaller residential buildings were damaged in the attack, adding that four people were hospitalized.
Gusev also stated that 17 drones were intercepted by air defenses and electronic jamming systems.
Several Telegram news channels reported that residents heard more than 30 explosions in the sky over the city.
On Friday, Ukraine carried out a rocket attack on Russia’s Belgorod Region, leaving nearly 560,000 people without power and many without heat and water. Electricity has since been partially restored, Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said on Saturday.
https://www.rt.com/russia/630795-ukrainian-drones-strike-voronezh/
https://t.me/shot_shot/91089
Ukraine releases footage of night drone strikes on Caspian Sea oil platforms [VIDEO]
11 January 2026 19:34 (UTC+04:00)
Ukrainian forces have released footage showing night raids on offshore oil and gas platforms in the Caspian Sea, part of an escalating campaign to hit Russian energy infrastructure linked to its war effort, according to military sources.
The video, shared by Ukraine’s Special Operations Forces on social media, appears to show strikes on three ice-resistant drilling platforms owned by Russian energy company Lukoil.
The facilities targeted include the V. Filanovsky, Yuri Korchagin and Valery Grayfer installations in the Caspian Sea, the Ukrainian General Staff has confirmed.
Ukraine’s long-range drones struck the platforms during the early hours of the operation, with images showing impacts on key structures.
The strikes came after a series of deep-strike drone attacks on Russian energy infrastructure, including previous hits on oil-production sites in the Caspian and Black Seas.
Officials say the platforms were used to supply fuel and resources supporting Russian military operations, and that the attacks have disrupted production at the affected sites. Independent confirmation of the extent of the damage was not immediately available.
The Caspian strikes represent a continuation of Ukraine’s strategy to target logistical and energy assets far beyond its immediate borders, a campaign Kyiv describes as aimed at reducing Russia’s ability to finance and sustain its invasion.
The release of night-strike footage coincides with renewed tensions across multiple fronts of the conflict, as both sides carry out long-range attacks on each other’s infrastructure and military targets.
https://www.pravda.com.ua/eng/news/2026/01/11/8015547/
other Russia and Ukraine
https://www.pravda.com.ua/eng/news/2026/01/11/8015547/
https://www.ukrinform.net/rubric-ato/4079115-russians-attack-ukraine-with-geran5-combat-drones-for-first-time-intelligence.html
https://www.ukrinform.net/rubric-ato/4079014-assault-troops-show-how-interceptor-drones-protect-logistics-routes-in-pokrovsk-sector.html
https://www.ukrinform.net/rubric-ato/4079009-steel-border-fighters-destroy-five-russian-shelters-with-drones-in-kursk-sector.html
https://militarnyi.com/en/news/russia-uses-new-geran-5-kamikaze-drone-against-ukraine-for-the-first-time/
https://censor.net/en/news/3594869/in-zaporizhzhia-bad-weather-damaged-the-supports-of-anti-drone-tunnels
Iran protests an internal issue but Israel ready to strike back, IDF chief Eyal Zamir believes
Updated: JANUARY 11, 2026 18:36
IDF Chief of Staff Lt-.Gen. Eyal Zamir's view is that the wave of Iranian protests and crackdown by the regime is an internal Iranian matter that does not relate to Israel.
At the same time, over the weekend, Zamir held several regular situation update meetings regarding the developments in Iran.
The IDF is maintaining its highest readiness should the Islamic Republic make good on threats to strike the Jewish state, and continues to work creatively to bring additional new capabilities to the table.
If Iran attacks, Israel will strike back with 'immense power'
If Tehran attacks Israel, the IDF plans to strike back with immense power to ensure the country is safe and secure.
Beyond the ongoing Iranian protests, Israel's defense establishment continues to closely follow Iranian attempts to rebuild their ballistic missile threat against Israel.
There is no expectation of the Islamic Republic reaching a red line more dangerous volume in the near future, but that situation could also change in the coming months if Iran acquires additional technological capabilities.
https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/defense-news/article-882979
https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/idf-said-ready-to-react-to-any-attack-as-chief-of-staff-holds-meetings-on-iran-protests/
https://worldisraelnews.com/report-israel-preparing-for-new-gaza-ground-offensive/
other Israel
https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/idf-launches-2nd-wave-of-strikes-on-hezbollah-sites-in-lebanon-after-evacuation-warning/
https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/idf-strikes-hezbollah-weapons-depots-in-south-lebanon-citing-ceasefire-violations/
https://breakingthenews.net/Article/IDF-strikes-Hezbollah-weapon-storage/65458960
https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/defense-news/article-882991
https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/idf-says-drone-crashed-in-southern-lebanon-due-to-technical-malfunction/
https://www.haaretz.com/west-bank/2026-01-11/ty-article/.premium/idf-kills-palestinian-suspected-of-ramming-attack-later-says-no-evidence-found/0000019b-ac62-d8f9-a3ff-fdfe7fd20000
N. Korean leader's sister calls for explanation from S. Korea over drone incursions
Updated Jan 11, 2026 11:37 am KST
The influential sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has called for Seoul to provide a detailed explanation about recent drone incursions, claiming that the drones from South Korea clearly violated the North's airspace.
Kim Yo-jong, vice department director of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea, made the remarks as South Korea's defense ministry denied Pyongyang's claim about the drone incursions from the South's military, raising the possibility that private entities may have been involved in the alleged drone operations.
"Fortunately, the ROK's military expressed an official stand that it was not done by itself and that it has no intention to provoke or irritate us," Kim said in a statement carried by the North's Korean Central News Agency.
ROK is short for the Republic of Korea, the official name of South Korea.
"But a detail explanation should be made about the actual case of a drone that crossed the southern border of our republic from the ROK," Kim said.
Kim also expressed her personal appreciation that South Korea's defense ministry "took a wise choice" by announcing its official stance of not provoking North Korea when it denied the North's claim.
Kim, however said the drone incursions, whether carried out by the military or civilians, constituted a violation of the North's airspace, warning that Seoul will face terrible consequences if it opts for another provocation.
"Clear is just the fact that the drone from the ROK violated the airspace of our country," Kim said. "If the ROK opts for provocation against us again in the future, it will never be able to deal with the terrible consequences to be entailed by it."
She claimed the video data retrieved from the drones was undeniably related to a uranium mine, the now-suspended inter-Korean joint industrial complex in Kaesong in the North and North Korean border guard posts, demanding an "explanation" from Seoul.
Kim also warned, "If they brand it as a deed of a civilian organization and then try to assert a theory that it is not an infringement upon the sovereignty, they will see a lot of UAVs by the DPRK's civilian organizations."
DPRK means the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, the North's official name.
Kim said the drone infiltrations cemented North Korea's view of South Korea as a "group of hooligans and scrap," marking the first time such explicit language has been used against Seoul since the Lee Jae Myung administration took office.
Lim Eul-chul, a professor at Kyungnam University's Institute for Far Eastern Studies in South Korea, assessed that the statement by the North Korean leader's sister appears aimed at maintaining the regime's stance of portraying Seoul as an "unchanging hostile country" and denying Seoul's peace efforts in order to ratchet up pressure.
https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/foreignaffairs/northkorea/20260111/n-korean-leaders-sister-calls-for-explanation-from-s-korea-over-drone-incursions
Israel planning Gaza City offensive in March, but will need Trump’s okay — officials
January 11, 2026 1:00 am
The Israel Defense Forces has drawn up plans to launch renewed intensive military operations in Gaza in March, with an offensive targeting Gaza City aimed at expanding the part of the Strip controlled by Israel, an Israeli official and an Arab diplomat told The Times of Israel on Saturday.
The comments came as the IDF said three Gazans were killed in military strikes after allegedly approaching troops stationed along the Yellow Line ceasefire demarcation, which would be pushed westward toward the coast under the plan.
The Arab diplomat said that the operation will not be able to go forward without the support of the US, which is still trying to advance the fragile ceasefire reached in October to a second phase that includes Hamas’s disarmament.
While Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agreed during his meeting with Trump last month to cooperate with efforts to advance the ceasefire, he does not believe that they will be successful in disarming Hamas and has accordingly directed the IDF to prepare for a contingency plan, the Arab diplomat said.
On the first day of the ceasefire on October 10, Israeli forces pulled back to the Yellow Line, leaving them in control of roughly 53 percent of the Strip.
The Gaza City operation planned for March would see Israel increase that percentage, the Israeli official and Arab diplomat said. Some details of this planned offensive were first reported by The Wall Street Journal.
Erez Winner, a research fellow at the Israel Center for Grand Strategy, told The Journal that an offensive against Hamas would now be easier for Israel because it no longer has to worry about putting hostages at risk, now that all the living hostages and all but one hostage’s body have been returned.
He added that it would also be easier for Israel to evacuate Palestinians because most of them are living in tents, with one possibility being to bring them to the Israeli-controlled part of the enclave.
“[A new round of fighting in Gaza] will be much faster and easier than people want to believe,” he told The Journal. “It’s adjusting plans we already have to the current situation.”
Possible strategies mentioned by The Journal include an Israeli takeover of Gaza City to induce Hamas to quickly surrender or a slower, piece-by-piece takeover of the entire enclave.
Since the ceasefire, Israel has been launching regular strikes and attacks targeting what it says are terror operatives who breached the ceasefire.
On Saturday, the IDF said it killed three operatives in separate incidents across the Strip after they crossed the Yellow Line and approached Israeli troops, posing what the military described as an immediate threat.
According to the army, forces from the 188th Armored Brigade operating in southern Gaza identified three suspects who breached the ceasefire line.
One of the suspects allegedly attempted to steal IDF equipment before fleeing, and was later killed in an Air Force strike on the Hamas-controlled side of the Yellow Line.
In two additional incidents in northern Gaza, troops from the Gaza Division’s Northern Brigade and the Jerusalem Brigade identified other suspects who had also crossed the Yellow Line and moved toward Israeli forces. The soldiers opened fire, killing two of them, the IDF said.
The military said its Southern Command forces remain deployed in the area in accordance with the existing terms of the ceasefire and will continue to act to remove any immediate threat.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/israel-planning-new-gaza-city-op-in-march-but-will-need-okay-from-trump-officials/
Oslo airport briefly closes one runway due to drone detection
January 11, 2026
Oslo Airport Temporarily Shuts Runway Following Drone Sighting
Overview of the Drone Incident
OSLO, Jan 11 (Reuters) - Oslo's main airport briefly closed one of its two runways on Sunday following a drone observation in the area, operator Avinor said.
Details of the Runway Closure
The closure was caused by "a small hobby drone" and lasted for some 20 minutes before regular traffic was restored, an Avinor spokesperson said.
https://www.globalbankingandfinance.com/oslo-airport-briefly-closes-one-runway-due-drone-detection/
Multiple Drone Intrusion Attempts Reported Near Line Of Control In J&K
Jan 11, 2026 22:17 pm IST
Srinagar/New Delhi:
The Indian Army fired at a Pakistani drone in Jammu and Kashmir's Nowshera sector near the Line of Control (LoC) this evening, sources said. Several more drones were spotted, they said.
A video showing tracer rounds illuminating the night sky, while an invisible stream of lead went for the kill had parallels with what the country saw during last year's Operation Sindoor.
The army is searching the area to check if the drones had dropped firearms or drugs. Yesterday, a drone that came from the direction of Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir (PoK) dropped a consignment of weapons in the Samba sector.
The army said machine guns engaged the drones.
India had shot down several Pakistani drones during Operation Sindoor. Drone sightings had drastically reduced after that; however, at least five Pakistani drone incursions were reported in a single day today.
Pakistan uses drones to drop weapons and drugs on Indian territory and to support state-sponsored terror groups.
https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/multiple-drone-intrusion-attempts-reported-near-line-of-control-in-j-k-10683633
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aEf2NeL5o20
Walmart expands drone delivery with Wing to 150 more stores
JAnuary 11, 2026
Alphabet-owned Wing is expanding its drone delivery service to an additional 150 Walmart stores across the U.S., stretching from Los Angeles to Miami.
Why it matters: Last-minute drone delivery of a carton of eggs or baby wipes might seem fanciful to most people. But the future is already here if you live in Dallas — where some Walmart customers order delivery by Wing three times a week.
By the end of 2026, some 40 million Americans, or about 12 percent of the U.S. population, will be able to take advantage of the convenience, the companies claim.
Driving the news: Sunday's announcement coincided with an onstage conversation about AI opportunities between incoming Walmart CEO John Furner and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai at the National Retail Federation conference in New York.
Zoom in: Walmart customers in Los Angeles, St. Louis, Cincinnati and Miami will soon be able to get drone deliveries, with more metro areas to be announced later.
The companies recently began service in Atlanta and Charlotte, with service set to begin in Houston on Jan. 15.
Orlando and Tampa have also been previously targeted for expansion.
How it works: Customers use Wing's app, as they would DoorDash or Instacart, to get drone delivery from participating Walmart stores.
Once the items are picked and packed in a small cardboard basket, they are loaded onto a drone inside a fenced area in the Walmart parking lot.
Drones fly autonomously to the designated address, with human pilots monitoring each flight from a central operations hub.
Longer term, the companies aim to integrate drone delivery as an option in Walmart's app.
Between the lines: For now, Wing deliveries are free.
"The goal is to expose folks to the wonders of drone delivery," explains Wing's chief business officer, Heather Rivera. "We've solving a very real and present need today, which is forgotten items."
Over time, she said Wing expects delivery fees to be comparable to other delivery options, but faster and more convenient.
What they're saying: "Drone delivery plays an important role in our ability to deliver what customers want, exactly when they want it," said Greg Cathey, Walmart's senior vice president of digital fulfillment transformation, in a statement.
"Whether it's a last-minute ingredient for dinner or a late-night essential for a busy family, the strong adoption we've seen confirms that this is the future of convenience."
What's next: By 2027, Walmart and Wing say they'll have a network of more than 270 drone delivery locations nationwide.
https://www.axios.com/2026/01/11/walmart-drone-delivery-wing-los-angeles-miami
UFO fleet filmed by Japanese Satellite
Jan 11, 2026
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u-6-i79oqg8
HIdden Reasons Trump Will Aquire Greenland, David Grusch reveals more…
January 10, 2026
Exopolitics Week in Review.
00:00:00 – Topics
00:02:34 – Jorge Pabon (JP, US Army ret.) revealed ancient structures recently found in Venezuela helps explain why the Trump admin was so intent on removing the Nicolas Maduro. https://x.com/MichaelSalla/status/2…
00:06:17 – The observation that 3I/Atlas is transmitting radio signals that are being picked up by astronomers is an impressive corroboration of Stewart Swerdlow’s claims. https://x.com/AstronomyVibes/status/2007573202021822572
00:08:39 – Elon Musk has increased his estimate of the number of starships that will be built per year from 1000 to 10,000. What is driving his confidence? https://x.com/elonmusk/status/2007845976204296665
00:17:27 – Jay Anderson claims to have overheard a conversation between a friend and Brad Sorenson concerning an airshow with three differently sized flying saucers. https://x.com/Holden_Culotta/status/2007595007125913874
00:24:17 – A Galactic Envoy’s Journey from Darkness to Light https://t.co/5lCaYQH20x
Elon Musk displays his ignorance of different types of intelligence. https://x.com/LaceyPresley/status/2007883747664744659
00:26:57 – Elon Musk Declairing 2026 is the year of singularity.
00:32:04 – It doesn’t look like Zero Point Energy is going to be released any time soon thereby allowing the present oil industry to continue for a few more years https://x.com/Traveler03Truth/status/2008635671590605173
00:34:59 – Impressive that Kab was told in 2019 that Trump would acquire Greenland. Very plausible that the Galactic Federation has bases there and meetings with Trump admin are occurring. https://x.com/MichaelSalla/status/2008739921553408079
00:39:01 – “Trump seeks 50% hike in defense budget to $1.5 trillion” https://www.spacewar.com/reports/Trump_seeks_50_hike_in_defense_budget_to_15_trillion_999.html
00:46:24 – David Grusch outs Lt General James Clapper as the senior USAF official running the UFO crash retrieval program https://x.com/MvonRen/status/2009008839706989038
00:50:08 – David Grusch confirms decades-long claims that former VP Dick Cheney played a key leadership role in running classified UFO programs. https://x.com/MvonRen/status/2009024044381950053
00:55:42 – JP’s Mission to Track Nordic Spacecraft https://exopolitics.org/jps-mission-to-track-nordic-spacecraft/
00:57:31 – An extended extract of David Grusch’s interview with Megyn Kelly where he discusses the leadership role of Dick Cheney and James Clapper in classified UFO programs https://x.com/MichaelSalla/status/2009161793155760331
00:58:51 – Alleged first hand witness account of what recently happened with the capture of Nicolas Maduro is consistent with supersoldiers claim about advanced weapons used in SSPs. https://x.com/TheSCIF/status/2009732400520077338
00:55:42 – April 31st upcoming Webinar
https://exopolitics.org/hidden-reasons-trump-will-aquire-greenland-david-grusch-reveals-more/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lWdbNKKvtAI
https://x.com/MichaelSalla
Erich von Daniken, author who popularised ancient‑alien theories, dies at 90
11 Jan 2026 at 23:03
ZURICH - Best-selling Swiss author Erich von Daniken, who built a lucrative career on his argument, rubbished by scientists and archaeologists, that humanity owes much of its development to the intervention of extraterrestrials, has died aged 90.
"Chariots of the Gods?", published in 1968, sold millions of copies with its thesis that advanced aliens had repeatedly visited Earth, leaving their mark in the form of Inca and Egyptian ruins, cave drawings and other physical monuments.
"It took courage to write this book, and it will take courage to read it," the work begins.It acknowledged that scholars would dismiss it as nonsense, but insisted that "the past teemed with unknown gods who visited the primeval earth in manned spaceships".
Academics wrote books refuting his theories, criticising him as a purveyor of some of the more fantastical notions of pseudoscience. German news magazine Der Spiegel even had a 1973 cover story titled "The Daniken Hoax".
Nevertheless, legions of fans snapped up his more than 40 books and watched his television specials and documentary films.
The over 70 million books that he sold were translated into more than 30 languages.Von Daniken spent the early part of his working life managing a hotel in eastern Switzerland, where a fraud conviction landed him in jail for 18 months.
But as his book took off, he emerged from prison as a best-selling author.Still, he never presented the smoking gun to fulfil astronomer Carl Sagan's famous adage that "extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence".
"He … says that the astonishing astronomical information ancient civilizations, such as the Mayan, had is proof that there were some space travelers around to teach it to them.
This fits in with his general questioning of the ability of the Egyptians to build the pyramids, or the Easter Islanders to erect those massive stone heads," the New York Times wrote in 1974.
"His method is to use a negative - ancient peoples couldn't have done or thought all the things they did - to prove a positive - that the ancient people were the beneficiaries of some kind of cosmological Point 4 (development assistance) programme."
Such criticism never knocked von Daniken off his stride."We owe it to our self-respect to be rational and objective," he wrote. "At some time or other every daring theory seemed to be a Utopia. How many Utopias have long since become everyday realities!"
Television specials about his books made him a well-known figure in Europe and the United States. In 2003 he opened a Mysteries of the World theme park in Interlaken - although it went bust after three years.
-
Alien return -
In a treatise on his website, von Daniken said he was not an esoteric, and that his work served to debunk "a world of religious and unfortunately often scientific humbugs".
"From countless old written records I know that these 'gods' promised to return. Then we will experience the god shock, a total catastrophe in religion and science.
And everything would have been so easy to understand - without this god shock. The evidence speaks a clear language. That is what drives me."
The release in July 2021 of a watershed US government UFO report that did not rule out extraterrestrial origins gave him hope.
"In future, anyone who talks about UFOs and extraterrestrials can no longer simply be ridiculed. People will slowly realise that many things are possible that they previously considered impossible," he told the Neue Zuercher Zeitung newspaper."
As soon as we are prepared and get used to the idea that we are not alone in the universe, the extraterrestrials will come to us. I expect that to be the case within the next 10 years."
https://www.bangkokpost.com/world/3173344/erich-von-daniken-author-who-popularised-ancientalien-theories-dies-at-90
https://www.youtube.com/@ErichvonD%C3%A4nikenOfficial
https://daniken.com/en/startseite-english/
Erich Von Daniken - Chariots of the Gods (05-19-99)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fsc6wT5Eau4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eYgp6joPN9I
Giorgio A. Tsoukalos
@Tsoukalos
It is with profound sadness and a heavy heart that we announce yesterday's passing of Erich von Däniken on January 10, 2026. Our thoughts are with his family.
EvD is also mourned by his friends around the world, the millions of readers of his books, and the many colleagues who have had the privilege of working with him for decades.
His "Archaeology, Astronautics, and SETI Research Association" (A.A.S. R.A.) and all those interested in the Ancient Astronaut Theory and Paleo-SETI research have received this news with dismay and sorrow. What a tremendous loss.
4:33 AM · Jan 11, 2026
https://x.com/Tsoukalos/status/2010329250524500201
James Fox Drops UFO Nuke
Jan 11, 2026 Daily Videos
Patrick from Vetted reviews new UFO documentary Moment of Contact: New Revelations of Alien Encounters and discusses bombshell revelation from James Fox about the 1996 Varginha Brazil UFO case
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OIipHheTwhg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XvENOfDKe5A (Area 52: He Communicated With a REAL Alien - James Fox | DEBRIEFED ep. 70)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-tQ7tzrtHw (Deceased Varginha soldier's AUTOPSY report reveals shocking & unexpected details - Psicoactivo #781)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BoqwxX-XERU (James Fox announces new event, more Varginha doctor testimony & an AUTOPSY report - Psicoactivo #779)
https://www.anomalouscoalition.com/news/james-fox-hosts-uap-press-conference-in-washington-dc
https://x.com/jamescfox/status/2009671974574805388
https://x.com/jamescfox/status/2010404504148074673
https://www.youtube.com/@NationalPressClubLive
James Fox Hosts UAP Press Conference in Washington DC
January 9, 2026
James Fox (The Phenomenon, Moment of Contact) Hosts UAP (UFO) Press Conference in Washington DC With witnesses, experts, and members of Congress.
WHERE: National Press Club
WHEN: January 20, 2026
11:00am - 1:00pm: Brazilian first-hand witnesses of a crashed UFO and live non-human beings
2:00pm - 3:00pm: American insiders on crash retrievals/biologics, call for immunity for whistleblowers
PART 1: BRAZIL
For the first time ever, a leading Brazilian neurosurgeon is revealing details of his direct contact in a hospital with a live, non-human, intelligent being, in 1996.
He and other Brazilian witnesses will be at the National Press Club in Washington, DC on January 20, 2026, for a press conference.
“The truth is, I saw the being. It was not a being from our planet,” says Dr. ITALO VENTURELLI, the neurosurgeon who was bedside with the entity at Regional Hospital in Varginha.
“We are talking about something that changes the concept of humanity. It's important for people to know.”
In January 1996, in Varginha, Brazil, numerous witnesses reported a cigar-shaped object in distress, which ultimately crashed in a field outside the city.
Several days later, on January 20, three girls—ages fourteen, sixteen, and twenty-two—came within a few steps of an otherworldly creature, cowering in broad daylight against a wall in a vacant lot.
Over time, it was revealed that the Brazilian Fire Department and military police captured two non-human beings on that same day.
According to multiple Brazilian government officials, the crash debris and non-human beings (likely one still living) were flown out of Brazil within days by the U.S. Air Force and presumably remain in the possession of a secret U.S. classified research program.
“This is the most compelling modern-day UFO crash retrieval case involving live non-human beings and, reportedly, the American Air Force, in history,” says investigator and filmmaker JAMES FOX, who is organizing the press conference.
“This case could ultimately settle the debate, by proving that we’re not alone.”
Also attending will be DR. ARMANDO FORTUNATO, the forensic pathologist who conducted an autopsy on the body of a young military police officer who died rapidly from an unprecedented, massive infection, after he was inadvertently scratched by the being he captured. The full autopsy report will be provided.
The case was confirmed to Fox and his producers by four-star Brazilian Air Force General Jose Carlos Pereira and Pedro Luiz Aguiar, the chief of police at the time of the incident.
Fox (Director of The Phenomenon and The Program) and his team have been investigating the Varginha case for almost three decades, collecting interviews from dozens of first-hand witnesses to various aspects of the case.
Fox’s new documentary about the incident, Moment of Contact: New Revelations of Alien Encounters was released globally in early January, 2026.
Following the highly-acclaimed documentary The Age of Disclosure, this press conference will present new data and first-hand information about multiple encounters with live, non-human intelligent beings.
“The public has a right to the truth,” Fox said. “My hope is to motivate people to demand more information, to encourage mainstream dialogue, and trigger a Congressional investigation.”
Full press release for our big UAP event in Washington, DC, January 20th at the National Press Club from 11:00 am to 1:30pm. We had to move mountains and walk on water to make this happen. Please help spread this around the globe.
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PART 2: AMERICA
Beginning in 2023, numerous intelligence insiders have come forward, often under oath, to report on ultra-secret special access programs engaged in the recovery and analysis of both crashed vehicles and BIOLOGICS, defined in this context as biological specimens or bodies of non-human origin.
There is no risk to national security from the release of evidence of biological specimens, as there may be with exposing technology from crashed vehicles.
This historic press conference will address the issue of nonhuman biologics as has never been done before.
As an independent effort, the American speakers at the press conference will be calling upon the Executive Branch to relax certain security clearance obligations so that insiders who were part of America’s UAP “Legacy” Program can share classified information with Congress and eventually speak more openly to the public. Furthermore, they will be emphasizing the need to increase information-sharing efforts between nations regarding UAP crashes and related biologics recovery.
PANELISTS FROM BRAZIL
SENATOR EDUARDO GIRÃO has been a member of the Brazilian Federal Senate since February, 2019.
He represents the coastal state of Ceará, the eighth-largest Brazilian State by population, with a capital (Fortaleza) that is Brazil’s fourth most populous city.
He is an advocate for greater transparency on UAP. In order to bring this issue to the attention of the Brazilian Congress, he led a discussion on UAP in a special Senate hearing in 2022.
DR. ITALO VENTURELLI has been a physician specializing in Neurology and Neurosurgery, working both in clinical care and specialized procedures for many decades.
From 1998 to 2002, he was the Director of Finance for the Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery at the Hospital Regional do Sul de Minas, Hospital Bom Pastor, and Hospital Humanitas, the three largest medical facilities in Varginha.
Currently he is the leading Neurosurgeon at Regional Hospital, maintains a private practice, and is involved in healthcare management activities through his medical services company.
Dr. Venturelli has been highly respected throughout his long career for his technical rigor, medical ethics, and responsibility in managing complex cases. He has made significant contributions to the advancement of neurology and neurosurgery in the region.
DR. ARMANDO FORTUNATO is a physician working primarily in forensic medicine.
As one of the leading experts in that field, he served as a forensic pathologist and criminal medical examiner for the Minas Gerais Civil Police for more than three decades, conducting numerous autopsies of significant regional relevance.
Dr. Fortunato also has a law degree and has served as a court-appointed medical expert in several judicial districts. Devoted to public service, he was elected city councilman in Varginha for two terms and served as president of the Medical Association and Municipal Secretary of Health of Varginha.
Dr. Fortunato was awarded the title of Honorary Citizen of Varginha in 2023.
CARLOS DE SOUSA (witness to the crash) is a former businessman and currently a geography teacher at the Jorge Dupra Figueiredo School, where he has worked for over two decades.
He has also taught at the University of São Paulo. Mr. de Sousa is an ultralight pilot, which he has enjoyed for many decades.
Additional short VIDEO STATEMENTS to include four from first-hand witnesses who were denied visas to attend this press conference, witnesses who spent time in the presence of non- human beings.
These interviews were recorded in late December, specifically for this event. These video statements, including transcripts, will be PROVIDED TO THE MEDIA at the press conference.
PANELISTS WILL MAKE SHORT STATEMENTS, ALLOWING FOR AN HOUR OF Q & A
WHERE: The National Press Club
529 14Th St. NW, Washington, DC
WHEN: Tuesday, January 20, 2026,
Part 1: 11 am - 1 pm
Part 2: 2:00 pm - 3:00 pm
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https://www.eurasiantimes.com/white-house-under-siege-ufos-swarmed-the-white-house/
https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1538-3873/ae0afe
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RlAl8Cub2Mo
https://x.com/uncertainvector
America’s “Most Dramatic” UFO Encounter! 73 Years After D.C. Skies Were Swarmed, Unexplained Objects Stalk Pilots Again
January 11, 2026
As pilots report a surge in unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAPs), more commonly known as Unidentified Flying Objects (UFOs), the echoes of America’s most dramatic UFO encounter, the 1952 Washington Flap, have resurfaced.
Notably, the early 1950s were dominated by the menace of the Korean War, which also marked the onset of the Cold War between the US and the former Soviet Union.
The US fighter pilots were told to maintain a readiness posture, be airborne in minutes, and stay vigilant for the possibility of Soviet bombers approaching the mid-Atlantic.
As the Korean War progressed, the Red Scare intensified, and the prospect of a Soviet bombardment seemed imminent, these fighter pilots were ordered to intercept unknown objects flying around the White House and Pentagon in 1952.
At the same time, however, the United States was experiencing a record-breaking year for UFO sightings, which meant that pilots who were tasked with chasing away hostile aircraft would encounter never-before-seen, unusual, and inexplicable flying objects.
As recently recounted by CNN in a detailed report, a major UFO-related drama unfolded over two consecutive weekends in July 1952.
On July 19-20, radar operators at Washington National Airport, Andrews Air Force Base, and others tracked erratic blips—objects dipping, hovering, and vanishing across a wide area.
This was corroborated by a commercial pilot who saw bright lights pacing his plane. At the time, officials dismissed the incident and blamed temperature inversions, which are atmospheric layers that can bend radar beams.
On July 26, 1952, multiple radars detected over a dozen solid targets maneuvering in a way not seen before.
Much like the previous week, controllers at the DC airport spent hours watching unidentified targets dip, stop, disappear, and then resurface on radar screens throughout a 100-mile sweep.
Upon contacting their counterparts at Andrews AFB, they discovered that they were both tracking the same objects.
Late at night, Lt. William L. Patterson of the 142nd Fighter Interceptor Squadron and fellow pilot Capt. John McHugo, flying the F-94, was dispatched to intercept these objects.
At 20,000 feet, controllers guided Patterson toward a group of blips around Andrews, where he confirmed seeing four bright lights. But he noted that they didn’t blink or drift.
Controllers observed in real time how the radar blips responded, navigating the sky in a manner that no known aircraft could: they quickly reversed, hovered, made abrupt 90-degree turns, and raced in and out of sight at breakneck speed.
As Patterson went full throttle ahead, the lights broke formation and started to converge on Patterson’s interceptor before he could get any closer.
The tower’s radar scopes revealed that the targets were closing in on him, and he was surrounded by dazzling light in the cockpit.
However, when he radioed the tower asking what he should do next, he was met with silence from stunned controllers and military officials who had been guiding him and monitoring the engagement thus far.
Before he could take a meaningful action, the lights disappeared.
By this time, radars identified more targets exploring the capital’s sky, so Patterson was told to chase after them. However, all of them disappeared before he could get to them
Low on gasoline, he flew at maximum power for almost an hour before landing back at base. Meanwhile, his wingman, McHugo, who had been directed to a different sector, reported no visual sightings.
It is pertinent to note that the modern UFO phenomenon began in 1947 with pilot Kenneth Arnold’s sighting of flying disks near Mount Rainier, sparking widespread media interest.
However, the two incidents of July 1952 that spanned two weekends were dubbed the “Washington Flap” and set off mass hysteria and interest in UFOs.
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Here’s What The Washington Flap Set Off
The US Air Force had a program to investigate Unidentified Flying Objects (UFOs), aimed at determining whether they posed a threat to national security or were extraterrestrial.
Capt. Edward Ruppelt, head of Project Blue Book, sent military officers to investigate the matter as soon as he learned of the Washington Flap. Lt. John Holcomb, a Navy radar specialist, and Maj. Dewey Fournet, the Pentagon’s Project Blue Book liaison, rushed to the control tower at National Airport, where they met with the radar operators who had tracked the blips the previous week.
The screens displayed over a dozen targets dispersed around the area, from Andrews to northern Virginia, as they watched on.
There was an atmosphere of mass hysteria related to the UFOs as seen in sensational media reports. On July 29, the front page of The Cedar Rapids Gazette in Iowa brandished the headline: “SAUCERS SWARM OVER CAPITAL” without any official evidence.
Public panic overshadowed the presidential election and the Olympics. Ruppelt later estimated that almost 16,000 stories regarding unexplained objects were published in 148 major newspapers in just six months.
Even Albert Einstein weighed in cautiously: “Those people have seen something.”
As clamouring for answers grew intense, Air Force Director of Intelligence Maj. Gen. John Samford convened the largest and longest Air Force news conference since World War II.
Accompanied by Ruppelt and other intelligence officers, he attempted to placate the press by assuring that there was “about a 50/50” probability that the blips were caused by a temperature inversion that may have distorted the radar waves.
Interestingly, he deftly avoided answering clarifying questions from reporters while denying accusations of hostile reconnaissance or a cover-up. However, these conspiracy theories continue to be discussed to this day.
However, declassified files today show coordinated radar-visual confirmations that defied easy explanation.
Subsequently, the Air Force’s Project Blue Book officially labeled the sightings in Washington as “unknowns.”
The classification has remained the same for over 70 years, with no explanation for the dozen coordinated radar reports or the bright, moving lights that pilots witnessed firsthand.
Interestingly, the events of July 1952 are still up for debate, even among UFO specialists.
UFOs Are Still Omnipresent
Seventy-three years later, the mystery endures, and a year-on-year surge has been recorded in UFO/UAP incidents, including visual sightings.
For instance, a pilot operating a Piper PA-32RT-300T Turbo Lance II over Rhode Island skies reported seeing a suspicious “small silver canister” hanging just feet from his wingtip at 3,500 feet altitude, as revealed by an air traffic control (ATC) audio clip that resurfaced earlier this month. During real-time contact, the pilot described the object as “astonishing” and ruled out usual explanations such as drones or balloons, as it appeared immobile.
This is not an isolated incident.
Earlier, Ryan Graves, a former US naval lieutenant who formerly piloted an F/A-18, testified to having seen UFOs. That incident occurred when two aircraft from his squadron flew side by side, and one of these unidentified objects flew directly between them.
Grave noted that a team member characterized the object as a “dark gray or black cube inside of a clear sphere,” adding that although these objects occasionally remained stationary in an odd manner, they did not act like “tethered balloons.”
Another major incident in recent memory is the Tic-Tac UFO incident, which is also the best-documented and most credible unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP) case in modern history.
It took place in November 2004 during training exercises involving the USS Nimitz Carrier Strike Group off the coast of Southern California.
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At the time, radar operators aboard the USS Princeton detected unusual objects over several days, descending rapidly from about 80,000 feet to sea level in seconds.
On November 14, 2004, Commander David Fravor and his wingman were diverted to investigate. They visually observed a white, oblong object 40-46 feet long hovering above disturbed ocean water.
The object reportedly had no wings, rotors, or visible propulsion, and it allegedly mirrored Fravor’s movements, then accelerated at an extraordinary rate, reaching a predetermined combat air patrol point 60 miles away in under a minute.
A follow-up flight piloted by Lt. Cmdr. Chad Underwood captured infrared (FLIR) footage of a similar object, which he nicknamed “Tic Tac.”
All these years later, UAPs or UFOs continue to be seen, reported, and documented using various sensor technologies. They are now officially investigated by the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO), established in 2022, across air, sea, and space.
According to data from the National UFO Reporting Center (NUFORC), a nonprofit organization that collects reports of UFOs and investigates cases, more than 2,000 incidents had been reported by mid-2025.
While these sightings were once linked to extraterrestrial beings, there is a lot of dissonance now. An explosive Pentagon report from 2024 that was publicised in mid-2025 claimed that UFO sightings were just conspiracy theories planted and amplified by it as a cover-up for classified military programs.
The agency discovered that the US military intentionally planted UFO conspiracy theories, including those linked to Area 51, to hide classified weapons programs during the Cold War.
As per the report, these disinformation efforts were aimed at concealing the testing of military equipment from people who had unintentionally witnessed classified military tests.
The Pentagon disseminated disinformation, including photoshopped images of flying saucers. In fact, at least one of the theories was cooked up to conceal the testing of the F-117 Night Hawk, the US Air Force’s first prime stealth fighter jet.
Before this, in 2013, the CIA declassified documents confirming Area 51’s role in testing U-2 spy planes, SR-71 Blackbirds, and other advanced aircraft, explaining some UFO sightings as misidentified military projects.
Separately, AARO released an extensive report (hailed as historic) in March 2024, stating that there was no evidence that the US officials had encountered aliens.
It asserted that most sightings were just misidentified ordinary objects, adding that some cases required further study. Presenting the report, AARO stated that there are now 50 to 100 UAP sightings every month, up from earlier figures.
Skeptics question the link between these UAPs and national security threats, citing common causes for UAPs, such as meteorological phenomena, drones, and malfunctioning radar. However, not all of them can be directly attributed to military programs. On the contrary, the sightings are viewed through the lens of potential national security threats.
“Highly credible people and professional observers are seeing objects that appear to exhibit capabilities beyond the state of the art,” Ryan Graves told space.com. “
In the data received, there seems to be this core anomalous aspect that we can’t just ignore or rationalize away,” he stated.
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