UFO Potpourri No 374

Magazine Overview

Title: UFO POTPOURRI
Issue: no. 374
Date: Wednesday, December 1, 1993
Publisher: The Houston Post
Country: USA
Language: English

Main Cover Story: Astronaut Story Musgrave Ready for Close Encounter

The cover story, by Dan Feldstein of The Houston Post Staff, focuses on astronaut Story Musgrave, a member of NASA's "A-Team," who was preparing for a space shuttle mission to repair the Hubble Space Telescope. Musgrave, 58, is the senior member of the crew and a veteran space flier with at least six college degrees. He expressed a belief in extraterrestrial life, stating, "I try to communicate with the life that's out there. I'm serious. It is not that far out." He also mentioned his efforts to encourage potential extraterrestrial visitors to approach him during his spacewalks.

Musgrave's background is extensive: he joined the Marines after high school, became a pilot, and earned multiple degrees, including a bachelor's in math and statistics from Syracuse, an MBA from UCLA, a bachelor's in chemistry from Marietta College, a doctorate in medicine from Columbia, and a master's in physiology and biophysics from the University of Kentucky. He became an astronaut in 1967. NASA's decision to open the astronaut corps to non-test pilot scientists in 1964 was a stroke of fortune for him.

He served as backup scientist-pilot for the first Skylab mission in 1973 and helped design spacesuits and spacewalking systems. In 1983, he took his first ride in space on the sixth space shuttle flight and performed his first spacewalk from a shuttle. Musgrave is described as physically fit and enjoys parachuting, soaring, and exploring cities. He is twice divorced and has five children. He also takes literature and philosophy classes at UH-Clear Lake for enjoyment, earning a master's in literature in 1987.

As payload commander for the Hubble flight, Musgrave was set to become the world's oldest spacewalker, the first astronaut on five shuttle flights, and potentially set a record for time in orbit on a shuttle (861 hours). He expressed a deep commitment to space exploration, stating, "I love space and I love the space business. There's no way I can conceive of walking away. I'm gonna die on the job probably, one way or the other." He shared a poignant thought about launches: "You know, the night before a launch, I go down and I lie by the ocean down there and look at the stars and I see some satellites overhead and I think, ‘Tomorrow you're going to be one of those. See that streak? That's you tomorrow.'"

The article also includes a humorous cartoon depicting a conversation between an astronaut and Houston Mission Control about a lost contact lens, with the astronaut asking, "WHAT THE HECK IS THIS?"

United Nations Urged to End UFO 'Cover-up'

This Reuters News Service report details a demonstration near U.N. headquarters where about 36 participants demanded that the United Nations take the lead in disclosing information about unidentified flying objects (UFOs) and acknowledge that the phenomenon is extraterrestrial. The demonstration was organized by the New York Center for UFO Research and Operation Right to Know, in conjunction with a UFO conference.

A pamphlet distributed stated, "We call upon the U.N. secretary-general to end the worldwide UFO cover-up and acknowledge to the world's people that the UFO phenomenon is extraterrestrial." The groups cited a 1978 decision by the General Assembly that invited member states to "take appropriate steps to coordinate on a national level scientific research and investigation into extraterrestrial life, including unidentified flying objects." This initiative, lobbied for by Grenada's Prime Minister Eric Gairy, aimed to establish a U.N. agency for exploring UFOs and similar phenomena, but it remained a dead letter.

Volatile Particles Stabilized: Result May Lead to New Elements

By Charles Petit of the San Francisco Chronicle, this article reports on a potential breakthrough in nuclear physics. Russian and American scientists, using a powerful cyclotron in a lab north of Moscow, may have discovered a method to make elements beyond the 109th element more stable. This could significantly aid efforts to create and study superheavy elements, which are typically man-made and highly unstable.

The scientists did not create a new element but reported making atoms of element 106 with an unusually high number of neutrons. These atoms reportedly lasted up to 30 seconds before disintegrating, a much longer lifespan than previously observed for such heavy elements. This stability challenges existing theories that predicted extreme instability for elements beyond 109.

Ronald Lougheed, a chemist at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and a leader in the research effort, stated, "What our results indicate is that things are much more stable out there than the usual theories would have predicted." Albert Ghiorso, a senior physicist at Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, expressed excitement, saying, "Boy, I hope they are right. This gives a whole new twist to it (theories of atomic stability). I would get busy right now if I had a machine to work with."

The discovery of element 106 was first reported nearly 20 years prior by a team at Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, but their version had a half-life of less than a second. Since then, German scientists have created elements 107, 108, and 109, but they disintegrate rapidly. The current research, which involved running the cyclotron for 16 days using a neon beam on a curium target, suggests that isotopes of element 106 with 160 neutrons might be unusually stable.

The scientists based their conclusions on measuring decay products, specifically alpha rays. Only four alpha rays of the computed energy were detected. Factoring in detector efficiency, they estimate that about 150 neutron-rich atoms of element 106 were produced.

Recurring Themes and Editorial Stance

The magazine, UFO Potpourri, consistently explores the intersection of unexplained phenomena, science, and space exploration. The issue features a prominent astronaut's personal views on extraterrestrial life, juxtaposed with a report on cutting-edge scientific research into the fundamental nature of matter. The inclusion of a piece on the United Nations and UFOs suggests an editorial stance that supports transparency and investigation into the UFO phenomenon, while also acknowledging the scientific community's efforts to push the boundaries of knowledge. The publication appears to cater to an audience interested in both the speculative and the empirical aspects of UFOs and related scientific endeavors.