U. S. Congress Revisits UAP Sightings

The recent May 17, 2022 public congressional hearing was expected to provide citizens with long-sought answers concerning UAPs ( unidentified aerial phenomena). The previous US Congressional open hearing dealing with UAPs occurred in 1968. UAPs were formerly known as UFOs (unidentified flying objects). Strange, unknown objects appearing in our skies have been amply discussed since 1947. Their appearance has generated considerable angst and speculation that they are visitors from extraterrestrial realms or foreign adversaries possessing advanced technology far beyond man’s current ability to duplicate. Citizens have complained that our government knows more about UAPs than they have publicly revealed. The hearing drew mixed reviews and proved disappointing for many.

Following the 84-minute presentation by Ronald Moultrie, Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and Security and Scott Bray, Deputy Director of Naval Intelligence, congressional representatives were invited to a closed, classified briefing later that day. Some members of congress called UAPs a “national security threat.” Many citizens wonder what information was presented during the “closed, classified briefing.”

The hearing was a followup to the US Government’s written report submitted on June 25, 2021. That report was presented at the behest of Senator Mark Rubio, ranking member of the Senate Intelligence Committee (SIC). Our science/faith blog reported on the anticipated June 25 UAP “tell-all” in our post of June 9, 2021:

https://jasscience.blogspot.com/2021/06/unidentified-aerial-phenomena-tell-all.html

We have carefully studied the written report of June 25, 2021. It was labelled unclassified. The report did not specifically propose that foreign governments have developed unknown military technology responsible for the unusual characteristics of some unidentified aerial phenomena. However, the report did mention “…the potential threat posed by UAPs.” It also spoke of “…relevant processes, policies, technologies, and training for the U.S. military and other U.S. Government (USG) personnel if and when they encounter UAPs, so as to enhance the Intelligence community’s (IC) ability to understand the threat.” Nowhere did the written report propose that extraterrestrial beings had visited Planet Earth and were responsible for UAPs. The report’s use of the term “threat” has caused concern for some Earth residents. What is the nature of the “threat,” they wonder? The question remains unanswered.

The written report of 25 June 2021 and the recent May 17, 2022 congressional hearing were similar in the information presented. There are stigmas associated with reporting UAPs—some people are afraid to come forward. Sensor anomalies exist. Subjective human perception is not always reliable. There is limited or inconsistent data. Anecdotal or narrative approaches have obvious weaknesses. Scientists must pursue more rigorous and focused studies.

Behavior of UAPs is cause for concern. If UAPs are acknowledged to be real, how do we explain unusual flight characteristics such as impossibly rapid acceleration or deceleration, impossible directional changes, achievement of supersonic speeds not typical of conventional aircraft, and no evidence of apparent propulsion systems? These are traits more commonly described in science fiction literature. We resist describing any more unusual traits and appearances of UAPs because they have been widely described and televised on contemporary news reports.

Personally, I have always been interested in the topic. As a high school student in the middle of the 20th century I was privy to the early “flying saucer” (UFO) craze. When government officials recently proclaimed that UAPs are real, I viewed the news as “old knowledge.” In more recent years I have accepted the UAP phenomenon and linked it to my knowledge of science. From a science perspective I realize that IF UAPs are “real,” some of them do not conform to ordinary physical laws. This accounts for their atypical behavior. For example, they are not subject to gravity, the laws of acceleration, or the laws of inertia (they may manifest “inertia negation.”) We assign certain behaviors to the paranormal and occult—beyond the scope of scientific understanding. Such vehicles could be manned by malevolent spiritual beings.

We first started posting on UAPs in November 2019. You may review any or all of the series of posts with these links:

https://jasscience.blogspot.com/2019/11/of-this-world.html

https://jasscience.blogspot.com/2019/11/ufos-rufos-and-uaps.html

https://jasscience.blogspot.com/2019/12/knowledge-gain-uaps-are-real.html

https://jasscience.blogspot.com/2019/12/unidentified-and-mysterious.html

https://jasscience.blogspot.com/2019/12/demonology-and-uapufo-connection.html

https://jasscience.blogspot.com/2019/12/the-malevolent-paranormal.html

https://jasscience.blogspot.com/2020/01/dimensionality-musings.html

https://jasscience.blogspot.com/2020/01/dichotomy-in-supernatural-realms.html

https://jasscience.blogspot.com/2020/01/natural-supernatural-preternatural-or.html

https://jasscience.blogspot.com/2020/01/dual-reality.html

God has not given us a spirit of fear, but one of power, love, and sound judgment. 

(2 Timothy 1:7 CSB)

 

     

     

Reproduction Rights and Roe

 Discussions involving human reproductive rights generate intense controversy. Our national populace has always been concerned about human rights. As humans what rights do we have? Our rights are deemed sacred because humans are created in God’s image. As Creator, God bestows rights on his created entities.

In 1948 the United Nations produced the important UDHR (Universal Declaration of Human Rights). Only one of its 30 articles might be construed to relate to the issue of abortion rights but we are confident the writers of Article 3 of the UDHR did not have abortion rights in mind: “Everyone has the right to life, liberty, and the security of person.” In our current day, we believe contemporary pro-choice advocates have elevated abortion rights far beyond the well known 1948 United Nations declaration of human rights. Nowhere in the United Nations human rights document is “a woman’s right to choose” or “a woman’s right to privacy” advocated as an important human right.

The flawed 1973 Roe v. Wade decision by SCOTUS is used as justification for affirming a “woman’s right to choose” and a “woman’s right to privacy.” It was based on the errant belief that constitutional language “implies” the right to privacy with respect to “a woman’s right to choose,” (referring to the woman’s right to choose abortion). But nowhere is abortion addressed specifically as a constitutional right. Supreme Court Justice Harry Blackmun, who wrote the 1973 decision, stated, “If the suggestion of personhood is established, the appellant’s case, of course, collapses, for the fetus’s right to life would then be guaranteed specifically by the (fourteenth) amendment.”

The more important issue, therefore, is the “personhood” of the embryo and fetus. If participants in the abortion argument would concur with the many life scientists who state that “life begins at conception,” there would be no more discussion. In 2014 we published a series of posts highlighting the divine miracle of God-given personhood—LIFE in the womb from conception until birth. Below we provide the title and one or two statements from each post and a link to the blog site of each full post:

EMERGENCE OF CONSCIOUSNESS: The development of a mature human consciousness is only one of the miracles of human development in the first year of life from conception to infancy.  

https://jasscience.blogspot.com/2014/01/emergence-of-consciousness.html

CONCEPTION TO CONSCIOUSNESS: Denial that the developing entity within the womb is fully human and deserves protection from the moment of conception to the moment of birth and beyond has become a paramount collective sin staining our nation.

https://jasscience.blogspot.com/2014/01/conception-to-consciousness.html

BODY BUILDING BLUEPRINT: Knowledge of the fundamental component of living things—the cell—has exploded. This includes knowledge of genetics and the fundamental secrets of heredity possessed by the incredible DNA molecule.

https://jasscience.blogspot.com/2014/01/body-building-blueprint.html

PRENATAL SCIENCE AND THEOLOGY: The union of a male sperm and female ovum is classic modern knowledge. This union forms the human zygote, a single diploid cell containing two sets of chromosomes—one set from each parent.

https://jasscience.blogspot.com/2014/01/prenatal-science-and-theology.html

LET THE BUILDING BEGIN: The 8-9 day period following conception precedes implantation of the embryo into the mother’s uterine wall. These are important days of preparation for the actual body building project to follow…..The mother is host to the embryo during the 8-9 days prior to implantation.

https://jasscience.blogspot.com/2014/01/let-building-begin.html

EMBRYO TO FETUS: In humans, the child is termed an embryo up until eight weeks. The event sequence of the first few weeks of pregnancy is fascinating almost beyond imagination. The mysteries of embryology still puzzle scientists.

https://jasscience.blogspot.com/2014/01/embryo-to-fetus.html

 

PLOTTING PRENATAL PROGRESS: The astonishing beginning and subsequent development of the human embryo and its transition to the category of fetus at roughly eight weeks is known to medical scientists in stunning detail.

https://jasscience.blogspot.com/2014/02/plotting-prenatal-progress.html

IMAGERIES OF BUILDING: Quality building materials must be selected. Construction materials must be utilized at the proper time and place and in the appropriate manner…..Applying this imagery to human reproduction, the foundation of an embryo, its transition to a fetus and finally, the arrival of the birth of a child are events which are coordinated precisely by the Creator.

https://jasscience.blogspot.com/2014/02/imageries-of-building.html

MYSTERY OF REPRODUCTION: A Highlight of the Genesis account is the creation of man…..In Chapter One, the initial mention of the vast array of the creation of life forms concludes with, “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him, male and female he created them.”

https://jasscience.blogspot.com/2014/02/mystery-of-reproduction.html

Finally, we concluded our January/February series of eleven posts with two essays containing information more typical of a biology textbook:

https://jasscience.blogspot.com/2014/02/mitosis-memories.html

https://jasscience.blogspot.com/2014/02/no-mitosis-without-meiosis.html

Enjoy your study! 

 

   

     

     

Abortion on a Living Planet---An Oxymoron

 During the last decades of the 20th century, the BBC presented several popular television series. One series was titled The Living Planet. The series, created by biologist David Attenborough, was broad in its historical scope, highlighting many features of life on Planet Earth. Its was heavily ecological in its theme, emphasizing the environment and the protection of nature for which humanity is responsible. We stress its description of Planet Earth as The Living Planet. Attenborough holds current humanity responsible for the proper care of the environment. Emphasis on humanity’s concern for earth’s living creatures is noteworthy and commendable.  

However, while studying the lengthy Wikipedia entry on the biological genius of Attenborough, it is evident that one of the most surpassing issues of our day—the sanctity of human life (homo sapiens)—takes a distant back seat to environmental and ecological issues. Examples: planetary biodiversity, limiting human population growth, switching to renewable energy sources, mitigating climate change, reducing meat consumption, and setting aside more areas for natural preservation. 

Why is the meaning of our current blog title: Abortion on a Living Planet—an oxymoron? The description “Living Planet” may characterize our tiny planet more aptly than any other. LIFE is present on Earth to an incredible extent. Over 8.7 million separate species including homo sapiens have been identified, but many more exist yet unclassified. So far as known, of the billions of exoplanets existing in our home galaxy and the quintillions of exoplanets in the entire universe, only Planet Earth possesses life! The human race has devised many barbaric means of terminating human life during pregnancy. This is a tragedy of our times.

Abortion on a Living Planet—an Oxymoron? In what sense is the term abortion an oxymoron?

This term is defined by most dictionaries as “a figure of speech in which contradictory words or terms appear in conjunction.” A better term may be “paradox:” the opposition of ideas or themes. We list several examples how the term “abortion” is presented in positive terms. Some describe oxymoronic language as a “fluffy euphemism” in which we learn to accept the “unthinkable.” Many pro-life citizens perceive abortion as a pejorative term for murder. It is easy to perceive abortion as murder of an innocent, helpless, immature human being, especially when brutal methods of abortion have been described in the literature. There have been 63 million children in the USA since the Roe v Wade decision of 1973 whose lives were terminated by abortion.

We present several examples of cherry-picking language terms in order to mislead. (1) Abortion is a matter of “a woman’s right to choose.” We might ask what could be negative about “a woman’s right to choose?” If the choice is between choosing death over life, there is much to be perceived as negative. (2) Abortion exemplifies a “woman’s right to privacy.” If the outcome of a private action results in abject harm to another developing human being, the answer is clear. In such cases abortion rights are not tantamount to the right to privacy. (3) Abortion tissues are referenced as “the products of conception.” However, avoiding the use of terms such as zygote, embryo, fetus, or baby and instead using a phrase such as “the products of conception” misrepresents biological truth.  

The Creator has initiated life on Earth, in particular, human life. In the last 70 years the discipline of developmental biology has become well known. Biologists have unlocked many secrets of life processes from conception to the birth of newborn children. We have often cited scripture from Psalm 139:13-16 as a devotional and scientific description of human development before birth. 

God is the Author and Creator of life. It is unthinkable that many humans would seek to destroy a human life created by God. In the past week many pro-choice abortion activists have defiantly rejected the truth that God is the Creator of life itself. They have elevated their “right” to end a human life by abortion over preserving and protecting the miracle of life itself. Human life is a monumental divine gift. The impact of defiantly terminating a developing human life in the womb is grievous to the Creator beyond our ability to understand.