TYB
NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day
August 2, 2026
A Fire Rainbow over West Virginia
What's happening to this cloud? Ice crystals in a distant cirrus cloud are acting like little floating prisms. Known informally as a fire rainbow for its flame-like appearance, a circumhorizon arc appears parallel to the horizon. For a circumhorizontal arc to be visible, the Sun must be at least 58 degrees high in a sky where cirrus clouds present below – in this case cirrus fibratus. The numerous, flat, hexagonal ice-crystals that compose the cirrus cloud must be aligned horizontally to properly refract sunlight in a collectively similar manner. Therefore, circumhorizontal arcs are somewhat unusual to see. The featured fire rainbow was photographed in 2021 near North Fork Mountain in West Virginia, USA.
https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GK-6BlIPvyo
Tropical Waves and new Earthquakes… Mr Weatherman and frens
Aug 2, 2026
Tropical Downpours!
In this video, the Tropical Waves moving through the Caribbean! The Tropical Downpours from Jamaica, Cuba, Costa Rica, to Trinidad and Tobago!
Plus, new Earthquakes near Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, and also in Northern Venezuela.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eYDJr4F0VSg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8auAKYfQN8 (Max Velocity: Something Strange Is About To Grip The Country…)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tGMQUDfGVfE (Fox Weather: Explosive Wildfires Rage Across Washington State as Intense Winds Fuel the Spread)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fug9HCLutLk (Time for Truth: India Flood Disaster: 1.1 Million Affected as Monsoon Turns Deadly)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yzOCZnYIEuM (On the Pulse with Silki: Magmatic Fluids Are Rising — Volcanic Earthquakes Keep Coming at Italy’s Supervolcano)
https://www.weatherbug.com/news/Today-s-Weather-Outlook
https://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-forecasts/heavy-rain-flash-flooding-to-sweep-east-coast-into-early-this-week/1917796
https://www.accuweather.com/en/severe-weather/damaging-winds-flash-flooding-to-roll-through-east-before-shifting-to-plains/1918093
https://www.thestandard.com.hk/news/article/338826/Over-60-emergency-teams-deployed-as-heavy-rain-triggers-flooding-in-rural-areas
https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3362695/china-floods-large-parts-country-remain-alert-gansu-province-death-toll-rises
https://phys.org/news/2026-07-ways-wildfires-generate-tornadoes-lightning.html
https://www.newsweek.com/map-reveals-us-surprising-2026-tornado-hotspots-how-each-state-compares-12273927
https://www.presstelegram.com/2026/08/01/earthquake-near-desert-hot-springs-in-riverside-county-detected-magnitude-3-3-on-aug-1/
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/east-coast-earthquake-magnitude-57-quake-strikes-near-te-araroa/3ZMVTSJ5VBDFDMPCVKCYWTBQKM/
https://en.ammonnews.net/article/93876
https://earthquakeinsights.substack.com/p/m47-earthquake-rattles-naples
https://www.aol.co.uk/articles/murcia-earthquake-4-1-magnitude-114000000.html
https://hoodline.com/2026/08/new-pass-fire-near-austin-explodes-to-30-000-acres-chokes-nevada-s-highway-50/
https://www.npr.org/2026/08/02/g-s1-136814/washington-state-wildfires-old-trails-fire-spokane
https://www.newsweek.com/map-shows-spokane-wildfires-washington-declares-state-emergency-12274716
https://www.kolotv.com/2026/08/02/truckee-meadows-crews-battle-fire-near-cold-springs/
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/aug/02/western-europe-wildfire-crisis-retreats-greece-evacuates-hundreds-athens
https://www.trtworld.com/article/592a68421395
https://schumannresonance.today/
https://www.tornadohq.com/
https://www.volcanodiscovery.com/earthquakes-volcanoes/news/322555/Volcano-earthquake-report-for-Sunday-2-Aug-2026.html
https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/map/
https://www.spaceweather.gov/
https://spaceweather.com/archive.php?view=1&day=02&month=08&year=2026
What’s Up: August 2026 Skywatching Tips from NASA
Jul 31, 2026
A solar eclipse, the Perseids, bright Venus after sunset, and a deep partial lunar eclipse highlight August's skywatching.
Skywatching Highlights
Aug. 5: Last Quarter Moon
Aug. 12: Total solar eclipse across northern Russia, Greenland, Iceland, northern Spain, and part of Portugal; partial eclipse in parts of the U.S.; New Moon
Aug. 12-13: Perseid meteor shower peak under dark skies
Aug. 14-16: Venus reaches greatest eastern elongation and shines low in the west after sunset
Aug. 27-28: Partial lunar eclipse visible from much of North and South America and parts of Europe and Africa
Transcript
A solar eclipse, one of the year's best meteor showers, Venus at its brightest in the evening sky, and a lunar eclipse to close out the month.
That's “What’s Up” for August.
On Aug. 12, a total solar eclipse crosses northern Russia, Greenland, Iceland, and northern Spain, with a small corner of Portugal inside the path of totality.
In parts of the United States, from Alaska to North Carolina, the eclipse is partial. The Moon will take only a small bite out of the Sun, and the amount of coverage will vary with location.
Remember to watch safely. Use certified eclipse glasses or a safe solar viewer any time any part of the Sun is visible. Regular sunglasses are not safe. And never use binoculars, a telescope, or a camera without a solar filter made for the front of the optics.
Later that same night, the Perseid meteor shower will light up the sky, peaking the evening of Aug. 12 into the early morning hours of the 13th. And with a New Moon arriving on the 12th, the skies will be ideally dark.
The Perseids happen every year when Earth passes through a debris stream left behind by Comet Swift-Tuttle. As those tiny bits of comet dust hit our atmosphere at high speed, they burn up as bright streaks of light.
To view this meteor shower, look toward the northeast once it's fully dark and watch for the constellation Perseus to clear the horizon. This is where the meteors originate, but let your eyes wander, because they can flash across any part of the sky.
For the best view, stay out late as the stars climb higher, find a dark open spot, and give your eyes 30 minutes to adjust.
Aug. 14-16, Venus reaches its greatest eastern elongation, which is its widest apparent separation from the Sun during this evening appearance.
Look low in the western sky shortly after sunset for the bright object that will outshine every star around it. Through a telescope after sunset, Venus will look close to half lit, like a tiny lunar phase.
On the night of Aug. 27, continuing into Aug. 28 for some time zones, the Full Moon slips through Earth's shadow, resulting in a partial lunar eclipse. It will be visible from much of North and South America and parts of Europe and Africa.
At maximum eclipse, about 93% of the Moon's diameter will be inside Earth's dark central shadow, called the umbra. The Moon will not be completely covered, but it can look dramatically darkened, with a rusty, coppery tint along the covered edge.
Unlike a solar eclipse, a lunar eclipse is safe to watch with just your eyes. Binoculars or a small telescope can give you a closer view of Earth's curved shadow moving across the Moon.
Here are the phases of the Moon for August.
https://science.nasa.gov/solar-system/whats-up-august-2026-skywatching-tips-from-nasa/
extra light NASA
https://x.com/NASAAdmin/status/2083621961129681171
https://x.com/NASAhistory/status/2083900624148533506
https://x.com/Jonnywithacam/status/2083590807584448589
That would be slightly menacing at a 40 mph gallop.
Double digits! Air-launched 'Talon A' hypersonic vehicle notches big flight milestone
August 2, 2026
A cutting-edge hypersonic vehicle just hit a big flight milestone.
Stratolaunch's reusable, autonomous Talon-A craft now has more than 10 successful flights under its belt, the California-based company announced late last month.
"Reaching more than 10 successful hypersonic flights with Talon-A is a testament to our team's dedication and the robustness of our technology," Stratolaunch President and CEO Zachary Krevor said in a July 22 statement.
"We are transforming hypersonic testing from a rare event into a routine service, empowering our customers to innovate at unprecedented speed."
Stratolaunch has two Talon-A vehicles, each of which is about 28 feet (8.5 meters) long with a wingspan of 11.3 feet (3.4 m). The craft can travel through Earth's atmosphere at more than five times the speed of sound (Mach 5) — the definition of hypersonic flight.
Talon-A missions start beneath the belly of a carrier plane, which hauls the robotic vehicle into the sky and drops it down. Stratolaunch has two such carriers — a modified Boeing 747 called Spirit of Mojave and Roc, a custom-built vehicle that measures a whopping 385 feet (117 m) from wingtip to wingtip, the biggest wingspan in aviation history.
Roc and Spirit of Mojave lift off from Mojave Air and Space Port in southeastern California and tend to drop Talon-A over the Pacific Ocean.
After completing its hypersonic flight, the vehicle comes back for a runway landing in California, generally at Vandenberg Space Force Base, on the state's scenic central coast.
These jaunts test sensors and advanced new materials in the hypersonic flight environment, among other tasks.
Details about Talon-A's payloads tend to be sparse, likely because many Stratolaunch customers — the U.S. Missile Defense Agency, for example — are tight-lipped by nature.
Indeed, military agencies around the world are increasingly interested in hypersonic tech.
Superfast, maneuverable vehicles like Talon-A are tougher to track and intercept than ballistic missiles, which follow predictable trajectories despite moving fast.
(To be clear: Talon-A itself is not a weapon or weapon-delivery system; it's a technology testbed.)
Stratolaunch isn't the only company that gives customer payloads hypersonic rides. Rocket Lab provides this service with HASTE, a suborbital version of its workhorse Electron rocket.
HASTE debuted in June 2023 and now has nine flights under its belt. But the vehicle's cadence will likely increase soon; in March, Rocket Lab signed a $190 million contract to conduct 20 HASTE missions for the U.S. military.
https://www.space.com/technology/double-digits-air-launched-talon-a-hypersonic-vehicle-notches-big-flight-milestone
https://www.stratolaunch.com/news/stratolaunch-achieves-major-milestone-10-successful-hypersonic-flights-with-reusable-fully-autonomous-talon-a-aircraft/
extra general / international space
https://www.space.com/space-exploration/launches-spacecraft/rocket-issue-delays-1st-orbital-rocket-launch-from-the-uk
https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202608/1367348.shtml
Two civilians dead as 600+ Ukrainian drones attack Russia – authorities
2 Aug, 2026 08:13 | Updated 2 Aug, 2026 09:15
UAVs damaged a multi-story apartment block in Engels and sparked a fire at a Wildberries hub in Samara Region, officials have said
Two civilians have been killed and several wounded after a wave of Ukrainian drones attacked Russia’s Saratov Region in the central part of the country, local Governor Roman Busargin has said.
In a post on Telegram on Sunday, Busargin said the UAVs targeted facilities in both Saratov and Engels, with drone wreckage claiming two lives as it tore into a multi-story apartment block in the latter city.
He added that several people were injured in Saratov, with strikes also damaging “civilian infrastructure facilities.”
The governor assured that the affected families would be given “all necessary assistance” and temporary housing while engineers assess the damage.
Russia’s Defense Ministry reported that air defenses had intercepted and destroyed a total of 635 Ukrainian drones overnight across 16 regions — including Belgorod, Bryansk, Rostov, and Saratov, as well as Crimea and Moscow Region.
Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin said in the early morning that six Ukrainian drones had been intercepted on approaches to the capital.
Radiy Khabirov, the head of Republic of Bashkortostan, also in central Russia, said 25 drones had been downed over the region, with debris sparking a fire in the industrial zone in Ufa.
In Samara Region, the attack also damaged a warehouse belonging to Wildberries, the country’s largest online retailer often dubbed Russia’s Amazon, the company’s press service confirmed.
Wildberries said it had rerouted its logistics chain, with incoming shipments and outgoing orders now handled at other facilities.
Ukraine has intensified drone strikes deep into Russia in recent weeks, with many of the strikes targeting Wildberries hubs, along with civilian infrastructure and residential buildings.
Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky confirmed the attacks on the warehouses – which killed numerous civilians – were deliberate, arguing that the warehouses stored “sanctioned components for drone production and navigation equipment.”
Moscow has dismissed the claim that Wildberries supplies the Russian military.
Moscow has retaliated by targeting Ukraine’s defense-related facilities, including drone and missile production sites and fuel depots. Russia maintains it never targets civilians.
https://www.rt.com/russia/643768-two-civilians-dead-ukraine-drone-raid/
extra RT
https://www.rt.com/russia/643758-moscow-bombing-suspects-krapivnik/
https://www.rt.com/russia/643753-ukrainian-nazi-commander-ss-insignia/
https://www.rt.com/russia/643769-russian-amazon-founder-mirotvorets/
https://www.rt.com/russia/643759-survivors-ukrainian-attack-resort/
Oil refinery, strategic airbase, and drone facilities: Overnight strikes hit key pillars of Russia’s war effort
02/08/2026
Ukraine's Defense Forces struck a major oil refinery, a strategic bomber airbase, a military fuel depot, and multiple drone-related facilities across Russia as part of an overnight campaign targeting the country's military and industrial infrastructure, Ukraine's General Staff reported on 2 August.
The military said the operation was carried out overnight on 2 August as part of efforts to reduce Russia's military and economic potential to wage war against Ukraine.
These long-range strikes are intended to disrupt fuel supplies, strategic aviation, drone operations, and logistics supporting Russia's invasion.
The reported attacks are part of Ukraine's sustained campaign of deep strikes inside Russia, which has increasingly targeted oil refineries, fuel depots, airbases, ammunition storage sites, defense industry facilities, and drone infrastructure.
These facilities directly support Russia's war effort and are therefore legitimate military targets.
Saratov refinery and Engels airbase targeted
According to the General Staff, Ukrainian forces struck the Saratov Oil Refinery in Russia's Saratov Oblast, causing a fire at the facility.
The military described the refinery as one of the largest in Russia's Volga region, with an annual processing capacity of around 7 million metric tons of crude oil. It said the plant helps supply fuel to Russia's military-industrial complex and armed forces.
The extent of the damage is still being assessed.
Ukraine also reported striking Russia's Engels airbase in Saratov Oblast, with a fire breaking out after the attack.
The Engels base is one of Russia's main strategic aviation hubs, hosting Tu-95MS and Tu-160 long-range bombers that have repeatedly launched cruise missile attacks against Ukrainian cities and infrastructure since the start of the full-scale invasion.
The airbase has been targeted by Ukrainian long-range strikes on multiple previous occasions in an effort to complicate Russia's strategic aviation operations.
Fuel depot and drone infrastructure hit
In Kaluga Oblast, Ukrainian forces said they struck the Lyudinovo oil depot, which the General Staff said is used to store and supply fuel and lubricants for the Russian military.
The overnight operation also targeted a site used to store, prepare, and launch attack drones near Navlya in Russia's Bryansk Oblast, according to the statement.
Ukraine has increasingly focused on Russian drone infrastructure as Moscow expands its use of long-range Shahed-type attack drones and domestically produced variants in near-nightly attacks on Ukrainian cities.
Drone command posts struck a day earlier
Separately, the General Staff said Ukrainian forces struck Russian drone command posts on 1 August near Olkhozhemchuhova in Russia's Kursk Oblast, as well as near Berestok in occupied Donetsk Oblast, Sichneve in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, and Yablukove in occupied Zaporizhzhia Oblast.
The military said it would continue conducting operations aimed at degrading Russia's ability to sustain its armed aggression against Ukraine.
https://euromaidanpress.com/2026/08/02/engels-and-saratov-hit-in-latest-deep-strike-campaign/
https://united24media.com/war-in-ukraine/ukraine-sets-world-record-for-drone-on-drone-interception-at-6858-meters-21264
https://newsukraine.rbc.ua/news/russia-s-saratov-oil-refinery-ablaze-after-1785647838.html
https://www.kyivpost.com/post/81567
other Russia and Ukraine
https://united24media.com/anti-fake/russia-rebuilds-captured-ukrainian-drones-for-false-flag-attacks-on-europe-21266
https://kyivindependent.com/russian-drone-strike-on-rozetka-warehouse-kills-employee-injures-7-in-kyiv-oblast/
https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/iran-news/2026-08-02/live-updates-904285
other Israel
https://www.timesofisrael.com/senior-minister-says-israel-not-halting-attacks-in-gaza-as-9-said-killed-in-idf-strikes/
https://vinnews.com/2026/08/01/five-hamas-weapons-depots-destroyed-in-overnight-gaza-airstrikes-idf-says/
https://www.albawaba.com/business/israeli-soldiers-reportedly-using-1634258
https://www.firstpost.com/world/idf-eliminates-hamas-commanders-as-gaza-ceasefire-talks-hit-troop-withdrawal-hurdle-14035462.html
https://www.jpost.com/opinion/article-904275
https://vinnews.com/2026/08/01/idf-on-high-alert-prior-to-potential-us-attack-in-iran/
https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/defense-news/article-904328
https://vinnews.com/2026/08/02/idf-kills-hamas-terrorist-nukhba-cell-leader-who-infiltrated-kibbutz-nir-oz-on-oct-7/
Live Updates: PIJ reportedly agrees to BoP disarmament deal as Gazans express doubt Hamas will follow
August 2, 2026
Trump claims Israel supported halting Iran strikes • Report: Iranian officials deny Trump's claims that regional leaders asked to halt strikes • IDF kills two Hamas commanders in weekend strikes
August 2, 5:16 PM
Two Palestinians killed in IDF Gaza strike - report
Two Palestinians were killed on Sunday in the Rimal neighborhood of Gaza City, Saudi Arabia media outlet Al Arabiya reported.
The IDF has not commented on the strike at the time of writing.
August 2, 5:16 PM
Iran fears audio recordings could reveal Mojtaba Khamenei’s location, Iranian media claims - report
The report outlined several ways the recordings could reveal Khamenei's location and health condition, ranging from acoustic signatures to the supreme leader's breathing patterns.
Enlarge A banner depicting Iran's new Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei is displayed on the side of a highway in Tehran on March 10, 2026.
A banner depicting Iran's new Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei is displayed on the side of a highway in Tehran on March 10, 2026.
Iranian authorities are concerned that intelligence agencies could use audio files to track Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei’s location, according to an article published on Sunday by the Tehran Municipality-affiliated Iranian daily Al-Mashhari.
In a post on its Telegram channel, Al-Mashhari claimed the fears explained why no audio recordings of Khamenei have been released.
August 2, 2:46 PM
Five Lebanese soldiers lightly wounded in Kafr Kila after 'suspicious object' explodes nearby
Five Lebanese soldiers were lightly wounded after a "suspicious object" exploded in Kafr Kila in southern Lebanon, Lebanon's military announced in an X/Twitter post on Sunday afternoon, walking back the claim that the five were hurt in an Israeli strike.
The soldiers had been escorting several residents in town at the time of the reported strike.
August 2, 12:54 PM
Iranian officials deny Trump's claims that Iran, Gulf leaders asked Iran to halt strikes - report
The officials called Trump's statements a desperate attempt to blackmail Gulf state rulers and pressure them with threats.
Iranian military officials denied US President Donald Trump's claims that Iran asked the US to stop the attacks, the IRGC-affiliated Mehr News Agency reported on Sunday.
The officials called Trump's statements a desperate attempt to blackmail Gulf state rulers and pressure them with threats.
Iranian forces are at the highest level of readiness and are prepared for any eventuality, Mehr cited the officials as saying.
1/2
August 2, 12:53 PM
Hamas distributing personal weapons to operatives to avoid total disarmament amid BoP deal - report
A Palestinian source said Hamas is distributing rifles to individuals under the guise of personal firearms, while insisting it will not disarm despite the Board of Peace agreement.
Hamas began distributing individual weapons to the terrorist group’s operatives in the Gaza Strip amid the Board of Peace’s (BoP) Hamas disarmament deal, Kan News reported on Saturday, citing a Palestinian source.
The goal of the rifle distribution is to ensure that weapons stay in the hands of Hamas members under the guise of personal ownership.
“Hamas will not disarm. Period,” the Palestinian source asserted.
August 2, 12:53 PM
Trump claims Israel supported halting Iran strikes, says all parties must 'get to work' on deal
"The USA is locked and loaded and ready to go against the Islamic Republic of Iran, at levels of Military Terror, Strength, and Power not seen since World War II," Trump claimed.
US President Donald Trump called for an immediate deal with Iran in a Truth Social post on Saturday night, claiming to have called off a massive attack against the country and to have Israel's support in his commitment.
"The USA is locked and loaded and ready to go against the Islamic Republic of Iran, at levels of Military Terror, Strength, and Power not seen since World War II," Trump claimed.
"Despite this, we have just been asked by Iran, and other Middle Eastern Countries, to hold off any attack in that the perimeters of a deal has been agreed to."
August 2, 12:53 PM
‘We believe Hamas will not disarm,’ Israeli-backed militia figure in Gaza tells ‘Post’
Dismantling armed militias could discourage locals from working with Israel, says a Gaza resident. "People will think twice for fear of being abandoned."
The disarmament plan announced by the Board of Peace and approved by Hamas "will not be implemented," a Palestinian source in Gaza affiliated with Israeli-backed militias told The Jerusalem Post.
For Hamas, handing over its weapons would be a suicidal step. "If there are no weapons, there is no Hamas," the source told the Post over the weekend.
According to him, those in Gaza who have suffered under Hamas oppression are waiting for a chance to take revenge, which is one reason why Hamas believes it must keep its weapons. "Families, clans, and even ordinary people who were targeted by Hamas are waiting to settle scores with the organization, no matter how long it takes," he said.
August 2, 12:52 PM
Palestinian Islamic Jihad agrees to Board of Peace's proposed disarmament deal - report
Trump announced the deal on Thursday night on social media.
The Palestinian Islamic Jihad has agreed to the disarmament deal set forth by US President Donald Trump's Board of Peace, the Saudi state-owned Al-Hadath reported on Sunday afternoon, citing a source familiar with the matter.
August 2, 9:10 AM
IDF kills two Hamas commanders in weekend strikes
The IDF killed two Hamas commanders in the Gaza Strip in a series of weekend strikes, the military announced on Sunday morning.
On Saturday, the IDF killed Salem Jamal Abd al-Rahman Abu Labad, a Hamas Nukhba commander, in southern Gaza.
Labad had infiltrated Kibbutz Nir Oz during the October 7 massacre.
In a separate strike on Friday, the IDF killed Muhammad Abd al-Nasser Muhammad Khatib, a commander in Hamas' Maghazi Battalion.
August 2, 5:37 AM
Trump cancels Iran attack, calls for immediate deal, claims Israel supporting commitment
US President Donald Trump called for an immediate deal with Iran in a Truth Social post on Saturday night, claiming to have called off a massive attack against the country and to have Israel's support in his commitment.
"The USA is locked and loaded and ready to go against the Islamic Republic of Iran, at levels of Military Terror, Strength, and Power not seen since World War II," Trump claimed.
"Despite this, we have just been asked by Iran, and other Middle Eastern Countries, to hold off any attack in that the perimeters of a deal has been agreed to."
2/2
The Office of Strategic Capital Signs $820 Million Conditional Loan Commitment with Performance Drone Works to Expand Domestic Drone Component Manufacturing
July 31, 2026
The United States Department of War's Office of Strategic Capital announced today a conditional loan commitment of up to $820 million to Performance Drone Works to establish high-volume domestic manufacturing capacity for critical drone components.
Together, the OSC financing and additional private capital committed alongside it will support a new high-volume source of domestically manufactured components for use across the broader U.S. drone industrial base.
The project is intended to supply components to multiple manufacturers and platforms, representing a significant expansion of domestic production capacity for drone components.
These components are intended to support a range of Group 1 and Group 2 unmanned aircraft produced by PDW and other domestic manufacturers.
With this strategic financing, OSC will enable the development of production capacity to address critical component bottlenecks facing the broader U.S. unmanned-systems ecosystem.
"PDW will be one of several domestic component producers receiving OSC loan commitments in support of President Trump's Executive Order 14307, 'Unleashing American Drone Dominance.'
Expanding domestic component production will benefit manufacturers throughout the ecosystem and improve supply-chain resilience," said David A. Lorch, Director of the Office of Strategic Capital and Senior Advisor to Deputy Secretary of War Steve Feinberg.
James R. Shanahan, Senior Managing Director at OSC, added, "We are squarely focused on identifying and addressing bottlenecks in critical supply chains, including drones and autonomous systems.
OSC's transaction with PDW, along with private capital crowded in alongside it, will support the construction of significant new manufacturing capacity to address vulnerabilities across the drone supply chain."
The conditional loan commitment between OSC and PDW specifies customary additional steps the company must take to proceed toward financial close, including satisfying financial, legal, technical, and other due diligence requirements.
"Achieving Secretary Hegseth's mandate for drone dominance requires a secure and resilient industrial base here at home.
The Office of Strategic Capital is strengthening the domestic supply chain for critical drone components to ensure American manufacturers can deliver the lethal capabilities that our warfighters need," said Emil Michael, Under Secretary of War for Research and Engineering.
https://www.war.gov/News/Releases/Release/Article/4561771/the-office-of-strategic-capital-signs-820-million-conditional-loan-commitment-w/
https://interestingengineering.com/innovation/us-backs-820-million-drone-manufacturing-expansion
Pilot issues 'flying saucer’ alert over Gatwick Airport as mystery disc passes passenger jet during landing
August 2, 2026
The pilot of a passenger plane reported seeing a ‘flying saucer’ feet away from their plane as it came in to land at London airport
The sighting of the suspected drone was highlighted in a report into the incident in April that took place as an Airbus jet prepared to touch down at Gatwick Airport, the Sun reported.
A report by investigators at the UK Airprox Board stated: “The A319 pilot reports that descending, turning left, a disc or ‘flying saucer’ type suspected drone was seen flying very close in the opposite direction, at the same level to them, past their right wing.
“Approximately 100-300ft from their aircraft wing. The object looked like a disc with darker markings on the rim, a suspected possible drone but not sure.
“It was very close to the aircraft, but no evasive action was required as they were in a turn already.”
An "airprox" is a situation in which, in the opinion of a pilot or air traffic services personnel, the distance between aircraft as well as their relative positions and speed have been such that the safety of the aircraft involved may have been compromised.
The UK Airprox Board's primary role is to review reported such incidents to help improve air safety.
The board ruled in this case that the safety of the aircraft had been “reduced”.
A second drone incident also occurred in April at London’s Heathrow Airport.
The board stated: “The A321 pilot reports that, whilst in a left turn on to base leg at LHR (over Marlow), a drone was witnessed to fly down the left-hand-side of the aircraft at close enough proximity to see details such as the colour, shape and individual props spinning.”
Airprox officials ruled: “The board considered that providence had played a major part in the incident and/or a definite risk of collision had existed.”
Frequent civilian drone incursions are a major problem for UK airports.
In 2018 an unidentified drone flying above Gatwick Airport in the UK forced the suspension of operations for more than 36 hours.
Over 1,000 flights were grounded, cancelled, or diverted, and around 140,000 passengers were left stranded. The disruption caused by the incident cost an estimated £50 million.
https://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/flying-saucer-ufo-drone-alert-gatwick-airport-b1292091.html
https://www.ibtimes.co.uk/flying-saucer-zooms-within-feet-airbus-passenger-jet-coming-land-london-gatwick-1811891
Bigfoot Sighting in Connecticut: Everything to Know About the Encounter
August 1, 2026 12:12PM EDT
A driver reported an 8-foot-tall bipedal creature near Pachaug State Forest on the Fourth of July weekend, and the case has been classified as a 'Class A' sighting.
A driver in eastern Connecticut has reported spotting Bigfoot near Pachaug State Forest earlier this summer.
The July 5, 2026, sighting was classified as a “Class A” encounter and published by the Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization (BFRO), sparking new interest in the elusive cryptid across the region.
Find out what we know about the Connecticut Bigfoot encounter, including where it happened, what the creature looked like and who reported it here.
Where in Connecticut Was the Bigfoot Sighting?
The encounter took place in Voluntown, Connecticut, near Pachaug State Forest, the state’s largest state forest at roughly 27,000 acres.
It happened at approximately 1:45 a.m. on July 5, 2026, near the intersection of Wylie School Road and Forge Hill Road, about 200 yards from a friend’s cabin, per NewsNation. The area is close to the Connecticut-Rhode Island border.
What Did the Bigfoot Look Like?
The witness described the creature as bipedal and 8 to 8.5 feet tall. It had coarse, matted, greasy-looking long brown hair covering every part of its body except its face, per Fox News.
Its legs were shorter than its torso and its arms hung down to about knee height, giving it an estimated 8-to-9-foot arm span when outstretched. The witness also noted the creature had a slightly coned head and a distinctive jawline.
Who Reported the Bigfoot Sighting in Connecticut?
The witness was Kevin Klimas of Westerly, Rhode Island. Kevin was driving home from a friend’s cabin outside Pachaug State Forest when the creature stepped into the road in front of him, forcing him to slam on his brakes to avoid a collision.
Kevin said he was a skeptic before the encounter, but no longer, telling BFRO: “It was huge and it was terrifying.”
What Is a Class A Bigfoot Sighting?
The BFRO classifies reported sightings into different tiers based on the quality of evidence and circumstances of the encounter.
Class A cases involve clear visual observations under conditions where misidentification of common animals is highly unlikely, such as close-range road crossings with a firsthand witness.
The Voluntown report was designated Class A because it was a close-range road crossing that the witness observed directly.
Have Other Bigfoot Sightings Been Reported in Connecticut?
Yes, there have been previous Bigfoot reports in Connecticut. According to BFRO, there are three publicly posted encounters in the organization’s database from New London County alone, along with 22 unvetted reports.
The last publicly documented Connecticut case before Kevin’s was in October 2019. In December 2024, another driver also reported an encounter in the state.
Bigfoot sightings are not uncommon in New England, with recent reported encounters in Maine and New Hampshire.
https://hollywoodlife.com/feature/bigfoot-sighting-connecticut-5553606/
https://www.bfro.net/GDB/show_report.asp?id=81329
Feds outline path for UAP whistleblowers to come forward
Updated: Aug 1, 2026 / 05:33 PM CDT
The Trump administration has begun mapping out a formal process for UAP whistleblowers to share information about unidentified anomalous phenomena without violating nondisclosure agreements or other secrecy obligations.
U.S. Rep. Eric Burlison, R-Mo., on Saturday shared a memorandum from Aaron Lukas, principal deputy director of national intelligence, stating that the Department of War and intelligence agencies will implement a system to protect current and former government employees and contractors with “relevant information on UAPs.”
Under the plan outlined in the July 31 memo, federal intelligence agencies will be required to inform employees that secrecy agreements no longer apply to UAP disclosures made through approved channels.
Whistleblowers must report information to authorized government representatives from the Pentagon’s All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office, or AARO, or members of the Presidential Unsealing and Reporting System for UAP Encounters Task Force, according to the memo.
“Detailed reporting procedures will be disseminated to IC components within the next 30 days,” the memo said, referring to the Intelligence Community.
Burlison, a member of the House Oversight Committee and the bipartisan UAP Caucus, encouraged potential whistleblowers to contact his office if they need assistance navigating the process.
The announcement comes as the Trump administration continues to declassify records involving objects previously known as UFOs.
Reactions to the releases, including government videos of unexplained aerial objects, have been mixed regarding what definitive conclusions can be drawn from the material.
Still, UAP transparency advocates have praised the administration’s declassification efforts while urging the government to provide legal protections for former employees and contractors who may possess information about alleged nonhuman technology or biological materials recovered by the U.S. government.
Supporters of greater disclosure argue that nondisclosure agreements and other restrictions have discouraged some potential whistleblowers from coming forward.
https://www.newsnationnow.com/space/ufo/uap-whistleblower-system-pentagon-intelligence/
https://burlison.house.gov/sites/evo-subsites/burlison.house.gov/files/evo-media-document/memorandum_2026.pdf
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZkZ2GXHhjbY (Lawmakers Pushing for UFO Whistleblower Immunity | The Hill (Jun 9, 2026))
extra NewsNation
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mCxTV9aF_Fw (Coulthart on Elizondo: 'Still constrained by his security oaths' | Ross Coulthart Q&A)
https://sg.news.yahoo.com/pentagon-ufo-files-germanys-role-133233532.html
https://geoffcruickshank.substack.com/p/dow-release-4-scientists-at-a-1949
Pentagon UFO files: what role Germany plays
Sun, 2 August 2026 at 6:49 am GMT-7
Glowing objects in the sky, mysterious military reports and files kept under lock and key for decades: newly released UFO documents offer a glimpse into some of the most baffling cases of recent decades.
A key focus of these historical files are reports by Allied pilots from the final months of the Second World War. They described glowing flying objects moving at high speed that accompanied their aircraft over Germany.
These phenomena later became known as "Foo Fighters".
In the file (source in German) (source in English), it literally states:
On the night of 22 December 1944, two lights rose from the ground near an aircraft of the 415th Night Fighter Squadron, climbed to its altitude, took up position behind its tail for about two minutes and then 'peeled away again' – according to the crew, always under 'complete control'.
Ground radar confirmed that there were no enemy aircraft in the vicinity.
Such encounters were reported repeatedly. Over a period of six weeks, crews of the 415th over Germany and France spoke of red, green, orange and amber-coloured lights that flew in formation with their aircraft, carried out evasive manoeuvres and came as close as around 30 metres.
The pilots called these phenomena "Foo Fighters". The British Air Ministry examined the reports and concluded in a memorandum classified as secret in March 1945 that 'the whole matter still remains something of an enigma'.
Independently of this, pilots also reported sighting an aluminium cylinder roughly 3.6 metres long at an altitude of around 2,700 metres.
When fired upon by the aircraft, the object partially lost its shape and showed a red luminous effect, but did not break apart. Intelligence classified it as probably a German 'flak bomb'.
No one was able to provide a clear explanation for the mysterious lights. The file remained classified for 80 years.
The military examined several possible explanations. One idea was that they could be previously unknown German secret weapons or experimental aircraft with novel rocket or jet propulsion systems.
However, the investigations found no conclusive evidence for this.
Declassified FBI reports, "Nazi UFOs"
The released material also includes historical FBI documents from the 1940s and 1950s, in which reports appear of alleged German developments of disc-shaped flying devices.
Some of these references relate to possible secret research projects in the Berlin area and in regions near the Austrian border.
However, these reports do not come from technical investigations or confirmed military files, but are based mainly on statements from informants, rumours and intelligence tips from the immediate post-war period.
They therefore primarily reflect which leads the authorities chose to follow at the time.
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The documents do not provide evidence that Nazi Germany actually developed operational "flying discs" with extraordinary flight performance.
Historians place many of these stories in the context of speculation about German secret weapons, psychological warfare and the Allies' search for advanced German technology.
In the SHAEF and Air Ministry memoranda of 1944/45, there are repeated descriptions of, among other things, red, green, orange and amber-coloured lights that appeared to move in a controlled way, flew in formation with aircraft and in some cases came within short range of them.
Some observers report arrowhead-shaped objects. Despite this variety, certain patterns recur: many of the described craft seem to have no visible wings, rotors or conventional propulsion.
They are also said to possess unusual characteristics – such as apparently motionless hovering in the air, sudden bursts of acceleration or flight manoeuvres that are difficult to explain using known technologies.
Glowing shapes, unknown flight manoeuvres
Later investigations such as the US Air Force programme Project Blue Book (1947–1969) also documented a wide range of sighting reports.
Observers described, among other things, glowing geometric shapes, disc-shaped or arrow-like objects, as well as phenomena without visible wings, rotors or conventional propulsion systems.
Some reports spoke of objects that appeared to hover motionless in the air, accelerate abruptly or perform flight manoeuvres that were hard to reconcile with the aviation technologies known at the time.
Alongside the historical documents, the archives contain numerous files from more recent years.
Since the public revelation of the Pentagon programme AATIP (Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program) in 2017, the United States has expanded its investigations into so-called UAP (Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena).
The Department of Defense has created new structures for recording and assessing unusual observations by military personnel.
The Pentagon has also released several previously classified recordings of unknown flying objects, including videos taken by Navy pilots in 2004 and 2015, whose phenomena could not initially be clearly identified.
In some documents, military personnel also report physical complaints after close encounters, such as nausea, headaches, skin irritation or neurological symptoms.
What lies behind these unexplained observations remains disputed to this day. Explanations range from known technological phenomena and misperceptions to far more far-reaching hypotheses.
This new transparency in the handling of Pentagon files is being closely watched in Europe as well. Security and defence experts are following the US initiatives, as unusual phenomena in airspace are increasingly viewed as a potential security and intelligence issue.
Between history and speculation
The newly released files highlight above all one thing: interest in unusual aerial phenomena goes back a long way and is closely linked to historical events such as the Second World War.
Germany does feature in the documents, but the files provide no proof of extraterrestrial spacecraft or secret German "flying discs".
Rather, they document how armed forces and intelligence services have spent decades trying to explain unusual observations – and how enduring myths have grown out of them right up to the present day.
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still celebrating the spirit of '76
https://blackgroveglobalrisk.com/
https://x.com/InfinityDisclsd/status/2083688318697418776
AARO Is Sole-Sourcing a UFO Data Subscription That the Vendor's Own Website Says Does Not Exist Yet
August 01, 2026
Washington Headquarters Services intends to award a five-year contract for digital access to a private archive whose materials are not digitised. Capability statements close 17 August. The award value will decide what this actually is.
On 31 July the Washington Headquarters Services posted a notice of intent to award a sole-source, firm-fixed-price contract to the National UFO Historical Records Center of Rio Rancho, New Mexico, for a multi-year subscription giving the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office digital access to the archive's pre-1990 case data, metadata and analytical products. The structure is one base year plus four one-year options. No dollar value is published. Responses close at 11:00 Eastern on Monday 17 August.
The notice, solicitation number NUFOHRC_20260731, cites 10 U.S.C. 3204(a)(1) as implemented by FAR 6.302-1 — only one responsible source.
It states that the vendor holds records that "exist exclusively within its archives and are not available in any other public or private repository," and that market research identified no other organisation able to meet the government's minimum needs.
It specifies that the acquisition "is not for professional labor or advisory services," and describes the object of purchase as "a pre-existing, proprietary commercial data subscription."
That last phrase is the problem. The vendor's public materials do not describe a data subscription. They describe a building.
What the archive actually offers
The National UFO Historical Records Center is a New Mexico 501(c)(3) nonprofit, EIN 88-4241273, founded by the researcher and historian David Marler.
It holds three of the significant civilian case-file collections in the field — NICAP, APRO and the Center for UFO Studies — along with individual researcher collections including Ted Bloecher's HUMCAT files and Jan Aldrich's Project 1947 material.
On the historical merits, the government's characterisation of the holdings is broadly fair. There is no comparable single American repository.
Access is another matter. The organisation's website offers two routes in: a general-interest open house on the last Saturday of each month between noon and 4pm, and an appointment scheduler for researchers, scientists and academics.
There is no database, no login, no catalogue, no application programming interface and no published finding aid. The site's own statement of its access plan reads: "Efforts are underway to secure much-needed funding for this effort whereby materials can be accessed via cloud-based options." That is written in the present tense, as an objective being fundraised for. The first item on the organisation's donation page is "Digitization of Material."
The IRS records the organisation as not required to file a full Form 990 because its gross receipts fall below the filing threshold.
Its premises are portable classroom buildings at Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary School, occupied under a five-year memorandum of agreement with Rio Rancho Public Schools signed on 24 June 2024 and published in the district's board packet.
In a June 2024 interview Marler described digitisation as an ambition: "we want to get actively involved in digitizing the material to make it available to researchers worldwide."
A volunteer-scale nonprofit operating out of school portables, still raising money to digitise its collection, is therefore being sole-sourced to supply the Pentagon with a pre-existing commercial digital subscription.
Why the wording matters
The commercial-item framing is not decoration. Calling the requirement a data subscription rather than a service keeps it clear of FAR Part 37 advisory and assistance review, avoids personal-services and organisational-conflict analysis, and supports the finding that competition is unavailable.
Calling it "pre-existing" is what makes it a purchase rather than development. Remove that word and the government is paying a nonprofit to build a capability it does not yet have — which is the shape of a grant, and grants are competed through announcements that take months rather than an afternoon.
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There is a second, smaller defect. The justification credits the archive with "hundreds of thousands of unique case files."
Marler's own public estimate, given in July 2026, is 50,000 to 75,000 foreign and domestic files, alongside hundreds of thousands of news clippings and roughly 1,500 catalogued books.
The contracting file appears to have folded clipping volume into case-file count. Neither error is exotic. Both are the kind of soft finding that a competitor's capability statement, filed by 17 August, would require the contracting officer to re-test.
The context the buyer does not mention
AARO published Volume I of its congressionally mandated Historical Record Report in March 2024, concluding that it had found no evidence of extraterrestrial technology and no verifiable programme concealment.
Volume II, required by Section 6802 of the FY23 National Defense Authorization Act, has not appeared. The office is now committing to five years of access to a body of pre-1990 material it did not previously hold, while its own records-release channel produces nothing: no fifth PURSUE tranche in 22 days, no instrument behind the NDA waiver on day 11.
Both positions can be held honestly. An office can conclude the record shows nothing and still want to read the rest of it. What sits less comfortably is the option structure.
Documents are bought once. Four option years running to FY2031 imply a recurring relationship with an outside archive across two more administrations, which is a resourcing decision rather than a research one.
BLACKGROVE ASSESSMENT
We assess this is a grant structured as a purchase, and that the irregularity is more likely bureaucratic than concealing.
The ordinary explanation is available and has not been displaced. A programme office wants the NICAP, APRO and CUFOS files, discovers the only route runs through one nonprofit in New Mexico, and a contracting officer reaches for the fastest instrument on the shelf.
Federal agencies buy commercial data subscriptions constantly, and one base year plus four options is the boilerplate for one. On that reading the defects in the justification are the residue of speed, not of intent.
What the ordinary explanation does not cover is the term. If the requirement is a fixed corpus of pre-1990 documents, it is satisfied by a single delivery.
The option years indicate that someone expects the archive to keep producing through the end of the decade, which means either continuing digitisation funded by the government, or continuing analysis — and the notice explicitly disclaims buying analysis.
The award value resolves this and nothing else will. Below roughly $50,000 the action is a records-access convenience buy and the paperwork irregularity is the whole story.
At six figures a year into an organisation whose gross receipts sit under the Form 990 filing threshold, the government is standing up a capability quietly, off any visible programme line, in leased school portables. Those are different events with the same solicitation number.
We take no position on what the pre-1990 files contain. This is an assessment of a contracting action, not of the phenomenon.
Readers inclined to treat the purchase as evidence that AARO expects to find something should note that the government has given no indication of the material's content, and that the vendor's collection has been openly available to any researcher willing to drive to Rio Rancho on the last Saturday of the month.
▸ WHAT TO WATCH
17 August, 11:00 ET — capability statements close. Any filing by another repository with pre-1990 holdings forces the contracting officer to re-test the single-source finding.
The award notice — contract number, obligated value, and whether the four option years are priced at award or left unpriced. This is the single most informative document still to come.
SAM entity registration — an active registration with a Unique Entity Identifier is a precondition of award. If the vendor is not yet registered, that registration is a dateable event.
The notice auto-archives 1 September 2026.
Historical Record Report Volume II — if it surfaces within 90 days of award, the two actions are related and the subscription is best read as source-base repair.
Whether the eventual scope reaches past 1990 into current-case support, which would contradict the historical framing.
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Michael Salla
@MichaelSalla
President Trump yesterday reposted the meme of a tall Gray alien in shackles who is walking next to him and both being surrounded by Secret Service agents. What message is he conveying?
The critical context is that in the very near future, Trump is going to make a disclosure statement about the existence of Non-Human Intelligence and secret UFO crash retrieval operations.
The reposted meme conveys the message that "we are in control and there's nothing to be frightened about".
That is critical because one of the things predicted in the 1961 Brookings Report is that announcing the discovery of ET life could lead to a societal breakdown similar to what happened to the Mayans/Aztecs with the arrival of the all-conquering Spanish World Cup soccer team.😄
Humor aside, the shackled alien meme is intended to convey, especially to Evangelical Christians who believe most, if not all, NHI are demons, that they can trust Trump, who is in control of UFO disclosure.
https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/117021565635125700
Last edited 6:17 AM · Aug 2, 2026
https://x.com/MichaelSalla/status/2083904953387532596
https://www.mediaite.com/media/news/trump-kisses-jesus-and-arrests-aliens-in-loony-truth-social-posting-spree/
https://www.the-independent.com/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-truth-social-posting-weekend-b3026019.html
extra
https://x.com/eisenhowe8/status/2082990397920629214
https://x.com/InterstellarUAP/status/2083861616299483331
https://x.com/RedPandaKoala/status/2083906054304485397
Salvatore Pais, Ashton Forbes and Dave Rossi Quad-podcast
Aug 1, 2026
Got to get a unique and brilliant blend of minds [ imho* ] together on the 26th, the conversation was one of the most fuego exchanges i have been a part of yet and i am super amped and honored it happened and am very excited to share
Honestly don't wanna spoil any of it , we start off fairly quickly and keep the pace right up to the end
Ashton stream mentioned with Bob Wood : https://www.youtube.com/live/M5zqxad0Gm4 (The Dark Secrets of Boeing - Bob Wood & Paul Czysz)
Sal Pais papers & patents
•High Frequency Gravitational Waves – Induced Propulsion (SAE 2017-01-2040)
https://doi.org/10.4271/2017-01-2040
•Craft using an inertial mass reduction device – US10144532B2
https://patents.google.com/patent/US10144532B2
•High frequency gravitational wave generator – US10322827B2
https://patents.google.com/patent/US10322827B2
Mentioned / foundational references
•E.T. Whittaker, “On an Expression of the Electromagnetic Field due to Electrons by Means of Two Scalar Potential Functions” (1904)
https://doi.org/10.1112/plms/s2-1.1.367
•Gabriel Kron – Tensor Analysis of Networks and related negative-resistance / network-analyzer work (classic texts; searchable under Kron’s name).
Puthoff papers
•Ground state of hydrogen as a zero-point-fluctuation-determined state (1987)
https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.35.3266
•Gravity as a zero-point-fluctuation force (1989)
https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.39.2333
∞ The Presentation to Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency by Honeywell and M.I.T. on Vector Potential Research Collaberation
[ ill be i cannot find it anywhere but there is the title for copy and paste, and here is a link to a self composting circuit Honeywell developed :
https://www.militaryaerospace.com/computers/article/16715655/honeywell-to-investigate-transient-electronic-components-able-to-decompose-on-demand ]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uAdrc22253c
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_tawXvw-ii4 (Growing Up Alien - a Pleiadian Walk-in's Story: UFO Legacy Implosion with Evan, Dr. Sal Pais, Ashton Forbes & Dave Rossi)
https://x.com/AshtonForbes/status/2083950254437576838
no extra disclosure dejour today