Potato and red sphere – but no UFO evidence

TT

Published 06.48

 

Aliens, do they exist? Archive photo from ET Highway in Nevada, USA. Photo: Laura Rauch/AP/TT

A floating “potato”, a red sphere and a rotating disc. These are three of the unidentified objects described in previously classified documents that the US government has now released.

But anyone who hoped for evidence of extraterrestrial life in the documents is in for a treat.

Since President Donald Trump promised much greater transparency in matters surrounded by secrecy and conspiracy theories, the Pentagon has released around 300 documents about unidentified objects that could possibly be from outer space.

On Friday, 72 new documents were released, and according to the AP news agency, several of them are titillating and arouse curiosity.

But most can also be explained as light phenomena and nowhere in the new release is there evidence of extraterrestrial life or that authorities have covered up evidence of such.

Officially unsolved

The aforementioned potato-like object was seen on a February morning in 2022 in Colorado Springs. Five American soldiers observed something mysteriously floating over a mountain, an object with clear edges and in the shape and color of a potato, with something that looked like fish scales.

The object remained for two minutes before it simply disappeared, according to the soldiers – who unfortunately did not have phones with them. And thus could neither film nor take still photos of the phenomenon.

According to the documents, the FBI investigators suspect that it is about heat radiation from sunlight. The case is officially unsolved.

Brilliant and beautiful

Several of the other observations follow similar patterns with suspected light phenomena that can neither be proven nor completely dismissed, writes AP.

The oldest cases that have been made public so far date back to the 1940s, with the most recent reported in July last year in a town in the northeastern United States. The exact location is classified, but what is said to have happened is that a person saw an intense light hovering near some trees on his property – a “brilliant and beautiful” red light that the person had never seen before.

However, whether it was another light phenomenon created by nature or if it was something extraterrestrial is not certain. However, the White House wants to entice us to believe the latter, and has published a short video clip of the incident on various social media.

Iranian drones shot down in anticipation of agreement

TT

Updated 08.13 | Published 03.44

            

            

           A cargo ship is anchored outside Bandar Abbas in Iran. Picture from Thursday.

           1 / 2Photo: Amirhosein Khorgooi/Isna Via AP/TT

At the same time as an agreement between Iran and the United States is said to be close, new hostilities flare up in the Strait of Hormuz.

Several Iranian drones that allegedly tried to attack ships have been shot down, the US military command Centcom says.

The US military's shooting down of the drones comes just hours after reports of new progress in negotiations between the US and Iran.

Iran is said to have fired “multiple attack drones in an attempt to disrupt commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz,” Centcom reported on X, claiming that the strait, which is so important for world trade, is now open to traffic – despite Iran maintaining a blockade of the waters since the start of the war.

The escalation comes despite both the US and Iran sending signals that an agreement between the countries could be close.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi stated on state television on Friday that nothing has been signed but that an agreement “has never been closer than now”.

US President Donald Trump posted a screenshot of Araghchi’s statement on social media and has hinted that an agreement could be finalized in the coming days, according to The New York Times. Switzerland has offered to host the signing of the agreement.

However, there are different reports from the countries about what the agreement would entail. Iran claims that it will be allowed to continue enriching uranium and maintain control over shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. However, a senior US official told the AP that there are reports that Tehran's nuclear program will be dismantled and the Strait of Hormuz will be completely opened.

The Iranian news agency Mehr also reports that Iran will get back $24 billion in assets frozen due to sanctions, something that the US denies.  

Double operations against Russian fighter jets in the Baltic Sea

TT

Updated 09.17 | Published 09.03

 

A Russian Su-24 fighter jet was close to Swedish airspace on Friday. Photo: Swedish Armed Forces

The Swedish Armed Forces have marked two Russian fighter jets. Two Gripen planes and an allied fighter jet participated in the operation in the Baltic Sea on Friday.

The incidents with the two Russian fighter jets occurred on Friday near Swedish airspace and prompted two operations with Jas 39 Gripen, the Swedish Armed Forces wrote in a press release. The operations took place in the southern and northern parts of the Baltic Sea.

Allied fighter jets also took off. Swedish airspace was not violated.

"The Russian actions are serious and are a recurring behavior that threatens both our territorial integrity and security. Swedish and allied fighter aircraft acted quickly, resolutely and clearly by meeting the Russian planes and securing Sweden's and the alliance's territory," says Vice Admiral Ewa Skoog Haslum, Chief of the Swedish Armed Forces' Operations Command, in the press release.

The two Russian fighter aircraft were of the Su-24 and Su-34 types.

Risk of Russian attack in the “near future” – and the money is not enough

Niclas Vent

Updated 17.15 | Published 17.13

 

“It is enough that the Kremlin sees a political situation that is favorable,” says Mikael Oscarsson (KD). Photo: Jonas Ekströmer/TT / TT News Agency

Russia could attack in the near future, the US is withdrawing – and the defense spending Sweden is planning is not enough to achieve NATO goals.

The eight parliamentary parties’ new analysis of the world offers three very bittersweet sweets.

– It is enough that the Kremlin sees a political situation that is favorable, says Mikael Oscarsson (KD).

The Defense Committee today presented “Severe Situation”, its new analysis of the world.

All parliamentary parties are on the committee, and all eight were broadly in agreement.

A Russian attack to test NATO's cohesion "could happen in the relatively near future," the committee writes.

In that case, it does not require Russia to first end the war in Ukraine, or reach a certain level of military buildup - the attack can happen even if "the military balance of power does not meet traditional requirements for an attack."

ÖB Michael Claesson has long spoken in similar terms, but the fact that the parliamentary parties jointly make the same analysis is new.

- Russia does not need military superiority. It is enough for the Kremlin to see a political situation that is favorable. This political situation could, in the worst case, be imminent, says Mikael Oscarsson (KD).

          

          Vladimir Putin. Photo: Vyacheslav Prokofyev /AP/TT / AP

“Harsher rhetoric” from Trump

That is not the only thing that has gotten worse since the commission's last report in 2023.

Not least, Donald Trump has entered the arena.

“American foreign and security policy has changed significantly under the current administration,” the commission writes.

“The actions are characterized to a greater extent by unpredictability, rapid changes, transactionalism, harsher rhetoric and an increased tendency to use military force on its own, which on some occasions has lacked support in international law.”

At the same time, the commission believes that “the United States is ... crucial for Swedish and European security and prosperity.”

– I would have liked to have seen that we had been clearer about the Americans, says Hanna Gunnarsson (V).

– The important thing is that we continue with the construction of the entire European total defense. So that we can defend our countries and Europe together.

         

         Sweden is not achieving NATO goals. Photo: Andreas Bardell / Schibsted

More money is needed

A third leaven is pushing politicians ahead.

Sweden is already making huge investments in defense, but the committee makes it clear that even the current plan is not enough to fully meet the military capability goals that NATO has set for Sweden.

In fact, the resource requirement "clearly exceeds ... the target level of 3.5 percent of GDP", according to the Armed Forces.

Without more money, our military will simply not be able to meet NATO's expectations.

However, most politicians in the committee are cautious about promising that Sweden will actually achieve the capability goals.

- We will go through what we will do in a concrete sense in the next phase of the defense committee's work, and then we will have to look at how the economy looks. The mandate I have is for 3.5 percent, says Peter Hultqvist (S).

 

Hanna Gunnarsson (V)  when the Defence Committee's updated security policy analysis was presented at a press conference in Rosenbad on Friday. Photo: Jonas Ekströmer/TT

"We must start talking"

Hanna Gunnarsson highlights that the needs are great in many areas, such as healthcare and infrastructure.

- We also need to think about how we are going to finance it. Now we are borrowing, and we have agreed to that, but the long-term solution is joint financing via taxes. We must start talking about that for real, and the next government must dare to take it on, says Hanna Gunnarsson.

Gulan Avci (L) says that Sweden will achieve the capability goals, even if it costs more than 3.5 percent.

- Of course, we have committed to accepting the capability goals that NATO has assigned to us, she says.

– You have to ask yourself, is there a price tag for defending freedom in Sweden?

Political situation in Peru

Presidential candidate wants vote recount in Peru

The votes from Sunday's presidential election have not been fully counted, but despite that, presidential candidate Roberto Sanchez is already demanding a recount, writes AFP.

His rival, the conservative candidate Keiko Fujimori, is believed to be leading by a few hundred votes and the margin between victory and defeat is therefore minimal.

With just over one percent of the votes left to be counted, the lead in Fujimori's favor is measured at a few thousandths of a percent.

-I propose that we together do a thorough review, a recount of the entire process, especially in those places where there have been discussions about shortcomings, Sanchez said at a press conference on Friday.

Fujimori receives 50.002 percent of the support - Sanchez 49.998

The Peruvian presidential election continues to be extremely close. Conservative Keiko Fujimori, daughter of former President Alberto Fujimori, has regained the lead with over 98 percent of the votes counted.

She currently has 50.002 percent of the vote and her competitor, leftist candidate Roberto Sanchez, has 49.998 percent. In total, only around 650 of the 18 million votes counted separate the candidates.

Both Fujimori and Sanchez have urged the public to be patient during the vote count. On Wednesday, however, Sanchez tightened his tone somewhat and opened up the possibility that international observers may need to be involved.
 

Middle East Crisis Peace Talks

Iran: The Strait of Hormuz will not be the same as before

A peace agreement between Iran and the US would mean the end of the blockade in the Strait of Hormuz, says Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, according to AFP. But also that the management of ship traffic through the narrow passage will henceforth be handled by Iran and Oman in cooperation.

–Iran is determined that the administration of the Strait of Hormuz will not be the same as before, Araghchi tells Iranian state television.

Talks have reportedly begun with Oman about how the strait should be managed in the future.

US President Donald Trump said earlier on Friday that Iran will be forced to abandon its nuclear program, but according to Abbas Araghchi, this will only be a later issue.

Switzerland has offered to host the parties for the formal peace signing, writes TT.

Iran Expert: Indication that there is something concrete

The new information about an upcoming peace agreement between Iran and the US is much more credible than previous information that only came from Donald Trump, says Iran expert Rouzbeh Parsi to SR Ekot.

Parsi points out that the information now comes from Pakistan, which is mediating between the parties.

– Pakistan, as a mediating country, only has one thing to lose if they go out and say something they have no evidence for, he tells the news program.

According to Parsi, the announcement is a strong indication that there is something concrete that all parties sufficiently agree on.

Expert on the Agreement: “It’s for Real This Time”

Donald Trump announced that an agreement was close on Thursday, mediator Pakistan stated that a final text has been agreed upon and on Friday evening, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on state television that they had won against the US.

The interpretation from Fredrik Meiton, head of the Swedish Institute’s Middle East and North Africa Program, is that it is “for real this time”.

– There have even been rumors that an agreement will be signed as early as Sunday, but that may be a bit optimistic, Meiton tells TV4 Nyheterna.

Jan Hallenberg, professor emeritus of political science at the Swedish National Defense University, is also optimistic. But he also points to ambiguities in several issues and tells TV4 that he wants to see the agreed text first.

 

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