Escher's Waterfall
Bluelight Crew
Russia Today is a conspiracy-loving propaganda mouthpiece. Merging with alt theories.
Russia Today is a conspiracy-loving propaganda mouthpiece. Merging with alt theories.
That's pretty, uh... "alternative"
capstone, that wasn't to you. you understand that the term "conspiracy" doesn't really necessarily mean "wacko jacko, complete and utter loon, let's stuff him in a cannon and shoot him to the moon".
It was certainly a close encounter, but with precisely what remains a mystery.
An airline pilot has reported a near miss with a "rugby ball-shaped" UFO that passed within metres of his passenger jet near Heathrow airport.
He told aviation authorities investigating the incident last July that he was certain the object was going to crash into his aircraft and that he ducked as it headed towards him.
They have been unable to establish the identity of the mysterious craft, which apparently approached the airliner at great speed.
The incident occurred while the Airbus A320 was cruising at 34,000ft, around 32 kilometres west of the airport.
The investigators' report states: "He was under the apprehension that they were on collision course with no time to react. His immediate reaction was to duck to the right and reach over to alert the FO [First Officer]; there was no time to talk to alert him."
It adds: "The captain was fully expecting to experience some kind of impact with a conflicting aircraft."
He told investigators the object passed "within a few feet" of the top of the jet and that it was "cigar/rugby ball-like" in shape, bright silver and "metallic" in construction. The episode was examined by the UK Airprox Board, which studies "near misses" involving aircraft in British airspace.
It checked data recordings to establish what aircraft were in the area but eliminated them all, along with meteorological balloons. Military radar operators were also unable to trace the reported object.
The sighting occurred in daylight, at around 6.35pm on July 13. It has emerged following the publication of the report, which concluded it was "not possible to trace the object or determine the likely cause of the sighting".
The document does not name the airline or flight involved in the incident. Even though it describes the aircraft as being "just to the west of Heathrow", aviation experts believe that at such an altitude it would be unlikely to have taken off from, or be preparing to land at, the west London airport.
Instead, the A320, which is popular with many carriers, among them British Airways and Virgin, is likely to have been travelling between a regional airport elsewhere in the UK, and another on the Continent. The aircraft typically carry about 150 passengers.
The British Ministry of Defence closed its UFO desk in December 2009, along with its hotline for reporting such sightings. Following that change, the Civil Aviation Authority took the decision that it would continue to look into such reports, from aircrew and air traffic controllers, because they could have implications for “flight safety”.
In 2012, the head of the National Air Traffic Control Services admitted staff detected around one unexplained flying object every month.
Dr David Clarke, a Sheffield Hallam academic and the UFO consultant for the National Archives, said: “The aviation authorities obviously think this is something they should continue to look into and if you are a regular air traveller, you are likely to agree.”
Dr Clarke, a sceptic on UFO issues, said: “This latest sighting is interesting, because it is detailed and clear. These pilots don't file these reports for something and nothing. There was obviously something there.”
Chris Yates, an aviation consultant, said: “Although we assume when these things happen, a UFO is responsible, there is usually an explanation that materialises at some point.”
Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/travel/travel...row-airport-20140106-30cgs.html#ixzz2pZbUaPII
The real story behind climate denial
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We don't tax income in order to reduce income, why would we tax carbon?
GodandLove said:Can someone fill me in on what's going on in this thread...
They suggest that maybe DHS was stockpiling weapons, to choke domestic consumer supply..
They suggest that maybe DHS was stockpiling weapons, to choke domestic consumer supply..
/econ fail.
superelephant said:care to comment?
US space agency NASA is preparing to launch drone missions high in Australian skies during the next six weeks.
NASA is operating an ex-US Air Force RQ-4 Global Hawk Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) - the largest, most sophisticated drone in operational service today.
With the wingspan of a Boeing 737 airliner and a flight endurance exceeding 30 hours, the Northrop-Grumman Global Hawk, costing a hefty $US200 million each when fitted out with sophisticated eavesdropping equipment, is designed to circle the globe on secret military Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) missions.
NASA Global Hawk
Range: 20,300 kilometres
Endurance: 32 hours
Wingspan: 35.3 metres
Equipment payload: 1,500kg
Maximum take-off weight: 26,750kg
Engine: Single Rolls Royce AE3007H turbofan
Number in NASA service: 2
- Source: NASA
NASA announced that one of two ex-military Global Hawk it operates will conduct scientific missions from the US Pacific Island territory of Guam, "to track changes in the upper atmosphere and help researchers understand how these changes affect Earth's climate".
NASA says scientists have installed 13 different instruments on the Global Hawks to capture air samples, and analyse clouds, gases and solar radiation for the Airborne Tropical Tropopause Experiment (ATTREX) flights.
The Agency has previously launched drones to monitor hurricanes in the Atlantic, gathering data to assist in making more accurate predictions on tropical storms.
The first mission was due to take off on Tuesday, but NASA did not release details of any flights over Australia.
Pilots warned to look out for drone until March 2
However an AirServices Australia routine pilot alert, or NOTAM, indicates that the NASA Global Hawk will operate at short notice in Australian airspace at heights between 45,000 -60,000 feet from January 17 until March 2 this year.
The NOTAM states that Air Traffic Control will provide "separation" in the unlikely event that any local manned aircraft are operating at such extremely high altitudes.
Airservices Australia yesterday confirmed that the NASA Global Hawk would conduct tropospheric research in Brisbane's Flight Information Region (FIR).
"Brisbane's FIR covers an area including northern New South Wales, Queensland, Northern Territory and northern Western Australia plus airspace over the north and north eastern oceans," a spokeswoman said.
"The Global Hawk will not operate over the Australian mainland or out of Australian airports.
"Airservices does not anticipate issuing further NOTAMs for Global Hawk operations."
The NASA missions will launch from the US Air Force's Andersen Air Base in Guam, the headquarters for all US military Global Hawk intelligence gathering operations in the Asia Pacific region.
US military Global Hawks also periodically deploy on civil missions.
In 2008 a US Navy Global Hawk monitored the progress of a massive forest fire that swept through California, and the US Air Force flew 20 Global Hawk missions in the aftermath of Japan’s 2011 tsunami and nuclear crisis, collecting radiation data and imagery over the stricken Fukushima reactor.
In November 2013 a Global Hawk operated over the typhoon-ravaged southern Philippines in support of relief efforts.
Designed as an intelligence gatherer
While Global Hawk is now proving useful in the civil world, the UAV's primary function is as a highly effective global electronic intelligence gathering platform.
In 2012 US intelligence analyst and author Matthew Aid told the ABC that: "Almost every day one of the US Air Force Global Hawks based on the island of Guam can be found flying off the North Korean coastline taking pictures of targets deep inside the country that are more detailed than those coming from satellites.
"They fly at 60,000 feet, 75 miles off the North Korean coastline, taking grainy shots taken from a 45-degree angle."
Mr Aid says the US and Australia shared much of the highly sensitive signals intelligence gathered by assets such as Global Hawk.
"Australia is a member of the so-called Five Eyes intelligence club that also includes the US, the United Kingdom, Canada and New Zealand," he said.
He said that from 2002-05, Iranian diplomats routinely lodged diplomatic protests over US spy drones "flying daily signals intelligence and imagery collection missions along Iran's borders with Iraq and Afghanistan and along Iran's Persian Gulf coastline".
In 2012 ABC News Online reported that the US Air Force had flown classified Global Hawk missions from the Royal Australian Air Force at Edinburgh in South Australia from 2001-2006.
The intelligence gathering flights were revealed by a group of local Adelaide aviation enthusiasts who monitored aircraft radio frequencies.
The Australian Defence Force is now considering the acquisition of seven large, high altitude, long endurance drones for maritime surveillance and border protection.
The frontrunner for the $1.5 billion to $3 billion Air7000 Defence project is the Triton, a maritime variant of Global Hawk.
Since winning the 2013 federal election, the Coalition Government has backed away from a promise, made while in Opposition, to fast-track acquisition of Triton.
Having a NASA Global Hawk in Australian skies may also provide a convenient opportunity to assess if the largest, costliest unmanned aerial vehicle flying today represents value for money.