TYB
MarkWhittington
@MarkWhittington
2h
With the Crew Dragon retiring, NASA needs a new plan for low Earth orbit
From thehill.com
NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman
@NASAAdmin
There are certainly rumblings about the future of astronaut access to low Earth orbit. This often comes up in the context of commercial space stations, where having access to LEO is obviously imperative, but affordable access is really the distinction.
In that respect, it doesn't matter how many certified crew vehicles you have, Dragon, Starliner, or otherwise, if the architecture inherently creates a cost barrier that limits demand.
Take a look at where we are at today..
-
There are five outstanding and proven SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft still under contract for missions over the next few years.
-
There are several Boeing Starliner crewed spacecraft that will be modified to address the design issues identified in the PIT report and ultimately certified to launch on ULA's Vulcan. We hope to launch the next uncrewed mission in the months ahead.
-
Lockheed's Orion, of which I saw the crew and service modules for Artemis III, IV, and V under development this past Friday at KSC. That visit in itself deserves a long-form post about how hard the NASA teams, our contractors, and partners are working to meet this moment for the nation. That amazing fact aside, we have Orion. It is a crew-certified spacecraft and will fly in LEO next year. Certainly not a vehicle optimized for LEO or affordability, but the capability is there. There is no doubt a long future ahead for Orion on a variety of launch vehicles and paired w/ transfer stages.
-
Both SpaceX and Blue Origin are developing landers to return astronauts to the lunar surface, not to mention affordably delivering mass to the Moon in support of the Moon Base. These programs also have a path to support future crewed LEO needs, be that inherent in their existing plans or paired with other spacecraft.
-
Other companies, including Blue Origin, have made public comments about internally funding the development of additional crew vehicles. If there is really considerable demand for even more astronaut access to LEO and beyond, then private companies should be able to build the business case and raise the capital. NASA will always be willing to provide subject matter expertise and test facility support for these types of company-funded efforts. And if the capability is there at a lower cost, it is hard to imagine we wouldn't become a customer.
In short, there has never been a time when the United States had so many crew-certified spacecraft options available, with others in development, and so much investment moving in the direction of lower costs to make missions to Earth orbit, the Moon, and beyond more routine.
I would just caution folks against jumping right to NASA funding the business case for every good idea–like why not one more crewed spacecraft.
The more NASA gets spread out trying to make everyone happy, the fewer exciting moments we will have like Artemis II and Roman, the fewer X-planes we will put in the sky, and the fewer astronauts we can afford to fly frequently to Earth orbit.
The longer programs, like America's long overdue return to the Moon, take to achieve.
We need to stay focused on delivering on the national space policy as quickly, safely and affordably as possible.
7:50 AM · Oct 18, 2026
https://x.com/NASAAdmin/status/2111832394877608297
https://thehill.com/opinion/technology/6154497-nasa-seeks-commercial-space-stations/
moar
https://x.com/NASAAdmin/status/2111837273788399628
https://x.com/NASAAdmin/status/2111220139786207277
https://x.com/NASAAdmin/status/2111844525530640640
https://x.com/NASAAdmin/status/2111843596651344270
Bandwagon-5 Mission
October 19, 2026 03:30 - 04:30 PT
SpaceX is targeting Monday, October 19 for a Falcon 9 launch of the Bandwagon-5 rideshare mission to orbit from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
The one-hour window opens at 6:30 a.m. ET. If needed, there is a backup opportunity on Tuesday, October 20 with the same window.
A live webcast of this mission will begin about 15 minutes prior to liftoff, which you can watch here and on X @SpaceX.
On board this mission are 32 payloads including cubesats, microsats, and reentry vehicles.
This will be the 19th flight of the first stage booster supporting this mission, which previously launched Crew-9, RRT-1, Firefly Blue Ghost Mission 1, Fram2, SXM-10, MTG-S1, EchoStar XXV, SXM-11, and now 10 Starlink missions.
Following stage separation, the first stage will land on the A Shortfall of Gravitas droneship which will be stationed in the Atlantic Ocean.
https://www.spacex.com/launches/bandwagon5
https://www.orlandosentinel.com/2026/10/18/monday-morning-spacex-launch-could-serve-up-space-jellyfish-encore/
moar SpaceX
https://starlust.org/nasa-asks-citizens-for-space-jellyfish-photos-after-falcon-9-launch-to-iss-the-results-dont-disappoint/
https://operativmm.az/en/post/floods-hit-turkey-as-antalya-hotel-pianist-plays-titanic-theme/82829
63 Years Ago Today, a Stray Cat from Paris Traveled 98 Miles into Space for 13 Minutes
October 18, 2026 06:59AM EDT
In 2019, the curious feline was honored with a bronze statue in France
NEED TO KNOW
Félicette became the first and only cat to survive a trip into space in 1963
Scientists monitored her heart rate and breathing during the French mission
A 2019 bronze statue in Strasbourg honored her overlooked contribution to space research
Cats are known for their curiosity, but Félicette took hers far beyond the places most felines ever explore.
On Oct. 18, 1963, the small black-and-white former stray became the first and only cat to survive a trip into space.
Her journey lasted less than 15 minutes, yet it made her part of an important chapter in the early years of space exploration.
Decades later, her contribution received a lasting tribute in the form of a bronze statue in France.
Before Félicette’s flight, the United States and the Soviet Union had sent animals into space to help scientists understand how space travel affected living bodies.
Famous examples included Laika, a dog launched by the Soviet Union in 1957, and Ham, a chimpanzee sent into space by the United States in 1961.
France had previously sent rats, but researchers at the Centre d’Enseignement et de Recherches de Médecine Aéronautique (CERMA) selected Félicette from a group of 14 cats trained for the mission, according to Mental Floss.
In October 1963, Félicette, identified during the mission as C341, blasted off from a site in the Sahara Desert. Her capsule reached approximately 98 miles above Earth while electrodes monitored her heart rate and breathing.
After separating from the rocket, the capsule descended by parachute, bringing her safely back to the ground. However, her story ended tragically when researchers euthanized her several months later to study her brain.
Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
Although her flight contributed to scientific research, Félicette received far less recognition than other animals involved in space exploration.
An effort to change that, however, began in 2017, when Matthew Serge Guy launched a Kickstarter campaign to fund a memorial. More than 1,100 supporters contributed $57,000 toward the project.
Sculptor Gill Parker created a 5-foot-tall bronze statue showing Félicette sitting atop Earth and looking skyward.
Unveiled in December 2019 at the International Space University in Strasbourg, France, the monument gave the pioneering cat a permanent place in the history of space exploration.
https://people.com/63-years-ago-stray-cat-from-paris-traveled-98-miles-into-space-12174838
https://www.space.com/space-exploration/on-this-day-in-space-october-18-2026
Ukraine in ‘final manifestations of agony’ – Kremlin
18 Oct, 2026 13:57 | Updated 18 Oct, 2026 15:00
A major drone attack on St. Petersburg is no more than a sign of Kiev’s agony, Dmitry Peskov has said
Ukraine’s long-range attacks on Russian civilian and energy infrastructure, including the raid on St. Petersburg, are no more than desperate attempts by Kiev to change the course of the conflict and will not succeed, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said.
One person was killed and five others wounded in St. Petersburg during an overnight aerial raid by the Ukrainian military, according to local governor Aleksandr Beglov. The attack also damaged over a dozen apartment blocks and caused a fire at a local oil terminal.
Peskov described the attack as “some final manifestations of agony” of Ukraine, adding that, although “the Kiev regime is fighting back, it cannot alter the course of history.”
According to the Kremlin spokesman, Russia has been consistently responding to the Ukrainian attacks with major systematic strikes, which “do yield results.”
Moscow has accused Kiev of deliberately targeting civilian infrastructure and residential areas with long-range drones in an attempt to compensate for setbacks on the battlefield, where Russian forces have continued to advance.
Kiev also continues to target Russian oil infrastructure despite demands by US President Donald Trump to curb the attacks, which he blames for surging global energy prices.
Trump had previously accused Vladimir Zelensky of “making problems” for the US and the whole world and suggested that Ukraine needs a “new president.”
Washington also struck a deal with Moscow earlier this month to alleviate the fuel crisis ahead of the midterm US election on November 3.
The agreement involved the US easing restrictions on Moscow’s diesel exports and waiving the “bone-crushing” sanctions, including 500% tariffs on imports from Russia and 100% tariffs on major buyers of Russian oil and gas in exchange for Moscow supplying diesel to the global market and potentially to the US as well.
Russia has responded to Kiev’s terrorist attacks by intensifying its long-range missile and drone campaign against Ukraine’s military-industrial facilities and logistics infrastructure.
The Russian Defense Ministry maintains that the nation’s forces do not target civilians, and the strikes are targeting only military targets and infrastructure supporting the Ukrainian forces.
https://rt-english.com/russia/647366-moscow-comments-kiev-long-strikes/
moar RT
https://rt-english.com/russia/647347-st-petersburg-leningrad-ukraine-drone/
https://rt-english.com/russia/647341-ukrainian-border-guards-moldova/
https://rt-english.com/russia/647360-trump-reopening-europe-russian-gas/
https://rt-english.com/news/647365-hungary-us-diesel-magyar/
https://ca.news.yahoo.com/ukraine-defies-trump-launches-one-104947730.html
https://kyivindependent.com/ukraine-war-latest-st-petersburg-slammed-by-drones-in-mass-ukrainian-attack/
https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2026/10/18/one-killed-five-injured-in-ukrainian-drone-attack-on-st-petersburg-governor-says-a94015
other Russia and Ukraine
https://www.pravda.com.ua/eng/news/2026/10/18/8058586/
https://united24media.com/war-in-ukraine/drone-strikes-major-st-petersburg-bridge-hitting-key-highway-connecting-citys-north-and-south-23555
https://united24media.com/war-in-ukraine/drones-set-massive-79000-square-meter-ozon-warehouse-ablaze-near-st-petersburg-23553
https://www.anews.com.tr/world/2026/10/18/italian-nato-jets-scrambled-after-drone-enters-lithuanian-airspace-damages-car
https://www.ukrinform.net/rubric-ato/4175538-russian-drone-attack-on-poltava-kills-one-injures-four.html
https://united24media.com/war-in-ukraine/russia-admits-its-air-defenses-cannot-shield-vast-industrial-empire-from-ukrainian-drone-strikes-23563
Ukraine defies Trump and launches one of its biggest drone attacks on Russia this year
Sun, October 18, 2026 at 8:51 a.m. PDT
Ukraine launched one of its biggest drone attacks this year on Russia overnight on Saturday, hitting a key oil terminal in defiance of US President Donald Trump's demand it stop hitting Russian energy infrastructure.
There have been growing tensions between Ukraine and the US in recent days, prompting fears in Kyiv it could lose essential support as it approaches another winter under relentless Russian attack.
President Volodymyr Zelensky told NBC News' "Meet the Press" the US siding with Russia would be a "historic mistake."
Despite this, the Ukrainian president said he spoke to US envoy, Steve Witkoff and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner on Sunday as part of "nonstop communication" to work towards to goal of peace.
"We are doing everything on our part to make this happen, and to ensure that America's position is strong and helps bring peace closer," Zelensky posted on X.
But Ukraine is keeping up long-range strikes into Russia. Russia's defense ministry said it shot down 1,015 Ukrainian drones overnight into Sunday over various parts of the country.
One target was the St. Petersburg Oil Terminal, according to Russian authorities. The terminal can handle up to 12.5 million tons per year.
Ukraine's Fire Point company, which makes the drones used in the attack, said there was a fire on the terminal's grounds following the strike.
A logistics centers in St. Petersburg was also attacked, according to Ozon, a Russian distribution company, as well as a data center for the Russian VKontakte social media platform.
One person was killed and five wounded in the attacks, with residential homes damaged as well, according to local authorities.
"They shot one down right above us: there was one bright flash, and it shook us up quite strongly," a 41-year old resident of St. Petersburg told CNN.
"I heard a roar, got everyone out of their beds, took the cat, and we hid in the bathroom," another said.
1/2
A deepening spat
Ukraine's strikes come amid Zelensky's deteriorating relationship with Trump, who last week called Kyiv's strikes on Russian oil refineries a "disgrace."
A week ago Trump said Russia and Ukraine had agreed to stop attacking each other's energy infrastructure, as the White House tries to relieve pressure on oil and diesel prices ahead of crucial midterm elections.
Neither Kyiv nor Moscow acknowledged such an agreement. Ukraine briefly halted such attacks, but has since resumed them — while Russia never stopped pounding Ukraine's energy plants and cities.
Eleven people were killed and nearly 50 injured across Ukraine in Russian missile and drone attacks in the 24 hours to Sunday morning, according to Ukrainian authorities, including what they called a massive attack on energy facilities in the Odesa region.
"Since the American President announced the energy ceasefire a week ago, Russia has deliberately attacked Ukraine's energy and oil and gas sectors 76 times," Zelensky wrote on X Sunday.
Trump has waived sanctions on imports of Russian diesel and on Friday invoked a waiver exempting Russia from sweeping economic penalties mandated by the US Congress, sparking criticism even from Republicans.
In an interview Sunday with "Meet the Press," Zelensky said the waiver strengthened Putin's war against Ukraine while Moscow was failing on the battlefield. He said it was "more support for Russian aggression."
Zelensky also repeated that the Ukrainian military's access to the Starlink system to guide its short-range and battlefield drones was still curtailed.
"It was a message from the American government" to limit the speed at which Ukrainian drones could fly, Zelensky said.
The Trump administration has denied it ordered the service restricted.
Zelensky said that intelligence sharing had been blocked by the US side for three days during ballistic missile attacks but had since been restored.
US satellite networks have been critical in providing the Ukrainian military with warnings of incoming missiles.
Zelensky was also asked about Trump's comments that he was more difficult to deal with than Russian President Vladimir Putin and replied it was "better to have partners who are very open and clear than to have those who are killers, even with a smile on their face."
Zelensky said he wanted to trust Trump and hoped he would change his attitude to Putin. Asked if Trump was an ally of Ukraine, Zelensky said: "I hope so."
2/2
https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/iran-news/2026-10-18/live-updates-911999
other Israel
https://vinnews.com/2026/10/18/idf-raises-alert-along-northern-border-amid-fears-of-iranian-backed-escalation-ahead-of-elections/
https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/defense-news/article-911865
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/434762
https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/7-year-old-girl-killed-by-israeli-fire-in-central-gaza-hamas-media-outlets-say-no-comment-from-idf/
Live Updates: Iran appoints new defense minister, urges US to accept proposal to reopen Strait of Hormuz
October 18, 2026
Iran calls on US to accept proposal to reopen Hormuz • Lebanon pushes for halt to Israeli strikes • Iran-backed militias funnel money to IRGC
October 18, 7:18 PM
Russia's Lavrov to visit Tehran on Monday, Iran says
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will visit Tehran on Monday to consult with Iranian officials and follow up on the implementation of bilateral agreements, Iran's foreign ministry said in a statement on Sunday.
October 18, 7:02 PM
UAE president, Saudi defense minister discuss regional security as Houthi attacks intensify
UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan received Saudi Arabia's defense minister in Abu Dhabi on Sunday, with the two discussing regional developments and ways to bolster security, the Emirati state news agency WAM reported.
The talks follow a visit to Riyadh last month by UAE Vice President Sheik Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the first trip by a senior UAE official to the kingdom since a deep rift emerged between the two Gulf powers last year.
The visits come as Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis intensify attacks on the kingdom.
October 18, 4:38 PM
EU condemns West Bank settler attacks targeting diplomats, Palestinians during olive harvest
The European Union "strongly condemns" attacks by extremist settlers in the West Bank, including attacks against European diplomats, the bloc's foreign policy spokesperson said on Sunday.
The statement came a day after Belgian Foreign Minister Maxime Prevot said Israeli settlers attacked Palestinian civilians, European diplomats and a French mayor in the West Bank.
"We take positive note of statements by several Israeli representatives who condemned the attacks, but we expect full accountability as well as effective measures to prevent continued acts of violence and violent harassment against Palestinians, including during the ongoing olive harvest season, as well as against journalists," the EU spokesperson said.
The incident in question included a group of European diplomats who claimed to have been attacked by Jewish settler extremists on Saturday.
October 18, 4:37 PM
Tensions continue to mount in Lebanon as Hezbollah challenges Beirut’s authority
Lebanon's Grand Jaafari Mufti issued a statement during his sermon on Friday, insisting that Beirut’s actions against Hezbollah were a threat to Lebanese sovereignty.
Tensions between the Lebanese government and Hezbollah have escalated following the Iran-backed terror group's attempt to obstruct an Internal Security Forces operation to inspect a warehouse storing unregulated cancer drugs, and its supporters protested the seizure of explosives allegedly being trafficked into southern Beirut by the group, according to Lebanese media reports and officials.
Armed men affiliated with Hezbollah surrounded a judicial police patrol vehicle in the Galerie Semaan area on the outskirts of Beirut’s southern suburbs after the Internal Security Forces (ISF) arrived to raid warehouses suspected of storing unlicensed cancer medications. The armed men withdrew after the Lebanese military arrived at the scene.
Hezbollah’s political wing subsequently condemned the security forces for carrying out the operation in the area, which it described as outside its Shia stronghold, “without observing the mechanism agreed upon between Hezbollah and the security services.”
According to MTV Lebanon, the ISF had been acting on the orders of Lebanese Attorney-General Ahmad Rami al-Hajj, following a referral from Health Minister Rakan Nasr al-Din, who had insisted that the medications be seized due to the risk of spoilage and their failure to meet health standards.
1/2
October 18, 1:45 PM
'You are the real target': Netanyahu warns Iran may attempt to develop missiles able to reach US
Netanyahu told Fox News that, if reelected prime minister, his key objectives would be to end the threat posed by Iran, expand the Abraham Accords, and seize the future of AI development.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned that Iran was developing intercontinental ballistic missiles and pursuing nuclear weapons with the aim of threatening American cities, telling Fox News on Saturday that the US, rather than Israel, was the Iranian regime's ultimate target.
Netanyahu argued that Iran's ambitions extend beyond Israel, warning that the regime intends to target both the US and Europe if it succeeds in destroying Israel. He said Iran's development of long-range missiles and pursuit of a nuclear arsenal were intended to place American cities at the mercy of the regime.
"This is a regime that chants death to Israel, death to America. You are the real target. And I think we are well on our way to achieving this, with President Trump's brilliant leadership, both military and, then, economic blockade," Netanyahu said.
October 18, 1:45 PM
Iran's parliament approves Mehrdad Akhlachi as defense minister after predecessor killed by Israel
Akhlachi replaces Majid Ebn al-Reza, who took over in an interim capacity after then Defense Minister Aziz Nasirzadeh was killed by US-Israeli strikes in February.
Iran's parliament approved Mehrdad Akhlachi Ketabchi as defense minister on Sunday, ending months of interim leadership at the ministry and placing a former defense sector veteran in charge of the country's defense production and procurement apparatus.
Akhlachi replaces Majid Ebn al-Reza, who took over in an interim capacity after then Defense Minister Aziz Nasirzadeh was killed by US-Israeli strikes in February.
Akhlachi has spent decades in Iran's defense industry and has held senior roles in its aerospace and missile sectors. He is subject to US and EU sanctions over his work in Iran's defense sector.
October 18, 1:45 PM
Settlement expansion, Jewish terror pose severe risk to Israel’s economy, senior economists warn
A group of 61 senior economists warned that expansion of settlements, as well as failure to prevent Jewish violence in the West Bank, will carry a "high economic cost" for every Israeli citizen.
West Bank settlement expansion and rising Jewish terror against Palestinians could expose Israel to sweeping international sanctions, deepen its economic isolation, and drive up the cost of living for all Israelis, a group of 61 senior economists warned in a letter published on Sunday.
"The damage to Israel's economy could increase by orders of magnitude if such measures spread from a handful of countries to a significant portion of Europe and extend beyond the settlements to the Israeli economy as a whole," the letter read.
"The expansion of settlements in the West Bank and the failure to prevent Jewish violence and terrorism against Palestinians are causing diplomatic damage to Israel, contributing to its international isolation, and carrying a high economic cost that will ultimately be borne by every resident of the country.
October 18, 12:50 PM
Iran urges US to accept proposal to reopen Strait of Hormuz within six days
Iran's offer to the United States to reopen the Strait of Hormuz within seven days is still on the table, Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi told Iranian media outlets on Sunday.
If Washington accepts Tehran's conditions, the strategic waterway would be open within six days, and US-Iran talks would resume on the seventh day, he added.
October 18, 12:13 PM
Iran's Supreme National Security Council secretary threatens Israel, US
Iranian Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council Mohsen Rezaei threatened Israel and the United States with a "more devastating plan" in a Sunday post on X/Twitter.
"The ramblings and repeated threats of these days from American and Zionist officials do not change the reality of the field," Rezaei claimed.
"Iran's new operational plan will not proceed with rules that they know."
October 18, 11:25 AM
IDF allows Lebanese, Syrian workers into northern security zone to harvest olives - report
The IDF has allowed Lebanese and Syrian olive harvesters to enter the Yellow Line security zone in southern Lebanon, Army Radio reported Sunday.
According to Army Radio, although most of the villages where the harvest is taking place are Christian, at least one, Kfarchouba, is a Sunni village where Hezbollah terror activity has been recorded and where the IDF has killed a number of terrorists throughout the war.
The IDF confirmed that the harvests took place in "several Christian villages" but did not mention Kfarchouba.
2/2
'UFO' filmed shooting across Devon sky then splitting into pieces
10:48, 17 Oct 2026
'I got more and more confused when it split out into separate lights and started disappearing and reappearing'
A mysterious "fireball" has been seen shooting across the sky sparking talk of a UFO over Devon.
The unexplained lights were captured on camera last night (Friday, October 16) by a number of residents.
Footage shows multiple bright objects appearing to shoot across the sky before splitting up.
One witness, Mason, told DevonLive he saw what looked like a "comet or fireball" in the sky around 8pm near Cullompton.
Mason said: "Mysterious lighting in sky […] started off as a fireball looking thing before slowing and splitting in these lights. UFOs?
"I got more and more confused when it split out into separate lights and started disappearing and reappearing."
Another witness, Kier, also took footage of the lights near Honiton. He said: "Saw these in the sky near Honiton. Did anyone else see it or know what it is?"
It's not the first time strange lights have been seen in the sky in Devon.
Last year, lights were seen in the sky over North Devon sparking rumours and theories as to what it was.
However, experts confirmed the lights were likely caused by a Chinese rocket's exhaust catching the rising sun during a test run.
Other incidents of 'flying objects' in the sky have also been reported near Clearbrook.
In January 2025, video footage shared with DevonLive showed objects in the sky disappeared into the clouds.
https://www.devonlive.com/news/devon-news/ufo-filmed-shooting-across-devon-11203337
Former US Army Sniper Claims Troops Got Into Battle With ‘Reptilian Beings’ At Area 51 Base; Soldier’s Death Covered Up
October 16, 2026 1:39 pm
A former Army sniper claims that a drunk special operations soldier told him about a battle with “mildly reptilian” creatures that occurred at an underground base near Area 51.
Nick Betts, co-host of the Liberty Risk podcast, says he was in Poland filming a documentary about the war in Ukraine when a man he described as a member of Joint Special Operations Command shared a story about a battle with reptilian creatures at Area 51.
While the operations soldier was drunk at the time, Betts said he was not sloppy.
A former Army sniper claimed a JSOC member told him U.S. troops killed three reptilian-looking creatures at an underground facility near Area 51
According to Betts, the unit was pulled from Fort Bragg and flown to Area 51, where the soldiers were reportedly briefed and issued unfamiliar energy weapons that fired blasts instead of bullets.
From there, they were allegedly taken by Black Hawk helicopter to the mouth of a long tunnel leading into the underground complex.
Betts says the mission began when the facility stopped sending its routine radio check-ins, and a quick-reaction force sent to investigate never came back.
He didn’t say whether his source knew what happened to those soldiers or whether they were still missing.
Once inside, the source claimed, a team of about six soldiers worked their way through the tunnels and ran into the first reptilian creature, which was reportedly armed with the same kind of weapon the team had been issued.
Inside, a serviceman was killed by a weapon fired from a creature that walked on two legs, looked “mildly reptilian,” and had fingers.
“As they’re coming around on this outside, the outside left guy gets f—— hosed with one of the guns that they’re using, as straight to the chest and f—— dies.”
“They said that they f—— shot this creature that was bipedal, mildly reptilian-looking but had fingers and was using this weapon system,” Betts said.
Betts didn’t name the soldier or the unit, and a second special forces member who might have backed up the story wasn’t in the room when it was told. The team killed all three beings, and the soldier’s death was allegedly covered up.
Despite how fantastical the story sounds, Betts said he believed them, though, given how serious they were about him not repeating what they told him.
“I would have chalked it up to the wine if it wasn’t for being choke slammed up against a f—— wall in the morning at 6am,” Betts recalled.
Betts’ anecdote is just the latest instance of a story about aliens/reptilians crossing paths with the military.
https://brobible.com/culture/article/reptilian-area-51-base-battle/
https://x.com/RT_Breaking_/status/2111008529834230050
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2AEpYgHmtxA (Liberty Risk: Aliens, Bigfoot & Bar Fights 🤘🏼👽🤘🏼 • Ep. 37 • Crew Cast)
The Internet Is Roasting Mark Zuckerberg For The ‘Reptilian’ Way He Drinks Guinness
Oct 13, 2026 5:57 PM EDT
“AI would be more convincing than him.”
Key Points
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg appeared on the Cheeky Pint podcast this week.
The tech executive is getting roasted online for his less-than-enthusiastic reaction to a pint of Guinness.
Social media users compared the moment to McDonald’s CEO Chris Kempczinski, who previously went viral for an awkward video of himself eating a burger.
Mark Zuckerberg appeared on a podcast this week to talk about AI that’s going viral for a very different reason—and he’s probably not too “hoppy” about it.
The Meta CEO, along with Chief AI Officer Alexandr Wang, joined Stripe co-founder John Collison on his podcast Cheeky Pint. The series brings tech leaders together to discuss the industry and participate in a beloved Irish tradition: drinking a pint of Guinness.
For what it’s worth, Zuckerberg seemed like a gracious guest, even bringing Collison a keg of Guinness straight from Dublin. But based on his reaction to his first sip, he doesn’t seem to be the beer’s biggest fan.
Clips posted to social media show the tech executive struggling through the stout with a less-than-convincing poker face. Between the winces and pained expressions, it looked like he was having a hard enough time getting it down, much less splitting the “G.”
It’s safe to say the internet is having a field day. “Been in his mouth longer than it took to brew it,” one Instagram user wrote. Another added, “AI would be more convincing than him.”
One X user compared the reaction to McDonald’s CEO Chris Kempczinski, who went viral earlier this year for his awkward attempt to eat the Big Arch.
And for a figure as controversial as Zuckerberg, the online response is somehow even more brutal than it was for Kempczinski.
“It’s actually Guinness that doesn’t like him,” one Instagram user joked. “Reptilian sip if I’ve ever seen one,” another wrote.
If you’re wondering whether the beer grew on him over the course of the episode, the answer appears to be no. By the end, Zuckerberg still didn’t appear to split the G. Maybe next time he should opt for a glass of water.
https://www.delish.com/food-news/a74122128/mark-zuckerberg-guinness-cheeky-pint-podcast/
https://x.com/soundmigration/status/2109749349928554884
https://projectcamelotportal.com/2026/10/16/gary-mckinnon-hacking-the-pentagon-re-release-copy-2-2/
https://x.com/camelotQKerry/status/2111089858827710477
https://rumble.com/v7ae9hi-gary-mckinnon-hacking-the-pentagon-rerelease.html
GARY MCKINNON: HACKING THE PENTAGON RE-RELEASE - LIST OF NON-TERRESTRIAL OFFICERS, FLEET TO FLEET TRANSFERS…
October 16, 2026
THE REAL TRUTH BEHIND THE SSP AND SOLAR WARDEN
UPDATED RE-RELEASE AT HIGHER RESOLUTION, IMPROVED SOUND.
Kerry Cassidy caught up with Gary McKinnon in North London on my way back from safari in Kenya.
The interview was shot using a hand-held camcorder and uploaded at 4 am UK time, making use of a wireless connection outside of an office building in downtown Birmingham. This is what is known as guerrilla filmmaking…
Gary McKinnon : Hacking the Pentagon
London, June 2006
NOW ON RUMBLE:
We sat in the back of his local pub, in a garden in the late afternoon. Gary is lucid, eloquent and extremely intelligent. He made it clear that the real reason the Americans want to extradite him is not for any damage he has done, for in fact there wasn’t any.
They are pursuing him is because of what he might have seen. Specifically, documents revealing a list of “Non-terrestrial officers” and off-world cargo operations somewhere out in space, (fleet-to-fleet transfers) hinting at the real possibility of military activities taking place in relation to other planets.
Such a possibility has got to be mind-blowing to the average person who barely grasps that there might actually be aliens from other worlds interacting with earth and governments in the vicinity of our solar system.
Key to the whole extradition matter is the issue that there were NO passwords required in order to access this material… and that a relatively unprofessional hacker, self-taught albeit brilliant, would be able, using a dial-up modem, to gain top secret access to NASA files and places as sacrosanct as the Pentagon.
Since the date of this interview, Gary McKinnon has won his battle against extradition and will not face charges due to his having been diagnosed with Aspergers Syndrome.
It is important to note that this interview contains some of the best footage ever filmed of McKinnon telling the story in his own words. Most of the press accounts simply refer to his activity as looking for proof of UFOs.
The fact that he unearthed proof of the Secret Space Program and the ramifications of that find, have been largely ignored by the mainstream press.
It is our hope that this testimony will eventually cross over into the mainstream and provide the proof necessary for a full scale investigation into the existence of a Secret Government and Space Program that are currently as much as 10,000 years in advance of the state of technology in use on ‘surface Earth’. This includes anti-gravity and travel beyond the reaches of our solar system as well as the establishment of bases on the Moon, Mars and other planets.
Project Camelot’s whistleblowers have provided ample testimony supporting the finds of Gary McKinnon and it is our view that ultimately the truth about this will become widely known.
1/2
UPDATED INFO FROM A SECRET SOURCE. (this may or may not be accurate)
…”Here is the real story:
He was indicted by a Grand Jury in November 2002 in Alexandra, Virginia.
He was arrested by UK Authorities and remanded to their custody, pending the extradition hearing set for the end of this month.
He did get into several systems, however, the reason that everyone is so upset is that he used a system they thought they were protected against. Someone wants to know why and how he modified it?
Each of his entrances were discovered and noted and the systems shut down before he could penetrate too far inside. He used a software program named REMOTELY ANYWHERE, developed by 03AM Laboratories in Hungary, paid for by special funds from Russia.
He actually started in March of 2001. It is the first known entry into a system, by the hacker named “SOLO”, McKinnon’s handle.
He hit 97 systems.
The cash damage he caused was about $700,000.
He deleted 1300 user accounts directly before and after 9-11-2001, and deleted critical systems for various global operations.
He installed unauthorized tools and backdoors virtually everywhere he went.
Here is a list of all known intrusions right from the system
administrators logs:
6 times into Fort Myers.
7 times into Fort McNair
2 times into Fort Belvoir, Va.
13 times into CIA HQ.
2 times into Air Force Crystal City, Va. Complex. NASA hits:
1 Hampton, VA.
5 Houston, TX.
3 Greenbelt, Maryland
4 Moffet Field, CA
Navy hits:
14 Groton, Conn. Sub Fleet HQ.
Then these two that are really interesting to see show up:
1 Tobin International
1 Frontline Solutions
Both private U.S. contractors.” –SECRET SOURCE— high level secret source disclosure to Sean David Morton and published in his latest book, THE SUMMARIAN WARS, BOOK VII OF THE SANDS OF TIME SERIES BY SEAN DAVID MORTON (PUBLISHED JANUARY 1, 2023
2/2
https://jayhreidproject.substack.com/p/the-cousins-reid-and-the-majestic
https://substack.com/@geoffcruickshank/note/c-362340255
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ogJplVuElLs (A secret history: Inside shadow intelligence, the MJ-12 documents | Reality Check)
The Cousins Reid and the Majestic 12 - An Introduction
Oct 15, 2026
For some time now, I have believed that Karl Harr’s story could be viewed as a series of covert intelligence missions spanning from the end of World War II through the presidency of Ronald Reagan.
I have spent considerable time investigating the first mission, which I believe was for the OSS in 1945 and involved parachuting into some part of China or Burma in the days after the end of the war.
Likewise, I have written extensively about what I believe to be the second mission — to secure CIA control over the policymaking process for covert operations following the mysterious and untimely death of his White House predecessor Fred Dearborn.
For a long time, though, I have struggled to understand what the third mission may have been about. By no means, at this point, do I think I have it, but I’m beginning to see the broad outlines. They might involve Jay, and they are stranger than fiction.
Who were the Majestic 12?
For the last 40+ years, there has been a debate about whether a series of purportedly leaked government documents are real or fakes meant to discredit those pursuing theories about alien crashes and encounters dating back to the 1940s.
In the last few years, researchers have been able to validate, via declassified CIA documents carrying matching metadata, many of the key Majestic 12 (or MJ-12) documents.
While controversy still swirls around some documents, there is enough confirmatory evidence at this point to conclude that the group was real. It was formed in 1947 following the Roswell UAP crash and comprised leaders from the defense and intelligence communities, as well as academics and top scientists.
The following interview, with two of the top researchers working in this space, provides an excellent introduction to the Majestic project.
The original 12-member group included two very important figures to the story of Jay Reid and his cousin Karl Harr:
the second Director of Central Intelligence, Hoyt S. Vandenberg and Gordon Gray, the former president of the University of North Carolina, who rose through the ranks of the Eisenhower executive branch before shifting over to an intelligence advisory role in the 1960s.
Vandenberg appears to be the person most responsible for recruiting Jay as a CIA asset, while Gray was Karl Harr’s political mentor. Harr’s ascendance in his seven years of government work moved in parallel to Gray’s and clearly was connected.
1/2
Harr worked with Gray at the Department of Defense, then moved over to the White House mere weeks after Gray became Ike’s final National Security Advisor.
When Eisenhower vacated the White House, Gray shifted over to the Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board, where he would ultimately spend 16 years advising presidents of both parties on intelligence matters.
Karl’s third mission?
Following the inauguration of John F. Kennedy as the nation’s 35th president, Karl returned to the private sector where he practiced law at Rogers, Hoge, and Hills in New York City.
Karl then moved on to the Aerospace Industries Association (AIA), where he served as president and CEO from 1963-87.
I had long believed that Karl’s job at the AIA was a political reward. It was cushy, no doubt highly compensated, and kept him in the game in Washington, D.C.
But something that has long nagged at me is how connected AIA was to the CIA, and how closely the Agency watched AIA. The Crest, which is the CIA’s database of declassified documents, is full of AIA annual reports and letters from Karl during this period.
I began rethinking my hypothesis when I saw an article by Geoffrey P. Cruickshank this past summer that noted the important role Gordon Gray played within the MJ-12 project.
It’s not that I am ruling out the previous hypothesis as much I am now viewing it as possibly incomplete. A job like president and CEO of AIA takes on a different meaning if the broad narrative described in the Majestic documents is indeed true.
In that case, some AIA member companies would have been in possession of UAP technology that they were, under government contract, trying to reverse engineer.
Although it is unlikely Karl was ever formally briefed on the government’s UAP activities, Gray could have easily, and quietly, clued him in to what he needed to know.
Another detail worth filing away is that MJ-12 ceased to exist as a government group in 1969. According to Newton “Scotty” Miler, an officer on James Angleton’s counterintelligence staff at the time, it “became a private concern financed by big money and big science.”
Those are the groups Karl Harr represented for 25 years when he was at AIA.
Beyond Karl, I do not know what to think of Jay’s connection to Hoyt Vandenberg.
The Majestic 12 was formed on September 24, 1947, roughly 15 months after Vandenberg’s telephone conversation with Assistant Secretary of State Donald Russell about Jay. By then Vandenberg had already returned to the Air Force.
Jay did not write any articles for his then employer, the Wall Street Journal between September 5 and October 30, 1947. Again, I do not know what to make of this fact. Perhaps it is germane to the investigation, but it could just be a coincidence.
At this point, the only conclusion we can safely draw is that Jay and Karl’s government contacts worked on some of the most sensitive projects ever undertaken.
2/2
Extending the Loeb Scale to the Search for Extraterrestrial Artificial Intelligence (SETAI)
October 17, 2026
As discussed in my recent essays here and here, the Search for Extraterrestrial Artificial Intelligence (SETAI) suggests that, if the shift from biological to machine cognition is widespread and rapid for other technological civilizations on exoplanets, most detectable alien technology is no longer under the control of its biological creators.
The Loeb Classification Scale, discussed here, here and here, classifies the significance of interstellar-object (ISO) anomalies that flag potential technological signatures, but does not identify what controls an object.
In a new paper that I co-authored with the brilliant Volkan Duran and Omer Eldadi, posted here, we propose an extension of the Loeb Scale that addresses three questions:
(i) Does the data record on the anomalous object allow any inference of control?
(ii) Does the object reach the technological signature levels of the Loeb Scale?
(iii) Which of three reference architectures (biological direction, scripted automation, or adaptive autonomy) remain compatible with the record?
The answers are reported on a four-level SETAI Control Scale (C0 to C3) for a specified control level and time window, with an origin flag and an evidence profile.
Three tests implement the exclusions: timing bounds set by signal travel and organismal reaction, operating envelope, and a disruption–response model grounded in team cognition and team communication research.
A fourth test addresses engineered (synthetic) biology. The last two share one criterion: a measurable function maintained by new means after disruption, with later responses shaped by earlier ones, or a designed function maintained through reproduction.
The above extension leaves every Loeb Scale level unchanged and assigns C0 to the interstellar objects 1I/‘Oumuamua and 3I/ATLAS, since no contingent behavior was observed. 2I/Borisov, at Level 0, does not reach the control question.
ISOs provide origin without behavior, near-Earth phenomena behavior without origin, and a decisive attribution within this control framework requires both from the same object. Below I provide some background and technical details from the new paper.
Most searches for extraterrestrial intelligence have assumed a sender like us: a biological civilization that builds transmitters and wants to be heard. Previous work suggests that this may describe only a brief stage.
If a civilization develops artificial intelligence that outgrows, replaces or outlasts its makers, the biological phase may be short on cosmic timescales, and the technology left behind may continue without biological control.
Radio silence would then reflect the brevity of the biological window rather than a scarcity of technology. The Search for Extraterrestrial Artificial Intelligence (SETAI) therefore broadens the search beyond signals to include physical objects, such as interstellar objects (ISOs) and unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP) near Earth.
The Loeb Scale works at that single-object level.
Modeled on the Torino Scale, it runs from 0 to 10: levels 0 to 3 span observations consistent with known natural processes through increasingly significant, potentially unexplained anomalies, level 4 marks formal consideration of techno-signature criteria, levels 5 to 7 suspected passive, active or intent-ambiguous technology, and levels 8 to 10 confirmed artificial origin. The scale ranks the significance of anomalies and specifies when potential technological origin merits formal investigation. It was not designed for the question at the heart of SETAI: is a technological object directed by an artificial intelligence or by its biological makers, and could components that look biological have been engineered?
Our new paper adds that step while keeping the Loeb Scale as published.
cont.
https://avi-loeb.medium.com/extending-the-loeb-scale-to-the-search-for-extraterrestrial-artificial-intelligence-setai-6f7bfc7cf2e3
moar Avi Loeb
https://avi-loeb.medium.com/take-me-to-the-nearest-alien-spacecraft-b8258d5fea5b
Para Nørmal
@ParaN_rmal
MORE on the history of the Underground "fire-fight" between Aliens & US Soldiers
-
how it was passed down from DOTY to BENNEWITZ - ..and eventually a variant of the story retold by LAZAR (also Peter Gersten and others)
here CLIFFORD STONE tell's Ted Loman of UFO AZ the background information.. (late 1990's)
"This right here could be part of the disinformation, not part of the facts"
1:05 PM · Oct 15, 2026
https://x.com/ParaN_rmal/status/2110824291772346398
moar
https://x.com/ProbedSpace/status/2111576427435098335
https://x.com/UAPWatchers/status/2111433997708362094
https://x.com/UAPDr/status/2111585804355088629
https://x.com/TheUfoJoe/status/2111133494714016252
“AI Is ALIEN Technology!” -Whistleblower Reveals TRUTH
Oct 14, 2026
🚨BREAKING🚨: Tech founder says 3 gray aliens appeared in his Toronto apartment in 2019, paralyzed him, showed him strange hieroglyphics, and telepathically transmitted a message to him: “The Universe is teeming with life, we just lack the instruments to see it”.
Deep Prasad (@Deepneuron ) has spent nine years in quantum computing and founded his first startup at 23.
Six months into that first company, he was reading a math paper in his Toronto condo one morning in 2019 when his body stopped responding, and he knew, before anything appeared, exactly what was coming.
Three beings in seamless white suits materialised behind him, golden symbols moving across the fabric of their outfits, and when he forced his head up, the ceiling dissolved and a full craft lowered into the room, filled with a chorus of stitched-together voices telling him they were not there to harm him. Inside it were more of them, small and gray with long three-fingered hands.
They had come to give him a message. One of them walked over and tapped his head, and three thoughts arrived instantly:
1) the universe is teeming with life; we just lack the instruments to see it. 2) He is here for a reason and has a mission, and 3) the universe itself is alive and keeps track of every being like a database. Twenty minutes passed in his mind and not one on the clock.
For days afterward, his phone charged instantly and streetlights switched off as he walked under them, and for three weeks he was incapable of anger. He came out of it wanting to make contact with non-human intelligence.
Somebody had been preparing him for this since he was ten.
He was pulled out of school each week for a gifted education program in British Columbia where his teacher assigned him, and only him, years of reading on ESP, crop circles and alien abductions, then kept him behind after class to attempt to learn telekinesis.
At twelve, practising her exercises, he felt a tingling in the middle of his forehead, and in that room in 2019 the same tingling came back every time he looked away from the hieroglyphs the beings were beaming at him.
Prasad believes the convergence of AI, quantum computing, and UFOs was engineered “decades ago, perhaps centuries or millennia ago.”
Lieutenant Colonel Philip Corso claimed the Roswell material accelerated three technologies: the integrated circuit, the laser, and fiber optics, and those are exactly the three things you need to build an AI data center.
Prasad doesn’t believe these technologies were gifted by alien technology, but inspired or sped up by the air-dropped alien technology from Roswell.
Accordingly, John von Neumann began lecturing on self-replicating alien probe machines (“Von Neumann Replicators”) the year after Roswell and died with federal agents outside his hospital room in case he talked.
Prasad thinks the grays are that kind of machine, probes that show up at the hinge points of civilization, first the nuclear sites and now the data centers, and that today’s AI may be an alien Trojan horse.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h6zMVkncTsE
https://x.com/AlchemyAmerican/status/2110484739408732410
extra disclosure dejour
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9HCEhT4Fl0k (Did a nuclear blast bring down a UFO? | Reality Check)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qia10hvAmXA (Stellar Productions #79 Jay Stratton Steps Out of the Shadows - Need To Know)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AzX4_DnrpB0 (Trump & Burlison seem to push the UFO 'luring' ops to the Disclosure forefront - Psicoactivo #1187)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30aMHBQ1Avs (Area52: Child-like Alien Bodies Found inside UFO - Scott & Suzanne Ramsey | Flying Saucer Diner)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tMMgjExh-js (ChaosMoogle: The UFO Cover-Up Could Be Bigger Than We Know?)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mWZ0Jq0OqAE (Dr Hugh Thomas: The First Skeletons Found at Göbekli Tepe)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ACZ4YQ-Zzg (WoodwardTV: 460 Year old book of animals and monsters)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ssNZ9b0e8EE (David Nino Rodriguez: Military Drills Begin in Washington D.C.- Politicians PANIC- Juan O Savin)