An Ancient Tablet’s Clue to Immortality Sounds Like One Scientists Study Now 2
A strange alien-looking creature spreading across the world’s oceans is practically immortal. It’s Turritopsis dohrnii, the “immortal jellyfish” that can avoid death when stressed. In a manner that’s similar to a butterfly reverting to a caterpillar, the jellyfish reverts to its coral-like polyp stage. Then, it goes on to become a jellyfish again, bypassing death altogether.
It wasn’t until the 90s that scientists became aware of how amazing this little creature truly is. However, the tiny creature, also called the Benjamin Button jellyfish, is becoming more widely known. Could the immortal jelly reveal clues about fighting cancer or even unlock the secrets of immortality for humans?
Well, such an idea isn’t new at all. The concept dates back thousands of years to one of the earliest recorded works of literature, as we’ll see.
A Coral-Like Key to Immortality Adrift in the Oceans?
Today, many scientists are doubtful the key to immortality can be found in the jellyfish. However, one of the world’s preeminent experts believes otherwise. Shin Kubota, from Japan’s Kyoto University, has high hopes.
“Turritopsis application for human beings is the most wonderful dream of mankind,” Kubota told a New York Times journalist.“Once we determine how the jellyfish rejuvenates itself, we should achieve very great things. My opinion is that we will evolve and become immortal ourselves.”
Kubota is one of the world’s only people to have maintained the jellyfish’s captive population for over 15 years. Although they can avoid death under certain stressful conditions, they are generally hard to maintain artificially, requiring daily feedings.
Another expert, Dr. Maria Pia Miglietta from Texas A&M University, studies the jellyfish. She refers to what she’s learned about Turritopsis’ processes as “the Holy Grail of regenerative medicine.” See her discuss this below in the video from Quartz:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tpJuqZYFzmw
Unlocking the Powers of Transdifferentiation
The immortal jellyfish can transform its cells through transdifferentiation. Thus, the jelly’s muscle cells can turn into nerve cells, sperm, or egg cells. However, transdifferentiation is not unique to the jellyfish and has been induced experimentally in mice.
What’s more, humans have similar abilities throughout the body in stem cells. In time, as more scientists study Turritopsis dohrnii and stem cells,is it possible humans can discover how to bypass the stem cell stage and unlock their transformational abilities?
Will people one day be able to transform into a more youthful state? It’s possible.
The Secret of Immortality Found in an Ancient Text
Whether humans can attain immortality seems like something from science fiction. However, the idea is ancient, dating back thousands of years before science fiction existed in ancient Babylonian mythology.
In the Epic of Gilgamesh, dating back to at least 5,000 years ago, the King of Uruk, Gilgamesh, learns about a secret to immortality. Interestingly, it sounds just like the immortal jellyfish, slowly spreading across the world today in the ballasts of ships.
Gilgamesh, Utnapishtim, and the Quest for Eternal Life
In the Gilgamesh epic, Gilgamesh goes on a quest for eternal life. In that quest, he consults with the great sage Utnapishtim, the only man to survive a great world flood.
Along with his wife, they preserved animal and human life in a great boat, which they built. Yes, it sounds identical to the biblical story of Noah but predates the Bible story.
Time magazine noted the similarities between Gilgamesh and the Bible’s Noah’s Ark in a review of the Noah movie from 2014:
“The Sumerian Epic of Gilgamesh dates back nearly 5,000 years and is thought to be perhaps the oldest written tale on the planet. In it, there is an account of the great sage Utnapishtim, who is warned of an imminent flood to be unleashed by wrathful gods. He builds a vast circular-shaped boat, reinforced with tar and pitch, that carries his relatives, grains, and animals. After enduring days of storms, Utnapishtim, like Noah in Genesis, releases a bird in search of dry land.”
From Time Magazine
Related Read: The Epic Of Gilgamesh, Tablet XI, The Flood And A Comparison To the Bible’s Flood
Like Noah, Utnapishtim survives, but then the god Enlil rewards him and his wife with immortality. Thus, they become the ancestors of a new human race.
The Secret at the Bottom of the Sea
Did Utnapishtim, who was granted immortality by the gods, have the secret for immortality? After finally finding the immortal sage, Gilgamesh learns that the secret is at the sea’s bottom.
At first, Utnapishtim tells Gilgamesh that only the gods can grant immortality. Then, he concedes that there may be a way to rejuvenate to a more youthful state. At that point, he tells Gilgamesh about a “plant” found at the bottom of the ocean. This plant could reveal secrets about longer life, if not immortality.
So, Gilgamesh sets out to find the “plant that looks like a box-thorn” sometimes translated to a coral. Then, he manages to lose it – to a snake.
“Gilgamesh obtains the plant by binding stones to his feet to allow him to walk on the bottom of the sea. He plans to use the flower to rejuvenate the old men of the city of Uruk and then to use it himself. Unfortunately, he places the plant on the shore of a lake while he bathes, and it is stolen by a serpent, which loses its old skin and is thus reborn.”
Thus, Gilgamesh must learn to live with his mortality and dies unable to unlock the undersea coral’s secrets.
An Ancient Story Turned Real?
Could one of the world’s oldest stories be talking about the immortal jellyfish? Well, when the jellyfish is injured, it can fall to the bottom of the sea. Then, it turns into a blob and grows into a plant-like polyp.
Indeed, there is a striking similarity between the story of Gilgamesh and the factual reality of the immortal jellyfish.
Perhaps one day, unlike Gilgamesh, scientists might discover the secrets for rejuvenation or a cure for cancer and brain disease, if not immortality? Already, scientists have learned how to reprogram cells in adult mice to make them young stem cells.
Also, scientists have learned that jellyfish could be one of our most distant ancient ancestors in recent years: the root of the Tree of Life.
See more about the Epic of Gilgamesh and Utnapishtim from CrashCourse:
Helicopter and body camera footage appears to show the man smoking before pointing a semi-automatic handgun at deputies who were attempting to de-escalate the situation
Chile has an incredible rate of UFO sightings, among the highest in the world. Today, some call the country’s coastline “Alien Alley.”
A recent UFO video from Chile is the subject of Ancient Aliens, Season 15, Episode 3, “Destination Chile.” We’ll review the episode and the compelling evidence that connects an ancient petroglyph with a bizarre and remarkable modern UFO sighting.
First, the show delves into the amazing history and geoglyphs in Chile, including the Atacama Desert.
The Atacama Desert, a Landscape with Lifeforms Like Mars?
The Atacama Desert in northern Chile is the dryest place on the planet, even though it runs along the west coast of South America. Conditions in the desert have long been compared to the Red Planet, Mars. Thus, NASA has carried out testing in the Atacama, drawing comparisons to probable conditions on Mars.
In 2013, a NASA rover found many microbes living beneath the parched sand in the Chilean desert, traveling by wind. The study results from 2019 determined “that microbial life can efficiently move across the driest, and most UV irradiated desert on Earth.” The authors speculated that similar microbes might spread across the Martian landscape, 140 million miles away.
Could life be similar in Chile and on Mars? Ancient Astronaut theorist David Childress believes there’s much more in common than microbes. Citing geoglyphs similar to those found at Nazca, Peru, Childress notes they are meant to be seen from the air. Although the Nazca lines are famous, there are five times as many geoglyphs in the Atacama Desert.
The Atacama Giant and El Enladrillado
For example, the “Atacama Giant” is a massive alien-looking creature with points extending from its head. Amazingly, the figure stands 30 feet longer than a football field at 390 feet tall. On the ground, it’s nearly invisible but easily spotted from the air. Ancient Astronaut theorists believe they were meant to signal extraterrestrial visitors similar to marks or on a runway.
Today, UFO sightings are more frequent in the area of the Atacama. So much so, that Rodrigo Fuenzalida, Director of Aion Chile, says “…Chile is honestly like a kind of arrival point.”
“There’s a huge wave, a large quantity of UFO sightings. Quite simply, there is not one family in Chile whose member has not had a UFO experience,” Fuenzalida explains.
In San Clemente, Chile, in 2008, a national UFO trail was created that leads to an impressive formation known as El Enladrillado. There, 233 massive megaliths weighing ten tons apiece were erected like a giant platform in ancient times. Author Erich von Däniken believes the remote location could have once served as a spaceport. Today, tourists can visit and see for themselves.
The Selk’nam Tribe and Bizarre Rituals to Sky Gods
In 1919 in Tierra Del Fuego at the southern tip of Chile, a German anthropologist, Martin Gusinde, visited the native tribe called the Selk’nam, also known as the Ona people. Unfortunately, the tribe was wiped out by English explorers.
As radio host Victor Hidalgo points out, some tribe members were taken back to be shown in “human zoos,” and the tribe was subject to genocide.
Before being wiped out, Gusinde published a book about the Selk’nam called, “The Lost Tribes of Tierra Del Fuego.” There, you can see the tribal rituals of painting their bodies in bright red with white lines. Their heads are elongated and immediately seem alien.
“These creator gods of the Selk’nam actually descended from the sky and gave knowledge to the local population,” said Giorgio A. Tsoukalos.
In once case, a costume had strange antennae protruding from both sides of the head. Immediately, one thinks of the Atacama Giant, with the peculiar points emanating from the head.
Modern UFO Sightings in Chile
The Selk’nam tribe had a deep belief in otherwordly visitors, and today, it appears visitations may still be taking place. Fuenzalida confirms the area where the tribe once lived is a hotspot for UFO activity today.
On August 17, 1985, in Santiago, Chile, the longest-running variety show on television broadcast reported a UFO moving for 40 minutes along half of Chile’s coastline. The path moved along the Atacama down to Tierra Del Fuego. Today, nobody knows what the object was.
In 1977 in Pampa Lluscuma, Chile, just below the Atacama, a military unit witnessed two shining violet UFOs land. Corporel Armando Valdés recounted disappearing into the light, appearing again to find that five days had passed. His beard had grown, and his watch showed the date from five days in the future. However, his men only witnessed the lapse of a few minutes.
Encounters like this one are one of the hundreds reported over centuries and possibly going back thousands of years. However, unlike in the United States, the Chilean government is openly looking for answers.
Committee for the Study of Anomalous Aerial Phenomena
In 1990, Augusto Pinochet stepped down, ushering in reforms that led to more transparent attitudes, including toward UFOs. By 1997, the government created CEFAA, the Committee for the Study of Anomalous Aerial Phenomena. Pilots were regularly reporting UFOs, some of which came dangerously close to government aircraft.
Hugo Camus, the CEFAA director, explains that the agency takes reports from residents all over Chile. Rather than hide the evidence from the public, the government is committed to transparency. Camus encourages other governments like our own to follow suit.
El Bosque Air Force Base UFO Footage
Thanks to CEFAA, there is more video evidence of UFO phenomena. For example, a video from the El Bosque Air Force Base in Santiago in 2010 showed UFOs zipping by squadrons of fighter jets flying in an acrobatic air-show. The jets were part of a celebration to commemorate a change in Air Force command.
Following analysis of the video, the UFO was estimated to be flying at an astonishing 4,000 mph. CEFAA found the object on seven separate videotape pieces, indicating it was not an aberration in the film.
Infrared Video of Strange UFO Discharging a Plume
On November 11, 2014, near Santiago, Chilean Navy officers testing an infrared FLIR camera aboard a helicopter captured an object flying beside them at 4,500 feet altitude. After tracking it for a few minutes, the craft discharged a plume behind it. Although not visible with the naked eye or radar, the infrared camera caught it all on tape for nine minutes. Then the government released the footage in 2017.
In 2019, Image analyst Michael Bradbury and astrophysicist Travis Taylor sat down to review this UFO footage. After reviewing the footage from 2014, they noticed the object appeared to be two diamond-shaped objects. Bradbury concludes the objects must be large since the footage was filmed from 35 miles away.
Using filters, Bradbury isolates the image to show a heat signature. Taylor notices a circle of cold air around the craft, which baffles him since there is a thin hot layer immediately around the craft.
“This thing – it is hot, and then instantly, it’s cold, and in nature, that’s not how things work,” notes Taylor. “There is a different temperature bubble around the vehicle than there is around normal vehicles, which suggests some type of field,” he concludes. “From a physics standpoint, we can’t really explain what’s causing that,” says Taylor.
Examining the video showing the plume that comes out, the experts note that the plume is hot but not made up of particulates as in normal aircraft.
“I’ve never seen any earthly vehicle that is explained this way. What on Earth could this thing be?” asks Taylor.
Remarkable Similarity to an Ancient Geoglyph in the Same Area
After concluding the footage does seem to show a vehicle with otherworldly features, Bradbury shows Taylor something compelling. It’s a photo of a Chilean geoglyph that bears a striking resemblance to the UFO footage.
The geoglyph shows two diamond-shaped objects with a plume-like object dissected by a line. However, the geoglyph is of undetermined age and could be hundreds or even thousands of years old.
“That’s really exciting,” says Taylor. “That’s one of the most amazing things I’ve ever seen in my life!”
“It is truly amazing,” Bradbury concurs.
“These are the cases where I think there really is something to the Ancient Astronaut theory,” says Taylor.
“I agree too,” says Bradbury.
Thus, we have a modern UFO which closely resembles what ancient people depicted long ago. However, it remains a total mystery how they could have seen such a craft as we only see it through infrared technology. How is this possible? Did humans create the geoglyph, or was it made or instructed by extraterrestrials? Decide for yourself.
The world of UFOs or UAPs (whatever you care to call them) continues to gain more credibility in the mainstream. And, two recent articles from the New York Times are once again pushing the boundaries.
Now, we’re going from acknowledging unidentified aerial phenomena are real to suggesting the government knows about specific “off-world” vehicle crash debris.
One Timesreport is entitled, “No Longer in Shadows, Pentagon’s UFO. Unit Will Make Some Findings Public.” The report created a big stir by confirming the over a decade-long study of UAPs in a program within the Office of Naval Intelligence.
UFO Findings to Be Made Public?
A Senate committee report revealed spending for the program, the Unidentified Aerial Phenomenon Task Force. Excitingly, some of the findings are to be made public 180 days after passage of the intelligence authorization act.
Before this report, the Pentagon had claimed they disbanded efforts to study unidentified flying objects. Today, the Pentagon refuses to discuss the program since it deals with classified material. However, we are now certain the government continues to study the phenomena, with a focus on discovering if other nations have leapfrogged our aviation technologies.
Senator Marco Rubio revealed that he wanted to know about potential security risks posed by objects flying over military bases. Rubio confirmed he’d seen reports on unidentified aerial phenomena for “the better part of a decade.” Interestingly, he claims to want to make any information learned public “as much as possible.”
“I would say that frankly if it’s something outside this planet, that might actually be better than the fact that we’ve seen some technological leap on behalf of the Chinese or the Russians or some other adversary,” said Senator Rubio.
The Times article also mentions former Senate majority leader, Harry Reid, who recently spoke to famous investigative journalist George Knapp for 8News Las Vegas.
In the July interview, Reid says nobody knows the origin of UFOs. However, Reid was quoted in the Times as saying he’s seen “substantive” reports of “actual materials that the government and the private sector had in their possession.”
The Times also quotes astrophysicist Eric W. Davis, a consultant for the once-secret program that Reid initiated in Las Vegas. The Times first disclosed the Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program’s (AATIP) existence in 2017, which started in 2007.
Davis claims he briefed the Pentagon and Congress as recently as March about “off-world vehicles not made on this earth.”
After the Times article was published, Reid tweeted that he never suggested the government has “flying objects or debris from other worlds.” Then, the Times added a correction on July 24 that states:
“Mr. Reid said he believed that crashes of objects of unknown origin may have occurred and that retrieved materials should be studied; he did not say that crashes had occurred and that retrieved materials had been studied secretly for decades,” states the Times.
Although Reid does not believe that UFOs necessarily point to extraterrestrials, he attempted to learn more by starting another program in 2009. That effort intended to interact with other secret programs to find out if rumors of UFO materials held by corporations were true. However, he explains the program wasn’t approved.
“Now, I wanted to make sure that that was valid or not valid. The Defense Department wouldn’t approve it,” Reid told Knapp.
“What do you think of that,” responded Knapp. “Do you think somebody’s got pieces or a craft?”
“But I don’t know, George,” said Reid. “I don’t know why they wouldn’t want to put this to sleep unless there’s something to it that I don’t understand,” he continued.
See Reid speak to Knapp below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x81QwIOXpAI
‘Need to Know’ Crash Information?
A more recent Times report from the same team of journalists that disclosed AATIP in 2017 delved further into the possibility the government might possess UFO crash material. Although any public evidence remains unknown, the report states the words “off-world” and “and materials retrieved from crashes” are used to describe phenomena in unclassified slides used in briefings.
“Numerous associates of the Pentagon program, with high-security clearances and decades of involvement with official UFO investigations, told us they were convinced such crashes have occurred, based on their access to classified information. But the retrieved materials themselves, and any data about them, are completely off-limits to anyone without clearances and a need to know.”
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