Extraterrestrial UFO Are Real : Ben Rich Lockheed CEO Admitted In His Deathbed Confession

Extraterrestrial UFO Are Real : Ben Rich Lockheed Skunk Works CEO Admitted In His Deathbed Confession

Ben Rich Lockheed Skunk Works CEO had admitted in his Deathbed Confession that Extraterrestrial UFO visitors are real and the U.S. Military travel among stars.

According to article published in May 2010 issue of the Mufon UFO Journal [Link] - Ben Rich, the “Father of the Stealth Fighter-Bomber” and former head of Lockheed Skunk Works,had once let out information about Extraterrestrial UFO Visitors Are Real And U.S. Military Travel To Stars

What he said might be new to many people today, but he revealed the information before his death in January 1995. His statements helped to give credence to reports that the U.S. military has been flying vehicles that mimic alien craft.

The article was written by Tom Keller, an aerospace engineer who has worked as a computer systems analyst for NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

1 : “Inside the Skunk Works (Lockheed’s secret research and development entity), we were a small, intensely cohesive group consisting of about fifty veteran engineers and designers and a hundred or so expert machinists and shop workers. Our forte was building technologically advanced airplanes of small number and of high class for highly secret missions.”

2 : “We already have the means to travel among the stars, but these technologies are locked up in black projects, and it would take an act of God to ever get them out to benefit humanity. Anything you can imagine, we already know how to do.”

3 : “We now have the technology to take ET home. No, it won’t take someone’s lifetime to do it. There is an error in the equations. We know what it is. We now have the capability to travel to the stars. First, you have to understand that we will not get to the stars using chemical propulsion. Second, we have to devise a new propulsion technology. What we have to do is find out where Einstein went wrong.”

4 : When Rich was asked how UFO propulsion worked, he said, “Let me ask you. How does ESP work?” The questioner responded with, “All points in time and space are connected?” Rich then said, “That’s how it works!”

Ben Rich Lockheed Former CEO knew of extraterrestrial UFO visitors

Lockheed "Skunk Works" former CEO knew the Roswell extraterrestrial UFO influenced designs of Testor model kits for Roswell UFO models, and U.S. top secret aircraft. According to a CNI News report by Colorado resident Michael Lindemann, the design information was derived from forensic illustrations and numerous witness testimonies about the Roswell UFO, provided by William L. “Bill” McDonald.

In an e-mail, dated July 29, 1999, apparently addressed to Lindemann, McDonald referenced an excerpt of a discussion with Harold Puthoff, founder of the highly classified U.S. “remote viewing” program.

McDonald said: “Well Hal, you asked for it! Now that legendary Lockheed engineer and chief model kit designer for the Testor Corporation, John Andrews, is dead, I can announce that he personally confirmed the design connection between the Roswell Spacecraft and the Lockheed Martin Unmanned Combat Air Vehicles (UCAVs), spyplanes, Joint Strike Fighters, and Space Shuttles.

Andrews was a close personal friend of "Skunk Works" CEO Ben Rich -- the hand-picked successor of Skunk Works founder Kelly Johnson and the man famous for the F-117 Nighthawk "Stealth" fighter, its "half-pint" prototype the "HAVE BLUE", and the top-secret F-19 Stealth Interceptor. Before Rich died of cancer, Andrews took my questions to him.

Dr. Ben R. Rich former Lockheed Skunk Works CEO confirmed:

1. There are 2 types of UFOs -- the ones we build and ones 'they' build. We learned from both crash retrievals and actual "hand-me-downs." The Government knew and until 1969 took an active hand in the administration of that information. After a 1969 Nixon "purge", administration was handled by an international board of directors in the private sector…

2. Nearly all "biomorphic" aerospace designs were inspired by the Roswell spacecraft -- from Kelly's SR-71 Blackbird onward to today's drones, UCAVs, and aerospace craft…

3. It was Ben Rich's opinion that the public should not be told [about UFOs and extraterrestrials] . He believed they could not handle the truth -- ever. Only in the last months of his decline did he begin to feel that the "international corporate board of directors" dealing with the "Subject" could represent a bigger problem to citizens' personal freedoms under the United States Constitution than the presence of off-world visitors themselves.”

Lindemann added that “Bill McDonald received the above information from Andrews from 1994 until their last phone call near Christmas in 1998.” Lindemann also noted “It should also be known that Dr. Ben R. Rich attended a public aerospace designers and engineers conference in 1993 before his illness overwhelmed him in which he stated -- in the presence of MUFON Orange County Section Director Jan Harzan and many others that – ‘We’ (i.e., the U.S. aerospace community/military industrial complex) had in it's possession the technology to "take us to the stars".

See the complete letter in May, 2010 MUFON UFO Journal from John Andrews and the hand written reply from Dr. Ben Rich. Hear more revealing testimony from Disclosure Project whistleblowers. NASA can not deny secrets discovered by UK hacker Gary McKinnon and many astronauts if it expects full funding from the Obama White House administration.

Lockheed Skunkworks Engineer USAF, and CIA Contractor Admitted : UFO Are Real

Don Phillips, "These UFOs were huge and they would just come to a stop and do a 60 degree, 45 degree, 10 degree turn, and then immediately reverse this action". During the Apollo landing, Neil Armstrong says, "They're here.They are right over there and looking at the size of those ships., it is obvious they dont like us being here”. When I was working with the Skunkworks with Kelly Johnson, we signed an agreement with the government to keep very quiet about this.

Anti-gravitational research was going on. We know that there were some captured craft from 1947 in Roswell, they were real. And, yes, we really did get some technology from them. And, yes, we really did put it to work. We knew each other from what we call an unseen industry. We can term it black, deep black, or hidden.

The knowledge I have of these technologies came from the craft that were captured here. I didn`t see the craft, nor did I see the bodies, but I certainly know some of the people that did. There was no question that there were beings from outside the planet.

Are these ET people hostile? Well, if they were hostile, with their weaponry they could have destroyed us a long time ago .We got these things that are handhold scanners that scan the body and determine what the condition is. We can also treat from the same scanner.

I can tell you personally that we've been working on them. And we have ones that can diagnose and cure cancer. One of the purposes I had for founding my technology corporation in 1998 was to bring forth these technologies that can clean the air and can help get rid of the toxins, and help reduce the need for so much fossil fuel. Yes, it is time. I can tell you personally that it has already started. pp. 375 ,383.

Disclosure Military and Government

Source: http://www.ufo-blogger.com/2010/08/ufo-are-real-ben-rich-lockheed-skunk.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+ufo_blogger+(UFO-Blogger+Uncover+The+UFO+Truth)

Proof of Aliens Could Come Within 25 Years, Scientist Says

Source: http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/yahoocanada/100817/canada/proof_of_aliens_could_come_within25_years__scientist_says
By Clara Moskowitz
SPACE.com Senior Writer

SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- Proof of extraterrestrial intelligence could come within 25 years, an astronomer who works on the search said Sunday.

"I actually think the chances that we'll find ET are pretty good," said Seth Shostak, senior astronomer at the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence Institute in Mountain View, Calif., here at the SETI con convention . "Young people in the audience, I think there's a really good chance you're going to see this happen."

Shostak bases this estimation on the Drake Equation , a formula conceived by SETI pioneer Frank Drake to calculate the number (N) of alien civilizations with whom we might be able to communicate. That equation takes into account a variety of factors, including the rate of star formation in the galaxy, the fraction of stars that have planets, the fraction of planets that are habitable, the percent of those that actually develop life, the percent of those that develop intelligent life, the fraction of civilizations that have a technology that can broadcast their presence into space, and the length of time those signals would be broadcasted.

Reliable figures for many of those factors are not known, but some of the leaders in the field of SETI have put together their best guesses. Late great astronomer Carl Sagan, another SETI pioneer, estimated that the Drake Equation amounted to N = 1 million. Scientist and science fiction writer Isaac Asimov calculated 670,000. Drake himself estimates a more conservative 10,000.

But even if that lower value turns out to be correct, at the rate they're going, it wouldn't take scientists too long to discover an alien signal, Shostak said.

"This range, from Sagan's million down to 10,000 – that's the range of estimates from people who have started and worked on SETI," said Shostak. "These people may know what they're talking about. If they do, then the point is we trip across somebody in the next several dozen or two dozen years."

The SETI quest is set to take a leap forward when the Allen Telescope Array, a network of radio dishes under construction in northern California, is fully operational. By 2015, the array should be able to scan hundreds of thousands of stars for signs of extraterrestrial intelligence, Shostak said.

But while humans might be able to discover an alien signal within that timeframe, interpreting what ET is trying to tell us could take much, much longer.

Shostak admitted such a task would be very difficult. An alien civilization may be as technologically advanced compared to us as Homo sapiens are to our hominid relatives Neanderthals . <[> "We could give our digital television signals to the Neanderthals, and they'll never figure it out. And they're not stupid," he said.

Yet simply having proof that we are not alone in the universe would likely be a world-changing achievement, Shostak added.

One of the best UFO Sightings of 2010 - James Gilliland

On the evening of Friday, August 13th at ECETI ranch, UFO contactee and speaker, James Gilliland recorded an incredible piece of footage shot in night vision showing an extra-dimensional object that seemed to have come from the south facing side of Mount Adams. This footage could literally be one of the best pieces of UFO footage this year, or perhaps even this decade:

Extra Terrestrials: Seeing the Big Picture

NASA's Deep Space Camera Locates Host of 'Earths'

Scientists celebrated Sunday after finding more than 700 suspected new planets -- including up to 140 similar in size to Earth -- in just six weeks of using a powerful new space observatory.

Early results from NASA’s Kepler Mission, a small satellite observing deep space, suggested planets like Earth were far more common than previously thought.

Past discoveries suggested most planets outside our solar system were gas giants such as Jupiter and Saturn -- but the new evidence tipped the balance in favor of solid worlds.

Astronomers said the discovery meant the chances of eventually finding truly Earth-like planets capable of sustaining life rose sharply.

NASA so far formally announced only five new exoplanets -- those outside our solar system -- from the mission because its scientists were still analyzing Kepler’s finds to confirm they are actually planets.

“The figures suggest our galaxy, the Milky Way [which has more than 100 billion stars] will contain 100 million habitable planets, and soon we will be identifying the first of them,” said Dimitar Sasselov, professor of astronomy at Harvard University and a scientist on the Kepler Mission. "There is a lot more work we need to do with this, but the statistical result is loud and clear, and it is that planets like our own Earth are out there."

Source - http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2010/07/25/nasas-deep-space-camera-locates-host-earths/?test=latestnews

UFO near White House emits a beam of light

A hyperdimensional UFO in over flight approximately one mile south east of the White House in Washington, DC appears to have fired a ray of light or directed energy beam in the vicinity of the White House.

The incident, which occurred on July 20, 2010 at 3:18 AM, was photographed in high-speed, high definition photographs by Wilbur “Will” Allen, a former White House employee and Air Force One engineer under U.S. Presidents Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, and Bill Clinton. Mr. Allen is also a talented professional photographer for major motion picture studios such as Warner Brothers and record labels such as DefJam.

Mr. Allen states, “On July 20, 2010 at 3:18:07 AM in NW Washington DC, a relatively short distance from the White House, I imaged a slow moving UFO pulse through the sky, and then [observed the UFO] fire an energy beam which extended from it.” Mr. Allan also states, “I took several stationary images of the stars as I usually do. However, there is one object I thought to be a star, moving and then discharging a beam of light!!!.... There is one frame that does not make much sense? A Star is either moving or shooting a beam of light that is ‘bent’? The motion is not registered with any of the other ‘stars’ in this sampling.”

Bibiana Bryson, Director of Exopolitica Argentina has also prepared an explanatory video of Mr. Allan’s photographs, available in the article below.

Mr. Allen’s photographs of the incident have been assembled in a special Examiner.com slideshow in the article below.

Hyperdimensional UFOs have been photographed over the U.S. Capitol, Washington monument, and in restricted P-56A air space since at least 1950. Area P-56A restricts airspace around the U.S. Capitol and White House in Washington, DC.

Mr. Allen has photographed hyperdimensional UFOs in restricted P-56A airspace overflying and landing on the U.S. capitol in 2002 and 2008, as well as hyperdimensional UFOs over the July 4, 2002 celebration on the U.S. Capitol Mall. This appears to be a first photograph near the White House where a hyperdimensional UFO is emitting a ray of light or directed energy beam.

As this Examiner.com article discusses, it is reasonable to whether this event may be (1) horseplay or creative signaling by a hyperdimensional UFO from an inter-dimensional intelligent source as a consciousness awakener to the public at large through Mr. Allen. A veritable lightshow of creative signaling from hyperdimensional UFOs took place over the Millennial Celebration on January 1, 2000; (2) a false flag event from a U.S. or other black ops vehicle; or (3) a ‘socially destabilizing’ event of the sort that John Podesta, Co-Chair of the Obama Transition Team is reported to have warned Mr. Allen his work would result in.

Hyperdimensional UFO emits directed energy ray near White House
Examiner.com readers can view the video assembled by Bibiana Bryson, Director of Exopolitica Argentina, from the high speed, high definition photographs that Mr. Allen took of the hyperdimensional UFO and apparent directed energy (or light) beam.



Mr. Allen has also created a video from his photographs that Examiner.com readers can access by clicking here.

Will Allen & hyperdimensional UFOs over restricted airspace in Washington DC
It seems reasonable to speculate that the UFO Mr. Allen photographed on July 20, 2010 at 3:18 AM was an intentional incursion by an intelligent hyperdimensional civilization into the airspace adjacent to the White House.

Mr. Allen has long-standing apparent working relationship with an apparent intelligent hyperdimensional civilization behind the hyperdimensional UFOs he photographs. He has a solid record of accurate, high speed, high definition photographs of hyperdimensional UFOs in the P-56A restricted airspace over Washington DC and adjacent to the White House.

This reporter has noted that Mr. Allen’s photographs of UFOs flying over and landing on the roof of the U.S. Capitol on July 16, 2002 were taken 50 years from July 16, 1952, when UFOs were photographed over the U.S. Capitol. Mr. Allen’s historic photographs of the July 16, 2002 event together with UFO sightings and landings by U.S. Senate buildings, and the Washington Monument are set out a Slide Show in a previous article here.

Mr. Allen, who grew up on U.S. military bases and now resides in Washington, DC, has stated that at age five he was visited by a group of “four to five grey extraterrestrials in silver spacesuits” who implanted him with a device.

That implant device went undetected during all the years of his military and White House service, and now signals him to go to specific locations in Washington, DC where he is instructed to photograph extraterrestrial craft and personnel that enter P-56A restricted Capitol Hill airspace through hyperdimensional Star gates at extremely high speeds. Mr. Allen, who has reported some of these UFO/ET landings to the U.S. Capitol Police, states that the police have told him his photographs confirm ET/UFO landings their officers are also encountering.

Mr. Allen believes that his photographs, which are forensic in quality, document that the same intelligent hyperdimensional civilization was behind the July 16, 1952 and the July 16, 2002 flyovers of the U.S. Capitol. These UFO/ET flyovers are continuing into the present. Mr. Allen states that the civilization communicating with him and directing his photographic documentation of their hypervelocity landings on the U.S. Capitol are “grey and human-hybrid.” There is no independent evidence that the intelligent civilization behind the hyperdimensional UFOs appearing to Mr. Allen is grey of human-hybrid.

Through advanced photo-analysis, Mr. Allen has established dimensional similarities between the UFO phenomena (1) surrounding the 1944 “Foo Fighters;” (2) the UFO/ET phenomena filmed by the Walt Disney company at the Lincoln Memorial on July 26, 1952; (3) the UFO/ET phenomena overlying the U.S. Capitol on July 16, 1952 (and during the July 13-29, 1952 Washington, DC UFO flap); (4) the UFO/ET phenomena over flying the U.S. Capitol 50 years later on July 16, 2002; (5) the UFO/ET phenomena appearing over the Washington Monument (Washington, DC) on July 4, 2002; (6) (5) ET/UFO phenomena photographed at the U.S. Capitol on November 17, 2008; (7) The UFO/ET phenomenon photographed as reflected on Commander Buzz Aldrin’s visor as he walked on the Moon during Apollo 16 (April 21-24, 1972).

According to Mr. Allen’s photo-analysis, each of the UFO/ET phenomena mentioned above was capable of dimensional shift into a self-generated Star gate phenomenon
UFO 'Ray of Light' near the White House.

It is not unreasonable to ascribe intentionality to the hyperdimensional UFO that performed a dimensional shift into a self-generated Star gate phenomenon and entered Washington DC airspace one mile south east of the White House, emitting a ray of light or directed energy beam.

Mr. Allen appears to be a selected ‘go to’ photographer’ for these advanced hyperdimensional UFO incursion events in Washington DC that have high symbolic value.
For example, Mr. Allen – on cue from hyperdimensional intelligence - photographed hyperdimensional UFOs over the U.S. Capitol in July 2002, 50 years exactly from July 1952 UFO over flights of the U.S. Capitol. Mr. Allan states that, in his opinion, the same hyperdimensional extraterrestrial civilization was responsible for both events.

Context communication theory of extraterrestrial communication
The context communication theory of extraterrestrial communication, developed by Alfred Lambremont Webre in 1974, states that many UFO encounters are in fact contextual, symbolic communications by the intelligent source behind the UFO encounter itself to the UFO witnesses or to humanity at large, much in the same way that a dream is a contextual, symbolic communication from the dreamer’s subconscious mind to her or his conscious mind.

In this light, Mr. Allen’s encounter with a hyperdimensional ‘slow-moving UFO that emits a ray of light or directed energy beam one mile from the White House’ may be reasonably interpreted within at least three alternative frames.

1. Creative signaling in ‘‘enlightened universal consciousness’ - The hyperdimensional UFO and ray of light may be horseplay or creative signaling by a hyperdimensional UFO from an inter-dimensional intelligent source as a unity consciousness awakener to the public at large through Mr. Allen.

A veritable lightshow of creative universal consciousness signaling from hyperdimensional UFOs took place over the Millennial Celebration on January 1, 2000.
Author Robert Stanley reports that there was a UFO/ET flyover of P-56A restricted airspace during the Millennial Celebration of December 31, 1999 – January 1, 2000, which was attended by approximately 1,000,000 persons. According to Mr. Stanley, numerous UFOs appeared to emanate from five cylindrical motherships and perform acrobatics over the assembled crowd, much to the delight of onlookers. Mr. Stanley notes that the U.S. Capitol police, responsible for security, did not panic.

According to the National UFO Reporting Center, “the [UFO/ET incident took place at 1A.M. on January 1, 2000. After the witness attended America's Millennium celebration, the person with a friend walked to the Metro station. He heard the firework explosions from a barge on the Potomac River behind the Lincoln Monument. He noticed near the monument what appeared to be shooting stars. He looked again and ‘saw a pair of dark but lit cylindrical objects 'flying' in formation from NW to SE passing directly over (him).’ In the next minute he saw three other cylindrical objects. His friend did not notice the objects. This witness outside the Metro station observed 5 cylindrical objects moving at a high speed over the sky.”

This ‘universal consciousness-raising’ frame for the July 20, 2010 ‘Ray of Light’ UFO Mr. Allen photographed near the White House in Washington, DC is congruent with an interpretation of UFOs that goes back to Carl Jung, the archetypal psychologist who saw UFOs as ‘mandalas’ for raising humanity’s consciousness.

As Alfred Lambremont Webre has noted, “The weekend of July 17-18, 2010 (“Conscious Convergence”) marked a portal in linear time when the singularity at the core of our universe began to emanate an intentional ‘pre-wave’ to a final 9th wave of universal, ‘enlightened universal consciousness’ that will, according to some, begin on March 9, 2011, end on October 28, 2011. From then on the singularity at the core of our universe will emanate constant ‘enlightened universal consciousness.’”

The hyperdimensional intelligent civilization behind the July 20 ‘Ray of Light’ UFO is presumably aware of higher universe energy wave patterns, such as the entry of the 9th wave of non-dualistic universal consciousness energy on March 9, 2011.
By this view, the ‘Ray of Light’ UFO near the White House Center of Government of the (dualistic mindset) military superpower serves an important consciousness raising function.

2. A false flag event from a U.S. or other black ops ‘UFO’ vehicle - In a 2004 interview with researcher Linda Moulton Howe, Dr. Carol Rosin, President of the Institute for Cooperation in Space (ICIS), relates her conversations with Dr. Wernher von Braun (whom she characterizes as a whistleblower) on Dr. von Braun’s deathbed. Dr. Rosin stated that Dr. von Braun had leaked to her that “Extraterrestrials” were included on the U.S. military-intelligence “Enemy’s list” necessary to sustain the war mode and Pentagon budgets was a false flag invasion from “Extraterrestrials.” “Soviet Union, terrorists, and asteroids (Planet X, Nibiru, brown dwarf memes) were others on the “America’s Enemy List” that Dr. von Braun leaked to Dr. Carol Rosin.
The basic issue is whether the ‘hyperdimensional UFO’ is sourced by an intelligence that is part of a ‘false flag’ war between ‘evil aliens’ and the ‘terrestrial allies’ led presumably by the U.S. and U.K. governments and a terrestrial elite that are promoting the 2012-13 ‘catastrophic timeline’ in order to implement a global depopulation and wage slavery program.

The unity consciousness contextual character of ‘Ray of Light’ seems to cast doubt on this alternative frame.

The July 20, 2010 ‘Ray of Light’ UFO does not appear to be a psychological fear-generator, as false flag ops require.

3. A ‘socially destabilizing’ event of the sort that John Podesta, Co-Chair of the Obama Transition Team is reported to have warned Mr. Allen his work would result in.
In an earlier interview with Alfred Lambremont Webre, Mr. Allen stated that “Everett Bellamy (Senior Assistant Dean of Georgetown Law Center), on behalf of John Podesta, who is a full-time faculty member at Georgetown Law Center, a former White House chief of staff under President Bill Clinton (1998-2001) and Co-chair of the Obama Transition Team (2008-9), told Mr. Allen that the frequent UFO and extraterrestrial over flights and landings on the U.S. Capitol that Mr. Allen is able to document photographically using state of the art high definition equipment could, if made widely public, “destabilize society,” and urged Mr. Allen to cease his activity documenting these UFO/ET over fights and landings.”

Destabilizing society or destabilizing the dualistic mindset in the U.S. government?
It appears there may be a reasonable basis to conclude that the July 20, 2010 ‘Ray of Light’ UFO could destabilize the dualistic mindset in the White House and the U.S. government.

As Alfred Lambremont Webre has noted, John Podesta, Co-chair of the Obama transition team and a public champion of declassification of the UFO phenomenon, is a friend on Mr. Allen’s. Mr. Allen reports that John Podesta has stated he believes Mr. Allen’s work could “destabilize society.” Mr. Allen responded in the ExopoliticsRadio interview by saying that society appears to be destabilizing itself with systems that are designed to fail. Mr. Allen states he is documenting an important UFO/ET presence that should be publicly examined.

As Alfred Lambremont Webre has reported in "Obama team covers up citizen extraterrestrial disclosure input on White House website", although declassification of the UFO/ET issue ranked high on the Obama transition team public agenda which Mr. Podesta was ultimately responsible for, all mention of the UFO/ET issue was deleted from the Obama White House website once the Obama administration took office.

It now appears that Mr. Podesta has been intimately aware of Mr. Allen’s documentation of ongoing UFO/ET hypervelocity flyovers over the U.S. Capitol in P-56A protected airspace. At the same time, Mr. Podesta has directly stated to Mr. Allen that he believes Mr. Allen’s documentation of these UFO/ET flyovers and landings.
One can legitimately ask on what basis did the Obama team intervene to cover up citizen extraterrestrial disclosure input on the Obama White House website. Was this White House cover-up in any way connected to Mr. Podesta’s expressed opinions about the documented UFO/ET flyovers and landings that Mr. Allen is documenting?

As Alfred Lambremont Webre has reported in “White House Press Association, press secretary Robert Gibbs block ET, UFO press questions to Obama”, “the White House press corps, and the White House press secretary have constructed an elaborate self-censorship scheme operating on peer pressure and invisible editor gate keeping to ensure that no question regarding the extraterrestrial and UFO question will be asked of the Presidential press secretary or the U.S. President in the press briefing room or in any Presidential press conference.”

John Podesta is a high-ranking Obama transition team White House adviser, and among the most knowledgeable about the UFO/ET presence. One can reasonably ask on what basis was this policy instituted of no press questions to the Obama White House? Is this policy of no White House press questions on UFO/ET in any way connected to Mr. Podesta’s expressed opinions about the documented UFO/ET flyovers and landings that Mr. Allen is documenting?

Source: http://www.examiner.com/x-2912-Seattle-Exopolitics-Examiner~y2010m7d22-UFO-near-White-House-emits-ray-of-light-horseplay-false-flag-or-socially-destabilizing-event

Planet Found With Comet-like Tail

An alien planet orbits so close to its star that its atmosphere is being blasted away, forming a gaseous, comet-like tail, astronomers announced Thursday.


(Related: "Odd Star Sheds Comet-like Tail.")


About 153 light-years from Earth, planet HD 209458b hugs its star so tightly that the planet's atmosphere is likely a scorching 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit (1,093 degrees Celsius) an a year passes in just 3.5 days—making Mercury's 88-day orbit seem downright leisurely.

That tight orbit also means this gas giant—meaning it's made primarily of gas—is subjected to blistering forces from its host star, which scientists say are the cause of HD 209458b's comet-like tail.

"This planet is getting blasted by the star and that's blowing the atmosphere off," said astronomer Cynthia Froning of the University of Colorado, who was involved in the study of the comet-like planet.

(Also see "Star 'Eating' Superhot Planet's Atmosphere.")

Comet-like Tail Streaming Toward Earth

HD 209458b is one of the few known transiting planets—planets that appear to periodically cross the faces of their host stars, as seen from Earth.

This means light from HD 209458b's star must pass through the planet's atmosphere before reaching us.

By studying the filtered starlight, astronomers can determine such a planet's atmospheric composition and also the direction and velocity that any gas lost to space is moving.

Using the Hubble Space Telescope's Cosmic Origins Spectrograph, astronomers recently detected evidence of a tapered gas tail streaming away from HD 209458b and toward Earth at a speed of about 22,000 miles an hour (35,400 kilometers an hour).

Comet-Like Planet to Disappear?

The most likely explanation for the comet-like feature is that the star's solar wind—actually a stream of charged particles—is evaporating the gas giant a bit at a time, astronomers say.

HD 209458b is losing about 80,000 pounds (36,000 kilograms) of mass a day—or about a billionth of Earth's mass every year, according to the new research.

Given enough time, the comet-like planet could theoretically evaporate away completely, but it would take about a trillion years. "That's longer than the life of the star," Froning said.

It's unclear how long the superheated alien world's "tail" is or how long it's been losing mass, but it's almost certain the erosion process has been happening for at least several million years, she added.

(Related: "New 'Impossible' Planet May Be on a Death Spiral.")

Comet-like Planets Common?

While its been speculated that stars can blast away planets' masses, HD 209458b is the "first confirmation" that atmospheric stripping is a real phenomenon, said study leader Jeff Linsky, also of the University of Colorado.

And since HD 209458b is a pretty typical "hot Jupiter"—the nickname for close-orbiting gas giants—it's "almost certain" that all hot Jupiters have comet-like tails, Linsky said.

"I think they're all going to be losing mass, and they're all inevitably going to have tails," he added.

The comet-like planet research is detailed in the July 10 issue of Astrophysical Journal.

Source: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2010/07/100715-alien-planet-comet-like-tail-hot-space-science/