Archive for ‘footage’

05/05/2020

Three UFO videos from US Navy released by Pentagon

  • Footage shows aircraft manoeuvring strangely before emitting bright light and flying away at great speed
  • Clips of unexplained ‘aerial phenomena’ were recorded by pilots between 2004 and 2015
A screen grab from one of the UFO videos released by the Pentagon on Monday. Photo: US Department of Defence
A screen grab from one of the UFO videos released by the Pentagon on Monday. Photo: US Department of Defence

The US Department of Defence has been watching, and recording, the skies.

The Pentagon released three videos on Monday that depict unexplained “unidentified aerial phenomena” which were recorded by pilots between 2004 and 2015.

In each of the reconnaissance videos, a flying aircraft manoeuvres strangely before emitting a bright light and flying away at great speed.

The Pentagon released the videos “to clear up any misconceptions by the public on whether or not the footage that has been circulating was real, or whether or not there is more to the videos”, spokesperson Sue Gough said. “The aerial phenomena observed in the videos remain characterised as ‘unidentified’.”

The Navy originally verified the videos’ existence in 2019 after they were leaked by To the Stars Academy of Arts and Sciences, a UFO research group started by Blink-182 guitarist Tom DeLonge.

“After a thorough review, the department has determined that the authorised release of these unclassified videos does not reveal any sensitive capabilities or systems, and does not impinge on any subsequent investigations of military air space incursions by unidentified aerial phenomena,” Gough said.
The Navy has previously said that releasing information from top-secret briefings about UFOs would cause “exceptionally grave damage” to US national security.

According to the Navy, two of the videos were taken during training missions over military airspace.

“Any incursion into our training ranges by any aircraft or phenomena, identified or not identified, is problematic from both a safety and security concern,” Navy spokesperson Joseph Gradisher said in September 2019.

Source: SCMP

20/09/2019

Chinese woman fined US$28 for tossing coins from plane to ‘cure baby’s diarrhoea’

  • Superstitious medical student, 23, said it was customary in her hometown to throw money for good luck
  • Cousin’s child had fallen ill on flight from Jiangxi to Sichuan, she said
A woman was fined for tossing coins onto the apron at an airport in Sichuan province. Photo: Weibo
A woman was fined for tossing coins onto the apron at an airport in Sichuan province. Photo: Weibo
A woman who threw coins onto the parking apron at an airport in southwest China in the superstitious belief it might cure her cousin’s baby’s diarrhoea was instead fined 200 yuan (US$28), local media reported.
The incident happened on September 5, as the woman, surnamed Wang, and a group of her relatives arrived in Xichang, Sichuan province, after flying from Nanchang, Jiangxi province, to attend a family wedding, the Chengdu Business News reported on Friday.
Wang, 23, dropped the coins through the gap between the aircraft and the jet bridge as she and her family were disembarking.
Police said the medical student was shocked when she realised the trouble she had caused. Photo: Weibo
Police said the medical student was shocked when she realised the trouble she had caused. Photo: Weibo
Although no one spotted what she had done at the time, airport workers later found three coins on the ground while conducting a security check and reported the matter to the police.
Officers reviewed footage from the airport’s surveillance cameras and identified Wang as the guilty party and went to see her at her hotel the following morning, the report said.

Wang said that during the flight her cousin’s baby had suffered from diarrhoea and that it was customary in her hometown to toss coins in the hope it would bring the child good luck.

“She said she didn’t realise her action could have had a very serious outcome,” a police officer was quoted as saying, adding that Wang appeared shocked when she realised the trouble she had caused.

However, as her actions had not resulted in any delays to flights or created any other problems, she was charged only with a minor offence.

Many Chinese think tossing coins before a flight will bring them good luck. Photo: EPA
Many Chinese think tossing coins before a flight will bring them good luck. Photo: EPA

Wang, who recently completed a bachelor’s degree in medicine and was preparing to sit a graduate school entrance examination, was worried the incident might have an impact on her future education and job prospects, the officer said.

More than 5,000 people commented on the story on news portal 163.com, with one asking: “You are so superstitious, how can you treat patients?”

In recent years there have been numerous reports of Chinese travellers causing delays and being punished for tossing coins onto airport runways and even into aircraft engines.

In April, a woman was detained for throwing six coins as she was about to board a plane in southern China in the hope it would guarantee her a safe trip.

Source: SCMP

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