Unresolved Vintage UFO cases:Alien sightings from Project Blue Book files

 

 

 

		Vintage  UFO cases revealed: Images show mysterious alien sightings in recently-released Project Blue Book files   Can YOU solve these UFO cold cases? Vintage 'alien' photos that governments couldn't explain reveal world's strangest sightings  Unresolved cases include 1957 image by a pilot allegedly showing a UFO following a B-47 jet Another shows searchlights focusing on an unidentified object flying over LA in February 1942 ‘The pictures here don’t seem to be faked,' UFO investigator, Nigel Watson told DailyMail.com But he added that there may be other explanations, such as the way a photograph is developed The US government is still unable to explain around five per cent of UFO sightings in its archives. Now one team of ‘alien hunters’ has dug up some of the best images to see if the public can shed light on the eerie glows, mysterious orbs and flying objects from the last few decades. Among them is a remarkable 1957 photo taken by a test pilot near Edwards Air Force Base in California, allegedly showing a UFO following a B-47 jet. Scroll down for video  +13 In 1957 this picture was taken by a test pilot near Edwards Air Force Base in California. It shows a UFO allegedly following a B-47 jet Another, released by the Aerial Phenomena Group, shows three mysterious lights over the Manhattan skyline taken in 1984. It was taken by Philipe Orego from New Jersey, and researchers could find no sign of a hoax at the time. ‘A UFO picture tells a thousand lies,’ Nigel Watson author of the UFO Investigations Manual told DailyMail.com ‘The basic problem is that if a UFO photograph is taken in daylight and looks close, clear and sharp, you suspect it is a fake. ‘If it is out-of-focus, distant and hard to define, then it can be a picture of anything in the sky - from an insect, bird to a balloon or drone. ‘The pictures here don’t seem to be faked but each has its own story to tell. With old pictures, blobs or spots can appear due to the way the film is developed or mishandled in the processing stage. ‘   On the right is an image taken by Felippe Orego showing three lights over the Manhattan skyline, New York, on May 9, 1984. The left image, allegedly showing a UFO, was taken in Ward, Colorado in 1929 +13 Searchlights focus on an unidentified object over Los Angeles on February 25, 1942. The bright dots around the flashes are anti-aircraft shells exploding   The picture on the left was taken on New Year's Day in 1939 with unidentified object appearing in the top left. The right image shows a picture of a UFO taken somewhere in the US on June 10, 1964, and was discovered in an attic a number of years later Watson said that a good case to illustrate this point is the image of the UFO over Los Angeles. In February 1942, fears of a Japanese air raid and invasion struck LA. On 23 February, a Japanese submarine allegedly shelled the Elwood Oil Field near Goleto, north of Los Angeles. In the early hours of 25 February, a fleet of mystery aircraft were seen heading for the city. Army Chief of Staff General George Marshall reported in a memorandum to President Roosevelt dated 26 February 1942 that as many as 15 airplanes may have been involved. Although 1430 rounds were expended by the 37th Coast Artillery Brigade’s anti-aircraft guns no aircraft was hit or shot down and no bombs were dropped by the aircraft. The only conclusion was that commercial aircraft were used by enemy agents to determine the location of anti-aircraft guns and to spread alarm. ‘This invasion scare became the subject of Steven Spielberg’s high-rolling comedy movie ‘1941’ (1979) that shows how fear ensnares people in a web of obsession and conflict fuelled by rumours and the media,’ said Watson. ‘The lasting evidence of the craft was a photograph of a ‘wigwam’ of searchlights converging on an unidentified aircraft over Culver City.’ An analysis by UFO expert Dr Bruce Maccabee suggests that the object caught by the searchlight beams was 100 feet wide.  +13 In the summer of 1966, a flight official photographed two red spheres over the Swiss airport Zurich-Kloten. The photo was later released by Swiss Air pilot Ferdinand Schmid   On the left, Jack LeMonde, who served with the US Marine Corp, was photographed on horseback near the Pickwick Riding stables in Burbank, California on a June morning in 1945. A UFO can be see in the image to the right of the horse's ear. On the right a passenger on a plane from Hong Kong to southwest China claimed to have seen a 'UFO like flying object' outside the window of the plane in 2012 +13 Four brightly glowing, unidentified objects appeared in the sky at 9:35 am.on July 15, 1952 over a parking lot in Salem, Massachusetts CRITERIA USED BY THE US CONDON COMMITEE ON UFO SIGHTINGS The US Condon Committee examined many UFO photographs, and concluded that such cases should be selected and analysed according to the following criteria: How clear is the photograph? Does it present evidence of something unusual after astronomical, meteorological, photographic and optical effects are ruled out? Could it be to misinterpretation? Are light and shadows in the photograph consistent? If a film camera is used, has the negative been tampered with? Is the sharpness and focus of the picture in agreement with the visual observations? Are the time intervals of a set of photographs consistent with the witness testimony? Does the focus and contrast agree with the given distance of the object? Can the size and distance of the UFO be discerned with reference to objects either in front of, or behind the UFO? Steven Lacey, another UFO believer, using Photoshop cleared up the image to reveal an image of a classic flying saucer. This made him conclude that this image is ‘a very convincing argument for the presence of alien craft in our skies.’ ‘In contrast, aviation historian Brett Holman puts forward a convincing case that the searchlights are converging on a small cloud rather than a UFO or extra-terrestrial battlecruiser,’ said Watson. ‘And, he has found other examples of antiaircraft searchlights illuminating clouds that look like flying saucers. ‘A UFO picture certainly says more than a thousand words, but it still depends on our prejudices and expectations to decide whether it depicts something extraordinary or mundane.’ A number of 'closed' cases were also recently revealed by the US government who opened its files into 12,000 encounters with UFOs spanning between 1947-1969. Microfilms of these cases, collectively known as Project Blue Book, have become available for anyone to view online. One of the most famous is the Lubbock Lights incident, which was reported on August 30, 1951 in Texas by three professors. The witnesses were sitting in the backyard of one of the professor's homes when they saw 20 to 30 'lights' fly overhead. One of the professors said the objects 'appeared to be about the size of a dinner plate and they were greenish-blue, slightly fluorescent in colour. 'They were smaller than the full moon at the horizon. There were about a dozen to fifteen of these lights...they were absolutely circular...it gave all of us...an extremely eerie feeling.' The USAF concluded that these lights were most likely caused by birds named plovers, which have white breasts that can reflect lights from cities below. Another image, titled simply 'Winter 1951', shows what the photographer believed to be a flying saucer. However, scientists discovered that the eerie shape was a lenticular cloud which are created by moist air that has condensed at a high altitude. Man speaks about 'UFO abduction' 40 years on (related)   +13 The Lubbock Lights incident was reported August 30, 1951 in Texas. The USAF said that these lights were most likely caused by birds named plovers, whose white breasts could reflect lights from the city below +13 This image, titled simply 'Winter 1951', was taken in New Zealand. While the photographer believed this to be a flying saucer, the USAF concluded that it was in fact a lenticular cloud. The lens-shaped formations are the result of moist air that has condensed at a high altitude +13 Kenneth Arnold saw nine UFOs over Mount Rainier, on 24 June 1947 and the US government agencies took an interest in reports. A similar sighting (pictured) occured over Tulsa, Oklahoma on July 12, 1947     The files relate to USAF investigations from 1947-1969 that were recently made available online One of the most famous is the Lubbock Lights incident, which was reported in Texas in 1951 Another shows what the photographer believed to be a flying saucer, which turned out to be a cloud More than 700 cases in Project Blue Book remain unsolved, accounting for 5.5 per cent of the files The US government recently revealed its investigations into 12,000 encounters with UFOs spanning between 1947-1969. Microfilms of these cases, collectively known as Project Blue Book, have become available for anyone to view online. Now some of the strangest from the collection have been highlighted, revealing the mysterious objects in the sky that left UFO hunters baffled. Scroll down for video +11 The Lubbock Lights incident was reported August 30, 1951 in Texas. The USAF said that these lights were most likely caused by birds named plovers, whose white breasts could reflect lights from the city below One of the most famous is the Lubbock Lights incident, which was reported on August 30, 1951 in Texas by three professors, according to a report by Joe Tonelli onDigg. The witnesses were sitting in the backyard of one of the professor's homes when they saw 20 to 30 'lights' fly overhead. One of the professors said the objects 'appeared to be about the size of a dinner plate and they were greenish-blue, slightly fluorescent in colour. 'They were smaller than the full moon at the horizon. There were about a dozen to fifteen of these lights...they were absolutely circular...it gave all of us...an extremely eerie feeling.' +11 This image, titled simply 'Winter 1951', was taken in New Zealand. While the photographer believed this to be a flying saucer, the USAF concluded that it was in fact a lenticular cloud. The lens-shaped formations are the result of moist air that has condensed at a high altitude +11 Kenneth Arnold saw nine UFOs over Mount Rainier, on 24 June 1947 and the US government agencies took an interest in reports. A similar sighting (pictured) occured over Tulsa, Oklahoma on July 12, 1947 +11 This image was taken on April 15, 1965 in Omaha, Nebraska. There are no additional case files with this photograph. The USAF says that the Blue Book included 12,618 sightings reports, with 701 of which remained 'unidentified' WHAT IS PROJECT BLUE BOOK? Project Blue Book was the name for a project that investigated UFO reports between 1947 and 1969. It was the third study of its kind. The first two were projects Sign (1947) and Grudge (1949). The aim was to determine if UFOs were a threat to national security, and to scientifically analyse UFO-related data. The USAF says that Blue Book included 12,618 sightings reports, with 701 of which remained 'unidentified' – or around 5.5 per cent of the files. A termination order was given for the study in December 1969, and all activity under its project ended in January 1970. The USAF concluded that these lights were most likely caused by birds named plovers, which have white breasts that can reflect lights from cities below. Another image, titled simply 'Winter 1951', shows what the photographer believed to be a flying saucer. However, scientists discovered that the eerie shape was a lenticular cloud which are created by moist air that has condensed at a high altitude. The clouds are formed when the air temperature drops and moisture droplets are pushed up a steep slope by high winds. A more straightforward case can be seen in images of a UFO taken in Santa Ana, California on August 3, 1965 by highway worker Rex Heflin. Distant objects are hazy in the images because of the LA smog, while the UFO is not. Some suggest this is because the UFO is in fact a small object that was close to the camera. The USAF says that the Blue Book included 12,618 sightings reports, with 701 of which remained 'unidentified' – or around 5.5 per cent of the files. The files, which can be accessed here, were previously only available by visiting the National Archives in Washington. 'There is plenty of work for amateur investigators to try to come up with explanations they never had time to consider or research,' Nigel Watson author of the UFO investigations Manual told MailOnline. One case that Mr Watson is particularly intrigued in for historical reasons is a report filed by Kenneth Arnold which led to the popular term 'flying saucers'. +11 This image was taken in Roswell in 1949. It is similar to a number of other images submitted, and has no case file associated with it +11 Found on July, 1957 in Ohio, the mysterious rock was thought to be from an alien civilisation. Experts initially said it was a meteorite that was over a century old. But after testing, they changed their minds and claimed it was a displaced piece of sediment from a glacier +11 No case files are associated with this image, which looks like a flying submarine. It was taken on December 27, 1954 in Bronx, New York. Mr Arnold saw nine UFOs over Mount Rainier, on 24 June 1947 and the US government agencies took an interest in reports. A similar sighting occurred over Tulsa, Oklahoma, just a month later on July 12, 1947 'They flew in a diagonal formation that stretched about five miles from the first to last craft, and they bobbed about erratically,' said Mr Watson. 'He estimated that they travelled faster than 1,000 miles per hour as they flew from Mount Rainier to Mount Adams.' When describing the sight to newspaper reporters, Mr Arnold said it was 'like a saucer would if you skipped it across the water.' This, said Mr Watson, reveals that the term flying saucer came from the description of the movement of the craft rather than their appearance. 'Explanations from mirages, secret aircraft to the flight of pelicans have all been used to try to explain his sighting but it still remains a mystery,' he added. +11 These images were taken in Santa Ana, California on August 3, 1965 by highway worker Rex Heflin using his Polaroid camera. This object supposedly flew over the Marine Corps El Toro Air Station in broad daylight, but no one else saw it. Distant objects are hazy because of the LA smog, while the UFO is not. Some suggest this is because it is small dust that was close to the camera +11 Pictured is the staff of Project Blue Book, which recorded more than 12,000 encounters with UFOs. Sitting in the centre is Hector Quintanilla, the last chief officer of Project Blue Book +11 +11 The once-top secret files were previously only available by visiting the National Archives in Washington (left), but have recently been made available online (right) Nasa accused of cutting live ISS feed as 'UFOs' hover in sight: Conspiracy theorists claim space agency is hiding alien life Alien hunter, Toby Lundh, recently spotted a 'UFO' outside the ISS But the live stream was interrupted for 15 seconds after it appeared In a separate incident, a grey object was seen coming over the horizon One possibility is that it was the moon, or debris left on the lens Conspiracy theorists have accused Nasa of cutting its live feed from the International Space Station whenever a 'UFO' appears. On two separate occasions this month, alien hunters claim to have spotted mysterious objects appearing on their screens before it goes blank. UFO watcher Toby Lundh recently spotted a UFO outside the space station, moments before the stream was interrupted for 10 to 15 seconds. Scroll down for video +3 Last week, a grey object was seen coming up over the horizon and then disappearing moments before Nasa switched to a different camera. One possible is that it was a bit of debris that hit the lens, or even the moon Mr Lundh told Disclose.TV that there are 'always some UFOs showing up,' and 'Nasa always cuts the feed when a UFO gets close to the station.' The alien hunter claims to have captured a still photo of the unidentified object from the feed - and it looks remarkably like the Starfleet insignia in Star Trek. He also says that Nasa has removed the recording from its archives as part of efforts to conceal alleged communication between astronauts and UFOs In a separate incident last week, a grey object was seen coming up over the horizon and then disappearing moments before Nasa switched to a different camera. +3 UFO watcher Toby Lundh recently spotted a UFO outside the space station, before the stream was interrupted for 10 to 15 seconds. The alien hunter claims to have captured a still photo of an unidentified object (pictured) that appeared on the live feed on January 6. It look remarkably like the Starfleet insignia in Star Trek NASA camera shuts off as mysterious grey object appears One possible is that it was a bit of debris that hit the lens, or even the moon. But 'Streetcap1', the YouTuber who posted the video isn't convinced. 'Please bear in mind that the moon appears white when it shows,' he writes. Meanwhile on October 7, UFO watchers said they witnessed a strange object near the station during a spacewalk by astronauts Reid Wiserman and Alexander Gerst. The object was later identified as being either a speck of dust or a lens flare from the sun. That didn't stopped some conspiracy theories arising though, with ufologists somewhat speculatively claiming it was proof that we are not alone in the universe. CAN YOU SOLVE SOME OF THE WORLD'S BIGGEST UFO MYSTERIES? One of the most interesting cases in the files is the Lubbock Lights incident was reported August 30, 1951 in Texas In 1948, the US government launched several inquiries into UFO sightings, which many believed were sparked by Cold War paranoia. In what became known as 'Project Blue Book,' more than 12,000 encounters with UFOs were looked into by the Air Force. Now, decades after the files were closed, the microfilms have been made available online for free – allowing anyone to re-examine the evidence. The USAF says that the Blue Book included 12,618 sightings reports, with 701 of which remained 'unidentified' – or around 5.5 per cent of the files. The files, which can be accessed here, were previously only available by visiting the National Archives in Washington. NASA shuts down live video feed - was it because of UFO? Professor Andrew Balogh from the Imperial College London Department of Physics tells MailOnline: 'Generally speaking UFO sightings are either explained by some artefact effect - even some space junk - or left unexplained as there is not enough evidence. 'It's difficult to judge from the video in this instance, because of its poor quality. If Nasa has access to high quality images, they may investigate further.' Nasa is yet to comment the incidents. The space agency's ISS live stream and rover photos have become a huge source of 'evidence' for conspiracy theorists. Many scientists believe UFO sightings such as this are down to a psychological phenomenon called pareidolia. This describes the brain's response to seeing significant objects in random places. 'The vast majority of these images are as vague and elusive as those posted by UFO witnesses on Earth, and many have a fairly mundane explanation, 'Nigel Watson author of the UFO investigations Manual told MailOnline. 'The problem is that the more Nasa denies such things or explains them the more people think there is a conspiracy to hide the truth that aliens are visiting our planet.' +3 On October 7, UFO watchers said they witnessed a strange object near the station during a spacewalk by astronauts Reid Wiserman and Alexander Gerst     Could an UFO have visited Texas this week? Several people have taken it to Twitter to post pictures showing a strange object floating through the Houston clouds during a storm last Monday. Some of the pictures show a bright oval object hovering. An unrelated picture shows a similar object through clouds. There are others, some showing what appears to be lights underneath the 'thing.' +3 Several people in Houston took pictures of what appears to be a bright, oval object hovering in the skies +3 Another picture shows the 'thing' hovering in clear skies 'I think the trick in UFO's is figuring out what else they could be,' Dr. Carolyn Sumners, vice president for Astronomy at the Houston Museum of Natural Science, told KPRC. 'It's easy to say that could be the aliens,' she added. Sumners said that the stormy weather in Houston on Monday could be an explanation. If it's a real object and it looks like it is, the more people who see it in different directions, the more likely we are to 'figure out where it is, what it is and see if we can explain it,' she told KPRC. 'All the way back to recorded history, there are going to be things we can't explain,' she added. 'That's what makes it exciting.' +3 This picture shows the object, much farther now, hovering in Houston's clear skies UFO Sighting Over Houston? Pictures were taken and Tweeted Monday night in Southeast Houston by Andrew Pena that would indicate an unidentified flying object.     UFO believers are in a frenzy this month as three videos recently taken from orbit appear to show mysterious objects some believe to be evidence of extraterrestrial life. While evidence may seem like a strong word to more cynical viewers, the footage--all of which has been taken since the start of August--does all show something a little out of the ordinary. Be it a tiny speck of light out past the International Space Station or a slightly larger speck of light caught by the NASA HD camera, the truth is out there.     Do not adjust your screen: UFO enthusiasts have reported a string of mysterious objects seen near the International Space Station. At left, a very faint blur appeared briefly on August 7 Can you see it? 'UFO' spotted near International Space Station The first of these sightings was made by Scott Waring on August 4, reports the Houston Chronicle. 'I was watching the live cam and caught this glowing disk in the distance,' Waring writes on a video he posted to YouTube. 'I took a screenshot of the UFO and enlarged it. It has a long line down its middle and a dome on its top.' Waring had been watching the live feed from the ISS when he saw the very faint, grey speck. But according to the Taiwan-based blogger, officials knew better than to let internet viewers see too much. +2 Bright spot: A much flashier mystery object appeared on the NASA HD camera on August 7 'NASA did go to blue screen as soon as they noticed the UFO. When they brought the cam back online again, the UFO was gone,' he wrote. Days later, Waring re-emerged with another photo passed along to him from a friend who goes by Streetcap1. In this one, the Earth can be seen orbiting out in the distance as a much brighter spot of light hovers above, only to slowly fade. Streetcap1 posted another video from the ISS on August 12. In this one, four lights can be seen beyond the floating lab. They, too, soon fade away. +2 Invasion? Four more mysterious lights appeared on August 12 and now UFO believers are in a frenzy With Nato forces withdrawing from the badlands of Afghanistan, the country's people need all the help they can get to keep extremists from once again seizing power. But it seems a new intervention has come from an unlikely source... outer space. U.S. Marines captured this incredible footage of what looks like a UFO hovering over a Taliban encampment - then blowing it to kingdom come. +4 The cosmic coalition: Huge explosions are seen as an unidentified aircraft bombards a Taliban base in Afghanistan, in this screengrab from a video shot by U.S. Marines fighting in the war-torn country +4 Fire photon torpedoes! Muzzle flash-like lights can be seen emerging from the underside of the aircraft +4 Devastating: The huge plumes of smoke from the attack obscure the view of the UFO The clip was reportedly filmed by U.S. troops fighting in Afghanistan in March. Shot by a soldier standing next to a stationary armoured column, it shows a bizarre triangular object hanging in the sky not far ahead. As soldiers look on, the craft slowly moves into position, before what appear to be muzzle flashes soundlessly emanate from its underside. A split-second later and huge explosions erupt as the fearsome space weapons hit the site of the purported Taliban camp, sending up plumes of smoke that obscure the view of the mysterious bomber. After the smoke clears, the cameraman zooms in to shoot a close up view of the UFO, which looks unlike any known U.S. military drone.   +4 Grainy: A close-up view of the mysterious aircraft, which has come at the right time for Afghanistan as the U.S. led International Security Assistance Force plans to withdraw from the country at the end of this year If the unidentified aircraft is from outer space, it has come at the right time for the Westnern-backed government of Afghanistan. Most international troops are slated to withdraw at the end of the year, and there are fears that the Afghan army and police are not ready to take over the job of securing the country. Despite a decade of war since a U.S.-led coalition invaded Afghanistan and toppled the Taliban regime, it remains a crucible of extremism, a place where women have few rights, and a major source for the international heroin trade. But with possible alien intervention, it could be that a new era has finally begun for Afghanistan's embattled people. Perhaps it is time to rename the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), to the Inter-Stellar Assistance Force...   There is evidence to suggest that the alien intersection with earthlings is not limited one single group of aliens. If reports and leaks are accurate, there are several alien entities having approached various nation states at different times and entered into various different treaties with them all to one degree or another exchanging high technology for access to human subjects for biological and genetic research. The Nazi/Tall White Nordic Treaty.   The first alleged treaty was between the Thules of Germany using the Vril girls as go-betweens, and this was in the early 1900’s perhaps sometime between 1912 and 1933. This treaty was between the Tall Nordics and involved trading anti-gravity and advanced weapons technology in exchange for a promise to eventually establish a world kingdom interbred of their hybrids. This treaty changed when the Nazis lost WW2 and became bifurcated with some of their scientists working on alien technology moved to alien bases in the southern part of South America and German designated territories in Antarctica, and the rest going to America given complete immunity to work under Operation Paperclip. The Grenada/Eisenhower Treaty. The next alleged treaty known was the alleged “Grenada Treaty” between the US Army and the Alien Tall Grays and was based on an exchange where the aliens would provide high tech anti-gravity, communications, weapons in exchange for the right to conduct abductions of humans to gain biological/genetic samples as long as they kept records and released the abductees with no harm done to them and with their memories wiped clean to prevent PSTD. The Technician/Scientist Exchange Treaty. Apparently a later additional treaty with the tall Grays was negotiated later and part of this treaty allegedly included exchange of technicians/scientists between the aliens and the Americans and advanced high tech psychotronic mindkontrol technology. Several years later more than one crashed UFO was recovered with dissected humans and body parts and some evidence that suggested humans were being kidnapped outside the allowed program with no required records and murdered and butchered for food. It has since been learned that tall Grays have cloned numerous little grays which act as obedient servants and appear to be hived creatures that operate very mechanically. Some abductees have reported that they have memories of tall Reptoids being present on the UFO where the abductee was taken to and was directing tall Grays to take biological samples from them and also directing small Grays servants that were present. So it has been alleged that the Reptoids are superior and seem to be the controllers of the tall and small Grays. The Grays get caught violating the treaty. When crashed UFOs of the Grays contained butchered human body parts which appeared to have been used as food, those top few senior individuals who ran the SSG and made the decisions, were concerned. They discussed this with the Grays they had a treaty with and shared their concerns which were met with blanket denials. Since these SSG “top dogs” were men with no functioning consciences, they made the decision to “play along” as long as they continued to get more and more high technology provided. Whether their involvement with the Grays resulted in their becoming mindkontrolled or perhaps infected with the rumored “black oil parasite” or some other parasitical hive engendering malady is still an open question, but certainly these men seemed to lose their humanity and appeared to be supporting the “alien agenda” of the Reptoids. Some have wondered if these SSG officials were somehow hybridized in the first place or changed after becoming inoculated or infected with a Reptoid designed mindkontrolling parasite which can produce hive behavior loyal to the Grays and their leaders. And then there is the alleged alien “black oil” parasite which is claimed by some to be several steps beyond “smart dust” and is claimed to have been deployed as an adjunct to mindkontrolling parasitical “smart-virus” (1). An SSG obsession with building Deep Underground Military Bases (DUMBs) connected by tunnels with high speed trains which required the massive asset stripping of American wealth and illegal narcotics trafficking and weapons sales for secret black budget financing. The collaboration and shared technician/scientists resulted in at least one joint DUMB where alien hybridization experiments were conducted away from the prying eyes of the public, protected by “beyond black”, deeply compartmented “need to know”, special access unacknowledged programs with absolutely no administrative paperwork and completely untraceable black budget funding. And yet despite extreme secrecy and threats of immediate murder/assassination for leaking anything about these programs, the truth has leaked out one again proving the greatness of the immutable human spirit. These DUMBs were also constructed to provide distance from the prying public eyes as well as assumed safety from any serious geophysical and nuclear warfare disasters. Of course you can bet these DUMBs have been adequately sabotaged to turn them into underground mausoleums if a major nuclear WW3 ensues. It is well known that Russia has a well-developed underground system also designed to allow survival, but some experts believe that both sides have made provisions to make sure such underground bases become mausoleums if a situation of above ground mutually assured destruction (MAD) of a major third world war nuclear exchange occurs. Secret “beyond-black” joint alien/SSG hybrid breeding programs at the DUMBs. Allegedly these joint hybridization programs have yielded advanced technology that has provided “genetic injections” and alterations to the human fertilized egg that have resulted in various types of “super-soldiers”. These super-soldier programs have allegedly involved the use of gifted individuals selected from certain Scottish bloodlines, Psi-power entrainment and various types of black arts soul murder, induced DID/MPD and in some select individuals, injection of isolated Reptoid gene fragments. The current big push is the secret programs to develop the third strand of DNA, the so-called, self-healing Triple Helix. This third strand is supposedly going to give a new race of super-hybridized soldiers the ability to self-heal from wartime injuries and grow needed body parts and internal organs in the race for the development of immortality, something the “old boys” that sit at the top of the SSG pyramid aka known as the “evil cabal” need very, very soon and something that will never occur due certain immutable laws of the universe. Rumors of other alien races approaching earth humans, peace loving groups that claim to want to provide help and support without direct action or interference, or any entering into treaties with humans. There have been alleged instances of other alien groups that have approached humans. One group has been called the Star group and is allegedly comprised of peace-loving individuals who have a non-interference philosophy and policy but are willing to share spiritual and emotional support for gifted transformed individuals they call star children, and these kids are reputed to have special Psi-powers and are oriented to helping humanity instead of enslaving it. They do not however have the support of the SSG or the USG. Richard Boylan, Ph.D. is a respected psychologist with some deep contacts in the military aerospace industry at the highest levels.  Dr. Boylan was the one who first researched and adequately disclosed what the Secret Shadow Government (SSG) truly is comprised of. he also claims to have had numerous contacts with the Star Group aliens and has set up programs to help “star children”. Folks can visit his website if they want to learn more about Dr. Boylan’s interests and discoveries. Allegedly a former treaty made with the large Grays requires complete disclosure by 2015. The SSG must provide Complete Disclosure soon or the large alien Grays will allegedly make massive public displays of themselves and their anti-gravity crafts (AGCs) and disclose everything themselves directly to the American people, including the temporary use of the major mass media. And yet even the Steven Greer’s well respected Disclosure project has been able to make public presentations of numerous highly respected and credible witnesses with no threats or TWEPS so far as it is known, the SSG is still dragging its feet and preventing any full scale Congressional hearings which were promised. Apparently the SSG old boys at the top of the pyramid, the evil luciferians aka the “evil cabal” are afraid that if they disclose, Americans will completely “dethrone” them and they will have to get out of dodge quickly forever, thus experiencing a complete loss of power, privilege and status.. It has been claimed that a certain prior treaty with the large alien Grays requires complete disclosure of alien presence and technology by a certain date or these aliens will supposedly make large public landings in every major city of the world, guaranteeing a systematic but rapidly developing complete end to secrecy and especially the deep black and beyond black programs previously protected by immediate assassinations (i.e. premeditated murder aka SSG terminations with extreme prejudice). And there has been an apparent and claimed split in the SSG between the “oldsters” and the “newbies” who want complete disclosure to be attained in logical steps done in a manner preventing public panic or out of control business changes from occurring too rapidly. The desire of the SSG to Globalize America and rule the world backfires in one of the gravest mistakes in history. In a muffed intel operation that will eventually be realized as the biggest error in modern intel history, the SSG was conned into setting up “free trade” under Nafta, Cafta, WTO and now the secret Pacific Trade Treaty (which is Nafta on steroids). This strategy was to export all heavy American industry and manufacturing to Mexico and China, and CPU manufacturing to China. The CPUs were to have secret back-doors installed that would allow the SSG remote access by satellite or other secret backdoors or hidden, burned in programs. The brokers for this deal who claimed to be able to outsmart the Chinese were the Israel intel folks and their front corporations working on behalf of the City of London as Cutouts and a private intel force for the Rothschild Banksters who started and paid for the development of Israel in the first place. These Israeli companies became select i.e. prime DOD contractors due to their unlimited Bankster provided funds and strong political influence provided by such foreign controlled espionage groups such as the ADL, Aipac, etc. American Intel has become an inbred “revolving door” with very large Israeli-controlled defense contractors: YouTube - Veterans Today - These Israeli companies became very large, rich and powerful on the back of the American taxpayer by implementing their phony war on Terror and staged 911 attacks and then obtaining huge defense contracts to protect America by spying on and suppressing normal American Patriots, Constitutionalists, Ron Paul supporters, Vets and returning vets and any profiled to be an informed dissident. These now large, wealthy and powerful intel contractors are now moving back to Israel after they have successfully hijacked most American intel including the NSA. Their game was to lavishly buy and bribe top US officials and use NSA derived secrets to blackmail various Supreme Court Justices and federal Judges and bring wayward politicians into line one way or another. If that fails then they resort to using the “Wellstone/Carnahan solution” or the “Michael Hastings solution”, aka “terminations with extreme prejudice” or TWEPS. All on the backs of the American taxpayers and American recreation drug users who provide the financing. And the extremely lucrative “revolving door” positions in their now very large companies were now possible because these Intel contact corporations became very, very rich off from the vast sums of taxpayer money funneled to them for supposedly necessary intel work to protect national security. Translated this meant they had used the system to asset strip billions of taxpayer dollars to protect the existence, the secrecy and the security of the “national security state” aka the Secret Shadow Government (SSG). And the typical American purchaser and user of illegal drugs has also provided a great deal of black budget money for these illegal, unconstitutional, criminal spying and surveillance police-state activities of the SSG/defense contractors now moving to Israel to avoid the reach of the American Judiciary. The take-down and hijacking of America of American Intel and America institutions by the use of data provided by the NSA to blackmail and coerce. Thus these Israeli City of London Bankster cutouts were able to hijack American intel and use it for their own sinister purposes which include blackmail and coercion of Supreme Court Justices and Judges as well as politicians to do what they want, in effect transforming America into a province of Israel and just another cutout of the City of London Banksters and all their other member central Banksters. The NSA has been leaking illegal surveillance gained data on American drug users to police and DEA to set up phony stops to arrest non-violent recreational drug users. The NSA has been screaming for the arrest of Edward Snowden for Treason when they have been doing the very same things only worse and have concealed years of USG/SSG and American Intel crimes including assassinations of US politicians, whistle-blowers and citizens and engaging in blackmail of Justices, Judges and politicians.  Snowden is an American Patriot and Hero who reported unConstitutional, illegal activities by a USG/SSG privatized entity known for massive asset stripping of American taxpayers and huge untraceable black budget funding. http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=LZAgDpjkgxY YouTube - Veterans Today - The SSG tried to trick the Chinese with sneaky backdoor CPU designs but the Chinese found out about it and are hoppin’ mad. The big trick was supposed to be tricking the Chinese into thinking that they could control all the CPUs they began manufacturing from American deigns when the truth was that the Americans had a secret way of over-riding that. The problem is that allegedly certain SSG assets and Israeli brokers sold these secrets to the Chinese and now the Chinese are hoppin’ mad about it and believe they have been set up to be used and become just another province of the Central Banksters of the City of London unless they take control. And wouldn’t you know it, a certain alien force just seems to have made itself available to capitalize on this new conflict between the SSG and the Chinese. Has a new alien treaty with the Chinese been negotiated? In the meantime supposedly the Chinese were approached by Reptoids who have built and undersea base in the Pacific. These Reptoid as the narrative goes claimed that they can help the Chinese obtain actual and complete mastery over all American cybernetics and cryptography by sharing quantum computing technology with them in exchange for a promise to assist the Reptoids in establishing a joint world rule in Africa and perhaps proceeding to another continent like America after it is properly depopulated and terra-formed like Africa is supposed to be under this plan. Big and empty new high rise cities in China, who are they for and why? It is a very curious situation in China that has developed with the major new cities which have brand new concrete high rises which are mostly empty. Why have these been built? Were they merely poor financial investments made by wealthy military owned industries that had nowhere to invest their money before they started buying up everything in America including toll-ways, iron mines, public government building, and a major movie theater chain? Or are they planning to move an off planet humanoid type, alien species into these buildings? Or are they expecting a worldwide major geophysical disaster that will demolish much of the current coastal Chinese housing and have built these cities to provide ready-made homes for survivors? The end of the NSA legitimacy is their own fault for illegally spying on Americans and their allies and getting caught. NSA has thus irreparably damaged their reputation with the public and with the computer geek geniuses that they used to recruit from. The young and upcoming computer geek geniuses are far smarter than anyone employed at the NSA now or their private contractors and they know it. These computer Geek geniuses have lost all trust in the NSA now that they have been caught and publicly exposed for lying to Congress and the American People(2). The Snowden affair has created a major change in the public’s perception of USG secrecy as an abusive big brother, police state, freedom robbing unConstitutional act of Treason and Sedition against “we the people” of America the Republic. And this has fully exposed the head of the NSA’s lying to Congress which has probably irreparably damaged American Intel forever. This has triggered a new look by the alternative Internet press and informed members of the public at all the other NSA Whistleblowers including Mark Novitsky who blew the whistle on Teletech Holdings years ago for allegedly selling customer information to other vendors without authorization. Novitsky approached numerous Congresspersons and Senators, and major news media including 60 minutes and despite great initial interest, all refused to cover the story with several pulling it right before publication or broadcast. Now those same Congresspersons and Senators deny they ever knew about the illegal NSA surveillance and spying on Americans when they were fully briefed years in advance to this recent disclosure. They are all playing dumb to protect their careers since they do not want to lose the “beltway lifestyle” and all the huge perks and future revolving door opportunities if they are obedient little slaves to the Secret Shadow Government (SSG). And Novitsky’s reward for refusing to go along with alleged corruption and corporate illegality and exhibiting great American heroism? Complete occupational blacklisting and massive and continuing harassment and surveillance including heavy and sometimes daily pulsed beam microwave and scalar psychotronic harassment. Or highly credible and respected whistle-blower Russell Tice who revealed NSA crimes against “we the people” several years ago but got no traction. Now his American heroism is starting to be recognized and this is long overdue. And there are numerous other whistle-blowers that are true American heroes that are being abused harassed and treated very badly when they should be elevated, rewarded and protected by the USG and Congress. But when you have a completely crooked Department of US Just-us which is little more than a blackmailed CIA cutout run by un-arrested, un-indicted, un-prosecuted career criminals, it is hard to expect anything but more abuse of these heroic whistle-blowers who put it all on the line for America and the Constitution and Bill of Rights. Completely broken campaign promises of compete transparency with all Legislation posted on the Internet for everyone to read and comment on for at least five days in advance of any attempted passage. Campaigner Obama/Soetoro had promised transparency in government, but has actually allowed less than any other president including both of the Bushes who used and abused secrecy to engage in massive narcotic trafficking into America for black ops money and started numerous completely illegal, unprovoked, undeclared, unconstitutional foreign wars based on pre-emptive strikes, something that was identified at Nuremberg as completely illegal and were responsible for thousands of dead and wounded American soldiers and over a million innocent civilians classified merely as “collateral damage”. Whistle-blowers have been more persecuted and illegally harassed and blacklisted under Obama than any other president except for Bush1 who typically whacked a lot of those who leaked stories about Mena Arkansas and the “Enterprise” and illegally imprisoned hundreds more of his covert ops who got cold feet or wanted out, sentencing them with trumped up, phony charges to hellholes like Vacaville to drug them into oblivion and discredit them from ever testifying. Pandora’s Box has been opened and cannot be closed. The head of NSA knowingly lied to Congress and attempted to deceive the American people and got caught and now the “cat is out of the bag” and “Pandoras box” has been opened and cannot be closed. So with all the trillions of dollars of spying and surveillance and phone and Internet tapping, how could the NSA have made such a colossal screw-up to knowingly deceive the American people, violate the US Constitution and think they would get away with it without being caught. Pretty stupid for an organization that supposedly specializes in intelligence, huh? Unless the organization is a fraud in the first place and designed to support those who hijacked America in 1913 and desire to asset strip it bare or unless they have been completed infil-Traited and hijacked by zio NeoCon dual citizen Israel corporations which are cutouts for the City of London Central Banksters and the Rothschilds. NSA’s Comprehensive National Cyberspace Initiative (CNCI) and “Einstein 3” packet-inspection technology. We know that NSA developed its Comprehensive National Cyberspace Initiative (CNCI) which features “Einstein 3” a secret packet-inspection methodology, another clearly use of illegal warrantless spying of honest, law-abiding American Citizens. In a compete lapse of judgment believing it would never be caught and publicly exposed, the NSA assigned this technology to be also used by DHS to supposedly police and protect private cyber communications. Providing this surveillance technology to an obvious Bolshevik style zionist secret police organization to illegally spy on innocent Americans is about as unwise a decision as possible. Of course the American public would find out about this because DHS is like a leaky sieve and is run by dual citizen, double dipping Israeli-firsters, zio infil-Traitors whose serve the City of London Banksters and their private intel Cutout Israel rather than America. This exposure of NSA’s lies and use of DHS to further their illegal spying, has resulted in a massive loss of respect and has served as a colossal failure and one that will guarantee the functional demise of the NSA and the eventual complete end of secrecy in America (2). Good work NSA, your addiction to secrecy and criminal blackmail of politicians has backfired and you really screwed up this time. Only what you have done is a terminal mistake when added to what is being done by the Chinese to counteract your war game penetrations of their system. You have now all received your “burn notice” so perhaps you may want to clean up your act and start prosecuting Israeli spy agencies such as the ADL, Aipac and severing ties with all the corporations infiltrated and being moved to Israel. And while you are at it, why not prosecute those who have used NSA wiretaps to blackmail Supreme Court Justices, judges and politicians and sever your connections to the crooked Central Banksters? And fire any dual citizens or anyone who refuses to “put America First”. The Cat is out of the bag, completely, so you folks who run the NSA need to go get your minds straightened out and start acting like American-firsters and obeying your Oath and obligations to support and defend the US Constitution instead of being traitors to your Oath to protect the Constitution from all enemies, foreign and domestic, which in this case includes you. Yes, the cat is out of the bag. For the first time many Americans now realize that the NSA has been feeding the SSG many secrets of the Supreme Court Justices, various federal Judges and numerous politicians and corporate leaders which are then used to blackmail them into compliance with the wishes of the small cabal that runs the SSG on behalf of the City of London Banksters who in turn are Cutouts for the Old Black Nobility (OBN) of Europe. Yes the secret top leaders of the SSG, aka the “Evil Cabal” are also on record against any alien disclosure even though some insiders have said it is required to be attained within a certain timeline or else the aliens will make public landing, or so the narrative goes. This evil cabal has been responsible to the take-down, hijacking of America and its massive asset stripping on behalf of the central Banksters of the City of London who are the personal Banksters for the Old Black Nobility that also hijacked the Vatican.		The Milky Way, the Northern Lights and raging night storms illuminate the skies of the American Midwest in this stunning series of images. Scenes of rural fields, farms and tranquil lakes are set against the ever-changing backdrop of stars and constellations. And just by making use of skies mostly free of light pollution, the photographer reveals how the stars can be revealed in amazing glory and detail. +19 Photographer Randy Halverson from South Dakota has captured stunning images of the night sky including the Milky Way, seen here Photographer and videographer Randy Halverson captured the footage in some of the most isolated regions of the States. This included South Dakota, Wyoming and Utah between spring and autumn 2013. The 47-year-old spent 40 nights scattered across eight-months sat near his camera to obtain the crystal-clear footage. Halverson, from Kennebec, South Dakota has been shooting time-lapse pieces for more than four years. The determined videographer battled with cloudy weather conditions to achieve the amazing footage of the dramatic Midwestern night sky. Some of the scenes might be almost unrecognisable to residents of more light-affected areas such as populated parts of the UK, where it it is difficult to clearly see stars, let alone the Milky Way, on a typical night. +19 The 47-year-old spent 40 nights scattered across eight-months sat near his camera to obtain the crystal-clear footage. Here an aurora is seen above hay bales +19 Scenes of rural fields, farms and tranquil lakes are set against the ever-changing backdrop of stars, constellations and auroras +19 Halverson, from Kennebec, South Dakota has been shooting time-lapse pieces for more than four years Randy said: 'I use DSLR [digital single-lens reflex] cameras to shoot long exposure timelapse at night with up to 30-seconds per frame [meaning each frame has 30 seconds worth of footage, not to be confused with 'frames per second']. 'I then assembled the individual frames into the timelapse on my computer. I spent a lot of time with the hue settings and white balance during the month-and-a-half edit.' Halverson also explained he was in Utah for six nights to capture some of the images, but it was only clear on one night although he still 'pulled off a few good shots in Zion Canyon.' He added: 'The weather was much the same while I was in Wyoming, it was cloudy two of the three nights I was there.  'But I did get some of my best Milky Way shots of the year in Wyoming. The clouds did make for some good sunrise and sunset shots. 'On the Milky Way shots you will see a lot of slow and fast moving satellites, a few meteors and planes. 'The meteors are hard to see in time-lapse, but you may see a quick flash because they only last one frame. If you see a light moving across the sky, it is either an airplane or satellite, not a meteor. 'Some of the Aurora I shot were unexpected with no advanced notice. Several nights I was setting up Milky Way shots, when I noticed the glow in the sky to the north.'  +19 The determined videographer battled with cloudy weather conditions to achieve the amazing footage of the dramatic Midwestern night sky +19 Randy said: 'I use DSLR [digital single-lens reflex] cameras to shoot long exposure time-lapse at night with up to 30-seconds per frame' +19 One of the pieces of equipment Halverton uses is a dolly. A dolly is a metal or plastic rail which is set up to move smoothly in time with the sky +19 To capture time-lapsed images Halverson attaches a camera that moves slowly to the dolly to give perfect motion across the sky +19 Most of the time-lapses take several hours, but some are as long as six hours +19 Aside from time-lapse photography Halverton also captured stunning regular imagery as well, such as the sun rising here One of the pieces of equipment Halverton uses is a dolly.A dolly is a metal or plastic rail which is set up to move smoothly in time with the sky. To capture time-lapsed images Halverson attaches a camera that moves slowly to give perfect motion across the sky. And most of the time-lapses take several hours, some as long as six hours. +19 While battling weather conditions, the photographer was also able to capture amazing images such as lightning in clouds here +19 It's not all about the night sky; here clouds moving across the sky are seen above a beautiful vista +19 This image, looking somewhat like the surface of Mars, shows the glorious band of the Milky Way over Earth's surface +19 'Some of the Aurora I shot were unexpected with no advanced notice,' Halverson said. 'Several nights I was setting up Milky Way shots, when I noticed the glow in the sky to the north' 'The weather in 2013 made it difficult for me to get some of the shots I wanted,' he continued. 'There were many times I planned to shoot the Milky Way or Aurora, and the clouds would roll in. 'I thought it was interesting how you can see thing you don't normally see. Like storms building up and Aurora moving across the sky. 'The long exposures also help you see things like the Milky Way and Aurora, much better than you can with the naked eye.' +19 Halverson also explained he was in Utah for six nights to capture some of the images, but it was only clear on one night +19 'The weather was much the same while I was in Wyoming, it was cloudy two of the three nights I was there,' he said. O nclear nights, however, he was able to spot incredible amounts of stars such as in this image +19 Halverson also said that the clouds made for some great sunrise and sunset shots, like the one seen here +19 In some of his Milky Way time-lapse shots he said he was able to spot meteors, planes and satellites +19 These images were captured between Spring and Autumn 2013 across the US   These are some of the stunning images of the heavens submitted by astro photographers looking to win the Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2014. The Royal Observatory has even created a guide for enthusiastic amateurs looking to take up astrophotography, whether they want to capture amazing images of auroras, comets, the moon, star trails and even deep space. Also space fans can purchase a special hardback book featuring last year's winning and shortlisted images. +12 Organisers of the 2014 event, which is in its sixth year, received a record number of entries, including this one of the wonderfully named Jellyfish Nebula +12 Photographer Rune Johan Engeboe managed to take these amazing photographs of the northern lights +12 Dunluce Castle on the North Antrim coast was captured by Martina Gardiner while it was being bombarded by a storm force aurora +12 Martina Gardiner moved from Antrim to Ireland's most northerly point, Malin Head, where she captured this unbelievable star scene +12 Star gazers can even capture amazing pictures of the Milky Way without any highly specialised equipment +12 The Royal Observatory has even produced a handy guide for prospective astrophotographers looking to take part in next year's competition +12 This stunning photograph was taken in Talmine Bay in the Highlands of Scotland where the lack of light pollution makes it ideal for astrophotography +12 Again Rune Johan Engeboe has captured another spectacular photograph of the Northern Lights +12 Fans of 1950s science fiction might be concerned to know this phenomena is known as the Trifid Nebula +12 Unsurprisingly, this amazing landscape photograph was taken in Skaftafell in Iceland, featuring a range of celestial bodies +12 This photograph, entitled Venus Rising was captured using a long shutter speed creating an amazing scene +12 The competition's winners will be announced on September 18 and all will be printed in a special hardback book along with all the shortlisted entries +12 Starry night: Max Slastnikov's picture of Nepal, Everest region, and the amazing view of Milky-Way in Dole above From gazers through a geyser to daytime on Jupiter: Stellar images from the Astronomy Photographer of the Year shortlist In one image, Old Faithful geyser in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, erupts as moon partially eclipses sun Another shows Heart Nebula, 7,500 light years away in constellation of Cassiopeia More than 2,500 entries poured in from amateur and professional photographers around the world Star trails sweep over the Giant’s Causeway in Northern Ireland, dust clouds are moulded into colossal arrangements by cosmic radiation thousands of light years away and a bright meteor races across the night sky passing over Indonesia’s smoke-spewing Mount Bromo. These are just some of the incredible photos which have been shortlisted in the 2014 Astronomy Photographer of the Year competition. The contest, run by the Royal Observatory Greenwich in association with BBC Sky at Night Magazine, is now in its sixth year - and a record number of entries from more than 2,500 enthusiastic amateurs and professional photographers have poured in from around the world.  +18 Centre of the Heart Nebula by Ivan Eder, Hungary. Situated 7,500 light years away in the W-shaped constellation of Cassiopeia, the Heart Nebula is a vast region of glowing gas, energised by a cluster of young stars at its centre. The image depicts the central region, where dust clouds are being eroded and moulded into rugged shapes by the searing cosmic radiation +18 What the...! by Tommy Richardsen, Norway. A flamboyant flare-up of the aurora over Steinsvik beach, in Nordreisa, Troms, Norway. It lasted no more than ten minutes from start to finish but it lit up the entire sky and took the photographer by surprise, just as he was about to leave the shoot. The figure on the right is his brother, furiously searching for his lens cap to capture the same phenomenon. It was hard for the photographer not to laugh at his brother while moving the camera left to right capturing the panorama, but luckily he stood still long enough to make the final capture +18 Father and Son Observe Comet PanSTARRS by Chris Cook, USA. They saw the evening display on First Encounter Beach, Eastham, Massachusetts. The photographer had spent weeks preparing the shoot to capture the comet, which will not be seen again for over 100,000 years, in order to foster his son's interest in astronomy   Eclipse and Old Faithful (left) by Robert Howell, USA. Visitors witness the Old Faithful geyser in Yellowstone National Park erupt as the moon partially eclipses the sun. The scene captures a sense of awe set against blue sky and white geyser steam, as the onlookers strain to see the joining of these two phenomena - one geological and one astronomical. Right,  A Giant's Star Trail by Rob Oliver, UK. A composition of several images taken at the famed Giant's Causeway in Northern Ireland. Our planet's rotation draws the stars out into circles - considered to be the most perfect shape by ancient philosophers +18 Occultation of Jupiter by Sebastián Guillermaz, Argentina. An unusual daytime view of an astronomical alignment, captured from the photographer's backyard in Los Polvorines, Buenos Aires. The image shows the moments just before the planet Jupiter is blocked from view by the moon. The planet can be seen as a pale dot to the right of the moon's body +18 Cave With Aurora Skylight by Ingólfur Bjargmundsson, Iceland. This image was taken while exploring a 1,300m lava cave in Iceland. In some areas, the roof has caved in, so snow piles up in the winter time and creates these snow peaks. The aurora at its peak gleams through the roof of the cave and despite only taking up a small portion of the photo, it remains the focal point Shortlisted entries - of which there are more than 120 - include the magnificent pageantry of aurora dancing above the clouds taken from the window of a transatlantic flight between London and New York and the remarkable scene of the Milky Way reflected in the Snake River at the famous Oxbow Bend of Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming. Another image shows a crowd of awestruck onlookers taking in the spectacular solar eclipse gleaming through the steam as the Old Faithful Geyser erupts in Yellowstone National Park. And the variety of settings is not limited to our planet. Photographers have also captured sights from across our Solar System, galaxy and even further afield. +18 Eta Aquarid Meteor Shower over Mount Bromo by Justin Ng, Singapore. A bright meteor streaks across the magnificent night sky over the smoke-spewing Mount Bromo just one day before the peak of the Eta Aquarid meteor shower, which is caused by Halley's Comet. Mount Bromo is one of the most well-known active volcanoes in East Java, Indonesia. Also seen in the photograph are the highest active volcano, Mount Semeru (3,676m), and the extinct volcano, Mount Batok, which is located to the right of Mount Bromo +18 Orion Nebula by Anna Morris, USA. In this view of M42, more commonly known as the Orion Nebula, the photographer has emphasised the delicate veils of dust surrounding the more familiar gleaming heart of the nebula. The image highlights the structure of the object, giving a sense of vast cavities filled with pink hydrogen gas and the blue haze of reflected starlight +18 In-flight Entertainment by Paul Williams, UK. Resplendent aurora seen from the window of a transatlantic flight between London and New York in February 2014. The photographer balanced his camera on his backpack to capture this image of the greatest natural light show on earth from a rare perspective +18 The Turbulent Heart of the Scorpion by Rolf Wahl Olsen, New Zealand. A spectacular display of light and shade with contrasting hues of the rarely imaged, colourful, action-packed core of the multiple star system, Rho Ophiuchi. A deep exposure showcases the full finery of the delicate whirling clouds, of an area in which the human eye would struggle to see much detail, even with the use of a telescope +18 Three Planets in Conjunction by Lóránd Fényes, Hungary. The staggering colours of the sunset and flora of the African savannah afford a unique background for the planetary alignment of Jupiter, Venus and Mercury in June 2013. The golden hues of the sunrise, the three planets appeared as if they were strung on an invisible thread, and the bare tree and the human figure interwoven both point to one direction: Jupiter +18 Celestial Dance by Claus Possberg, Germany. The spectacular Northern Lights pictured unfolding over a fjord, in Skjervøy, Troms, Norway. The vibrant colours are produced at various altitudes by different atmospheric gases, with blue light emitted by nitrogen and green by oxygen. Red light can be produced by both gases, while purples, pinks and yellows occur where the various colours mix and intersect +18 Geminid Fireball by Patrick Cullis, USA. The Geminid meteor shower races over the Flatirons of Boulder, Colorado, in December 2012. Here, a larger than usual fragment burns bright enough to outshine all of the planets, producing what is commonly called a Fireball. Orion can also be seen in the photograph trailing across the sky toward the Pleiades and the glow of Jupiter inside the constellation of Taurus The photos include a rare daytime scene of Jupiter moments before its astronomical alignment behind the body of the moon; the searing heat of the Crescent Nebula glowing in a whirl of red and blue; and the sprawling stellar nursery of the Orion Nebula 1,350 light years away and home to stars at diverse stages of their lives. The competition’s judges include space scientist and TV presenter Dr Maggie Aderin-Pocock, Editor of Sky at Night Magazine Chris Bramley and the Royal Observatory’s Public Astronomer Dr Marek Kukula. The winners of the four categories and three special prizes will be announced on September 17 and an exhibition of the winning images opens the following day at the Royal Observatory. The exhibition is free of charge and runs until February 2015. Winners and shortlisted entries will also be published in the competition’s official book, available on September 18 from bookstores and online. All entries to the competition were submitted via a dedicated Flickr group (www.flickr.com/groups/astrophoto). The awards ceremony can be followed live on Twitter #astrophoto2014. +18 Oxbow Bend Reflections by David Kingham, USA. The Milky Way reflected in the Snake River at the famous Oxbow Bend in Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming. The galaxy is poised just above the horizon mimicking a glowing cloud +18 Star Trails on the Beach by Sebastián Guillermaz, Argentina. Multiple shots have been used to produce a time-lapse effect, as the Earth's rotation draws the light from the stars into long trails arcing over the beach in Mar de Ajo, Buenos Aires Province +18 Creature by Ole Christian Salomonsen, Norway. On October 30, a CME (Coronal Mass Ejection) hit Earth, displaying multi-coloured auroras across the sky for most of the night in Kattfjordeidet, Tromsø. The old birch trees resemble arms reaching for the auroral corona appearing like a strange creature in the sky +18 NGC 6888 by Mark Hanson, USA. This colourful starscape taken from Rancho Hidalgo, New Mexico, reveals the searing heat of the Crescent Nebula glowing in a whirl of red and blue. The emission nebula is a colossal shell of material ejected from a powerful but short-lived Wolf-Rayet star (WR 136), seen close to the image centre. Ultraviolet radiation and stellar wind now heats the swelling cloud, causing it to glow The dark skies of the Isle of Wight provide a stunning backdrop for these colourful images of the majestic Milky Way. Photographer Chad Powell used a Canon 6D DSLR camera to capture images of the spectacular constellation above the familiar beach scenes of England’s largest island. The 22-year-old, who shot the pictures over a year of stargazing on the island, often stayed up until dawn to catch the most dramatic skyscapes. +13 The Milky Way above Steephill Cove in Isle of Wight, England. Photographer Chad Powell used a Canon 6D DSLR camera to capture images of the spectacular constellation above the familiar beach scenes of England’s largest island The DSLR camera enhanced the Milky Way from the white strip visible to the naked eye into an explosion of colourful lights. Mr Powell, a graphic designer from Ventnor, Isle of Wight, used foregrounds of abandoned theme parks, harbours and lighthouses against the illuminated sky. ‘The perfect conditions to take these pictures are a clear sky on a moonless night,’ he said 'Light pollution needs to be minimal too, unfortunately for the UK there are very few areas of dark sky, especially in England.' +13 The 22-year-old, who shot the pictures over a year of stargazing on the island, often stayed up until dawn to catch the most dramatic skyscapes. Pictured is the Milky Way behind Castle Haven, a small harbour in Nilton +13 This stunning image shows the Orchard Bay steps in Isle of Wight.  Mr Powell, a graphic designer from Ventnor on the island used foregrounds of abandoned theme parks, harbours and lighthouses against the illuminated sky   A combination of 120 separate photographs over the space on an hour were used to capture the stars trail on 24 June 2014 (left).  On the right, the Milky Way is pictured above an abandoned roundabout from Blackgang Chine Amusement Park +13 A panoramic image shows the reflection of the Milky Way in the glass-like water of Flowers Brook. Minor adjustments were made to bring out the contrast and whites in this collection of images THE MILKYWAY: KEY FACTS The Milky Way is thought to be 120,000 light years across and contains more than 200 billion stars. This makes it a ‘middleweight’ galaxy with the largest galaxy known, IC 1101, containing more than 100 trillion stars. On a clear night, when you look up into the night sky the most you can see from any one point on the Earth is about 2,500 stars. Like more than two-thirds of the known galaxies, the Milky Way has a spiral shape. At the centre of the spiral, a lot of energy and, occasionally, vivid flares are created. Based on the immense gravity that would be required explain the movement of stars and the energy expelled, astronomers believe the centre of the Milky Way has a supermassive black hole. Astronomers believe the Milky Way wasn’t always a stunning barred spiral. It formed into its current size and shape by ‘eating’ other galaxies.  In one image the Milky Way can be seen above Steephill Cove in incredible hues of pink, orange, blue, green and purple.  A separate picture captures the stars trail on 24 June 2014 in the Isle of Wight using a combination of 120 separate photographs over the space on an hour. Mr Powell also captured images of the moon shining bright behind St Catherine's Oratory, a 14th century lighthouse. A separate image shows a luminous moon behind Steephill Cove. Other highlights include the galactic core of the Milky Way occupied by two small wooden boats, while a panoramic image shows the reflection of the Milky Way in the glass-like water of Flowers Brook.  The majority of Mr Powell’s photographs are single exposures taken in a Raw image format. This captures more detail than a JPEG format which is altered in Lightroom - an editing program - by bringing out the contrast and whites in the image. Mr Powell added: 'Today’s DSLR cameras can gather much more light and capture a lot more detail than our eyes can. 'The Milky Way is still visible to the naked eye in dark sky areas, it just appears as a faint white strip in the sky, which is still an incredible sight to see. 'Before I picked up a camera I never thought it would be possible to take pictures like this without travelling to low light areas such as New Zealand or Africa. 'It’s an incredible feeling being able to share my photographs with people, and make them more aware of what can be seen in low light polluted areas here in Britain.' The Milky Way is thought to be 120,000 light years across and contains more than 200 billion stars. On a clear night, when you look up into the night sky, the most you can see from any one point on the Earth is about 2,500 stars. Zoom in on the Milky Way's colourful constellations   The Milky Way outside photographer Chad Powell's doorstep on 4 July 2014, in Ventnor on the Isle of Wight. The majority of Mr Powell’s photographs are single exposures taken in a Raw image format +13 The night stars are pictured above the coast on the Isle of Wight.  Taking these images in in a Raw image format captures more detail than a JPEG format   The moon shines bright behind St Catherine's Oratory, a 14th century lighthouse (left). On the right, a super moon illuminates the white waves on the island. The pictures were touched up in Lightroom - an editing program - by bringing out the contrast and whites in the image +13 The galactic core of the Milky Way occupied by two small wooden boats. Mr Powell said: 'Today’s DSLR cameras can gather much more light and capture a lot more detail than our eyes can' +13 A super moon behind the gates to heaven at Steephill Cove is pictured here. 'It’s an incredible feeling being able to share my photographs with people, and make them more aware of what can be seen in low light polluted areas here in Britain,' said Mr Powell Mr Powell, a graphic designer from Ventnor, Isle of Wight (pictured), used foregrounds of abandoned theme parks, harbours and lighthouses against the illuminated sky