Physicists detect UFOs on plates from old telescopic sky surveys

[Stuart LaForge]

Nature just reported that physicists using computer analysis of archived
photographic plates from sky surveys by Mt Palomar observatory detected
310 instances where formations of 3 to 6 transient objects appeared in
orbit then subsequently disappeared before Sputnik was launched, ruling
out manmade satellites. Furthermore the transients increased in
frequency by 45% during historically documented UFO flaps and nuclear
weapons tests.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-025-21620-3

Abstract

Transient star-like objects of unknown origin have been identified in
the first Palomar Observatory Sky Survey (POSS-I) conducted prior to the
first artificial satellite. We tested speculative hypotheses that some
transients are related to nuclear weapons testing or unidentified
anomalous phenomena (UAP) reports. A dataset comprising daily data
(11/19/49—4/28/57) regarding identified transients, nuclear testing, and
UAP reports was created (n = 2,718 days). Results revealed significant
(p = .008) associations between nuclear testing and observed transients,
with transients 45% more likely on dates within + /- 1 day of nuclear
testing. For days on which at least one transient was identified,
significant associations were noted between total number of transients
and total number of independent UAP reports per date (p = 0.015). For
every additional UAP reported on a given date, there was an 8.5%
increase in number of transients identified. Small but significant
(p = .008) associations between nuclear testing and number of UAP
reports were also noted. Findings suggest associations beyond chance
between occurrence of transients and both nuclear testing and UAP
reports. These findings may help elucidate the nature of POSS-I
transients and strengthen empirical support for the UAP phenomenon.
------------------------

Incidentally, on a related subject, dust around Tabby's star should be
dispersing by solar winds over not getting thicker and darker over the
last 100 years as had been previously reported in another different
analysis of archived photographic plates suggests. Let me know if you
want the link to that study.

What an interesting time to be alive. :)

Stuart LaForge

[Stuart LaForge]

Here is a more detailed article in an astronomy journal by the same
study group with lead author Dr. Beatriz Villarroel:

https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1538-3873/ae0afe

Abstract
Old, digitized astronomical images taken before the human spacefaring
age offer a rare glimpse of the sky before the era of artificial
satellites. In this paper, we present the first optical searches for
artificial objects with high specular reflections near the Earth. We
follow the method proposed in Villarroel et al. and use a transient
sample drawn from Solano et al. We use images from the First Palomar Sky
Survey to search for multiple (within a plate exposure) transients that,
in addition to being point-like, are aligned along a narrow band. We
provide a shortlist of the most promising candidate alignments,
including one with ∼3.9σ statistical significance. These aligned
transients remain difficult to explain with known phenomena, even if
rare optical ghosting producing point-like sources cannot be fully
excluded at present. We explore remaining possibilities, including fast
reflections from highly reflective objects in geosynchronous orbit, or
emissions from artificial sources high above Earth’s atmosphere. We also
find a highly significant (∼22σ) deficit of POSS-I transients within
Earth's shadow when compared with the theoretical hemispheric shadow
coverage at 42,164 km altitude. The deficit is still present though at
reduced significance (∼7.6σ) when a more realistic plate-based coverage
is considered. This study should be viewed as an initial exploration
into the potential of archival photographic surveys to reveal transient
phenomena, and we hope it motivates more systematic searches across
historical data sets.
-----------------------------------

Here is an in depth interview with the lead author Dr. Beatriz
Villarroel:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ylw_NRxJEgM


Stuart LaForge

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