Good morning, it’s Wednesday already. Where does the time go?
The human race’s fascination with UFOs and aliens seems to know no bounds. I have to assume this is fueled by the desperate desire to believe that we aren’t the only living things in the entire universe, which has always struck me as a little far fetched. Outer space is supposedly endless and we are somehow the ONLY thinking, reasoning life forms in all of existence?
That’s either a crazy fluke or a cruel joke. OR, it’s not possible.
Keeping track of UFO developments – or, as they’re referred to these days – Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP) – is a full-time job.
Just last month, for example, the Department of War (formerly known as the Defense Department) released a trove of what it deemed “never-before-seen files” on UAP as part of the Presidential Unsealing and Reporting System for UAP Encounters (PURSUE). The files contained decades of previously classified military memos from people – including astronauts in space – reporting to have seen unexplained phenomenon that they believed might be extraterrestrial in nature.
Last week, established a new panel to examine UAP sightings and encounters, which is led by Avi Loeb, a controversial Harvard astrophysicist, who believes (among other things) that aliens have visited Earth – a claim others in the scientific community have worked to debunk. Loeb’s critics are particularly peeved by his frequent bypassing of the peer review processes in favor of release his claims directly to the media.
Loeb founded the Galileo Project at Harvard, which, its website claims aims to “bring the search for extraterrestrial technological signatures of Extraterrestrial Technological Civilizations (ETCs) from accidental or anecdotal observations and legends to the mainstream of transparent, validated and systematic scientific research.”
Tapping into this renewed – or ongoing? – interest in UFOs is none other than legendary director Steven Spielberg, who just this month dropped a new sci-fi thriller called “Disclosure Day“, which focused on the societal consequences of humans discovering they are not, in fact, alone in the universe. Spielberg is coming full circle with this movie, continuing to examine themes that he started back with early-career blockbusters like “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” (1977) and “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial” (1982).
Today is – in some people’s opinions – World UFO Day. I say that because there are actually TWO World UFO Days.
One is celebrated around the world on July 2 commemorate the 1947 Roswell incident (in which “unusual” debris was found on a sheep ranch in New Mexico that was initially attributed to a flying saucer that crash landed in the desert) and raise awareness both about unidentified and/or anomalous flying phenomena and the search for extraterrestrial life.
The other is today. It marks sighting – also in1947, interestingly – by private aviator Kenneth Arnold of what he described as nine bright, metallic objects flying in a chain-like formation near Mount Rainier, Washington, and skipping “like a saucer” over water. Apparently, he was misquoted by a reporter and/or newspaper editors…and hence the term “flying saucer” and the birth of the modern UFO spotting movement.
Nothing to complain about in today’s forecast. It will be mostly sunny with temperatures in the low 80s. A little breezy again, with winds blowing up to 20 mph, and the humidity will be just over 50 percent.
In the headlines…
The Senate adopted a resolution instructing President Trump to end the war in Iran or seek congressional authorization to continue it, delivering the most significant bipartisan rebuke yet of the conflict.
Trump is set today to meet with Republican senators on Capitol Hill, after weeks of tumult and tension in the relationship between the president and prominent members of his own party in the Senate.
What looked like a typical round of President Trump insulting European leaders last weekend could turn into a wholesale reordering of the trans-Atlantic relationship.
President Trump said that he had instructed the Department of Justice to immediately probe oil companies for not lowering gas prices at the pump in line with falling costs, accusing them of “gouging” consumers.
A federal judge in California issued a nationwide injunction against multiple Trump administration policies, among them one that allowed arrests at immigration courts.
President Trump says the peeling blue coating and algae blooms that mar his $16.4 million renovation of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool are the fault of vandals working with “knives” in the “dark of night.”
Trump has nominated a lawyer from a firm that worked on his taxes to become the top attorney at the IRS, which could add to the scrutiny that the nomination was already likely to face after the administration granted him protection from tax audits last month.
For the first time in more than 30 years, members of Congress have secured a major legislative package that could make housing more affordable, one that primarily aims to touch off a new boom in construction nationwide.
The Trump administration is suing New York state over its recently passed immigration law, saying Albany lawmakers overstepped their authority to regulate federal enforcement efforts.
Governor Kathy Hochul enters the 2026 general election as the favorite to win another term, but recent polling suggests Republicans believe they have their best opportunity in years to make New York’s governor’s race competitive.
Six months ago, the expectation was that Republican and Democratic voters in New York would be deciding each party’s nominee for governor on Tuesday. But in the end, neither Hochul nor her GOP opponent, Bruce Blakeman, had a challenger.
Hochul’s success in weakening New York’s climate law will have a cascading impact on the state’s energy policies.
Hochul, the Buffalo Bills and Erie County announced Tuesday that the new $2.1 billion Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park is complete.
Hochul extended the New York Hiring for Emergency Limited Placement Statewide program, a public service hiring initiative that speeds up hiring for state and local government jobs by temporarily waiving civil service exams for many positions.
House Democrats were left stunned on Tuesday night after two of their colleagues — including the chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus — lost primaries to left-wing challengers.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani and his allies swept a series of congressional primaries in New York City on Tuesday in a remarkable show of strength for the insurgent left that sent shock waves through the Democratic Party.
The result demonstrated the strength of the mayor’s support, his political acumen and voters’ hunger for insurgency over incumbency.
Brad Lander, Claire Valdez and Darializa Avila Chevalier — all backed by Mamdani — won House primaries in New York, offering a preview of the ideological battles to come as Democrats look ahead to 2028.
Three Democrats who made criticism of Israel central to their political identities swept to victory in House primary races in New York City on Tuesday, signaling a new era of skepticism in their party toward the Jewish state and its actions.
Mamdani backed three people for Congress in New York City, but some closest to him – including his wife – chose to push only Valdez and Avila Chevalier and not Lander.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries is minimizing the significance of New York’s congressional primaries, telling reporters the ideological direction of his party won’t rest on a few House seats.
In addition to the congressional primary victories of Valdez and Chevalier — both backed by the New York City chapter of the DSA — candidates endorsed by the organization at the state level picked up numerous victories Tuesday night.
A Jewish civil rights group is urging the Justice Department to investigate Mamdani and his administration for alleged “discriminatory failure to protect Jewish residents from antisemitic hate” crimes.
Fresh off sweeping victories across New York City, DSA leaders, eager to capitalize on their momentum, are already plotting their next act: making sure one of their own is on the presidential primary debate stage, whether the party wants them or not.
The DSA made gains in New York despite super PACs spending $9.6 million in state legislative races — nearly five times the total from 2024.
If Tuesday’s results hold — and the likely victors succeed in the November general election — Mamdani’s DSA allies will hold four seats in the 63-seat state Senate and 10 districts in the 150-seat state Assembly.
The Democratic primary election between state Assemblyman Bill Magnarelli and challenger Maurice “Mo” Brown was too close to call Tuesday night in the 129th Assembly District.
Assembly Member Jonathan Rivera defeated Sen. Jeremy Zellner in a Buffalo Democratic primary Tuesday, ousting the leader of the Erie County Democratic Party from a seat Zellner won less than five months ago.
Army veteran Cait Conley emerged victorious in the bitter Democratic primary for New York’s 17th Congressional District, setting up a general election fight between a past national security staffer for former President Joe Biden and GOP Rep. Mike Lawler.
Custom sticker company Sticker Mule CEO Robert Constantino will secure the Republican nomination in the race to succeed U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik in New York’s 21st Congressional District, the Associated Press declared.
The Amsterdam-based businessman defeated state Assemblyman Robert Smullen in Tuesday’s primary elections, marking the latest win for Trump’s backed candidates and another loss for the GOP establishment.
Days after a Brooklyn coffee shop said he was unwelcome there because of his views on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Representative Dan Goldman said on Tuesday that he did not think the incident warranted a federal civil rights investigation.
The Manhattan borough president’s office announced on Tuesday that it is spending its $50 million discretionary budget on renovation projects inside local museums, arts education in public schools and other cultural initiatives.
Customers are suing Madison Square Garden, accusing a hacking group of publishing data that included personal and corporate information stolen from the arena.
MTA Chair Janno Lieber dismissed an offer by Amtrak special adviser Andy Byford for the state authority to become a “fully involved” partner in the Trump administration’s reconstruction of Penn Station, saying oversight of the project has been “bizarre.”
The Hudson River’s Little Island has at last announced its 2026 summer programming this week.
The cost of a proposed aquatic center in the Electric City has been reduced in a new proposal passed by the Schenectady County Legislature, but still falls short of the $50 million cut requested by lawmakers earlier this year.
Gas prices at some local stations have fallen below $4 — and Capital Region residents and visitors have noticed.
Some Capital Region voters got a surprise when they headed out to their traditional polling places for yesterday’s primaries: Albany County elections officials switched 48 polling places to new locations.
A longtime physician whose former “pain management” medical practice in Warren County accepted cash payments for writing prescriptions for opioids and other dangerous narcotics has agreed to pay $450,000 to settle a civil investigation with the DOJ.
Photo credit: George Fazio.
