King, North TX

So, 'history' doesn't count, even when there are consistencies throughout the ages... That's brilliant. No wait, I meant "that's ignorant".

The evidence is our ancient history... Sorry, no peer reviewed article.

Are video cameras subject to this same hallucination effect?

This was well after sunset, the thunderstorm 'glowed' with a dim light from the center, and gave of purple lightening bolts that made no thunder... The only thunder was the occasional crack that didn't any match lightening. That said, I've seen LOTS of lightening that didn't have what I thought should be corresponding thunder. I'm not at all convinced that all lightening produces thunder. What is ball lightening?

I said I found his conclusion without scientific merit, and in ignorance of our history with heavenly beings. I never actually used the term outrageous. I so seldom do... Merged post follows: Consecutive posts merged Agreed, which is why he probably shouldn't be running his mouth in front of a camera and microphone, without some evidence. It wasn't that he speculated without any evidence, but that he ignored the evidence at hand THEN speculated. We have more to fear in each other than we do from any "heavenly agent".

When you are Professor Hawking EVERYTHING you say is going to be judged by scientists. It isn't like he was engaged in a private discussion bantering about various speculative ideas. He went on TV, and provided a public statement. How should the statement be judged?

Why is lightening different colors? In this storm, I saw almost no 'white' or light blue lightening. Almost all of it was purple, not just the background cloud hidden flashes, but the outer bolts also. And the bolts were all very short. I saw no 'streak lightening', that's almost always long and white. I HAVE heard lightening disruption on a tiny B&W TV I had in my youth... As a spinal cord injury patient, my body has become somewhat of a human barometer. My legs will always indicate an approaching low pressure system by flailing about in uncontrolled spasms. I am better at predicting rain than my local weather guy. You should consider loaning your pouch out to your local weather guy?

So, if I have a sensitive microphone, and there's no snow or sand to impede the sound, theoretically I 'should' hear every lightening flash? How much would rain dampen sound waves?

Does this also describe how "heat lightening" works? Should we hear a result of 'every' flash? What would cause a flash NOT to result in thunder?

Over the years, I've been told a great many things. The first was that it was God and the angels bowling. I believed that until I asked my first science teacher, who told me that the lightening 'split' the air, and that thunder was the air 'clapping' back together. She demonstrated the effect by breaking a light bulb, for the "pop". Years later, I'm told that the lightening actually 'expands' the air rapidly, 'popping' it like a piece of popcorn, and that no split actually occurs. Last night a thunderstorm system passed several miles to the North. The system itself was brightly lit, but there were no 'flashes' of lightening making the light. The light was a steady glow. The lightening was in flashes, but the thunder was almost non-existent. Giant close looking flashes that usually yield big booms, rendered nothing. While distant flashes, would offer the occasional "crack" if that. So, how is the whole lightening and thunder thing supposed to work?

We have a 'history' with these "heavenly beings"... This has been the argument I've been making for 6 pages. Merged post follows: Consecutive posts merged I think that natural selection and modern civility with social norms are at odds with one another. An even more 'evolved' species may well have seen the benefits of operating in an even more 'less destructive' manner of co-existence. Ideally, scientists wouldn't disturb AT ALL the subjects of their studies. Wouldn't we all agree that we learn the most, when something 'does NOT' know we are looking at it? Ascension into space/the heavens takes a whole lot of cooperation among a lot of individuals, even among nations... Natural selection is too local to rule solar activities. Merged post follows: Consecutive posts merged Public statements are a lot like research papers. You are putting something out there to be judged. 'I' judge this public statement/opinion, to be without scientific merit.

Renowned astrophysicists shouldn't be in the habit of making baseless speculative statements of opinion...on subjects they haven't researched. Now, if he had evidence from which he based this conclusion, I'd love to see it, or hear how he arrived at his conclusion. When his methodology has been found to be flawed, as a scientist, he should have no problem admitting he was in error...

First containment box failed due to the formation of ice crystals and buoyancy. A "top hat" with a warming system will be put into place soon.

Professor Hawking made several mistakes in his arrival at the 'incorrect conclusion' that contact would be like Humans were the Natives and the Visitors, Columbus. I hope he can be convinced to reconsider...

An air bubble...so says my father-in-law. The closer the air bubble gets to the surface the larger it gets, as the pressure is lessened, and by the time it got to the blow out valve, it was too much for the unit to withstand. An oil rig engineer, said on CNN that the only way this could have occurred is if the entire crew "turned its back on the well". He noted that every inch of the well itself is under close watch by gages, that all feed directly to a control room. They 'should' have seen the blowout coming. Another 'expert' said that the blowout mechanism hadn't been fully or properly set in place. I think we need to wait for the investigation results.

Of the choices you offered, I think the most likely is a 'past civilization', that may have even evolved here or on Mars perhaps, but that it escaped to "the heavens"...ascended if you will, to a higher plain of existence. I think it's likely "We" could too...in another 100 years or so. Maybe sooner...

...that worshipped the Sun, and believed in absolute cremation upon death, and that's why we don't have and bones or bodies... Make believe can be fun. Who knows what exists beyond our knowledge. I'm sure I read somewhere that we know more about the Moon's surface, than we do our ocean floors. Almost no 'serious' investigation has been done with this notion in mind. Instead, we've started from the perception that ALL of these ancient tales are pure fiction or myth, with no real basis in reality. After all, there's no evidence of the super-natural. But isn't it entirely more likely that we simple mis-interpreted these tales and or they were embellished over the years...from an actual truth? --- *Did you know Babe Ruth once hit a ball so high, that he was able to round the bases and score before the ball hit the ground? This brings up an image of a very high hit ball and a very speedy potato of a man legging it out. The TRUTH to the tale is that it was a very sunny day, before sunglasses, and the fielders simply lost the ball in the bright sun. It landed in the slightly tall infield grass, and went unseen, as everyone watched Babe circle the bases. *My great uncle claims to have heard a story from his father who worked with a lumberjack who worked alone with a black ox, who could do the work of 2 men and a 2-horse team. The man was over 7 feet tall, hefted a handmade elongated axe, and with it and his 'sun-blued' black ox, with its much lower center of gravity- could clear an acre of land in a day. He was often seen easily lopping off 2-3 inch saplings with one whack. The story I heard in grade school was quite different.

Alright, if we HAVE to play this game... 'They' are escaped Atlanteans...

I sincerely have no clue as to where they came from... They 'could' come from Titan, the dark side of the moon, or one of our deepest oceans. There is literally ZERO evidence to start speculating. My only point is that there's no need to 'require' that they posses the ability to travel inter-stellar distances to get here, as they've always been 'here'/in the neighborhood.

'They' as in the phenomena isn't 'singular'. And, I don't care to elaborate, as I have no idea whatsoever from where they hail, nor evidence to even begin such speculation. I wouldn't say they are native to this planet, either. What I would only say that it isn't necessary to 'require' that they be able to travel inter-stellar distances, given that they appear in our historical just as soon as man started carving on cave walls. Merged post follows: Consecutive posts merged I'll concede that. However, we have images/paintings that contain clouds AND "flying sauces"/disk shapes in the sky. If it 'unidentified', flying, and an object of some kind, the label fits... God, by every depiction I've seen IS a U.F.O. in that we don't really know what "god" truly is. All that one could ever say for certain is that "god(s) is(are) in (the) heaven(s)."

Actually, 'I' never appreciated the use of the term "aliens", as I find that they are no more 'alien' to this planet than we are. I rather prefer "U.F.O.", who's physical depictions and descriptions have gone hand-in-hand with "god" for millennia. Our scientific researchers observe, tag, and track all sorts of animal life. The more endangered, the more of an interest we tend to take. Usually, we take a hands-off approach, as we don't want to intervene in their natural development. However, we have taken part in selective breeding processes and released the off-spring back into their habitat. All that said, I can't say with any certainty as to what 'their' motives and practices are, or what they are intended to do. My only proposed point is say that 'they' ARE, as evidence of their existence is noted throughout our historical record.

I wrote Professor Hawking an e-mail, pronouncing my displeasure in his public statement, also. I find that his stance forces one to literally ignore our entire ancient history...in that "god" seeks to help and protect us...'now' anyways. There was the whole Sodom and Gomorra, and the Flood thing, but those days are supposed to be over.

What, are they having Chip Foose build them? Retro-fit something together NOW, have another team with a more stable replacement to go on in a month. "Hundreds of thousands of gallons a day"...it's releasing?

Where did you find or see that? LINK: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/36912754/ns/us_news-environment/?GT1=43001#36913565 Merged post follows: Consecutive posts merged As I noted above Exxon is still fighting in the appeals process about how much they'll pay, "last I heard"... It's not just the clean-up, but what about the collateral damage to the fishing and tourist industries. Would they prevail in a law suite against BP? *Do you think BP is insured 'enough' for this kind of accident?

If it were 'donated' from the nation's barber shops, I think cost could be contained. The techniques being used look poorly designed and implemented. AND they believe that they won't be able to shut off the pouring for 60-90 days! It seems like they could capture most of it by placing a large up-side-down bowl over the leak, 5,000 feet down, then pump it into a tanker... I am really just spitballing here. What I'm really surprised with is the lack of working contingencies to deal with this issue. --- QUESTION: Should this event bankrupt BP?