Lima Area UFO Research Associates

July/Aug 2011

Issue # 8

Hints of Water Spark Fresh Hope for Life on Mars

by Clara Moskowitz, SPACE.com Senior Writer Date: 04 August 2011 Time: 06:27 PM ET The evidence of possible liquid water on Mars, announced today (Aug. 4), has scientists newly excited about the Red Planet's potential to host some form of primitive life, scientists say.

The discovery comes from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO), which spotted slopes carved into the Martian surface that appear to most likely have been created by the flow of liquid salt water, NASA announced today (Aug. 4). The slopes appear to change over the course of different seasons on Mars, suggesting that liquid water, if it exists at all, is only present in the Martian spring. In recent years, evidence has been mounting that Mars has icecaps of frozen water at its poles, but the new discovery is the strongest hint yet that liquid water may also exist on the Martian surface, scientists said. "It hasn't been a question for some time now that there's ice on Mars," geophysicist Philip Christensen of Arizona State University in Tempe said today during a NASA press conference. "What makes these new observations so interesting is that they occur at much lower latitudes where temperatures are much warmer and where it's actually possible for liquid water to exist." Liquid water is the Holy Grail for scientists hunting for life beyond Earth. All life on this planet relies on liquid water, and experts think extraterrestrials likely do, too. And Mars, as the planet next in line after Earth from the sun, is one of the top potential habitats for ET. "I think this is an eye-opening discovery that will really help us begin the planning process for future missions specifically looking for signs of the presence of life on Mars," biogeochemist Lisa Pratt of Indiana University at Bloomington said. In addition to the ice caps on Mars, previous studies have also hinted at the presence of liquid water beneath the surface. Though this water, too, could possibly nurture microscopic life, we have little way of looking for it there, hidden deep underground.

The new discovery, however, offers the tantalizing hope that life might exist on Mars' surface, and thus, signs of its presence, such as the release of biologically produced chemicals, could be visible to us. "It is our first chance to see an environment on Mars that might allow for the expression of an active biological process if there is presently life on Mars," Pratt said. Pratt suggested looking for chemically produced gases such as methane or hydrogen sulfide, or oxidized gas such as oxygen. The closest analogue on Earth to the salty, briny water possible on the slopes of Mars is the Siberian permafrost, Pratt said. While that's not exactly heaven for creepy crawlies, certain brands of hardy extremophile microbes are known to thrive there. And if it works in Siberia, why not on Mars? Before getting too excited about finding ET on the Red Planet, though, scientists cautioned that more observations and experiments are needed to confirm the water's presence. "We have this circumstantial evidence for water flowing on Mars," said Alfred McEwen, a planetary geologist at the University of Arizona, Tucson. "We have no direct detection of water." Still, scientists now have a better idea where to focus their searches for liquid water, and life, on Mars. "For me, this is sort of the beginning of the scientific process here we've just started," Christensen said. "There's questions regarding these observations, but now the scientific community can really turn to them and really begin to probe the details of what these observations are telling us."

Sighting Reports 2011

Man Video Tapes Hovering Silver Object. Military Jets Flew Over Area.

Time of Sighting: 2 PM PDT Location of Sighting: Fresno, California (See Map) Date of Sighting: June 10, 2011

Note: The witness videotaped an unknown silver object that was hovering in the day sky. He uploaded the video to YouTube. (The full length video can be viewed at) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zLbGXGLnVKk&feature=related Military jets were in the area. Several frames shows one jet and then others can be heard. (The witness says that he saw other military jets besides the one on the footage.) It is unclear if the jets were pursuing the object or just "happened" to be in the area. The object does not appear to be a balloon, blimp, kite or any other "flotation device." The planet Venus is sometimes visible in the day sky. Venus was visible, but was very low on the horizon at the time of the video. Also Venus was dimmer than its maximum luminosity so it is highly unlikely that Venus is the object in the video. The witness uses his zoom setting on his camera for several frames. The footage clearly reveals a silver object.

Woman Sees 2 Red Lights. Lights Individually Ascended & Vanished.

Photo of one of red lights sent by witness. (Photo has been enlarged & brightened.)

Marysville is in western Washington about 40 Miles north-northeast of Seattle.

Date of Sighting: July 23, 2011 Time of Sighting: 12:07 AM PDT Location of Sighting: Marysville, Washington (See Map) Description: Upon leaving the Quil Ceda Casino tonight, I witnessed 2 objects going North to South (and directly over my head before they went straight up) over the Casino at 12:07 AM. These objects were low, lower like that of an incoming airplane. I have seen a number of objects I can't explain, but these objects looked different than the ones I have seen before. They were red and silent and the shape wasn't uniform, but more ball like. And They were an odd shade of red. One appeared larger in size than the other and closer to the ground. There were two young men standing with me looking up. I asked one of them what he thought, if he knew what it was. He gave me the classic I am afraid and I don't know what that is before they both huffed into the casino. My hands were trembling with excitement and I had a hard time manipulating my new iphone, but managed to take a poor picture of the second object before it went straight up into the sky it was going up and getting smaller. They had a mechanical non airplane movement, but did move in a straight line before disappearing, and the red color seemed to glow and expand and contract. I had a hard time focusing my eyes. Based on the location I would guess these objects to be as big as 737 aircraft. Such excitement! Note: I know this witness and she is reliable. She sometimes feels that she can predict the appearance of UFOs. (She had this sensation on this occasion.) She also stated in an interview that the objects would about 1/3 the size of a full moon. The distorted shape of the light is likely due to a combination of camera movement and/or movement of the light. Research Summary Prepared by Witness: This is a follow up to the report I posted on your website. I was interested in the Indian Reservation/pyrotechnic angle so I called around specifically: 1. Washington State has 2 major Pyrotechnic companies that supplies fireworks for events to the Reservations. Neither of them had events going on Marysville or nearby. One of the companies suggested that I look into helicopter fireworks - I did and it's not close. They did not know of any other fireworks that resembled what I saw. 2. I called both the Quil Ceda and Tulalip Casino's to confirm there were no firework events that night. I was referred to the Tulalip Tribe operator who suggested that I call the Washington State Patrol's 116th Office for more info. The WSP is the only other organization that can issue Fireworks permits besides the ATF. 3. The WSP Bomb squad Sgt called me back this afternoon - he confirmed there were no events reported and that I check out marine flares but he didn't think it sounded like what I saw.

4. Finally I called the Tulalip Police who confirmed there were no events, and suggested that I call a tribal member from "Boom City" - run by veterans. I will call them tomorrow and let you know if I find out anything new. Apparently the laws on tribal lands are different and I am going to try and nail down anything that might explain what I saw. The clincher for me is that this object flew parallel to the ground and then ascended which does not match the up down and arc king fireworks via gravity. Additionally I don't understand why if this is something otherworldly it would be red? It was almost impossible to not see these two objects.

From Kathleen Marden (niece of Betty Hill)

Many states might shy away from immortalizing its UFO history. But the State of New Hampshire is known for its fiercely independent people and its live free or die motto. On July 20, 2011, it erected a historical marker to commemorate the September 19-20, 1961 close encounter and lost time of Portsmouth residents Betty and Barney Hill. The marker is located next to the highway in front of Cabin # 20 at the Indian Head Resort in North Lincoln and across the street from the granite stone face called Indian Head. Several years ago, Mike Stevens, a Farmington, NH, man circulated a petition to request a marker to commemorate Betty and Barney Hills UFO experience. The State of NH Division of Historical Resources, Department of Cultural Resources advised him that a formal request would be required. I, as the Hills niece and trustee of Bettys estate, then worked with the state over the next 3-4 years to complete the process. Employees at the Department of Cultural Resources called upon me to suggest appropriate text for the markera challenge in and of itself. Every statement had to be footnoted and supported by ample evidence that it was true and accurate. In all, the wording for the 12 line plaque had 20 footnotes and 28 sources listed in its bibliography.
WHAT: 2011 MUFON Symposium
PROGRAM: ET Contact, The Implication for Science and Society WHERE: WHEN: The Hyatt Regency in Irvine, California July 29 - 30

WHO: Astronaut Story Musgrave, Richard Dolan, Stanton Friedman, George Filer, Linda Moulton Howe, Ted Peters, John Alexander. Paul A. LaViolette, Joseph McMoneagle, Barbra Lamb, Jim Sparkls, Ted Loser, John Greenwald is the MC. COST: General $259.00, Mufon Members $239.00

CONTACT:

www.2011mufonsymposium.com

The Mutual UFO Network of Ohio

Mike and Peggy Krick and Bob Prater attended the Mufon of Ohio summer conference in Ashland, Ohio with Travis Walton and Kathleen Marden as speakers. If you would like to know more, copy and paste this link in your web browser.

http://www.mufonohio.com/2011confSUMMARY.html

A Mutual UFO Network of Ohio lecture will be held at the Putnam County District Library
October 20, 2011, 6:00 pm in Ottawa.

On the History Channel Thursday, August 25th, 8pm

Secret Access: UFOs on the Record (dont miss it!)

What Year Was It?

1.) The Roswell Crash____________ 2.) The Orson Wells broadcast of War of the Worlds__________ 3.) The Phoenix Lights____________ 4.) The Betty and Barney Hill case__________ 5.) The Bentwaters/Rendlesham Forest case___________ 6.) The Kecksburg recovery___________ 7.) The Travis Walton incident________ 8.) The Freedom of Information Act was passed_________ 2011 Lecture Schedule for Ohio current as of July 28, 2011

The LAURA Club News is a publication of the Lima Area UFO Research Associates, in Lima, Ohio. The study group meets on the 3rd Wednesday of the month at the New Creation Lutheran Church (just west of Tom Ahl auto) in the upstairs church fellowship hall at 7pm-please join us!

Contacts: President Mike Krick mkrick@woh.rr.com; Secretary: Tom Bowman mbowman27@woh.rr.com; Co-editors: Robert and Marcia Prater ada_potato@hotmail.com