Excerpt from sciencetimes.comOften in the media, it's what's new and fresh that brings in the ratings. But what about looking for something potentially millions of years old? What if it wasn't on this planet even? Peak your interest yet? Well, if so...
Tag: ET (page 3 of 39)
The first signals were received at the mission's control center at Johns Hopkins University's Applied Physics Laboratory in Maryland via a giant radio antenna in Australia just before 9:30 p.m. ET, nearly four and a half hours after it was sent by the piano-sized probe. It takes that long for signals to travel between there and here at the speed of light.
Later readings confirmed that New Horizons was fully awake.
New Horizons has been spending about two-thirds of the time since its launch in 2006 in hibernation, to save on electronic wear and tear as well as operational costs. Every few months, the spacecraft's systems have been roused to wakefulness for a checkup, or for photo ops such as its Jupiter flyby in 2007.
The probe also has been sending weekly blips known as "green beacons" — to let the mission team know it's not dead, but only sleeping.
From now on, New Horizons will remain awake continuously through its Bastille Day flyby of Pluto and its moons next July 14. After a few weeks of preparation, the probe's instruments will start making long-range observations on Jan. 15.
The spacecraft is currently about 162 million miles away from Pluto, but as that distance shrinks, the observations will get better and better. By next May, New Horizons' images of Pluto should be sharper than the best pictures taken by the Hubble Space Telescope. And in July, the probe may catch sight of the clouds and ice volcanoes that scientists suspect may exist on the dwarf planet.
 |
bbc.com
Artist Carrie Paterson has long dreamed of beaming messages far out to the emptiness of space. Except her messages would have an extra dimension – smell.
By broadcasting formulae of aromatic chemicals, she says, aliens could reconstruct all sorts of whiffs that help to define life on Earth: animal blood and faeces, sweet floral and citrus scents or benzene to show our global dependence on the car. This way intelligent life forms on distant planets who may not see or hear as we do, says Paterson, could explore us through smell, one of the most primitive and ubiquitous senses of all.
It is nearly 40 years since the Arecibo facility sent messages out into space (Wikipedia)
Her idea is only the latest in a list of attempts to hail intelligent life outside of the Solar System. Forty years ago this month, the Arecibo radio telescope in Puerto Rico sent an iconic picture message into space – and we’ve arguably been broadcasting to aliens ever since we invented TV and radio.
However in recent years, astronomers, artists, linguists and anthropologists have been converging on the idea that creating comprehensible messages for aliens is much harder than it seems. This week, Paterson and others discussed the difficulties of talking to our cosmic neighbours at a conference called Communicating Across the Cosmos, held by Seti (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence). It seems our traditional ways of communicating through pictures and language may well be unintelligible – or worse, be catastrophically misconstrued. So how should we be talking to ET?
Lost in translation?
We have always wanted to send messages about humanity beyond the planet. According to Albert Harrison, a space psychologist and author of Starstruck: Cosmic Visions in Science, Religion and Folklore, the first serious designs for contacting alien life appeared two centuries ago, though they never got off the ground.
In the 1800s, mathematician Carl Gauss proposed cutting down lines of trees in a densely forested area and replanting the strips with wheat or rye, Harrison wrote in his book. “The contrasting colours would form a giant triangle and three squares known as a Pythagoras figure which could be seen from the Moon or even Mars.” Not long after, the astronomer Joseph von Littrow proposed creating huge water-filled channels topped with kerosene. “Igniting them at night showed geometric patterns such as triangles that Martians would interpret as a sign of intelligence, not nature.”
But in the 20th Century, we began to broadcast in earnest. The message sent by Arecibo hoped to make first contact on its 21,000 year journey to the edge of the Milky Way. The sketches it contained, made from just 1,679 digital bits, look cute to us today, very much of the ‘Pong’ video game generation. Just before then, Nasa’s Pioneer 10 and 11 space probes each carried a metal calling card bolted onto their frame with symbols and drawings on the plaque, showing a naked man and woman.
Yet it’s possible that these kinds of message may turn out to be incomprehensible to aliens; they might find it as cryptic as we find Stone Age etchings.
Antique tech
“Linear drawings of a male and a female homo sapiens are legible to contemporary humans,” says Marek Kultys, a London-based science communications designer. ”But the interceptors of Pioneer 10 could well assume we are made of several separate body parts (i.e. faces, hair and the man’s chest drawn as a separate closed shapes) and our body surface is home for long worm-like beings (the single lines defining knees, abdomens or collarbones.).”
Man-made tech may also be an issue. The most basic requirement for understanding Voyager’s Golden Record, launched 35 years ago and now way out beyond Pluto, is a record player. Aliens able to play it at 16 and 2/3 revolutions a minute will hear audio greetings in 55 world languages, including a message of ‘Peace and Friendship’ from former United Nations Secretary General Kurt Waldheim. But how many Earthlings today have record players, let alone extraterrestrials?
Our sights and sounds of Earth might be unintelligible to an alien audience (Nasa)
Time capsule
Inevitably such messages become outdated too, like time capsules. Consider the case of the Oglethorpe Atlanta Crypt of Civilization – a time capsule sealed on Earth in 1940, complete with a dry martini and a poster of Gone With the Wind. It was intended as a snapshot of 20th Century life for future humans, not aliens, but like an intergalactic message, may only give a limited picture to future generations. When, in 61,000 years, the Oglethorpe time capsule is opened, would Gone With The Wind have stood the test of time?
This message was taken into the stars by Pioneer - but we have no idea if aliens would be able to understand it (Nasa)
Kultys argues that all these factors should be taken into account when we calculate the likelihood of communicating with intelligent life. The astronomer Frank Drake’s famous equation allows anyone to calculate how many alien species are, based on likely values of seven different factors. At a UK Royal Society meeting in 2010 Drake estimated there are roughly 10,000 detectable civilisations in the galaxy. Yet Kultys points out that we should also factor in how many aliens are using the same channel of communications as us, are as willing to contact us as we are them, whose language we hope to learn, and who are physically similar to us.
Another barrier we might consider is the long distance nature of trans-cosmos communication. It means that many years ‒ even a thousand ‒ could pass between sending a message and receiving a reply. Paterson sees romance in that. “Our hope for communication with another intelligent civilisation has a melancholic aspect to it.
We are on an island in a vast, dark space. Imagine if communication… became like an exchange of perfumed love letters with the quiet agony of expectation... Will we meet? Will we be as the other imagined? Will the other be able to understand us?”
Ready for an answer?
Anthropologist John Traphagan of the University of Texas in Austin has been asking the same question, though his view is more cautious. "When it comes to ET, you'll get a signal of some kind; not much information and very long periods between ‘Hi, how are you?’ and whatever comes back. We may just shrug our shoulders and say 'This is boring’, and soon forget about it or, if the time lag wasn't too long, we might use the minimal information we get from our slow-speed conversation to invent what we think they're like and invent a kind concept of what they're after.”
The aliens in Independence Day (1996) did not come in peace (20th Century Fox)
Consider how easy it is to mess up human-to-human communications; I got Traphagan’s first name wrong when I e-mailed him for this article. An apology within minutes cleared up the confusion, yet if he had been an alien anthropologist on some distant planet it would have taken much longer to fix. He later confessed: "I could have thought this is a snooty English journalist and our conversation might never have happened."
Even if Earth’s interstellar messaging committees weeded out the typos, cultural gaffes are always a possibility. These can only be avoided by understanding the alien’s culture – something that’s not easy to do, especially when you’ve never met those you’re communicating with.
Rosy picture
So, what is the best way to communicate? This is still up for grabs – perhaps it’s via smell, or some other technique we haven’t discovered yet. Clearly, creating a message that is timeless, free of cultural bias and universally comprehensible would be no mean feat.
But for starters, being honest about who we are is important if we want to have an extra-terrestrial dialogue lasting centuries, says Douglas Vakoch, director of interstellar message composition at Seti. (Otherwise, intelligent civilisations who’ve decoded our radio and TV signals might smell a rat.)
The golden discs aboard the Voyager spacecraft require aliens to understand how to play a record (Nasa)
“Let's not try to hide our shortcomings,” says Vakoch. “The message we should send to another world is straightforward: We are a young civilisation, in the throes of our technological adolescence. We're facing a lot of problems here on Earth, and we're not even sure that we'll be around as a species when their reply comes in. But in spite of all of these challenges, we humans also have hope – especially hope in ourselves."
Yet ultimately what matters, says Paterson, is that they stop and consider the beings who sent them a message; the people who wanted to say: “Here are some important things. Here’s our DNA, here is some maths and universal physics. And here is our longing and desire to say “I’m like you, but I’m different.”
 |
| Crash site of Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo |
Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo rocket plane exploded and crashed during a test flight on Friday, killing one crew member and seriously injuring another, authorities said.
The explosion came after the plane dropped away from its WhiteKnightTwo carrier airplane and fired up its hybrid rocket engine, said Stuart Witt, CEO and general manager of the Mojave Air and Space Port in California. The blast scattered debris across a two-mile swath of the desert floor north of Mojave, which is about 95 miles (150 kilometers) outside Los Angeles.
One of the two test pilots aboard the plane was killed, said Kern County Sheriff Donny Youngblood, who was among the officials dealing with the crash's aftermath.
The other parachuted to the ground and was injured. That pilot was transferred to Antelope Valley Hospital in Lancaster, California, according to Kern County Deputy Fire Chief Michael Cody.
"We hope that the survivor will be just fine," Youngblood said during a news briefing.
The pilots have not yet been identified, but both of them worked for Mojave-based Scaled Composites, according to Scaled's president, Kevin Mickey. Scaled has played a key role in developing and testing SpaceShipTwo for Virgin Galactic.
Virgin Galactic had planned to use this SpaceShipTwo to fly passengers on suborbital trips to the edge of space, beginning as early as next year. A nearly identical rocket plane is already under construction inside a Mojave hangar. More than 700 customers, including celebrities such as Ashton Kutcher and Justin Bieber, have paid as much as $250,000 to take a ride.
George T. Whitesides, Virgin Galactic's CEO, said the company would press on despite the setback.
"Space is hard, and today was a tough day," Whitesides told reporters. "We are going to be supporting the investigation as we figure out what happened today, and we're going to get through it. The future rests in many ways on hard, hard days like this. But we believe we owe it to the folks who were flying these vehicles as well as the folks who are working so hard on them to understand this and to move forward."
Witt said Mojave's close-knit aviation community was hit hard by the tragedy.
"When we have a mishap from the test community, we find that the test community is very small," he said. "We are human, and it hurts."
First powered flight in months
SpaceShipTwo's crew was testing the rocket engine in flight for the first time in more than nine months. The plane was slung beneath WhiteKnightTwo for takeoff from the Mojave Air and Space Port at about 9:20 a.m. PT (12:20 p.m. ET). When the paired planes reached a height of about 50,000 feet, about 40 minutes later, SpaceShipTwo was released for the test.
Witt said the anomaly occurred about two minutes after SpaceShipTwo dropped away and fired the rocket engine, but he didn't see any explosion. "It wasn't because something did happen. It was what I was not hearing and not seeing," Witt said.
Photographer Ken Brown, who was covering the test flight, told NBC News that he saw an explosion high in the air and later came upon SpaceShipTwo debris scattered across a small area of the desert. The WhiteKnightTwo plane and its pilots, meanwhile, landed safely.
Authorities cordoned off the crash site pending an investigation. A National Transportation Safety Board team was expected to get to the crash site Saturday morning. The Federal Aviation Administration said it was also investigating the incident.
New kind of fuel tested
During the nine months since the previous rocket-powered test in January, Virgin Galactic switched SpaceShipTwo's fuel mixture from a rubber-based compound to a plastic-based mix — in hopes that the new formulation would boost the hybrid rocket engine's performance.
Mickey said engines using the new type of fuel had been thoroughly tested on the ground. The final pre-flight qualification engine firing took place earlier this month. Friday's test marked the first time the new fuel was used in flight, but Mickey said "we expected no anomalies with the motor today."
Before Friday's flight, the most recent aerial outing was on Oct. 7, when SpaceShipTwo took an unpowered, gliding flight back to the Mojave runway.
The fatal flight was part of SpaceShipTwo's years-long test program, following up on the successful suborbital spaceflights of the smaller SpaceShipOne rocket plane in 2004. Virgin Galactic had said SpaceShipTwo's first test flight to an outer-space altitude — usually defined as 100 kilometers, or 62 miles — could have taken place before the end of the year.
The company's billionaire founder, Richard Branson, was hoping to ride on the first commercial flight next year. Over the past decade, he and his investment partners have put hundreds of millions of dollars into the Virgin Galactic venture. After Friday's crash, Branson said in a Twitter update that he was "flying to Mojave immediately to be with the team."
Jason DiVenere / Scaled CompositesNBC News' Julianne Pepitone and James Eng contributed to this report. NBCUniversal has established a multi-platform partnership with Virgin Galactic to track the development of SpaceShipTwo and televise Branson's spaceflight.
 |
| This chart will give you an idea of how much of the sun will be blocked by the moon at the height of the eclipse, depending on where you live. (Photo: Doyle Rice and Frank Pompa, USA TODAY; Source: NASA) |
Excerpt from usatoday.com
Don't forget to look up Thursday.
In the afternoon, a partial solar eclipse — where the moon covers a part of the sun — will be visible across much of the USA, barring any pesky clouds that could block the show.
The eclipse will occur over most of North America — except for a small slice of eastern Canada and eastern New England, said meteorologist Joe Rao of Space.com.
In most of the eastern half of the USA and Canada, the eclipse will still be in progress at sunset — offering dramatic views if you can find a low western horizon, according to Sky and Telescope. In New York City, the eclipse starts at 5:49 p.m. ET and will last until the sun sets at 6:03 p.m. ET.
However, "people who live east of a line running from roughly Quebec City to Montauk Point, N.Y., will miss out on the solar show, since the sun will set before the dark disc of the moon begins to encroach upon it," Rao said.
During a solar eclipse, the sun, moon and Earth form a nearly straight line, with the moon in the middle. The moon temporarily blocks the sun in select areas on Earth.
Unless you use a special filter, such as welder's glasses, never look directly at the sun during the eclipse, or at any time for that matter. Universe Today warns that dangerous ultraviolet and infrared light focused on your retinas will damage your vision for the rest of your life.
Your camera also needs a special filter in order to photograph the eclipse.
The USA's next solar eclipse — which will be a total eclipse — won't occur until August 2017.
 |
| Artist’s impression of the Milky Way. Its hot halo appears to be stripping away the star-forming atomic hydrogen from its companion dwarf spheroidal galaxies. Image credit: NRAO/AUI/NSF |
Excerpt from
earthsky.org
Astronomers have discovered that our nearest galactic neighbors are devoid of star-forming gas, and that our Milky Way is to blame.
New observations by large radio telescopes reveal that within a well-defined boundary around our galaxy, dwarf galaxies are completely devoid of hydrogen gas. Beyond this point, dwarf galaxies are teeming with star-forming material.
The Milky Way galaxy is actually the largest member of a compact clutch of galaxies that are bound together by gravity. Swarming around our home galaxy is a menagerie of smaller dwarf galaxies, the smallest of which are the relatively nearby dwarf spheroidals, which may be the leftover building blocks of galaxy formation.
Further out are a number of similarly sized and slightly misshaped dwarf irregular galaxies, which are not gravitationally bound to the Milky Way and may be relative newcomers to our galactic neighborhood.
Kristine Spekkens is an assistant professor at the Royal Military College of Canada and lead author on a paper published in the Astrophysical Journal Letters. She said:
"Astronomers wondered if, after billions of years of interaction, the nearby dwarf spheroidal galaxies have all the same star-forming ‘stuff’ that we find in more distant dwarf galaxies."
Spekkens said:
"What we found is that there is a clear break, a point near our home galaxy where dwarf galaxies are completely devoid of any traces of neutral atomic hydrogen."Bottom line: New observations by large radio telescopes reveal that within a well-defined boundary around our galaxy, dwarf galaxies are completely devoid of star-making hydrogen gas. Astronomers say our Milky Way is to blame.
 |
| Neighboring galaxies to our own Milky Way (Descriptions below) |
| NAME | DISTANCE (kpc) | DISCOVERY PAPER |
|---|---|---|
| Canes Major | 7.2 | Martin et al. 2004, A dwarf galaxy remnant in Canis Major: the fossil of an in-plane accretion on to the Milky Way |
| Segue 3 | 17 | Belokurov et al. 2010, Big Fish, Little Fish: Two New Ultra-Faint Satellites of the Milky Way |
| Segue 1 | 23 | Belokurov et al. 2007, Cats and Dogs, Hair and A Hero: A Quintet of New Milky Way Companions |
| Sagittarius | 24 | Ibata, Gilmore & Irwin, 1994, A dwarf satellite galaxy in Sagittarius 1995, Sagittarius: the nearest dwarf galaxy |
| Segue 2 | 34.7 | Belokurov et al. 2009, The discovery of Segue 2: a prototype of the population of satellitesof satellites |
| Bootes II | 43 | Walsh, Jerjen & Willman, 2007, A Pair of Bootes: A New Milky Way Satellite |
| Coma | 44 | Belokurov et al. 2007, Cats and Dogs, Hair and A Hero: A Quintet of New Milky Way Companions |
| Willman 1 (SDSSJ1049+5103) | 45 | Willman et al. 2005, A New Milky Way Companion: Unusual Globular Cluster or Extreme Dwarf Satellite? |
| Bootes III | 46 | Grillmair 2009, Four New Stellar Debris Streams in the Galactic Halo |
| LMC | 50.8 | - |
| SMC | 59.7 | - |
| Bootes | 60 | Belokurov et al. 2006, A Faint New Milky Way Satellite in Bootes |
| Ursa Minor | 66 | A.G. Wilson of the Lowell Observatory in 1955, Sculptor-Type Systems in the Local Group of Galaxies |
| Sculptor (Scl) | 79 | discovered in 1938 by Harlow Shapley, A Stellar System of a New Type |
| Draco | 82 | A.G. Wilson of the Lowell Observatory in 1955, Sculptor-Type Systems in the Local Group of Galaxies |
| Sextans | 89 | Mike Irwin, M.T. Bridgeland, P.S. Bunclark and R.G. McMahon, 1990 A new satellite galaxy of the Milky Way in the constellation of Sextans |
| Ursa Major (UMa) | 100 | Willman et al. 2005, A New Milky Way Dwarf Galaxy in Ursa Major |
| Carina | 103 | Cannon, R. D., Hawarden, T. G., & Tritton, S. B., 1977, A new Sculptor-type dwarf elliptical galaxy in Carina |
| Hercules | 140 | Belokurov et al. 2007, Cats and Dogs, Hair and A Hero: A Quintet of New Milky Way Companions |
| Fornax | 140 | discovered in 1938 by Harlow Shapley, described in "Two Stellar Systems of a New Kind", Nature, Vol. 142, p. 715 |
| Canes Venatici II | 150 | Sakamoto & Hasegawa 2006, Discovery of a Faint Old Stellar System at 150 kpc |
| Leo IV | 160 | Belokurov et al. 2007, Cats and Dogs, Hair and A Hero: A Quintet of New Milky Way Companions |
| Pisces II | 182 | Belokurov et al. 2010, Big Fish, Little Fish: Two New Ultra-Faint Satellites of The Milky Way |
| Leo II (Leo B) | 208 | Robert G. Harrington and Albert George Wilson, 1950, Two New Stellar Systems in Leo |
| Canes Venatici | 220 | Zucker et al. 2006 A New Milky Way Dwarf Satellite in Canes Venatici |
| Leo I | 254 | Robert G. Harrington and Albert George Wilson, 1950, Two New Stellar Systems in Leo |
Elena Serova of Russia, a member of the International Space Station crew, gestures as she boards the Soyuz TMA-14M spacecraft at t...
This artist's impression shows the Rosetta orbiter at comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. The image is not to scale. Image Credit: ESA/ATG Medialabjpl.nasa.govComet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko is releasing the Earthly equivalent of two glasses of water i...
VANCOUVER, BC – In an ExopoliticsTV interview with Alfred Lambremont Webre, multigenerational ET contactee Ray Kosulandich, whose family ET contacts span his grandfather, father and himself, revealed drawings of the 32 species of mainly hyperdimensional ETs that have visited him, each bringing a consistent message of a coming positive transformation of human consciousness. Mr. Kosulandich also indicated he is visited and briefed on a regular basis by four ETs he calls his “Fab [...]
Our planet has come a long way in scientific breakthroughs and discoveries. Mainstream science is beginning to discover new concepts of reality that have the potential to change our perception about our planet and the extraterrestrial environment that surrounds it forever. Star gates, wormholes, and portals have been the subject of conspiracy theories and theoretical physics for decades, but that is all coming to an end as we continue to grow in our understanding about the t [...]
{mainvote}
Mount Shasta is one of the seven sacred mountains of our planet. The legend of the mountain includes stories about angels, spirit-guides, UFOs, extraterrestrials, and great masters.
Lemurians allegedly live in the undergroun...
TAKE CHARGE OF YOUR LIFE!
FREE SEMINAR – In Torrance, California
presented by Patricia Diane Cota-Robles
http://eraofpeace.org
April 3, 2011
Sunday, 10:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Torrance, California
Doubletree Torrance Hotel South Bay
21333 Hawthorne Blvd
Torrance, CA 90503
Please let people on your mailing list who live in or around Torrance, California know about this opportunity. Thank you!
This is a time of new beginnings. We have all been going through a purging process that has pushed to the surface anything in our lives that is not serving our highest good. This necessary cleansing process is often confusing and sometimes even overwhelming, but we have no other option than to walk through it. We are not being given the luxury of ignoring our dysfunctional relationships and our negative situations any longer. If we try to, more painful things surface to get our attention and to motivate us into action. This awakening process is being orchestrated by our God Selves, which is the Divinity within us that is always striving to move us forward in the Light. If we want the insanity to stop, we must remember who we are and why we are here.
The good news is that we are not being given anything that we cannot handle, and we have everything we need within us to accomplish this facet of our awakening process quickly and relatively easily. We have just forgotten how to do this. It is time for us to realize that we are not our fragmented, fear-based human egos. We are Beloved Sons and Daughters of God, and we are powerful beyond our knowing.
In this Free Seminar you will be reminded of the techniques that will allow you to clear the surfacing negativity quickly. You will also remember how easy it is to create the life you want.
This seminar is a gift from my heart to yours. Please do not let this opportunity pass you by.
Limited space. To guarantee seating, please call to register now:
Phone # 888-310-4488
http://eraofpeace.org
If our seminar is not in your area, please help us add to the Light of the World by joining with us through our Global Online Radio Program. The information for the Radio Program is listed below.
WEEKLY ON-LINE RADIO BROADCAST
Awaken Your Divine Potential
Host: Patricia Diane Cota-Robles
The program airs on Tuesdays at 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time or 1:00 p.m. Eastern Time
You may access the radio program directly from our website: http://eraofpeace.org
Or you may go directly to our On-line server: STATION 1 http://bbsradio.com
After the radio show airs, it will be available through the archives at http://bbsradio.com
This is a commercial-free hour during which we join hearts with thousands of Lightworkers all over the planet. Together, we invoke the Company of Heaven to add to the Light of the world. As we share the sacred knowledge that is being given to Humanity by the Beings of Light in the Realms of Illumined Truth, we remember who we are and how to fulfill our purpose and reason for being.
Brief Bio:
Patricia Diane Cota-Robles
Patricia was a marriage and family counselor for twenty years. During that time she cofounded the nonprofit, educational organization the New Age Study of Humanity’s Purpose. Patricia is an internationally known teacher and author. She has written the ten books listed below and produced tapes, CDs and DVD’s that supplement her work. For over 30 years, Patricia has been helping awakening souls all over the world take charge of their lives.
Books by Patricia Diane Cota-Robles
Take Charge of Your Life
The Next Step
Your Time Is At Hand
The Awakening…Eternal Youth, Vibrant Health, Radiant Beauty
Stargate of the Heart
What On Earth Is Going On?
It Is Time For You To Be Financially Free
HOME…Heaven On Mother Earth
The Violet Flame…God’s Gift to Humanity
I AM Cocreating the New Earth…A Book of Invocations
Who Am I? Why Am I Here? (NEW)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
International License.
unless otherwise marked.
Terms of Use | Privacy Policy
— Up ↑ —
Galactic Federation of Light Ashtar May-12-2013
Ashtar through Elizabeth Trutwin: ET Commander Ashtar Comments On Citizens Hearing In Washington
View Article Here Read MoreThanks to Wes Annac:http://aquariusparadigm.com/2013/05/14/ashtar-through-elizabeth-trutwin-et-commander-ashtar-comments-on-citizens-hearing-in-washington/