Hubble

“I remember the Betty & Barney Hill incident vividly, all the press, the interviews, and the subsequent television MOW, the book rights which were bought by James Earl Jones (who played Barney in the movie).

This book authored by Stanton Friedman and Kathleen Marden, Betty Hill’s niece, was in 2007.

I found the book to be intriguing, almost overly methodical in presenting local, Air Force reports, hypnosis logs, contradictions of various professionals as to what they believed or not and why, efforts to suppress the abduction claim, efforts to support it. All-in-all, this was an excellent read.

I’ve read many books on the subject, and usually try to read those publications which are thorough, and as objective as possible. I heard an interview with Stan Friedman and Kathy Marden which aroused my curiosity.

The more our society’s technological advances expand, our satellites gather more information which is publicly accessible or is exposed as a result of various leaks from private groups, and our ventures into space open more, the more, I believe, that we are going to learn about the enormity of our universe. Part and parcel to that are the undeniable and unavoidable questions, “Are there other civilizations out there? Are we alone?” Recently, the Hubble Telescope has recorded images of the “Hubble Ultra Deep Field” in the constellation of Formax where there are over 100,000 galaxies (like our own Milky Way) in a very small slice of the night sky. Each one of these galaxies has millions of star systems, of which many probably contain planets and solar systems like our own. This is science, not science fiction.

To anyone who is interested in the possibility of life elsewhere due to scientific advancement and discovery, the UFO phenomena, whether you believe in it, or you are “sitting on the proverbial fence,” I strongly encourage you to read this book.

My wife Judy sent me this Hubble image. Magnificence. Just click on the word NASA. In awe, I stand humbled as I know in my heart that we are all linked parts of a great moving & loving force. I am grateful. NASA.

The New York Times today released a review in the science section of a remarkable book by Michael Benson.

From the Times, “Far Out: A Space-Time Chronicle (Amazon Link) is an exquisite picture guide to the universe by Michael Benson, a photographer, journalist and filmmaker, and obviously a longtime space buff.” The NY Times article gives you a sampling of some of the exquisite Hubble Photos.  Just click on this link to see a slide show: New York Times Slide Show for Michale Benson’s book. How exciting to live in this time! Thanks to my wife Judy for pointing this out to me.

Last night, Judy and I saw AVATAR in 3D. This film is a milestone in cinema. Though I have no words to adequately describe my experience, I will try here. Great art changes the person who experiences it, or the group who experiences the art collectively by seeing, reading, hearing or feeling a new art form. It changes how you view the world, how you feel about the world, what you think about it. It hands you a vision, a freshness that asks you: NOT “Do you see what I see? Do you hear what I hear” BUT, “Can you see what I see? Can you hear what I hear? Can you think what I think?”

In historical terms, AVATAR will rank up there with pivotal cinematic thresholds, the first film ever made, first “talkie” sound film,  first FX film, first color film, first film with digital CGI technology … you get the picture. But AVATAR is far more than that. It has a depth and resonance so crucial to the times in which we live, when we are on the brink of possible worldwide extinction and forced to ask profoundly significant questions, the answers to which will affect our survival and connections in the universe.

AVATAR in 3D allows you to live in this incredible visceral and sensory world that is spiritual, ties to indigenous peoples and profoundly interconnected nature that we in the 21st Century have lost, and to a new philosophy of life that unifies people and nature (in the broadest sense of the word). It is a blend of a revolutionary cinematic technology and ancient spiritual wisdom passed on over thousands of years from indigenous cultures (Maya, Hopi, Lakota Sioux, Aborigines, Inca, Navajo…) who have left a wealth of information about how the very soul of this massive universe works, how EVERYTHING on the most basic level is connected. This is not just a mythical, “feely-good” sentimental concept dreamt up by New Agers, but a series profound revelations discovered by Pulitzer-Prize and Nobel Prize winning scientists over the last two decades, much of which has been made as a result of Hubble, the complete mapping of human DNA, and other milestones of scientific discovery, not to mention the spiritual leaders of the planet who have been “preaching” this unifying premise for years.

AVATAR’s story is at times predictable, but that predictability is more a product of the very laws of human behavior proven by thousands of years of wars and conflict, and the struggle of a people to protect the most significant things which those people consider to be far great than themselves.

The alien characters in AVATAR, who live in the world Pandora, each have radiant dots on their faces. The dots look like stars. Each character has a different star mapping, yet they are united by the stars that are part of who they are, just as we are an integral part of the night sky and stars that shine above us, whether we are aware of it or not.