Monday 3 November 2014

First Antares, now Virgin Galactic

Hi folks. It's been an eventful summer for me with a period of illness through the latter part of it, so I haven't been able to post for a while.

I was sad and bitterly disappointed to see the tragic events unfold in the recent Virgin Galactic test flight killing one of the pilots but with a miraculous escape for the other. An up to the minute (at time of posting) Guardian article reports that initial assessment of the incident by crash investigators suggests premature deployment of a 'feathering system' to create 'drag' for re-entry - which led to the craft's disintegration.

Coupled with the failure and (controlled) explosion of the unmanned joint NASA/Orbital Sciences Corp Antares rocket last week, this will clearly be another setback for the commercial space industry and the sector as a whole. Expect further delays to these and similar such projects, prolonging even more the time since men first landed on the moon. Given our technological advances in areas of computing, energy and propulsion since then who'd have thought we would still be struggling to extend our reach beyond our own planet 45 years later?

The 'Superman of Macclesfield' or 'human UFO'

There has been the usual spate of UFO sightings over the last three months, mostly from the U.S. (see the Southern Colorado sightings below), but the homegrown 'Superman of Macclesfield' is not a headline I'd have ever been able to predict as one associated with UFOs or UAP.

A320 and skydiver images from the Mirror Newpaper
In June (but reported in October) a human figure was seen to shoot past an Airbus 320 passenger plane at around 3,500 feet, startling the crew who were not clear what to report the incident in as. Although the event lasted only a matter of seconds, the crew (in clear skies) reported the human shape of the 'UFO' and the apparent absence of any canopy or parachute. Nothing was picked up by radar at local air traffic control.


Have a look at the Mirror's story for more details. From reading the various articles online, I think I would be more surprised if the mystery figure had flown horizontally and parallel with the plane for a few minutes or even seconds.  However, a figure falling through the sky will most likely turn out to be a thrill-seeking skydiver. Funnily enough, this is what has been suggested in the local Macclesfield Express in that the event could have been a practice run (or drop or flight?) by stuntman Gary Connery. Although he hasn't owned up to it being him so far, he did joke about how it might be him on Facebook after the official report on the event was made public.

The Southern Colorado UFOs

Meanwhile, the web's been buzzing with the reported sightings of strange luminescent discs or orbs hovering Southern Colorado for the last month. There are articles in The Huffington Post, The International Business Times and Open Minds to name but a few, about the more recent sightings and the general weirdness of past events in the area.

Witnesses still have no earthly explanation for the weird bright objects that have been appearing in the sky over this area since October but some claim that the San Luis Valley has for a long time been a UFO hotspot and therefore a popular destination for tourists and skywatchers who want to get a glimpse of UFOs or UAP.

The videos shown so far courtesy of the local 9News network - if genuine - certainly make for interesting viewing...

Here's one on YouTube courtesy of local Scott Stevens