RESPONDENTS' ACCOUNTS and interesting information: (note: information in this section (and on this news page) may or may not reflect the opinion of Deb's UFO Research Information Clearinghouse but is posted as a service to our contributors and visitors.) _______________________________________________________ June 3, 2004 Meteor Blast Seen Near Seattle A meteor about the size of a computer monitor flashed across the Northwest sky early Thursday, setting off booms that stunned witnesses. It was a type of meteor called a bolide and was about the size of a small piece of luggage or a computer monitor. _______________________________________________________ May 28, 2004 Subject: Space Science news from NASA HQ... (Alan Smale) A Holiday Edition of space goodies... A triple-play from the Spitzer Space Telescope: new findings include the discovery of significant amounts of icy organic materials sprinkled throughout several "planetary construction zones", or dusty planet-forming disks, circling infant stars; the youngest planet ever detected; and a plethora of planet-forming disks far away in the RCW 49 stellar nursery. http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/stars_galaxies/ http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/Media/releases/ssc2004-08/release.shtml And another home run from Chandra: images of hot gas in galaxy clusters provide astronomers with a new way to look at dark energy. http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2004/darkenergy/ Get yourselves ready for the Transit of Venus on June 8th. Just a few(!) worthwhile places to visit to learn more: http://sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/sunearthday/2004/index_vthome.htm http://www.exploratorium.edu/venus/ http://SkyandTelescope.com/aboutsky/pressreleases/article_1259_1.asp http://www.transit-of-venus.org.uk/ http://www.vt-2004.org/Media/vt-comm-04.html -- and a Cook's-eye view: http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2004/28may_cook.htm?list1032190 Do NOT look directly at the Sun, with your eye, a telescope, a camera or any other optical device. Don't. Don't. Not even "just for a second." I'm not kidding. Here's how to do this properly: http://www.exploratorium.edu/venus/question2.html http://www.transit-of-venus.org.uk/safety.htm A Chandra long-exposure image of elliptical galaxy M87, showing arcs, cavities, rings and plumes. http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2004/m87/ Other stars show Solar-type X-ray emission cycles, according to new data obtained with XMM-Newton: http://www.esa.int/esaSC/Pr_8_2004_s_en.html Here's a strange-looking one: 'rungs of gas and dust" visible in an HST image of the "Red Rectangle" nebula. http://hubblesite.org/news/2004/11 Pictures of Saturn with Cassini http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/index.cfm and HST: http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/newsdesk/archive/releases/2004/18/ Looking at the Moon to learn about the Earth's climate? http://www.gsfc.nasa.gov/topstory/2004/0528earthshine.html Comet NEAT, as seen from Kitt Peak: http://www.noao.edu/outreach/press/pr04/pr0404.html Study the afterglow of the Big Bang, and see the telltale signs of string theory? Well, maybe. http://www.yale.edu/opa/newsr/04-05-12-04.all.html And talking of large bangs, the impact crater believed to be associated with the largest extinction event in Earth's history appears to be buried off the coast of Australia. Fair dinkum! http://beckeraustralia.crustal.ucsb.edu/ Finally, for those of you who may want to turn pro: the 16th Annual NASA Planetary Sciences Summer School at JPL, Aug 2-6, 2004, aimed to help science and engineering grad and post-doc students prepare for careers in planetary exploration. And what a great career that would be. Closing date for applications is June 4th. http://www2.jpl.nasa.gov/pscischool/ Byeee! - Alan @ NASA HQ _______________________________________________________ May 28, 2004 Telescope spots possible baby planet Likely celestial body is among trio of finds scientists discover with Spitzer space scope. By Marcia Dunn Associated Press May 28, 2004   CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- One of NASA's space telescopes has discovered what scientists believe may be the youngest planet ever spied -- a celestial body that at 1 million years old or less is a cosmic toddler. In its first major findings, announced Thursday, the Spitzer Space Telescope also has shown that protostars, or developing stars, are common and that the planetary construction zones around infant stars have considerable ice that could produce future oceans. "Oh, my goodness, it knocked our socks off," University of Wisconsin astronomer Ed Churchwell said of the trio of discoveries. Spitzer is an infrared telescope that has been orbiting the sun and studying the universe since last summer. It did not actually "see" the toddler planet, but yielded evidence that enabled scientists to infer its existence. The object is in the constellation Taurus, 420 light-years away -- quite close by astronomy standards. It is believed to be on the inner edge of a planet-forming dusty disk that encircles a 1-million-year-old star. University of Rochester astronomer Dan Watson said a sharply defined hole in the middle of the disk suggests that a planet created the opening. That gaseous planet would have been formed sometime since the star's formation. Astronomer Deborah Padgett at the Carnegie Institution of Washington cautioned that instead of a planet, the gap could be caused by asteroid formation or a smaller unseen stellar companion. She said it also is possible that the heat and light of the star are forming the gap by blowing all the dusty material out. Watson also reported that for the first time, Spitzer has shown all the icy organic materials in the planet-forming disks surrounding infant stars, or those that are only hundreds of thousands of years old. He called these the building blocks of what might end up as a solar system like our own. As for the proliferation of developing stars, Spitzer revealed more than 300 star formations in one region in the constellation Centaurus, 13,700 light-years away. "It's kind of blown our minds," Churchwell said. Spitzer is the fourth and final spacecraft in NASA's Great Observatory series, which began with Hubble and continued with the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory, now gone, and the Chandra X-ray Observatory. _______________________________________________________ May 27, 2004 Note from Dave and Deb to all people seeking truth about UFO phenomena. You should check out the Coalition for Freedom of Information Website (CFI) located at http://www.freedomofinfo.org/index.html You will find links to a URL with a petition to induce the GAO to investigate Kecksburg. There is a lot of very good information on this site. You will also find the link to this site on our links page http://debshome.home.insightbb.com/links_L.html _______________________________________________________ May 20, 2004 From: Nick Pope Sent: Wednesday, May 19, 2004 Subject: Lord Hill-Norton 1915 - 2004     I'm sorry to have to report that Lord Hill-Norton died on Sunday, aged 89. Admiral of the Fleet The Lord Hill-Norton G.C.B. was a former Chief of the Defence Staff and Chairman of the NATO Military Committee, who in his later years became greatly interested in the UFO phenomenon.   His long and distinguished naval career included active service on Arctic convoy duty during the Second World War, command of a destroyer during the Suez Crisis, and a later posting in command of the aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal.   His interest in UFOs came after his retirement, and he wrote forewords to a number of Timothy Good's books, including Above Top Secret and Unearthly Disclosure. He was particularly interested in the Rendlesham Forest incident, and worked with Georgina Bruni on this. He asked her to draft some questions which he subsequently tabled in Parliament, trying to elicit an official response to what he felt were a number of important defence and national security issues raised by the events.   I briefed him on several occasions, which could be quite challenging. Many staff officers and journalists found him difficult, especially if they didn't quickly get to the point. He was passionate about the Royal Navy, UFOs and a wide range of other subjects. When I called on him last summer, on my way back from a holiday, I found him as lively as ever. He had taken an interest in a UFO sighting involving military witnesses on HMS Manchester and had asked me to update him. He told me that despite the frustrations, he intended to remain involved in ufology for as long as he was able.   Lord Hill-Norton appeared in several UFO documentaries and was frequently quoted on the subject in the media. Again, he could be quite outspoken and was often highly critical of the Ministry of Defence's policy on the UFO phenomenon. Those list members in the UK will be able to see what I believe was  his last TV interview on UFOs next Wednesday evening, on Channel Five's new documentary, The British UFO Files.    Lord Hill-Norton was a great friend to ufology, where the active support of someone of his rank was without precedent. He will be sadly missed.  Nick Pope _______________________________________________________ May 12, 2004 PRG Paradigm Research Group Media Announcement - May 12, 2004 Washington, DC - Stephen Bassett, Executive Director of Paradigm Research Group, will appear on Fox News Channel's Studio B with Shepard Smith, today at 3:45 pm EST to discuss the recent release of "Foo Fighter" video footage by the Mexican Ministry of Defense and an X-PPAC Congressional Alert just sent to Congress. Links: Fox News Channel Studio B:  www.foxnews.com/studiob/index.html Associated Press: www.globeandmail.ca/servlet/story/RTGAM.20040511.wufos0511/BNStory/Front/ Reuters:  www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=scienceNews&storyID=5109891 X-PPAC Congressional Alert (5/12/04): www.x-ppac.org/Alerts.html _______________________________________________________ May 2, 2004 Date: Sat, 1 May 2004 21:25:51 EDT Subject: re:  Sitchin Update Message-ID: <1df.1f44b4f9.2dc5a81f@aol.com>   To my friends and fans, My wife and I were concluding a happy family holiday visit in Philadelphia when suddenly chest pains triggered urgent cardiac examinations and procedures leading to open heart surgery (triple bypass). Thanks to our son-in-law, Dr. Arthur Feldman, I was given the best attention and had a highly successful operation. I am now out of the hospital but will require several weeks of care and recuperation.  It is regrettable that these events required halting the preparations for the reunion in Los Angles in May, which was intended to launch my new book. How to put it back on track is too soon to say. Those who paid for participation will be refunded. Those who paid for the limited souvenir edition will receive it. Just be patient in these tough times. Please do not try to call or fax me as the equipment is already jammed. I hope to see you all again soon.  ~Zecharia Sitchin. _______________________________________________________ May 2, 2004 Flying Saucer Fever Grips Iran, Theories Abound By Christian Oliver, Reuters TEHRAN (May 1) - Is Iran about to be invaded by little green men or are the Americans racing through the night sky in spaceships to spy on their arch-foe the Islamic Republic? Flying saucer fever has gripped Iran after dozens of sightings in the last few days. Fanciful cartoons of alien spacecraft have adorned the front pages. State television Wednesday showed a sparkling white disc it said was filmed over Tehran Tuesday night. More colorful Unidentified Flying Objects have been spotted beaming out green, red, blue and purple rays over the northern cities of Tabriz and Ardebil and in the Caspian Sea province of Golestan, the official IRNA news agency reported. Newspapers and agencies reported people rushing out into the streets in eight towns Tuesday night to watch a bright extraterrestrial light dipping in and out of the clouds. An air force officer in the Revolutionary Guards was quoted in the reformist Vagha-ye Etefaghiyeh daily saying Iran's Supreme National Security Council should investigate whether these visitors from afar had hostile intent. But Sa'dollah Nasiri-Qeydari, head of the Astronomical Society of Iran, told Reuters the stories were unfounded. "In my opinion, flying saucers do not exist," he said, insisting his telescopes would have picked up invaders from outer space. "The people who have seen these things are not experts - farmers, villagers and pilots," he added. He said what people reported was consistent with the planet Venus, whose intense light in its current position would be given different hues by being filtered through the atmosphere. _______________________________________________________ April 22, 2004 INTRUDERS FOUNDATION CONFERENCE EVENT FEATURES DEB http://www.intrudersfoundation.org/if_events.html May 22 STEVEN JONES AND DEBBIE JORDAN in a Dialog with Budd Hopkins On Saturday, May 22, the Intruders Foundation presents its final seminar of the 2004 spring series. It will feature a discussion of their abduction experiences by two compelling speakers, Debbie Jordan and Steven Jones, in conversation with Budd Hopkins, the central investigator in their cases. DEBBIE JORDAN, a resident of Indiana, is internationally known as "Kathie Davis," the central figure in Hopkins 1987 best-seller, "Intruders," the subject of a CBS miniseries. In 1994, Debbie Jordan, who has not spoken publicly in New York for well over a decade, published a book, co-written by her sister Kathy Mitchell, entitled "Abducted! The Story of the Intruders Continues..." covering aspects of their experiences not included in "Intruders" and bringing their rivetting story up to date. Debbie Jordan's original account was the first in UFO history to reveal the reproductive aspect of the alien agenda, and as such is of extraordinary importance. She will discuss the wrenching emotional issues she experienced when her developing fetus was removed during an abduction and then, a few years later, when she was re-abducted, shown a small girl with alien and human features, and was told it was her daughter. She will also discuss her feelings about the way her experiences were represented on the CBS miniseries "Intruders," and recount a later abduction with important physical evidence. Steven Jones is a resident of the United Kingdom who came to the United States in 2003 and contacted Budd Hopkins about his apparent UFO abduction experiences. Several hypnosis sessions have yielded full accounts of abductions that began in his childhood and have continued to the present. One of the most surprising occurred when he was 16 years old and visiting a friend for an evening of TV-watching with a group of young David Bowie fans. Steven spent the night at his friend's house, but awoke in the morning, nude, in a bedroom in a different house some three miles away, his clothes still in the bedroom in which he had gone to sleep. Steven will discuss what actually happened that night, a complex, gripping incident in which he and one of the other young David Bowie fans were simultaneously abducted. The dialogue between Steven Jones and Debbie Jordan is certain to be fascinating, and we suggest that those planning to attend make their reservations early. SEMINAR REGISTRATION AND INFORMATION Seminars will be held at the meeting rooms of A.R.E., on the tenth floor of 150 W. 28th Street, New York. The price for each seminar is $30 for non-members and $20 for members of IF, seniors and students with proper identification. Reservations must be made by telephone, at 212-645-5278, and will be filled on a first come, first served basis. Payment must be made in advance to secure the reservation. Make checks payable to the Intruders Foundation, P. O. Box 30233, New York, NY 10011. Only 50 reservations will be accepted for each seminar. On-street parking is generally available in the neighborhood. The seminars will begin at 7:30 p.m. and end at 10:00 p.m. Doors open at 7:00 p.m. There will be a one half-hour intermission, during which light complimentary refreshments will be served. A book table will offer books, videotapes and other material for sale to those interested. For information, call IF at 212-645-5278. We hope to see you there! _______________________________________________________ March 23, 2004 STANDING BODY OF WATER LEFT ITS MARK IN MARS ROCKS NASA's Opportunity rover has demonstrated some rocks on Mars probably formed as deposits at the bottom of a body of gently flowing saltwater. "We think Opportunity is parked on what was once the shoreline of a salty sea on Mars," said Dr. Steve Squyres of Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y., principal investigator for the science payload on Opportunity and its twin Mars Exploration Rover, Spirit. Clues gathered so far do not tell how long or how long ago liquid water covered the area. To gather more evidence, the rover's controllers plan to send Opportunity out across a plain toward a thicker exposure of rocks in the wall of a crater. NASA's Associate Administrator for Space Science Dr. Ed Weiler said, "This dramatic confirmation of standing water in Mars' history builds on a progression of discoveries about that most Earthlike of alien planets. This result gives us impetus to expand our ambitious program of exploring Mars to learn whether microbes have ever lived there and, ultimately, whether we can." "Bedding patterns in some finely layered rocks indicate the sand-sized grains of sediment that eventually bonded together were shaped into ripples by water at least five centimeters (two inches) deep, possibly much deeper, and flowing at a speed of 10 to 50 centimeters (four to 20 inches) per second," said Dr. John Grotzinger, rover science-team member from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Mass. In telltale patterns, called crossbedding and festooning, some layers within a rock lie at angles to the main layers. Festooned layers have smile-shaped curves produced by shifting of the loose sediments' rippled shapes under a current of water. "Ripples that formed in wind look different than ripples formed in water," Grotzinger said. "Some patterns seen in the outcrop that Opportunity has been examining might have resulted from wind, but others are reliable evidence of water flow," he said. According to Grotzinger, the environment at the time the rocks were forming could have been a salt flat, or playa, sometimes covered by shallow water and sometimes dry. Such environments on Earth, either at the edge of oceans or in desert basins, can have currents of water that produce the type of ripples seen in the Mars rocks. A second line of evidence, findings of chlorine and bromine in the rocks, also suggests this type of environment. Rover scientists presented some of that news three weeks ago as evidence the rocks had at least soaked in mineral-rich water, possibly underground water, after they formed. Increased assurance of the bromine findings strengthens the case rock- forming particles precipitated from surface water as salt concentrations climbed past saturation while water was evaporating. Dr. James Garvin, lead scientist for Mars and lunar exploration at NASA Headquarters, Washington, said, "Many features on the surface of Mars that orbiting spacecraft have revealed to us in the past three decades look like signs of liquid water, but we have never before had this definitive class of evidence from the martian rocks themselves. We planned the Mars Exploration Rover Project to look for evidence like this, and it is succeeding better than we had any right to hope. Someday we must collect these rocks and bring them back to terrestrial laboratories to read their records for clues to the biological potential of Mars." Squyres said, "The particular type of rock Opportunity is finding, with evaporite sediments from standing water, offers excellent capability for preserving evidence of any biochemical or biological material that may have been in the water." Engineers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), Pasadena, Calif., expect Opportunity and Spirit to operate several months longer than the initial rover's three-month prime missions on Mars. To analyze hints of crossbedding, mission controllers programmed Opportunity to move its robotic arm more than 200 times in one day, taking 152 microscope pictures of layering in a rock called "Last Chance." JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Exploration Rover Project for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington. For images and information about the project on the Internet, visit: http://www.nasa.gov http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov http://athena.cornell.edu _______________________________________________________ March 12, 2004 NASA SCHEDULES NEWS BRIEFING ABOUT UNUSUAL SOLAR OBJECT The discovery of a mysterious object in our solar system is the topic of a listen-and-log-on news briefing on Monday, March 15, at 1 p.m. EST. Dr. Michael Brown, associate professor of planetary astronomy, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, Calif. will present his discovery of the most distant object ever detected orbiting the sun. He and colleagues made the discovery as part of a NASA-funded research project. The virtual news briefing is only for reporters. Reporters in the United States can listen to the briefing and participate in the question-and-answer session by calling: 888/889-1963. Overseas media may call: 1/773/756-4808. Calls to these lines should start at 12:50 p.m. EST. The passcode is: "objects." Graphics supporting this news briefing will be posted Monday on the Internet by 1 p.m. EST: http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/Media/releases/ssc2004- 05/telecon/ Images and information about this discovery will be on the Internet at: http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/Media/releases/ssc2004-05 http://www.nasa.gov -end- _______________________________________________________ March 8, 2004 Michael Mewhinney March 8, 2004 NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif. Phone: 650/604-3937 or 650/604-9000 E-mail: Michael.Mewhinney@nasa.gov RELEASE: 04-15AR NOTE TO EDITORS AND NEWS DIRECTORS: News media are invited to attend a preview of a new 3-D visualization theater on Tuesday, March 9, from 11 a.m. to 12 noon PST in the Mars Center at NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif. News media representatives will be given a demonstration of the West Coast's largest SGI® Reality Center® facility, capable of immersing audiences in interactive 3D visualizations, multimedia presentations, and panoramic images that can be navigated in real time. To reach the Mars Center, which is located just outside NASA Ames Research Center's main gate, take the Moffett Field exit off U.S. 101. Follow the signs, proceed to the main gate and take an immediate right into the Mars Center parking lot. NASA TO OPEN NEW 3-D REALITY THEATER IN MARS CENTER NASA will unveil an exciting new visualization theater tomorrow that produces stunning 3-D images that will enable visitors to take a virtual walk on Mars. Developed by Silicon Graphics (SGI), the new SGI® Reality Center® facility opens to the public on Tuesday, March 9 in the Mars Center at NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif. Powered by supercomputers, the new Reality Center facility is capable of immersing audiences in interactive 3D visualizations, multimedia presentations, and panoramic images that can be navigated in real time. Featuring a curved display measuring 14 feet tall and 36 feet wide, the new Reality Center is the largest of its kind on the West Coast. "We are delighted to be able to showcase NASA's numerous achievements in the new SGI Reality Center," said NASA Ames Research Center Director G. Scott Hubbard. "This will be an invaluable information and educational tool for our Mars Center." NASA's new Reality Center provides a seamless image across three projectors that are used to create the sense of being on the surface of Mars. The seamless image enables current NASA Mars Center staff to interact with these enormous 3-D models based on the latest images from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), Pasadena, Calif., by quickly panning and zooming with simple mouse movements. To celebrate the opening of the new theater, the Mars Center will feature a multimedia program produced by JPL, tracing the earliest observations of the red planet through NASA's various Mars exploration missions. In coming weeks, Mars Center visitors will be able to view the latest high-resolution images from Mars that are downloaded daily from JPL. Mission control engineers at JPL receive 168 images taken by the Mars Exploration Rovers every day and NASA engineers then use the images to create 360-degree panoramas of the red planet. Designed to spotlight NASA's contributions to space exploration, Earth sciences, and the Silicon Valley technology community, the new Mars Center has quickly become a popular Bay Area attraction since the recent landings of the Spirit and Opportunity Mars Exploration Rovers. Over the past several weeks, more than 50,000 students, teachers and area residents have witnessed NASA's history-making achievements up close. "The NASA Mars Center is a resounding success, allowing anyone to virtually stand on the Red Planet and take in its alien landscape," said Hubbard. "As we work on future NASA exploration and research missions, including human spaceflight, we look forward to continued collaborations with SGI," he added. "SGI has worked closely with NASA to fuel the kind of innovation and discovery that has defined both organizations throughout their 20-year collaboration," said Bob Bishop, chairman and CEO, SGI. "SGI is committed to serving customers whose mission-critical applications demand real-time big data machines. We are delighted to be a part of yet another thrilling NASA mission, and we eagerly anticipate the discoveries that await us in the years to come." -end- _______________________________________________________ March 2, 2004 OPPORTUNITY ROVER FINDS STRONG EVIDENCE MERIDIANI PLANUM WAS WET Scientists have concluded the part of Mars NASA's Opportunity rover is exploring was soaking wet in the past. Evidence the rover found in a rock outcrop led scientists to the conclusion. Clues from the rocks' composition, such as the presence of sulfates, and the rocks' physical appearance, such as niches where crystals grew, helped make the case for a watery history. "Liquid water once flowed through these rocks. It changed their texture, and it changed their chemistry," said Dr. Steve Squyres of Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y., principal investigator for the science instruments on Opportunity and its twin, Spirit. "We've been able to read the tell-tale clues the water left behind, giving us confidence in that conclusion," he said. Dr. James Garvin, lead scientist for Mars and lunar exploration at NASA Headquarters, Washington, said, "NASA launched the Mars Exploration Rover mission specifically to check whether at least one part of Mars ever had a persistently wet environment that could possibly have been hospitable to life. Today we have strong evidence for an exciting answer: Yes." Opportunity has more work ahead. It will try to determine whether, besides being exposed to water after they formed, the rocks may have originally been laid down by minerals precipitating out of solution at the bottom of a salty lake or sea. The first views Opportunity sent of its landing site in Mars' Meridiani Planum region five weeks ago delighted researchers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), Pasadena, Calif., because of the good fortune to have the spacecraft arrive next to an exposed slice of bedrock on the inner slope of a small crater. The robotic field geologist has spent most of the past three weeks surveying the whole outcrop, and then turning back for close-up inspection of selected portions. The rover found a very high concentration of sulfur in the outcrop with its alpha particle X-ray spectrometer, which identifies chemical elements in a sample. "The chemical form of this sulfur appears to be in magnesium, iron or other sulfate salts," said Dr. Benton Clark of Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver. "Elements that can form chloride or even bromide salts have also been detected." At the same location, the rover's Moessbauer spectrometer, which identifies iron-bearing minerals, detected a hydrated iron sulfate mineral called jarosite. Germany provided both these instruments. Opportunity's miniature thermal emission spectrometer has also provided evidence for sulfates. On Earth, rocks with as much salt as this Mars rock either have formed in water or, after formation, have been highly altered by long exposures to water. Jarosite may point to the rock's wet history having been in an acidic lake or an acidic hot springs environment. The water evidence from the rocks' physical appearance comes in at least three categories, said Dr. John Grotzinger, sedimentary geologist from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge: indentations called "vugs," spherules and crossbedding. Pictures from the rover's panoramic camera and microscopic imager reveal the target rock, dubbed "El Capitan," is thoroughly pocked with indentations about a centimeter (0.4 inch) long and one-fourth or less that wide, with apparently random orientations. This distinctive texture is familiar to geologists as the sites where crystals of salt minerals form within rocks that sit in briny water. When the crystals later disappear, either by erosion or by dissolving in less-salty water, the voids left behind are called vugs, and in this case they conform to the geometry of possible former evaporite minerals. Round particles the size of BBs are embedded in the outcrop. From shape alone, these spherules might be formed from volcanic eruptions, from lofting of molten droplets by a meteor impact, or from accumulation of minerals coming out of solution inside a porous, water-soaked rock. Opportunity's observations that the spherules are not concentrated at particular layers in the outcrop weigh against a volcanic or impact origin, but do not completely rule out those origins. Layers in the rock that lie at an angle to the main layers, a pattern called crossbedding, can result from the action of wind or water. Preliminary views by Opportunity hint the crossbedding bears hallmarks of water action, such as the small scale of the crossbedding and possible concave patterns formed by sinuous crestlines of underwater ridges. The images obtained to date are not adequate for a definitive answer. So scientists plan to maneuver Opportunity closer to the features for a better look. "We have tantalizing clues, and we're planning to evaluate this possibility in the near future," Grotzinger said. JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Exploration Rover project for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington. For information about NASA and the Mars mission on the Internet, visit: http://www.nasa.gov Images and additional information about the project are also available on the Internet at: http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov and http://athena.cornell.edu -end- _______________________________________________________ January 7, 2004 Three Cops Spot UFO in Huntington, Indiana UFO researcher Kenny Young reports that a UFO was seen by 3 policemen in Huntington, Indiana on Friday, Dec. 26. They described it as silent, as large as a hot air balloon and flying so low that they thought it might get caught as it passed over a church steeple. Cindy Klepper writes in the Huntington, Indiana Herald Press that Chip Olinger saw it first, then contacted Greg Hedrick and Randy Hoover, who also saw the object. Olinger was in his car, getting ready to go home, at 2:30 p.m., when he spotted the craft. "It came from a long ways off," he says. "First it looked like a parachute that you can steer, black and curved, but there was nobody in it. It started rolling, a slow roll, and turned upside down. Then it looked like a giant set of bird wings. It did more rolls, and turned into an oblong circle that was orange." "It was so big, within no time at all I spotted it," Hoover says. "When I first saw it, it was going in a flat plane, hovering, moving slowly right toward the church." It stopped, began moving in a circular motion, and turned bright orange, then it looked flat again, and hovered over a nearby church steeple. They think it looked orange because it reflected the sunlight, "like a compact mirror would if you twirled it," Olinger says. He says the object changed shape three or four times. It moved in a straight line, tumbling as it moved, and made no noise. "It wasn't any kind of flying machine that I can think of," Olinger says. "And it's not like a '50s flying saucer. It was that big, but it didn't have a hump in the middle." "It was completely circular, dome shaped," Hoover says. "I can't imagine how it could possibly be anything I could relate to." The Huddersfield (U.K.) Daily Examiner reports that UFOs were seen in the U.K. a few days later, on Dec. 29. Malcolm Stapp says, "It sounds incredible I know, but I couldn't believe what I was seeing." He was watching TV when he looked out the window and saw a bright light in the sky. He says, "It was stationary over Huddersfield for at least 15 minutes. At one point another appeared travelling north and going very fast‹a lot faster than the jets that fly over here. It was certainly not a helicopter or a plane. Both UFOs were globular with lots of lights on them. I tried to look at the stationary one through binoculars, but it was just a blur of intense lights. I watched it for 15 minutes and it was still there when I went to bed. I've never seen anything like it before." UFOs like these clearly aren't trying to hide, so what's their agenda? More info at this link: http://www.unknowncountry.com/news/?id=3448 _______________________________________________________ May 7, 2004 Subject: Space Science news from NASA HQ... (Alan Smale) Hi everyone -- yes, I know it's been a while! First and foremost: on April 20th, NASA successfully launched the Gravity Probe B spacecraft into a polar orbit. GP-B, forty years in the making, is a mission developed by NASA and Stanford University to test two extraordinary predictions of Einstein's General Theory of Relativity. GP-B's four gyroscopes - the roundest objects ever made - will measure how space and time are warped by the presence of the Earth, and more profoundly, how the Earth's rotation drags space-time around with it. Heady stuff! See why NASA's GP-B Project Scientist calls it "a Renaissance masterpiece"... http://einstein.stanford.edu/ http://www.gravityprobeb.com/ http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2004/26apr_gpbtech.htm?list1032190 http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2004/19apr_gravitomagnetism.htm?list1032190 Sedna is the Solar System's farthest known object. Is it a planet or isn't it? If it doesn't have a moon, why not? http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/Media/releases/ssc2004-05/ http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2004/14apr_sedna2.htm?list1032190 http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/newsdesk/archive/releases/2004/14/ As Cassini approaches Saturn it sees merging storms in the planet's atmosphere - http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/cgibin/gs2.cgi?path=../multimedia/images/saturn/images/PIA05386.jpg&type=image and takes cool pictures of Titan - http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/cgibin/gs2.cgi?path=../multimedia/images/large-moons/images/PIA05390.jpg&type=image http://ciclops.org as ESO's Very Large Telescope comes up with new Titan images from the ground - http://www.astrobio.net/news/article927.html http://www.eso.org/outreach/press-rel/pr-2004/pr-09-04.html and Chandra catches the passage of Saturn's moon in front of the X-ray bright Crab Nebula: http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2004/titan/ Two faces of supernova power: a spectacular new Chandra image of a supernova remnant with a white hot center. http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2004/snr0540/ HST's 14th Anniversary picture: diamonds are a Space Telescope's best friend. http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/newsdesk/archive/releases/2004/15/ "Invisible Giants Exposed": hidden behind a dusty curtain, a violent pocket of star formation revealed by Spitzer. http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/Media/releases/ssc2004-06/release.shtml Extrasolar Planet Discovered Using Microlensing: http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/releases/2004/103.cfm Here's one for disaster movie buffs: customize your own meteor, and discover the damage it will do when it smashes into the Earth: http://www.lpl.arizona.edu/impacteffects/ http://www.astrobio.net/news/article920.html In your very own night sky, Venus is very bright this week, and there are two comets worth seeking out in May: http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2004/03may_maximumvenus.htm http://SkyandTelescope.com/observing/objects/comets/article_1229_1.asp Finally: I *know* you haven't forgotten our Mars Rovers, which have completed their primary mission but are still rolling on exploring the planet Mars. Did you see the hematite "blueberries"? The picture of the Endurance crater? I just can't get enough of this stuff. http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/ http://athena.cornell.edu/ http://www.astrobio.net/ Till next time, - Alan @ NASA HQ _______________________________________________________ August 28, 2003 MUFON IS ON THE AIRWAVES Starting September 3, 2003, as a regular segment of the "WakeUP USA- A UFO Study" show, hosted by Jim Hickman on the Stardust Radio Network a MUFON HOUR will be aired every Wednesday from 7:00 PM to 8:00 PM, CST. "The MUFON Hour" will be an exciting with Jim Hickman a MUFON Research Specialist for Media Operations and a UFO investigator. The first guest speaker will be MUFON International Director, John Schuessler. If your radio does not carry the show you may listen at: http://www.stardustradio.com Jim's "Hickman Report" website is at: http://www.thehickmanreport.com. You can phone the show at: 319-648-3101. _______________________________________________________ =============================== As always, we appreciate your notes, encouragement, and information.... keep it coming! Deb and Dave

MARS ROVER MISSION LINK

'Hole in sky' amazes scientists

(from U.S. News and World Report) posted 1/6/2004

20th Anniversary of Deb's defining encounter, and her musings and reflections on that life-changing event

posted 6/30/03

SPECIAL LINK: NASA HUMAN SPACEFLIGHT

Article 9/28/2001: Phenomenal events at our home

Follow the Sun: SPACEWEATHER.COM

Article 5/13/2001: WHEN UFOs LAND

Article: The Truth Is In There.... They're Sure Of It (10/31/2000)