Phantoms and Monsters |  |
- The Trans-en-Provence, France UFO Incident
- Fortean / Alternative News: Iran Builds Flying Saucer, Exorcist Mother and NASA Space Junk Laser
- This Week on 'Beyond the Edge' Radio - Author Craig Hines
| The Trans-en-Provence, France UFO Incident Posted: 18 Mar 2011 11:57 AM PDT
On the afternoon of January 8, 1981, a strange craft landed on a farm near the village of Trans-en-Provence in the Var region in southeastern France. Physical traces left on the ground were collected by the Gendarmerie within 24 hours and later analyzed in several French government laboratories. Extensive evidence of anomalous activity was detected. The case was investigated by the Groupe d'Etudes des Phénomènes Aérospatiaux Non-identifiés (GEPAN), or Unidentified Aerospace Phenomena Study Group, established in 1977 within the National Center for Space Studies (CNES) in Toulouse, the French counterpart of NASA. (The functions of GEPAN were reorganized in 1988 into the Service d'Expertise des Phénomènes de Rentrées Atmosphériques or SEPRA). The primary investigator was Jean-Jacques Velasco, the current head of SEPRA. The witness was the farmer Renato Nicolai, 55, on whose property the UFO landed and then took-off almost immediately. Thinking that it was a military experimental device, Nicolai notified the local gendarmes on the following day. The gendarmes interviewed Nicolai and collected soil and plant samples from the landing site within 24 hours of the occurrence, notifying GEPAN on January 12 as part of a cooperation agreement for UFO investigation between the two agencies. Further collection of samples and measurements of the site were undertaken by the GEPAN team, and the samples were thoroughly analyzed by several government laboratories. The first detailed report on the case was published by GEPAN in 1983 in its "Technical Note No. 16, Inquiry 81/01, Analysis of a Trace." -----  The Trans-en-Provence Case A celebrated physical evidence case occurred on January 8, 1981, in Trans-en-Provence, France. The case attracted widespread interest, partly because a UFO was seen landing and physical markings found shortly after it departed, but mostly because a French government agency analyzed the samples and announced anomalous results. The actual sighting was brief, but its effects on the environment were the key aspect of the event. A 52-year-old technician, Renato Nicolai, was outside working on an upper-level terraced portion of his property at about 5:00 p.m. when he heard a whistling sound to the east. Turning, he observed an object resembling "a somewhat bulging disk like two plates glued to each other by the rim, with a central ring some 20 cm wide." The disc passed over two trees adjacent to Nicolai's garden, descended, and abruptly landed about 50 meters away. Because his property was elevated, however, the object was blocked from his view, and Nicolai was obliged to seek a vantage point near a small outbuilding where he could look down on the object. After some seconds on the ground, the object ascended, kicking up some dust, and retraced its incoming flight path, once again emitting a low whistle, and disappeared in the east. As it flew away, Nicolai saw two round protrusions on the underside like landing gear, and two circular areas that looked like "trap doors." The total elapsed time was 30-40 seconds. Nicolai went to inspect the landing site and found a circle about 2 meters in diameter with tracks or traces at certain spots on the circumference of the circle. Investigators described finding two concentric circles about 10 cm wide, one 2.2 meters in diameter and the other 2.4 meters in diameter. The next day, after having been notified by a neighbor, the Gendarmerie arrived at the scene and gathered samples of the traces and control samples from outside the circular area. Ultimately, Groupe d'Etude des Phenomenes Aerospatiaux Non-ldentifies (GEPAN) -- a unit of the French space agency organized to investigate UFO reports -- was called in by the Gendarmerie, and some days after the landing they examined the site, collecting additional soil and vegetation samples for analysis. Their investigation also included an assessment of the witness (his background and story), a check of atmospheric conditions at the time of the UFO encounter, and air traffic on the day in question. GEPAN, in conjunction with the Gendarmerie, continued its investigation over the course of the next two years. No terrestrial or mundane cause for the event could be discovered. When the final report, entitled, Technical Note 16, was released, it reached the following conclusions: 1. Evidence indicates a strong mechanical pressure on the ground surface, probably due to a heavy weight, of about 4 to 5 tons. 2. At the same time or immediately after this pressure, the soil was heated up to between 300 and 600 degrees C. 3. Trace quantities were found of phosphate and zinc. 4. The chlorophyll content of the wild alfalfa leaves in the immediate vicinity of the ground traces was reduced 30 percent to 50 percent, inversely proportional to distance. 5. Young alfalfa leaves experienced the highest loss of chlorophyll and, moreover, exhibited "signs of premature senescence." 6. Biochemical analysis showed numerous differences between vegetation samples obtained close to the site and those more distant. - 'The UFO Evidence: Volume II: A Thirty-Year Report' - Richard H. Hall 
----- Renato Nicolai's Testimony "My attention was drawn to a small noise, a kind of little whistling. I turned around and I saw, in the air, a ship which was just about the height of a pine tree at the edge of my property. This ship was not turning but was descending toward the ground. I only heard a slight whistling. I saw no flames, neither underneath or around the ship. "While the ship was continuing to descend, I went closer to it, heading toward a little cabin. I was able to see very well above the roof. From there I saw the ship standing on the ground. "At that moment, the ship began to emit another whistling, a constant, consistent whistling. Then it took off and once it was at the height of the trees, it took off rapidly... toward the northeast. As the ship began to lift off, I saw beneath it four openings from which neither smoke nor flames were emitting. The ship picked up a little dust when it left the ground. "I was at that time about 30 meters [100 feet] from the landing site. I thereafter walked towards the spot and I noticed a circle about two meters [7 feet] in diameter. At certain spots on the curve of the circle, there were tracks (or traces). "The ship was in the form of two saucers upside down, one against the other. It must have been about 1.5 meters [5 feet] high. It was the color of lead. The ship had a border or type of brace around its circumference. Underneath the brace, as it took off, I saw two kinds of round pieces which could have been landing gear or feet. There were also two circles which looked like trap doors. The two feet, or landing gear, extended about 20 centimeters [8 inches] beneath the body of the whole ship."  ----- The samples of soil and wild alfalfa collected from the landing site, as well as the control samples from varying distances from the epicenter, were subjected to a number of analyses: physico-chemical analysis at the SNEAP laboratory, electronic diffraction studies at Toulouse University, mass spectrometry by ion bombardment at the University of Metz, and biochemical analysis of the vegetable samples at the National Institute of Agronomy Research (INRA), among others. The findings report included the following statements: "Traces were still perceptible 40 days after the event. "There was a strong mechanical pressure forced (probably the result of a heavy weight) on the surface. "A thermatic heating of the soil, perhaps consecutive to or immediately following the shock, the value of which did not exceed 600 degrees. "The chlorophyll pigment in the leaf samples was weakened from 30 to 50 percent... The young leaves withstood the most serious losses, evolving toward the content and composition more characteristic of old leaves." "The action of nuclear irradiation does not seem to be analogous with the energy source implied with the observed phenomenon; on the other hand, a specific intensification of the transformation of chlorophyll... could be tied to the action of a type of electric energy field. "On the biochemical level, the analysis was made on the entirety of the factors of photosynthesis, lipids, sugars and amino acids. There were many differences between those samples further from the spot of the landing and those that were closer to the spot. "It was possible to qualitatively show the occurrence of an important event which brought with it deformations of the terrain caused by mass, mechanics, a heating effect, and perhaps certain transformations and deposits of trace minerals. "We cannot give a precise and unique interpretation to this remarkable combination of results. We can state that there is, nonetheless, another confirmation of a very significant event which happened on this spot." -----  Elapsed Time Event Comments 0-3 secs Witness first sees the object which appears to be above two tall conifers approx 35 m from the impact point. Distance estimate is based on map and statement that the cabin is 35 m away from impact point; comparison of that distance on the map[8] with the distance to the tree suggests an additional 35 m to the tree. 3 secs Object strikes the ground with a sound like a stone falling. The motion from the trees to the impact point is fast and continuous. Assuming the distance from the impact point to be 35m for the top of the tree, and assuming the altitude to be above the tree (stated to be "dozens of meters high"[9],[10]); because of the error in translation, resolved to 10 m, we take 10 m as the altitude of the object; the distance traversed between first sight and impact is therefore 14 m. The following assume a constant deceleration: The deceleration based on a 3 second time to cross this distance is -0.32G from a speed of 34 kph. According to Velasco, an upper limit to the weight based on the ground trace is 700 kg. To accomplish the noted deceleration at that weight would require a thrust of 7,171 kg. 4-25 secs Object is on the ground and the witness is continuing to move to a new location. Assuming 8 secs to walk 10m (a reasonably brisk walk), walking 30 m takes 24 secs, of which it is assumed 1-2 secs are used while object is descending, since the report refers to "while it was continuing to come down, I went closer by walking". 25-28 secs Witness observes the object on the ground. According to the statement: "several seconds"; also, "From that position I clearly saw the device resting on the ground." 28-35 secs Object lifts from the ground, tilts, and departs. Altitude appears to be that of the tops of the trees, here estimated to be 10 m ("it lifted off... reaching a point above the trees, it left at high speed"). It took from 1-3 secs to accomplish this. The following assume a constant acceleration / deceleration: If it took 3 sec, then it accelerated at approximately 0.45 G for 1.5 sec to 5 m and then decelerated at -0.45G to 10 m; the thrust required in the acceleration phase is 10,204 kg assuming a 700 kg weight. If it took 1 sec, it accelerated at approximately 4G for 0.5 sec to 5 m and then decelerated at -4G for 0.5 sec to 10 m; the thrust required in the acceleration phase is 91,840 kg, assuming a 700 kg weight. The GEPAN account differs somewhat, claiming "it rose vertically over several meters, tilted above the platform, continued to rise in this position and disappeared in the sky." Hopefully "several" is 10 or so. ----- Description Of The Trace Evidence The trace was found by the witness immediately after the departure of the object. The trace was circular, 2.4 m in diameter, and had the form of a ring, 0.2 m in width (it is claimed that there is a "crown" to the trace which is only 0.1 m in width. Note that the witness reported the object surrounded by a shelf approximately 0.15 m in width. Photographs show the trace as lighter in color than the surrounding dirt. Vegetation remains (leaves and sticks) from the edges of the path where the object landed are seen to cross the trace (as of the next day). There does not appear to be any preferential orientation for this material, nor does it appear affected by pressure or heating. In combination, this indicates the possibility that either a) the force which produced the trace had no outward and no inward components, or b) the material was swept back over the trace either at or after the object departure. Note that the witness mentioned the object's departure as having raised some dust. The soil of the trace is lighter than neighboring soil, appears to be slightly raised or crusty, and bears radial striations. These striations are not perfectly radial, but are slightly curved in a clockwise direction, and are slightly irregular. The trace ring shows these formations most prominently on the directly east and west sides of the ring. The north side of the trace shows a slightly lower degree of the same effect. The width of the ring as photographed and diagrammed shows no notable deviation, nor does the circularity of the ring show any notable deviation. - GEPAN - "Technical Note No. 16, Inquiry 81/01, Analysis of a Trace" -----  The Trans-en-Provence UFO observation lasted under a minute. However, in that minute, information was gained by an alert witness and extracted by focused and experienced investigators which allow an analyst to form and validate hypotheses about the nature of the object. The Trans-en-Provence UFO was able to dissipate considerable kinetic energy without affecting the ground beneath it. This may have resulted in the observed "whistling" sound, which indicates a motion of air away from the object. The object was then able to create close to 600 degrees C of ground heating on departure, despite the apparent insufficiency of mere thrust pressure to produce those temperatures. It then departed after tilting, and did not produce any further effects on the environment at that time. Many previous observations have indicated that the UFO rim is a source of energetic phenomena. The Trans-en-Provence case continues to support that pattern. Sources: "The UFO Evidence: Volume II: A Thirty-Year Report" - Richard H. Hall - 2000 Jean-Jacques Velasco - "Report on the Analysis of Anomalous Physical Traces: The 1981 Trans-en-Provence UFO Case," - 1990 Michel Bounias - "Research Note: Further Quantification of Distance-Related Effects in the Trans-en-Provence Case," - 1995 www.bibliotecapleyades.net www.ufoevidence.org www.scientificexploration.org www.jacquesvallee.net www.ufocasebook.com       | ||||
| Fortean / Alternative News: Iran Builds Flying Saucer, Exorcist Mother and NASA Space Junk Laser Posted: 18 Mar 2011 10:29 AM PDT  Iranian Built Flying Saucer dailymail - It's not clear how far or how high it can fly – or even how big it is and what makes it take off. But an aircraft created by scientists in Iran is, they claim, the world's first flying saucer. Called the Zohal - or Saturn in English - it said the unmanned spaceship is designed for 'aerial imaging' but added it can be used for 'various missions'. Real? The Fars News Agency illustrated their copy about Iran's Zohal with this picture. (above) The hardline Fars news agency illustrated its story with a photo of a flying saucer, akin to one appearing in a 1950s Hollywood B-movie, hovering over an unidentified wooded landscape. The reports gave no indication of the spaceship's size. But they indicated it was small by claiming, somewhat bizarrely, that it can also fly indoors. 'Easy transportation and launch and flying, making less noise, are some of the advantages of the device,' said ISNA, Iran's students' news agency. 'The device belonging to the new generation of vertical flyers is designed for aerial photography. 'It is equipped with autopilot, image stabiliser and GPS and has a separate system for aerial recording with full HD quality!' Iran, which prides itself on its 2,500 year-old civilisation, is also keen to show that it is at the cutting edge of modern science. Tehran's ambitious space programme alarms the West because the same technology used to send missiles into space can be used to build intercontinental ballistic missiles. Last year the country announced it had successfully fired a rocket that carried a mouse, a turtle and worms into space. Tehran insists it will be able to send a man into space in nine years' time. For president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the advances demonstrate the country's ability to push on with its science programme despite international sanctions over its nuclear programme. The flying saucer was said to have been unveiled at an exhibition of 'strategic technologies' attended by Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. At the same time Iran's Space Agency launched a test spacecraft designed to sustain life in orbit. The state IRNA news agency said the capsule was carried by a rocket called the Kavoshgar-4 (Explorer-4) 75 miles into orbit before returning to earth. Iran's often outlandish scientific claims usually prove difficult to confirm. American naval forces in the Persian Gulf have yet to come across a 'super-modern' radar-evading flying boat Iran claimed to have tested four years ago. ********** Nantucket child killed in exorcism by mom according to court docs myfoxboston - Police say a Nantucket woman accused of killing her 3-year-old daughter told a priest and hospital officials that God told her to push a rose down the girl's throat to ward off the devil. Documents filed in Nantucket District Court said 26-year-old Dora Alicia Tejada Pleitez said she realized that the "rose" was her fist and the devil bit her through the child. Tejada Pleitez was held without bail pending a competency hearing after pleading not guilty Tuesday. Police say emergency personnel responded to the family home Monday after getting a 911 call reporting that the little girl had stopped breathing. The child, Nicole Garcia, was taken to a hospital where she was pronounced dead. Tejada Pleitez's lawyer says her mental state will play a "critical role" in the case. ********** NASA Studies Laser for Removing Space Junk technologyreview - In 1978, the NASA scientist Donald Kessler predicted that a collision between two pieces of space junk could trigger a cascade of further impacts, creating dangerously large amounts of debris. Kessler pointed out that when the rate at which debris forms is faster than the rate at which it de-orbits, then the Earth would become surrounded by permanent belts of junk, a scenario now known as the Kessler syndrome. By some estimates, the Kessler syndrome has already become a reality. In January 2009, a collision between the Iridium 33 and Cosmos 2251 satellites created just this kind of cascade. Two years earlier, the Chinese military tested an anti-satellite weapon by destroying one of its own satellites called Fengyun 1C. Both incidents took place at altitudes of about 800 km. Today, the European Space Agency's Earth observing satellite, Envisat, orbits at about this height and is regularly threatened by potential impacts. Over 60 per cent of these threats can be traced back to the Iridium/Cosmos collision or the Fengyun incident. But while space junk threatens most space operators, few have a real incentive to do anything about it. If a significant threat arises, it's usually possible to move a satellite out of the way. That's much cheaper than actually clearing the junk. The result is a "tragedy of the commons" situation, where a common resource is exploited to the point where it becomes unusable. Which is where a government agency like NASA comes in. Various ideas have been floated for removing space junk, most of them hugely expensive. Today, James Mason at NASA Ames Research Center near Palo Alto and a few buddies describe a much cheaper option. Their idea is to zap individual pieces of junk with a ground-based laser, thereby slowing them down so that they eventually de-orbit. Of course, laser removal isn't entirely new. In the 1990s, the US Air Force studied the idea, thinking that a powerful enough laser could ablate an object, creating a force that could be used to de-orbit it. The trouble with this idea is that such a powerful laser has an obvious dual purpose, which is unlikely to please other space faring nations. So Mason and pals have studied the possibility of using a much less powerful system which uses the momentum of photons alone to decelerate the junk. Focused onto a piece of junk for an hour or two every day, they calculate that a 5 KW laser could do the trick and that such a device could tackle up to ten objects a day. That could help move junk away from potentially dangerous orbits and ultimately to de-orbit it entirely. In fact, Mason and co say that the system could reverse the Kessler syndrome, so that the rate of debris removal once again exceeds its rate of creation. They say their system could even be used for manoeuvring suitably-designed satellites, without the need for them to carry propellant. Such a system could be marketed as a commercial venture, thereby helping to pay for it. Not that it need be terribly expensive. Mason and co estimate that a test device could be knocked up for a million dollars, which would have to be shared by many spacefaring nations, to avoid the inevitable legal issues that using such a device would raise. Of course, the US (and obviously China), already have the technology to this kind of work, using their own antisatellite systems. Indeed, Mason and co say "it may be possible to perform a near-zero cost demonstration using existing capabilities such as those of the Starfire Optical Range at Kirtland AFB." It's only a matter of time before a piece of space junk causes serious havoc in orbit, by threatening a crewed mission, for example. There'll be plenty of interest in this kind of technology after such an incident. And then we'll be asking why we didn't invest in the technology when we had the chance to prevent this kind of disaster. ********** Japan attempts to explain nuclear crisis to kids using bodily functions As we speak, emergency crews are trying to contain the radiation leaking out of cracked reactors in Japan's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. It's a difficult time, with the nuclear crisis coming on the heels of an earthquake and tsunami, and it is uncertain whether the seawater and boron mixture that the crews are using to cool down the plant's reactor core will succeed. People are evacuating their homes as our own government tries to figure out the best way to send aid. But how do you explain all of this to a child living in Fukushima, or in Japan in general? Their lives have been disrupted, and while "earthquake" and "storm" are ideas they may be able to comprehend, nuclear science is not. That's why Japanese artist Kazuhiko Hachiya has made a cartoon to help ease the small minds of the nation. "Nuclear Boy" chronicles Fukushima's reactor cracks and radiation leaks in a way that's easily relatable to kids: The nuclear power plant has a tummy ache, and we're trying to make sure it's not going to take a great big poop all over the country. I'm all for explaining stuff to children in a light and humorous way to take the edge off of such a terrifying event, but I also never thought I'd be more disturbed by the images of Chernobyl until I started thinking about them covered in explosive diarrhea. Click for video     | ||||
| This Week on 'Beyond the Edge' Radio - Author Craig Hines Posted: 18 Mar 2011 09:11 AM PDT  Craig Hines is a multimedia artist from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He is the author of the book, Gateway of the Gods, which examines ancient mythologies and stories about fallen angels and the Nephilim, and considers them in light of recent scientific knowledge. Hines believes that the combination of his skeptical attitude and background in multimedia, coupled with his knowledge of the paranormal, has provided him with a unique point of view and the ability to make the fantastic real and accessible to mainstream audiences. In addition to his writing and research, Hines founded his own production company, Numina Media Arts, specializing in graphic design, website design, and publishing services. He is also the "Evil Genius" behind Dark Imaginings, where he creates haunted changing portraits, props, and special effects for the haunted attraction industry and Halloween enthusiasts.   Join Eric Altman, Lon Strickler and the crew LIVE each Sunday at 10 PM ET as we go Beyond the Edge! Phantoms and Monsters Now Available on Kindle   Spirit Rescue International™ Providing no-cost professional spiritual help, personal support and guidance Take the first step towards genuine peace of mind  The Spirit Rescue International™ Haunted Help Forum *Join Our Group On Facebook*  ANOMALIST BOOKS Works on maverick science, unexplained mysteries, unorthodox theories, strange talents, and unexpected discoveries. Please check out their excellent and diverse catalog  The 'C' Influence Actualizing Esoteric Discussion   "The latest news from beyond the mainstream" Join Ben & Aaron for their weekly podcast! Check out Mysterious Universe Plus+ all access format! Phantoms & Monsters Wiki  A NETWORK OF INVESTIGATORS, ENTHUSIASTS AND THOSE SEEKING THE TRUTH THROUGH PARANORMAL EDUCATION AND DISCUSSION  Astral Perceptions - Discussing ultraterrestrial and multidimensional phenomena and the proficiency of remote viewing   Click here to check out Stan's most recent book!     |
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