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Recent UFO sightings reports from North Central Texas.

Please note that these reports are posted here, "as is", with no corrections.


Location: Dublin, Texas
Date: 02/21/2012
Time: 18:35

Four bright lights in the shape of a parollelogram were sitting stationary for a few seconds then one disappeared and after the first one disappeared the others vanished immediately after it. What made us look into the sky was a jetlike noise or hum.    

My family and I traveled to Dublin TX from Strawn for a girls play-off basketball game and arrived 25 minutes early. It was like 6:35 pm and we had all just gotten out of the car. When we started to head to the gymnasium doors we both heard a jetlike humming noise and I looked up and pointed out to my husband what were four very bright lights and said, "stars during the day". He looked up at them and said yeah we looked at one another like NO. Then the top left one disappeared first and the others right behind it along with the noise. We were floored. Weve heard what people say they have seen and now were part of it. When we entered the gym the lady taking our money I was assuming was a local so I told her and she didnt look at us like we were crazy at all. Her exact words were, "I know people who have seen them too but I have to witness it". Then my husband told a friend of his walking in and with the response he got we vowed not to say another word about it for that time being. Since we have called KSTV radio station and asked if anyone else out there saw this to to please call in and got no response. So that leaves me here searching on the web and reading a sighting in the same area the same night only and hour later than ours. It is exciting! Thank you for letting us share our story and see what others are seeing out there!

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Location: Ranger, Texas
Date: 02/21/2012
Time: 20:45

Flashing Sequentially

about eight forty heading to my car notice a bright light out of the corner of my eye stopped looked to get a good look and two lights appeared at the same time moving to the south west i called for my family to check it out as they dimmed out a few seconds later five light in sequence came on seemed to be attached to one object moving in the same direction as before they stopped and hoovered for a few seconds and never came back then we notice a few white flashing lights coming out of the west had to be jets moved way faster than any commercial airline and lower in the horizon circled in the location of the lights and headed back in the direction they came checked my phone it was eight forty five

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Location: Lipan, Texas
Date: 02/21/2012
Time: 21:00

Saw a rapid moving thing low in the sky with blinking lights. My phone stopped working and my radio got staticy.

I was driving home around 9 PM Central time and I saw a rapidly moving figure in the sky that had blinking lights. It made my phone unable to call or recieve anything and my radio became very staticy. The object disappeared. I assume it teleported or something.

Source

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From the comments section:

Dublin Sighting 2/21/2012

Confirming unusual lights in the sky Feb 21st, NE of Dublin. As my husband and I were driving into Bluff Dale, TX last night at approximately 7:30pm, we both saw a row of four unusual lights moving SW. The lights were on and then went off and returned briefly and then disappeared.


[Note:  Is it possible that what these witnesses saw was actually flares dropped by the military?  These sightings areas are in, or near the Brownwood MOA. -SW]


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By the way, this anonymous researcher who goes only by Firefoot, apparently also studied the earthquake epicenters in and around Dulce from January 23, 1966 to December 10, 1967. Apparently unusual "earthquakes" were occuring in these areas nearly a year before Project Gasbuggy took place on December 10, 1967!!

read more

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Listed below are recent Texas UFO sightings reports, which were submitted to MUFON.

[These reports are unedited.]






MUFON Case # 34551
Date:    2012-01-03
Time:    01:00
Status:    Assigned
City:    Copperas Cove
State:    Texas
Shape:    Triangle
Distance:    One mile or less
Summary:    triangle shaped, pulsating lights (all colors) hovering with small shifts in movement

Report:
My wife and I went outside to smoke and we noticed an object with pulsing lights of all colors yellow-white, red-blue, green-white ect. It was low but on the horizon. I immediately went inside to get my telescope. I got a view of the craft. My wife and I took turns looking at it.... It was triangle in shape and could see 6 lights around the craft. It just hovered for about 15 minutes and then shifted about 7 to 10 mils to the right. It looks small, about the size of and asprin. It is still out there as i type this, but I do not have a camera.... someone please contact me... this is not the first time my wife and I have seen it.

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MUFON Case # 34600
Date:    2011-12-30
Time:     00:00
Status:    Assigned
City:    Cross Plains
State:    Texas
Shape:    Circle,Star-like
Distance:    One mile or less
Summary:    Appeared high in sky like a bright planet however no planets in that area of sky.

Report:
The object first appeared as bright planet however none identified in area of sky. I tried to use my go-to telescope to identify it as a planet but my telescope did not recognize the object as anything defined in its database. At first it was stationary and appeared high in southern sky and in same proximity as the moon during that time of the evening. It slowly descended in a northernly direction. The object then hovered to the west of my ranch for 30 minutes and occasionally moved in a quick, abrupt fashion, both up and down and side to side. I would describe the object as orb like, with bright red and orange glow. My property is located in the BMOA (Brownwood Military Operations Area)and I routinely see jet fighters and helicopters performing exercises in the area. During these events there is much noise from the engines. This object made no sound as it moved. Te craft slowly traveled to the west which is in the same direction of Dyess AFB in Abilene, Texas.

The object again appeared the following night, December 31st approximately the same time in the evening (8pm) and acted in a similar fashion. I do not believe the object to be a weather balloon as it was giving off its own light not reflecting light from another source. The object seemed to hover above the tree line about 150- 200 feet. No other aircraft in the area at the time either military or civilian.

I tried to use my call phone camera to take pictures however the craft was about a half mile from my location and therefore nothing appeared in the pictures which i took.

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MUFON Case #  34613
Date:    2011-02-12
Time:    22:30
Status:    Assigned
City:    McKinney
State:    Texas
Shape:    Triangle
Distance:    One mile or less
Summary:    Turn out of subdivision, observed big, lower hovering amber/gold light, drove closer, light turned off, HUGE black object appeared hovering, then moved w/o sound E/NE

Report:
I was pulling out of my subdivision Stonebridge Crossing, turned east on Virginia Ave when I saw a low hovering amber/gold blow about 100 - 200 feet above the trees. The light first appeared round then looked to flowing like it had a tail. Initially I thought the Home Builder had a balloon floating in the air, but there were no stings or flags coming down to a fixed point on the ground. The light was no blinking and way too big for a helicopter and was no way an airplane b/c was too low to the ground a stationary. On the night of the event it was cold out, with low cloud cover. As I approached the stop light at Virginia and Lake Forest Blvd I noticed the light had moved a little bit for where it was orig. stationed. Once I stopped at the light, the object's light turned off and a HUGE black triangle shaped object appeared with no lights, no sign of any engines, blades, etc., and made absolutely no sound. I had all my windows down and sunroof so I could clearly make out the dark object hovering there completely still. The black object hovered high enough to not reflect any ground lights, but low enough to not reflect any light reflecting off the low cloud cover. The object was blacker than the night sky that would appear between the cloud cover as the clouds raced eastward. It hovered there for about 15 - 20 seconds and then moved in a straight line East/North East with out a sound; completely stealth. I could make out the black object as it moved East/Northeast because it was darker than the sky and the clouds. Once the light turned green I crossed Lake Forest blvd traveling east, raced down the small hill and up to the top of the Hill where I had a great view of the sky and the area the object traveled, but it was no where in sight.

The object traveled on a complete straight path, like it was flying on a perfect flat plane with no swaying. It's like object put out a mast and sailed with the wind in a complete straight path with no wavering or sound. I couldn't believe what I saw and tried several drive to several hill tops that give me a clear view of the night sky and the huge object was no where to be seen.

What I saw that night has bugged me for months and months and I'd love to know what I saw that night. Whatever it was defined all logic and any technology I'm aware of.

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MUFON Case # 34684
Date:    2012-01-06
Time:    20:27
City:    Garland
State:    Texas
Shape:    Circle
Distance:    Unknown
Summary:    colour changing bright star with alot of airplane/ jet traffic as well

Report:
Looked like a bright star that was closer than most stars it was changing rainbow colours. There were many planes and jets during the time I watched it. I have footage but am unable to download at the moment.

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MUFON Case # 34687
Date:    2012-01-04
Time:    18:00
City:    Richardson
State:    Texas
Shape:    Disc
Distance:    One mile or less
Summary:    Intensely bright hovering object

Report:
The object appeared out of the tree-line and caught my friend and Is attention immediately because it was extremely bright. The light coming from it had a brownish hue and was at least 20 times brighter than any plane light in the sky. The light was constant and there were no flashing lights coming from it, as is required after dark. The UFO hovered north, before slowly stopping, then heading the opposite way, keeping a precisely consistent altitude and distance from my location. I am not aware of any man made machinery that is capable of such a maneuver. The object slipped back into the tree-line, and since we were in a car, I tried to drive and get a better view. About 20 seconds later, when I had a clear view of the horizon, it was nowhere to be seen.

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MUFON Case # 34728
Date:    2012-01-05
Time:    01:05
Status:    Assigned
City:    Azle
State:    Texas
Shape:    Boomerang
Distance:    100 feet or less
Summary:    Witnessed a bright light come towards me whenover me it hovered,saw blinking red and green triangles on boomerang shaped ufo

Report:
2 days before there was an earthquake in Okla. 1 day before I felt a tremor at my house. We live in the country in a rural area. That night i was watching T.V. and heard a slight rumble, so I went outside on my back porch. I noticed a light to the northwest just above the tree line, behind our neighbors house. I thought it might be a helicopter with a spot light. The light began to rise and hover, coming toward me. The object was about 100 directly over me, when I realized it wasnt anything man-made. It was about the size of a B 52 bomber. It was a boomerang shape with a huge white glowing light in the front, on the bottom was 2 triangle shaped lights, one was red and one was green. Both were blinking in alternating pattern. The triangle shaped lights that were red and green were unlike any lights Ive ever seen. The sound it made was a quiet rumble, unlike any engine sound Ive ever heard. When it was directly over me, it hovered for about 15 seconds, which scared me to death. I jumped under the porch in fear. Then realized I had to see more. I came back out to see it start to move over our house toward the east, I ran inside the house to wake up my wife, who was asleep and didnt get up. I went back outside and watched it go over my inlaws house and hover over a gas well across the street. still heading East, it disappeared over the trees. I saw something shoot across the sky to the north and never seen it again. when this occurred my feelings were excited and horrified. While the UFO was over me, I felt frozen, like I couldnt move a muscle. Since the incident, I am still having unbelievable fears and excitement, which are undescribable. I would love to talk with anyone who has had a similar experience or has knowledge in this area.

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MUFON Case # 34735
Date:    2011-12-20
Time:    00:00
Status:    Assigned
City:    New Caney
State:    Texas
Shape:    Square/Rectagular
Duration:    00:00:30
Distance:    100 feet or less
Summary:    Giant Flying rectangular wharehouse divided in 3-5 rectangular sections, the top being smaller than the bottom 10 rectangles, but they were all the same length.

Report:
My TV went out and I had just died in the Oblivion 4 game I was playing, so I decided to go to bed, but before I went to bed I decided to put out our 4 boston terriers. As soon as I walked outside in my backyard with them and I saw the object heading right at me. Very long the length of a football field but the width was Id say about 40 feet long, very rectagular shaped flat front divided in 3 sections top section all lit up in white neon lighting had five smaller rectangle shapes, middle and bottom had the same with larger rectangles but all the same in length, the object had a flat nose and a flat back. The object made no noise it came from the east just about 50 ft above the treetops heading West. The bottom of the ship was pitch black with neon white light outlining the ship. Ive seen blimps and know what they sound like this was no blimp and it was moving way to quickly to be one and made no sound. The whole sighting lasted less than 30 seconds and it was gone. It cleared the treetops in my backyard flew right over me and my house heading west lost sight of it when it flew over the house. I felt kind of awestruck seeing the object, but the next day I had trouble with my equalibrium and fell in the kitchen. Not one of our dogs left the porch while the object was flying over, but when it passed they all went out in the yard.


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Why we will still be here in 2013

OK, so there seems to be more major storms, even earthquakes in Oklahoma and Ohio, Tsunamis and just about any kind of disaster you can think of.  So does this mean the end of the world is nigh?  Uh, no.

The Earth is a living planet and by that very definition, we are here and we survive and thrive.  Storms will come and go, tides will rise and fall, meteors will whiz by and some smack down, Momma Earth will belch and far... You get the picture.

Does anyone remember Y2K?  You know, the New Millennium, January 1, 2000?  Weren't we all supposed to be destroyed then, or at least all the computers in the world crashing at once?  Give me a break...

People like a good scare and some people are just big worry warts.  Just think of all the money that's been made off of "End of the World" movies, not to mention all the underground bunkers, missile silos turned condo and  MREs (meals ready to eat).  Hey, the end of the world is big business and people will pay out the "ends" to insure their survival, while the rest of us get Kentucky fried.

So just what is in store for our world in 2012?  Well, the Earth is still going to turn and wobble on it's way around the sun; the moon will be an inch or so further away from our planet; disaster will still strike (as usual and in some form, fashion and place), people will whine and bemoan the end is coming; hoarders will go broke from buying all those MREs and underground bunkers; there'll be several Arks for sale; people will still be reporting UFO sightings; and I will still have to pay my taxes.

So there are my predictions, worth about what, 2 cents?  You can use the PayPal button to help me out... I need to stock up on ammo.

Happy 2012!

-SW

(Also posted at Phantom Universe)

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Why People Say the World Will End In 2012

NASA Debunks 2012 Apocalypse With New FAQ

Shepherd: Can the Doomsday scenarios -- at least for 2012

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Photo of the sky over my home in Texas, on June 21, 2011. -  Sunny Williams

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I've been saying for some time now, that the weather just isn't behaving "natural".

My mother grew up on a Texas farm and lived her young adult life, long before there were TV weathermen.   She was very adept at reading the signs in the skies and the critters on the ground, knowing exactly what the weather would be like, for several days in advance. 

My mother taught me to also read those signs... and the signs I have been seeing are distressing.   What was once our wet months have been dry and when we do finally get rain, it's too little too late, or we end up with one helluva flood, then it's drought again.

Texas weather has always been sort of crazy.  The old saying has been, "It's Texas.  Don't like the weather?  Wait a few minutes and it'll change."  Well, that old saying no longer holds true.  We've been experiencing a severe drought for several years now and I don't see any let-up in sight.  No, not as long as someone is manipulating the weather.  And it appears they don't intend to stop any time soon.

How many homes, fields, crops and woodlands have to be burned by wildfires due to drought?  How many others will be flooded out, lives lost.  Record breaking snowfalls, tornadoes, hurricanes... look at the cost of weather manipulation.

Think that's crazy?  I'm not alone in my thoughts.  Some say, "here's proof."


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Solid Proof That Weather Modification Projects Are Being Conducted All Over The United States


(Endoftheamericandream.com)  Most Americans still believe that our weather patterns are 100% natural and that our government has absolutely no control over the weather.  Unfortunately, that is not the case at all.  What you are about to read is evidence that weather modification is happening right now all over the United States.  This is never acknowledged by our politicians and it is never talked about by the mainstream media.  But it is very, very real.  Weather modification programs in some parts of the country have been going on for many years and evidence of these programs is hidden in plain view.  So does this mean that if we don't like the weather we can just blame the government?  Well, yes it does, but it also means that the government has been seriously messing around with our environment and there could be "unintended consequences" that are far more dramatic than any of us ever dared to imagine.


Those that believed that the government was involved in weather modification were once considered to be "kooks", but the truth is that authorities aren't even trying to hide it anymore.  For example, the following was recently posted in the "Legal Notices" section of the classified ads in a local newspaper called The Tribune in San Luis Obispo, California....

NOTICE OF INTENTION WEATHER MODIFICATION PROGRAM THE SANTA BARBARA COUNTY WATER AGENCY HEREBY GIVES NOTICE OF INTENTION TO CONDUCT A WEATHER MODIFICATION PROGRAM NATURE AND PURPOSE: The purpose of the project is to increase rainfall to help alleviate deficiencies of water supplies in Santa Barbara County. Clouds would be seeded by the dispersal of Silver Iodide (AgI). Two possible modes of seeding, air based and ground based, would be used. LOCATION OF PURPOSE: Project operations could be conducted during the period between November 15 and April 15, for each year, 2011-2012 through 2015-2016. Airborne seeding operations would utilize air space over Santa Barbara County, portions of San Luis Obispo County as well as the Pacific Ocean immediately west of Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo Counties. Ground based seeding operations would be conducted from the Santa Ynez Mountains, the Casmalia Hills and the San Rafael Mountains. The target areas for seeding operations are the watersheds behind Cachuma and Gibraltar reservoirs on the Santa Ynez River as well as Twitchell reservoir on the Cuyama River. LICENSEE: The project would be operated and supervised by a licensed weather modification consultant.

Can it get much clearer than that?
The Santa Barbara County water agency is telling the world that it plans to conduct a weather modification program and it is explaining exactly how it will be done.
If you are thinking that this is something new, you might want to guess again.
Weather modification projects have been conducted down in Texas for years.
The following comes from the website of the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation....

Currently, cloud-seeding projects designed to increase rainfall from convective cloud towers are conducted in nearly 31 million acres of Texas (or almost one-fifth of the state’s land area). In administering the Texas Weather Modification Act (enacted by the Texas Legislature in 1967), TDLR’s weather modification program issues licenses and permits for these projects, many of which have been in existence since 2000. The projects use specialized aircraft and sophisticated weather radar systems, operated by skilled meteorologists, at sites near Amarillo, Plains, Pecos, San Angelo, and Pleasanton.

Anyone still want to be a skeptic after reading that?
According to the Texas state government, these weather modification projects have been going on down in Texas since the year 2000.
So if you live in Texas and you don't like the weather, just blame Rick Perry.
But weather modification projects are not just happening in the United States.  The truth is that they are going on all over the globe.
An article from the Guardian a couple of years ago talked about the mammoth weather modification projects that have been happening in China....

The Chinese air force claimed today that the biggest weather modification operation in the country's history cleared the skies over Tiananmen Square just in time for the National Day parade.
I write this post under gorgeously azure skies. Instead of the dull haze I have grown used to in Beijing over the past few years, the light is so sharp that it almost hurts my eyes.
The transformation is so dramatic it is eerie. When I flew into Beijing yesterday, the city was shrouded in what looked like a thick smog.

An article posted on arabianbusiness.com talked about the extraordinary weather modification projects that have been sponsored by the Abu Dhabi government....

Scientists working for the Abu Dhabi government created more than 50 rainstorms in Al Ain in July and August of 2010, during the peak of the emirate’s summer months.
The rains are part of a secret $11m project, reportedly commissioned by HH Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE, which used ionisers to generate storms, the UK’s Sunday Times said.
It is thought to be the first time the team had produced man-made rain from otherwise clear skies.
According to the report, scientists used large ionisers, which resemble lampshades, to generate fields of negatively charged particles. That in turn creates cloud formation, leading to rain.
Over 122 days through the summer months, the emitters were switched on 74 times when atmospheric humidity reached the required level of 30 percent or more.
During that time, Al AIn experienced rainfall on 52 occasions on days when the country’s own weather service had predicted no clouds and no rain.

Are you starting to get the picture?

Read more here and see Video.

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The bulls-eye shows epicenter of the 5.6 magnitude Oklahoma earthquake, which took place at 10:53 p.m. CST, November 5, 2011.  Click on image to enlarge.

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Shake, Rattle and Roll!
by Sunny Williams, Lights in the Texas Sky

Near Earth misses by asteroids and Earthquakes, where and when you don't expect them to be.  It's almost too much excitement!

It was a couple of minutes before 11:00 p.m. Saturday night, November 5, 2011, when I was rudely shaken from bed.

I had gone to bed early but my spouse (Joe) was up watching TV, when suddenly the bed started bouncing and shaking like one of those vibrating motel beds.  I could even hear the thumping of the bed legs on the floor.  So could Joe and as soon as he heard my exclamations of surprise, he came running to see if I was alright.

Come to find out, his recliner had also been doing the Watusi, along with the ceiling fans and anything else not nailed down.

Well after that rude arousal I certainly couldn't sleep, so I got up and checked Google News.  Sure enough, a 5.6 magnitude earthquake had hit Oklahoma, the epicenter located near Sparks, 44 miles northeast of Oklahoma City, at a depth of 3.1 miles.

By now you all know I live near the town of Breckenridge, Texas.  That is just a bit over 200 miles SW from OKC but I've read that the Oklahoma tremblor was felt up to 300 miles away.  That's some major shaking.

There was only one other time that I felt the earth shake this bad; that was when we were stationed at Fort Lewis, Washington, back in 1974-75.  I believe an earthquake shook the Oregon coast, which reverberated up into Washington state.

The Oregon tremble was my first experience with quakes but we actually had dishes and window panes rattle during a shake in South Texas, back in the late 80s.  It was centered somewhere east of Waco but didn't amount to much.

Now I don't know about you but for a born and raised Texan, experiencing an earthquake is unnerving, to say the least.  I've lived through tornadoes and even a hurricane but to have the ground beneath me let me down, now that's a bum deal right there.

What's next, an asteroid?

More news on the Oklahoma earthquake:
http://www.cnn.com/2011/11/06/us/oklahoma-earthquake/?hpt=us_c2
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-201_162-57319310/5.6-mag-okla-quakes-rattle-nerves/

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Prepare to duck!  Another asteroid headed our way.
by Sunny Williams, Lights in the Texas Sky


Due on Tuesday, November 8, 2011 at 6:28 p.m.EST, an asteroid dubbed 2005 YU55 will come within 202,000 miles of Earth, before racing back out into space. That is about 38,000 miles closer to us than our own moon.

Carbon-colored and dark, the asteroid measures some 1,300 feet wide. It will be the closest visit by a space rock this size in more than three decades.

"This is not a potentially hazardous asteroid, just a good opportunity to study one," National Science Foundation astronomer Thomas Statler says. NASA and the NSF plan a series of radar telescope and other observations starting Friday, aimed at mapping the asteroid's surface and chemistry.

"The radar measurements should be pretty spectacular," Statler says.

At a quarter of a mile across, an asteroid this size landing in Earth's ocean would trigger a magnitude-7.0 earthquake and 70-foot-high tsunami waves some 60 miles away, according to Jay Melosh of Purdue University in Indiana. Such impacts are thought to come about once every 100,000 years.

“We’re extremely confident, 100 percent confident, that this is not a threat,” said the manager of NASA’s Near Earth Object Program, Don Yeomans. “But it is an opportunity.”

Lucky us, asteroid 2005 YU55 will be back in 2028.

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In April 2010, this radar image of the near-Earth asteroid 2005 YU55 was taken by the Arecibo radio telescope in Puerto Rico. On Nov. 8, 2011, this large space rock zips by Earth again and will be surveyed by radar, visual and infrared equipment. CREDIT: Space.com/NASA/Cornell/Arecibo

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Huge asteroid headed for close encounter with Earth

(Reuters) - A huge asteroid will pass closer to Earth than the moon Tuesday, giving scientists a rare chance for study without having to go through the time and expense of launching a probe, officials said.

Earth's close encounter with Asteroid 2005 YU 55 will occur at 6:28 p.m. EST (2328 GMT) Tuesday, as the space rock sails about 201,000 miles from the planet.

"It is the first time since 1976 that an object of this size has passed this closely to the Earth. It gives us a great -- and rare -- chance to study a near-Earth object like this," astronomer Scott Fisher, a program director with the National Science Foundation, said Thursday during a Web chat with reporters.

The orbit and position of the asteroid, which is about 1,312 feet in diameter, is well known, added senior research scientist Don Yeomans, with NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.

"There is no chance that this object will collide with the Earth or moon," Yeomans said.

Thousands of amateur and professional astronomers are expected to track YU 55's approach, which will be visible from the planet's northern hemisphere. It will be too dim to be seen with the naked eye, however, and it will be moving too fast for viewing by the Hubble Space Telescope.

"The best time to observe it would be in the early evening on November 8 from the East Coast of the United States," Yeomans said. "It is going to be very faint, even at its closest approach. You will need a decent-sized telescope to be able to actually see the object as it flies by."

Scientists suspect YU 55 has been visiting Earth for thousands of years, but because gravitational tugs from the planets occasionally tweak its path, they cannot tell for sure how long the asteroid has been in its present orbit.

"These sorts of events have been happening for most of the lifetime of the Earth, about 4.5 billion years," Fisher said.

Computer models showing the asteroid's path for the next 100 years show there is no chance it will hit Earth during that time, added Yeomans.

"We do not think that it will ever impact the Earth or moon (but) we only have its orbit calculated for the next 100 years," he said.

Previous studies show the asteroid, which is blacker than charcoal, is what is called a C-type asteroid that is likely made of carbon-based materials and some silicate rock.

More information about its composition and structure are expected from radar images and chemical studies of its light as the asteroid passes by the planet.

"I've read that we will be able to see details down to a size of about 15 feet across on the surface of the asteroid," Fisher said.

NASA is working on a mission to return soil samples from an asteroid known as 1999 RQ36 in 2020, followed by a human mission to another asteroid in the mid-2020s.

Japan also plans to launch an asteroid sample return mission in 2018.

Source

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Landslide on Lutetia.

ESA- ESA's Rosetta spacecraft has revealed asteroid Lutetia to be a primitive body, left over as the planets were forming in our Solar System. Results from Rosetta's fleeting flyby also suggest that this mini-world tried to grow a metal heart.

Rosetta flew past Lutetia on 10 July 2010 at a speed of 54 000 km/hr and a closest distance of 3170 km. At the time, the 130 km-long asteroid was the largest encountered by a spacecraft. Since then, scientists have been analyzing the data taken during the brief encounter.

All previous flybys went past objects, which were fragments of once-larger bodies. However, during the encounter, scientists speculated that Lutetia might be an older, primitive 'mini-world'.

Lutetia coverage

Now they are much more certain. Images from the OSIRIS camera reveal that parts of Lutetia's surface are around 3.6 billion years old. Other parts are young by astronomical standards, at 50–80 million years old.

Astronomers estimate the age of airless planets, moons, and asteroids by counting craters. Each bowl-shaped depression on the surface is made by an impact. The older the surface, the more impacts it will have accumulated. Some parts of Lutetia are heavily cratered, implying that it is very old.

On the other hand, the youngest areas of Lutetia are landslides, probably triggered by the vibrations from particularly jarring nearby impacts.

Debris resulting from these many impacts now lies across the surface as a 1 km-thick layer of pulverised rock.

Lutetia polar projection

There are also boulders strewn across the surface: some are 300–400 m across, or about half the size of Ayers Rock, in Australia.

Some impacts must have been so large that they broke off whole chunks of Lutetia, gradually sculpting it into the battered wreck we see today.

"We don't think Lutetia was born looking like this," says Holger Sierks, Max-Planck-Institut für Sonnensystemforschung, Lindau, Germany. "It was probably round when it formed."

Rosetta's VIRTIS spectrometer found that Lutetia's composition is remarkably uniform across all the observed regions.

"It is striking that an object of this size can bear scars of events so different in age across its surface while not showing any sign of surface compositional variation," says Fabrizio Capaccioni, INAF, Rome, Italy.

This is just the start of the mystery. 

Continue reading

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Click on images to enlarge. To see original photos, click on links below report.

A Round Rock resident takes daytime photos of a rectangular object flying through the air.

Here is that unedited report as it was submitted to MUFON.

[Note:  Is this a craft of some type, or is it something caught in the wind?  -SW]

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MUFON Case # 31500
Date:    2011-09-03
Time:    18:30
Status:    Assigned
City:    Round Rock
State:    Texas
Shape:    Square/Rectagular
Duration:    00:07:00
Distance:    Over one mile
Summary:    Dark Grey Rectangle moving right to left slowly then moving away.

Report:
I normally do not pay much attention to UFO sightings or even read about them. This may sound strange, but the prior day I was watching on the internet an experience that someone had with a UFO. I normally don't believe these stories, but this was coming from a prominent Christian, telling about an expereince he had more than 40 years ago. Today, I decided to buy a new book to read and purchased the book "Majestic", for no particular reason until I began to read what it was about, a story about the Rosewell incident. I then came home and had this feeling to look out my window in my apartment, but saw nothing. 10 minutes later I had this feeling again to look out my window and I saw a rectangle shaped object that seemed as large as an 18 wheeler or bigger hovering at least a 1000 feet moving from right to left slowly for about 5 minutes, and then it began to move away at a faster pace until it disappeared in the horizon after about 2 minutes. I took pictures because it seemed very odd that something shaped like a rectangle was flying with nothing else near it.


Original Photos:

Photo 1
Photo 2
Photo 3

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UPDATE:

I have received 2 comments so far, on this report.  Here they are, or you can click on the comments section.  My reply is below.

2 comments:

Challenge Your Reality said...

    Very interesting! I've heard of spheres, rods, saucers, triangular craft, but never rectangular vehicles. It could be something caught in the wind considering Texas is getting some wind from Tropical Storm Lee, however, if it was as large as the observer stated and hovering or moving slowly, I would assume it's something else. Thanks for sharing this!

Editor's Reply:  Other objects such as this have been reported, especially in the past few years.

I have seen a number of large objects whirled through the air but I've never seen any inanimate object (large debris), that was able to be stable enough to move very slowly, or hover and then accelerate, as the witness claims. -SW
   

The Cowboy Coder said...

    It's a banner being pulled by a small plane. The photographer caught it while the plane was making a turn and got obscured by the banner.

Editor's Reply:  I would think that the observer would have seen, or at least heard an airplane.  Maybe it was a banner being pulled by a UFO.  That makes just about as much sense but I do appreciate your attempt at debunking.

The banner appears blank.  Perhaps you could purchase advertisement? -SW

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