Giant Electrical Tornadoes In Space Drive The Auroras

The scientific work is an open and permanent quest. We do not know everything. The following article exemplifies what we have said many times: that there are still many natural phenomena that need to be explained. This one now has been explained. But how many others are still pending of their discovery?
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by Robert Sanders,
Vienna, Austria (SPX) Apr 27, 2009

Earth-bound tornadoes are puny compared to "space tornadoes," which span a volume as large as Earth and produce electrical currents exceeding 100,000 amperes, according to new observations by a suite of five NASA space probes.

The probe cluster, called Time History of Events and Macroscale Interactions during Substorms (THEMIS), recorded the extent and power of these electrical funnels as the probes passed through them during their orbit of Earth. Ground measurements showed that the space tornadoes channel the electrical current into the ionosphere to spark bright and colorful auroras on Earth.

The findings were presented during a press at the general assembly of the European Geosciences Union (EGU) in Vienna, Austria.

Space tornadoes are rotating plasmas of hot, ionized gas flowing at speeds of more than a million miles per hour, far faster than the 200 m.p.h. winds of terrestrial tornadoes, according to Andreas Keiling, a research space physicist at the University of California, Berkeley's Space Sciences Laboratory.

Keiling works on THEMIS, which was built and is now operated by UC Berkeley. The five space probes were launched by NASA in February 2007 to solve a decades-long mystery about the origin of magnetic storms that power the Northern and Southern Lights

Both terrestrial and space tornadoes consist of funnel-shaped structures. Space tornadoes, however, generate huge amounts of electrical currents inside the funnel. These currents flow along twisted magnetic field lines from space into the ionosphere where they power several processes, most notably bright auroras such as the Northern Lights Keiling said.

While these intense currents do not cause any direct harm to humans, on the ground they can damage man-made structures, such as power transformers.

The THEMIS spacecraft observed these tornadoes, or "flow vortices," at a distance of about 40,000 miles from Earth. Simultaneous measurements by THEMIS ground observatories confirmed the tornadoes' connection to the ionosphere.

Keiling's colleagues include Karl-Heinz Glassmeier of the Institute for Geophysics and Extraterrestrial Physics (IGEP, TU) in Braunschweig, Germany, and Olaf Amm of the Finnish Meteorological Institute.

(Taken from Space Daily Express of April 28, 2009)

Gigantescos Tornados Eléctricos en el Espacio Desatan las Auroras

La tarea científica es una búsqueda abierta y permanente.No sabemos todo. El siguiente artículo ejemplifica lo que hemos dicho muchas veces: que hay aún muchos fenómenos naturales que necesitan ser explicados.Éste ha sido explicado. ¿Pero cuántos otros están pendientes de ser descubiertos?

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por Robert Sanders,
Viena, Ausria (SPX) Abril 27, 2009

Los tornados terrestres son una nimiedad comparados con los “tornados espaciales”, que alcanzan un volúmen tan grande como la Tierra y producen corrientes eléctricas que exceden los 100.000 amperes, según nuevas observaciones efectuadas por un equipo de sondas espaciales de la NASA.

El racimo de sondas, llamado THEMIS por Historia Cronometrada de los Sucesos e Interacciones en Macroescala durante Subtormentas, registró la extensión y energía de esos embudos eléctricos mientras las sondas pasaban a través de ellos durante su órbita alrededor de la Tierra. Medidas obtenidas en tierra mostraron que los tornados espaciales canalizan la corriente eléctrica hacia la ionósfera para desatar brillantes y coloridas auroras en la Tierra.

Los descubrimientos se presentaron en una conferencia de prensa durante la asamblea general de la Unión Europea de Geociencias, en Viena, Austria.

Los tornados espaciales son plasmas rotatorios de gas caliente e ionizado que se desplaza velocidades de más de un millón de millas por hora (un millón 609 mil kilómetros por hora), mucho más veloz que los vientos de 321 kilómetros por hora de los tornados terrestres, según Andreas Keiling, un físico e investigador del espacio, perteneciente al Laboratorio de Ciencias Espaciales de la Universidad de California, en Berkeley.

Keilling trabaja en THEMIS, que fue construído y ahora operado por la Universidad de California en Berkeley. Las cinco sondas espaciales fueron lanzadas por la NASA en Febrero de 2007 para resolver un misterio que se extendió por décadas acerca del origen magnético de las tormentas que proveen energía a las Auroras Boreales y Australes.

Tanto los tornados terrestres como los espaciales consisten en estructuras con la forma de un embudo. Los tornados espaciales, no obstante, generan enormes cantidads de corrientes eléctricas dentro del embudo. Esas corrientes fluyen a lo largo de líneas magnéticas retorcidas desde el espacio hacia la ionósfera donde proveeen energía a varios procesos, el más notable el de las auroras tales como las Boreales, dijo Keiling.

En tanto esas intensas corrientes no causan ningún daño directo a los seres humanos, en tierra pueden dañar estructuras creadas por el ser humano, tales como transformadores de electricidad.

El aparato espacial THEMIS observó estos tornados o “vórtices de flujo”, a una distancia de unas 40.000 millas (64 mil kilómetros) de la Tierra. Mediciones simultáneas hechas por observatorios terrestres de THEMIS confirmaron la conexión de los tornados con la ionósfera.

Los colegas de Keiling, incluyeron a Karl-Heinz Glassmeier del Instituto para Geofísica y Física Extraterrestre (IGEP) en Braunschweig, Alemania, y Olaf Amm, del Instituto Meteorológico Finlandés.

(Tomado del Space Daily Express del 28 de Abril de 2009)

ANALYZING THE PICTURE: Any?

A group of people interested in UFOs, in Maldonado, Uruguay, wanted to demonstrate how it is possible to perpetrate hoaxes with supposedly “ufo pictures”.

With that in mind, they hanged a top from a thin thread and took a digital picture.
When they looked at the picture in the computer they realized that there was something else that they didn’t see at the moment of taking the picture.
They would like to know what it could be.

I told them that my personal impression is that it is something either small or very high in the sky, most probably an airplane.

I made some work with the picture and I have it embossed, inverted, threshold, bas-relieved, etc.

But what is needed is an analysis of all of that.

Is any UAPSG member in conditions to make a good analysis?

Here is the picture and an enhancement of the interesting part of it.

FOTO A ANALIZAR: ¿Alguien se ofrece?

Un grupo de interesados en el tema OVNI de Maldonado, Uruguay, quiso demostrar cómo es posible llevar a cabo trucos con supuestas “fotografías de ovnis”.

Con eso en mente, colgaron una tapa de un hilo fino y tomaron una fotografía digital. Cuando la vieron en la computadora se dieron cuenta que había algo más que no vieron en el momento de tomar la fotografía.

Ellos quisieran saber qué puede ser.

Les dije que mi impresión personal es que es algo o bien pequeño o muy alto en el cielo, más probablemente un avión. Yo trabajé algo la fotografía y le hice relieve, inversión, umbral, bajo relieve, etc. Pero lo que se necesita es un análisis de todo eso.

¿Hay algún miembro del GEFAI en condiciones de hacer un buen análisis?

Aquí presento la foto y un análisis de la parte interesante de la misma.

ARGENTINEAN INITIATIVE TO OPEN OFFICIAL UFO FILES

Carlos Iurchuk a member of UAPSG reports from Argentina the following news:

“Starting some months ago a group of Argentinean ufologists and people interested in the subject has been organizing to ask the government to declassify the UFO files that could be on military as well as civil institutions. Pursuing that goal it has been created CEFORA (Commission for the Study of the UFO Phenomenon in the Argentinean Republic) and they are collecting signatures. They need at least 100.000 signatures to give relevance to their petition. Besides CEFORA will be a partner with an NGO to have a better framework for its request. They have gathered together with this purpose and the last meeting was held on April 4, 2009 in the city of Victoria where Silvia Simondini was the hostess.”

Those interested to know more about this initiative please contact:

Carlos Alberto Iurchuk - dragoninvisible@gmail.com

INICIATIVA ARGENTINA PARA QUE SE ABRAN LOS ARCHIVOS OVNI OFICIALES

Carlos Iurchuk, miembro del GEFAI nos comunica desde la Argentina, la siguiente novedad:

“Desde hace unos meses un grupo de ufólogos y gente interesada en el tema de Argentina nos estamos organizando para solicitar al gobierno argentino la desclasificación de los archivos OVNI que se encuentran en los diferentes organismos oficiales, sean civiles o militares. Para tal fin se creó el CEFORA (Comisión de Estudio del Fenómeno OVNI de la República Argentina) y se empezó a juntar firmas. Hay que conseguir 100.000 firmas como mínimo para que la solicitud tenga algún peso. Además el CEFORA formará parte de una ONG para darle un marco más adecuado a la solicitud. Se han hecho reuniones para ir delineando todo esto. La última se realizó el pasado 4 de abril en la ciudad de Victoria, donde nuestra amiga Silvia Simondini hizo de anfitriona”.

Los interesados en tener más información pueden ponerse en contacto con:

Carlos Alberto Iurchuk - dragoninvisible@gmail.com

STELLAR CHEMISTRY

New Discovery Poses Challenge To Galaxy Formation Theories

Bloomington IN (SPX) Apr 17, 2009

A team led by an Indiana University astronomer has found a sample of massive galaxies with properties that suggest they may have formed relatively recently.

This would run counter to the widely-held belief that massive, luminous galaxies (like our own Milky Way Galaxy) began their formation and evolution shortly after the Big Bang, some 13 billion years ago.

Further research into the nature of these objects could open new windows into the study of the origin and early evolution of galaxies.

John Salzer, principal investigator for the study published today in Astrophysical Journal Letters, said that the 15 galaxies in the sample exhibit luminosities (a measure of their total light output) that indicate that they are massive systems like the Milky Way and other so-called "giant" galaxies.

However, these particular galaxies are unusual because they have chemical abundances that suggest very little stellar evolution has taken place within them. Their relatively low abundances of "heavy" elements (elements heavier than helium, called "metals" by astronomers) imply the galaxies are cosmologically young and may have formed recently.

The chemical abundances of the galaxies, combined with some simple assumptions about how stellar evolution and chemical enrichment progress in galaxies in general, suggest that they may only be 3 or 4 billion years old, and therefore formed 9 to 10 billion years after the Big Bang. Most theories of galaxy formation predict that massive, luminous systems like these should have formed much earlier.

If this overall interpretation proves correct, the galaxies may allow astronomers to investigate phases of the galaxy formation and evolution process that have been difficult to study because they normally occur at such early times in the Universe, and therefore at very large distances from us.

"These objects may represent a unique window on the process of galaxy formation, allowing us to study relatively nearby systems that are undergoing a phase in their evolution that is analogous to the types of events that, for most galaxies, typically occurred much earlier in the history of the Universe," Salzer said.

Taken from “Space Daily” (April 17, 2009)

QUIMICA ESTELAR

Nuevo Descubrimiento Plantea Desafío a las Teorías de la Formación de Galaxias

Bloomington IN (SPX), Abril 17, 2009

Un equipo liderado por un astrónomo de la Universidad de Indiana descubrió una muestra de enormes galaxias con propiedades que sugieren que pueden haberse formado relativamente en tiempo reciente.

Esto iría en contra de la creencia ampliamente sostenida de que las galaxias masivas y luminosas (como nuestra Vía Láctea) comenzaron su formación y evolución poco después de la Gran Explosión, hace unos 13 mil millones de años.

Una mayor investigación sobre la naturaleza de esos objetos podría abrir nuevas ventanas hacia el estudio del origen y la evolución temprana de las galaxias.

John Salzer, el principal investigador del estudio publicado hoy en el Periódico de Cartas de Astrofísica, dijo que las 15 galaxias de la muestra exhiben luminosidades (una medida de su total producción de luz) que indica que son sistemas masivos como nuestra Vía Láctea y las otras galaxias llamadas “gigantes”.

Sin embargo, estas galaxias particulares son insólitas porque tienen abundancias químicas que sugieren que ha tenido lugar una muy escasa evolución estelar dentro de ellas. Su relativamente baja abundancia de elementos “pesados” (elementos más pesados que el helio, llamados “metales” por los astrónomos) implica que las galaxias son cosmológicamente jóvenes y podrían haberse formado recientemente.

Las abundancias químicas de las galaxias, combinadas con algunas suposiciones simples acerca de cómo progresa la evolución estelar y el enriquecimiento químico en las galaxias en general, sugiere que pueden tener sólo unos 3 a 4 mil millones de años de antigüedad, y por lo tanto se formaron de 9 a 10 mil millones de años después de la Gran Explosión. La mayoría de las teorías sobre la formación de galaxias pronostica que sistemas masivos y luminosos como éstos deberían haberse formado mucho antes.

Si toda esta interpretación demuestra ser correcta, estas galaxias podrían permitir a los astrónomos investigar las fases de la formación y el proceso de evolución de las galaxias, que han sido dificiles de estudiar porque normalmente ocurren en tiempos tan tempranos del Universo, y por lo tanto a muy grandes distancias de nosotros.

“Estos objetos podrían representar una ventana única sobre el proceso de la formación de galaxias, permitiéndonos estudiar sistemas relativamente cercanos que están experimentando una fase en su evolución que es análoga al tipo de acontecimientos que, para la mayoría de las galaxias, ocurrieron mucho más temprano en la historia del Universo”, dijo Salzer.

Tomado de “Space Daily” (Abril 17 de 2009)

AEROSPACE TECHNOLOGY

During six hardly worked years our member of UAPSG-GEFAI, Italian Astrophycisit Massimo Teodorani, PhD, has collected, selected and prepared a slide-show of images in Power Point that covers 5 decades of Aerospace crafts.

This magnificent work is presented in 11 sets covering more than 5,200 images.

We recommend to take a look of this material and if you are interested, to get in direct contact with Dr. Teodorani.

Go to: http://www.box.net/shared/oialz4fkti

TECNOLOGÍA AEROESPACIAL

Durante un arduo trabajo de seis años nuestro miembro de UAPSG-GEFAI, el astrofísico italiano Dr. Massimo Teodorani, coleccionó, seleccionó y preparó una muestra de diapositivos con imágenes en Power Point que cubre 5 décadas de aparatos Aéreos y Espaciales

Este magnífico trabajo está presentado en 11 grupos que cubren más de 5.200 imágenes.

Recomendamos ver este material y si alguien está interesado, tomar contacto directo con el Dr.Teodorani.

Verlo en:
http://www.box.net/shared/os07l7yxnr

XPOSE UFO TRUTH: A new Web page

The main purpose of this Web page is to provide a place for investigators to exchange their material and mainly to “separate genuine sightings from hoaxed or faked events”.
From here we salute the creation of this new Web page and we wish its responsible people very good luck.

You can link to this web page cliking on:
http://xposeufotruth.com/

XPOSE UFO TRUTH: Una nueva página Web

El principal objetivo de esta página Web es proveer un lugar para que los investigadores intercambien su material y principalmente para “separar observaciones genuinas de acontecimientos trucados o falsificados”.

Desde aquí saludamos la creación de esta nueva página Web y les deseamos a sus responsables muy buena suerte.

La misma se puede ver en: http://xposeufotruth.com/

Beam of Light Over Villamarchante (Valencia, Spain) – by Vicente-Juan Ballester Olmos

We welcome this work of investigation, study and analysis of a case done by our colleague and Member of UAPSG-GEFAI, Vicente-Juan Ballester Olmos. We are taking this report from Fundación Anomalía, in order to provide our readers in English the knowledge of the basic facts.

A few months ago, some acquaintances told me about a UFO sighting they had had, four of them, during a local trip in my native province of Valencia (Spain). My interest was aroused when I knew that one photograph had been taken. In the last months I have acquired all the basic details of the observation and, as a result of my inquiry into the case; a report (in Spanish) has been prepared and published at this link: http://www.anomalia.org/fotocat/villamarchante.pdf

For the benefit of the non-Spanish speaking readers, I am presenting now a very brief summary of the story. On the evening of April 19, 2008 two couples were travelling in a car near Villamarchante (Valencia) when they saw, some 45º high in the sky, an elongated beam of brilliant silver light which was growing in size from 20º up to some 40º in angular size. During the two to three minutes that the sighting lasted, its color was changing to fuchsia. Then, a ball of fuchsia light with a winding tail (like a “spermatozoid”) separated from the main trail, departed towards a “nearby” cloud and was seen no more. By then, the cloud acquired the same fuchsia-colored tone and the long trail disappeared - or they paid no more attention to it, being attracted by the curious cloud color. Exactly at 20:52 hours (before the ball of light appeared) a photograph was made by Alejandra Bitar, one of the witnesses. Most of the overcast sky began to change to fuchsia as well. They carried on towards their intended destiny, which was a friends’ house. They arrived a few minutes later and went inside.

Our conclusion is that what was photographed was nothing but an airplane’s condensation trail. Comparative ufology shows ample evidence that aircraft contrails produce such colorful shapes during sunsets, even certain atmospheric conditions may allow the sight of the lone plane’s fuselage even with a thin secondary trail. There is also photographic evidence to support this.

Finally, considering an airplane flying at the cruise altitude (h) of 36,000 feet (11,000 m), an angular height of 45º (α), the distance from the witnesses to the airplane (d) would be some 16,000 m (sen α = h/d). If the trail’s maximum angular size was 40º (α), then the trail’s longitude (L) was some 12 km (L = 2 X d X tag α/2). Taking a cruise speed of 800 km/h, during 2.5 minutes an airplane would have produced a trail of some 30 km long, within the order of magnitude of the found results. This would tend to confirm that the phenomenon photographed could be a contrail.

For those interested, a more detailed report lies at the above-mentioned link. Here, I am posting four video clips showing five recordings taken (four in Chile, one in Norway) which display both typical and atypical high-altitude aircraft contrails, for comparison. This graphically complements the series of static pictures included in the above report.

Haz de luz sobre Villamarchante (Valencia, España) - por Vicente-Juan Ballester Olmos

Con mucho gusto presentamos este trabajo elaborado por nuestro colega y miembro de UAPSG-GEFAI, Vicente Juan Ballester Olmos. Aquí reproducimos lo publicado por la Fundación Anomalía, pero los lectores en español pueden obtener un detalle pormenorizado de la investigación, estudio y análisis del caso, yendo al enlace que se indica en el propio artículo.

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El 19 de abril de 2008 cuatro personas que circulaban en coche en las inmediaciones de la población valenciana de Villamarchante vieron un extraño haz luminoso que iba creciendo en dimensiones durante los 2-3 minutos en que fue visto, mientras viraba de color plata brillante a fucsia intenso. Durante la observación se tomó una fotografía digital.

Un estudio de esta observación y de la fotografía correspondiente, sirviéndonos tanto de un ejercicio de ufología comparada como del concurso de expertos internacionales, ha revelado la naturaleza real del fenómeno observado. Dicho informe –que juzgamos especialmente didáctico- se encuentra alojado en el siguiente enlace: http://www.anomalia.org/fotocat/villamarchante.pdf

Como complemento visual al trabajo arriba citado, incluyo seguidamente cuatro videos que muestran cinco grabaciones distintas, cuatro tomadas en Chile y una en Noruega, que ilustran típicas y atípicas estelas de condensación producidas por aviones navegando a gran altitud.

A book we enthusiastically recommend

The first day of last February, it was a real pleasure and a privilege for me to meet in Washington DC. Professor Albert Harrison, Ph.D.

In that occasion, Dr. Harrison was so kind to make me the gift of two of his books. The first of them was “Starstruck: Cosmic Visions in Science, Religion and Folklore” (Berghahn Books, New York, 2007, 231 pages) of which I ended its reading on March 11, 2009.

Dr. Albert A. Harrison is Professor Emeritus of Psychology at the University of California, Davis. He is co-author of "Living Aloft, Human Requirements for Extended Spaceflight" (1985), "From Antarctica to Outer Space: Life in Isolation and Confinement" (1991) and author of "After Contact: the Human Response to Extraterrestrial Life" (1997) and "Spacefaring: The Human Dimension" (2001). He was a member of the International Academy of Astronautics' SETI Committee, and of NASA's Space Human Factors Engineering Science and Technology Working Group.

The description of the book by the producer says:

“We live in an era of exploding scientific knowledge about the universe, and our place and future within it. Much of this new knowledge conflicts with earlier wisdom, and some has frightening implications. Cosmic evolution, space exploration, the search for extraterrestrial life, and concerns about humanity’s future prompt us to seek new answers to old existential questions. Where did we come from? Why are we here? Are we alone? What will become of us? In our search for answers, we turn to science, religion, myth, and varying combinations thereof. Exploring an ambiguous region between recognized findings and unfettered imagination, Starstruck explores the multifaceted, far-reaching, and often contentious attempts of people with contrasting worldviews to develop convincing and satisfying interpretations of rapidly accumulating discoveries in physics, astronomy, and biology.”

I have found that this authorized comment made by Dr. Steve L. Ellyson, a Psychologist of Ohio, is totally adequate for the book, and I am glad to share it with you:

Harrison's Starstruck is an instant classic that is a must-read for anyone interested in our place in the universe and human's use of science, religion, and folklore as a means of finding meaning in our lives. Written in a style that is accessible to laymen as well as scientists (not a trivial feat), Harrison cuts through a wealth of information about what we know and what we don't know about fundamental questions that have been at the core of human existence. All the while, he maintains a sense of wonder and imagination as he addresses mankind's fascination with the cosmos, with extraterrestrials, with space exploration. Harrison, true to his psychological roots, gives us tentative answers when he can, but often raises more questions along the way. And that makes the book all the better. This is a book that I could not put down and I plan to read again.

I only can add that I was very impressed for the vastness of the work done by Dr. Harrison and for his scientific as well as sensitive criteria to deal with different subjects.

Milton W. Hourcade