US Navy Laser Weapon Shoots Down Drone in Test

The US Navy has been pursuing solid-state laser weapons capable of setting other vessels on fire for years, but now one is almost ready to actually be put out to sea. The Office of Naval Research (ONR) today announced that it is aiming to "field and test a solid-state laser prototype" in early 2014 aboard the USS Ponce. The Ponce is a transport vessel from the 1970s that was recently upgraded into a hi-tech floating base and is stationed in the Persian Gulf, in range of Iranian attack boats.

As evidence of how far it's come with laser technology, the Navy released videos and imagery today of its prototype cannon tracking and burning a small drone out of the sky. The test firing took place off the coast of California in July last year, an ONR spokesperson told The Verge. It followed on the heels of a previous test of the Navy's laser weapons in early 2011, when a laser cannon was used to ignite and destroy a small boat.

"A MAJOR SHOW OF CONFIDENCE" IN THE TECHNOLOGY

Putting such a weapon out into the field aboard the Ponce, however, is "a major show of confidence" in the technology, asDanger Room's Spencer Ackerman wrote last month. That's especially true given the fact that defense spending is likely to face cuts in the upcoming federal budget. Still, the Navy thinks the technology is worth further investment in and may actually be cheaper than other current defense weapons. "Compared to existing ship self-defense systems, such as missiles and guns," a Navy specialist wrote in a report to Congress last month, "lasers could provide Navy surface ships with a more cost effective means of countering certain surface, air, and ballistic missile targets." The latest test is further evidence that the Navy is setting its laser ambitions higher than you may have guessed.

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Extraterrestrial Disclosure | Canadian Minister of Defense Speaks

On September 25, 2005, Hon Paul Hellyer, the former Canadian Minister for National Defense gave a speech in Toronto at an event titled: "Exopolitics Toronto: A Symposium on UFO Disclosure and Planetary Direction" (www.exopoliticstoronto.com) . Hellyer described his time as Minister for Defense from 1963-1967 where the occasional UFO sighting report crossed his desk. He claims to never have had time for what he considered to be a "flight of fancy", but nevertheless retained an interest in the UFO phenomenon. While Minister for Defense, he was guest of honor at the opening of the world's first UFO landing pad at Alberta, Canada in 1967. He thought it an innovative idea from a progressive Canadian community willing to pay for his helicopter ride, but did not give much thought to UFOs as having serious policy implications. He also describes a private UFO sighting he later had with family and guests, but once again attributed it to a 'flight of fancy' rather than anything having serious policy implications.

Hellyer's position on UFOs dramatically changed after watching the late Peter Jennings documentary special, "Seeing is Believing" in February 2005. Hellyer decided to read a book that had been idly sitting on his book shelf for two years. Philip Corso's, The Day After Roswell, sparked intense interest for Hellyer in terms of its policy implications. Corso named real people, institutions and events in his book that could be checked. Intrigued by the policy implications, Hellyer decided to confirm whether Corso's book was real or a "work of fiction". He contacted a retired United States Air Force General and spoke to him directly to verify Corso's claims. The unnamed General simply said: "every word is true and more". Hellyer then proceeded to discuss the "and more …" with the general and claimed he was told remarkable things concerning UFOs and the extraterrestrial hypothesis that interplanetary visitors have been here since at least 1947. Finally convinced that the UFO phenomenon was real Hellyer decided to come forward and speak at Exopolitics Toronto about some of the "most profoundly important policy questions that must be addressed." 

The policy questions Hellyer addressed in his talk are both profound and vitally important for citizens of every nation of Earth.

First, Hellyer claimed that evidence concerning UFOs is the "greatest and most successful cover up in the history of the world". He confirmed that senior political officials even at the rank of Minister of Defense, a position he himself occupied, are simply out of the loop when it comes to information concerning UFOs and visiting extraterrestrials. From a democratic perspective, that raises many concerns about oversight, transparency and accountability of those in control of the information, technology and projects concerning the extraterrestrial visitors.

A second profound policy question concerns the designation by the U.S. military of visiting extraterrestrials as an 'enemy'. According to Hellyer, this had led to the development of "laser and particle guns to the point that they can be used against the visitors from space." It is this targeting of visiting extraterrestrials that concerns Hellyer, and he asks "is it wise to spend so much time and money to build weapon systems to rid the skies of alien visitors?" Hellyer poignantly raises the key policy question: "Are they really enemies or merely legitimate explorers from afar?" Hellyer's question raises profound importance in understanding the relationship between visiting extraterrestrial civilizations and world peace.

The third policy question arose from the recent decision by President Bush to build a base on the moon. Hellyer believes this is the activation of a plan first launched by Col Corso's mentor, Lt General Arthur Trudeau to build a base from which visiting extraterrestrials could be monitored and possibly targeted as they approach the Earth. Hellyer outlined his opposition to the weaponization of space, something that the liberal government of Canada is currently opposed to. The weaponization of space remains a key policy issue clearly has profound policy issues from the perspective of extraterrestrial visitors to Earth.

Finally, Hellyer declared that the "time has come to lift the veil of secrecy" and to have an "informed debate about a problem that doesn't officially exist." Understanding the evidence concerning the UFO phenomenon is vital to fully preparing citizens around the world for the truth concerning extraterrestrials, despite official denial and secrecy by those "in the loop". He calls for major global initiatives to fully prepare global citizenry for the truth. He endorses a position taken by key exopolitical researchers such as Alfred Webre to prepare for a "Decade of Contact" where humanity is prepared for the truth about extraterrestrial visitors through informed debate and education.

Paul Hellyer is the first senior politician to openly come out and declare the truth about the extraterrestrial presence. He is blazing a trail that many other senior politicians are destined to take. It will be wise if the world's senior politicians quickly learn more about this remarkable Canadian statesman and heed his important advise about data on extraterrestrial visitors and the "profoundly important policy questions that must be addressed."

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UFO Disclosure | Mike Wallace | Marine Corps [ Lost Tapes ]

Interview with Donald Keyhoe, a Marine Corp Major who investigated the phenomenon for Military Intelligence during that decade. There's more Disclosure in this brief interview than almost at anytime since.

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Several Nuclear Tests | Bombs That Will Be Used in the Third World War

A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission or a combination of fission and fusion. Both reactions release vast quantities of energy from relatively small amounts of matter. The first fission ("atomic") bomb test released the same amount of energy as approximately 20,000 tons of TNT. The first thermonuclear ("hydrogen") bomb test released the same amount of energy as approximately 10,000,000 tons of TNT.

A modern thermonuclear weapon weighing little more than 2,400 pounds (1,100 kg) can produce an explosive force comparable to the detonation of more than 1.2 million tons (1.1 million tonnes) of TNT. Thus, even a small nuclear device no larger than traditional bombs can devastate an entire city by blast, fire and radiation. Nuclear weapons are considered weapons of mass destruction, and their use and control have been a major focus of international relations policy since their debut.

Only two nuclear weapons have been used in the course of warfare, both by the United States near the end of World War II. On 6 August 1945, a uranium gun-type fission bomb code-named "Little Boy" was detonated over the Japanese city of Hiroshima. Three days later, on 9 August, a plutonium implosion-type fission bomb code-named "Fat Man" was exploded over Nagasaki, Japan. These two bombings resulted in the deaths of approximately 200,000 people—mostly civilians—from acute injuries sustained from the explosions. The role of the bombings in Japan's surrender, and their ethical status, remain the subject of scholarly and popular debate.

Since the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, nuclear weapons have been detonated on over two thousand occasions for testing purposes and demonstrations. Only a few nations possess such weapons or are suspected of seeking them. The only countries known to have detonated nuclear weapons—and that acknowledge possessing such weapons—are (chronologically by date of first test) the United States, the Soviet Union (succeeded as a nuclear power by Russia), the United Kingdom, France, the People's Republic of China,India, Pakistan, and North Korea. In addition, Israel is also widely believed to possess nuclear weapons, though it does not acknowledge having them. One state, South Africa, fabricated nuclear weapons in the past, but as its apartheid regime was coming to an end it disassembled its arsenal, acceded to the NPT and accepted full-scope international safeguards.

The Federation of American Scientists estimates there are more than 17,000 nuclear warheads in the world as of 2012, with around 4,300 of them considered "operational", ready for use.

The mushroom cloud of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki, Japan on August 9, 1945 rose some 18 kilometers (11 mi) above the bomb's hypocenter.

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USA Deploying Missile Interceptors

The U.S. is deploying 14 new ground-based missile interceptors in Alaska
to counter renewed nuclear threats from North Korea and Iran, Defense Secretary
Chuck Hagel said Friday.

The new interceptors will be based at Fort Greely, an Army launch site about 100 miles southeast of Fairbanks, Alaska, and are projected to be fully deployed by 2017, Hagel said. The additions will bring the U.S.-based ground interceptor deployment from 30 to 44, including four that are
based in California.

That will boost U.S. missile defense capability by 50 percent and
"make clear to the world that the United States stands firm against aggression,"
he said in a briefing at the Pentagon.

The announcement comes as North Korea has been making bellicose threats to void the armistice that ended the Korean War and launch a nuclear attack on the U.S. The U.S. and South Korea began annual military drills this week despite the North Korean threats.

Hagel said the U.S. would also shift some "resources," which he didn't specify, from the delayed Aegis anti-missile program in Europe to U.S.-based defenses, saying the Aegis program was "lagging" because of reduced congressional funding. And he reiterated previously announced plans to add a second U.S. anti-ballistic missile radar installation in Japan.

Taking all of the moves together, "we will be able to add protection against missiles from Iran sooner while also proving protection against the threat from North Korea," he said.

Even before the announcement, Sen. Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H., a member of the Armed Services Committee, criticized the news, saying it was too little and too late.

"I applaud the Obama administration's decision, but it shouldn't have taken the predictable saber-rattling from North Korea to bring this about," Ayotte said in a statement Friday. 

North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un is trying to prove his strength, causing experts to worry that Pyongyang's threats could get out of control. NBC's Andrea Mitchell reports.

Pointing to Iran's nuclear program, Ayotte called on the Obama administration to "move expeditiously to construct an East Coast missile defense site."

"Americans living in the Eastern United States should have the same level of missile defense protection as those in the West," she said.

Courtney Kube and Kelly O'Donnell of NBC News contributed to this report. Follow M. Alex Johnson on Twitter and Facebook.

By M. Alex Johnson, staff writer, NBC News

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