AOP Face Book page has had more items posted.

AOP Face Book page has had  more items posted.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/467983846696626/

Well, They WOULD say that...wouldn't they? Update

Just a note: it appears all the paranoia and conspiracy theory nuts have been spreading silly tales.  The FBI did NOT order staff out.  There was a lot of attention paid to equipment and the scare talk of six observatories closing down is just that.  They are all still open and some have public events.  The data streams of these observatories was cut.  That suggests espionage is involved and the finger is pointing at Chiona (but let's not rule out other countries yet).

So why IS the observatory closed? Sunspot says mercury spill isn't behind mysterious evacuation and insists they have NOT made contact with aliens, despite claims of UFO sightings

CHEYENNE MACDONALD FOR DAILYMAIL.COM

After days of radio silence from officials in charge of the shutdown at a solar observatory in Sunspot New Mexico, the public has been left to come up with its own explanations for what might be going on.

Operations at the National Solar Observatory have been suspended since September 6, when it was abruptly evacuated and closed down until further notice.

Theories have varied from the mundane to the extraordinary, with some even suggesting aliens could be at the root of it all.

Among the more down to Earth suggestions, some people have proposed that the facility may have suffered a leak at its Richard B. Dunn Solar Telescope, which relies on a mercury float bearing.

But, the team that operates the telescope has since confirmed that there has not been a mercury incident.

The scientists also insist the mysterious shutdown is not the result of an extraterrestrial encounter, as alien conspiracies continue to build.

Scroll down for video  

+4

Operations at the National Solar Observatory have been suspended since Sept 6, when it was abruptly evacuated and closed down until further notice. Theories have varied from the mundane to the extraordinary, with some even suggesting aliens could be at the root of it all

The National Solar Observatory in Sunspot has been closed since last Thursday, along with the nearby post office and roughly a dozen residents, but officials remain tight-lipped as to what’s going on.

The secrecy persists even as local media report the FBI has showed up to the site, and Blackhawk helicopters have been seen circling overhead. 

There's been little insight as to what the 'security issue' may be, but now, we know two things it definitely is not – aliens or toxic mercury.

‘There’s no mercury incident,’ Sunspot Solar Observatory Director R.T. James McAteer told the Alamogordo Daily News this week. 

‘That’s a completely different set of protocols that would not have involved them locking all the doors.

‘We have a very regular maintenance routine. There is no cause for concern there.’

The director also briefly addressed the more outrageous claims, telling a local news station flat-out that the 'telescope did not see aliens.'

According to McAteer, the truth will soon come out.

'All data will be made public in its unaltered form,' McAteer told KOB 4. 'Nothing is hidden or kept secret.'

Still, the ongoing silence has done nothing but stoke suspicions that something otherworldly is up at the observatory, and claims of alien activity and UFO sightings are spreading like wildfire across the internet. 

+4

Some people have proposed that the facility suffered a leak at its Richard B. Dunn Solar Telescope, which relies on a mercury float 

The observatory finally issued a statement on its website and across social media this Thursday, but it's done little to quell the excitement, offering no explanation on why the facility was shut down. 

The Sunspot Solar Observatory tweeted a link to its statement on Sept 13, exactly a week after the initial shutdown.

‘On Thursday September 6th, AURA made the decision to temporarily close Sunspot,’ the observatory said in a statement shared on social media.

‘The Sunspot Solar Observatory continues to work closely with AURA in order to allow for us to reopen as soon as possible.

‘With the excitement this closure has generated, we hope you will come and visit us when we do reopen, and see for yourself the services we provide for science and public outreach in heliophysics.’

Though several days have passed since the evacuation, no details have been released.

The facility is managed by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA), and has been vacant since September 6.

Last week, a spokesperson for AURA told the Alamogordo Daily News that they evacuated as a ‘precautionary measure.’ 

Otero County Sheriff Benny House revealed that even local law enforcement has been kept in the dark, despite being told to stand by.

‘The FBI is refusing to tell us what’s going on,’ House told Alamogordo Daily News.

+4

The observatory has finally issued a statement on its website and across social media, but it's done little to quell the excitement, offering no explanation on why the facility was shut down

+4

The mysterious activity sparked conspiracy theories across the internet, especially given its alignment with with this week's solar storm. A geomagnetic storm sent particles streaming toward Earth's atmosphere Sept 11

‘We’ve got people up there that requested us to standby while they evacuate it. Nobody would really elaborate on any of the circumstances as to why.

‘The FBI were up there. What their purpose was nobody will say. But for the FBI to get involved that quick and be so secretive about it, there was a lot of stuff going on up there.

‘There was a Blackhawk helicopter, a bunch of people around antennas and work crews on towers but nobody would tell us anything.’

As of September 11, officials confirmed the facilities were still closed, and would not be reopened until they were given the green light.

‘We were told on September 6th that we would be evacuated along with the surrounding area, we were not told why,’ USPS spokesperson Rod Sturgeon told ABC 7 KVIA.

Killer whale declared dead

Very sad news.
Josh Gabbatiss,The Independent

Killer whale declared dead was from population 'marching towards extinction'

Authorities are still searching for a sick young orca in the Pacific Northwest, but a scientist tracking the animal has declared the whale dead.

The killer whale belongs to group that has been blighted by pollution, boat traffic disturbances and, worst of all, a lack of the salmon they rely on for food.

Dr Ken Balcomb, of the Centre for Whale Research, said: “We’re watching a population marching toward extinction.

“Unless we do something about salmon recovery, we’re just not going to have these whales in the future.”

The news means there are only 74 whales remaining in the group, which has failed to produce any offspring in the past three years.

Dams, habitat loss and fishing have all contributed to the decline in salmon populations, which has had a disastrous knock-on effect for the whales.

The orcas are in such bad shape that experts prepared last-ditch efforts to save the emaciated three-year-old known as J50.

A veterinarian fired an antibiotic-filled dart into her, crews dropped live salmon in front of her to try to get her to eat, and scientists even mulled capturing her so they could diagnose and treat her.

Despite their efforts, J50 has not been seen since last Friday.

As teams scrambled to find her on Thursday, she failed to appear with her group once again, despite favourable sighting conditions. Dr Balcomb, who tracks the whales for the US government, declared her dead late on Thursday afternoon.

Michael Milstein, a spokesman for NOAA Fisheries, said the agency gives great weight to Dr Balcomb’s assessment of the whales, given his long experience monitoring them. But, he said the US and Canadian governments plan to continue searching Friday on the chance she is still alive.

“We want to make the most of it to make sure that if J50 is there, we haven’t missed her,” Mr Milstein said.

“We haven’t given up hope.”

Crews in a US Coast Guard helicopter, 10 vessels, whale watch crews and other resources on both sides of the border were involved in the search. Authorities also alerted a network of people who respond when marine mammals wash ashore.

Whale experts feared the orca was dead earlier this month when J50 lagged behind her family and went missing. But she later turned up and was seen with her family.

Orcas have been struggling in recent years, and experts reckon their numbers are now at their lowest in more than three decades.

A recent victory for the whales came when the approval of the controversial Trans Mountain pipeline expansion in Canada ground to a halt after a federal court ruled the marine predators had not been properly considered.

A whales from the same group as J50, known as J35, made international headlines in August when she carried the corpse of her dead calf with her for over two weeks.

Additional reporting by AP

Pre-1980s Close Encounters of the Third Kind

I am very interested in hearing from people who have information on any Close Encounters of the Third Kind that might not have been previously reported.  That is a  case in which a UFO was seen in conjunction with a entity.

I am also interested in in incidents in which no UFO but only an entity was observed.

Whether a UFO investigator or the actual witness/percipient I'd be interested in hearing from you.

Although interested in UK reports I would also be interested in reports from outside the UK.

I will not accept anonymous emails and those will be marked as spam if received.  I treat every piece of correspondence as confidential and in the last 40 plus years that confidentiality has never been breached. It is important to stress that to any potential witnesses -no names are published anywhere.

It is that simple.  Just get in touch and we can take it from there.

When contacting me please mark your email "AOP C" so I know what it is about.
aopbureau@yahoo.co.uk

Thank You

Book Discounts !

NOTE: a technical problem has meant I cannot go to the higher originaal price.  Not sure when things will be sorted so best to take advantage.

A 15% discount has been set on prose books on the online store and will remain active until 15th October.

the Hooper interviews is excluded as it is currently set at a very low price.

http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/hoopercomicsuk

An Old Bearded Man Has A Few Words

It is quite true that I have been very -very- critical of ufologists and their actions not to mention total lack of real credible investigation and research and that is not going to change because ufology needs to get its house in order or just admit that it is there for blowhards and slick conmen -or the fan club appeal and not serious work.

Organised -I use the term loosely- interest in civilian investigation of flying saucers did not begin until after 1947; the British Flying Saucer Club (UK) 1952 and British Flying Saucer Bureau set up in 1953 as part of Albert K. Bender's International Flying Saucer Bureau.  Graham F. N. Knewstub who had founded the BFSC produced the first flying saucer technical report in 1955.  Arthur Constance, author and friend of the BFSB as well as writer of a column in Flying Saucer Review (FSR) looked into a number of cases including The Flying "Thing" of 24th March, 1955.

I need to point out that I do not particularly give a minute damn about what any particular historian on the subject may say: according to the late Air Vice Marshal Sir Victor Goddard a copy of Constance's report on that event was seen by officials at the British Air Ministry.

That seemed to be it because it was far more popular to then start shouting "Flying saucer cover-up!" as it sold books and magazines and helped increase club membership.

The London UFO Research Organisation in 1959 went on to become what was then named the British UFO Research Association and the BFSB provided BUFORA's first president in Graham F. N. Knewstub an-electrical engineer and research scientist in the aviation industry who had an interesting military career in World War 2.

Sadly, things seemed to settle into more sensationalism with Flying Saucer Review which over the decades added a mix of fake reports and partially reported UFO events.  Before you say anything: that is 100 % proven.

BUFORA seemed to be trying to be more scientific and this had limited success.

I need to make it very clear that I know there were very credible investigators and researchers out there but the majority conducted "investigation by newspaper clippings" -a practice that still continues along with the excuse "You do not have to talk to witnesses if you have all the printed material!"  I am not joking.

In my research I have found this to be true in France -where the practice of official investigation of UFO reports was the single saving grace of the 1950s-1970s.  In France and Italy it was common practice for ufologists (as in the UK) to base everything on newspaper clippings and it is almost unbelievably funny to read accounts from ufologists who, 20+ years after a case decided to investigate it and had the audacity to criticise journalists and newspapers for not carrying out thorough investigations and reporting accurately.

My main concern, at this moment, is in British ufology. After the mid-1970's some very dubious people got involved in the subject and some of those actually created the fake/bogey-men group Aerial Phenomena Enquiry Network (APEN).  We then had ufologists, some openly known to be doing so, producing fake reports and data.

I suggest that anyone interested visit this page:
http://www.checktheevidence.com/wordpress/2007/11/13/the-usual-suspects-anatomy-of-a-disinformation-campaign-in-ufology/

I have dealt with these people and I am hoping that I have made it very clear just how they will be treated as well as exposed if they begin any more shenanigans with me. I treat threats VERY personally.

We are in the position in the UK -I say "we" though I do not consider myself a ufologist but an independent scientific researcher/naturalist- that every reported UFO incident of note since 1976 is suspect.  Unless there are proven witnesses/percipients and material to back up any claims then anything and everything should be considered highly suspect.

The way ahead is for the really serious researchers with the real knowledge on the subject to start producing reports for peer review.  I doubt that this will happen because there exists the culture of "it's mine!" in ufology.

Serious research and investigation across all fields is a mess: I have posts and articles by British folklorists who are adding false information to their work and twisting details.  Like-wise the paranormalists and ghost hunters.  Don't get me started on cryptozoologists.

There are people in UFO organisations that block potential speakers.  They suppress research papers from being accepted or published -in every field but it is far more common in ufology.  Just to make this clear: I do not present papers to UFO organisations because there is no point -and I do not give lectures or talks on UFOs.  I am referring to others who have been very public about bullying and threats in ufology.  Everything I publish is fully referenced so that others can check the data and base research thereon.

This is the greatest problem: "ufology" will never be accepted as even a minor science of any kind -there is even the increased use of the term "flying saucers" which opens up the subject for ridicule. I do not care if you are Albert Einstein if you started saying "flying saucers" but then say "The object was a cylindrical shape" you look an idiot.  Unless you have 100% irrefutable proof of extraterrestrial visitors then "These flying saucers come from a more advanced planet" is a nonsense. You can use a term like "UFO" because it is far more accurate: an unidentified flying object was seen.  You can theorize based on data but not conclude if you are dealing with UFOs -natural phenomena as well as more mundane objects are still being included in data used and that is bad science.

There are good people out there but, and I can honestly say that I doubt that this will ever happen, whether ufology, cryptozoology or any other field a complete overhaul is required.

Too many people are earning money and work from fakery and poor work and they will never accept changes -and 95% of their audience want fantasy not fact.

So if you are a serious investigator or researcher: publish your work privately.  Make a difference and help to try to change your field of study.