Latest news

Last updated: Sunday, 14 July 2019 - 4:00 PM Central Daylight Time (UTC - 5:00)

Barry weakens to tropical depression strength over Arkansas

> Satellite imagery analysis over the past several hours indicates that Barry's convective structure has continued to erode as the low-level circulation drags slowly northward across northwestern Arkansas. Doppler radar data indicates that the heaviest rainfall associated with Barry remains to the east and south of the cyclone. While some surface observations in northwestern Louisiana still indicate sustained winds of greater than or equal to 35 knots, these have been determined by the National Hurricane Center to not be directly related to Barry and may be straight-line winds enhanced by local effects. Barry has been downgraded to a tropical depression with maximum one-minute sustained winds of 30 knots (35 miles per hour) and a minimum central pressure of 1008 millibars.

Forecast Discussion

Barry will transition into a remnant low by Monday afternoon

> Tropical Depression Barry is currently moving toward the north at eight knots around the western periphery of a deep-layer subtropical ridge situated to the east. Over the next 12 hours, Barry is expected to continue to move northward but will begin to curve toward the north-northeast late on Monday evening and toward the northeast on Tuesday as the low-level circulation center crosses into Missouri. Barry is expected to transition into a remnant low by Monday afternoon and dissipate altogether by Tuesday afternoon.

Five Day Forecast

Official

Two oil tankers have been attacked in the Gulf of Oman. The US have accused Iran of the attacks, which Iran dispute.

In the mean time, the UK have joined the US in this accusation... except for Jeremy Corbyn who has questioned whether there is credible evidence.

What is the evidence to support and contradict the accusation that Iran is responsible for the attacks? Is there any evidence that the attack was perpetrated by, or within the capabilities of, another party? Regardless of who was responsible, for what reasons would someone want to attack commercial shipping in this area?

(The Gulf Breeze sightings are one of the best-documented cases in the history of ufology. Llinks of the photos and other figures will follow. I MUST premise that the analysis shown after the brackets is NOT mine. It comes from “Not of This World” by a respectable aerospace engineer, Mark J. Carlotto, which deduces, by the way, that the photos are likely real. I just modified some words for readability purposes.)

The first photo to analyze is this:

https://imgur.com/a/5FYX76B

Then, compare it to THIS Histogram equalized image:

https://imgur.com/a/7RVnkZ4

This photo by Ed Walters (Ed and Frances Walter. 1990. The Gulf Breeze Sightings, Avon Books.) occurring years before photorealistic CGI technology existed, and is a clear example of how difficult it would have been to fake a UFO photo by double exposure using a Polaroid Instamatic camera. Normally an Instamatic camera automatically ejects a photo after it is taken. It is possible, however, to manipulate the camera so that it does not. In this way, one could add a second exposure to the first. Notice how the cedar tree obscures the right edge of the UFO in the photo. A model of a UFO would have to be precisely cut to match the silhouette of the tree, photographed, and the camera positioned so that the image of the previously exposed UFO, which is inside the camera and not visible to the photographer, would match the tree.

But even if one could accomplish all of this, there would be another problem for the hoaxer to overcome. Double exposure adds the light intensities of the two photographed scenes: the model of the UFO photographed on a black background and the outdoor scene. In a double exposure, the darkest pixel value within the UFO cannot be darker (lower in value) than the scene background. As shown in this link (multiple photos, the intended order is from top to bottom);

https://imgur.com/a/nIIlgl0

As I was saying, as shown there, cross-sectional plots indicate pixel values within the window of the UFO are lower in value than the surrounding scene suggesting it is not a double exposure.

(N.B. FROM ME: Although this analysis does not prove that this is a real physical object in the sky, it does suggest that it is the most likely explanation.)

[Note: this post is largely based on information from “Self-Styled: Chasing Dr Robert Vernon Spears” by Alan C. Logan. I am not a shill but it is an interesting book.]

##The Gulf

#National Airlines Flight 967

1

On November 16, 1959, an airplane vanished over the Gulf of Mexico, with 42 people onboard. The flight had been on its way from Tampa, Florida, to New Orleans. The last radar contact with the aircraft--made at 12:55 am, over the open sea--had indicated the plane was still on course to its destination at the time that it vanished.

A massive search began. Rescuers went out in aircraft and boats, arriving before dawn and still combing the cold, rough seas as the sun came up. Early that morning, they spotted something: a small amount of debris, a large oil slick, and several floating bodies. Immediately they concentrated their efforts on this area, eventually retrieving:

>"nine bodies, a portion of a tenth body, five life rafts, five life vests, and a highly diversified quantity of buoyant debris."

This debris included parts of seats, parts of overhead racks, upholstery, items of clothing, parts of leather suitcases, shoes, a pack of cigarettes. Despite intensive searches over the following months and years by the Coast Guard, Civil Aeronautics Board, the US Navy, the US Fish and Wildlife Service and private companies--the rest of the wreckage has never been found.

2

The Civil Aeronautics Board investigated the cause of the crash. Without an aircraft, this was no easy task.

Investigators determined that the flight crew was competent and experienced. The aircraft was airworthy at the time of departure and had an adequate amount of fuel. The weather conditions were good. Nearby radar stations reported "the flight was very close to being on course and on schedule.'' There were no apparent problems with the plane's operating equipment, no apparent discrepancies in the maintenance records, nothing mechanical which could "reasonably be linked to this accident".

>“Nothing unusual was observed and no other objects were observed in the vicinity of the flight which indicated to the station that any difficulty was being encountered".

There was one witness--the attendant of a lookout tower 30 miles west of the crash site, who

>“saw an unusual light in the sky [...] in the general direction of where [the flight] was lost and at about the time it was lost [...] the light was red or dark red, appearing suddenly, lasting “a coup

So the 'Gulf countries' refers to Arab countries on Persian Gulf. But since it usually exclusively refers to countries on Arabian Peninsula, would they want to be called 'Peninsula countries' instead since it's more fitting and because they aren't Persian?

Latest News

Last updated: Monday, 8 October 2018 - 13:20 PM Eastern Daylight Time

Michael becomes the seventh hurricane of the 2018 season

Michael continues to intensify as it moves northward through the Yucatan Peninsula toward the eastern Gulf of Mexico on Monday afternoon. A combination of analysis of the most recent satellite imagery and aerial reconnaissance reveals that the cyclone's winds have increased to hurricane strength, making it the seventh such storm to reach this intensity so far this season.

Michael has a more organized satellite presence this morning. Deep convection continues to become more intense, with infrared imagery indicating that cloud-top temperatures have cooled to near -70ºC over the past several hours. Moderate westerly shear continues to restrict the most intense convection to the eastern semicircle of the cyclone's circulation. Water vapor continues to depict robust upper-level outflow as the cyclone, particularly to the north and east of the cyclone, as the cyclone taps into a deep-layer mid-latitude trough over the central Gulf of Mexico and develops strong upper-level diffluence.

Michael is now expected to make landfall as a major hurricane

A combination of strong upper-level diffluence, ample mid-level moisture (65 to 75% relative humidity), and very warm sea surface temperatures (29 to 30ºC) are offsetting the moderate westerly vertical wind shear that continues to batter the developing cyclone. Model guidance continues to indicate that this shear will decrease slightly over the next day or so. Considering that Michael is having no problems intensifying in this shear environment, it is becoming increasingly likely that rapid intensification will occur should shear begin to decrease over the eastern Gulf of Mexico. The National Hurricane Center's official forecast has been updated to show that Michael is now expected to reach Category 3 major hurricane strength before landfall over the Florida Panhandle on Wednesday.

Once Michael makes its way inland, prolonged interaction with both land and an eastward-moving deep-layer mid-latitude trough will weaken the cyclone as it passes over Florida, Georgia, and the Carolinas. Baroclinic forcing introduced by the trough will cause Michael to undergo extratropical transition as it re-emerges over the Atlantic to the east of Virginia on Friday. There is a chance that this transition will also cause the extratropical Michae