Articles tagged with "objects"

What a headline! MSN and the Daily Mail Online report that a former NASA-affiliated scientist, Ivo Busko, supports claims that unusual light flashes seen in 1950s sky photographs could indicate “non-human intelligence.” They report that his argument builds on earlier research by astronomer Beatriz Villarroel, who identified mysterious “transient” lights in archival images taken before satellites existed. This suggests the phenomenon is real and not a data error. Some of these lights appeared reflective or rotating, leading to speculation they could be objects in orbit. Because the observations predate the 1957 launch of Sputnik, proponents argue they cannot be human-made and may point to extraterrestrial technology. Here's that headline:

NZ Skeptics occasionally received email asking about skeptical topics:

The NZ Skeptics conference was a great success, with a quiz on the Friday night and a weekend of fascinating talks. We gave all the attendees a bag of alternative medicine nonsense.

I received an email earlier this week about a new Citizen Science Project called Planet 9.

Following the mass suicide of the Heaven's Gate cult, Alan Hale, co-discoverer of Comet Hale-Bopp, released a statement at a press conference in Cloudcroft, New Mexico. He began by reading from Carl Sagan's The Demon Haunted World...

The account of the meeting between the Moa hunters and the Christchurch Skeptics was interesting, but contained some very odd statements. How many skeptics had done any hunting, I wonder? The account reads as though there were no experienced hunters present who could challenge some of the statements made. That is rather like examining key-benders without a magician present. However, the account, like many UFO sightings, contains several inconsistencies which are not obvious to the inexperienced.