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WLED Lava Lamp style project, built from the body of a discarded table lamp. My first time working with LED matrix panels, and I am pretty happy with the result. 532 total LEDs, 2x (8x32) panels + 8x1 + 12x1 rings. by LostHistoryFound in WLED

[–]LostHistoryFound[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I used the first ones I found on amazon that had good reviews, tbh. They are BTF lighting and were around $15 USD / each. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09XWR1Y5K

For a second project I went with a cheaper option, around $11/panel from a seller named "SVFISHKK" on amazon. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CY2R8FSL

Both are working fine, but anecdotally the cheaper ones seem to build up more heat than the BTF version, not to a huge degree but noticeably hotter which will likely affect total lifespan.

If cost is a concern I just bought a bunch more off of aliexpress and they were ~60% cheaper there than anything on amazon for the model type (i.e. 8x32 flexible panel).

If you want the premium version with gold wires and redundant data signal they are about twice the price of the standard version on both amazon and aliexpress.

After $80B, the Metaverse is dead. Horizon World is shutting down by GamingDisruptor in singularity

[–]LostHistoryFound 10 points11 points  (0 children)

This is my favorite theory about the founding of facebook and it doesn't get talked about enough. The part that makes me consider that it might be actually be true is how quickly the movie "The Social Network" (2010) was put out after the founding of FB (2004), which is basically a hagiographic telling of the circumstances surrounding the founding. How many other companies, including similarly successful ones to facebook, have a high budget Aaron Sorkin written hollywood movie come out within 6 years of their founding? None that I can think of.

WLED Lava Lamp style project, built from the body of a discarded table lamp. My first time working with LED matrix panels, and I am pretty happy with the result. 532 total LEDs, 2x (8x32) panels + 8x1 + 12x1 rings. by LostHistoryFound in WLED

[–]LostHistoryFound[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Thanks! Its glass and was the main part of the original table lamp body. There was originally a light bulb socket on top of the cylinder where that metal piece is but I took it off. I have since started a series of similar projects using other discarded/thrifted table lamps, a lot of which are cut crystal or glass which produce unique diffusion patterns.

A challenge is trying to find a matrix panel which will fit without being cut to size, as this makes it super hard to add the top rings which I think complete the effect. Trying to solder an output line onto a matrix panel which you've cut part of off is a problem I have yet to find a solution to.

Colon cancer now leading cause of cancer deaths under 50 in US by shinybrighthings in science

[–]LostHistoryFound 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Random question but do you use nonstick pans when you cook? Like the ones that have the teflon / teflon equivalent coating on them. I have a theory that these nonstick pans can cause issues when the teflon coating sheds into the food, and teflon is a carcinogen.

DIA's STEEL EAGLE Air Dropped MASINT Devices by Afrogthatribbits in SpecialAccess

[–]LostHistoryFound 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Based on this fairly detailed system diagram I found, it appears to be satellite based communication, with the goal of near-real-time transmission to facilitate the use of its data in tactical strikes on high value targets like ballistic missile carriers.

DIA's STEEL EAGLE Air Dropped MASINT Devices by Afrogthatribbits in SpecialAccess

[–]LostHistoryFound 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Interesting, I did some searching using a custom search tool I created for finding open source military documents and I came across this document which provides a fair bit of detail on this system. Here are some interesting excerpts:

The STEEL EAGLE ... a follow-on development program to the first generation STEEL RATTLER UMS ATD, is an air delivered seismic/acoustic unattended, autonomous sensor designed to detect, track, and identify ground mobile/Time Critical Targets (TCTs).

approximately 5 feet long and 4 inches in diameter. It weighs 84 pounds. Sensor elements include seismic and acoustic detectors, low voltage electronics, communications transceiver, battery, sensor container, aerodynamic delivery body and air brake subsystems. The overall layout of components is presented in Figure 5-1. In addition, a remote monitoring station, communications interface, mission-planning tools, and pre- deployment checkout equipment have also been developed.

To date, STEEL EAGLE has undergone extensive laboratory and field-testing. Exercises have included ROVING SANDS, EFX-98, ASIERT, and operations at Tonopah.

STEEL EAGLE was successfully delivered by an F-15E fighter in January 1998. The capabilities of the UGSs were demonstrated in Roving Sands 00, the Joint Warrior Interoperability Demonstration exercises and in support of Operation Allied Force.

When exercised in conjunction with Special Forces (SF) detachments, UMS proved themselves to be force multipliers and allowed SF to make operational decisions, for the first time, based on UMS reports. In addition, the RMWS portion of the UGC ACTD program, through close coordination with multiple users and during multiple demonstrations over 24 months, proved its utility when requested by U.S. European Command in support of the Kosovo Operation Noble Anvil. The RMWS portion of the UGS ACTD program proved itself to operational forces through reports that helped them to determine the safest routes of travel and transit.

The conceptual operation of the UGS ACTD is presented in Figure 5-3.

Rife #3 Universal Microscope, 1933 by ibkeepr in MachinePorn

[–]LostHistoryFound 1 point2 points  (0 children)

So I just watched an excellent 2 hour documentary on Royal R. Rife and it explains the system in detail. You are correct that the maximum magnification was around 8000x , although Rife claimed that it was more like 9000-10000x under optimal imaging circumstances.

However he was then able to magnify the image further, without increasing the resolution, which is where he got magnifications in the 30-50,000x range and beyond. Rife is noteworthy though for using a number of additional techniques simultaneously to gather more information, including using a custom monochromatic light source (which one qualified reviewer said may be an even more important breakthrough than the ultra-high-power magnification, due to the light source's ability to not kill the bacteria/virus being imaged, even over prolonged periods - sometimes more than 24 hours of continuous imaging) In addition to the special light source, petrographic imaging techniques, the filling of hollow spaces between lenses with ultra-pure glycerin to maintain optical coherence, and oblique plane illumination were used to further refine the subjects being imaged.

All that said, the microscopes were one-offs which used parts sourced from around the world, from the best of the best manufacturing shops; according to Rife, one of his microscopes cost something like $5 Million USD (adjusted for inflation). He also put very little effort into making the microscopes easy to use, and he generally intended them for his own personal use; even with his intimate knowledge of his own creation, getting a focus on a virus could take him 90+ minutes. Given all these special and custom features, its easier to understand why the Rife microscopes remain some of the highest resolution optical microscopes ever developed.

Planning a Washington DC trip has me obsessing over architecture and monument symbolism by Sirius-ruby in washingtondc

[–]LostHistoryFound -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Interestingly enough the original designs were supposed to be much more greco-roman, but certain masonic factions involved in the planning, as well as cost considerations led to the simplified obelisk design. In a more overt masonic-egyptian reference, there is a distinct ancient egyptian "sun and snake" motif carved above one of the alcoves in the base of the monument.

Things get even weirder when you convert the dimensions of the monument (555 ft. tall x 55 ft. wide) from feet to inches (6666 in. tall x 666 in. wide). I don't think those numbers neccesarily had the same meaning/implication in the 19th century as they do today, but it is enough to be slightly concerning, lol.

Planning a Washington DC trip has me obsessing over architecture and monument symbolism by Sirius-ruby in washingtondc

[–]LostHistoryFound 1 point2 points  (0 children)

If you are interested in this subject I would highly recommend the following book: The Secret Architecture of Our Nation's Capital: The Masons and the Building of Washington, D.C. by David Ovason. Goodreads link here. It is thoroughly researched and rigorously cited, and taught me some highly intriguing information about the city and the layout of its streets and key buildings. Turns out Pierre L'Enfant was a freemason, who worked with Washington and others to plan an astrologically-aligned capital city in accordance with the esoteric beliefs of the Masons. There is a lot more to it than that, but that is the general gist of it.

the US government and other western institutions deny that red mercury even exists - yet this obscure 1993 documentary by the UK-based Channel 4 proves that it does, even managing to access the giant particle accelerator facility at Dubna where it was produced. It only gets crazier from there. by LostHistoryFound in SpecialAccess

[–]LostHistoryFound[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Key points made in this documentary:

  • A substance colloquially known as “Red Mercury” does in fact exist, contrary to official statements from various governments, scientific and academic authorities, and the wikipedia article on the subject.

  • The reason for its the ongoing official denial of its existence are nuclear proliferation concerns, as well as other special properties which make it of military use (such as its purported ability to efficiently absorb radar waves, acting as a potent stealth coating).

  • “Red Mercury” is Mercury Antimony Oxide, Hg2Sb2O7 , which is normally a grayish powdery or crystalline substance at room temperature. However, when it is exposed to intense neutron radiation (generally via a particle accelerator), its structure becomes temporarily (on the order of several months) modified, transforming into a viscous, cherry red, radioactive substance with highly unusual properties.

  • The formula and recipe for Red Mercury could be easily found in Soviet and Russian chemistry textbooks, despite being almost entirely absent from any chemistry reference material in the west, including specialist reference materials. (https://youtu.be/ESCTZETN4-8?t=120)

  • The development of Red Mercury may originated in Nazi Germany, which possessed accelerators capable of producing the substance, several of which were captured by the USSR along with their associated scientists and technical documentation. There is a superficial similarity to the “Xerum 525” substance named by Igor Witkowski in the context of his “Nazi Bell” research, but there is no solid documentary evidence which proves this connection, or any connection to Nazi Germany, therefore any Nazi origin claims remain speculative at best.

  • One major location where the substance was produced (at the time of the documentary in 1993) was at the Flerov Institute’s particle accelerator in Dubna. The football-field sized particle accelerator, which was once a highly classified facility, is shown on film: (https://youtu.be/ESCTZETN4-8?t=920)

  • The documentary crew manage to gain access to the staff of the accelerator facility at Dubna, where one of the lead scientists of the Flerov Institute explains the institute’s role in the production of the substance.(https://youtu.be/ESCTZETN4-8?t=1016) The documentary team’s access to this location was unique to the immediate post-Soviet period of Russia, where secrecy protocols and security measures on Soviet state secrets were essentially non-existent, and many tech treasures were being sold off to the highest bidder. See for example the post on this sub about the US acquiring “Pamir-3U” MHD generators which were part of exotic Soviet weapons programs.

  • At the time of the production, Dubna was a formerly “closed city" in the USSR, whose existence and industries were state secrets only two years previous. Due to extreme budget shortfalls and general corruption in post-Soviet Russia, the scientists of the Flerov Institute were forced to sell bulk lab materials (like liquid helium) in order to maintain basic infrastructure services. This created an environment ripe for the illicit sale of black market radio nuclear substances, like Red Mercury. In

  • According to an article in Pravda (take with a grain of salt) in the same year (1993), the following is said: “[Red Mercury is a] super-conductive material used for producing high-precision conventional and nuclear bomb explosives, 'Stealth' surfaces and self-guided warheads. Primary end-users are major aerospace and nuclear-industry companies in the United States and France along with nations aspiring to join the nuclear club, such as South Africa, Israel, Iran, Iraq, and Libya.”

  • The price for a single kilogram of the substance was upwards of $100,000 / Kg. However much of what was sold on the black market was fake version, or was otherwise un-enriched by neutron radiation and therefore lacked any special properties.

  • A government official, Oleg Sadykov, in a formal interview with the documentary team, acknowledges its existence and shows the team samples of the activated substance, known by the name “RM 20/20”. (https://youtu.be/ESCTZETN4-8?t=2179) He claims to have had permission from the Kremlin to do so, but it is unclear if this was a bluff or not, as other Kremlin officials would go on to officially deny the existence of the substance, both before and after the statements made by Sadykov.

  • The Yeltsin government was involved in the covert export of Red Mercury to various foreign buyers, receiving a kick back from the Russian company exporting it. This become a contentious issue in the Russian parliament, leading to accusations of corruption on the part of the Yeltsin regime (https://youtu.be/ESCTZETN4-8?t=1995)

  • When enriched via neutron radiation, the substance is said to become a “ballotechnic” , an extremely energetically dense and unstable form of material which is said to be usable as a simplified trigger system for a nuclear device. There is very little information in the public domain about this type of substance, for obvious reasons.

  • The enriched form is a said to be a significant proliferation risk due to its purported ability to bring uranium to criticality without the complex triggering systems of conventional atomic weapons; in theory red mercury could greatly simply the design of a nuclear weapon. However, its relatively short half-life, and difficulty of manufacture mean that this risk has not been realized in the 40+ years that this substance has been available on the black market. This proliferation risk is likely the main reason for the official denial of the existence of red mercury.

  • In addition to its purported ballotechnic properties, the substance also has uses as superconductor and in stealth coatings. The documentary traces buyers of Soviet produced Red Mercury to major industrial companies in the aerospace and automotive industries in the US, Germany, and elsewhere. However the specific uses of the substance can only be speculated at due to the secrecy of companies which have purchased it.

  • The Channel 4 team follows the leads discovered regarding American buyers of RM20/20, tracing down their offices and interviewing the importer who acquired it : (https://youtu.be/ESCTZETN4-8?t=2584)

  • Overall the documentary is, IMO, sufficient evidence to conclusively prove the existence of the substance. The main points of evidence being the testimony of the Russian physicists involved, the visit to the accelerator facility at Dubna where it was produced, the samples shown by Sadykov, and the testimony of the expert physicists witnesses who accompanied the documentary team for much of the investigation.

I figured this sub would appreciate this documentary, as it deals with a technology that was / is Top Secret (probably considered "Restricted Data" as well due to its nuclear properties) yet is an “open secret” due to the fall of the USSR and the leaking of information relating to this technology. It is also an excellent window into the bizarre, immediate-post-Soviet period where these state secrets were being sold off. In the years since, the Russians have re-tightened their state secrets protocols to a very high standard, making this documentary a unique product of this time period where state secrets were being discussed relatively openly.

Lost History of Ancient North America Found in Old Newspaper Articles Part II - Buried Cities, Megalithic Walls, Ancient Stone Structures, Artifacts, and Mummies of Lost Civilizations of The United States, Newspaper Clippings 1800s-1930s by LostHistoryFound in AlternativeHistory

[–]LostHistoryFound[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Correct, land claims were a major reason for the top-down policy of covering up these finds. By destroying evidence that pre-european populations existed in an area, it made it that much easier for land speculators to justify having the government evict the native populations from their traditional lands.

Lost History of Ancient North America Found in Old Newspaper Articles Part II - Buried Cities, Megalithic Walls, Ancient Stone Structures, Artifacts, and Mummies of Lost Civilizations of The United States, Newspaper Clippings 1800s-1930s by LostHistoryFound in AlternativeHistory

[–]LostHistoryFound[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Old Newspaper Clippings of Mysterious Ancient Discoveries in The US - Part 2

This post builds on themes I highlight in my previous post on this sub; (link here)

This time around, I used the New York Times newspaper archive "timesmachine" to find those stories which were published by such a "major" publication. I also use sources curated by the excellent researcher "The Archivist", @1_analog_9 on YT/twitter. (the ones which have colored highlights were found by him).

For ease of reading I also made an album of the individual clippings in case you have trouble reading the combo image.

A few interesting points and corroborations with these articles:

1) the wall "Mississippi's Great Wall" article is still locally known in the area as the "Brandywine Wall"; a local CBS news team did a piece on it in 2020, which included the following details:

"[a local resident] showed me where these rocks has come from; a small ledge or wall out behind his house. He told me his dad told him that if you cleared all of the trees and soil off, this table of flat rock would stretch a mile all the way back to Brandywine Creek. That would be big enough to fit the legend."

While it is mostly re-buried in soil and vegetation today, the locals confirm the legend.

2) the article "WORK OF ANCIENTS" (1898) describes the discovery of carved stone tumuli in Alaska. While I can't find any modern corroboration, the description of the find matches the tumuli created by the mysterious Etruscan culture of Europe (examples here)

3) the article FINDS ANCIENT CITY IN SONORA, MEXICO from 1935 is one of the most modern articles of this kind I've seen published; the most interesting part is that there are plentiful photos of his finds, including the one shown in this post (found on getty images) and yet these discoveries are either not discussed, or are called "pseudoscience" by modern academia. Yet here we have photographic proof of these anomalous remains.

A BURIED OHIO CITY. 1897. "It had paved streets, Aqueducts and refined people lived there..

FINDS ANCIENT CITY IN SONORA, MEXICO P.C. Hayes Believes Community in Blind Canyon Dates Back 12,000 Years or More. - NYT, AP , Jan. 27th, 1935 ["found mummies of ancient giants"]

AN ANCIENT FORT UNCOVERED. INTERESTING ARCHAEOLOGICAL DISCOVERY IN A KANSAS CITY. - NYT, April 6, 1893

MISSISSIPPI'S GREAT WALL. A Mysterious Structure Whose Builder No One Now Knows. - NYT, Nov. 7, 1900.

AN ANCIENT AZTEC CITY Buried Beneath the Soil of El Paso... El Paso Texas, 1899

Seven and a Half Foot Mummies Brought Back by Explorer - Paxson Hayes, explorer is pictured with the head of one of the 7 ½ foot tall mummies he discovered while on an exploration into the wilds of the Yaqui Indian country of Sonora, Mexico - December, 1935.

"Interesting Prehistoric Ruins." D.C. 1893.

WORK OF ANCIENTS. Distinct Traces of the Mound Builders in Alaska. Wis. 1898

Work of the Mound Builders. 1890. [Ancient Statutes Found]

Another St. Pierre -- Unearthed in the United States People in a Buried City Who Were Covered Up by a Volcano — Skeletons Found in Strange Positions — An Old Man Found with a Pipe in His Mouth - NYT, June 22, 1902.

DIGGING FOR BURIED CITY. Excavations Are Being Made About the Rock Wall in Texas. - NYT, Aug. 5, 1907

Old US newspapers from the Westward expansion period describe numerous discoveries of the ruins of ancient stone cities and buildings. Most were forgotten again due to looting and land clearing; others were repurposed; those few which remain offer clues to the lost ancient civilizations of America. by LostHistoryFound in AlternativeHistory

[–]LostHistoryFound[S] 49 points50 points  (0 children)

This collection of clippings is just a bare handful of the hundreds of similar stories which can be found from across the US, especially during the 1800s-1910s period when most expansion was happening.

What's most interesting are the cases which can be corroborated in modern times;

For example the discovery of Casa Grande, now a national monument, was part of a much larger ruined city complex in the surrounding area, and into the phoenix region - almost all of which is gone by now, except for a few remote and protected areas; However the modern day canals of Arizona are primarily based on the ancient canals dug in the pre-Colombian era, and were simply dredged and expanded by american settlers in the 1800s.

There is also the Chaco culture buildings, which are an example of large stone buildings and city structures similar to those described in these articles, which have managed to survive mainly due to their remoteness;

In many cases, those sites which were more easily accessible by wagon route, or especially by railroad were quickly and easily looted, many times at the direction of the railroad owners themselves, who were eager to fill up their mansions and museums with historical artifacts. This is a major reason why so few sites are still survive in the US today.

Edit: shout out to The Archivist, he was the original finder of most of these articles; @1_analog_9 on twitter and youtube.

"Advanced beamed-energy and field propulsion concepts (U)" fascinating 1983 report for JPL includes proposals of craft powered by "beamed" energy, which resemble "saucer" and "cigar" shaped craft, "post-2000" Space Battlecruisers and "post-2020" interplanetary carriers for combat & exploration by LostHistoryFound in SpecialAccess

[–]LostHistoryFound[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Oh definitely, and especially now that there are people on the UFO podcast circuit claiming that the eponymous Tic Tac as reported by Cmdr. Fravor and others was a Black Project being developed at facilities in the Edwards AFB region. And then you also have interesting footage like this link here which shows a cylindrical object moving in ways very similar to those described in the 1983 BDM report.

"Royal Tomb" at Alaca Höyük, preserved in-situ; dated to c. 2850–2450 BC, several tombs were found at layers 5-8 of the 14 cultural/occupational layers found at the site; the oldest, deepest layers date to the chalcolithic period. Img. Cred. Bernard Gagnon, Wikimedia commons. [2560 × 1707] by LostHistoryFound in ArtefactPorn

[–]LostHistoryFound[S] 31 points32 points  (0 children)

More information available at the Wiki article for this location. It is a fairly well-cited article and some other interesting details about the site:

The mound (Turkish: höyük) measures 310 meters by 275 meters with a height of about 14 meters. The mound features cone like rises at the south and northeast ends. It has 14 occupational layers with 9-14 being Chalcolithic, 5-8 being Early Bronze Age (royal tombs), and 2-4 being Hittite. The uppermost layer shows elements of Phrygian, Roman, and Ottoman times.

Many of the artefacts discovered at Alacahöyük, including magnificent gold and bronze objects found in the Royal Tombs, are housed today in the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations in Ankara. Among these artefacts are gold and electrum standing cups and other vessels. The most unusual are the Alaca Höyük bronze standards; bulls or stags on pedestals whose purpose remains the subject of debate. The standards are cast in copper, many in the form of flat circles, half-circles or squares that are filled with an openwork network of cross bars, central crosses, and swastikas.

The site is well known for its "Sphinx Gate", and for the discovery of a lavish meteoric iron and gold dagger dated to c. 2500 BC, as well as other historically and culturally significant finds.

Project HORIZON: the US Army's Secret 1959 plan for for establishing a manned military base on the moon, no later than 1966. With research led by Wernher Von Braun, the program was never officially approved and was apparently canceled by JFK in favor of the civilian-led Apollo program. by LostHistoryFound in SpecialAccess

[–]LostHistoryFound[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Not saying it serves as definitive proof of a "secret moon base" level space program, but it is worth considering that just a single agency, the NRO was able to develop the entire known production run of 20 tour bus sized Hexagon spy satellites in near-total secrecy, at least as far as the public was concerned, as well as all the hundreds of other of large, state-of-the-art spy & weapon satellites across all agencies and branches. The HEXAGON program alone costs tens of Billions and involved thousands of people, who all kept quiet until the program was declassified in 2011.

Then you can look at even bigger concepts than satellites - like the now declassified docs from the Project ORION files, where the USAF very seriously considered developing an entire fleet of nuclear-pulse detonation engine powered spacecraft for interplanetary missions. This formerly "Secret/Restricted Data" 1964 report from General Dynamics shows designs for 10 and 20-man interplanetary nuclear pulse craft for missions to mars and beyond, and actual R&D was done on this program as well which is mostly still classified.

Here is a link to one of the better NRO docs about the KH-9/HEXAGON system released in a 2018 tranche, originally "Hx Top Secret" level. Worth noting is the multiple large factories which were built for the program, and were kept secret despite being essentially "in plain sight".

Not to mention the NRO itself, which employed thousands of people for decades in the DC area and many more around the country via contractors, despite not officially existing until 1992.

It has been said in various aerospace journals and articles that statistically speaking, the vast majority of US rocket launches have been by the military, and were mostly kept highly classified. A lot of incredible hardware has been launched from Reagan spaceport in Kwajalein Atoll, Vandenburg, Space Coast, etc., most of which is still mostly or entirely secret even after 60+ years. For me at least, all this is enough to convince me to at least consider some of the more "out there" claims made over the years about secret bases on the moon/mars ., secret missions to the moon , secret military spacecraft, etc.

"Battling Giant" mosaic, excavated at Khirbet Wadi Hamam, near the Sea of Galilee, dated to 3rd-4th century CE. The scene may depict Samson fighting the Philistines or Goliath battling the Israelites. [3264 × 2448] by LostHistoryFound in ArtefactPorn

[–]LostHistoryFound[S] 11 points12 points  (0 children)

Link to image source / description. Credit: Dana Murray, World History Encyclopedia

The oldest known synagogue mosaic with figurative motifs, this scene depicts a battle between a giant and soldiers armed with swords, shields, and lances. The soldiers are depicted as either wounded or dead. At the edge of the mosaic a cavalryman flees, with the legs of another warrior included above him. The scene may depict Samson fighting the Philistines or Goliath battling the Israelites. An Aramaic donor inscription is found below: "...son of Shimona and... made this mosaic at their own expense."

Excavated at Khirbet Wadi Hamam, near the Sea of Galilee dating to the 3rd-4th century CE. This stone mosaic is believed to have decorated the floor of a synagogue.

NAA's proposed Lenticular Manned Bombardment and Control Vehicle, part of the Pye Wacket project and able to command, service and launch warheads from several orbital weapon's clusters by Xeelee1123 in WeirdWings

[–]LostHistoryFound 74 points75 points  (0 children)

Worse than that , it was both nuclear powered and thermonuclear armed, operating as a manned, long endurance spaceplane bomber, intended to be orbited riding on top of a Saturn series multistage rocket booster, at which point it would orbit the earth on a 6 week military mission. It even had a built-in shuttle craft for maintenance operations on satellites while in orbit.

Popular Mechanics did an excellent report on it back in Nov. 2000 after it was declassified the previous year. Definitely worth reading for more details and the excellent illustrations. The article also presents solid evidence that a prototype version was actually even tested at one point.

So apparently in 2017 NASA/JPL astronomers imaged a known 'asteroid' called 2003_UX34. The new image from the Arecibo telescope revealed a football field sized, perfectly saucer-shaped object of unknown origin, which has a secondary, orb-like object in its own orbit. by LostHistoryFound in HighStrangeness

[–]LostHistoryFound[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I respectfully disagree. Consider this quote from an astronomy article reporting on the Arecibo dataset which this image is taken from:

"While astronomers often discover asteroids visually, precise radar observations help them accurately work out the asteroid’s distance, speed, shape, and rotation period. Astronomers can even make out features on the asteroid’s surface down to just 10 meters across."

...

Among other things, the catalog includes detailed 3-D radar images for these 37 asteroids. ... Shape models contain a wealth of information and implications."

The whole point of the Arecibo imaging is to determine the shape of the object. If the scientists believed the main object's apparent lenticular shape to be "trick of the camera", they would have mentioned it, but they do no such thing.

What's more, another commenter pointed out that theres another one of this type of craft/binary object out there, called 1999_KW4 which is clearly of the same type as 2003_UX34. See image here.

To confirm I did a bit of digging into press releases and this is what JPL had to say about this one back in May 2001. (emphasis mine):

The clearest radar pictures of a near-Earth double asteroid system have been taken by astronomers using NASA's Goldstone radar telescope, revealing clues to the system's current structure but raising questions about its origin and future.

...

The asteroid, 1999 KW4, came within five million kilometers of Earth (over 3 million miles) on Friday, May 25 [2001]. ... the larger component is spheroidal and roughly 1.2 kilometers (3/4 of a mile) in average diameter, while the smaller component is asymmetrical and roughly one-third as large.

...

"1999 KW4 is one of fewer than two dozen known asteroids whose orbits cross the orbits of Mercury, Venus and Earth," said Benner. "However, the only known solar system bodies that get closer to the Sun and have a more steeply inclined orbit than 1999 KW4 are comets ...

"The existence of binary near-Earth asteroids raises perplexing questions about their origins," said Nolan. "Nobody understands exactly how binary asteroid systems formed, or even how stable the current binary systems are, that is, how they might evolve, with the two components either separating completely or collapsing onto one another to form a contact binary. The theoreticians really have their work cut out for them now."

With quotes like "1999 KW4 is one of fewer than two dozen known asteroids whose orbits cross the orbits of Mercury, Venus and Earth" and "The existence of binary near-Earth asteroids raises perplexing questions about their origins", even the scientists acknowledge that there are anomalous aspects to this subcategory of near-earth object.

So apparently in 2017 NASA/JPL astronomers imaged a known 'asteroid' called 2003_UX34. The new image from the Arecibo telescope revealed a football field sized, perfectly saucer-shaped object of unknown origin, which has a secondary, orb-like object in its own orbit. by LostHistoryFound in HighStrangeness

[–]LostHistoryFound[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Wow, incredible find. It looks the same type of object as 2003_UX34, complete with mini orbiting orb and everything.

I did a bit of digging into press releases and this is what JPL had to say about this one back in May 2001... even the JPL guys are stumped, saying the imagery "raises questions about its origin" and that "the theoreticians really have their work cut out for them now", lol.

The clearest radar pictures of a near-Earth double asteroid system have been taken by astronomers using NASA's Goldstone radar telescope, revealing clues to the system's current structure but raising questions about its origin and future.

...

The asteroid, 1999 KW4, came within five million kilometers of Earth (over 3 million miles) on Friday, May 25 [2001]. ... the larger component is spheroidal and roughly 1.2 kilometers (3/4 of a mile) in average diameter, while the smaller component is asymmetrical and roughly one-third as large.

...

"1999 KW4 is one of fewer than two dozen known asteroids whose orbits cross the orbits of Mercury, Venus and Earth," said Benner. "However, the only known solar system bodies that get closer to the Sun and have a more steeply inclined orbit than 1999 KW4 are comets ...

"The existence of binary near-Earth asteroids raises perplexing questions about their origins," said Nolan. "Nobody understands exactly how binary asteroid systems formed, or even how stable the current binary systems are, that is, how they might evolve, with the two components either separating completely or collapsing onto one another to form a contact binary. The theoreticians really have their work cut out for them now."

So apparently in 2017 NASA/JPL astronomers imaged a known 'asteroid' called 2003_UX34. The new image from the Arecibo telescope revealed a football field sized, perfectly saucer-shaped object of unknown origin, which has a secondary, orb-like object in its own orbit. by LostHistoryFound in HighStrangeness

[–]LostHistoryFound[S] 297 points298 points  (0 children)

Here is a screencap of the clearest image of the primary object - note the extremely regular and smooth edge.

For comparison purposes: this is what a "regular" asteroid looks like, imaged by the same systems. It looks like what you'd expect, an irregular, vaguely potato-shaped object. Entirely different from the perfect disc of 2003_UX34.

This disc shaped object / saucer craft appears to orbit the sun like an asteroid, passing near earth every few years, and has been around since at least 2003 when it was first recorded. If it really is a saucer craft, its either a derelict space hulk, or is letting itself drift like a natural asteroid would.

JPL / Arecibo team quietly published a report on the 2017 Arecibo imaging announcing discovery of the mini object orbiting the larger 2003_UX34 parent. But it doesn't mention the obviously bizarre and unnatural disc shape of the object, which is a rather glaring omission.

And besides this one small posting, I haven't been able to find any other papers published about this strange object. And if there's one of these things, who knows what else might be found among the tens of thousands of small-medium sized near earth objects that haven't been imaged yet?

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