Alien Nation

Coming to America!

Greg — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 12:04:29 +0000

Wouldn't you prefer a nice game of chess? British 'UFO Hacker' Gary McKinnon has lost his appeal to the European Court of Human Rights against his extradition to the United States, which will now most likely occur in the next two weeks:

His solicitor Karen Todner said this had been her client's "last chance" and appealed to Home Secretary Jacqui Smith to intervene. "He is absolutely devastated by the decision," she said. "He and his family are distraught.

"They are completely beside themselves. He is terrified by the prospect of going to America." She added Mr McKinnon had recently been diagnosed with Asperger syndrome and would ask for the case to be tried in this country.

"The offences for which our client's extradition is sought were committed on British soil and we maintain that any prosecution ought to be carried out by the appropriate British authorities," she added. "Our client now faces the prospect of prosecution and imprisonment thousands of miles away from his family in a country in which he has never set foot."

Mr McKinnon, from Wood Green, north London, was arrested in 2002 but never charged in the UK.

For more detailed examination of this case, see my post from a few weeks back here on TDG, which includes links to the full text of the House of Lords judgement.

UFO(logist)s Attack!

Greg — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 03:50:52 +0000

Last week SETI's Seth Shostak let loose in his Space.com column about personal attacks on him by 'UFO proponents' after his appearance on a UFO special on Larry King Live (watchable at YouTube - Parts 1, 2, 3 and 4):

Reader warning: I'm taking off the kid gloves. If I seem angry here — a state of emotional discombobulation that seldom seems to be my wont — it's because people whom I barely know, or in some cases haven't even heard of, insist on propelling me over the precipice.

Ostensibly, the issue is extraterrestrial intelligence. Not whether it exists, but whether the aliens have come to Earth. This idea, often monikered as "the UFO hypothesis," is a belief that's neither fringe nor uncommon. A 2002 Roper poll found that nearly half of all Americans believe that alien craft have visited Earth, and an even larger percentage feel in their heart of hearts that the government is playing dumb about these cosmic callers.

But that's not what's causing the bile to marinate my gallbladder. Personally (and as regular readers know), I'm not convinced by the evidence presented so far that aliens are sharing our airspace. But the evidence for the UFO hypothesis isn't the point here. Rather, it's the lack of civilized discourse...

...So what's wrong here? Why is it that so many members of the UFO community feel that they need to be bullies? Yes, I'll freely admit that many scientists are dismissive of the UFO hypothesis — often to the point of ridicule. I can understand the frustration occasioned by that. "I don't get no respect" can be a legitimate plaint, and I'm sure that some UFO proponents feel that pain.

There's no doubt that those who have a deep-seated "extraterrestrials are here" belief can get pretty hot-headed about the topic. I do have to be a little dismissive of Shostak's claim that "I watched as folks who were there to describe their evidence for extraterrestrial visitation laid into the guests who were skeptical: Bill Nye (the Science Guy) and me". There was very little "laying in" - no doubt, there were some cheap shots at Bill Nye, although largely an understandable response when he was making patronising (and often plain idiotic) responses to pertinent remarks by military UFO witnesses. In fact, the recent Larry King Live features have shown quite conclusively that Bill Nye has barely read a thing about UFO history and investigations - so Seth Shostak's argument that "if the only way the investigator can convince others is by insisting that their audience shift careers and start doing their work, then something's gravely amiss" is a little disingenous...surely they can at least read a little of the documentation before playing skeptic? And I really didn't see too much "laying into" Shostak by guests on the show - in fact he gave as good as he got with his usual little jokey comments (I don't think he's being overly snide, Shostak naturally seems to communicate his ideas in this way - but one can understand how his 'opposition' might take it the wrong way). He has more right to be offended by the subsequent emails though.

On the other hand, it's about time that ufology was represented by someone other than Stanton Friedman. Don't get me wrong, he's done some wonderful investigations, and has been around for nearly the duration of the modern phenomenon - but he too is patronising, and a true believer in extraterrestrial contact. And if he says "I used to work on fusion propulsion systems, it's the energy in the sun" one more time, I think my head will explode.

Phil Plait was quick to welcome Shostak to the club, though in truth the simple matter is that "true believers" in any topic (including skepticism) can be nasty, pedantic and patronising. Yes, ET contact believers can be asses - but then so can skeptics (witness all the jokes in skeptical discussion forums after Rupert Sheldrake was stabbed earlier this year).

The key is to raise the level of discourse (e.g. Bad Astronomy could point out things like the recent Channel Islands report to show how ufology is being done by intelligent people, rather than focusing on the idiots out there, which anyone can do). Conversely, those interested in ufology need to accept that there are very good grounds to doubt a lot of sightings and cases, and not get worked up when someone challenges them about it.

By the way, I discussed the strange relationship between SETI and CSI(COP) way back in Issue 5 of Sub Rosa (free PDF download), which I've reposted today here on TDG for your convenience. It's an interesting topic itself...

Alien Worlds #4

Greg — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 03:29:31 +0000

Issue 4 of Alien Worlds magazine has been released, and as with the previous issues there's an excellent range of content devoted to off-worldly matters. In the latest issue, Stan Friedman tells why he hates SETI, there are interviews with Jon Ronson about goats and UFO hackers, and with Professor Guillermo Gonzalez about his part in the latest Intelligent Design controversy, and feature articles on LSD and UFOs, Crystal Skulls, and plenty more. Help support this new magazine project by Stuart Miller by becoming a subscriber - I can say from first-hand experience that it's a tough gig, and Stuart's doing a great job. I've also heard talk of an electronic edition, so stay tuned for news on that front.

Excellent 'Channel Islands UFO' Report

Greg — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 03:45:55 +0000

Last year we reported on the 'Channel Islands UFO sighting', which probably ranks up there with the O'Hare sighting as one of the more solid UFO reports in recent years (not least because of the sensible and detailed testimony of the pilot involved, Capt Ray Bowyer). Now, after some serious research, comes the comprehensive 181 page "Report on Aerial Phenomena Observed near the Channel Islands, UK, April 23 2007", by Jean-Francois Baure, David Clarke, Paul Fuller & Martin Shough (online PDF viewer - you can also download the standalone PDF file for offline viewing).

It's a wonderful piece of work - skepticism of the right kind, in-depth research, no sensationalism, and objective investigation concerning an anomalous event. Here's the summary of the report, the first few paragraphs detail the sighting and investigation, with the final two paragraphs offering some conclusions:

We describe simultaneous observations of UAPs in daylight by multiple observers (aircrew and passengers) on board two civil aircraft in widely separated locations. Recordings of ATC radar data, and of radio communications reporting events in real time to Air Traffic Control, are examined alongside CAA documents, witness interviews, and other sources. A detailed reconstruction of the sighting geometry is offered. We describe attempts to explain the phenomena with the help of expert advisers and professional resources in the fields of meteorology, atmospheric optics, geophysics and other fields.

It proved possible to eliminate a number of theories with a fairly high level of confidence, but we were unable to conclusively identify the UAPs observed. We found that two theories had some potential to explain at least a majority of the features observed and might be the basis of a future explanation. But we are sensible that a potential to explain is not an explanation.

These two theories involved atmospheric-optical phenomena (specular sun reflections on a haze layer capping a local temperature inversion) or geophysical phenomena (related to ‘earthquake lights’ or EQL). But each theory has some interesting problems. As we state in our Conclusions: ‘It may prove possible for other investigators to adapt these theories and so improve the fit with observation, or further work might thoroughly rule out one or both of them.’ A third candidate - a mock-mirage due a severe temperature inversion near the Breton coast - was kept out of contention by one apparently insurmountable problem.

We were able to show that widespread media stories describing enormous phenomena up to a mile wide and detected by radar were based on speculation and misunderstandings. Many news reports were grossly exaggerated and inaccurate. However as we further state:

"We are unable to explain the UAP sightings satisfactorily without either a) discounting at least some significant features of the reports, or b) doing violence to at least some conventional meteorological optics or conventional EQL phenomenology. We hope that readers of this report will find it helpful in deciding which (if either) of those courses of action seems the more reasonable and economical."

It's a long and detailed report, but I really recommend everyone read it if possible - it's not only a great example of how to investigate, it will also acquaint the reader with many of the details and possible explanations behind other UFO reports.

All the same, it is funny in some respects to watch Baure et al seemingly walk around the elephant in the room. In the list of possible explanations, you won't find "extraterrestrial spacecraft", "alien mothership" or similar. It might have been nice to mention, if only to say "there is no evidence to suggest this" (apart from a seemingly big object floating in the sky) - it may not be the respectable thing to say in a scientific paper, but it would at least address the question that is no doubt on a lot of reader's minds.

The New Mars Conspiracy

Greg — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 11:55:07 +0000

As Kat mentioned in today's news, there's much buzz about the blogosphere regarding an Aviation Week article which suggested that the White House may have been briefed on big news from Mars:

The White House has been alerted by NASA about plans to make an announcement soon on major new Phoenix lander discoveries concerning the "potential for life" on Mars, scientists tell Aviation Week & Space Technology.

Sources say the new data do not indicate the discovery of existing or past life on Mars. Rather the data relate to habitability--the "potential" for Mars to support life--at the Phoenix arctic landing site, sources say.

...the Jet Propulsion Laboratory science team for the MECA wet-chemistry instrument that made the findings was kept out of a July 31 news conference at the University of Arizona Phoenix control center. The goal was to prevent them from being asked any questions that could reveal information before NASA is ready to make an announcement, sources say.

...Phoenix scientists have said from the start that neither the TEGA organic chemistry lab nor the MECA wet chemistry system could detect current or past life. MECA's two microscopes do, however, have the resolution to detect bacteria--which would be life. Sources, however, say the microscopes have not detected bacteria.

However, Phoenix scientists have denied that a White House briefing has taken place (see this comprehensive story from Wired, and the Mars Phoenix Twitter posts where the denials came to light - very official way of doing it!). The whispers about the MECA team's discovery (or not!) are also being discussed on the boards at UnmannedSpaceflight.com. Will be interesting to see how this plays out.

'UFO Hacker' Loses Appeal

Greg — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 04:41:04 +0000

As Rick noted in yesterday's news, UK 'UFO Hacker' Gary McKinnon has lost his appeal against extradition to the U.S. McKinnon had previously admitted to unlawfully accessing 97 US military and Nasa computers, but was fighting the extradition attempt by U.S. prosecutors.

You can find the text of the judgement here - it outlines the reasoning behind the decision, as well as lays out a few of the facts of the case:

Using his home computer the appellant, through the internet, identified US Government network computers with an open Microsoft Windows connection and from those extracted the identities of certain administrative accounts and associated passwords. Having gained access to those accounts he installed unauthorised remote access and administrative software called “remotely anywhere” that enabled him to access and alter data upon the American computers at any time and without detection by virtue of the programme masquerading as a Windows operating system. Once “remotely anywhere” was installed, he then installed software facilitating both further compromises to the computers and also the concealment of his own activities. Using this software he was able to scan over 73,000 US Government computers for other computers and networks susceptible to similar compromise. He was thus able to lever himself from network to network and into a number of significant Government computers in different parts of the USA.

...The 97 computers the appellant accessed were: 53 army computers, including computers based in Virginia and Washington that control the army’s military district of Washington network and are used in furtherance of national defence and security; 26 navy computers, including US Naval Weapons Station Earle, New Jersey, which was responsible for replenishing munitions and supplies for the deployed Atlantic fleet; 16 NASA computers; one Department of Defense computer; and one US Air Force computer.

...Having gained access to these computers the appellant deleted data from them including critical operating system files from nine computers, the deletion of which shut down the entire US Army’s Military District of Washington network of over 2000 computers for 24 hours, significantly disrupting Governmental functions; 2,455 user accounts on a US Army computer that controlled access to an Army computer network, causing these computers to reboot and become inoperable; and logs from computers at US Naval Weapons Station Earle, one of which was used for monitoring the identity, location, physical condition, staffing and battle readiness of Navy ships, deletion of these files rendering the Base’s entire network of over 300 computers inoperable at a critical time immediately following 11 September 2001 and thereafter leaving the network vulnerable to other intruders.

The key element of the latest appeal was that the plea bargain offered by U.S. prosecutors was coercive. However, the judgement would seem to put paid to talk from McKinnon and his solicitors that he might be looking at 60 years in prison in the U.S. Instead, the judgement only says that if "the appellant chose not to cooperate, and were then extradited and convicted, he might expect to receive a sentence of 8-10 years, possibly longer, and would not be repatriated to the UK for any part of it." It might be pertinent to note though the phrase "possibly longer", and that this prison sentence had the possibility of being in a high security prison. There's also the question of whether coercion was implied in other statements not addressed by the court, such as the claims by McKinnon's solicitors that "New Jersey prosecutors expressed the intention to see Mr McKinnon 'fry'." I find it odd that this was not raised/discussed in the decision, considering the similarity of those alleged comments to the Canadian case cited as a possible precedent (you'll have to read the judgement for details).

Further, McKinnon's claims of being in over his head and not interested in vandalism - just in finding UFO evidence, and being on a "moral crusade" in searching for evidence of free energy technology - seem to be embroidering the truth a little. He allegedly left a message on one of the computers saying...

US foreign policy is akin to government-sponsored terrorism these days... It was not a mistake that there was a huge security stand down on September 11 last year... I am SOLO. I will continue to disrupt at the highest levels...

Threatening to "continue to disrupt" does not equate well with McKinnon's claims today "I maintained a quiet presence".

It seems like the no-brainer would have been to take the plea bargain and do the year in low-security in the U.S. However, (as shown in the judgement), there actually was no guarantee of a plea, with a proviso written in to the effect that the offered deal was "a prediction, not a promise, and is not binding on the United States, the probation office, or the Court.The United States makes no promise or representation concerning what sentence the defendant will receive, and the defendant cannot withdraw a guilty plea based upon the actual sentence." McKinnon said in the BBC interview that he did initially agree to the extradition, but pulled out (on the advice of a U.S. lawyer) when this caveat came to light.

I also personally take issue with the hyping of what McKinnon did. Firstly, the constant repetition that he "was able to scan over 73,000 US Government computers" means nothing. Anybody can do that, it's virtually just a matter of aiming the software and pulling the trigger. Any 'script kiddie' can do it (and they do regularly). Secondly, the fact that McKinnon was able to gain access to *open systems* on the DoD and U.S. military is appalling - in a way, they should be thankful that he showed them how screwed their security was, as there are a lot more nefarious hackers out there than Gary McKinnon, who actually work for other governments/intelligence agencies.

And quoting $700,000 damage means nothing until we know how much of that figure of "damage" actually includes fixing things that needed to be fixed anyhow (that is, systems that needed their security fixed).

If McKinnon does end up in a U.S. court, we may see the full story of this saga come out, though it may be in the U.S. military's best interest to avoid the court system (in the case that they have to present evidence), as happened in the Matthew Bevan case (notably though, Bevan was tried in the UK).

If this whole case wasn't surreal enough, Wired also reported on the case today via a vitriolic attack on McKinnon from journalist Kevin Poulsen. The story is full of glossing over of facts and sarcasm from Poulsen, although he does point out some of the weaker points of McKinnon's claims and defence. The strange part is, though, that Poulsen was once in McKinnon's shoes. Objective journalism, or professional jealousy/contempt?

Moonwalker's UFO Claim: Update

Greg — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 04:06:24 +0000

In the wake of last week's mega-(hyped)-story about Apollo astronaut Edgar Mitchell's claims of UFO contact, it was obvious the blogosphere would be on fire with this one. Here's some of the reactions and opinions: It was only a matter of time before the Bad Astronomer, Phil Plait, gave his opinion - quite fair and restrained from Mr BA, I was expecting worse considering his pretty poor generalisations about the UFO phenomenon in the past. Alan Boyle also gave a good run-down of the story at Cosmic Log. Roswell researcher Kevin Randle gave an insider's opinion on Mitchell's claims about Roswell, while Forgetomori posted an entry titled "Ed Mitchell and the Roswell Red Herring ". Also worth noting is that Discovery Space posted a follow-up interview with Dr Mitchell regarding his claims, and ABC News asks the question: Does space travel affect astronauts' minds? All in all though, has the UFO controversy moved forward at all since that time?

The Astronaut, the Aliens, and the Hype

Greg — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 13:56:10 +0000

Welp, Dr Edgar Mitchell, sixth man to walk on the Moon, has set tongues a'wagging all over the world with his revelations in a radio interview that Earth has been visited by aliens, and that the government has covered it up (not to mention, "I think we're heading for real disclosure"). Rick and RPJ covered it over the past couple of days, when it was an 'underground' thing, but now it's hit mainstream - check the frenzied press coverage via Google News.

For those who want to hear it for themselves, check out this UFO Blogger post, which has the relevant excerpt, as well as NASA's response ("Dr Mitchell is a great American, but we do not share his opinion on this issue.").

It should be an interesting story to follow. But let's clarify things. Dr Mitchell has been saying this for a long time. In fact, a similar story to this one broke ten years ago, when he made the same claims in another interview:

I am an American astronaut and a trained scientist. Because of my position people in high places confide in me. And, as a result, I have no doubt that aliens HAVE visited this planet.

...As a former astronaut, the military people who have access to these files are more willing to talk to me than to people they regard as mere cranks. The stories I have heard from these people, who are more highly qualified than me to talk about UFOs, leave me in no doubt that aliens have already visited Earth.

...So when I learned that aliens really do exist, I wasn't too surprised. But what did shock me when I started investigating extra-terrestrial reports a decade ago is the extent to which the proof has been hushed up.

...Make no mistake, Roswell happened. I've seen secret files which show the government knew about it - but decided not to tell the public.

Also, here's a video interview from this year's X-Conference in which he says much the same again. This story is old news, just with a fresh helping of hype. It makes for good copy though, that's for sure.

Skeptics will no doubt point out that Dr Mitchell has been involved in plenty of other 'fringe' science subjects, from remote viewing to alternative healing. We actually profiled Dr Mitchell, and the organisation he founded - the Institute of Noetic Sciences (IONS) - in Sub Rosa Issue 5 (free PDF download), so if you're looking for a good summary of the research he's been involved with, that's a good place to start.

Finally, for a little perspective, here's what Dr Mitchell wrote about UFOs (with a little SETI conspiracy thrown in for good measure) in his autobiography The Way of the Explorer (Amazon US and UK), originally published in 1996:

Claims and denials have continued unabated for decades. At the time of this book, however, there has yet been no hard, undeniable, physical evidence available in the public domain to substantiate such claims. But the circumstantial evidence has continued to mount as unusual sightings and bizarre events are reported and investigated by credentialed professionals. A significant number of persons, many quite elderly, formerly in military intelligence and government service, have privately dropped intriguing pieces of their stories on the ears of serious investigators, in hopes of getting the true story revealed, and in hopes of achieving amnesty from tough, punitive secrecy oaths they were forced to sign. In addition, certain documents from the presidencies of Harry Truman and Dwight Eisenhower have surfaced that add to the controversy about ET visitation and government cover-up. In this intriguing environment of claims, counterclaims, and denial, one might easily conjecture that even SETI, although it enjoys a certain scientific respectability today not in evidence when originally funded, was initially advanced as a smokescreen and diversion from the real activities taking place behind the scenes. Garnering funds and political support for an advanced science project is nearly impossible without strong concurrence in the scientific community, and there was no strong scientific support in the 1960s.

As always, we'll keep an eye on where this one heads.

Mythbusting the Moon Hoax

Greg — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 00:42:23 +0000

Skeptical stuntmen The Mythbusters will be taking on one of the grand-daddies of all myths in need of busting, the Apollo Moon Landing hoax theory, in a show set to air on Wednesday, August 27.

The Mythbusters take on one of their biggest, most controversial myths ever: Could the July 1969 moon landing have been an elaborate hoax? First, Adam and Jamie focus on photos, testing the theory that two of NASA’s most famous images were shot in a studio. Then, they investigate the myth that to get the classic "low lunar gravity look" the government shot the footage in a studio and then simply slowed it down. And Grant, Tory and Kari take on the claims that the footage of footprints and flags flapping in zero gravity had to be faked.

Now, I know it's hardly going to make a difference to the debate - The Mythbusters are self-professed skeptics, and so they'll have their take on it, and the hoax believers won't be drinking their skeptical Kool-Aid. But there are so many elements of basic stupidity* to the Moon Hoax, it just needs a good walloping by someone...so it may as well be The Mythbusters. Note that I'm not saying people shouldn't question things like this - and there are some superficially valid reasons why people would do so - just that we should be a bit sane about it all.

* Feeding my frustration is watching Richard Hoagland's book 'Dark Mission' sit comfortably within the Top 1000 on Amazon for the past 6 months, sitting at #1 most days on the list of 'UFO' related books. WTF?

Capturing UFOs

Greg — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 03:46:53 +0000

Forgetomori has an interesting feature on software that can be used with a video camera in order to capture 'UFOs' on film (well, not technically film, but you know what I mean). Now you can sleep at night, while your computer and camera capture fantastic sky sightings via...

...a fantastic piece of software that automates mostly everything: the UFOCaptureV2! It’s joined by the UFOAnalyzer and the UFOOrbit. The whole package automates the process of detecting unusual phenomena in the sky, and even attempts to automatically classify and analyze it.

Check the samples of videos captured by the software: meteors, birds et al and, what I was quite skeptical when I first saw it, even sprites, elves and jets! Of course, it wouldn’t be worth its name if it didn’t also capture UFOs.

As the Forgetomori story notes, there are a bunch other interesting software apps out there for the aspiring ufologist to use in his search into the unknown. Now we just need to set up a few of these motion-detecting set-ups on the Skinwalker ranch. And wait...