UFO photo proof?

Victorian tourist Adam Rewuk did not realise he captured the image of the flying saucer over Katherine Gorge until he looked back over his photos

THE accidental photograph on today’s front page of a UFO over a popular tourist destination occurred only hours before a bright light buzzed the crowd at the Katherine Show.

NICK CALACOURAS – Victorian tourist Adam Rewuk did not realise he captured the image of the flying saucer over Katherine Gorge until he looked back over his photos after the trip.

“My Dad used to be a big UFO believer, so when I saw the picture, I thought of him,” he said.

“I took the photo around lunch time, but I saw nothing in the sky. I didn’t realise it was there until I saw the photo.”

Mr Rewuk said the image was definitely not that of a plane or a mark on the lens of the camera.

“If I zoom in on the picture, it almost looks like a diamond shape with a bubble on the bottom,” he said.

Mr Rewuk said the photo was taken only a few hours before a UFO was spotted at the nearby town show.

The NT News reported on July 17 that a bright light had travelled slowly across the sky about 6.20pm.

The UFO spooked hundreds of people at the showgrounds as the sun was starting to go down.

Mel Auty, from Camira, Queensland, said the UFO looked at first like a plane.

“But it was more like a falling star, just not falling. “And it wasn’t dark enough for stars to be out.

“It was going across the sky for maybe five seconds, before it disappeared.”

Vicki Mulholland, of Borroloola, said she was watching the last campdraft events at the show when something caught her eye.

“I looked up and something went across the sky,” she said. “It kept going and going and suddenly it was gone just as if someone had switched if off.”

via UFO photo proof? | Northern Territory News | Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia | ntnews.com.au.

Looks like one of these:

Take a look at a tweaked version of the photo, however.   In the original, the sky is white and this hides the edge of the photo. The top line being perfectly flat is what makes this look like a triangle UFO.

If you figure out where the top of the photo is cut off by darkening the sky in Photoshop as I’ve done here, you can see that this is probably just a stick or leaf hanging down in front of the photographer. The flat edge of the object is an illusion created by where the photo got cut off.

Did Japan Space Probe Bring Back Extraterrestrial Life?

Lee Speigel

… Scientists reportedly found small, odd particles inside Japan’s Hayabusa spacecraft, which returned to Earth in June after a seven-year, 3-billion-mile journey that took it to an asteroid and back.

Hayabusa left Earth in 2003, destined to become the first spacecraft to land on an asteroid, one of the many small, rocky objects found in space generally between the planets Mars and Jupiter.

After a more than two-year voyage, Hayabusa spent 30 minutes on the surface of an asteroid — dubbed Itokawa — and collected small samples of asteroid dust.

Recent electron microscope analysis detected some particles that display different characteristics from the dust already picked up by the spacecraft.

Hayabusa’s mission was to get enough asteroid samples to help scientists learn more about the origins of our solar system. NASA researchers are helping JAXA in the examination of the spacecraft’s powder payload.

Whether the asteroid dust contains an unknown extraterrestrial life form may not be known for some time, as the analysis of the material will continue for several months. …

via Did Japan Space Probe Bring Back Extraterrestrial Life?.

What SETI will do when they find ET

That will be one great press conference.

Healers ‘nab’ 12 more djinns

Muhammad Ishak – Three healers from Terengganu Islamic Foundation (YIT) claim they captured 12 more djinns from the house of Siti Balqis Mohd Nor after she disappeared again on Saturday night.

Her family thought her ordeal was over when two bomoh captured nine djinns on Friday and put them in sealed containers.

Yesterday, however, the 22-year-old, who is the eldest of four children, claimed she was whisked away to a cave about 15km from her home in Kampung Gong Nangka here.

She mysteriously disappeared at 7.30pm, minutes before state religious and information committee chairman Khazan Che Mat, YIT director Kamarul Al Amin Ismail and YIT officials arrived at her home with the healers.

Hundreds of residents searched around the house and at locations that she had been found in previous disappearances but this proved futile.

At 11.30pm, her mother Norizan Said, 47, received an SMS from Siti Balqis, saying that she had been taken to a cave in Bukit Keluang.

Jabi assemblyman Ramlan Ali headed a rescue team to Bukit Keluang but they only found seven men and two women who were meditating (bertapa) inside the cave.

Two hours later, Siti Balqis sent another SMS, saying she had been whisked home but had landed on a rambutan tree.

Siti Balqis was pale and unconscious when rescuers brought her down from the rambutan tree.

The three Islamic medical practitioners said they captured 12 djinns after treating her. …

via Healers ‘nab’ 12 more djinns.

They captured 12 what?

Genie (Arabic:jinnī; variant spelling djinni) or jinn is a supernatural creature in Arab folklore and Islamic teachings which occupies a parallel world to that of mankind. Together, jinn, humans and angels make up the three sentient creations of Allah. According to the Qur’ān, there are two creations that have free will: humans and jinn. Religious sources say little about them; however, the Qur’an mentions that Jinn are made of smokeless flame or “the fire of a scorching wind”. They have the ability to change their shape. Like human beings, the jinn can also be good, evil, or neutrally benevolent.

The Jinn are mentioned frequently in the Qur’an, and there is a surah entitled Sūrat al-Jinn in the Quran. Islamic scholars have ruled that it is apostasy to disbelieve in one of Allah’s creations. Some research by the American Jewish Committee has shown that the belief in jinn has fallen compared to the belief in angels in other Abrahamic traditions.

- wiki

Oh, Genie’s. Sure. I caught one last week coming out of my pizza.

Retiree Pays for Halloween Decoration, Takes Home Real Skeleton

Lloyd Sowers – A Florida man who paid $8 for a fake skeleton at a yard sale got a whole lot more than he bargained for.

When Mitchell Fletcher took the Halloween decoration home, he and his wife, Judith, discovered that the skeleton was real.

“I got looking at it and thought, gosh, this is the real thing,” Judith Fletcher told a local Fox affiliate. The Fletchers turned the skeleton over to the police, who determined that it was genuine. The bones are a professionally prepared human anatomical skeleton, as used by medical students.

Police say that it’s worth more than $3,000. It’s illegal for individuals to own skeletons, so the Fletchers won’t get to cash in on their purchase.

“If I see any more, I’ll report them to the sheriff’s office,” Mitchell Fletcher said. “But I don’t want them.”

via Retiree Pays for Halloween Decoration, Takes Home Real Skeleton.

Armless pianist plays with toes to win “China’s Got Talent”

Belinda Goldsmith – An armless pianist who plays with his toes has won the first series of China’s version of the internationally popular television talent show, “China’s Got Talent.”

Liu Wei, 23, who lost both his arms aged 10 when he was electrocuted during a game of hide-and-seek, defeated 7-year-old standup comedian Zhang Fengxi at the final on Sunday at the Shanghai Stadium, the Shanghai Daily reported.

The pianist, from Beijing, who taught himself to play the piano at age 18, impressed the audience with his performance of “You’re Beautiful,” singing and using his feet to play the piano.

He also reported won over the judges by commenting: “At least I have a pair of perfect legs.”

Cai Xiuqing, 23, a college student from Shantou in Guangdong province, won third place for singing “Boundless Oceans Vast Skies,” a hit for Hong Kong rock back Beyond.

At the award ceremony, Liu was invited by Taiwan singer Jolin Tsai to be a guest performer on her world tour which gives him the chance to perform in Las Vegas for three months. …

via Armless pianist plays with toes to win “China’s Got Talent” – Yahoo! News.

Unicorn Sighting Reported In Don Valley

Amateur video depicting what could be one of the most elusive legendary creatures, the unicorn, has been captured on film by a Toronto resident. The video in question, shot by a local birdwatcher, Peter Hickey-Jones, shows what appears to be a white horse with a single horn on its head emerging from the trees in the Don Valley wetland.

Hickey-Jones brought the footage to the Ontario Science Centre to be analyzed by experts. The Science Centre is reviewing the footage frame-by-frame to determine whether Hickey-Jones’ claim is legitimate. With closer examination, Science Centre staff is hoping to establish whether or not a genuine unicorn sighting has occurred.

In the meantime, the Science Centre is asking the public to use caution if they think they see a unicorn. Do not make any sudden movements or attempt to use flash photography. Although legends of unicorns state that they are peaceful creatures, scientists worry that they may harm themselves or others if they end up on a road or highway.

…

“I was trying to film a pileated woodpecker when I saw what looked like a bright white horse in the distance. When I got a little closer, I noticed the horn on its head. I’m not one to jump to conclusions but I’m certain beyond the shadow of a doubt that what I saw was a unicorn. I’m just glad I got it on film.”

Hickey-Jones, eyewitness

via “Rumoured Unicorn Sighting Reported In Don Valley” on SMR.

Naw, it’s a hoax. Notice at the end the legs don’t move and it seems like it is on wheels. Also the horn doesn’t quite move right with the head. Computer graphics, I’d say.

Probably done to promote a Science exhibition on Mythical Creatures or something.

Bisbee field of human bones not illegal, say police

Steve Nuñez – It’s a chilling discovery: piles of human bones dumped into open pits at a Bisbee cemetery. At first glance, a casual observer might think: this can’t possibly be legal.

Not so, says the Bisbee Police Department.

The place: Bisbee’s Memory Gardens Cemetery. Last week a couple looking for a relative’s grave discovered that the headstone had been moved to an area behind some brush.

Bisbee police officer Chris Long told KGUN9 News, that’s when the couple made a startling, stomach-churning discovery: an area pocketed with piles of dry human bones mixed with ashes. Most of the bones had been dumped in two open pits.

Officer Long says the cemetery’s owner, Paul Parker, came forward to take responsibility for dumping the partially cremated body parts.

Parker told police it’s something he’s been doing for years now – to save money.

But according to Long, it’s not illegal, and the owner cannot face criminal charges. “We looked into the avenues of any crime here,” Long said. “We don’t find anything criminally wrong with what he’s doing.”

Long admitted that he found that news surprising. “It’s one of those things you hear about but don’t think you’re ever going to see.”

It’s hard not to find the sight disturbing. Long told Nuñez that it certainly has that effect on him. “It’s one of those things you catch yourself staring at. You can’t really explain it but you keep staring at it in disbelief.”

via Bisbee field of human bones not illegal, say police – KGUN9 On Your Side, Tucson News, Weather & Sports.

Water evidence in Mars megacanyon

Cian O’Luanaigh- Melas Chasma, a huge canyon forming part of the 4000 km Valles Marineris rift valley on Mars, plunges 9 km below the surrounding plains in this image, which was taken by the High Resolution Stereo Camera on the European Space Agency’s Mars Express orbiter, making it one of the deepest depressions on the planet.

Released today by the German Aerospace Centre, the image also shows evidence that water once flowed and lakes once stood on the Martian surface. White lines are channels cut by water and lighter-coloured regions indicate deposits of sulphate components. Rock formations display evidence of flow textures, indicating that they were once deposited by liquid water, water ice or mud.

via Short Sharp Science: Evidence of water in megacanyon on Mars.

Microsoft Readies New Phone Launch With AT&T

Bill Rigby – Microsoft Corp is set to unveil a new line of phones running its Windows software on Monday, as it attempts to pull back market share from Apple Inc’s iPhone and Google Inc’s Android system in the fast-growing market for multi-featured ‘smartphones’.

The world’s largest software company is hoping that the new phones, from handset makers such as Samsung, LG and HTC, will propel it back into the mobile market, which many see as the key to the future of computing.

The new phones, initially available on AT&T Inc’s network, have already been shown off in prototype form, and are much closer in look and feel to Apple’s iPhone, with colorful touch-screens and ’tiles’ for easy access to e-mail, the web, music and other applications.

Some analysts say they represent Microsoft’s last chance to catch up with rivals, which overtook them in the past few years. Handsets are not expected to appear in stores for a month, so their success may not be judged until the new year. …

via Microsoft Readies New Phone Launch With AT&T – ABC News.

Microsoft are to launch Windows Phone 7 (WP7) handsets into Europe first, with a launch in October, followed by a launch in the US in November.

The COO of Microsoft, Kevin Turner,  let slip the launch date of WP7 at a recent conference where he hosted a presentation snappily titled “Windows Phone 7 – Getting back in the game!”

via bmob.co.uk