From: Scott Corrales <lornis1.nul>
Date: Sun, 30 May 2004 08:22:25 -0400
Fwd Date: Sun, 30 May 2004 10:39:10 -0400
Subject: Mexican University Bulletin On Campeche Lights



Source: Fundacion Cosmos, A.C. (Mexico)

http://www.dgi.unam.mx/boletin/bdboletin/2004_355.html

Date: May 30, 2004

University Bulletin Mentions Campeche Lights

[National Autonomous University of Mexico]

16:30 hrs. Mayo 13 de 2004
Bolet=EDn UNAM-DGCS-355
Ciudad Universitaria
Photos appear at the end of the Bulletin

"Phenomena Recorded from SEDENA Aircraft are Ball Lightning or
Electrical Discharges"

UNAM researchers dismissed the possibility that the are
objects or vehicles containing extraterrestrials.

They requested copies of the video from the Secretariat of
National Defense along with technical data on the sighting in
order to carry out deeper studies and come up with a definite
scientific answer.

Scientists at UNAM (National Autonomous University of Mexico)
reported that the phenomena recorded on video from an aircraft
belonging to the Secretariat of Defense (SEDENA) are ball
lightning or electrical discharges, which could have appeared in
the upper layers of the atmosphere for the first time. They made
it clear that they are not objects or vehicles containing
extraterrestrials.

The asked the Federal agency to provide them with a copy of the
recording and technical data employed which allowed the
observation of these lights in order to pursue deeper studies
and come up with a definite scientific answer. They stated that
this research institution and public universities have
sufficient experts capable of performing such research.

In this press conference regarding "El video de los ovnis" (The
UFO video), the director and researcher of the Astronomical
Institute, Jose de Jesus Franco Lopez and Armando Arellano
Ferro, respectively, as well as academicians Rafael Navarro
Gonzalez and Julio Herrera Velazquez of the Instituto de
Ciencias Nucleares (ICN) pointed out that this new tool could
enable Mexico to take a step forward in the sciences and take
the lead in the study of uncommon and unusual phenomena.

The experts denied that there is any evidence regarding the
possibility that intelligent life has visited Earth in the past,
although they did not dismiss the presence of life somewhere in
the Universe.

Franco Lopez explained that the definition of UFO is
"unidentified flying object", which occupies several categories.
However, to go from there to saying that they are occupied by
extraterrestrials "represents a gigantic leap, and the answer
then becomes no."

To compare a living being with a human being isn't the same, he
argued. A flying object has nothing to do with an
extraterrestrial point of origin.

He acknowledged SEDENA's serious work, which relies upon a
series of adequate instruments and experts with whom scholars
would wish to exchange points of view.

The director of the IA stated that it is not possible to present
any conclusions, since the characteristics of the infrared
camera are unknown, as well as the distance to the lights, their
speed, size and temperature, among other details.

In turn, Rafael Navarro Gonzalez showed a micro-scale example of
the ball lightining, similar to what was seen by the Mexican Air
Force pilots. He stated that the plasma phenomenon could explain
the presence of objects found in the clouds over Campeche. He
explained that after having seen the images for the first time
over television, his direct interpretation was that [they were]
meteorites or space junk falling into the atmosphere.

A day later, his conclusion regarding the video is that the
phenomenon was seen in the clouds; the pilots could not see the
spheres, but they were picked up on radar, which only detected
the two first ones propagated in the atmosphere. However, an
infrared camera was able to detect others originating in the
rear section.

He found the pilot's testimony interesting in the sense that
after exploring said presence for several minutes, the pilots
retreated when the spheres began to approach.

Ball lightning, he argued, is an atmospheric electrification
phenomenon that is seldom seen and has not been adequately
studied. The phenomenon [consists of] ionized gas, luminous
spheres, whose temperatures are not sufficiently high to emit
them [sic] and thus make them visible. This type of event
includes aurora borealis, so tenuous that it can only be seen in
winter and at night.

For this reason, the military men weren't able to see them in
plain sight, but were able to detect them through radar and
infrared.

He added that ball lightning propagates horizontally, as shown
in the SEDENA video. It occupies the same plane as the clouds
and move together with the aircraft, since ball lightning is an
unbalanced gas.

Its chemial and physical principles are unknown, but it can be
concluded that they were seen with some difficulty due to being
very tenuous. However, it is likely that they could not be
picked up by radar in front section of the discharge's
propagation.Given that the gas is hot and the ions are at a high
temperature, he explained, it emits infrared, making it
observable through a camera. Since all electrical discharges
tend to be neutralized by metal  - material with which the
aircraft was built  -  it tried to approach the aircraft.

In his own presentation, Julio Herrera Velazquez of the ICN
explained that ball lightning is a manifestation of the state of
matter known as plasma, which is related to fire.

Abounding on this, he went on to say that 99% of the observable
matter in the universe is in this state, and is capable of
emitting electromagnetic waves. The radar wavelengths as well as
those of the aircraft, he added, are what is needed to reflect
densities such as that of a bolt of lightning. However - he
added - it is according to the plama's density that it may be
observed, because it may be very tenous, to the extent that a
radar wave can penetrate it without reflecting it. In this case,
the ball lightning's characteristics allowed its detection
through the infrared camera. It is, he stressed, a highly
interesting meteorological phenomenon that is seldom seen. In
science, he noted, the goal is to rationalize things in the
search for the simplest and likeliest result.

Meanwhile, Armando Arellano Ferro of the IA made it clear that
scientist do not deny and will never deny the possibility that
biological life of another sort may have developed elsewhere in
the universe.

For this reason, he expressed the possibility that there is life
elsewhere in the Universe, but [scientists] do not know where,
despite the fact that the scientific community has sent signals
and made efforts for finding extraterrestrial evidence over the
decades. He invited society at large to search for scientific
reasons, in order that sightings of this type may not lead to
the conclusion that their origin is extraterrestrial, but rather
based on logical and well-grounded explanations.


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Translation (c) 2004 Scott Corrales
Institute of Hispanic Ufology (IHU)
Special thanks to Fundacion Cosmos AC and Leopoldo Zambrano