
Top Astronomer: UFOs Are STILL Here - #561
From Into the Impossible With Brian Keating by Big Bang Productions Inc.
July 7, 2026 · 1h 6m
About this episode
Astrophysicist Beatriz Villarroel discusses her findings of unexplained flashes in historical sky photographs and their implications for non-human technology.
Astrophysicist Beatriz Villarroel found point-like flashes in sky photographs taken before a single satellite existed. Nine of them lit up simultaneously on one 1950s plate. Nothing in orbit could have made them — because nothing was in orbit yet. Beatriz Villarroel leads VASCO, which scanned 600 million objects across 70 years of photographic sky surveys hunting for things that appear, then vanish. We cover: why finding zero vanishing stars pointed at something stranger than what she was looking for, the 8.7-degree deficit in Earth's shadow that a 22-sigma signal says cosmic rays cannot fake, the 68% transient spike clustered around nuclear test dates, how telescope aberration patterns prove these are real photons and not plate defects, and why she now says she fears for her safety. Pre-Sputnik plates may hold evidence of non-human technology in Earth orbit. She wants you to check the math before you decide. Chapters 00:00 It appeared, then it was gone 00:48 The obsession that built VASCO 06:10 What a Palomar glass plate really is 09:16 600 million objects, zero vanishing stars 13:47 Nine flashes, one plate, same instant 21:11 Why asteroids and cosmic rays are ruled out 26:47…
People in this episode
Host: Brian Keating
Guest: Beatriz Villarroel
Topics covered
- UFOs
- astrophysics
- sky surveys
- non-human technology
- cosmic rays
- transient phenomena
Keywords
- UFOs
- Beatriz Villarroel
- VASCO
- sky photographs
- transient spikes
- cosmic rays
- Palomar glass plate
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: VASCO, Big Bang Productions Inc.
Books & works: Palomar glass plate
More episodes of Into the Impossible With Brian Keating
- OpenAI’s Navier–Stokes Claim: Is This What AGI Looks Like? with Emad Mostaque · September 9, 2026 · 1h 19m
- Roman Yampolskiy vs Emad Mostaque: I Was The Only Optimist - #569 · September 1, 2026 · 58 min
- The Universe Didn’t Come From Nothing | The Peter McCormack Show · August 28, 2026 · 1h 46m
- The Physics Reason AI Works When It Shouldn’t - #568 · August 25, 2026 · 1h 18m
- Engineering Chair: Most People Should Not Go To College - #567 · August 18, 2026 · 1h 0m
- John Martinis: The Nobel Physicist Behind Macroscopic Quantum Tunneling - #566 · August 11, 2026 · 49 min
Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the Into the Impossible With Brian Keating podcast page.