Astrophysicist: Ball Lightning 'May Explain UFOs'
BBC - Some UFO sightings could be explained by ball lightning and other atmospheric phenomena, claims Australian astrophysicist Stephen Hughes.
The scientist has made a detailed study of an unusual event in 2006 when large meteors were observed over Brisbane.
Their appearance occurred at the same time as a brilliant green object was seen to roll over nearby mountains.
Dr Hughes has put forward a theory linking the object - presumed to be ball lighting - to the fireballs.
His idea is that one of the fireballs may have momentarily triggered an electrical connection between the upper atmosphere and the ground, providing energy for the ball lightning to appear above the hills.
He has written up his explanation in a journal of the Royal Society.
Dr Hughes says the extraordinary episode, which occurred during a night of fine weather, is just the sort of happening that might lead some to think they had witnessed UFO activity.
"If you put together inexplicable atmospheric phenomena, maybe of an electrical nature, with human psychology and the desire to see something - that could explain a lot of these UFO sightings," he told BBC News.
The scientist, who is a senior lecturer at the Queensland University of Technology, initiated the study after being called in by the local TV station to look over and explain photos of the fireballs captured by members of the public on camera phones.
Fireballs are exceptionally bright meteors and are produced by fragments of space rock larger than the sand-grain-sized particles responsible for shooting stars; but like shooting stars they cross the sky at great speed.
A subsequent survey organised by the university brought forward many more eyewitnesses, including a farmer who recalled seeing a luminous green ball rolling down a slope of the Great Divide, a mountainous ridge about 120km west of Brisbane.
This object described as being about 30cm in diameter appeared to jump over some rocks and follow the path of a metal fence for "some minutes". The farmer said he saw the green object come into view just after a fireball had passed overhead.
He thought at first he was witnessing a plane crash and called the police, but a search the following day found no wreckage.
Ball lightning seems an obvious explanation, says Dr Hughes. These bright, hovering spheres of light are not fully understood. They are known to be associated with thunderstorms, but not always, and there was certainly no electrical storm activity in the vicinity of the Great Divide.
Dr Hughes does not offer a new explanation for the causes of ball lightning, merely how enough energy might have been put into the ground to trigger it.
He proposes that the natural flow of current that exists between the upper-most reaches of the atmosphere, the ionosphere, and the ground was increased by the passage of the meteor that streamed charged particles and other conductive materials in its wake.
"Could it be that the meteor descending through the atmosphere, having passed through the ionosphere, actually created a transient conductive connection between the ionosphere and the ground, even if it was only for a few seconds? Was that enough to put charge into the ground, and then with the discharge form some kind of plasma ball above?
"Think of the ionosphere and the ground as the terminals on the battery and you put a wire between those two terminals and current flows, and literally you get a spark."
Other scientists have suggested that charges dissipating through the ground can create balls of glowing ionised gas above it.
Dr John Abrahamson from the University of Canterbury, NZ, championed the idea 10 years ago that ball lightning consisted of vaporised mineral grains kicked out of the soil by a conventional lightning strike, an idea later tested with some success by Brazilian researchers.
He described Dr Hughes' work as "relatively feasible" and something which made "interesting connections".
"There's a long way to go before everyone will be happy and satisfied that we have a full solution," he told BBC News.
Dr Hughes said his publication in Proceedings of the Royal Society A: Mathematical and Physical Sciences was intended to start a debate.
"It's not a vigorous theory; it's more a suggestion that may be worth exploring," he said.
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Secret spaceplane set to land next weekend
tgdaily - The US Air Force's top-secret X-37B spacecraft is set to land sometime in the next few days at the Vandenberg Air Force Base.
It will be the US' first ever autonomous re-entry and runway landing.
"Space professionals from the 30th Space Wing will monitor the de-orbit and landing of the Air Force's first X-37B, called the Orbital Test Vehicle 1 (OTV-1)," says the Air Force in a statement.
"While the exact landing date and time will depend on technical and weather considerations, it is expected to occur between Friday, December 3, and Monday, December 6, 2010."
Amateur astronomers have had a high old time tracking the movements of the elusive craft. At one point it seemed to disappear, until a South African skywatcher spotted it in a new orbit five days later.
The landing date was to be expected, given that the craft has been aloft since April and one of the few known facts about it is that it has a 270-day maximum flight time.
The 4.9 ton spacecraft looks rather like a miniature space shuttle. It measures a little under nine meters long and has a wingspan of 4.3 meters. It's currently in orbit at around 180 miles high.
Its true purpose has been the cause of much debate. The military says the mission was intended to test guidance, navigation and control systems for autonomous orbital flight. Inevitably, though, there has been speculation that it could be used for other, more aggressive purposes.
Another x-37B is currently under construction and is expected to launch next spring.
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Pakistani woman's nose cut-off by in-laws
timesofindia - A Pakistani woman's nose was cut off and her head tonsured by her in-laws who then locked her up for three days because they suspected her of having an affair with a neighbour, police said.
The incident took place in Gujranwala in Punjab province.
Aasiya Bibi's brother-in-law Anwar, his wife Kalsoom and sons Waqas and Awais caught hold of her and cut off her nose and shaved off her head, alleging that she had an illicit relationship with a local man.
"Aasiya has been living with her in-laws for over seven years and her husband works in Multan, so he rarely manages to visit," Express Tribune quoted Aasiya's neighbour Nida as saying.
Nida said that Aasiya's in-laws were often cruel to her.
Police said that the family locked up Aasiya in a room where she lay for three days after the incident, till a police team released her after being tipped-off.
Aasiya told the police: "I had been beaten and they didn't give me proper food. They locked me up and I was still bleeding."
Police officials said that when they found Aasiya she was in a terrible state and was promptly taken to a hospital where her wounds were stitched up. Doctors said that she narrowly managed to avoid an infection.
"We were surprised that her open wounds hadn't got infected even thought they weren't treated for three days," medical superintendent Azam Skeikh was quoted as saying.
"She is currently receiving treatment but we expect her to make a full recovery," he added.
Aasiya's in-laws were unrepentant.
Her brother-in-law Anwar said: "She was having illicit relations with a neighbour. We caught her and this was her punishment. She deserved what happened to her...I should have killed her on the spot."
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Almost half of all Britons believe in aliens
telegraph - A poll of 2,000 adults concluded that 44 per cent were convinced of the existence of extra-terrestrial life.
Men were more likely to believe with 46 per cent answering the survey saying humans are not alone.
The survey was commissioned by the Royal Society, the country's most prestigious scientific body.
Meanwhile a third of those questioned said we should try and make contact with other life forms co-existing in the universe.
However, there was little agreement when it came to decided what form alien life would take.
Prof Simon Conway Morris, an evolution expert from Cambridge University, said people should "throw away all our preconceptions" about what alien life could be like.
Meanwhile only 28 per cent of people answering the YouGov poll would rule out the existence of alien life altogether.
