Flying On The Fringe

For all those who believe in UFOs…

For all those who’ve been fortunate enough to see one…

And for all those who are waiting for good fortune to visit them in the future…

July 2 is World UFO Day.

Some people celebrate it on June 24, the anniversary of the date that American aviator Kenneth Arnold sighted nine UFOs near Mount Ranier, Washington on June 24, 1947. July 2 commemorates the date of the infamous crash at Roswell, New Mexico.

My interest in was sparked in the 1970s after I became hooked on reruns of Star Trek in college. I joined the organization MUFON and followed it for several years. As a science fiction writer, I spend a lot of time researching space and space-related issues. The Milky Way is estimated to be about 100,000 light years across. It’s next to impossible to estimate the number of stars it contains, but the European Space Agency’s Gaia mission is mapping the locations of approximately 1 billion stars in the Milky Way. ESA says Gaia will map one percent of the stellar content of the Milky Way, which puts the estimate of the total stars in our galaxy at 100 billion. Gaia’s goal is to make the best-ever three-dimensional map of the Milky Way.

Just a few decades ago, astronomers debated whether planets like Earth were rare in the galaxy. With the power of modern day telescopes and other instruments, we now know non-Earth planets, called exo-planets, are quite common. And a large number of them orbit their stars in what is referred to as the “Goldilock’s zone,” the zone in which a planet can contain liquid water. One system recently discovered has six planets orbiting in the habitable zone, so close to each other that a being standing on one of them could see the others even during the day. Now that’s what I call cool!

All of that leads me to believe it won’t be long before we discover some type of extraterrestrial life.

But the big question is, has extraterrestrial life already discovered us? Although governments around the world have done their best to hide evidence of such life, there is evidence out there.

In 1977, Peter Sturrock, a professor of space science and astrophysics at Stanford University, mailed 2,611 questionnaires about UFO sightings to members of the American Astronomical Society. He received 1,356 responses from which 62 astronomers – 4.6 percent – reported witnessing or recording inexplicable aerial phenomena. This rate is similar to the approximately 5 percent of UFO sightings that are never explained.

The countries of Brazil, Canada, Denmark, Ecuador, France, New Zealand, Russia, Sweden and the United Kingdom have been declassifying their UFO files since 2008. The French Committee for In-Depth Studies, or COMETA, was an unofficial UFO study group comprised of high-ranking scientists and military officials that studied UFOs in the late 1990s. They released the COMETA Report, which summarized their findings. They concluded that 5 percent of the encounters were reliable yet inexplicable: The best hypothesis available was that the observed craft were extraterrestrial. They also accused the United States of covering up evidence of UFOs. (https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/do-aliens-exist-are-they-real-national-ufo-day-13033434.php)

We might not yet have what would be considered incontrovertible proof of extraterrestrial life visiting Earth, but we certainly have enough evidence to warrant open minds and serious scientific study.

Live long and prosper…and dream big.

You might also like to visit:

https://www.theufochronicles.com/2018/07/scientists-revisit-question-of-aliens.html

https://wgnradio.com/2018/06/25/world-ufo-day-and-ufo-sighting-phenomenon/

While visiting one of my favorite Facebook groups, Space Opera, I came across an interesting topic. Someone had posted a photo of an asteroid named Bennu and a claim that it was “expected” to strike the Earth in 2135. That sort of thing always peaks my interest, so I checked it out on Space.com. No big surprise, the claim was bogus. “Expected” turned out to be about a 1 in 1265 chance, and it isn’t due to make its pass until “late” 22^nd century. Sounds like pretty unlikely odds to me. Not to mention that would give us plenty of time to do something about it if it was on a collision course.

For those of us who write in the realm of science fiction, science FACTS are important. Of course, we have the advantage of suspension of disbelief, and I for one, play heavily on things that are currently hypothesized, but not yet known. Nonetheless, one thing that bothers me in science fiction is when a known fact is ignored or stretched beyond belief. There is plenty of room for us to imagine in the realm of the unknown, without ignoring what is already known as fact.

My favorite was a line I caught in an old Star Trek rerun. Dr. McCoy and Kirk were on a previously undiscovered planet, and McCoy was scanning for life signs. They are standing in front of a bush, and McCoy’s scanner picks up something several meters away. He says something like, “It’s the only sign of biological life around.” Really? Is there a form of life that isn’t biological? And what is the bush they’re standing in front of? Maybe it’s one of those non-biological forms of life. Or maybe, it’s a stage prop, and it isn’t a form of life at all.

As I discussed in my two previous posts, NASA has laid out a three-stage plan for developing the technology and systems necessary to carry us to Mars, humanity’s first step toward becoming a space-faring species.

Stage 3 is called Earth Independent. In this final phase, activities will build on what we learn on the International Space Station (ISS) and in cislunar (near-moon) space to enable human missions to the Mars vicinity, including the Martian moons, and eventually the Martian surface. With humans on Mars, we will be able to advance science and technology in ways only dreamed of with current robotic explorers.

Future Mars missions will represent a collaborative effort among NASA and its partners—a global achievement that will mark a transition in humanity’s expansion as we go to Mars not just to visit, but to stay. Goals include:

• Living and working within transit and surface habitats that support human life for years, with only routine maintenance
• Harvesting Martian resources to create fuel, water, oxygen, and building materials
• Leveraging advanced communication systems to relay data and results from science and exploration excursions with a 20-minute delay

Food to fire the imagination of all science fiction writers.

As I discussed in my previous post, NASA has laid out a three-stage plan for developing the technology and systems necessary to carry us to Mars, humanity’s first step toward becoming a space-faring species.

Stage 2 of NASA’s plan is called “The Proving Ground.” In the Proving Ground, NASA will learn to conduct complex operations in a deep space environment, mostly in the region near the moon, called “cislunar.” Experiments near the moon still allow crews to return to Earth in a matter of days. In cislunar space, NASA will advance and validate capabilities required for human exploration of Mars.

Stage 2 includes a series of Exploration Missions (EMs), starting with EM-1, the first integrated test of the SLS and Orion ships, anticipated in 2018. In 2020, the Asteroid Redirect Robotic Mission will collect a large boulder from a near-Earth asteroid, then ferry it to the Proving Ground, and the Asteroid Redirect Crew Mission will allow astronauts to investigate and sample the asteroid boulder.

NASA also plans an initial deep-space habitation facility for long-duration systems testing to allow autonomous operations, including rendezvous, docking and state of the art information technology solutions. The agency will also study concepts to minimize resupply needs through reduction, reuse, and recycling of consumables, packaging, and materials.

Other key operational capabilities required to become Earth Independent will also be identified and developed during Stage 2.

I won’t live long enough to see humans achieve travel beyond our own solar system, unless some alien race decides to give us a boost. But if NASA manages to stay on schedule with its plan for manned travel to Mars, I just might hold out that long.

I can’t wait to see the first transmissions from the Mars habitat.

Okay, guess I was wrong. The revelations keep coming to me in God’s own time.

Maybe those of us who believe Donald Trump will lead the country in the wrong direction have the wrong idea. Maybe he’s a catalyst—an image so powerful that it’s designed to get us off our collective passivist asses and start taking action.

2017 is the year of peace. It isn’t going to seem like it, not this year, and it certainly won’t go down in the history books that way. I doubt anyone but God himself will see the reality of this year. But it becomes the beginning of peace on earth only if those of us who want to bring about the Kingdom of God on earth take action. We always have free will, and if we choose to sit idly by, the opportunity to change humanity will pass us by.

I am not advocating marching in the streets. From what I’ve seen, that only begets more violence. Peace begins with each of us individually, in how we treat those around us on a daily basis. Believe me, I struggle with this daily in my own tribulations within my own family. I have already learned a great deal through my own series of “revelations.” Not that I’ve conquered the demon of “frustration” that sends me into fits of anger. Not by along shot. But I hope I’m getting better.

Practice peace in all that you say and do. Refuse to be pressured into speaking or acting in harmful or destructive ways. Do not cave to the rhetoric of hate and anger. Do not hide your light under a basket. Live the example and let others learn from it.

This post is one of several that are the result of a powerful inspiration I experienced during the 2016 Christmas Eve service at my church.

I have already said things will not change instantly. It will most likely take more than a generation to achieve true peace. But think in these terms. Once we head in the right direction, as those who cling to violence die, more and more children will be born into a world where peace is a priority. We’re not talking about the Rapture here in the traditional sense, but the end result will be the same. Those who cannot change will leave, and the ones who are capable of living in the new paradigm will raise children who know how to live in it.

It will take time, generations even. But there has to be a starting point.

This is the last revelation I have for the time being. There may be more at some point, or there might not. I have no way of knowing. There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that the inspiration for these “revelations” came directly from God. I have been driven to action by God’s inspiration many times in the past, but never have I experienced anything as powerful as this was. It has not unfolded the way I expected, but then I have no way of knowing if it is over yet. God moves in His own time and space.

This post is one of several that are the result of a powerful inspiration I experienced during the 2016 Christmas Eve service at my church.

In the United States 2016 was a particularly contentious and frustrating election year. I don’t know anyone who actually liked either of the main candidates, and I know many who are terrified at what 2017 might bring. That would have been true no matter who won. We have a collective sense of impending doom. That is because we are at a turning point.

The truth is, for far too long we have depended on our government to determine our collective futures. No more. The government is patently incapable of doing what needs to be done. Government has throughout all of history, in all countries, been dedicated to serving the desires of the elite. It will never serve the needs of the masses. Time for us to take charge for ourselves.

Do not misunderstand me. I am not advocating civil disobedience. Far from it. Remember that Jesus said to “Give unto Caeser the things that are Caesar’s.” The meaning of that statement has been hotly debated for two thousand years. Pay your taxes and obey the laws, but your heart belongs to God. Do not expect the government to bring about peace, because peace does not serve the interests of the elite.

If every individual soldier refused to take up arms; if every military pilot refused to fly; if every tank commander or artilleryman refused to mount his weapon, how would our governments make war?

If you are a criminal who has committed an act of violence, what better time to get down on your knees, ask for forgiveness, and commit to a new direction? If you are an officer of the law faced with a violent situation, search for the peaceful solution first. Each and every one of us has a personal responsibility to seek the path to peace. If every individual commits to that, the government will be powerless to inflict violence.

Just when the voice of spirit in my mind had quieted, and I though maybe I had done all I needed to do in this quest to promote peace, I went to church this morning and heard a sermon that sounded like it was written just for me—or at me. Clearly, God is not done with me yet. The sermon was based on the concept of “chasing the lion,” going after that really overwhelming, scary, mission that God has set before you (me) and jumping into the pit with the lion, going on faith that no job that is too big for any one person is ever too big with God’s help.

The Lion Chaser’s Manifesto

Quit living as if the purpose of life is to arrive safely at death.

Run to the roar.

Set God-sized goals.

Pursue God-given passions.

Go after a dream that is destined to fail without divine intervention.

Stop pointing out problems. Become part of the solution.

Stop repeating the past. Start creating the future.

Face your fears.

Fight for your dreams.

Grab opportunity by the mane and don’t let go!

Live like today is the first day and last day of your life.

Burn sinful bridges.

Blaze new trails.

Live for the applause of nail-scarred hands.

Don’t let what’s wrong with you keep you from worshiping what’s right with God.

Dare to fail.

Dare to be different.

Quit holding out.

Quit holding back.

Quit running away.

Chase the lion.

My “Lion” is helping humanity turn toward peace. Will you help me?