Brane Space

Tuesday, May 19, 2026

NC Religion Prof Joins The List Of UFO Ignoramuses With Her WaPo Piece

J. Allen Hynek - Scientific Definition of UFO

Basis for physical reality of UFOs-UAP

Diana Walsh Pasulka - a professor of religion at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, has now joined the ‘illustrious’ ranks of know-nothing profs, “scientists”, and media nabobs who believe UFOs arise from "belief" and constitute the basis for a “new religion” or entry into another rabbit hole of the mind. As she writes in her Friday WaPo piece:

“On May 8, Pentagon officials began releasing previously classified material related to unidentified flying objects. The UFO files may not prove the existence of extraterrestrial life. But their publication is nonetheless a significant event. By creating a government-sanctioned repository of content that can be consulted for the truth about unknown intelligence, the U.S. government has offered support and recognition to a new kind of religion: belief in UFOs."

This initial blabber marks the prof's first indication of being woefully ignorant of the phenomenon itself, as well as its historical scientific basis. First, there is NO such thing as "belief in UFOs". Or to quote Dr. Kenneth L. Franklin (Neil deGrasse Tyson's predecessor at the Hayden Planetarium) from a Barbados lecture he gave in 1975:

"Asking me if I believe in UFOs is like asking me if I believe in Chicago. Of course I do! What you're really asking me when you ask that question is whether I believe UFOs are spacecraft from another planet, and I don't."

Second, she is blissfully unaware that the full scientific definition of the UFO has already been given, by the late Prof. J. Allen Hynek (former Chair of Astronomy Dept. Northwestern University) in his book UFOs- A Scientific Inquiry:

"A UFO is the reported perception of an object of light seen in the sky, the appearance, trajectory and general dynamic behavior of which do not suggest a logical, conventional explanation and which is not only mystifying to the original percipients but remains unidentified, after close scrutiny of all available evidence by persons who are technically capable of making a common sense identification, if one were possible.”

The definition fulfills all the key criteria of an objective, operational definition, not corrupted by bias or personal assumptions - particularly by way of "beliefs". Hynek basically gives us a scientific template by which to judge the nature of an object or light seen in the sky and which falls outside recognized categories.

This brings us to my one and only UFO observation 64 years ago, the detailed account of which I presented in the letter section ('Brainwaves') of The Mensa Bulletin five years ago and which I reproduce below:

Did I "believe" I saw this thing, whatever it was? No, I didn't "believe" I saw it, I flat out saw it like dozens of others in that crowd did. "Belief" didn't enter any more than if a commercial plane had gone over us instead. Would any intelligent person ask the witnesses in that Carol City, FL crowd if they suddenly "believed" they saw saw a UFO? No, that would be stupid. All of us there saw what we saw, and concurred with the aspects. No 'belief' was involved - which is always where the knee jerk skeptics lose their own credibility.

Pasulka fails to appreciate there is no such thing as "UFO belief", mainly because she hasn't done the necessary background research, including J. Allen Hynek's definition of a UFO. This, I argue, pretty well disqualifies herself from any serious consideration. But let me go on to her next paragraph to show how much of a bigger hole she manages to dig for herself:

"UFO belief is not a religion in the traditional sense. There are no centralized leaders: no popes, no universally recognized doctrines, no sacred text and no institution capable of enforcing orthodoxy. "

Of course a real UFO observation exhibits none of those religious aspects because it is not a belief! Here she commits much the same logical faux pas as Michael Shermer did in an earlier WaPo op ed, which I skewered at some length:

Brane Space: Michael Shermer's Predictable Efforts To Apply Quasi Religious ('Sky god') Beliefs To Secular Acceptance of UAP

Wherein I pointedly noted:

Shermer in his recent Washington Post piece veers off from acceptable logical argument by invoking pseudo-psychological twaddle. He applies a 'homemade' quasi religious belief template to the recent exposure of serious UAP-UFO incidents such as revealed in the documentary, The Age of Disclosure, i.e.

The Age of Disclosure - Official Trailer | IMDb

And comes up bupkiss, in my opinion. In like manner, I would say that Ms. Pasulka also veers off from acceptable logical argument by invoking pseudo-religious twaddle. Likely traced to uncritically conflating imagined (or erroneous) sightings with actual UFO sightings - such as made by the Nimitz pilots, or those of us in that N. Miami shopping center 64 years ago.This is Confirmed in her follow up sentence:

"Yet it increasingly performs many of the functions historically attributed to religion. It organizes communities of belief, creates narratives of revelation, offers cosmological meaning and establishes interpretive frameworks through which people understand mysterious experiences and humanity’s place in the universe.”

Please. Did those Nimitz Navy pilots - who certainly saw a UFO off their ship in 2004- then go on to "create communities of belief"? Did they create "narratives of revelation"? No, they delivered a sober recounting of their observations on a now famous 60 Minutes episode:

Navy pilots describe encounters with UFOs - YouTube

Clearly those experienced pilots would know from what they observed and recorded (on multiple sensors) there was no need to ascribe any religious or "cosmic meanings". Similarly, I also stand by the reality of the observation I made with dozens of other folks in that N. Miami shopping center 64 years ago. Am I inclined to create a "narrative of revelation"? Of course not. I simply maintain we shared an accurate observation of an extraordinary object which was unidentified in accord with J.Allen Hynek's UFO definition.

Pasulka by her 3rd paragraph at last delivers a serious statement on the issue of interest in UFOs:

“Counter to what some assume, interest in UFOs is not confined to the sociological fringe. Prominent scientists have raised questions about UFOs”

Prominent scientists like solar physicist Peter Sturrock whose work in the field of UFO analysis- from his book ('The UFO Enigma: A New Review of the Physical Evidence' ) discloses physical parameters are paramount. Hence, he examines in detail: magnetic, mechanical and thermal properties of contacted soil that cannot be reduced to religious bloviations. These physically real aspects for investigation (after UFO contact) include:

i)Mechanical – A continuous or brief mechanical pressure distorts the soil, and this can be measured by a penetration instrument.

ii)Thermal – Measurement of the quantity of water in the soil as compared to other nearby control samples, allows determination of the amount of energy required to reduce the water content to that level.

iii)Magnetic: Some soils have a high magnetic remanence. In this case it is useful to examine the magnetic pattern of the soil with the help of magnetometers either in situ, or in a laboratory.

iv)Radioactivity: Soil samples can be analyzed either in situ, of in the lab using recovered samples.

v)Physico-chemical: Samples from the trace region and control samples (recovered far from trace region) can be analyzed for molecular, atomic and isotopic composition.

Thus, positive results for any or all the above would indicate the UFO which made such contact has to be real.

Oh, and let's not forget one time skeptic Carl Sagan, "outed" by Northwestern University astronomy professor J. Allen Hynek, e.g.

https://setiathome.berkeley.edu/forum_thread.php?id=76926

Excerpt: "The pillar of modern space science Dr. Carl Sagan revealed to Dr. J. Allen Hynek, that he knew UFOs were real but could not talk publicly about the matter and possibly risk the loss of academic funding."

And:

Ex-Pentagon Official: The U.S Isn't Telling The Truth! Top-Secret UFO Encounters Finally Uncovered!

- And:
- WSJ: Pentagon Disinformation Fueled America's UFO Mythology? More Codswallop for Snookered Journalists...
And:

That Trump UFO Files Release: Richter Scale 10 Fanfare Matched By 'Meh' Output

And:

UFO whistleblower David Grusch: 'We are not alone' | Official Ross Coulthart NewsNation interview

And:

1947 Twining Memo On Unidentified Flying Discs Paved The Way For First FOIA Release Of UFO Docs

A Quantitative Look At The Physics Of Landau Damping - Part 2

We left off showing:

< dv(t)>_xo =

- (e) E₁ /m ò₀^t s <D cos( kx_o + kv_o t')>_xo + <sin <(kx_o+ kv_o t')> dt

Which leads to:

< dv(t)>_xo = (eE₁ /m) ² k/2 ò₀^t dt' [- k ²v_o² sin (k v_o t') +

t'/ kv_o cos (k v_o t')

Then next:

< dv(t)>_xo =

(eE₁ /m) ² k/2 (1/ k ³v_o³) {2 cos (-kv_o t') - 1] + k v_o t sin (k v_o t)}

And:

< d e >_xo = m v_o < dv(t)>_xo

dW(t)_R = < d e >_xo = Net energy gained or lost by all particles resonantly interacting with the wave.

= ò ^¥_-¥ dv_o<d e>_xo = f_o (v_o) = ò dv_of_o m v_o < dv(t)>_xo

Now, take the expansion:

f_o (v_o) = f_o (v_f) + ( v_o - v_f ) f '(v_f) + ........

Whence:

dW(t)_R = m f_o (v_f) ò ^¥_-¥ dv_ov_o < dv(t)>_x+ m f '_o (v_f)

- m f '_o (v_f) ò ^¥_-¥ dv_ov_f v_o < dv(t)>_x

_{In the case of a weakly damped wave we know:}

v_f >> v_th

So that the approximation:

f_o (v_f) << ‖ v_f f' (v_f ) ‖ = ‖ v_f - ( v_e/ v_th ² ) f _o (v_f) ‖

_{Can be made, allowing us to write:}

_{dW(t)_R}~

(eE₁ /m) ² k/2 mv_ff ' (v_f) ò ^¥_-¥ dv_ov_o /k ³v_o³ {2 cos (kv_o t') - 1] -

k v_o t sin (k v_o t)}

= mv_ff ' (v_f) /k ² ( (eE₁ /m) ²ò ^¥_-¥ dv_o /v_o² {2 cos (kv_o t') - 1]

+ k v_o t sin (k v_o t)}

Make change of variable: x = k v_o t

I = ò ^¥_-¥ dv_o /v_o² {2 cos (kv_o t') - 1] + k v_o t sin (k v_o t)}

= kt ò ^¥_-¥ dx /x² [2 (cos x -1) + x sin x]

To be continued

Monday, May 18, 2026

Sunday's Trumper "Prayer Rally" Exposed As An Exercise In Theocratic (& Political) Desperation

"You will worship me no matter the cost of gas or food!"

"Yes, daddy! Amen!"

Many said they were thrilled to finally see an event that tied the nation and its government so overtly to Christianity.

I guess they'd be the ones who weren't paying attention in civics class about the bit in the US Constitution where the Establishment Clause dictates that "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion." This effectively prevents the government from endorsing, funding, or favoring any specific religion or religion over non-religion.- WAPO comment

Millions of tax payer dollars spent to attract thousands of White Christian nationalists. A few close up photos showing many empty seats, but no long range shots to give us a real idea. "Officials expect 15,000.." is hardly a real estimate of size. How much did we pay per cultist and why wasn't the Post outraged at this official Christian/government event? - WAPO comment

These people posturing as “holy” completely disregard the teachings of Jesus. Try reading the beatitudes from the Sermon on the Mount. Or, how about “love your neighbor as yourself”? - WAPO comment - WAPO comment

You can be forgiven if you missed the news about a prayer rally yesterday morning, transforming a block of the National Mall into an evangelical worship service. Amazingly, it turned out to be a White House led, day-long prayer festival ostensibly for the country’s 250th anniversary.

In any case the mixing of Trump with religion is itself cause for cognitive dissonance. A nation turned over to a power -mad, deranged traitor, grifter, liar and felon - whose only affinity for religion is to manipulate its deluded white followers- cannot be a "celebration." Until Trump’s second term in office, it had been virtually unheard of in modern times for U.S. government officials to publicly tie the nation to a specific set of religious beliefs. So one wonders if the Trumptards ever heard of the Establishment Clause (under the First Amendment) which prevents the government from creating or favoring a national religion.

Matthew Sutton, a historian who recently published “Chosen Land: How Christianity Made America and Americans Remade Christianity,” said Trump’s use of scripture “was Trump at his best and most blasphemous. He takes a verse cherished by evangelicals and offers even more context for it. Except instead of Solomon as the king, Trump here is the king, and instead of the Hebrew temple, it’s Trump’s projects from the East Wing to the arch.” Adding:

“The text even comes with a warning: to defy the king — or the president — is to defy God.”

In other words, this convicted felon is identifying himself with God, and few of his gathered multitudes appeared to know any better.

“We welcome Trump….err Jesus, into this place!” worship leader Andy Frank bellowed to no one’s astonishment. After all, the Orange Fuhrer had already portrayed himself as Jesus:

But this was the latest in a series of Trump regime actions that have energized his deranged, hypocritical evangelical base. Buffoons and low IQ looneytunes wearing t-shirts emblazoned with “Trump is my president and Jesus is my Savior”.

Another moron with red sequined Trump-Jesus jacket quoted in the WaPo bellowed:

“Since Trump came back into office God is giving us a second chance. We’re in a period of grace.”

Second chance? Period of grace? In what parallel universe are you dwelling? Not this one! The nation known as the U.S.A. in 2026 has been cast into darkness, hate, insanity and division, best articulated by the German Chancellor Friedrich Merz – whose words from across the pond rip away the delusions afflicting the Maggats:

German chancellor's America warning: "Don't send your kids there"

Merz sees a country(like many of us sentient and sane American citizens) unraveling under the weight of corruption, vulgarity, fanaticism and madness. He sees a republic consumed by spectacle and poisoned by lies. He sees a political movement that has embraced cruelty as entertainment and ignorance as identity. He sees a nation where the institutions of democratic life are mocked, degraded and hollowed out by a fascist movement led by a man too depraved, too ignorant and too narcissistic to understand the damage he’s done.

Certainly not the delusional crowd gathered Sunday in the Mall, who pushed their version of White Nationalist Christianity at the center of the American story. Of course this is utter bullshit and a fairy tale. The Founders, as I've noted before, were mainly Deists not Christians. In the words of Joseph Ellis, the Pulitzer Prize-winning historian and author of many books on America’s founding:

“It is a falsification of the meaning of the American Revolution. The idea that the founders saw America as an explicitly Christian nation is nonsensical and “dead wrong'".

But one which Trump’s hard core base embraces with a preternatural fervor, given the desperation with which they seek to elevate a proven traitor and felon to sainthood – and even god hood status. But they are wasting their time because no one with an IQ over room temperature digits buys it

All one really needs to know regarding Sunday's bogus ritual is that it's all performative, the culmination of a yearslong effort by a powerful cohort in the MAGA movement. At the same time intentional. In order to take the Maggats' minds off their soaring debts from costly gas and groceries they're distracted by the Trump regime’s extensive festivities. It is also clearly a means to drive these hypocrites to the polls for the midterms, so the GOP can hold onto the House and Trump can dodge another impeachment.

So, typical of the conservative White Christians parading on the Mall Sunday, one beheld a reimagined iconography to advance the view that America was founded as a Christian nation. And tied to it, idolization of Dotard Trump - already in the throes of dementia, i.e.

Trump Has TOTAL PSYCHOTIC BREAK & Threatens To NUKE IRAN ON LIVE TV | The Kyle Kulinski Show

How could so many confer power on a convicted felon who also attempted to overthrow an election in 2020? Many forget the self- confessed pussy grabber Trump rose to office promising to give Christianity power, and his rallies increasingly fused evangelical worship and political grievance, as right-wing political activity became a kind of holy act for many of his supporters. In fact, it’s been an act of betrayal of all the principles this nation was founded on, and my Revolutionary War ancestors fought for.

Indeed, Trumpian Christianity is itself an abomination based on a misreading of history, not to mention the use of their maimed gospel citations to justify the killing of innocent school children in a Tehran elementary school. To quote Pope Leo, a real as opposed to a pretend Christian:

The blasphemous comparisons and attributions of Trump's divinity began soon after the attempted assassination in Butler, PA back in July, 2025. Indeed, as soon as Trump did his infamous fist pump, e.g.

It then became emblematic for his presumed "godhood". Thereby a freak happenstance (a lucky last minute head turn) transmuted into his firm belief that "divine providence" rendered him beyond criticism and above the law. Solidifying this lunacy in the brains of his followers and especially the White Nationalist Christian theocrats salivating at making him their new god.

Basically, Sunday's mock Xtian 'prayer rally" was another illustration of how deranged the country itself has become losing its moral compass.

See Also:

Donald Trump

‘I Wanted To Believe’: Former Supporter Tears Apart ‘Con Man’ Trump on Live Television

by Matthew Rozsa | May 18, 2026 - 5:00am | permalink

— from Alternet

In yet another sign that President Donald Trump is losing support from many in his own base, a three-time Trump voter called C-SPAN on Saturday to say that he regretted voting for a man he described as America’s “worst” president.

“It’s hard for me to say this,” the caller, who only identified himself as Thomas from Hawaii, explained. “I wanted to believe Trump was the real deal for a long time.”

Thomas added that, although he had doubts because of Trump’s controversial business history, he set aside those reservations and voted for him anyway.

“Now I regret my support for him and I should’ve known better,” Thomas explained. Describing Trump as “a con man, a liar” and someone who does not “keep his promises,” Thomas added that “he’s in office all for himself and he doesn’t even try to hide his corruption anymore.”

» article continues...

And:

Charlie Kirk | Conservatives and the Right

TPUSA’s “Make Heaven Crowded” Revival Tour Is a Disaster

by Amanda Marcotte | May 18, 2026 - 4:49am | permalink

— from Salon

“I believe wholeheartedly that you can’t force revival,” Lucas Miles declares in his stump speech for the Make Heaven Crowded tour. Miles is the director of TPUSA Faith, a spinoff of the late MAGA influencer Charlie Kirk’s Turning Point USA organization, that is dedicated to equipping Christians “who are prepared to defend our God-given rights.” And he’s been on the road this spring and summer, insisting to one audience after another that he does not believe you can “manufacture a revival.”

The irony of this is thick — manufacturing a revival is exactly what Miles is trying to do. The Make Heaven Crowded tour, Miles explains to congregations and the press along the way, was started after a late September memorial service for Kirk, who was killed by a gunman’s bullet earlier that month. At the time of Kirk’s death, Miles had been serving as director of TPUSA Faith for 18 months after serving as the pastor of Nfluence, an Indiana church whose name sounds more like a bad tech startup than a Christian congregation. Miles called the memorial, which was held at the State Farm Stadium outside of Phoenix, Arizona, “the most significant gospel presentation in the history of Christendom,” insisting that 170,000 people showed up and “almost a billion” watched it.

» article continues...