Howdy TWiUPians. It’s Thursday and that means we’re doing another full edition of the Week in UFO Phenomenon.
This week was full of good news not the least of which was the announcement above. In April S.E.T.I. the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence had to shutter its’ large Allen Telescope Array due to a lack of funding. This is a series of 42 six meter radio telescope dishes located at the Hat Creek Radio Observatory in Northern California.
The array had been originally funded by Microsoft’s Paul Allen, and was the first to be funded and constructed almost solely for the search for extra terrestrial life.
"Its main advantage is that we can use it 24/7," said SETI senior astronomer Seth Shostak. "In principle it's always available to us. When you're using someone else's antenna you get a certain amount of time on the instrument. That makes for very inefficient observing. I liken it to borrowing a microscope to do cancer research."
The instrument became operational in 2007, but SETI was forced to shut it down in April 2011 for lack of funds. Now, by raising donations through its online SETIStars program, the institute has enough money to get the array up and running again within a couple months.
Space.com delivers the good news
Now who do we have to thank for this? Well we have to thank you and me and all the little people, but it looks like actress Jodie Foster was integral in raising the lousy 200 grand needed to continue the survey.
The institute reached its goal last week of raising $200,000 to operate the telescope through the end of this year. The funds came from over 2,000 private donors, including the actress Jodie Foster, who played fictional SETI scientist Ellie Arroway in the 1997 movie "Contact."
Other contributors to the SETIStars fund include science fiction writer Larry Niven and Apollo 8 astronaut Bill Anders, who wrote: "It is absolutely irresponsible of the human race not to be searching for evidence of extraterrestrial intelligence."
Space.com delivers the good news
Way to go Ms. Foster, and to Larry Niven thanks to you maybe we’ll see the Kzinti incoming (for all those who don’t know what a Kzinti is)
So cool to have S.E.T.I. back with the recent discovery of Goldilocks planets and the anamoly above things were just becoming interesting.
Happy 100th Birthday Lucy!
August 6th would have been Lucille Ball’s 100th birthday and in honor of the redhead I’m going to retell a story she related about Ronald Reagan and UFO’s.
Reagan was missing when the party began and the party was held up until he and Nancy arrived nearly an hour late. According to both Allen’s and Ball’s version of events Reagan was very excited. He described the fact that he and Nancy had seen a UFO while coming down the coast highway to Los Angeles and stopped to watch the event. Some unconfirmed stories of the event stated that the object actually landed. Lucy in her account of the event stated, “After he elected President, I kept thinking about that event, and wondered if he still would have won if he told everyone that he saw a flying saucer.”
The other Reagan sighting occurred in 1974 just before Reagan ended his second term as governor. The story was told by Air Force Colonel Bill Paynter who became the pilot of Reagan’s Cessna Citation jet plane following his retirement from the Air Force.
It a story Ronald Reagan told to Norman Miller, Washington Bureau Chief for the Wall Street Journal, the governor’s plane was making an approach to land in Bakersfield California. It was during the descent that Reagan noticed a strange light behind the plane. "We followed it for several minutes, Reagan told Miler. “ It was a bright white light. We followed it to Bakersfield and all of a sudden to our utter amazement it went straight up into the heavens."
Paynter, the pilot stated, “"it appeared to be several hundred yards away" and it was "a fairly steady light until it begun to accelerate. Then it appeared to elongate. Then the light took off. It went up a 45 degrees angle at a high rate of speed. Everyone on the plane was surprised."
Link
Back in May I wrote about UFOlogies own Bradley Manning Scotsman Gary McKinnon. At the time it appeared the Obama Administration was going to go hard at extraditing him despite medical conditions and the fact what he did was not against English law. I’m happy to report I’ve seen evidence that the hard hand of American justice may just be stayed.
It appears that Scottish UFO hacker Gary McKinnon may have regained some hope in his fight to avoid extradition to the United States. During a joint press conference today with Britain’s prime minister David Cameron and U.S. president Barack Obama, ITV News Political Editor Tom Bradby asked the President and the Prime Minister about the McKinnon case. According to ITV News, the President responded that the issue is “in the hands of the British legal system.”
In response to this news, Janis Sharp, McKinnon’s mother, posted the following message to her Twitter account: “Obama said on TV with Cameron, Happy to let UK make extradition decision and U.S will abide by it. #FreeGary.
Open Minds link about Gary
Two Roads!
If TWiUP has a blog father around here it was definitely Two Roads. He blazed the trail of UFO discussion on the DK as far as I know, and although I was coming when he was going I’ve enjoyed all of his work. He has a new site up and last night he kind of peeked his head in here to tell everyone. Saturday Night UFOria! is the site, and for those unfamiliar with the work of Two Roads, man are you in for a treat! Now if we could just get him to join our band on Kos again! (Unashamed begging)
The Week in YouTubes
The Week in Crop Circles
Namaste friends! We’ll see you again on Sunday with another documentary/movie presentation, and until then keep looking up, especially these next few days. We have the yearly Perseid meteor shower. Best time to look is before dawn.