Boing Boing » aliens

UFO memo the FBI's most viewed

Rob Beschizza — Sat, 30 Mar 2013 13:03:42 +0000

An unconfirmed report of a UFO over New Mexico is the most popular item in the FBI's online reading room, the agency reports. Russell Contreras with the AP:

Vaguely written, the memo describes a story told by an unnamed third party who claims an Air Force investigator reported that three flying saucers were recovered in New Mexico, though the memo doesn't say exactly where in the state. The FBI indexed the report for its files but did not investigate further; the name of an "infomant" reporting some of the information is blacked out in the memo.

1967: The year we thought we made contact

Maggie Koerth-Baker — Thu, 14 Feb 2013 19:20:18 +0000

What would happen if scientists suddenly stumbled upon a message from outer space? There's not actually a formal plan. No international body has ever decided whether we reply or not, and, if so, how we do it and what we say. But in 1967, we did get a dry run at a close encounter and, in the process, worked out a system of how confirm and report an alien communication that's still used today. Technology review has the story.

On aliens, Russian premier says he "can't say how many of them are among us, because it may cause panic"

Rob Beschizza — Tue, 11 Dec 2012 16:13:28 +0000

Dmitri Medvedev added that more details could be found in Barry Sonnenfeld's "Men in Black" films. This is an example of what the AP describes as "a sense of humor slightly more subtle than [President Vladimir] Putin's.

Check out this sweet flying saucer

Maggie Koerth-Baker — Thu, 11 Oct 2012 17:32:39 +0000

Ooooh. Wired Danger Room has some neat, recently declassified schematics of a "flying saucer" that the Air Force wanted to build (but didn't) in the 1960s. Also included: Video showing why the proposal probably never made it to reality (Warning: Video contains a bad techno soundtrack!).

Meanwhile, in space...

Maggie Koerth-Baker — Mon, 06 Aug 2012 14:05:42 +0000

Maaaaaars?

MARS!

Marsmarsmarsmarsmarsmarsmarsmars ...

Thanks, Kate Davis!

How to search for alien life without SETI

Maggie Koerth-Baker — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 16:53:40 +0000

Look Ma, no SETI. 10 other ways to search for intelligent life in the Universe. (Via Sarah Zielinski)

Cyclobe: otherworldly electronic music

David Pescovitz — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 15:21:53 +0000

When the aliens land, I imagine that the sounds of Cyclobe will ring out from the crop circles. Cyclobe is the electronic music duo of the hypertalented couple Ossian Brown and Stephen Thrower. Both were members of Coil, and Thrower is the author of several books on horror and psychotronic films. Cyclobe has a new album just out, titled "Wounded Galaxies Tap at The Window" and it's an exquisite hallucinatory cycle of soundcscapes best enjoyed with headphones on, mind open, and eyes closed. Or in the case of the video above, in a dark room on a big display. This is the duo's first proper release since 2001's gorgeous album The Visitors and 2004's "Paraparaparallelogrammatica," a 40-minute "remix" of a Nurse With Wound track. With cover art by Fred Tomaselli, Wounded Galaxies is now available on CD, limited white or black vinyl (yay!), or digital download from iTunes. Also, keep your wits about you at Halloween for a Boing Boing special feature showcasing Brown's spooky found-photo collection and new book, Haunted Air.

Cyclobe (Thanks, Mark Pilkington!)