To reach the beginning of the story: www.xomba.com/grasping_elements_fear    (one)

 

This story is continued from: http://www.xomba.com/elements_fear_three

 

Time:  June 22 - - 6:30 A.M.  HDT
Headline News of the day.

 

 

ASTOUNDING Object spotted beyond Saturn doesn't belong to the Solar System.
by - Charlene Penrose
(API)  Honolulu, HI

    This morning JPL astronomer Steven Shappe, NASA/JPL Hawaii, reports that the famous amateur astronomer team of Fred Williams, of Fort Davis, Texas, and Bill Harrison, of Chama, New Mexico, assisted by software/hardware designer Misty Garris of Minneapolis, Minnesota,  have spotted a fast-moving object which was confirmed late last night by the Haleakala, NASA-Air Force facility and by the Seven Parsec Observatory a short time ago.  Dr. Shappe reported that the JPL facility telescope and the data from the amateur astronomer's sites were forwarded to the Minor Planet Center (MPC) and to NASA, and preliminary  computations place the object at a distance from us greater than the distance to the planet Saturn.  The announcement went worldwide over the Internet within moments of the confirmation from Hawaii.

          Preliminary velocity estimates are what is astounding, said Shappe, "This object is apparently moving at 1410 +/- 5 km/s [kilometers per second, or 880 miles per second!] and nothing in the Solar System or associated with the Solar System moves that fast.  We were able to conclude and validate that velocity with the first data from the Seven Parsec Observatory coupled to our ground observations."

    Astronomers all across the "night side" of the earth are gathering data on the object as it speeds across the sky, and NASA’s major satellite observatories are being directed to observe the newly discovered object.

    Dr. Bradley Mears at the MPC, stated in a phone conversation that, "All estimates are preliminary.  This object is moving relative to us like a  celestial missile.   It is the first object of any apparent size detected in our vicinity that clearly has an origin completely unrelated to our local stellar neighborhood.  It does not now nor has it ever belonged to the Sun's Family."  Mears went on to say that further refinements of the object's motion were being made and that astronomers all over the world are working  this object into their ongoing observation programs.
    
    This includes NASA's James Webb Space Telescope, the refurbished Hubble,  and the Seven Parsec Observatory, which has provided the crucial data for velocity, direction, and distance in observations of this object, Dr. Mears said.   The Seven Parsec Observatory, which has a nuclear-powered ion drive, was launched three years ago.  The Seven Parsec Observatory is the replacement for the original NASA SIM (Space Interferometry Mission)  platform with which contact was lost two years after launch.   The Seven Parsec Observatory is presently conducting some general calibration observations while en route to its final destination at a distance of seven Astronomical Units from the sun, between the orbits of Jupiter and Saturn, where final calibration will take place and much more accurate distance determinations to nearby stars can be made.  

    Dr. Mears credits Seven Parsec Observatory with the observations that have allowed a quick and accurate distance and velocity determination for the newly found object.  Dr. Mears said, “This instance shows how general-purpose and flexible the Seven Parsec Observatory truly is, since it was designed to due precise work on relatively nearby stars -- not asteroids or interstellar interlopers.”
    
    When asked "where" the newly discovered object came from and where it was going,  Dr. Mears said that it was apparently going to end up flying right on through the solar system, past the Sun and back into interstellar space.  The object appears to have originated from a part of the sky along the border between the constellation Sagittarius and the constellation of Ophiuchus and is heading toward an area of the sky in the constellation of Taurus.

    When asked if the object presented any danger to Earth, Dr. Mears said “No. We don't think so.  But it is heading this way generally and we are refining its vector.  It appears that it will cross the plane of the ecliptic well beyond the orbit of Mars.” (The “ecliptic” is the plane in which the Earth orbits the Sun.)
    
    Dr. Mears went on to say, “Right now observations and measurements indicate it will pass within about 80 million miles of the earth’s orbit.  This is an unprecedented opportunity to get a glimpse of interstellar or possibly extra-galactic matter, since that is what it's velocity could indicate.  This is a "first,” and because of its velocity, this object doesn't give the astronomical community much time to get an observing program established.”
    
    Dr. Mears suggested that interested internet users could link to a hastily constructed MPC web page, where the CCD discovery images from the two amateur astronomers and those of images from the NASA/JPL/ Hawaii site could be seen. Dr. Mears said, “We are planning on putting up the Seven Parsec Observatory images - - or link to the NASA site.”   Dr. Mears cautioned that very preliminary positions are also listed.  More images are coming in and being measured, as well as precise vector determinations from astrometry using Earth observatories and Seven Parsec Observatory values.  Interested parties should link to: www. nasa. Gov/ williams&harrison
    
    Commenting on the amateur astronomer discoverers of this object,  Dr. Mears said. “These people aren’t your ordinary amateur discoverers.  Williams and Harrison are engineers.   They have a couple of telescopes that would be the envy of nearly any university: one is a Tinsley Laboratories 50-inch cassegrain and the other is a recently built 61-inch thin-mirror cassegrain by Mr. Harrison to which he has added state-of-the-art adaptive optic actuators that can improve seeing incredibly.  I think of them as truly independent professionals.   Ms. Garris is known for communications software that is now the world standard.”

    The two engineers turned amateur astronomers-- claim to be retired -- and are not taking phone calls.  Williams and Harrison  have become known worldwide for discoveries of asteroids, comets, novae, supernova, and three years ago together authored a New York Times best-selling book (Restoring the Night) which has promoted and popularized amateur astronomy and helped reverse urban light pollution in the industrialized world.  Misty Garris is the Chief Executive Officer and owner of MDC (Myasia Direct Communications), the communications software giant.   
=========

---------------------

Subject: I know your voice is unplugged
Time:  June  24 - - 00:54UT
From: Bill Harrison <bharris@conew.com>
To: Fred Williams <fscope@westex.com>
&*# 5
Fred and Misty;

    (Misty, above are the pager ringers which I set for five minutes after typing this.  If you’ve been reading over Fred’s mail and stuff to me, you’ll note that is our code for phone pagers!)

    Daughter Cheryl just now took a call from Dr. Jarred Daniel Bernstein,  Administrator of NASA -- and he wants to make an announcement tomorrow morning -- but he needs to know what we are going to call it, you know, "you and Misty" have to name it.  He called here since you are not answering your phone.  Cheryl said we would call him back in 45 minutes (at home, no less) . . . so call me with a name, or call him at 202 * * 709-8871.  (It isn’t every day he gives out his special home phone number.  The * * will identify you or me to him, so he’ll get the call quickly.)   You have 38 minutes.  Call me (rather, Cheryl) afterwards.  I’ll call your private cell number if I don’t hear from you soon.  Or else I’ll name it.
    
    (From what is going on here, I can understand you taking your voice line down.  I am tempted.  My daughter, Cheryl,  sweet sixteen  ( I‘m biased, but she is sweet), could not live without a phone, and as a result, has been handling "information."  I’ve been asked numerous times for interviews.   Cheryl has declined for me.)   
    
    I'm on site, on-line, and on coffee.  

Bill

=======

----

Subject:   Have you seen the images from the space telescopes?                
Time:  June  24 -- 21:08UT
From: Bill Harrison <bharris@conew.com>
To: Fred Williams <fscope@westex.com>

Fred and Misty,

    Cheryl says you called it “Visitor”.  Good choice.

    The Webb Telescope images, and the refurbished Hubble images each show nothing but a bright point, like a highlight on a shiny sphere - - except it doesn’t  match specular surfaces for solar reflections and wavelengths.  That is, although it looks like a highlight and falls off  from the center like a highlight,  it isn’t really and purely a reflection of sunlight.

    Have our  friends at McDonald any ideas?  Have they obtained detailed spectra?  The velocity of some 120 million kilometers per day is incredible.  Bradley Mears said he could not detect any attraction of it by Saturn.  There seems to be no deflection or bend in its trajectory!

For what it's worth, I couldn’t detect any deviation either.    

Bill

----------------------------------

National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Washington, D.C.
Time:  June  25  – 11:00 A.M. EDT  16:00UT
NASA Administrator J. Daniel Bernstein Press Announcement: VISITOR

    "Almost two days ago,  Fred Williams, of Fort Davis, Texas, and Bill Harrison, of Chama, New Mexico,  assisted by Misty J. Garris of Minneapolis, Minnesota,  made an astounding discovery.  They discovered an object traveling at some 880 miles per second, passing through the solar system.  Since the moment of their discovery, virtually every telescope on the planet has been turned toward this fast moving object.  Current predictions are that the object will pass through the solar system and into interstellar space in a matter of weeks.

    “By long established tradition, the discoverers of this kind of object are given the privilege of selecting a name for it. The discoverers of  this non-cometary object, have decided to call it "Visitor,”  which is appropriate, since it looks like this object will be visiting our solar system very briefly.  On the internet, use the links to Visitor to access data and to provide data.

    "Currently, NASA and NASA cooperators in universities, the military, and private enterprise, along with the National Optical Astronomical Observatories, the National Radio Astronomy Observatories, the James Webb Space Telescope,  the Hubble Space Telescope, the Seven Parsec Observatory, and University and College observatories across the United States, and professional and amateur astronomers all over the world, are engaging in observation programs over the entire electromagnetic spectrum.  NASA and many of the observing locations around the world have established web sites on the Internet and thousands of links to them can be accessed from anywhere with a phone or satellite link.  Keep in mind that these sites are being rather hastily established, and there may be some initial "glitches" here and there.

    NASA has expanded its public web pages to provide information on observing programs.  We ask that participants organize their programs along the spectral breakdown we have outlined on our primary observation page.

    Everyone should  find somebody with a telescope and just take a look at Visitor  this evening.  If you watch it for a few minutes, you can see it moving.

---------------

 

----

Transciption of audio tape from Hansen,  by MDC, SpeakText. Speakers are Sharon Nettleson and James R. Hansen:

Time:  June 26 --  06:25UT
College Student Recording
Observatory Session after 2nd Fiske Planetarium Show
From Mr.James R. Hansen, University of Colorado

    "Sharon, I’ve got it.  Come on over here and look into the eyepiece.  If you watch for just a few minutes, you can see that it has moved.  You can get very comfortable; sit on the stool . . . is it high enough?"

    "Yes. Its fine.  I'm comfortable.  What am I looking at?"

    "This is "Visitor," you know, that object that was mentioned on the news?  Okay?   Everything should be sharp, starlike points . . . you may want to try focusing a little better --  for your eyes.  Here, use this rocker button.  Move it either way, until the images are sharply in focus for you.   Does that help . . . ?

    "Yes . . . oh yes!  This is much better.  Clearer.  It's the one that is flashing, isn't it . . . or should I say 'blinking’? ...it might  be moving slightly."

    "Blinking?   Did we bump the ‘scope?  Is it an aircraft?  What are you looking at?   Move a sec’,  let me check where this is pointed."

    "Jim, whatever it is--it is blinking.  Not real fast, just Blink . . .  Blink . . .  Blink . . . "

    "It is flashing!  My God, it has brightened!   Maybe . . . Maybe it's impact rotation.  Maybe it collided with something.  I didn't see this a few moments ago . . . It just now happened . . .   It’s got to be rotation . . ." 

"Damn it!    It has to be rotation. "

--------------------

--------------------

Subject: Talk to me, Fred!
Time:  June 27 –  06:24UT
From: Bill Harrison <bharris@conew.com>
To: Fred Williams <fscope@westex.com>
&*#10m

Fred and Misty,

    The "period" of flashing for Visitor is two seconds,  exactly  2.00 seconds?  To as many decimal places as we can measure it . . . 2.000000 seconds? I can only measure to a  millisecond.

    You see what NASA is sending out on their main web site? "About 2.0 seconds."  

    Victor Ornealas, at La Silla in Chile, says he has it at exactly two seconds to five places; and he says some other sites have hammered it out to six places.  But that isn’t all.   Not only is the timing at two seconds significant,  but have you heard that the timing, the flashing -- is precisely “synchronized” with the National Institute of Standards’ clock?  How precisely synchronized is it?  Well, Harold Harpsburg at NIST in Boulder sent me an email. He thinks we could use this signal to check our atomic clocks.  He thinks it is that good.  Now that ought to tell us something.  He says the other clock at USNO is slightly different.

www.time.gov/

http://tycho.usno.navy.mil/what1.html?rwin=UTC

USNO UTC
    Call me. Voice.  Turn your phone back "on" and give me a call.  Let's chat.
    
   Bill.

 

=======================
----- The following transcript is of Fred  Williams and William Harrison made during the days of the Visitor discovery in the presence of Misty J. Garris . . .   It was recorded, formatted, and transcribed by SpeakText software from Myasia Direct Communications
******

---------------
Time:  June 27 - -  01:16UT

    BILL HARRISON:  "Hi Fred.  Thanks for calling me back so quickly.”

    FRED WILLIAMS:  "Yeah Bill, Misty and I just drove back from McDonald Observatory."

"Misty caused quite a stir there!  She logged them into some of her communications software.  A few quick demos and she got a better reception than I did, and I’m their old friend!  It could also have had something to do with her looks.  And speaking of looks, Misty is giving me one of those evil eye looks. . .”

Image: Wikipedia, 82" left and 107" Domes, McDonald Observatory, Texas

   
    MISTY JO GARRIS: (In back ground) “Bill, let me tell you,  if he keeps this up I’m going back to McDonald and check out a couple of the good-looking grad students we met! . . . but seriously,  Fred needs to tell you what we learned at McDonald;  and what fragments of information have come in from around the world . . .”  

 

    FRED WILLIAMS:  “And by the way Bill, we’re on the speaker and  Misty’s  software is recording our conversation.  Her software takes this auditory record transcribes it to text and can translate it into 25 languages.  This is becoming part of her History of us."

"So, damn it!, don’t cuss unless you mean it!   And you ought to see the spectra the McDonald people recorded last night.”

    

Image: Wiki pedia Hobby-Eberly Telescope Dome McDonald Observatory, Texas

BILL HARRISON:  "Silly me. I was gonna suprise you with the spectral characteristics.  You know, well Fred knows Jankar Pelovik,  and Jankar sent me e-mail with a high dispersion piece of the spectrum from before it started flashing, and it looks like a “picket fence” in his terms.  Vince Johnson at Mauna Kea said he would like to understand just the spectra.”

FRED WILLIAMS:  “He’s not alone.   People here tell us the light emanated begins at 3501 A and stops at 8499 A., with the same intensity at all frequencies between.  And the spectrum is “missing” every other line. "

 “It is obvious that it is artificial. So I said:   ‘Lets use the Deep Space Network and radio them  and ask, “Who are you?”“

    BILL HARRISON:  "Did anybody call that "un-professional"?

    FRED WILLIAMS:  "Observatory Director Jack Johnson did say that.   But he had a wink in it.  By the way, between flashes, it is "black."

    BILL HARRISON:  "How black?"

    FRED WILLIAMS:   “Absolutely black!  Not even heat noise that anyone can tell from
measurements with the advanced IR orbiting satellite or the Webb Telescope.  And they say where it is flashing is the only, I repeat only, emanation coming from it.  Microwave and radio lengths are black.  And so is the high frequency end.   What is really puzzling is that there are not even any bow-shock- wave X-rays, or any sign it is crashing through the solar wind. You would think that just plowing through the solar wind at 880 miles per second might excite some atoms on Visitor or in space; but there is nothing.

    “It is as though the sky is just a pallette upon which Visitor is drawn, once a second -- for a second, erased, then moved and redrawn in a spot one second farther along its trajectory,  having no effect on the pallette or space in which we see it.   I asked Jack Johnson if he thought there would be an official “Alien Visitor”  announcement, like from NASA.  He just laughed.  He says NASA still has too much of a  political component.  Jack thinks we should.   He says everyone he’s talked to in the profession is waiting for us to announce!   In fact, reading between the lines the pros are expecting us to do so, and soon.

    “Jack says nearly everybody else is tied into the full-fledged-profession and they have to worry about either funding or reputations.   Clearly, every professional, and most serious amateurs already have this figured out.  The pros expect this of you and me and even Misty, since it would go along with our “reputations” and not their own.  Well, not so much Misty’s.  But you definitely, and  me by association,  are audacious rebels answering to no one but ourselves.  From that you note how respectful and worried  Jack is of our reputations.”   

    BILL HARRISON: (laughing)    “That’s Jack, all right.   But he thinks the community expects us to announce?”

    FRED WILLIAMS:  “Yes.  And the UFO groups have already begun calling it an alien space ship.”

    BILL HARRISON:   “They may be right.  One thing is certain though:  this isn’t your ordinary alien spaceship!  Everybody on Earth can see it.  No one can deny it exists, or even dispute that it is acting intelligently.

    “So that is what I wanted to talk to you two about.  For ill or well, we do have a brief window here.  I've been using the MPC positions, since they are composed from the precise Seven Parsec Observatory values.  Have you seen the last trajectory projections?  Visitor is far enough off the plane of the ecliptic that it should  make a real course correction, if planet Earth is where they are coming.  And then they have to slow down  . . . "

    FRED WILLIAMS:  "So you want to bet on the time of the correction?  Or the slow down?"

    BILL HARRISON:  "Something Visitor is presenting us has to change; or really, several things.  The velocity might change or the vector.  I'd bet first on the vector.  To get here, in our geometry why not change their direction as soon as they hit the plane of the Earth's orbit . .?  Let's prepare a statement.  Get it out there.  This is a "World" event.

    FRED WILLIAMS:  "Okay Bill.  Lets put it together online. I’ll fire up Misty’s freebie JointComp!”

    BILL HARRISON:  "Lets do it.  Hey, a little while ago Brad Mears called.  He knows its exact velocity, he says.  And you won’t believe it.  Its transcendental!   I’ll tell you online.  If I don't, you remind me."

========= Williams, Harrison and Garris internet posting==========

Carried on 287 science newsgroups worldwide, Tweeter, and social and science networks

What is Visitor?

It is really obvious: Visitor is of alien origin.

Facts and Speculations

    You can see Visitor  this evening if your sky is clear and dark.   If you do not have clear dark sky,  there are hundreds of live telescopic views on the Internet, or on television.  Currently, Visitor is on two of the three NASA public television channels. Take a look at Visitor.
   
FACTS:
Fact one.  Brightness.

    When first detected, Visitor brightened from apparent visual 17th magnitude to apparent visual 13th magnitude in less than three hours.  From 17th to 13th  magnitude is an increase in brightness of almost forty times.  (The 5th root of 100 raised to the 4th power = 39.81)

    Visitor had eventually brightened to 10th magnitude, and then began flashing at exactly 6th magnitude – a brightness making Visitor just visible to most people under dark skies without a telescope.  From 17th magnitude to 6th magnitude is a brightness increase of 11 magnitude steps, or 25,118 times. (That is, the 5th root of 100 raised to the 11th power =25,118)
    
    Visitor is keeping  at 6th magnitude even as it gets closer to us by 76 million miles each day.   Inverse square geometry means Visitor is exercising precise control of brightness.

Fact two.  Flash timing.

    The timing of the flashing is exactly 1.00000000 . . .   seconds “on”and  1.00000000 . . .  seconds “off.”  The ons and offs are exactly synchronized with the atomic clock by which we humans conduct our affairs.   Harold Harpsburg, at the National Institute of Standards and Technology noticed this right away.  Most other observers did not really notice this until they checked and reset their timing clocks to match international time standards, so they could time the flash. (Then, you really do notice it.  You notice how “accurate” your clock is, or not!  But you especially notice how accurate Visitor is.)  

Fact three.  Spectrum.

    The light we see that Visitor produces is utterly impossible for humans to produce with our understanding of light and  physics.    

    When Visitor’s light is passed to a spectroscope, what appears seems a text book continuous color spectrum until you disperse it widely enough to see that not all frequencies are there.
    Electron transitions that produce light do not produce integer angstrom wavelengths though they can by coincidence.  Visitor is producing what looks like a long picket fence in a high dispersion spectrograph, with light at every other odd integer angstrom wavelength.
    Visitor is producing  “artificial light” of a kind we understand but cannot make.

Fact four.  Invisible.
    Between flashes, Visitor is absolutely black.   That is, when Visitor is in “off” phase it is completely “off.”  

Fact five.  No tracks.
    Visitor’s motion through the solar wind produces no effect.  There is no compression, no emission, no disturbances of any kind detected in the interplanetary medium.

Fact six.  Massless?
    Visitor’s path, as it neared then passed by Saturn, was not measurably deflected.  Visitor’s closest approach was 13,070,000 km from the center of Saturn.  

Fact seven. Velocity and the square root of two.

    Minor Planet Center Director Bradley Mears has been actively and continually refining the position and velocity of Visitor.   He mentioned to us that each incremental  improvement in velocity determination  made the value of 1414.2135  . . . kilometers per second a strangely familiar number until he recognized it as 1000 times the square root of two.  By using 1.41421356237 . . . times 1000 kilometers per second the predicted positions for Visitor have improved to the point where Dr. Mears now says he knows and can predict Visitor’s path  exactly.  

SPECULATIONS: 

We Think:

"Visitor" is an alien artifact.  

Brightness.  Substantial energy is required to flash at 6th magnitude, up from 17th magnitude.  
Flash Timing.  Timing is as accurate as our atomic clocks; with a very fast on/off mechanism.
Spectrum.  Why a picket fence at angstrom integer lengths?  We don’t know how to do that.
Invisible.  While “off” it passed in front of a star and did not block out the star’s light.
No tracks.   At the velocity it is traveling, where is the bow-shockwave?
Massless.  Small mass, it deflects; Large mass, it moves other things. Acts like zero mass.
Square root of two.  Dr. Mears could not help laughing at that.  Is it a sign of Visitor’s humor?
 
    We see Visitor, but is it there?  Is it there part of the time? Does Visitor exist in our space?
    
    Faithful to our senses,  we discoverers think Visitor is real; we think Visitor is out there, and Visitor is coming this way – coming to Earth for a visit.

    We believe Visitor is on a precisely "planned" trajectory.  Visitor is communicating.  It has coordinated its flash to exactly match our international standard clock.  Visitor must know a great deal about us.  Visitor probably knows our languages.  Visitor probably knows our physical makeup and may know our psychology.  Visitor may know more about us, than we know about ourselves . . . and that is a truly disturbing possibility.

    We suspect Visitor knows our capabilities in detail.  Visitor can pick up all kinds of detailed information about us from what we have been broadcasting into space for a century.   If the speed of light is the yardstick, then this object began its voyage somewhere within about 50 light years of our solar system.  But even that could be wrong.  Radio traces of our existence have been going out for now, over 100 years, but not with much power . . . until the DEW-line cold war radar.
    
    We also think Visitor is giving humanity time to think about what is coming.

    Why come to this solar system?  Is there anything upon the Earth to cross interstellar space to visit?  Granting  that We humans are here,  what could we humans possibly have, or produce, or know –  that would cause an alien intelligence that can move between stars to visit us?   Is there anything on this planet that is valuable to them and for which they are visiting this star system?

    We do not think humanity has reached any level of "civilization" or technology to warrant the interest of whoever this is.  Perhaps we have.  In that regard, humanity might be incidental to Visitor’s mission; and we think it has a mission.  We do not think Visitor is just an exploratory probe.  We don’t believe Visitor is going to pass us by.

    We think it is important for everyone on the planet to be aware of the fact that we are not alone in the universe.  We believe people should "think" about possible implications.  No government can keep this a secret; everyone on the planet who can see  is obviously intended to see Visitor.

    We are predicting a course and speed change for Visitor to occur at the moment it reaches the plane of the ecliptic. We just think that it is logical to make a change in its course at that point.  We could be wrong.  But it should be interesting to watch.  We will be watching. If nothing happens . . . we can accept that we were wrong . . . and we will “eat crow,” as they say.

    It seems we have several more days, at least, before Visitor  arrives.  We invite you to speculate.  We think it will be interesting to observe them slowing and making a course correction to rendezvous with Earth.

    What are they going to tell us when they get here?

    Please translate this message for others, and encourage them to watch Visitor.

    We do not know how it will happen, but this visit will change our future.

    Thank you all.

Fred Williams
William Harrison
Misty J Garris

 

  <this story continues in elements of fear, five :     www.xomba.com/elements_fear_five 

To reach the beginning of the story go here:www.xomba.com/grasping_elements_fear