Astronomers find ‘super Earths’ circling a star

WASHINGTON (AP) — European astronomers have found a trio of “super-Earths” closely circling a star that astronomers once figured had nothing orbiting it, demonstrating that planets keep popping up in unexpected places.

Monday’s announcement is the first time three planets close to Earth’s size were found orbiting a single star, said Swiss astronomer Didier Queloz. He was part of the Swiss-French team using the European Southern Observatory’s La Silla Observatory in the desert in Chile.

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(Full Article: http://news.wired.com)

Astronomers find ‘super Earths’ circling a star

WASHINGTON (AP) — European astronomers have found a trio of “super-Earths” closely circling a star that astronomers once figured had nothing orbiting it, demonstrating that planets keep popping up in unexpected places.

Monday’s announcement is the first time three planets close to Earth’s size were found orbiting a single star, said Swiss astronomer Didier Queloz. He was part of the Swiss-French team using the European Southern Observatory’s La Silla Observatory in the desert in Chile.

…

(Full Article: http://news.wired.com)

UFO in the town of Vilches Altos, in central Chile.

Experts in Ufology from Uruguay, Peru and Chile all saw a UFO in the town of Vilches Altos, in central Chile.

Rodrigo Fuenzalida, president of the Association of UFO Research Chile (Aion), said the sighting occurred in the early hours of Sunday [Feb 17], at about 02.00 hours (05.00 GMT) on the road from the town of Vilches Altos, 260 kilometres east of Santiago.

“Surprisingly, the UFO was clearly visible above the treetops,” said Fuenzalida.

He said that also with him at the time were Colonel Ariel Sánchez, director of the Committee for receipt of Unidentified Flying Object Reports (Cridovni), the official agency of the Uruguayan Air Force UFO research.

As well as Dr. Anthony Choy, a founding member of the Research Office of Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (OIFAA) of the Peruvian Air Force and Max Hernandez, Telecommunications Engineering, and director of the “Radar” Project.

“The spherical body reddish and orange, began to make movements in different angles and lasted for about seven minutes until it disappeared beyond a few trees,” added Fuenzalida.

He explained that the next day they were able to rule out an aircraft as being responsible and also any celestial body.

The sighting occurred in the context of the inauguration of the so-called “Primera Ruta Ufológica de Chile,” which was opened a few days ago in the municipality of San Clemente, by Mayor Juan Rojas Vergara.

(Source: http://farshores.org/ufo8ch1.htm)
(Original(Spanish): http://actualidad.terra.es)

UFO enthusiasts gather in Chile’s region VII

(Aug. 16, 2007) A National Ufology Conference is set to take place this weekend near the Region VII mountain town of San Clemente. Ufology – sometimes spelled UFOlogy – is the study of all phenomena related to Unidentified Flying Objects (UFOs).

The convention begins Friday, Aug. 17 and is organized by San Clemente’s City Hall and Tourism Chamber. It also enjoys backing from the Chilean government’s National Tourism Service (SERNATUR).

“It’s great for us if the UFO phenomenon can serve also as a tourist attraction, encouraging visitors to get to know Region VII’s mountain zone, which has such a tremendous biological value,” said SERNATUR head Oscar Santelices.

The gathering will take place in the Refugio Nacional Biota Maule, located in Vilches near the entrance of the Altos de Lircay National Reserve. Chilean ufologists say the Reserve is a common place for UFO sightings.

“This is an emblematic place in Chile where UFOs have appeared regularly. It’s a hot spot, a window for observing UFOs in Chile,” Rodrigo Fuenzalida, director of Chile’s Ufology Investigation Group (AION), told the Santiago Times. “The idea behind the gathering is to forge an alliance between researchers and the Chilean government in order to promote the San Clemente area as a center for a different kind of tourism.”

A similar gathering took place this past February in Viña del Mar, Region V (ST, Feb. 8). The highlight of that meeting was a display of photographs taken by members of Chile’s Armed Forces. Captured on one of those photographs was an image of a spherical metallic object flying over Antarctica. Also presented during the conference was a video recorded in 2000 of Navy ships being pursued by a luminous object.

A more recent UFO sighting took place in May – near the Collahuasi mine in Region I. On that occasion, a very large, spherical object hovered in the sky for a full 24 hours.

“It’s an emblematic case because people were able to video record it. It had a very large structure and was seen by a lot of people… It was enormous, with shiny metal, and the whole time it was just stationary,” said Fuenzalida.

As part of the upcoming event, Fuenzalida will deliver a presentation entitled “UFOS, The Best Images in Chile.” Other speakers will include psychiatrist Mario Dussuel, journalist Enrique Silva, and Marcelo Moya, a researcher.

According to Fuenzalida and his colleagues, Chile has a number of particularly good UFO viewing sites, among them Huara, in Region I’s Atacama Desert; Region V’s Laguna Verde area; and Punta Arenas and Puerto Natales in Region XII.

“Chile is a place that has recurring sightings,” the AION director said. “Keep in mind that of all the cases that occur in Chile, only 5 percent are reported in the press.”

By Benjamin Witte (benwitte@santiagotimes.cl)

(Source: http://www.tcgnews.com/santiagotimes)

UFO enthusiasts gather in Chile’s region VII

(Aug. 16, 2007) A National Ufology Conference is set to take place this weekend near the Region VII mountain town of San Clemente. Ufology – sometimes spelled UFOlogy – is the study of all phenomena related to Unidentified Flying Objects (UFOs).

The convention begins Friday, Aug. 17 and is organized by San Clemente’s City Hall and Tourism Chamber. It also enjoys backing from the Chilean government’s National Tourism Service (SERNATUR).

“It’s great for us if the UFO phenomenon can serve also as a tourist attraction, encouraging visitors to get to know Region VII’s mountain zone, which has such a tremendous biological value,” said SERNATUR head Oscar Santelices.

The gathering will take place in the Refugio Nacional Biota Maule, located in Vilches near the entrance of the Altos de Lircay National Reserve. Chilean ufologists say the Reserve is a common place for UFO sightings.

“This is an emblematic place in Chile where UFOs have appeared regularly. It’s a hot spot, a window for observing UFOs in Chile,” Rodrigo Fuenzalida, director of Chile’s Ufology Investigation Group (AION), told the Santiago Times. “The idea behind the gathering is to forge an alliance between researchers and the Chilean government in order to promote the San Clemente area as a center for a different kind of tourism.”

A similar gathering took place this past February in Viña del Mar, Region V (ST, Feb. 8). The highlight of that meeting was a display of photographs taken by members of Chile’s Armed Forces. Captured on one of those photographs was an image of a spherical metallic object flying over Antarctica. Also presented during the conference was a video recorded in 2000 of Navy ships being pursued by a luminous object.

A more recent UFO sighting took place in May – near the Collahuasi mine in Region I. On that occasion, a very large, spherical object hovered in the sky for a full 24 hours.

“It’s an emblematic case because people were able to video record it. It had a very large structure and was seen by a lot of people… It was enormous, with shiny metal, and the whole time it was just stationary,” said Fuenzalida.

As part of the upcoming event, Fuenzalida will deliver a presentation entitled “UFOS, The Best Images in Chile.” Other speakers will include psychiatrist Mario Dussuel, journalist Enrique Silva, and Marcelo Moya, a researcher.

According to Fuenzalida and his colleagues, Chile has a number of particularly good UFO viewing sites, among them Huara, in Region I’s Atacama Desert; Region V’s Laguna Verde area; and Punta Arenas and Puerto Natales in Region XII.

“Chile is a place that has recurring sightings,” the AION director said. “Keep in mind that of all the cases that occur in Chile, only 5 percent are reported in the press.”

By Benjamin Witte (benwitte@santiagotimes.cl)

(Source: http://www.tcgnews.com/santiagotimes)