UFO Examiner: Sphere Of Light Approaches Pennsylvania Motorists

A couple driving along Route 982 near the Pennsylvania Turnpike watched as a bright ball of light hovering at ground level moved toward them and passed them within five to six feet of their vehicle. The October sighting was described as about 10 to 12 feet in diameter, silent, and was traveling in a straight line. This report, and several other, similar sightings of a ball of light moving near ground level, were also reported to Ufologist Stan Gordon.

Stan Gordon’s complete report follows.

A professional couple decided to take the evening off and attend an event in Mount Pleasant Township in Westmoreland County on the evening of October 31, 2008. The man and his wife had just finished dinner, had driven down Three Mile Hill on Route 31, and had turned onto Route 982. They went a distance and were just going onto the bridge, which passes over the Pennsylvania Turnpike. It was about 8 p.m., and the sky was clear, when a bright white ball of light suddenly appeared just ahead of them.

The sphere, which was estimated to be about 10-12 feet in diameter, was not moving very quickly, but was heading in their direction straight down the road toward their vehicle. The round object was in the passing lane, and was said to be several feet off the ground. The object passed within 5 to 6 feet of the vehicle. The wife stated that it was so close “it gave you the feeling that you could probably have touched it.”

The white sphere moved low to the ground in the opposing traffic lane. The couple both turned their heads and watched as the object passed the driver’s window and continued moving in a straight line. The object was silent. There were no other cars on the road at the time. The couple estimated that they were traveling between 30-40 miles per hour at the time of the encounter. They describe themselves as being speechless after this incident, and were trying to make sense of what had occurred.

They were unaware that others had also reported strange objects in the sky that same evening. At about 7:10 p.m., a witness called to report a large ball of orange light moving from the NE toward the South in the White Oak area in Allegheny County. There were apparently some other similar reports in that area the same evening.

via UFO Examiner: Sphere Of Light Approaches Pennsylvania Motorists.

Pretty freaky if the story is true.  I think it would be possible to create a 10 to 12 foot flying glowing sphere using current remote controlled model airplane motors, LED lights, and a thin plastic shell with small holes to vent the air from the propellors… possibly a few helium bladders for boyancy … but anything that would pass close to 6 feet from a car moving in the opposite direction at 30 MPH would be blown around. Also, someone would have to have a very good line of sight location to control it to avoid hitting the car. Very strange. Nothing personal against Stan Gordon, but with no names of witnesses included, the simplest explanation is that the story is a fake. Note that this happened on Halloween night, which increases the odds of it being a human hoax.  Finally, Stan’s UFO sightings from 2008 don’t show this story.

Large Hadron Collider to restart

The LHC stopped working on September 19 last year due to a faulty electrical connection. According to the BBC, the European Organisation for Nuclear Research (Cern) decided on Monday that it could be switched back on next September, several months later than expected. Cern drew up a proposed schedule for the machine’s future on Friday which has now been given the go-ahead, the broadcaster said. It detailed new early warning systems in case the machine stops functioning properly again. The LHC was built underground between France and Switzerland and is designed to make beams of sub-atomic particles collide. Scientists will examine the new particles created by these collisions and it is hoped the results will expand understanding of the universe. Since the machine broke down, three suspect electrical connections were found and 53 magnets will be replaced. Another 100 cannot be tested until September and could also need replacing, Cern said.

The group’s Director for Accelerators Steve Myers said: “Cern’s priority for 2009 is to get collision data for the experiments, but with caution as the guiding principle.” If re-started on schedule, the LHC could continue running until autumn 2010 to provide enough data for planned experiments, Cern said.

via Large Hadron Collider to restart – Telegraph.

Probably best not to mention 2010 in an article about something some people believe will destory the Earth. Gizmodo has the reassurance you seek:

Contrary to the somewhat feverish claims laid out in an recent lawsuit, when our favorite particle-smashing, Force-finding Large Hadron Collider is switched on soon it will not result in the destruction of life as we know it. Such claims are “complete nonsense” say the scientists at CERN (and everywhere else,) in response to the suit. They should know: it’s their machine, they designed it and they’ve been telling everyone for a while that their research shows it’s safe.

The lawsuit filed by a group of Hawaii residents is alleging that not enough safety checks have been made by CERN to prevent disaster when the LHC goes live in the coming weeks. It may “create unsafe conditions of physics” which may have disastrous effects. How? Well, you may imagine a micro black hole gobbling up everything unstoppably, while a strangelet (a hypothetical clump of particles including strange quarks) may run amok converting all nearby matter into strange matter, also wrecking the Earth.

James Gillies, a CERN spokesman, suggests this is rubbish in this response to the New Scientist: “The LHC will start up this year, and it will produce all sorts of exciting new physics and knowledge about the universe.” It’s no threat at all, he says: “A year from now, the world will still be here.” The LHC is actually designed to probe the boundaries of physics, and while a 2003 safety study did conceed that micro black holes or magnetic monopoles may be formed, they would be short-lived and offer no threat. – gizmodo

Mummies found in newly discovered tomb in Egypt

A storeroom housing about two dozen ancient Egyptian mummies has been unearthed inside a 2,600-year-old tomb during the latest round of excavations at the vast necropolis of Saqqara south of Cairo, archaeologists said Monday.

The tomb was located at the bottom of a 36-foot deep shaft, said Egypt’s top archaeologist, Zahi Hawass. Twenty-two mummies were found in niches along the tomb’s walls, he said.

Eight sarcophagi were also found in the tomb. Archaeologists so far have opened only one of the sarcophagi — and found a mummy inside of it, said Hawass’ assistant Abdel Hakim Karar. Mummies are believed to be inside the other seven, he said.

The “storeroom for mummies” dates back to 640 B.C. during the 26th Dynasty, which was Egypt’s last independent kingdom before it was overthrown by a succession of foreign conquerors beginning with the Persians, Hawass said. But the tomb was discovered at an even older site in Saqqara that dates back to the 4,300-year-old 6th Dynasty, he said.

Most of the mummies are poorly preserved, and archeologists have yet to determine their identities or why so many were put in one room.

The name Badi N Huri was engraved into the opened sarcophagus, but the wooden coffin did not bear a title for the mummy.

“This one might have been an important figure, but I can’t tell because there was no title,” Karar said.

Karar also said it was unusual for mummies of this late period to be stored in rocky niches.

“Niches were known in the very early dynasties, so to find one for the 26th Dynasty is something rare,” he said. Excavations have been ongoing at Saqqara for 150 years, uncovering a necropolis of pyramids and tombs dating mostly from the Old Kingdom but also tombs from as recent as the Roman era….

via Mummies found in newly discovered tomb in Egypt – Yahoo! News.

It’s a test…

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