Post on 09-Jun-2015
description
Citizen Hearing on UFO Disclosure
Testimonies SuperPack
Contents
13-04-29_AM - French Testimony
13-04-29_AM - Friedman - A_BB14
13-04-29_AM - Friedman - B_CongSymp
13-04-29_AM - Friedman - C_Hynek
13-04-29_AM - Friedman - D_Condon
13-04-29_AM - Grant Cameron - Background and History
13-04-29_AM - Howe - 2013BioLindaMoultonHowe
13-04-29_AM - Howe - CH1stPanelUFOhistory042913
13-04-29_AM - Huneeus Citizen Hearings Statement 1
13-04-29_AM - Huneeus UN UFO Story - ANGELA EDIT
13-04-29_AM - Opening remarks Hellyer-Statement-Panel-4-Fri
13-04-29_AM - Richard Dolan_History
13-04-29_PM - Grant Cameron - Rockefeller Documents 2
13-04-29_PM - Grant Cameron - Rockefeller Testimony
13-04-29_PM - Grant Cameron - Rockefeller Testimony 2
13-04-29_PM - Huneeus OM 6 Rockefeller Initiative
13-04-29_PM - Huneeus Rockefeller Initiative statement
13-04-29_PM - Huneeus Rockefeller-Briefing-Document
13-04-29_PM - Steven Greer - Clinton Docs
13-04-29_PM - Steven Greer - Rockefeller - 1994
13-04-29_PM - Steven Greer - Rockefeller via CB Scott Jones - 1994
13-04-29_PM - Steven Greer - Rockefeller via George Lamb - 1995
13-04-30_AM - Bentwaters - Burroughs-Penniston - Frascogna-Patrick
13-04-30_AM - Bentwaters - Burroughs-Penniston - Nick Pope CHD Position Statement -
Rendlesham Forest
13-04-30_AM - Bentwaters - Burroughs-Penniston - Nick Pope CHD Position Statement -
UFOs and
13-04-30_AM - Bentwaters - Burroughs-Penniston - Opening Statement
13-04-30_PM - Nuclear-Tampering - David Scott_My Biography
13-04-30_PM - Nuclear-Tampering - Fenstermacher -
BFenstermacherStatementApril2013_Ver_B
13-04-30_PM - Nuclear-Tampering - Fenstermacher - Slide1LCF_From_Distance
13-04-30_PM - Nuclear-Tampering - Fenstermacher - Slide2_LCF_Diagram
13-04-30_PM - Nuclear-Tampering - Fenstermacher - Slide3_LCC_Entrance
13-04-30_PM - Nuclear-Tampering - Fenstermacher - Slide4_LCC_racksanddeputy
13-04-30_PM - Nuclear-Tampering - Fenstermacher - Slide5_Commanders_Console
13-04-30_PM - Nuclear-Tampering - Fenstermacher - Slide6_LCC_Diagram
13-04-30_PM - Nuclear-Tampering - Fenstermacher - Slide7_LF_Fromabove
13-04-30_PM - Nuclear-Tampering - Fenstermacher - Slide8_LF_Closeup
13-04-30_PM - Nuclear-Tampering - Fenstermacher - Slide9_Missile
13-04-30_PM - Nuclear-Tampering - Richard Dolan-NuclearTampering-1
13-04-30_PM - Nuclear-Tampering - Richard Dolan-NuclearTampering-2
13-04-30_PM - Nuclear-Tampering - Robert Salas - CHD Statement - Robert Salas1
13-04-30_PM - Nuclear-Tampering - Schindele Dave - CHD Oral Statement-Schindele
13-05-01_AM1 - Davenport - Biographical Statement
13-05-01_AM1 - Davenport - CHD POSITION STATEMENT
13-05-01_AM1 - Davenport - CHD Sighting Reports handout
13-05-01_AM1 - Davenport - Gary Haseltine - Testimony for the Citizen Hearings
13-05-01_AM1 - Davenport - Howe - CH1stPanelMutilations042913
13-05-01_AM1 - HoweMute - 00 HoweMute PerthUFO CoverUp
13-05-01_AM1 - HoweMute - 01 HoweMute Oregon Steer
13-05-01_AM1 - HoweMute - 02 HoweMute Serrated Edge
13-05-01_AM1 - HoweMute - 03 HoweMute Serrated CU
13-05-01_AM1 - HoweMute - 04 HoweMute Serrated Montana
13-05-01_AM1 - HoweMute - 05 HoweMute Lab Heat
13-05-01_AM1 - HoweMute - 06 HoweMute Normal Cow Collagen
13-05-01_AM1 - HoweMute - 07 HoweMute Hemoglobin Cooked
13-05-01_AM1 - HoweMute - 08 HoweMute Udder
13-05-01_AM1 - HoweMute - 09 HoweMute Necrosis
13-05-01_AM1 - HoweMute - 10 HoweMute StringBean
13-05-01_AM1 - HoweMute - 11 HoweMute Collagen Cooked
13-05-01_AM1 - HoweMute - 12 HoweMute RapidHeat
13-05-01_AM1 - HoweMute - 13 HoweMute MapUS
13-05-01_AM1 - HoweMute - 14 HoweMute WorldMap
13-05-01_AM1 - HoweMute - p1
13-05-01_AM1 - HoweMute - p2
13-05-01_AM1 - HoweMute - p3
13-05-01_AM1 - HoweMute - p4
13-05-01_AM1 - HoweMute - p5
13-05-01_AM1 - Peter_Robbins - PR OPENING STATEMENT
13-05-01_AM2 - Friedman_Stanton - A_BB14
13-05-01_AM2 - Friedman_Stanton - A_BlackedOut1
13-05-01_AM2 - Friedman_Stanton - A_Me&DuBose
13-05-01_AM2 - Friedman_Stanton - B_CongSymp
13-05-01_AM2 - Friedman_Stanton - B_NSA
13-05-01_AM2 - Friedman_Stanton - B_Nuclear Navy
13-05-01_AM2 - Friedman_Stanton - C_Bolender1
13-05-01_AM2 - Friedman_Stanton - C_Hynek
13-05-01_AM2 - Friedman_Stanton - C_Phoebus2A
13-05-01_AM2 - Friedman_Stanton - D_Bolender2
13-05-01_AM2 - Friedman_Stanton - D_Condon
13-05-01_AM2 - Friedman_Stanton - D_H Bomb
13-05-01_AM2 - Friedman_Stanton - Documents Panel
13-05-01_AM2 - Friedman_Stanton - STFppt1
13-05-01_AM2 - Grant Cameron - At no time
13-05-01_AM2 - Grant Cameron - Embassy_3
13-05-01_AM2 - Grant Cameron - Embassy_4
13-05-01_AM2 - Grant Cameron - Embassy_5
13-05-01_AM2 - Grant Cameron - Magnet Report 1
13-05-01_AM2 - Grant Cameron - Magnet Report 2
13-05-01_AM2 - Grant Cameron - Rockefeller Documents 2
13-05-01_AM2 - Grant Cameron - Sarbacher Steinman a
13-05-01_AM2 - Grant Cameron - Sarbacher Steinman b
13-05-01_AM2 - Grant Cameron - Sarbacher Steinman Notes 1
13-05-01_AM2 - Grant Cameron - Sarbacher Steinman Notes 2
13-05-01_AM2 - Grant Cameron - Sarbacher Steinman Notes 3
13-05-01_AM2 - Grant Cameron - Topsecret1
13-05-01_AM2 - Grant Cameron - Topsecret2
13-05-01_AM2 - Grant Cameron - Topsecret3
13-05-01_AM2 - Howe - HoweDocs - 01 HoweDoc SOM101
13-05-01_AM2 - Howe - HoweDocs - 02 HoweMute SOM Scope
13-05-01_AM2 - Howe - HoweDocs - 03HoweDoc SOM History-A
13-05-01_AM2 - Howe - HoweDocs - 04HoweDoc SOM History-B
13-05-01_AM2 - Howe - HoweDocs - 05 HoweDoc SOM ETDefined
13-05-01_AM2 - Howe - HoweDocs - 06 HoweDoc SOM Craft
13-05-01_AM2 - Howe - HoweDocs - 07 HoweDoc SOM EBEs
13-05-01_AM2 - Howe - photo 2
13-05-01_AM2 - Howe - photo 3
13-05-01_AM2 - Howe - photo 4
13-05-01_AM2 - Howe - photo 5
13-05-01_AM2 - Howe - photo 6
13-05-01_AM2 - Howe - photo 7
13-05-01_AM2 - Wood Robert - Documents Panel Rev 3
13-05-01_AM2 - Wood Robert - Wood-Oral Statement
13-05-01_PM - Roswell - Friedman_Stanton - Roswell Panel
13-05-01_PM - Roswell - Friedman_Stanton - Roswell Panel-2
13-05-01_PM - Roswell - Marcel Denise Marcel_Oral Statement
13-05-01_PM - Roswell - Marcell Jesse III - Marcell III_Oral Statement
13-05-01_PM - Roswell - Marcell Jesse Jr - Donald Schmitt-Oral Statement
13-05-01_PM - Roswell - Marcell Jesse Jr - Marcel_Statement
13-05-01_PM - Roswell - Marcell Jesse Jr - Testimony_Of_Jesse_Marcel_III1111
13-05-02_AM - South America - ANTHONY CHOY
13-05-02_AM - South America - Chionetti Alex - Argentina's Official Ufo Comissions2
13-05-02_AM - South America - Choy Anthony
13-05-02_AM - South America - Gevaerd - Iguassu Falls Letter
13-05-02_AM - South America - Gevaerd - photo_0
13-05-02_AM - South America - Gevaerd - photo_1
13-05-02_AM - South America - Gevaerd - photo_2
13-05-02_AM - South America - Gevaerd - photo_3
13-05-02_AM - South America - Gevaerd - photo_4
13-05-02_AM - South America - Gevaerd - photo_5
13-05-02_AM - South America - Gevaerd - photo_6
13-05-02_AM - South America - Gevaerd - Release ENG 2
13-05-02_AM - South America - Huneeus - Bermudez
13-05-02_AM - South America - Huneeus CH Chile
13-05-02_AM - South America - Sanchez Ariel - Col Ariel Sanchez Rios
13-05-02_AM - South America - Santa Maria Oscar - DOCUMENTO USA=PRG
13-05-02_AM - South America - Santa Maria Oscar - EXPOSICION OSCAR SANTA
MARIA PRG
13-05-02_AM - South America - Santa Maria Oscar - RECREACION PRG
13-05-02_AM - South America - Santa Maria Oscar - Texto Oscar Santa
MariE a_Traduzido
13-05-02_PM - Other Countries - Cameron - Canadian Citizen Hearing Testimony
13-05-02_PM - Other Countries - Cameron - flying saucer observatory
13-05-02_PM - Other Countries - Cameron - suffield
13-05-02_PM - Other Countries - Huneeus CH France & Russia
13-05-02_PM - Other Countries - Nick Pope Opening Statement - Other Countries Panel
13-05-02_PM - Other Countries - Pinotti - France - at CNES in Toulouse and SEPRA's
Jean-Jacques Velasco (1989)
13-05-02_PM - Other Countries - Pinotti's exposing action re USSR KGB UFO DOSSIER
confirmed by Boris Shurinov
13-05-02_PM - Other Countries - Pinotti's military activity in Italy's NATO III Missile
Brigade (1971-1972)
13-05-02_PM - Other Countries - Pinotty Roberto - Alexandr Kazantsev and Roberto
Pinotti in Moscow (1974)
13-05-02_PM - Other Countries - Pinotty Roberto - American ufology - Dr. Pinotti with
Dr. John Mack
Background/History
My name is Grant Cameron. I am a private UFO investigator. For the past 38 years I have attempted to
focus on what the highest levels of the US Government, military, and intelligence agencies know about
the UFO phenomena. I am the Director of the Presidents UFO Website and the co-author of the recently
released book “UFOs, Area 51, and Government Informants.”
In 2012 the Obama White House put out a statement that there is no credible evidence for ETs and no
cover-up by the government. Based on my years of research I would like to present a few pieces of
evidence which shows that this statement written by a low level White House staffer is ill informed and
not true.
• The first evidence comes from a Truman library oral history where General Robert Landry clearly
stated that from February of 1948 until Truman left office in 1953, he briefed the President orally on the
subject of flying saucers every three months. This would have added up to almost 20 briefings.
• Truman stated in at least one video, “Yes we discussed it at every conference that we had with
the military. There were always things like that going on – flying saucers and other things.”
• In 1969 the government shut down its official investigation into UFOs, stating there was no
evidence that UFOs were extraterrestrial. If this were true the government would have shut up and
allowed the subject to fade into history. This, however, is not what happened. Only three short years
after shutting down Blue Book, at the Direction of the Secretary of the Air Force, two documentary
producers signed a standard film contract at the Pentagon to do a documentary on UFOs. They were
provided with a number of films and pictures including a film of an extraterrestrial landing at Holloman
Air Force Base of which they used 8 seconds in the final production. They were given another UFO film,
marked Top Secret that was never returned and is still in their possession. The documentary was funded
with $250,000 and they were asked not to source the funder in the credits. A CIA agent was present
through the entire production, and as Linda Howe can testify she saw a letter to one of the producers
from President Richard Nixon thanking him for his cooperation on the project.
• Senator Barry Goldwater wrote extensively on UFOs such as in 1975 when he wrote of his friend
General Curtis LeMay refusing him access in 1964 to the Blue Room at Wright Patterson AFB (where
alien hardware and bodies were rumored to be held). “I made an effort to find out what was in the
building at Wright-Patterson Air Force base,” wrote Goldwater, “and I was understandably denied this
request. It is still classified above Top Secret.”1
• As Chairman of the Senate intelligence committee Goldwater continued to answer UFO letters,
saying in one letter, “this thing has gotten so highly-classified… it is just impossible to get anything on
it,”2 In another letter, “I have no idea of who controls the flow of need-to-know because, frankly, I was
told in such an emphatic way that it was none of my business that I've never tried to make it to my
business since.” And finally, “I have been interested in this subject for a long time and I do know that
whatever the Air Force has on the subject is going to remain highly classified.” 3
• Those waiting for the President to stand up and say ETs are here should know that event
occurred on June 27, 1981. Steven Spielberg stated that after the screening of “ET –The Extraterrestrial”
in the White House theatre Reagan “just stood up and he looked around the room, almost like he was
doing a headcount, and he said, ‘I wanted to thank you for bringing E.T. to the White House. We really
enjoyed your movie, and then he looked around the room and said, ‘And there are a number of people
in this room who know that everything on that screen is absolutely true.’ And he said it without
smiling!”4
• If you check the files at the Bush Library you will find nothing on UFOs. My files, however,
include an audio of President Bush during the 1988 campaign commenting on UFOs in which he said “I
know some. I know a fair bit.” Likewise, I have a video of Vice President Dan Quayle stating, “The alien
situation is very interesting. We literally spent some time . . . uh . . . looking at this.”
• In April 2001 I asked Vice-President Dick Cheney if he had been briefed on the subject of UFOs
on the Diane Rehm radio show. Instead of stating there was no credible ET evidence Cheney replied, “If
I had been briefed on that subject, it would probably be classified and I wouldn’t be talking about it.”
• Even President Obama has said things that run contrary to the statement put out by his own
White House. This might be because neither he nor anyone in his office saw the petition on the ET
question despite the fact that over 12,000 people signed the petition addressed to the President.
• During a visit to Roswell, New Mexico in 2012, President Obama referred to the Roswell crash
saying, “We’re going to keep our secrets here.” This raises the question - In light of the statement put
out by his office that there is no ET cover-up – what Roswell secrets is President Obama referring to?
• Then during a White House tour President Obama anticipated the question that actor Will
Smith’s son Jaden wanted to ask him about the reality of extraterrestrials. When they arrived in the
White House situation room, the President said to Jaden, “I know what you want to ask. You want to ask
about the aliens. I can neither confirm nor deny that extraterrestrials have visited Earth, but if they had,
and if there had been a Top Secret meeting on the subject, it would have occurred in this very room.”
• Then there is the story of Area-51 covered by the 19 time Emmy award winning investigative
reporter George Knapp who has spent years covering the story. Knapp has stated that he has over two
dozen witnesses who tell bits and pieces a story of a captured live alien and extraterrestrial space crafts
that are being back-engineered on the Nevada test site. He also had a revealing interview on the subject
of recovered alien craft with Senator Howard Cannon shortly before his death. Knapp stated that six of
his witnesses were threatened which succeeded in stopping them from going on camera.
• Finally, in July 2012 Chase Brandon, a 42 year veteran of the CIA, was a guest of 2,000,000
listeners of the overnight radio talk show called Coast to Coast AM. His words on the ET cover-up were
clear, as he referenced material he had seen at CIA headquarters. “I absolutely know, as I sit here talking
to you that there was a craft from beyond this world that crashed at Roswell and that the military picked
up the remains of not just the wreckage but cadavers. 100% in my heart and soul,” said Brandon,
‘Roswell happened. There was a craft and absolutely cadavers….I don’t know where the stuff is but I
know Roswell happened.”
1 Letter, Barry Goldwater to Schlomo Arnon, March 1975.
2 Letter Goldwater to Lee Graham, October 19, 1981, http://www.stealthskater.com/Documents/Goldwater_1.pdf
3 http://www.presidentialufo.com/document-downloads/doc_download/221-1984-1
4 http://www.openminds.tv/spielberg-confirms-reagan-705/
1) Who are some of the witnesses Knapp had? What happened in the conversation with Senator Cannon?
2) What did the CIA say about the Brandon story that the CIA had records on an ET crash at Roswell?
Linda Moulton Howe – Background / 2012
Linda Moulton Howe is a graduate of Stanford University with a Masters Degree in
Communication. She has devoted her documentary film, television, radio, writing and
reporting career to productions concerning science, medicine and the environment. Ms. Howe
has received local, national and international awards, including three regional Emmys, a
national Emmy nomination and a Station Peabody award (medical programming).
Linda produces, reports and edits the award-winning science, environment and earth
mysteries news website, Earthfiles.com. Her monthly radio news reports about science,
environment and earth mysteries news are produced for Premiere Radio Networks, Los
Angeles, Coast to Coast AM broadcast on stations throughout North America. She also
produces radio broadcasts for Whitley Strieber’s Dreamland Online. Linda has been
interviewed for all four seasons 2009-2012 of the TV series, Ancient Aliens, broadcast on the
History Channel.
In June 2012, Linda traveled as a reporter with Robert Schoch, Ph.D., Geologist, Boston
University, who led a group to Turkey and specifically to the 12,000-year-old Gobekli Tepe
that astonishes archaeologists. Linda reported about the ancient, mysterious site referred to
as the oldest “cathedral on a hill” known to humankind on Clear Channel’s Premiere Radio
Network Coast to Coast AM broadcast throughout North America. She also reported for web
radio Dreamland hosted by Whitley Strieber. For her award-winning news website,
Earthfiles.com, Linda produced a 6-part report about the Gobekli Tepe journey and
implications of such advanced craftsmanship in the pillars and stone artifacts so long ago in a
site where there is no evidence of habitation.
In 2011, Linda traveled nationally and internationally to speak at several conferences about
government leaked information concerning extraterrestrials, time travel and self-activating
software and machines. She was hosted on a speaking tour in Australia from Perth to
Melbourne to Sydney to the Sunshine Coast and the 2011 International NEXUS Conference.
In 2010, Linda was honored with the Courage In Journalism Award at the National Press Club
in Washington, D. C., by the Paradigm Research Group’s X Conference. In December 2010,
Linda traveled with Prometheus Productions, Los Angeles, to RAF Bentwaters-Woodbridge in
England for Ancient Aliens TV production about the December 1980 mysterious lights, beams
and missing time of military men involved during a 72-hour-period between midnight
December 26 and sunrise December 28, 1980, with technologies of unknown origin. In
September 2010, Linda was a featured speaker at a Mist Productions conference about the
science of crop formations in Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. In 2008, Earthfiles was
honored with a WebAward for News Standard of Excellence. In 2006, Earthfiles received the
W3 Silver Award in the news category. In 2003, Earthfiles received an Award for Standard of
Excellence presented by the internet’s WebAward Association. Earthfiles also received the
2001 Encyclopaedia Britannica Award for Journalistic Excellence.
Page 2
She was a keynote speaker before the audience of 1,500 at the Open Minds Conference in
Phoenix, Arizona, on February 25, 2011. In 2011, Linda also spoke before the 23rd
annual
Eureka Springs UFO Conference in Arkansas on April 9, 2011; presented her investigation of
the RAF Bentwaters-Woodbridge military phenomena at the 1st annual Jackson, Mississippi
UFO conference in the Jackson Convention Center; spoke about “E.T.s, Time Travelers and
Self-Activating Machines” for Whitley Strieber’s Dreamland Festival in Nashville on June 25,
2011; was the featured speaker in an Australia tour of Perth, Adelaide, Sydney and the
Sunshine Coast NEXUS Conference for most of July 2011; spoke before the International
MUFON Conference in Irvine, California on July 31, 2011; and presented at the Pennsylvania
MUFON Conference in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on October 15, 2011; the Philadelphia
Cosmo Club on October 17, 2011; and Friends of the Institute of Noetic Sciences (FIONS) in
New York City on October 22, 2011.
In January 2009, Linda spent two weeks in Costa Rica to research environmental restoration
projects; in July to August 2009, Linda spent three weeks in Wiltshire, England, to investigate
crop formations, report a live 3-hour radio broadcast for Premiere Radio Networks in the U.
S., and to participate in a Brazil documentary production about the crop phenomenon; in
November 2009, Linda was videotaped in Roswell, New Mexico, for the History Channel TV
series, Ancient Aliens.
In October 2008, Linda was videotaped in New York City by RAI-TV, Italy, for a broadcast
special about unusual aerial phenomena. In 2006, Linda was the on-camera field investigator
of a Montana cattle mutilation for a Canadian television special, Best Evidence. She traveled
to England for other field investigations of the crop formation mystery and to do science news
interviews at Cardiff University for Earthfiles and Premiere Radio Networks. In 2005, Linda
participated in the Canadian documentary, Star Dreams, produced by Genesis
Communications Corp., about the global crop formation mystery.
In August 2004, Linda was on-camera field investigator for a History Channel program about
an unusual cow death in Farnham, Nebraska. Linda also traveled to Florence and San
Marino, Italy, to speak about her earth mysteries investigations. She also produced and
reported Earthfiles segments for Comcast Cable broadcasts in San Francisco and Los
Angeles.
In 2003, Linda investigated mysterious light phenomena in Corguinho, Brazil, and England. In
2002, she traveled to Norway to join astronomers, physicists and engineers in the study of
“thermal plasmas of unknown origin” in the Hessdalen Valley. In 2001, Linda traveled to Hong
Kong and Laos to investigate “tall wild men” reports for The Discovery Channel television
series, Modern Mysteries of Asia.
Linda’s Emmy Award-winning documentaries have included Poison in the Wind and A Sun
Kissed Poison, which compared smog pollution in Los Angeles and Denver; Fire In The
Water about hydrogen as an alternative energy source to fossil fuels; A Radioactive Water
about uranium contamination in public drinking water in a Denver suburb; and A Strange
Harvest, which explored the worldwide animal mutilation mystery that has haunted the United
States and other countries since the 1960s and continues to date. Another film, A Prairie
Dawn, focused on astronaut training in Denver. Linda has also produced documentaries in
Page 3
Ethiopia and Mexico for UNICEF about child survival efforts and for Turner Broadcasting in
Atlanta about environmental challenges.
A few of Linda’s other television productions have included The World of Chemistry for PBS
and a two-hour special, Earth Mysteries: Alien Life Forms, in association with WATL-Fox,
Atlanta. Linda was Supervising Producer and Original Concept Creator for UFO Report:
Sightings financed by Paramount Studios and the Fox network in Los Angeles. Its first
broadcast was in October 1991, which was expanded into the Sightings series on Fox.
Linda was an honored medical producer in Boston’s WCVB Station Excellence Peabody Award.
As Director of Special Projects at the KMGH-TV station in Denver, Colorado, she received the
Aviation & Space Writers Association Award for Writing Excellence in Television, a Chicago Film
Festival Golden Plaque for A Radioactive Water, Colorado’s Florence Sabin Award for
“outstanding contribution to public health” and several dozen other local and regional awards,
including Emmys. She also worked as Director of International Programming for Earthbeat, an
environmental series broadcast on Turner’s WTBS Superstation in Atlanta, GA.
Linda has traveled in Venezuela, Peru, Brazil, England, Norway, France, Switzerland, The
Netherlands, Yugoslavia, Turkey, Ethiopia, Kenya, Egypt, Australia, Japan, Canada, Mexico,
the Yucatan and Puerto Rico for research and productions. Linda has written four books:
Mysterious Lights and Crop Circles, 2nd
Edition, September 2002, about eyewitness accounts
and scientific research of biophysical and biochemical changes in affected cereal crops by
complex energy systems; An Alien Harvest © 1989, about the worldwide animal mutilation
phenomenon; Glimpses of Other Realities, Volumes I and II © 1993 and 1998, about U. S.
military, intelligence and civilian testimonies concerning non-human interactions with Earth.
Linda is also asked to speak as an investigative reporter at national and international
conferences and symposiums, including NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, and has been
interviewed on a Larry King Live special, CNN; The O’Reilly Factor, Fox; Sightings and
Strange Universe, Fox; NBC’s The Other Side; Britain’s Union Pictures, ITN and BBC; The
Discovery Channel special Evidence On Earth; the NBC network special, Mysterious Origins
of Man and the 2019 - 2011 Ancient Alien series on the History Channel.
Contact:
Linda Moulton Howe, Owner Linda Moulton Howe Productions; Reporter and Editor Science/Environment/Earth Mysteries News Earthfiles.com and Science, Environment and Earth Mysteries Investigative Reporter, Clear Channel’s Premiere Radio Networks Coast to Coast AM P. O. Box 21843 Albuquerque, New Mexico 87154
TEL: 505-797-7727
FAX: 505-797-7908
Page 4
Email: earthfiles@earthfiles.com Website: www.Earthfiles.com
April 29, 2013 1st Panel - 2013 Citizen Hearing, Disclosure Linda Moulton Howe
Addressed To:
Chairman Bartlett and other distinguished retired Congressional representatives
on the Citizen Hearing Disclosure Panel
National Press Club
Washington, D. C.
My name is Linda Moulton Howe. I grew up in Boise, Idaho, where my father, Chet
Moulton, was Director of Aeronautics for Idaho. One of his friends was Kenneth Arnold,
who reported the unidentified flying objects over Mount Rainier in June 1947, and a local
reporter coined the phrase "U.F.O.," unidentified flying objects.
I remember my father dismissed the idea of extraterrestrials and that is the bias with
which I grew up. I attended the University of Colorado in Boulder where I earned a cum
laude Bachelor of Arts in English Literature. Then I went to Stanford University in Palo
Alto, California, to earn a Masters Degree in Communication. For two years I produced,
wrote, directed and edited documentary films for the Stanford Medical Center and my
Master's thesis film was about the Stanford Linear Accelerator's first efforts to have
computers analyze sub-atomic particle bombardments.
From Stanford, I went to TV news at KNBC-TV in Los Angeles, where my beat was
science, environment and medicine. Later, I was honored at WCVB in Boston as a
producer sharing the station's Peabody Award for Science and Medical Programming
Excellence.
Then I became Director of Special Projects at the Denver CBS affiliate, KMGH-TV. I
produced, wrote, directed, edited and reported a dozen TV documentaries and several live
studio programs about science, medical and environmental issues that earned three
Regional Emmys, a National Emmy nomination and several other documentary film
awards.
One of my documentaries was an investigation of the strange, bloodless, trackless
mutilations of animals ranging from cattle and horses to goats, sheep, pigs and rabbits -
and even wild animals such as deer and elk - that were repeatedly occurring in Colorado,
all over the United States and Canada and other parts of the world.
The first research interview I did for that animal mutilation TV documentary was with
former Logan County Sheriff Tex Graves. He told me bluntly, "The perpetrators of
animal mutilations are creatures from outer space."
In fact, a few ranchers told me about beams of light from round, glowing objects in the
sky they had seen with their own eyes pick up cattle from a pasture - or lower an animal
2
to a pasture - dead with bloodless excisions. The beam transport would explain why there
often are no tracks - not even the animal's own tracks.
That documentary, A Strange Harvest, was first broadcast in a 90-minute special May 25,
1980, and was awarded a Regional Emmy. Later Home Box Office (HBO) in New York
City contacted me to follow up A Strange Harvest with an hour special for HBO with the
working title: UFOS: The E. T. Factor.
A contract was signed and New York attorney Peter Gersten, who filed the first Freedom
of Information requests back at the end of the 1970s for information about UFOs from
the CIA (Central Intelligence Agency), NSA (National Security Agency), DIA (Defense
Intelligence Agency, NRO (National Reconnaissance Organization) and military offices -
arranged for me to have a meeting at Kirtland AFB in Albuquerque. Mr. Gersten had
received correspondence from an agent at the U. S. Air Force Office of Special
Investigations about a dramatic landing of a disc and humanoid entities at Ellsworth
AFB, South Dakota.
In the meeting at the Kirtland AFOSI meeting on April 9, 1983, the AFOSI Agent
showed me a document entitled: "Briefing Paper for the President of the United States
On the Subject of Unidentified Aerial Craft." The document gave a history of the U. S.
government's retrieval of crashed or landed craft in Aztec, Magdalena and Roswell, New
Mexico, in 1947, and again in 1949; Kingman in northern Arizona; and northern Mexico
south of Laredo, Texas.
The alleged presidential briefing paper also described information from a live
extraterrestrial biological entity - or EBE - taken from a crash site near Roswell, New
Mexico, in 1949 - two years after the historically famous 1947 July crashes of wedge-
shaped craft, not discs, that contained small humanoid bodies, both dead and alive.
I was told that one of the first scientists brought in on autopsies of dead alien bodies was
a herpetologist, who studies reptiles such as snakes as well as amphibians. The skin and
eyes of the non-humans were described as bumpy like snakeskin and the eyes had vertical
slit pupils beneath dark lenses.
Since April 9, 1983, I have accumulated testimonies from witnesses and physical
evidence that support the alleged presidential briefing paper shown to me at Kirtland
AFB. Today on April 29, 2013 - thirty years later - in addition to work as a long-time TV
producer and investigative reporter, I also produce, write, report and edit the science and
environment website, Earthfiles.com, and report three hours of Earthfiles news
investigations monthly for Premiere Radio Networks broadcast of Coast to Coast AM
(estimated weekly audience 4 million).
Today I can assert that the pressure of facts accumulated from military and intelligence
eyewitnesses; from ranchers and pathologists; from pilots and astronauts; from fellow
human experiencers in the UFO abduction syndrome; and from leaks by scientists and
computer experts, who have worked on back-engineering extraterrestrial technologies
3
extracted from non-human craft - leaves no doubt that Need-To-Know agents in the U. S.
government since World War II and the FDR and Truman Administrations have known
about the extraterrestrial interactions with Earth and that their policies of denial in the
alleged interest of national security are still in effect.
My greatest challenge as a journalist is to get on the record what I am told by military and
intelligence agents and other eyewitnesses. National security in what is supposed to be a
democratic government of, by and for the people, is not served by lies and secrecy. Every
American and the whole world deserve the truth about non-humans past, present and
future interacting with Earth.
Linda Moulton Howe – Background / 2013
Linda Moulton Howe is a graduate of Stanford University with a Masters Degree in
Communication. She has devoted her documentary film, television, radio, writing and
reporting career to productions concerning science, medicine and the environment. Ms.
Howe has received local, national and international awards, including three regional
Emmys, a national Emmy nomination and a Station Peabody award (medical
programming).
Linda produces, reports and edits the award-winning science, environment and earth
mysteries news website, Earthfiles.com, honored with a WebAward for News Standard of
Excellence, a W3 Silver Award in the news category, an Award for Standard of
Excellence presented by the internet’s WebAward Association and Encyclopaedia
Britannica Award for Journalistic Excellence.
Her monthly 3-hour radio news reports about science, environment and earth mysteries
are broadcast on Premiere Radio Networks Coast to Coast AM throughout North
America. She also produces radio broadcasts for Whitley Strieber’s Dreamland Online.
Linda has been interviewed for all seasons 2009-2012 of the TV series, Ancient Aliens,
broadcast on the History Channel.
Linda has written four books: Mysterious Lights and Crop Circles, 2nd Edition, © 2002,
about eyewitness accounts and the scientific research of biophysical and biochemical
changes in affected cereal crops by complex energy systems; An Alien Harvest © 1989,
about the worldwide animal mutilation phenomenon; Glimpses of Other Realities,
Volumes I and II © 1993 and 1998, about U. S. military, intelligence and civilian
testimonies concerning non-human interactions with Earth.
In April 2013, Linda was honored with the first Lucius Farish Foundation award for
excellence in research and productions concerning the UFO phenomena at the 26th
Annual 2013 Ozark Conference in Eureka Springs, Arkansas.
In June 2012, Linda traveled as a reporter with Robert Schoch, Ph.D., Geologist, Boston
University, who led a group to Turkey and specifically to the 12,000-year-old Gobekli
4
Tepe that astonishes archaeologists. Linda reported about the ancient, mysterious site
referred to as the oldest “cathedral on a hill” known to humankind in a 6-part Earthfiles
series and in radio reports for Coast to Coast AM and Dreamland.
In 2011, Linda traveled nationally and internationally to speak at several conferences
about government leaked information concerning extraterrestrials, time travel and self-
activating software and machines. She was hosted on a speaking tour in Australia from
Perth to Melbourne to Sydney to the Sunshine Coast and the 2011 International NEXUS
Conference.
She was a keynote speaker before the audience of 1,500 at the Open Minds Conference
in Phoenix, Arizona, on February 25, 2011. In 2011, Linda also spoke before the 23rd
annual Eureka Springs UFO Conference in Arkansas on April 9, 2011; presented her
investigation of the RAF Bentwaters-Woodbridge military phenomena at the 1st annual
Jackson, Mississippi UFO conference in the Jackson Convention Center; spoke about
“E.T.s, Time Travelers and Self-Activating Machines” for Whitley Strieber’s Dreamland
Festival in Nashville on June 25, 2011; was the featured speaker in an Australia tour of
Perth, Adelaide, Sydney and the Sunshine Coast NEXUS Conference for most of July
2011; spoke before the International MUFON Conference in Irvine, California on July 31,
2011; and presented at the Pennsylvania MUFON Conference in Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania, on October 15, 2011; the Philadelphia Cosmo Club on October 17, 2011;
and Friends of the Institute of Noetic Sciences (FIONS) in New York City on October 22,
2011.
In 2010, Linda was honored with the Courage In Journalism Award at the National Press
Club in Washington, D. C., by the Paradigm Research Group’s X Conference. In
December 2010, Linda traveled with Prometheus Productions, Los Angeles, to RAF
Bentwaters-Woodbridge in England for Ancient Aliens TV production about the December
1980 mysterious lights, beams and missing time of military men involved during a 72-
hour-period between midnight December 26 and sunrise December 28, 1980, with
technologies of unknown origin. In September 2010, Linda was a featured speaker at a
Mist Productions conference about the science of crop formations in Sao Paulo and Rio
de Janeiro, Brazil.
In January 2009, Linda spent two weeks in Costa Rica to research environmental
restoration projects; in July to August 2009, Linda spent three weeks in Wiltshire,
England, to investigate crop formations, report a live 3-hour radio broadcast for Premiere
Radio Networks in the U. S., and to participate in a Brazil documentary production about
the crop phenomenon; in November 2009, Linda was videotaped in Roswell, New
Mexico, for the History Channel TV series, Ancient Aliens.
In October 2008, Linda was videotaped in New York City by RAI-TV, Italy, for a broadcast
special about unusual aerial phenomena. In 2006, Linda was the on-camera field
investigator of a Montana cattle mutilation for a Canadian television special, Best
Evidence. She traveled to England for other field investigations of the crop formation
mystery and to do science news interviews at Cardiff University for Earthfiles and
5
Premiere Radio Networks. In 2005, Linda participated in the Canadian documentary, Star
Dreams, produced by Genesis Communications Corp., about the global crop formation
mystery.
In August 2004, Linda was on-camera field investigator for a History Channel program
about an unusual cow death in Farnham, Nebraska. Linda also traveled to Florence and
San Marino, Italy, to speak about her earth mysteries investigations. She also produced
and reported Earthfiles segments for Comcast Cable broadcasts in San Francisco and
Los Angeles.
In 2003, Linda investigated mysterious light phenomena in Corguinho, Brazil, and
England. In 2002, she traveled to Norway to join astronomers, physicists and engineers
in the study of “thermal plasmas of unknown origin” in the Hessdalen Valley. In 2001,
Linda traveled to Hong Kong and Laos to investigate “tall wild men” reports for The
Discovery Channel television series, Modern Mysteries of Asia.
Linda’s Emmy Award-winning documentaries have included Poison in the Wind and A
Sun Kissed Poison, which compared smog pollution in Los Angeles and Denver; Fire In
The Water about hydrogen as an alternative energy source to fossil fuels; A Radioactive
Water about uranium contamination in public drinking water in a Denver suburb; and A
Strange Harvest, which explored the worldwide animal mutilation mystery that has
haunted the United States and other countries since the 1960s and continues to date.
Another film, A Prairie Dawn, focused on astronaut training in Denver. Linda has also
produced documentaries in Ethiopia and Mexico for UNICEF about child survival efforts
and for Turner Broadcasting in Atlanta about environmental challenges.
A few of Linda’s other television productions have included The World of Chemistry for
PBS and a two-hour special, Earth Mysteries: Alien Life Forms, in association with
WATL-Fox, Atlanta. Linda was Supervising Producer and Original Concept Creator for
UFO Report: Sightings financed by Paramount Studios and the Fox network in Los
Angeles. Its first broadcast was in October 1991, which was expanded into the Sightings
series on Fox.
Linda was an honored medical producer in Boston’s WCVB Station Excellence Peabody
Award. As Director of Special Projects at the KMGH-TV station in Denver, Colorado, she
received the Aviation & Space Writers Association Award for Writing Excellence in
Television, a Chicago Film Festival Golden Plaque for A Radioactive Water, Colorado’s
Florence Sabin Award for “outstanding contribution to public health” and several dozen other
local and regional awards, including Emmys. She also worked as Director of International
Programming for Earthbeat, an environmental series broadcast on Turner’s WTBS
Superstation in Atlanta, GA.
Linda has traveled in Venezuela, Peru, Brazil, England, Norway, France, Switzerland,
The Netherlands, Yugoslavia, Turkey, Ethiopia, Kenya, Egypt, Australia, Japan, Canada,
Mexico, the Yucatan and Puerto Rico for research and productions. Linda has written four
books: Mysterious Lights and Crop Circles, 2nd Edition, September 2002, about
6
eyewitness accounts and scientific research of biophysical and biochemical changes in
affected cereal crops by complex energy systems; An Alien Harvest © 1989, about the
worldwide animal mutilation phenomenon; Glimpses of Other Realities, Volumes I and II
© 1993 and 1998, about U. S. military, intelligence and civilian testimonies concerning
non-human interactions with Earth.
Linda is also asked to speak as an investigative reporter at national and international
conferences and symposiums, including NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, and has
been interviewed on a Larry King Live special, CNN; The O’Reilly Factor, Fox; Sightings
and Strange Universe, Fox; NBC’s The Other Side; Britain’s Union Pictures, ITN and
BBC; The Discovery Channel special Evidence On Earth; the NBC network special,
Mysterious Origins of Man and the 2009 - 2013 Ancient Alien series on the History
Channel.
Submitted by:
Linda Moulton Howe
Reporter and Editor
Earthfiles.com and
Investigative Reporter
Premiere Radio Networks
P. O. Box 21843
Albuquerque, NM 87154
PH: 505-797-7727
Email: earthfiles@earthfiles.com
J. Antonio Huneeus
Citizens Hearing Statements
History/Background
Good afternoon, distinguished members and panelists of the Citizens Hearing on
Unidentified Flying Objects, UFOs. My name is Jose Antonio Huneeus and I am a
Chilean-American journalist who has been actively involved in covering the mystery
of UFOs and its hypothesis of extraterrestrial, ET, origin—other theories are also
possible and should be considered—for the past 37 years. My very first article on
this topic was published in a small New York newspaper on July 4, 1977, coinciding
with the beginning of my professional career as a journalist in the United States. I
was born in this country but my family was from Chile. My father worked for several
years in the United Nations, in the early formative years of this international body,
during which time I was born in New York in 1950. After graduating from high
school in Santiago in 1969, I went to Europe and took a semester on French
language and civilization at the Sorbonne University in Paris, and later studied
journalism at the University of Chile in Santiago.
I worked for a while as a science journalist for a weekly magazine in Santiago and
also wrote regularly for a daily newspaper in the mid-seventies, where I was one of
the first journalists in Chile to cover ecological or green issues on a regular basis.
This was, however, a period of great turmoil in Chile following the military coup of
September 11, 1973, the first time that fateful date shows up in modern history, I
might add. So I took the decision to claim my U.S. citizenship and move to this
country, where I have lived ever since, first in the Washington, DC area, then New
York for some 25 years, back to the Beltway where I lived in northern Virginia for
about three years, and now the Phoenix, Arizona, area, where I moved in 2009 after
I was hired to work as a full time paid journalist and editor of Open Minds magazine,
and also a writer for our website, openminds.tv, and other production and research
activities in ufology for the company Open Minds Production.
The subject of UFOs is a contentious one where many different views and attitudes
coexist, sometimes in a friendly manner, sometimes in a more acrimonious way. But
there is no doubt in my mind that there is at least one conclusion we can and should
all agree: UFOs are definitely a global phenomenon, they are sighted visually, on film
and on radar, reported, investigated sometimes officially, sometimes by private
organizations, and covered by both the local and international media all over the
world. It doesn’t really matter what is the culture, language, religion, ethnic origin
and level of development and technological capabilities of a country, UFOs have
been reported everywhere, from Alaska to Chile and Argentina in the Americas, all
over Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Africa, Australia and the oceans. There are well
documented cases in many parts of the world, including Brazil, France, Iran, Russia,
Zimbabwe, New Zealand, and many other countries. Regardless of what turns out to
be the final origin of this mystery, it has a great potential of unifying the different
and often divided parts of the world. The reason is simple. No matter how big our
ideological, religious or cultural differences are, we would all tend to unite in the
face of an unknown, possibly extraterrestrial presence. It is for this reason that
some efforts have been made over the years to bring this subject to the attention of
the United Nations Organization. This international body, despite its flaws, is the
only organization that truly represents all the nations of this world, and so it seems
to be the logical place where this issue could be dealt with in a global formal and
legal manner.
I will outline briefly the history of UFOs at the United Nations, a subject that I know
very well first hand since I personally attended as a journalist the famous historical
UFO Hearing before the UN Special Political Committee on November 27, 1978. This
was the result of a two-year lobbying effort by sir Eric Gairy, the Prime Minister of
Grenada, a small Caribbean island which had gained independence from Great
Britain in 1978. I am submitting for the record a long article detailing the history of
UFOs at the UN which I published in the third issue of Open Minds magazine in
2010.
Grenada’s UFO proposal was first raised officially by Prime Minister Gairy and
Grenada’s UN ambassador Wellington Friday at a meeting of the UN General Assembly
Special Political Committee on November 28, 1977. Grenada proposed the
“establishment of an agency or a department of the United Nations for undertaking,
coordinating, and disseminating the results of research into Unidentified Flying Objects
(UFOs) and related phenomena.” Grenada made further statements on November 30 and
December 6, 1977. In an earlier speech in October, Prime Minister Gairy disclosed his
own sighting: “I have myself seen an unidentified flying object and I have been totally
overwhelmed by what I have seen.” As a result of all this effort, on December 13, 1977,
“the General Assembly adopted Decision 32/424,” which acknowledged, “the draft
resolution submitted by Grenada.”
Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim duly forwarded “Decision 32/424” to the member
states by a “note verbale” on March 13, 1978, however, only three governments
responded (India, Luxembourg, and Seychelles) and only two specialized agencies
(International Civil Aviation Organization and UNESCO) replied with a flat “no
comments to offer.”
Undeterred, Grenada launched a new offensive in 1978 with the help of one of the
original NASA astronauts, Gordon Cooper, among others. A group of recognized experts
was assembled by Gairy to testify at a hearing before the Special Political Committee on
November 27, 1978, which became the high point of the Grenada initiative. Besides Sir
Eric Gairy and Ambassador Friday, who was now Grenada’s Minister of Education, the
hearing included testimony by astronomer Dr. J. Allen Hynek, the former scientific
consultant for the U.S. Air Force Project Blue Book who went on to found the Center for
UFO Studies (CUFOS), Dr. Jacques Vallee, Stanton Friedman, who is present at this
Citizen Hearing, and a first-hand witness account by Lt. Col. Lawrence Coyne of the
U.S. Army Reserve on his famous October 18, 1973 UFO-helicopter near-collision in
Ohio. A letter of endorsement by astronaut Gordon Cooper, who was then working for
the Walt Disney Company as vice-president of research & development for Epcot, was
read into the record. Besides mentioning his own sighting and views on UFOs, Cooper
wrote that “we need to have a top level, coordinated program to scientifically collect and
analyze data from all over earth concerning any type of encounter, and to determine how
best to interface with these visitors in a friendly fashion.”
At a meeting of the UN General Assembly on December 18, 1978, Decision 33/426 was
adopted with the same heading to the previous Decision 32-424, “Establishment of an
agency or a department of the United Nations for undertaking, coordinating and
disseminating the results of research into unidentified flying objects and related
phenomena.” The Grenada initiative was gradually opening the door to UFOs at the UN,
but unfortunately, the effort came to an abrupt halt when the Gairy government was
overthrown by a Marxist revolution led by Maurice Bishop of the New Jewel Movement
in March 1979. Ironically, Gairy was in New York to meet with Kurt Waldheim
regarding Decision 33/426 when the coup took place.
Some minor efforts to rekindle the UFO initiative at the United Nations were attempted
by civilian investigators since the Grenada coup of 1979, but with no success whatsoever
because only a sovereign member country can bring this issue back officially to the UN
and no government has done so since the Grenada initiative of the late seventies. The
good news, however, is that we don’t have to reinvent the wheel. The UN Decisions 32-
424 and 33-426 are already on the books and could be revived if there was a political
will.
In closing these opening remarks, I want to make a few important points. While it’s true
that the majority of UFO sightings have mundane explanations, a fact recognized by most
competent investigators and scientists, if you really study with an open mind the
extensive data bank of UFO cases collected worldwide during the last six decades, you
will find a small percentage of truly puzzling incidents that defy any conventional
explanation. The prevailing view among most researchers and the media is that these
cases have an ET origin, but this is not the only explanation. Other theories including
inter-dimensional or multiple universes have also been advanced. Even time travel has
been proposed--in other words, UFOs would be our own devices from the future coming
back in time for unknown reasons. I realize all this sounds like science-fiction, but think
for a minute. Didn’t you see people talking to each other at huge distances while viewing
themselves on a screen in lots of sci-fi movies from the fifties and sixties? Well, this
happens now every day through Skype in the internet. Similar examples can be multiplied
ad infinitum.
What is important is to look at all the data without any preconceived ideas or beliefs. The
late Dr. Hynek used to say that UFOs were likely signaling the next scientific revolution.
But we will never get there if we don’t the study the phenomenon in a truly
comprehensive and unbiased way and, I might add, with the proper resources to do so.
The political implications, or exo-political as it’s now referred, are even bigger. The alien
can become a catalyst to unify the people of Earth, to realize that mankind must grow
way beyond our current limitations if we are going to survive and prosper in the future.
Many believe that open contact will never happen in an open way unless mankind’s level
of consciousness makes a significant jump.
Let me finish with an appropriate quote from Shakespeare’s Hamlet:
“There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio,
Than are dreamt of in your philosophy.”
Thank you very much.
THE UNITED NATIONS UFO STORY
By J. Antonio Huneeus
In early 2008, the internet was abuzz with reports of secret UFO briefings held at the
United Nations Headquarters in New York on February 12–14 of that year. Members of
U.S. intelligence supposedly briefed a number of representatives of foreign countries
about the continuing presence of UFOs around the world and how this presence was
likely to increase in the coming years. A policy of international disclosure on the
extraterrestrial presence should be implemented in order to prepare global public opinion,
so the story went.
The secret UN UFO briefings were quickly denied by the French space agency, Centre
National d’Études Spatiales (CNES), through its UFO-related department known as
GEIPAN (a French acronym that stands for Unidentified Aerospace Phenomenon
Research and Information Group). On March 28, 2008, GEIPAN issued a short press
release entitled “UFO Meeting at the UN?” In that press release, GEIPAN stated,
“Information circulating on the internet alleges that in February 2008 there was a secret
meeting where the problem of UFOs was discussed. An inquiry undertaken by GEIPAN
through the CNES correspondent attached to the French Embassy, has shown that it was
nothing else than a gross hoax.” Two years later, no documentary proof has been
produced to confirm that the UN meetings took place, leading to the conclusion that if the
meetings did take place, they might have been off-the-record or informal discussions.
Yet, like many other organizations, the UN does have an official history regarding UFOs.
You might be surprised to find out that the term UFO, in fact, is already codified in the
Encyclopedia of the United Nations and International Agreements.. UFO is defined as
follows: “Unidentified Flying Object. An international term. Introduced in the 1960s for
so-called flying saucers. The UN General Assembly on December 13, 1977 reached a
consensus that a Grenada item — Establishment of a UN agency for undertaking,
coordinating and disseminating the results of research into unidentified flying objects and
related phenomena — be transmitted to the UN member states and to the specified
agencies so that they might communicate their views to the Secretary-General.”
The history of UFOs in the UN is something I know first-hand quite well. The very first
UFO event that I attended was the famous UFO hearing convened by the government of
Grenada before the UN’s Special Political Committee on October 28, 1978. It was there
that I met for the first time Dr. J. Allen Hynek, Jacques Vallee, and others (The Grenada
initiative will be discussed later in this article). In addition, my own late father was a
senior official in the late 1940s and early 1950s; my elder brother served with the Chilean
Mission at the UN in the late 1960s and later with the United Nations Educational,
Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in Paris; and my sister worked at
various posts at the UN Headquarters in New York for many years.
The First Efforts During Secretary-General U Thant
There is no information about UFOs in the UN during its first twenty years (UN was
established in 1945). U Thant was the first UN Secretary-General to express great interest
on the subject, as revealed in Drew Pearson’s highly influential Los Angeles Times
newspaper column of June 27, 1967, entitled “U Thant and UFOs.” Pearson and his
assistant Jack Anderson wrote: “In the middle of the Near East crisis, UN Secretary-
General Thant took time to do a very significant thing. He arranged to have one of the top
advocates of the theory that flying saucers—UFOs—are from another planet, speak
before the Outer Space Affairs Committee of the UN.” The columnists added,
“Interesting fact is that U Thant has confided to friends that he considers UFOs the most
important problem facing the UN next to the war in Vietnam.”
The lecture given to the Outer Space Affairs Committee mentioned in the column was
delivered on June 7, 1967, by the late Dr. James E. McDonald, professor of atmospheric
physics at the University of Arizona and a renowned UFO expert in the 1960s. Dr.
McDonald noted that, “because of the global nature of the phenomenon, it immediately
falls into areas where the United Nations Organizations must accept responsibility for
encouraging immediate escalation of scientific examination of the problem.” On June 18,
1967, Secretary-General Thant met privately with Dr. J. Allen Hynek, who was still
scientific advisor to the U.S. Air Force’s Project Blue Book, and bestselling author John
Fuller, the first one to write a detailed account of the Betty and Barney Hill abduction
case. Dr. Hynek mentioned this meeting briefly in his landmark book The UFO
Experience: A Scientific Inquiry, explaining that U Thant expressed “his strong interest in
the UFO problem. During an hour-long discussion with us he pointed out the similar
concern that had been expressed to him by General Assembly members from several
countries. He told us that he was sympathetic to UN action but that UN action would
have to be initiated by a member nation.”
The first ufologist to bring the subject to U Thant’s attention, however, was a retired
Hungarian military officer, Col. Colman von Keviczky, who was at the time a UN
employee. In a sworn affidavit, von Keviczky wrote: “In June 1965, and continuously in
February 1966, as a member of the United Nations Secretariat’s staff, Office of Public
Information, I duly referred my experience and findings to my Secretary-General U
Thant, who requested me to elaborate a guideline and analytic system for the United
Nations to control the UFOs global operation. My PROJECT UN-UFO suggested a
coordinated co-operation amongst the nations on the UFOs’ created international
problem, and to seek peaceful communication with the exploring forces, the outcome
being unexpected openings in solving the piling up earthly problems.”
News of the UN UFO Project was leaked to the press by von Keviczky himself and
published by the New York Daily News on February 8, 1966 under the title of “Aid[e]
Tells UN: Prepare for Visitors From Outer Space.” On May 12, 1966, von Keviczky
received a letter from Chakravarthi V. Narasimhan, U Thant’s Under Secretary-General,
acknowledging receipt of “Addenda” to the “PROJECT [UN-UFO] submitted February
24, 1966 to the Secretary-General’s Office.” Narasimhan added that “the Secretary-
General has asked me to thank you for your voluntary efforts and your interest in the
matter of unidentified flying objects.”
Col. von Keviczky claims that he was blacklisted by the U.S. Government as a result of
his UFO initiative, eventually losing his UN job. He formed his own organization,
Intercontinental UFO Network (ICUFON), and continued to lobby for action at the UN
and various member states’ missions until his death in 1998. The colonel’s historical
documentation on the matter was published in 1979 in ICUFON’s Blue Memorandum,
“Project World Authority for Spatial Affairs (WASA)” and other similar memoranda.
Despite von Keviczky’s tireless efforts, his proposals were doomed for failure since only
a member state can put UFOs officially on the UN agenda. A July 2, 1982 letter to von
Keviczky by Lottie Robbins on behalf of Secretary-General Javier Pérez de Cuellar,
made this point quite clearly: “The Secretary-General has asked me to inform you that the
United Nations can only act on proposals or suggestions presented to it by an official
representative of a Member State.” In the 1970s, the newly independent Caribbean island
of Grenada, the smallest country in the Western Hemisphere, became just the member
state that von Keviczky was looking for.
The Grenada UFO Initiative: 1977-78
Grenada gained independence from Great Britain in 1974, and its first prime minister was
Sir Eric Gairy, an eccentric politician who first lobbied about UFOs to the Organization
of American States (OAS). When this failed, his strategy shifted to the United Nations
General Assembly, where he first mentioned the UFO issue in a speech in 1975. Gairy
recruited the assistance of several prominent ufologists including Colman von Keviczky,
Leonard Stringfield, and Dr. Hynek. In April 1977, Gairy was invited to address an
international UFO congress in Acapulco, Mexico—to my knowledge, the first and only
time a head of state gave a speech at a UFO conference. On September 9, 1977, Gairy
paid an official visit to President Jimmy Carter in the White House, where they certainly
touched upon the UFO subject (Carter himself had seen a UFO in 1969 and filed a report,
a fact which became widely known during the 1976 presidential campaign). There are no
official records of their conversation, however, other than it lasted approximately forty-
five minutes.
Grenada’s UFO proposal was finally raised officially by Prime Minister Gairy and
Grenada’s UN ambassador Wellington Friday at a meeting of the UN General Assembly
Special Political Committee on November 28, 1977. Grenada proposed the
“establishment of an agency or a department of the United Nations for undertaking,
coordinating, and disseminating the results of research into Unidentified Flying Objects
(UFOs) and related phenomena.” Grenada made further statements on November 30 and
December 6, 1977. In an earlier speech in October, Prime Minister Gairy disclosed his
own sighting: “I have myself seen an unidentified flying object and I have been totally
overwhelmed by what I have seen.” As a result of all this effort, on December 13, 1977,
“the General Assembly adopted Decision 32/424,” which acknowledged, “the draft
resolution submitted by Grenada” and further stated that: “The General Assembly
requests the Secretary-General to transmit the text of the draft resolution, together with
the above-mentioned statements, to Member States and to interested specialized agencies,
so that they may communicate their views to the Secretary-General.”
Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim duly forwarded “Decision 32/424” to the member
states by a “note verbale” on March 13, 1978, however, only three governments
responded (India, Luxembourg, and Seychelles) and only two specialized agencies
(International Civil Aviation Organization and UNESCO) replied with a flat “no
comments to offer.” Of the three countries, only Seychelles supported Grenada’s motion.
India rejected it, although it left open the possibility of the UN organizing “a discussion
on the question” and having scientists from the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer
Space “study and analyse such data on the question of unidentified flying objects... and
make recommendations for further action.”
Undeterred, Grenada launched a new offensive in 1978 with the help of one of the
original NASA astronauts, Gordon Cooper, among others. On July 14, 1978, Gairy paid a
visit to Secretary-General Waldheim with a distinguished group of UFO experts that
included Gordon Cooper, Dr. Hynek, Jacques Vallee, Claude Poher (who was then
running the recently created French specialized UFO investigation group, which would
become GEIPAN), researcher Leonard Stringfield. The meeting was considered
“personal,” thus there are no transcripts of the discussion, but an official UN photo was
taken.
A group of recognized experts was assembled again by Gairy to testify at a hearing
before the Special Political Committee on November 27, 1978, which became the high
point of the Grenada initiative. Besides Sir Eric Gairy and Ambassador Friday, who was
now Grenada’s Minister of Education, the hearing included testimony by Dr. Hynek,
Jacques Vallee, Stanton Friedman, and a first-hand witness account by Lt. Col. Lawrence
Coyne of the U.S. Army Reserve on his famous October 18, 1973 UFO-helicopter near-
collision in Ohio. A montage of UFO photos and film clips compiled by Dr. Hynek’s
Center for UFO Studies (CUFOS) was also shown. Finally, a letter of endorsement by
astronaut Gordon Cooper, who was then working for the Walt Disney Company as vice-
president of research & development for Epcot, was read into the record. Besides
mentioning his own sighting and views on UFOs, Cooper wrote that “we need to have a
top level, coordinated program to scientifically collect and analyze data from all over
earth concerning any type of encounter, and to determine how best to interface with these
visitors in a friendly fashion.” Cooper dedicated an entire chapter of his autobiography
Leap of Faith: An Astronaut’s Journey into the Unknown to the Grenada UN initiative..
At a meeting of the UN General Assembly on December 18, 1978, Decision 33/426 was
adopted with the same heading to the previous Decision 32-424, “Establishment of an
agency or a department of the United Nations for undertaking, coordinating and
disseminating the results of research into unidentified flying objects and related
phenomena.” The “consensus text” informed in its Point 1 that the General Assembly had
“taken note” of the “draft resolutions submitted by Grenada” and that:
2. The General Assembly invites interested Member States to take appropriate
steps to coordinate on a national level scientific research and investigation into
extraterrestrial life, including unidentified flying objects, and to inform the
Secretary-General of the observations, research and evaluation of such activities.
3. The General Assembly requests the Secretary-General to transmit the
statements of the delegation of Grenada and the relevant documentation to the
Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, so that it may consider them at
its session in 1979.
Point 4 stated that the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space would permit
Grenada “to present its views” at the 1979 session and the committee’s deliberation
would be included in its report to the thirty-fourth General Assembly. The Grenada
initiative was gradually opening the door to UFOs, but unfortunately, the effort came to
an abrupt halt when the Gairy government was overthrown by a Marxist revolution led
by Maurice Bishop of the New Jewel Movement in March 1979. Ironically, Gairy was in
New York to meet with Kurt Waldheim regarding Decision 33/426 when the coup took
place. According to researcher Grant Cameron of PresidentialUFO.com, the crowds
gathered right after the coup chanted, “Freedom come, Gairy go, Gairy go with UFO.”
The new government launched a publicity campaign to discredit Gairy as a believer in
voodoo and flying saucers. Decision 33/426 was never implemented, but its mere
existence provides a useful framework for any future initiative on the matter.
Some have suggested a conspiracy linking Gairy’s overthrow with the U.S. government’s
anti-UFO policies. However, this conspiracy does not work. Gairy’s UFO crusade might
have been a nuisance for the U.S., but a new, self-declared Marxist government in the
Caribbean with friendly ties to Cuba was far worse, as later events demonstrated. When
then Prime Minister Bishop was killed in yet another more radical Marxist coup in 1983,
President Ronald Reagan ordered U.S. Marines to invade Grenada and squash the
revolution. When Gairy himself returned to Grenada from exile in the U.S., there was
some speculation in the press that he may start his political career anew, but this was not
the case. With his reputation trashed in the media following the 1979 Bishop coup, Gairy
kept a low profile until his death on August 23, 1997.
Moreover, U.S. Department of State documents released under the Freedom of
Information Act show that, while not enthusiastic about the Grenada UFO resolution, the
Department of State was not totally opposed to it. A “draft US position” entitled,
“Agenda Item — UN Agency for UFOs” was written by Irwin M. Pikus of the State
Department’s Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs
on August 29, 1977. He first outlines Grenada’s wishes: “In particular, Grenada wants: to
have 1978 declared as the International Year of Unidentified Flying Objects; the
establishment of a UN agency for UFO’s; the holding of UFO’s in Grenada; and the issue
of a special commemorative stamp on the subject.” (A set of UFO stamps were indeed
issued by Grenada in 1978.)
Pikus then proceeds with a substantive paragraph about the State Department’s position:
“The U.S. has no objection to inclusion of these matters on the agenda. The U.S. has
conducted extensive studies of this subject in years past and these studies have been
inconclusive. While the results of past studies have been and will continue to be made
available, the U.S. has no interest in participating actively in further studies. The
budgetary implications of the Grenada proposals should be examined. The U.S. has no
objection to the allocation of nominal sums to these proposals.”
The Beach Incident
It seems quite clear that Sir Eric Gairy had a real passion for UFOs, not just a casual
interest. He was devoting so much time and effort to it during 1977–79, that it opened the
door to the New Jewel Movement’s revolution. One factor was Gairy’s own sighting,
which was described as a “covey of brightly lit elliptical objects hovering high over the
ministerial mansion then darting silently at tremendous speeds toward the southeast back
in Grenada.” Gairy discussed the sightings in an interview with the newspaper, Honduras
This Week, stating, “The sightings were so anomalous, their potentiality so out of
character with the dignity of my office, that I felt compelled to rouse the world out of its
torpor and exhort it to take a closer look. I was worried that these apparitions might
seriously impact world security.”
Gairy lived in exile in the U.S.—first in New York, then San Diego—during the period
between the 1979 coup and the American invasion of Grenada in 1983. During his stay in
San Diego, Gairy became a friend of researcher Wesley Bateman, now deceased, who
used to direct the Molecular Energy Research Institute. Gairy and Bateman met several
times, and during one of these meetings the former prime minister of Grenada revealed
an incredible story. Gairy used to meet informally with many citizens at a nightclub he
owned in Morne Rouge, Grenada, above a long white sand beach. A fisherman came one
night with the news that they had found a giant human body. Gairy assembled a small
team of trusted people and went immediately to the beach spot where a tarp covered a
human-looking body between 7 ½ and 8 feet in length, dressed in a skin-tight one-piece
dark blue suit. Although his appearance was human, the being had six fingers, and Gairy
quickly concluded that it was an extraterrestrial. As the sun rose, the team noticed
metallic wreckage on the beach, including several metal containers. Gairy’s team
collected the wreckage, and the body was taken to the local medical school, which was
the best facility on the island. What happened to the body after the 1979 coup is a
mystery, and little else is known about this incident.
Although he didn’t go into any details, Prime Minister Gairy did confirm a “UFO
incident in the beach” near the medical school during a brief conversation that I had with
him at a cocktail party following the morning session of the November 27, 1978 UFO
UN hearing and a heavily attended press conference. Wesley Bateman’s full report, “Sir
Eric Gairy: Prime Minister of Grenada, His UN UFO Meeting, and His E.T. Secret,” can
be read on the UFO Digest website at www.ufodigest.com/news/0308/gairy.html.
The San Marino Charta
After the 1979 coup in Grenada and the public campaign to discredit Gairy, the UN
General Assembly Decision 33/426 of December 18, 1978 laid dormant, as no other
member nation or head of state dared to reopen the UFO issue. Twenty years later, in
1998, there was a short-lived hope that the Republic of San Marino, the small city-state
located in central Italy, might revive the issue. San Marino’s Ministry of Tourism
sponsored in 1998, and still does, a World UFO Symposium. During the sixth
Symposium in April 1998, speakers from sixteen countries (including Col. Philip Corso,
Prof. Sun Shi Li of China, myself as a representative of Chile, and many others) signed
the “San Marino Charta.” This document requested that the San Marino government
“present to the United Nations a motion urging the ‘Establishment of an Agency or a
Department of the United Nations for undertaking, coordinating and disseminating the
results of research into unidentified flying objects and related phenomena’ as suggested
by Decision 33/426 adopted at the 87th plenary meeting of the General Assembly on
December 18th 1978, as a result of the action of the Grenada delegation, and never
implemented.”
Unfortunately, this motion didn’t prosper, due to the pro-UFO faction in the San Marino
government led by then Tourism Minister Augusto Casali, having lost some of its
influence. To this day, Decision 33/426 is still looking for a sponsor. The words spoken
by Prime Minister Gairy in one of his speeches seem as true and valid today as they were
on October 7, 1977 when he delivered them to the UN General Assembly. “In the same
way that this planet is the accepted inheritance of all humanity,” said Gairy, “knowledge
is also to be shared for the benefit of all mankind, and, in this light, one wonders why the
existence of UFO’s, or flying saucers as they are sometimes called, continue to remain a
secret to those whose archives repose useful information and other data. While we
appreciate that some countries consider this to be in the interest of military expedience, I
now urge that a different view be taken because it is my firm conviction that the world is
ready, willing and ripe enough to accept these phenomena in relation to man and his
existence on the earth planet and life in outer space.”
[SIDEBAR] The United Nations UFO Clubs
In the late-1980s early-1990s, there were many UFO lectures and even a symposium at
the UN. The list of speakers included Dr. John Mack, Col. Colman von Keviczky,
Michael Hesemann, Colin Andrews, Richard Hoagland, Linda Moulton Howe, Peruvian
contactee Sixto Paz, J. J. Hurtak, and many others. The meetings were held either at
lunchtime in a small conference room or at the Dag Hammarskjöld Auditorium. It must
be stated very clearly, however, that none of these meetings were part of the official
agenda of the UN. They were sponsored by two UN staff clubs known as the Mystics
Roundtable Discussion Group and the UN Parapsychology Society, later renamed
Society for Enlightenment and Transformation (SEAT), which was led by Mohammed
Ramadan, an Egyptian translator very active in ufology. These clubs are, in fact,
regulated by the UN Staff Recreational Council (UNSRC) and were on the same level as
a sports team, a yoga club or a literary society. I make this point because some people
misrepresented or misunderstood the real status of these events.
Nevertheless, the meetings certainly served a purpose in making available an eclectic
variety of UFO information—from mystical to scientific and everything in between—to
anybody who works at UN Headquarters. The meetings are posted by the UNSRC in
bulletin boards throughout the building and anyone from an ambassador to a secretary
can attend; outside public is not allowed because of standard security regulations, which
apply to all UNSRC club activities, and not due to a conspiracy of silence.
The most ambitious unofficial event was SEAT’s First Symposium on Extraterrestrial
Intelligence and Human Future, held at the UN Dag Hammarsjkold Auditorium on
October 2, 1992. The speakers included Mohammed Ramadan, Stanton Friedman, John
Schuessler of MUFON, Dr. Rauni-Leena Luukanen-Kilde of Finland, and channeler Dr.
Norma Milanovich. There were two more SEAT UFO conferences in later years, but
these were held outside the UN building at a place called the UN Church and were clearly
unofficial. After Mohammed Ramadan’s retirement in the mid-1990s, the era of the UN
UFO clubs came to an end.
OPENING STATEMENT
CITIZEN HEARING ON DISCLOSURE
PAUL T. HELLYER
May I say at the outset that I am not a ufologist. I am a politician who served in the
governments of three Canadian Prime Ministers – Louis St. Laurent, Lester B. Pearson
and Pierre Elliot Trudeau. My portfolios included 5 years as Minister of National
Defence under Pearson, and later Transport with Trudeau, when I was senior minister, a
position which was subsequently designated deputy Prime Minister.
Although I received UFO sightings reports when I was Minister of Defence, I was
too busy re-organizing the navy, army and air force into a single Canadian Defence Force
to take an active interest in the subject. It was only a little more than 8 years ago, when a
young man from Ottawa who trusted my judgment, and thought that I would look at the
material he sent objectively, started sending me documents that persuaded me to become
actively involved.
A book he sent me was The Day After Roswell, by Col. Philip J. Corso (Ret.). It
looked interesting so I saved it for summertime reading in 2005. The book was
compelling and raised some extremely important issues that needed, and still need, broad
public debate. So after checking with a retired USAF general, who said, “Every word is
true, and more,” I decided to accept an invitation to speak at a Symposium at the
University of Toronto in September, 2005, where I said, “UFO’s are as real as the
airplanes flying overhead,” which earned me the dubious distinction of becoming the first
person of cabinet rank in the G8 group of countries to do so.
Once I had gone public, documents and books arrived on my doorstep. I read
nearly all of them. I was then briefed by many of the best ufologists in Canada and the
U.S. including several who have participated in this event. My hands-on experience
included talking to people who had worked in the so-called “black ops,” talking to a
retired officer who had personally seen an EBE, interrogating at length a number of
abductees including Travis Walton and Jim Sparks, and concluding their testimony was
authentic. All of this in addition to hearing dozens of presenters, each with his or her
own specialized knowledge. So I am now quite familiar with the subject, and my
concern for disclosure has intensified.
There are many reasons for this and I will just mention two or three of the most
important. The first is to end a decades-old culture of misinformation and
disinformation. It has become all-pervasive and infected many of America’s highly
respected citizens. In a democracy it is not enough to talk about transparency. Citizens
have the right to expect that their political and military leaders are levelling with them
and speaking the truth. In a society numbed by rumours, it is only the truth that will
satisfy our legitimate need to know.
A second need for disclosure is the need to know if hundreds of billions of dollars
have been spent on projects that may be of interest and curiosity to their promoters, but
rate less highly in taxpayers minds than their personal needs for education, health care
and other matters related to human well-being. Some of us suspect that we should have
paid greater heed to General Eisenhower’s warning about the military-industrial complex.
Finally, and most urgent in my opinion, is the need for full disclosure of new
energy sources developed, in part at least, with the aid of the extraterrestrials. Many
usually reliable sources have told me that zero point energy and cold fusion have been
developed to the point where one or both could be quickly adapted for commercial use.
This one is an absolute must! Global warming in the number one problem facing
humankind today. In a book entitled Light at the End of the Tunnel: A Survival Plan for
the Human Species, published in 2010, I said that we had about 10 years to convert the
power supply in every car, truck, tractor, airplane and home on Earth from fossil fuels to
clean energy, in order to have any hope of maintaining our planet as a reasonably
hospitable habitat.
Two years have gone by and essentially nothing has been done. The situation is
becoming desperate. We need the same kind of mobilization we had in World War II
when every automobile and appliance factory was converted to the production of
armaments. But this time in reverse, when the arms plants must be converted to
manufacture the little boxes that will supply our energy needs.
But we have to start with the technology. For a handful of people to keep it secret
is, in fact, a crime against humanity, and the most powerful argument possible for full
disclosure now.
— 30 —
Richard Dolan
Citizen’s Hearing
History and Background (1)
The UFO problem has involved military personnel around the world for more than sixty years, and is wrapped in secrecy. Because this subject is so widely ridiculed, it is important to stress why it is worthy of serious attention.
Stories of strange objects in the sky go far back in time, but from the 1940s to our own era, military personnel from the United States and many other nations have encountered unidentified flying objects, visually and on radar, sometimes at close range. These events happened not scores of times, but hundreds of times, and most likely thousands. Sometimes the encounter was nothing more than a solid radar return of an object moving at an incomprehensible speed, performing impossible maneuvers. Sometimes it included the violation of sensitive air space. Often it involved the dispatch of one or more aircraft to intercept the object. At times, crew members have claimed to see a metallic, disc-like object, sometimes with portholes, sometimes with lights, frequently engaged in what appeared to be intelligent, evasive maneuvers. In a very few cases, it appears to have involved the military retrieval of a UFO. In a few others, it involved injury and even death to military personnel. In a very large number of
recorded instances, military personnel who encountered UFOs were adamant that they did not see a natural phenomenon.
This is clearly a serious development, and it has been treated as such by those groups charged with maintaining national security. The CIA, NSA, and all branches of military intelligence have historically received UFO reports and discussed the matter as something of serious concern.
And yet, the military and other branches of government have created the fiction, for public consumption only, that the UFO problem is nothing to be concerned about – certainly not the result of little green men.
We are fortunate that, starting in the 1970s, the U.S. Freedom of Information Act began to help researchers learn some of the truth that lay behind the facade of propaganda. We learned, for example, that some U.S. military analysts initially feared that the Soviet Union might be behind the “flying saucer” wave of the 1940s and 50s. They studied this possibility, but rejected it. They also rejected the possibility that these were secret American technology.
Indeed, options quickly narrowed. Either this was something real and alien, or it was something “conventional” but as yet unknown or unexplained. Already, by the end of 1947, a contingent of analysts at the Air Technical Intelligence Center
(ATIC) at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base believed that UFOs were extraterrestrial. By the summer of 1948, this team prepared what they called an “Estimate of the Situation” stating the extraterrestrial thesis. The response: the team was dispersed and reassigned.
Yet, thanks to FOIA and the courage of a few senior officials to go on the record, we have a collection of statements about UFOs that are so numerous as to be impossible to mention all of them here. But a few might give you an appropriate flavor of what I mean.
This one is from General Robert B. Landry, Air Force Aide to President Harry S. Truman
“I was called one afternoon [in 1948] to come to the Oval Office – the President wanted to see me. . . . I was directed to report quarterly to the President after consulting with Central Intelligence people, as to whether or not any UFO incidents received by them could be considered as having any strategic threatening implications . . . .”
Landry went on to say that he continued to brief President Truman, in conjunction with the CIA, quarterly for the rest of the Truman Presidency. That’s no less than 16 briefings. We might want to know why a man as busy as President Truman was, would take the time out of his schedule to have so many meetings about UFOs? And yet we have no official transcript or record of these
briefings.
This is a statement from a Top Secret 1948 Air Force Intelligence report, “Analysis of Flying Object Incidents in the U.S.”
“The frequency of reported sightings, the similarity in many of the characteristics attributed to the observed objects and the quality of observers considered as a whole, support the contention that some type of flying object has been observed.... The origin of the devices is not ascertainable.”
An Air Force Intelligence Report from 1951, relating to an aerial encounter by a U.S. fighter pilot:
[Object] described as flat on top and bottom and appearing from a front view to have round edges and slightly beveled ... No vapor trails or exhaust or visible means of propulsion. Described as traveling at tremendous speed....
And, one more quote from the early years, this one from a former head of the Central Intelligence Agency, Roscoe Hillenkoetter, in 1960:
Behind the scenes, high-ranking Air Force officers are soberly concerned about UFOs. But through official secrecy and ridicule, many citizens are led to believe the unknown flying objects are
nonsense.
How much clearer a statement should responsible citizens, academicians, media, and political leadership require before demanding to get some reaonsable answers as to what is going on behind the scene in relation to the phenomenon of UFOs?
Because the problem certainly did not end during the 1960s, or 1970s, or 1980s. It has continued to the present day.
During the summer of 2002, just outside this city, over the town of Waldorf, Maryland, dozens of witnesses reported an incredible scene: multiple jet fighters chasing multiple - large - unknown objects that were of blue and orange coloration. All the witnesses, two of whom I interviewed personally, and several of whom spoke to national media, described the amazing performance capability of these objects. The Air Force itself admitted it had scrambled F-16s to investigate unknowns, which it admitted it had tracked at least one UFO on radar. We also learned that the UFO simply disappeared from the radar. The Air Force conclusion: it could have been ‘any number of things.” Perhaps we might like to know... precisely which things? What blue object can descend at an 80 degree angle, stop, reverse course, and accelerate away from two F-16 jets?
Over Chicago’s O’hare airport, in novembe 2006. same kind of situation. A dozen United
Airlines employees, including at least one pilot while on the ground, saw a hovering disc-shaped object below the clouds. It then accelerated away so suddenly that it left a hole in the cloud. United ordered its employees to silence, but one of them reported the event anyway. After denials by United and The FAA, both agencies were forced to acknowledge that, indeed, those individuals had made UFO reports. Again, we might ask: what might this have been, over one of the busiest airports in the world, and why the steadfast silence and denial?
These are only some of the better known recent cases. There are, in fact, an overwhelming number of them. The two largest websites for collecting North American UFO reports, the National UFO Reporting Center and the Mutual UFO network, have a combined total of well over 10,000 reports every year. Clearly, many or most of these would turn out to be something prosaic. But go through some of these reports. Many of them are truly incredible, and many of them have indeed received followup investigation. They are unexplained, and -- at least by our conventional wisdom -- unexplainable.
The combination of astonishing performance, powerful statements from selected senior officials, and steadfast silence and dismissal by our political establishment point to a problem. This is not
merely the problem of cognitive dissonance. It is the problem a political system in which the wheels have fallen off the machine.
it is imperative in the name of science and responsible public policy that we get those wheels back on, and begin a genuine, open, investigation of this phenomenon. We demand and deserve answers from responsible officials who ought to be in the know. And if they are not in the know, we all need to investigate and find out just who is.
Thank you.
Richard Dolan
Citizen’s Hearing
History and Background (2)
Researchers of UFOs have long argued about many facets of the phenomenon, but one conclusion shared by all serious researchers is that it has become a central, albeit covert, component of modern U.S. history, and indeed of world history.
But as everyone knows, you can’t have much of a history - that is, a reliable, factually based history - without access to documents. It is the documents of the past that enable us in the present to try to puzzle through the complexities and find solid ground, as it were.
yet, it’s easy for us to forget that access to most of the key UFO documents we now have came to us by way of historical accident. And it happened to be a fleeting one at that.
All through the 1940s, the 1950s, the 1960s, and well into the 1970s, there were many thousands of classified pages written about UFOs. Of course, the general public did not know this. Neither, it appears, did most members of Congress. But then came the end of the war in Vietnam and, of course, Watergate. This was a certain key moment in American history, a moment in which the United
States Congress investigated the intelligence community, when it reopened the investigation of the assassination of John F. Kennedy and Dr. Martin Luther King. And it was a moment in which Congress dramatically strengthened the U.S. Freedom of Information Act, enabling U.S. citizens to petition their government for documents not merely relating to them personally, but to the nation in terms of broad issues of public policy.
Little did members of Congress realize that, of all subsequent FOIA requests, the most popular category would be related to UFOs.
Indeed, during the late 1970s, over 10,000 pages of documents relating to UFOs were released. The party lasted, as it were, until 1982, when a Presidential order by Ronald Reagan made FOIA substantially less user friendly, and did not require many agencies to reply in a timely manner. The result was a major ballooning in costs to those people making requests. The Glory Era of UFO FOIA documents was over. To this day, more than half of all U.S. declassified UFO documents come from that period of time over thirty years ago. Great for the Carter administration, shame on the subsequent ones.
And yet we remain fortunate. Because the documents we have, thank goodness, tell us
enough. They give us enough of a history to hold on to. They give us enough solid ground.
And their aggregate message is startlingly clear: UFOs have been the subject not merely of interest to our nation’s military and intelligence community, but at times the subject of concern and even alarm. But how could it be otherwise, when we have report after report of violations of sensitive airspace by objects that defied any logical or conventional explanation? Whether the scene was Los Alamos during 1948 and 1949, or Oak Ridge from 1948 through much of the 1950s, or the many military bases during the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s, that reported such events, the question remains: how could this NOT be a matter of grave concern to those parties responsible for maintaining the integrity of their airspace? And, not surprisingly, we find the tone of their memos and requests for information to be appropriately concerned.
As one CIA memo from 1949 put the matter: “Information is desired if this was some new or experimental aircraft or for any explanation whatsoever.”
Such a statement was, in fact typical.
Indeed, the situation became so stressful to the CIA and elsewhere, that on December 2, 1952, the
CIA’s Chief of Scientific Intelligence, H. Marshall Chadwell, wrote a classified memo to his boss, the Director of the CIA, Walter Bedell smith:
“At this time, the reports of incidents convince us that there is something going on that must have immediate attention…. Sightings of unexplained objects at great altitudes and travelling at high speeds in the vicinity of major U.S. defense installations are of such nature that they are not attributable to natural phenomena or known types of aerial vehicles.”
This statement bears very close scrutiny. Here is yet another comment by a high-level U.S. official that UFOs were real, probably artificial, probably intelligently operated, and not apparently ours. Nor was there serious consideration that these were Soviet.
If not American, if not Soviet, if not natural phenomena, and if they appeared to be technological and under intelligent control, we begin to run out of viable options.
It is access to documents such as these that enable us to know with certainty that UFOs were a matter of serious concern to individuals at the highest level of U.S. national security. This is important because such levels of concern were
consistently voiced within the classified world, but never given out publicly.
Today, official pronouncements about UFOs by U.S. government and military officials follow the exact same tone as fifty plus years ago. Unfortunately, we lack the kind of access to classified information on UFOs as we once, briefly, obtained in the past. Yet, enough genuine and recent UFO accounts have become known to us, many of which involve U.S. military, that we can see that very little has changed. Something important is happening behind the veil of the classified world.
My question to you is: How long will current members of Congress, and the public at large, be content to roll over and be spoonfed nonsense by responsible officials, when in fact they deserve the truth?
Rockefeller Initiative Testimony – Part 2
In 2005, during a question and answer session following a presentation to an Asian investment group in
Hon Kong President Clinton was asked about passing secrets from one President to another and about
the UFO crash in Roswell. In reply Clinton stated that he had looked into the Roswell UFO crash, and had
reviewed the documents. I did attempt to find out if there were any secret government documents that
revealed things. If there were, they were concealed from me too…Clinton said, “I'm almost embarrassed
to tell you I did (chuckling) try to find out."1
He also stated that many people in his administration had believed the Area 51 story of craft and a live
alien, so he had looked into that. He stated that he had not been able to confirm either story as true.
Sadly, however, President Clinton did add, “I am probably not the first President they kept in the dark,
or that bureaucrats have tried to wait out.”
The Rockefeller Initiative was part of a larger effort inside the Clinton administration to get answers on
the extraterrestrial question.
This is backed up a private conversation that President Clinton had in 2007 with Hollywood producer
and writer Paul Davids stating that he is “fascinated” by the subject of UFOs. It is also backed up by an
account told by Bill Clinton’s friend Webster Hubbell who wrote in his 1997 book “Friends in High
Places” that when Clinton appointed him assistant attorney general he asked him to find out “who killed
JFK and are there UFOs.” It appeared that Clinton did not believe the official government versions on
either of these subjects, and wanted a second opinion.
One of Clinton’s main allies in the effort to get openness in government was his Chief of Staff John
Podesta. Podesta, like Clinton, was very interested in UFOs and in openness on the issue.
He and the President made an attempt to open up as many classified files in government vaults as
possible. This initiative became Executive Order 12958 which was signed in 1995. The EO introduced the
25-year rule which hoped to bring to light many hidden secrets in government like the UFO issue. What
was sought was a proper balance of "openness in government" vs. what Podesta coined as "unthinking
secrecy." Podesta stated “our founders knew that democracy cannot function in the absence of public
information." He noted the importance of "balancing the vital interests of national security with the
genuine claims of public openness . . .For over two centuries, we have prospered and won because -- at
our best -- we have found ways to do both." To achieve this balance the Clinton EO set up a policy that
all government documents would be declassified after 25 years except in exception circumstances.
The EO had exceptional success in moving government documents into public view. Between 1995 and
2000, 800 million pages of documents were declassified, compared to 188 million documents in the 15
years previous. Unfortunately, the sought after UFO documents escaped the declassification effort.
In 2002, Podesta would make a public statement asking for openness on the UFO issue stating "I think
it's time to open the books on questions that have remained in the dark, on the question of government
investigations of UFOs. We ought to do it because it's right. We ought to do it because the American
people can handle the truth, and we ought to do it because it's the law."2
Another ally in getting openness regarding UFOs was Clinton’s Secretary of Energy, Bill Richardson who
has made many pro-UFO disclosure messages over the years. For example, writing in a forward to a
book on the Roswell UFO crash when he was Governor of New Mexico Richardson wrote, "Clearly, it
would help everyone if the U.S. government disclosed everything it knows. The American people can
handle the truth -- no matter how bizarre or mundane. ... With full disclosure and our best scientific
investigation, we should be able to find out what happened on that fateful day in July 1947." 3
Then, in a Q &A when he was running for President Richardson talked about his long history of attempts
to get answers on UFOs. "I've been in government a long time, I've been in the cabinet, I've been in the
Congress and I've always felt that the government doesn't tell the truth as much as it should on a lot of
issues. When I was in Congress I said (to the) Department of Defense ... What is the data? What is the
data you have? I was told the records were classified. That ticked me off.”
1 http://www.presidentialufo.com/bill-clinton/244-bill-clinton-and-the-ufo-crash-at-roswell
2 http://ufoupdateslist.com/2003/jan/m09-003.shtml
3 http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Flying-saucers-in-New-Mexico-Governor-rekindles-
2701060.php#ixzz2RZWkrVeI
Questions
1) What did the FOIAs filed with the Clinton administration turn up on the two subjects Clinton wanted
answers to – UFOs and the death of JFK?
2) Has Podesta used his influence inside the Obama White House to move towards disclosure?
Rockefeller Initiative
My name is Grant Cameron. I am a private UFO investigator. For the past 38 years I have attempted to
focus on what the highest levels of the US Government, military, and intelligence agencies know about
the UFO phenomena. I am the Director of the Presidents UFO Website and the co-author of the recently
released book “UFOs, Area 51, and Government Informants.”
My Rockefeller Initiative testimony is based on 1,000 pages of documents that were released to me in
2001 by the Clinton White House in response to an FOIA for UFO files. It should be noted here that these
documents can no longer be found by either the Clinton Library or the National Archives. The
documents however, are preserved on the Presidents UFO and the Paradigm Research Group websites.
The FOIA documents show that billionaire businessman Laurance Rockefeller approached the Clinton
White House to get the government to disclose the truth behind the UFO mystery. Rockefeller also had
meetings others outside the White House Initiative such as with Rep Steven Horn (R-Ca) from the
Government Reform and Oversight Committee related to government secrecy.
Rockefeller’s request for UFO disclosure was dealt with in the White House by the President’s science
advisor Dr. Jack Gibbons.
To prepare for the first March 1993 meeting with Rockefeller Dr. Gibbons requested a UFO briefing from
the CIA. That briefing was tasked at the CIA to Dr. Ronald Pandolfi who is the man rumored in the UFO
community as the agency expert on UFO, and a man who has over the last 20 years repeatedly
interacted with many researchers inside the UFO community.1
As the CIA has a public position of no UFO involvement, Pandolfi gave the job of writing the White
House briefing to a private UFO researcher, Mr. Bruce Maccabee, who had done a couple of UFO lunch
time talks at CIA headquarters. The briefing therefore became not an official briefing on the subject but
the personal opinion of one researcher inside the research community.
Rockefeller exerted great pressure on the Clinton White House threatening to write an open letter
demanding UFO disclosure from President Clinton and to make this demand public in a full page ad in all
the major newspapers in the United States. Under this pressure Dr. Gibbons agreed to try and get some
sort of disclosure on the UFO subject. He asked Mr. Rockefeller to pick one case that could be
declassified and then all the rest of the covered up material could be dealt with. Mr. Rockefeller picked
the 1947 UFO crash at Roswell as the case to investigate, and that is one of the reasons that there was a
reinvestigation of the Roswell crash by the USAF in 1994.
At the same time the White House was green lighting a reinvestigation, the Government Accountability
Office (GAO) was also doing a reinvestigation of the Roswell crash. That investigation was initiated by
New Mexico congressman Steven Schiff who had ordered the GAO investigation after his requests for
information were stonewalled by Clinton’s first Secretary of Defense Les Aspin.
The GOA study, however, was quite limited. Only FOIA replies on the Roswell crash were used, and
nothing was found except that a bunch of key Roswell Army Air Field documents from the time of the
crash that were missing. The GAO offered no conclusion.
The USAF reinvestigation discovered a way to bypass an actual investigation of the crash. Rather than
following the testimony of many of the witnesses they simply published a final report stating that the
whole 1947 crash event has been caused by the launch of a Mogel balloon designed to monitor a
possible Soviet nuclear test.
In a November 1995 Belfast Northern Ireland speech President Clinton challenged the official USAF
Roswell report which had no discussion of the reported alien bodies. He stated,
As far as I know, an alien spacecraft did not crash in Roswell, New Mexico, in 1947. …but if the
United States Air Force did recover alien bodies, they didn't tell me about it, either, and I want to
know.
This open challenge forced the USAF to do a second Roswell crash report. The Air Force released this
report to a room of laughing reporters as they described how 6 foot tall wooden dummies dressed in Air
Force uniforms in 1953 somehow explained what people had described as small 4 foot grey creatures in
1947, including one alien that was still alive. The report was the USAF’s lame reply intended to answer
Clinton’s challenge about the alien bodies mentioned in Belfast.
Without any official record of the event Laurance Rockefeller did sit down with Bill and Hillary Clinton in
August of 1995 at his Wyoming JY Ranch. Rockefeller briefed both Bill and Hillary Clinton on the best
available evidence for UFOs and for the need to make that information available for all American
citizens.
The mention of Hillary name at the 1995 briefing is important because the Rockefeller Initiative
documents show that Hillary played a key role in the Rockefeller White House interaction on UFOs.
There are two key documents
1. In a November 1, 1995 from Rockefeller’s lawyer to the president’s science advisor it is out that
Hillary and her staff have been helping Rockefeller edit a draft of a letter to the President called
“Lifting Secrecy of Information about Extraterrestrial Intelligence as Part of the Current
Classification Review.”2
2. In a 1996 letter from Rockefeller to the president’s science advisor the letter he clearly spells
out that information coming from Rockefeller to the science advisor to the President, and
information from the science advisor coming down to Rockefeller was going through Hillary
Clinton’s First Lady's office.3
In 2006 the initiative faded out and Rockefeller moved on to fund other UFO research initiatives.
1 Robert Novel, Bob Emenegger, Bill LaParl, Bruce Maccabee, Robert Collins, Dan Smith, Ed Komarek, Dr. Steven
Greer, Larry Frascella, Jack Sarfatti, Gary Bekkum, Richard Doty. 2 http://www.hillaryclintonufo.net/documents/Diamond.pdf
3 http://www.hillaryclintonufo.net/documents/960229RockefellerLetter002.jpg
The Kumburgaz Video CaseThe story and analysis of the amazing footage, showing possible alien occupants, taken by a Turkish night watchman on the shores of the Sea of Marmara. by Alejandro Rojas
Confessions of a Conspiracy Geek Actor Dean Haglund, best known for his role as a “Lone Gunmen” in The X-Files, discusses his fascination with UFOs and conspiracies in an exclusive interview. by Ryan Sprague
Crop Circles: The History, Science, and Latest DevelopmentsA complete report on the mysterious phenomenon that has fascinated and baffled researchers for many decades. by Alejandro Rojas
Mysterious Landscape Art Regardless of who or what is creating the crop circles, they are a new art form conveying a metaphysical message. by Ellen Mahoney
Secret Government Crop Circles? Are some crop circles created by high energy microwaves beamed from satellites? A look at this tantalizing and controversial hypothesis. by Michael Schratt
Exopolitics: What Kind of Society Do We Want?Two “exo-activists” describe their grassroots campaign in Denmark and the meaning behind the new movement to bring ET into the political arena. by Oliver Buus and Frederik Uldall
The Mystery of the Phoenix Lights A comprehensive report on the famous March 13, 1997 mass sighting over Arizona by its most well-known expert and witness. by Lynne Kitei, M.D.
The Laurance Rockefeller UFO InitiativeThroughout the 1990s, the billionaire philanthropist funded many UFO projects and lobbied for disclosure at the highest levels of the White House. by J. Antonio Huneeus
The Campaign to Discredit Betty Hill An inside look at the famous 1961 New Hampshire alien abduction, written by the Hill’s niece and coauthor of a book on the case. by Kathleen Marden
1978: The Year Italy Stood Still The UFO wave that rocked the Italian public, media, and government. by Umberto Visani
Indian Cosmology Revisited Are cosmic entities with flying machines and awesome weapons described in ancient Indian texts relevant to the modern UFO phenomenon? by Come Carpentier de Gourdon
C O N T E N T S
16
20
28
36
40
46
51
54
62
67
70
FEATURED STORIES
28COVER STORY: Regardless of who or what is creating the crop circles, they are a new art form conveying a metaphysical message.
40
COVER STORY: Are some crop circles created by high energy microwaves beamed from satellites? A look at this tantalizing and controversial hypothesis.
36 COVER STORY:A complete report on the mysterious
phenomenon that has fascinated and baffled researchers for many decades.
openminds.tv ! 5
T A B L E O F
In the NewsOur editors gather the most important
UFO news around the globe.
Open Minds MailWe invite readers to contribute their
thoughts here via letters or email.
Your Skies With Dr. SkyThe latest astronomical news and how
some celestial objects can be sometimes misidentified as UFOs. by Dr. Sky
Researcher ProfileProfiles on people who have had an important
impact on UFO research. In this issue, we highlight: Zecharia Sitchin.
Eye on the InvestigatorThe most accomplished and celebrated
researchers within the international UFO community are recognized. In this issue,
we highlight: Colin Andrews.
Unacknowledged AviationM. Schratt provides evidence for the existence
of highly advanced, classified aircraft that have been developed by the U.S. government.
Photo GalleryOpen Minds shares some of the most
compelling crop circle images.
IUFOC Conference SpeakersA sneak preview of who you can expect to hear speak
at the 2011 IUFOC, taking place February 23-27.
Under ReviewReviews of the latest movies,
television shows, documentaries, and books inspired by the UFO world.
Highlights from OpenMinds.tvShowcasing highlights from our
popular website www.openminds.tv.
Open Minds Online StoreOpen Minds Products.
In the Next IssueWe share a glimpse of some of the upcoming stories that will be featured in our next issue.
IN EVERY ISSUE8
15
24
26
44
76
78
84
86
90
92
95
In our Researcher Profile, we highlight Zecharia Sitchin.
Crop Circle investigator Colin Andrews is highlighted as our Featured Investigator.
This was the first crop circle reported during the busy 2009 season. Created in a field of oilseed rape, the yellow-flowered fields are a stark contrast to the green fields in which most circles have been found.
One of our movie reviews, Skyline, was created by brothers Colin and Greg Strause.
It is a low-budget independent movie that was released in movie
theaters in November.In the next issue of Open Minds, we discuss Incredible UFO footage from Alvin, Texas.
2644
81
9586
6 ! openminds.tv
Throughout the 1990s, a significant amount of UFO-related research was funded by the billionaire philanthropist Laurance S. Rockefeller, yet with a few exceptions, this was mostly unknown by the general public, the media, and even the majority of the ufological community. It was also ignored by the mainstream world, which chose to disregard this unconventional side of one of the Rockefellers. Laurance Rockefeller’s long official biography posted online by the Rockefeller Archive Center doesn’t mention any of his UFO, paranormal, new age, and consciousness-oriented interests, and neither did the detailed obituaries published by the New York Times, the Washington Post, and other mainstream publications when he died in 2004 at the age of ninety-four. And yet these activities were not a small, inconsequential part of the philanthropist’s life—he seemed to have spent quite a bit of time thinking, meeting people, and funding research from the late 1980s to 2000. Without access to his financial records, there is no way of knowing how much money he spent towards this cause, but it was definitely significant.
Although I never met him personally, I know something about Laurance Rockefeller’s interests because I had the opportunity of working first-hand on one of his sponsored projects, the UFO Briefing Document: The Best Available Evidence, a special report published in December 1995 and sent to the White House, selected members of congress, and VIPs, which is now available online for free, at www.openminds.tv. Rockefeller’s activities included lobbying at the highest level—President Bill Clinton and Hillary Rodham Clinton. Long before the term “exopolitics” was in vogue, Laurance Rockefeller was practicing it in the White House from 1993 to 1996. This has come to be known as the “Rockefeller UFO Initiative,” a multi-pronged campaign to get the U.S. government to release sensitive information on UFOs and extraterrestrial intelligence. The initiative is documented in hundreds of pages of correspondence released a few years ago by the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). To understand Rockefeller’s interests, however, it is important to first understand who Laurance Rockefeller was.
R O C K E F E L L E RThe Laurance
By J. Antonio Huneeus
WHO WAS LAURANCE ROCKEFELLER?
Laurance Spelman Rockefeller (1910-2004) was one of the !ve grandsons of John D. Rockefeller, Sr., the founder of the Rockefeller dynasty. While Laurance kept a lower pro!le than his brother Nelson, who was governor of New York and then vice president of the United States, he was still a full player in the Rockefeller family business, serving as president and later chairman of the Rockefeller Brothers Fund between 1958 and 1980. Laurance was educated at Princeton University, graduating in 1932 with a B.A. in philosophy, and went on to two years of graduate study at Harvard Law School. He married Mary French in 1934 and served in the U.S. Navy during World War II, attaining the rank of Lt. Commander. His of!cial biography by the Rockefeller Archive Center summarizes his business and philanthropic careers (minus the UFO and paranormal stuff):
Laurance Rockefeller has pursued a number of successful careers during his lifetime. He was a pioneer in the !eld of venture capital. He was a leading and in"uential !gure for three decades in the American conservation movement. He led the development of one of the world’s foremost cancer care and research facilities, and has been both a benefactor and advisor to major educational institutions. And, with great foresight, he combined his personal vision for conservation, recreation
and the spiritual needs of individuals to develop internationally acclaimed environmentally-oriented resorts. His many accomplishments have been recognized both nationally and internationally.Laurance Rockefeller was quite a
visionary, even in business. In his long career as a pioneer venture capitalist, in the 1930s, he invested in what was then the new frontier of commercial aviation, re!nancing Captain Eddie Rickenbacker’s "edging Eastern Air Lines and backing airplane designer J.S. McDonnell, Jr. with a small experimental shop in St. Louis in 1939. In the 1960s he moved into electronics and the new computer industry, which led eventually to such companies as Intel and Apple. But it was probably in the area of conservation and environmental causes where Laurance Rockefeller had his greatest impact. “He was an advisor to Presidents Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon and Ford on matters of environmental conservation and outdoor recreation, and he worked on federal commissions set up to help develop national conservation and environmental policies and programs,” states his of!cial biography. He donated large tracts of land for national parks in Wyoming, New York, and the Virgin Islands, and he received numerous awards for his conservation efforts, including the Congressional Gold Medal in 1991 and the Theodore Roosevelt National Park Medal of Honor in 1995. All of this is
R O C K E F E L L E RUFO Initiative
openminds.tv ! 55
detailed by Professor Robin Winks, in the book, Laurance S. Rockefeller: Catalyst for Conservation. A paragraph from a review in Whole Earth catalog about this book, in fact, applies just as well to Laurance’s ufological activities:
Now and again a mind arises from the plutocracy that thinks beyond the preservation of wealth, and sees itself as integral to the whole, separated from others by nothing more than their net worth. Such a mind is Laurance S. Rockefeller—venture capitalist, conservationist, and philosopher—quietest but brightest of the four sons of John D. Rockefeller, Jr.The reviewer Mark Dowie adds that
“he’s been regarded by hard-headed businessmen as ‘far too Zen’ for his own good.” The Rockefellers are one of those iconic and ubiquitous names in all conspiracy theories, particularly because of Laurance’s brother, the banker David Rockefeller's links to extremely powerful and secretive groups like the Bilderberg Group and the Trilateral Commission. Many have wondered whether there was a hidden agenda in Laurance Rockefeller’s UFO efforts. Almost all those who dealt with him or participated in his projects, however, seem to agree that this was not the case.
Famous author Whitley Strieber met him at a small conference funded by Rockefeller in 1997 at the Medway Plantation in South Carolina. “Laurance Rockefeller was a champion of disclosure of UFO secrets, who had the courage to put his money
into this cause,” Strieber wrote in a 2004 obituary. “He contributed intelligently and effectively. The UFO Briefing Document led to the production of the French COMETA Report, arguably one of the most persuasive documents ever published regarding the UFO phenomenon…Laurance Rockefeller was a warm, gracious, brilliant and steadfast man.”
Another researcher who met him and received !nancial backing was author Christopher O’Brien, an expert on UFOs and paranormal activities in Colorado’s San Luis Valley. In his latest book, Stalking the Tricksters, O’Brien describes a two-day meeting he had with the aged billionaire at the Crestone/Baca Grande area in the valley:
During our two day meeting [at the Baca] we covered a wide array of topics and I was impressed by Laurance’s wide-ranging interests and his insider knowledge of crop circles, UFOs and other so-called paranormal phenomena…I found the man had a healthy air of open-minded innocence
as I would be proud to have when I’m eighty-seven years old. He did not seemed attached to any speci!c agenda other than the pursuit of personal understanding and increased awareness of the natural world.In my own experience as coauthor of the
UFO Briefing Document in the mid-1990s, I can personally attest that I never saw any interference from Rockefeller’s of!ce as to what direction to take or what to avoid in the !nal draft. His of!ce was certainly paying the bills, but it was entirely up to the authors, Don Berliner, Marie Galbraith, and I, to include in the document what we thought was “the best available evidence.”
THE WHITE HOUSE INITIATIVE
Laurance Rockefeller’s !rst forays into ufology started sometime in the late 1980s through Dr. Cecil B. Scott Jones, a parapsychologist and former U.S. Navy commander, who had worked as a naval attaché in Asia and at the Naval Scienti!c and Technical Intelligence Center. Between 1985 and 1991, Jones was special assistant to Senator Claiborne Pell (1918-2009), the powerful Rhode Island Democrat Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, who was deeply interested in parapsychology. Senator Pell was also friends with Laurance Rockefeller, and both served on the board of the Human Potential Foundation, a small think tank launched in 1989 in Vienna, Virginia, by Jones, to conduct “research into all conditions of humankind: physiological, psychological and spiritual.”
Many of the papers released by the White House’s OSTP came from Dr. Scott Jones, who knew Dr. John Gibbons, a physicist who worked for many years as director of the Of!ce of Technology Assessment for the U.S. Congress and was appointed in 1993 by the Clinton administration to direct the OSTP. What the exact turning point of Laurance Rockefeller’s evolution from a general interest in consciousness studies into the speci!c area of UFOs and extraterrestrial intelligence still unclear, but the end of the Cold War and the arrival in Washington of a younger generation represented by Bill and Hillary Clinton seem to be key factors. He felt the time was ripe for a new and fresh approach into an area
The Rockefellers are one of those iconic and ubiquitous names in all conspiracy theories, particularly because of Laurance’s brother, the banker David Rockefeller's links to extremely powerful and secretive groups like the Bilderberg Group and the Trilateral Commission. Many have wondered whether there was a hidden agenda in Laurance Rockefeller’s UFO efforts.
Nancy Reagan and Marie Galbraith at the U.S. Ambassador’s residence in Paris in 1982. Credit: Courtesy of Ronald Reagan Presidential Library
56 ! openminds.tv
that had been previously dominated by a Cold War mentality. Rockefeller recruited for this effort a long-time associate, Henry L. Diamond, an environmental attorney from Washington, DC, whose links to the Rockefeller family went all the way back to the 1960s when he worked with Laurance in various conservation activities. In 1970, Diamond became New York’s Commissioner of Environmental Conservation under Governor Nelson Rockefeller. Because Diamond knew John Gibbons, he was the right person to make the !rst contact with the OSTP chief, which he did by sending a memorandum on March 29, 1993 requesting a meeting:
Laurance S. Rockefeller, who is a leading U.S. conservationist, businessman, and philanthropist, is anxious to have a brief meeting with Dr. Gibbons to discuss the potential availability of government information about unidenti!ed "ying objects and extraterrestrial life. As one who has had a long-time interest in environmental and spiritual issues, Mr. Rockefeller, with other leading citizens, is planning to make an approach to President Clinton on this subject…. The basic message to the President is that there is a belief in many quarters that the government has long held classi!ed information regarding UFOs which has not been released and that the failure to do so has brought about unnecessary suspicion and distrust. Many believe that the release of such information, if it exists, on a basis consistent with national security considerations, would
be a signi!cant gesture which would increase con!dence in government.Diamond’s memo
went on to request a forty-!ve-minute-to-an-hour meeting with Dr. Gibbons to be attended by Mr. Rockefeller, Mr. Diamond, and Dr. Scott Jones. The meeting took place on April 14, 1993 at 7:30 a.m. According to Canadian researcher Grant Cameron, who has written extensively about the Clinton administration’s involvement with UFOs in his presidentialufo.com website, “Rockefeller and Dr. C.B. Scott Jones sat across from Dr. Jack Gibbons and his chief aide, Skip Johns. Rockefeller spent thirty
minutes brie!ng him on the current state of Ufology, with the help of a nine-page brie!ng paper titled the Matrix of UFO Beliefs.” This paper was written by journalist Richard Farley, who worked at the Human Potential Foundation. It was designed primarily, as put by Farley, “to serve us as our outline
for a brie!ng of the President and his senior advisors on the range of public opinions and beliefs about UFOs” from the popular literature, conferences, and other venues, “into which beliefs evolved or had been seeded, manipulated or reinforced.”
There was a second brie!ng document
Dr. John Gibbons, director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy during the Clinton Administration. Credit: John Gibbons
Left to Right: Marie Galbraith, Peter Woodard Galbraith, Nancy Reagan, and Ronald Reagan. Credit: Courtesy of William J. Clinton Presidential Library
Laurance S. Rockefeller shaking hands with Bill Clinton at the White House on May 23, 1995, when he received the Theodore Roosevelt Medal for his conservation efforts. Credit: Courtesy of William J. Clinton Presidential Library
openminds.tv ! 57
prepared for that meeting, which apparently was not used because the faxed document arrived just as the discussion was winding down. A day or so before the Rockefeller meeting, Gibbons called Dr. Ronald Pandol!, a CIA scientist who was somewhat in charge
of the “weird science desk” at the agency to get some information about a subject he knew very little about. Pandol!, in turn, called an old friend, Dr. Bruce Maccabee, an optical physicist with the navy, who was also a well-known ufologist and director of the Fund for UFO Research (FUFOR) in the DC area. Maccabee was asked to prepare a short brie!ng paper overnight, which he did. In a letter to Dr. Gibbons dated January 2, 1997, Maccabee provided the circumstances surrounding this paper:
In April 1993, at the request of Dr. Ronald Pandol! of the CIA, I sent (faxed) to you an information paper regarding UFOs entitled ‘Brie!ng on the U.S. Government Approach to the UFO Problem as Determined by Civilian Researchers During the Last Twenty Years.’ In that brie!ng paper I presented evidence that the government has collected a rather large
number of documents on UFO sightings. Moreover, one could easily conclude from these documents that the government has suf!cient evidence to prove that many UFOs are, in fact, neither natural phenomena nor misidenti!ed artifacts
of human creation….i.e., are apparently artifacts of non-human origin (‘so called "ying saucers’). A copy of this document is enclosed in case you have lost the previous one.In fact, neither the Maccabee brie!ng
paper nor Farley’s “Matrix” appear in the OSTP FOIA !les, as is the case with many other documents pertaining to the Rockefeller UFO Initiative. We do know that Laurance Rockefeller sent a letter to Dr. Gibbons, dated April 21, 1993, in which he thanks him for the meeting. Rockefeller always wrote in a very polite manner, but still managed to state that “it was important for us to learn from you that…you have not learned that the United States Government has a body of knowledge on UFOs or ETI (extraterrestrial intelligence) that is being withheld from the public.” He also informed him that “in the interim, we are continuing to develop a letter to the President to urge that
he direct a reassessment of government policy regarding UFO and ETI information be carried out.”
In reading the OSTP !les, one gets the impression that Gibbons not only knew little about UFOs, but was also not particularly curious about it. As White House chief science advisor, he was obviously very busy with other delicate and pressing issues like weapons proliferation in rogue states and global environmental and energy problems. He had to oblige Rockefeller because of his close relationship with the Clintons—in his exhaustive FOIA search of documents in the possession of the Clinton Presidential Library, Grant Cameron found many non-UFO-related documents pertaining to the Clintons and Laurance Rockefeller such as birthday greetings, the award of the Theodore Roosevelt medal by the President, a gift of a “Navajo chief’s wearing blanket” by Rockefeller to Bill Clinton, and more.
THE ROSWELL DETOURRockefeller wrote to Gibbons again
on August 4, 1993, to invite him or a representative to “an informal Roundtable discussion…at our JY Ranch near Jackson, Wyoming” to discuss “various aspects” of the UFO and extraterrestrial intelligence phenomenon. The meeting included several well-known ufologists like Dr. Steven Greer, Linda Moulton Howe, Bruce Maccabee, and Dr. Leo Sprinkle. Prominent Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence Institute (SETI)
In fact, neither the Maccabee briefing paper nor Farley’s “Matrix” appear in the OSTP FOIA files, as is the case with many other documents pertaining to the Rockefeller UFO Initiative.
Document: Draft of Laurance Rockefeller’s letter to President Clinton, “Re: Lifting Secrecy on Information About Extraterrestrial Intelligence,” from the OSTP FOIA files.
58 ! openminds.tv
!gures Carl Sagan and Dr. Jill Tarter were also approached, but they declined, as did Gibbons. Nevertheless, the Rockefeller Initiative proceeded, and a second meeting with Dr. Gibbons took place on February 4, 1994. It was at this meeting that Gibbons proposed to concentrate the government declassi!cation effort in one particular case: the famous July 1947 UFO crash near Roswell, New Mexico. “We believe that your approach of starting by addressing a speci!c incident is an important and reasonable way to begin the process of declassi!cation in this area,” wrote Rockefeller to Gibbons on February 14, 1994. After outlining some of the speci!cs surrounding the Roswell affair, Rockefeller added: “If this speci!c project initiative is successful, it will become an important prototype for the release of all UFO related information. Obviously, the means of carrying out this event-related review is up to you. However, to the extent we can be helpful, we want to be.”
It’s unclear who suggested the Roswell idea to Dr. Gibbons. For decades, the U.S. Air Force had said nothing about Roswell beyond General Roger Ramey’s infamous press conference of July 8, 1947, in Fort Worth, Texas, during which General Ramey debunked the remains found in a ranch near Corona, New Mexico, as a weather balloon. The Roswell case laid dormant for some thirty years, but was reactivated in the late 1970s, when one of the key witnesses, the late Major Jesse Marcel, the man who had collected the debris in Corona, gave several interviews and stated that the pieces were not from a balloon but probably extraterrestrial in origin. By the early 1990s, two books, and countless articles and TV shows, had appeared. Roswell was becoming a cause
célèbre. The U.S. Air Force still kept quiet, but things changed when Steven Schiff, an aggressive Republican congressman from New Mexico, made an of!cial inquiry on behalf of his constituents. When he failed to get any help from the air force, Schiff asked the General Accounting Of!ce of the U.S. Congress to take the matter into their hands. The U.S. Air Force was now forced by law to come up with an answer, and they launched their own investigation under Colonel Richard Weaver.
In July 1994, the Pentagon released Colonel Weaver’s twenty-three-page, Report of Air Force Research Regarding the “Roswell Incident,” which was followed a few months later with a thick volume containing all the appendices and transcripts of interviews. Basically, the U.S. Air Force resuscitated the balloon hypothesis, but now claimed it was part of Project Mogul, a then top secret train of balloons with listening equipment designed to detect the !rst Soviet atomic bomb tests. Needless to say, the air force report was quickly denounced by the UFO community, but was mostly accepted by the mainstream media. The Rockefeller Initiative took a hit, but that didn’t stop the philanthropist from trying to shake things up. In a December 9, 1994 letter to Gibbons, Rockefeller explained his approach:
We will continue to explore our interest in extraterrestrial intelligence. We view this as one example of the limits of human knowledge to be explored and potentially expanded. We continue to believe that the President’s initiative toward a full declassi!cation of unnecessary classi!ed material would be a very useful step in this direction and urge you to do all you can to push this process along…. We are continuing our citizens’ reconnaissance of the extraterrestrial intelligence phenomenon.The OSTP !les contain several slightly
revised versions of the “draft” letter to
President Clinton that Laurance Rockefeller intended to send, but apparently never did. One of its key components was that “credible witnesses having information about ETI or UFOs will be granted amnesty from relevant oaths or other government constraints.”
THE JY RANCH VACATION WITH THE CLINTONS
In late August 1995, the Clinton family went on vacation at Laurance Rockefeller’s JY Ranch next to the Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming. The press was kept at bay as is customary when the !rst family goes on vacation. A New York Times journalist wrote that, “reporters were kept well outside the ranch’s trim log fences, and details released by the traveling White House were extremely sparse, so most… must be left to the imagination.” Indeed, there was much speculation then and later as to what was discussed during that 1995 vacation, as it took place right in the middle of the Rockefeller UFO Initiative. We don’t know what was discussed exactly and for how long, but we do know that Dr. Gibbons sent a memo to President Clinton on August 14, 1995, warning him that “you will probably see Mr. Rockefeller on your vacation in the Tetons. He will want to talk with you about his interest in extrasensory perception, paranormal phenomena, and UFOs. His interests are related to those of Senator Pell.” The memo goes on to describe brie"y Gibbons’ dealings with Laurance and how “I persuaded Rockefeller to not bother you with this issue but instead to let me talk with defense of!cials to see if there was anything to the [Roswell] story.” The memo’s last sentence makes clear where Gibbons stood on this issue: “[Rockefeller] knows that we are trying to be helpful in responding to his concerns about UFOs and human potential—and that we’re keeping an open mind about such matters—but I’ve made no secret about my
Laurance Rockefeller greeting Hillary Clinton at the JY Ranch in Wyoming on August 21, 1995. Credit: Courtesy of William J. Clinton Presidential Library
Laurance S. Rockefeller walking with Hillary Clinton at the JY Ranch on August 21,1995. The First Lady is holding the recently identified ET book. Credit: Courtesy of William J. Clinton Presidential Library
openminds.tv ! 59
conviction that we must not be too diverted from more earthly imperatives.”
According to Grant Cameron, Rockefeller briefed both the president and !rst lady at the JY Ranch, but there is no documentation of what was discussed. Cameron obtained from the Clinton Presidential Library some color
photos of Hillary Clinton and Rockefeller walking in one of the JY Ranch’s many wooded paths. Two photos in particular showed Hillary holding a book, the back-cover upside down and partially covered by a jacket. Ufologists tried to discover for years the identity of the book, but the photo resolution was too low to glean the details. Finally, French researcher Tonio Cousyn was able to unravel the mystery and prove that the book in question was, Are We Alone? Philosophical Implications of the Discovery of Extraterrestrial Life,
by renowned physicist, cosmologist, and bestselling author Dr. Paul Davies.
Furthermore, there is a record of a conversation between Laurance Rockefeller and author Whitley Strieber during their meeting at the Medway Plantation in 1997. “[Rockefeller] spoke of a time he had spent with President and Mrs. Clinton at his JY Ranch in the Grand Tetons in 1995, where he had outlined for them the contents of a brie!ng that had been developed out of Project Starlight, the 1993 Rockefeller-funded program that evolved into today’s Disclosure Project,” wrote Strieber. “He said that the Clintons had not commented on the information until the next morning, when, before the President appeared, Mrs. Clinton requested to Mr. Rockefeller that he not bring the subject up again.”
THE UFO BRIEFING DOCUMENT & OTHER PROJECTS
By 1995, Laurance Rockefeller had replaced UFO-related coordinator, Dr. Scott Jones, with Marie Galbraith, the well-connected wife of investment banker Evan Galbraith, who was the ambassador to France during the Reagan administration, the Republican candidate for New York governor in 1994, and chairman of William Buckley’s National Review. Marie Galbraith and Sandra S. Wright, another well-connected high society lady who ran the BSW Foundation, had come up with the idea of preparing a comprehensive UFO Briefing Document that could be sent to members of congress and VIPs. The original draft was written by Don Berliner, an aviation journalist and long-time ufologist with FUFOR. I was brought in to help with editing and expanding the document. The
effort took place in a small of!ce ran by Marie Galbraith on New York’s Madison Avenue. The !nal document was !nished in December 1995 and sent out in early 1996. It was Rockefeller’s and Galbraith’s idea to give the copyright to the UFO Research Coalition, a consortium of the three main American UFO organizations—MUFON, CUFOS (Center for UFO Studies), and FUFOR, whose directors endorsed the document. Copies of the report were sent to Dr. Gibbons at the White House, some members of Congress, and VIPs worldwide, but there was no well-coordinated effort to disseminate the document and, as a result, its political impact was limited.
The one exception arose in France, where Marie Galbraith’s extensive connections from her U.S. embassy days in the 1980s allowed for the UFO Briefing Document to have a signi!cant in"uence. Copies of the UFO Briefing Document were sent from President Jacques Chirac through the ranks of the French government. We had received, in fact, many interesting documents and reports from the of!cial French UFO group at the National Center for Space Studies (CNES)—then called SEPRA and now GEIPAN—and one of the document’s “Case Histories” was the famous UFO landing case in Trans-en-Provence in 1981. There can be little doubt that the UFO Briefing Document became the model for the COMETA Report, an important study conducted by a group of retired French generals and intelligence of!cers led by Major General Dennis Letty. In their !nal 1999 report titled, UFOs and Defense: What Should We Prepare For?, the COMETA authors praised the “leading U.S. personality Marie Galbraith” who was “supported both morally and !nancially by Laurance Rockefeller.”
The UFO problem is not simple and should receive more attention, with an emphasis on physical evidence; regular contact between UFO investigators and the scientific community would be helpful, as also would institutional support.
The panel of scientists who attended the Pocantico Conference in Tarrytown, New York in 1997. (MARKED WITH AN ARROW, LEFT TO RIGHT): Dr. Peter Sturrock, Laurance Rockefeller, and attorney Henry Diamond. Credit: Center for UFO Studies (CUFOS)
Credit: Courtesy of William J. Clinton Presidential Library
60 ! openminds.tv
Marie Galbraith was also the coordinator for a number of separate UFO-related projects funded by Rockefeller. Among these were the initial stages of what later became Dr. Steven Greer’s Disclosure Project, then known as Starlight Coalition—the crucial seed money so Greer could travel around the country locating and videotaping military witnesses who had a signi!cant UFO experience or knew about classi!ed documents or projects dealing with the extraterrestrial subject. Considerable funding from Rockefeller also supported Dr. John Mack’s Program for Extraordinary Experience Research (PEER), which probed the controversial issue of alien abductions. More funding was provided for two crop circle research projects—one by English pioneer cereologist Colin Andrews, and the second to the scienti!c team known as BLT Research, composed by John Burke, William Levengood, and Nancy Talbott. Individual researchers like Sergeant Major (Ret.) Bob Dean also received grants.
By 1997, Laurance Rockefeller dropped the political UFO initiatives and concentrated instead on the scienti!c angle. A major meeting, closed to both the public and the press, was held from
September 29 to October 3, 1997, at the Pocantico Conference Center in Tarrytown, New York. The chief coordinator and author of the !nal report was Dr. Peter A. Sturrock, an astrophysicist from Stanford University, who also directed the Society for Scienti!c Exploration (SSE). The idea was to gather a group of professional scientists, many of them from Europe, and have scienti!cally trained UFO researchers present the best evidence to a panel of neutral scientists. The presentations touched upon all the main scienti!c areas: photographic evidence, luminosity estimates, radar evidence, Project Hessdalen (a place in Norway where unexplained lights have been recorded for many years), vehicle interference, aircraft equipment malfunction, apparent gravitational and inertial effects, ground traces, injuries to vegetation, physiological effects on witnesses, and analysis of debris.
Readers can consult Professor Sturrock’s !nal report on the scienti!c conference, The UFO Enigma: A New Review of the Physical Evidence, for all the details and data. In the chapter titled, “Panel Recommendations Concerning Implementation,” Sturrock wrote: “The UFO problem is not simple and should
receive more attention, with an emphasis on physical evidence; regular contact between UFO investigators and the scienti!c community would be helpful, as also would institutional support; and the possibility of health risks associated with UFO events should not be ignored.” Rockefeller was so happy with the results of this event that he wrote the book’s foreword, which became his only statement on UFOs written for publication. In the foreword, he wrote: “While [the panel’s] !ndings were not conclusive, I hope that this study will raise the level of the debate and will be helpful, in particular, to other scientists who might be encouraged to undertake their own research and so further contribute to our knowledge of what is truly an enigma.”
By 2000, Laurance Rockefeller had reached the age of ninety and began to concentrate on his private family affairs. For all practical purposes the Rockefeller UFO Initiative and funding, whether scienti!c, political, or philosophical, was over. But his contribution to the !eld was extensive, and we have by no means exhausted the subject in this report. We hope that other phi- lanthropists will follow in his path and try to solve this riddle once and for all.
ADVERTISEMENT
Available everywhere books are sold.Also available as an eBook.CrownPublishing.com
“ A TREASURE TROVE of INSIGHTFUL and EYE-OPENING INFORMATION.”
—— Michio Kaku, Ph.D., author of Physics of the Impossible and host of Sci Fi Science on the Science Channel
ith a foreword by former White House chief of staff John Podesta, Leslie Kean draws on ten years of research to
separate fact from ! ction and to lift the veil on decades of U.S. government misinformation. Throughout, she presents irrefutable evidence that unknown " ying objects—metallic, luminous, and seemingly able to maneuver in ways that defy the laws of physics—actually exist.
W
NEW Y
OR
K TIMES BESTSELLER
J. Antonio Huneeus
Citizens Hearing Statements
The Rockefeller UFO Initiative
Throughout most of the 1990s a significant amount of UFO-related research was funded
by the billionaire philanthropist Laurance S. Rockefeller, yet with a few exceptions this
was mostly unknown by the general public, the media and even the majority of the
ufological community. It was also ignored by the mainstream world, who chose to ignore
this unconventional side of one of the Rockefellers. His long official biography posted
online by the Rockefeller Archive Center doesn’t mention any of his UFO, paranormal,
new age and consciousness-oriented interests, and neither did the long obituaries
published by The New York Times, The Washington Post and other mainstream
publications when he died in 2004 at the age of 94. And yet these activities were not a
small, inconsequential part of the philanthropist’s life—he seemed to have spent quite a
bit of time thinking, meeting people and funding research in the period going from the
late 1980s to 2000. Without access to his financial records, there is no way of knowing
how much money he spent, but it must be around a few million dollars at the least.
Although I never met him personally, I know something about it because I had the
opportunity of working first-hand in one of Laurance Rockefeller’s sponsored projects,
the UFO Briefing Document – The Best Available Evidence, a special report published in
December 1995 sent to the White House, selected members of Congress and VIPs, which
is now available for free at the openminds.tv website. Rockefeller’s activities, in fact,
went beyond funding into actual lobbying at the highest level—President Bill Clinton and
the First Lady and current Secretary of State, Hillary Rodham Clinton. Long before the
term “exopolitics” was in vogue, Laurance Rockefeller was practicing it in the White
House from 1993 to 1996. This has come to be known as the Rockefeller UFO Initiative,
a multi-pronged campaign to get the U.S. Government to release sensitive information on
UFOs and Extraterrestrial Intelligence. The initiative is documented in hundreds of pages
of correspondence released a few years ago by the White House Office of Science and
Technology Policy (OSTP) under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). These
documents can be accessed at the Paradigm Research Group website.
I am enclosing a long article describing all the various facets of the so-called Laurance
Rockefeller UFO Initiative published in the Open Minds magazine number six, February-
March 2011. It is not necessary to go into the biographical background of Mr.
Rockefeller in this short presentation, except to note that he was one of the original
grandsons of the founder of the dynasty, John D. Rockefeller, that he was obviously
extremely wealthy and well connected, that he had studied philosophy at Princeton and
was quite a visionary even in business, where he seemed to be always ahead of the curve,
backing aeronautics in the thirties, electronics in the sixties and conservation and
environmental efforts throughout his long career. Although the mainstream chose to
ignore it, his intense interest in UFOs and ET issues in the nineties fits very well this
pattern.
Mr. Rockefeller backed many UFO-related projects in the period between the late
eighties and 2000, but for the purposes of this Hearing we will concentrate on his
political initiatives in these areas. Laurance Rockefeller’s first forays into ufology started
sometime in the late eighties through Dr. Cecil B. Scott Jones, a parapsychologist and
former U.S. Navy Commander who had worked as Naval Attaché in Asia and at the
Naval Scientific and Technical Intelligence Center. Between 1985 and 1991, Jones was
Special Assistant to Senator Claiborne Pell (1918-2009), the powerful Rhode Island
Democrat Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee (1987-1994) who was
deeply interested in parapsychology. Sen. Pell was also friends with Laurance
Rockefeller and both served on the board of the Human Potential Foundation, a small
think tank launched in 1989 in Vienna, Virginia, by Jones to conduct “research into all
conditions of humankind: physiological, psychological and spiritual.”
Many of the papers released by the White House’s OSTP come from Scott Jones, who
knew Dr. John Gibbons, a physicist who worked for many years as Director of the Office
of Technology Assessment for the U.S. Congress and was appointed in 1993 by the
Clinton administration to direct the OSTP. What was the exact turning point of Laurance
Rockefeller’s evolution from a general interest in consciousness studies into the specific
area of UFOs and Extraterrestrial Intelligence is still unclear, but the end of the Cold War
and the arrival in Washington of a younger generation represented by Bill and Hillary
Clinton are key factors. He felt the time was ripe for a new and fresh approach into an
area that had been previously dominated by a Cold War mentality. Rockefeller recruited
for this effort a long-time associate, Henry L. Diamond, an environmental attorney from
Washington, DC whose links to the family went all the way back to the 1960s when he
worked with Laurance in his conservation activities. Diamond also knew John Gibbons
and so he was the right person to make the first contact with the OSTP chief when he sent
a Memorandum on March 29, 1993 requesting a meeting:
Laurance S. Rockefeller, who is a leading U.S. conservationist, businessman, and
philanthropist, is anxious to have a brief meeting with Dr. Gibbons to discuss the
potential availability of government information about unidentified flying objects
and extraterrestrial life. As one who has had a long-time interest in environmental
and spiritual issues, Mr. Rockefeller, with other leading citizens, is planning to
make an approach to President Clinton on this subject…
The details of Rockefeller’s White House lobbying effort are described in my article and
also on the documents themselves posted by PRG. We know from the record that
following the initial meeting with Gibbons and subsequent correspondence, the
government decided to constrict the more general issue of UFOs into the specific and
famous UFO crash of July 1947 in Roswell, New Mexico. This incident will be discussed
in detail at a later session during this Hearing. After ignoring it for decades, the Air Force
had then taken the decision to finally make a big public statement, which took place in
1994 with its official Report that explained or debunked the incident as a once top secret
balloon project to detect the Soviet’s first atomic bomb tests codenamed Project Mogul.
This derailed to a great extent the initial Rockefeller effort at the White House, but didn’t
stop him to try a different approach. By 1995 Laurance Rockefeller switched his UFO-
related coordinator from Scott Jones to Marie Galbraith, the well connected wife of
investment banker Evan Galbraith who was ambassador to France during the Reagan
administration, Republican candidate for New York governor in 1994 and chairman of
William Buckley’s National Review, among other things. Marie Galbraith and Sandra S.
Wright, another well connected high society lady who ran the BSW Foundation, had
come up with the idea of preparing a comprehensive UFO Briefing Document that could
be send to members of Congress and VIPs in general. The original draft was written by
Don Berliner, an aviation journalist and long-time ufologist with the Fund for UFO
Research (FUFOR) in the Washington area, and I was brought in to help editing and
expanding the document from a small office ran by Marie Galbraith in New York’s
Madison Avenue. The final Briefing Document was finished in December 1995 but sent
out in early 1996. It was Rockefeller’s and Galbraith’s idea to give the copyright to the
UFO Research Coalition, a consortium of the three main American UFO organizations—
MUFON, CUFOS (Center for UFO Studies) and FUFOR, whose directors endorsed the
document. Copies of the report were sent to Dr. Gibbons at the White House, some
members of Congress and VIPs worldwide, but there was no well coordinated effort to
disseminate the document and as a result its political impact was limited.
The one exception was France due to Marie Galbraith’s extensive connections there from
her U.S. Embassy days back in the 1980s. Copies of the UFO Briefing Document were
sent from President Chirac down the food chain in the French government. We had
received, in fact, many interesting documents and reports from the official French UFO
group at the National Center for Space Studies (CNES)—then called SEPRA and now
GEIPAN—and one of the Briefing’s “Case Histories” was the famous UFO landing case
in Trans-en-Provence in 1981. I will have more to say about the French official UFO
investigations at a later session in this Hearing. There can be little doubt that the UFO
Briefing Document became the model for the COMETA Report, an important study
conducted by a group of retired French generals and intelligence officers led by Major
Gen. Dennis Letty. In their final 1999 report titled, UFOs and Defense: What Should We
Prepare For?, the COMETA authors praised highly the “leading U.S. personality Marie
Galbraith” who was “supported both morally and financially by Laurance Rockefeller.”
Marie Galbraith was also the coordinator for a number of separate UFO-related projects
funded by the philanthropist. By 1997, Laurance Rockefeller dropped the political UFO
initiatives and concentrated instead on the scientific angle. A major meeting, closed to
both the public and the press, was held from September 29 to October 3, 1997 at the
Pocantico Conference Center in Tarrytown, NY. The chief coordinator and author of the
final report was Dr. Peter A. Sturrock, an astrophysicist from Stanford University who
also directed for many years the Society for Scientific Exploration (SSE). The idea was to
gather a group of professional scientists, many of them from Europe, and have
scientifically-trained UFO researchers present the best evidence to a panel of neutral
scientists. The presentations touched upon all the main scientific areas: Photographic
Evidence; Luminosity Estimates; Radar Evidence; the Hessdalen Project (a place in
Norway where unexplained lights have been recorded for many years); Vehicle
Interference; Aircraft Equipment Malfunction; Apparent Gravitational and/or Inertial
Effects; Ground Traces; Injuries to Vegetation; Physiological Effects on Witnesses; and
Analysis of Debris. You can consult Prof. Sturrock’s final report on the scientific
conference, The UFO Enigma – A New Review of the Physical Evidence (Warner Books,
1999) for all the details and data. Rockefeller seemed very satisfied with the results of
this event that he even wrote the book’s Foreword, which became his only statement on
UFOs written for publication. By 2000 Laurance Rockefeller reached the age of 90 and
concentrated on his private family affairs. For all practical purposes the Rockefeller UFO
Initiative and funding, whether scientific, political or philosophical, was over. But his
contribution to the field was certainly extensive. We hope that other philanthropists will
follow on his path and try to solve the mystery of UFOs. Both the political and scientific
approaches are valid and necessary in order to understand the complex ramifications of
this phenomenon. Thank you.
UNIDENTIFIED FLYING OBJECTS
BRIEFING DOCUMENT
THE BEST AVAILABLE EVIDENCE
by
DON BERLINER
with
Marie Galbraith
Antonio Huneeus
Presented by
CUFONS, FUFOR, MUFON
December 1995
Published in the United States
Copyright © by the UFO Research Coalition
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form, without written permission from the copyright holder, unless by a reviewer who wishes to quote brief passages.
Printed in the United States of America
Contents LETTER OF ENDORSEMENT ........................................................................................ 1
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................... 2
Part 1 Overview
GOVERNMENT SECRECY ............................................................................................ 3
THE CASE FOR UFO REALITY ..................................................................................... 5
THE UFO COVER-UP ................................................................................................... 11
SUMMARY OF QUOTATIONS ..................................................................................... 13
Part 2 Case Histories
INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................... 18
15th CENTURY ART ..................................................................................................... 19
1944-45: "FOO FIGHTERS" OVER EUROPE AND ASIA ............................................. 21
1946: "GHOST ROCKETS" OVER SCANDINAVIA ...................................................... 23
1947: FIRST AMERICAN SIGHTING WAVE ................................................................ 25
1952: SECOND AMERICAN SIGHTING WAVE ........................................................... 29
1956: RADAR/VISUAL JET CHASE OVER ENGLAND ................................................ 32
1957: THIRD AMERICAN SIGHTING WAVE ................................................................ 34
1958: BRAZILIAN NAVY PHOTOGRAPHIC CASE ...................................................... 36
1964: LANDING CASE AT SOCORRO, NEW MEXICO ............................................... 41
1967: PHYSIOLOGICAL CASE AT FALCON LAKE, CANADA .................................... 44
1975: STRATEGIC AIR COMMAND BASES UFO ALERT ........................................... 48
1976: MULTIPLE WITNESS CASE IN THE CANARY ISLANDS .................................. 50
1976: UFO DOG-FIGHT OVER TEHRAN ..................................................................... 56
1980: UFO INCIDENTS AT RENDLESHAM FOREST, ENGLAND .............................. 60
1981: PHYSICAL TRACE CASE IN TRANS-EN-PROVENCE, FRANCE ..................... 65
1986: JET CHASE OVER BRAZIL ................................................................................ 71
1986: JAPAN AIRLINES 747 OVER ALASKA .............................................................. 75
1989: MULTIPLE WITNESS CASE AT RUSSIAN MISSILE BASE ............................... 79
1989-1990: UFO SIGHTING WAVE IN BELGIUM ........................................................ 83
1991-1994: RECENT CASES ....................................................................................... 89
CASE HISTORIES SUMMARY ..................................................................................... 91
Part 3 Quotations
Quotes from Prominent World Government and Military Officials ................................. 92
Quotes from US and USSR Astronauts ....................................................................... 108
Quotes from Prominent World Scientists ..................................................................... 113
Appendices
U.S. GOVERNMENT UFO PROJECTS & STUDIES .................................................. 124
CONGRESSIONAL HEARINGS ON UFOs ................................................................. 129
INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENTS AND RESOLUTIONS .......................................... 132
EXAMPLE OF AIR FORCE POLICY ........................................................................... 137
THE ROSWELL CASE ................................................................................................ 138
CHARACTERISTICS OF IFOs and UFOs .................................................................. 140
TERMINOLOGY OF UFOs ......................................................................................... 141
RESOURCES ............................................................................................................. 142
CUFOS, FUFOR AND MUFON ................................................................................... 144
1
LETTER OF ENDORSEMENT
for the BRIEFING DOCUMENT
on UNIDENTIFIED FLYING OBJECTS
December 15, 1995 To whom it may concern: We believe that this Briefing Document on Unidentified Flying Objects presents the best available evidence for the existence of UFOs. Although just a brief sample of the scientific and military evidence available worldwide is given, it represents some of the most carefully documented incidents. While several governments of the world have dealt with this problem, as you can see in the enclosed report we think that these governments should make available now all the UFO evidence they have collected, for a thorough and open inquiry by the scientific community. The political constraints that imposed the rule of secrecy during the Cold War are no longer justified and the solution to the UFO mystery may represent both a scientific and social breakthrough. We, the undersigned, endorse the information contained in this Briefing Document as the best available evidence from open sources.
CUFOS (Center for UFO Studies): President Dr. Mark Rodeghier
FUFOR (Fund for UFO Research): Chairman Mr. Richard H. Hall
MUFON (Mututal UFO Network): International Director and President Mr. Walter H. Andrus
2
THE UFO BRIEFING DOCUMENT
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Without the enthusiastic assistance of many people, the creation of this Briefing Document would have been far more difficult, if not impossible. While there are too many for us to thank individually, some deserve special recognition:
Laurance S. Rockefeller, for his vision and support, financial and otherwise, and George Lamb, for his day-to-day interest and for serving so effectively as liaison for Mr. Rockefeller. Marie "Bootsie" Galbraith, for the original idea and for hundreds of hours of turning it into reality. Sandra Wright, for making her BSW Foundation available as the umbrella under which all the work could be done. Tina Nighman, for applying her talents and good humor to a wide range of administrative assistance. The leadership of the UFO Research Coalition: the Center for UFO Studies, the Fund for UFO Research and the Mutual UFO Network, for their cooperative efforts and total support. Major General Wilfred De Brouwer, Deputy Chief of the Royal Belgian Air Force; Dr. Claude Poher, founder of the Groupe d'Etudes des Phénomènes Aerospatiaux Non-identifiés (GEPAN), Jean-Jacques Velasco, Director of the Service d'Expertise des Phénomènes de Rentrées Atmosphériques (SEPRA); the Société Belge d'Etude des Phénomènes Spatiaux (SOBEPS), and internationally recognized UFO authorities Stanton T. Friedman and Timothy Good, for generously giving their time and help.
3
THE UFO BRIEFING DOCUMENT OVERVIEW
GOVERNMENT SECRECY
In a democracy, the decision where to draw the line between a citizen's right to know and the government's right to secrecy for national security reasons must be made by appropriate members of the society. This issue has become the focus of much attention today and is especially relevant to an ongoing discussion, both inside and outside Congress, regarding UFO phenomena.
For obvious reasons, military services and the intelligence agencies must maintain a certain amount of secrecy. However, in recent decades, and especially since the end of the Cold War, many observers believe that the use of government secrecy has become excessive.
The power of government employees to restrict access to reports which they write by classifying them "confidential," "secret" or even "top secret" is often absolute. Once these reports are classified, they can only be declassified by the originator or by a special procedure that moves along at a glacial pace. Nor does the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) help very much. It does not apply to most classified material. Meanwhile, our criminal statutes protect against the unauthorized revelation of classified materials.
Secrecy, like power, lends itself to abuse. Behind the shield of secrecy, it is possible for an agency or service to avoid scrutiny and essentially to operate outside of the law. Accountability to the tax payers and to the Congress can be conveniently avoided.
The vast majority of people employed by the U.S. government do not have access to classified information. Even those with secret and top secret clearances will not have access to all highly classified information. Furthermore, it is doubtful whether any member of Congress can have access to all such information. Given the size of the government bureaucracy and high degree of compartmentalization that exists within it, it is conceivable that even the President himself is not fully briefed on matters classified as "above top secret." Such information, allowing access only on the strictest "need-to-know" basis, is not necessarily given to senior elected officials who come and go and can therefore be regarded as temporary, political and unreliable.
Such is the case for top secret UFO information. In 1980, for example, researchers requesting information through the FOIA learned of the existence of 156 top secret UFO-related documents held by the National Security Agency (NSA). This lead was not found through the NSA itself, but through internal references in UFO-related documents held by other government agencies. When the researchers filed a FOIA request for the 156 NSA UFO documents, they were denied access to all of them. They appealed, but Judge Gerhard Gesell of the First Federal Court, District of Columbia, after reviewing the 21-page written argument submitted by the NSA, denied their appeal. The 21-page summary was later released, but even in this summary most of the information was blacked out.1
Such action seems inconsistent with a government that officially downplays the existence of true UFOs, and officially states that there is no threat to national security.
4
In the case of UFO phenomena, the question must be asked: what would give an un-elected government official the right to keep this information to himself, thereby depriving the rest of the world of possible knowledge of almost inconceivable magnitude and consequence? Such elitism by the officials of any government, much less a government based on the principles of democracy and individual rights, is a gross injustice not only to its own people, but to all people.
At issue, in this case, is access to knowledge perhaps so profound that it affects not only our very perspective on man's place in the universe, but also perhaps his continued presence on this planet. If the UFO phenomenon is real, we have clear evidence that an unknown technology is at work, whose potential could be enormous for the good of mankind - a potential source, for example, for useful energy benign to the environment.
To acknowledge the enormous gap between our present understanding of science and what is being evidenced, would provide the urgently needed challenge to the scientific establishment to examine where some of its basic assumptions might be faulty and to move beyond them.
Is it possible that a few privileged individuals have access to this information while denying it to the electorate for "national security" reasons, so that it can be privately studied? In a democracy, should not this decision be made by our elected officials and be based upon an informed discussion?
"UFO research is leading us kicking and screaming into the science of the twenty-first century. "I have begun to feel that there is a tendency in 20th Century science to forget that there will be a 21st Century science, and indeed a 30th Century science, from which vantage points our knowledge of the universe may appear quite different than it does to us. We suffer, perhaps, from temporal provincialism, a form of arrogance that has always irritated posterity."
(From a letter by Dr. J. Allen Hynek to Science magazine, August 1, 1966.) Dr. J. Allen Hynek, Northwestern University astronomer; scientific consultant on UFOs to the U.S. Air Force from 1948 until 1969. Founder of the private Center for UFO Studies in 1973.
_______________________________________ FOOTNOTES 1. Judge Gesell Ruling re National Security Agency, November 14, 1980.
5
THE UFO BRIEFING DOCUMENT OVERVIEW
THE CASE FOR UFO REALITY
As long as men and women have talked about strange sights in the skies, two primary questions have been asked about what has come to be called Unidentified Flying Objects:
1. Are they real, or are they just honest mistakes? 2. If they are real, could they be ships from some other world?
In this century, it started with the "foo fighters" of World War II: glowing balls that flew in formation or "played tag" with military airplanes over Europe and the Pacific. Suspected of being prototype enemy weapons, they never displayed hostility and when the war was over, they were all-but-forgotten.
In 1946, the Scandinavian countries reported many hundreds of "ghost rockets" which flew low and silently, and often slowly. Efforts to blame them on nearby Soviet tests of captured German missiles failed when it was learned that no such tests had taken place.
The first major American wave of sightings of "flying discs" began in the early summer of 1947. Within two weeks, at least 1,000 sightings were recorded of fast silvery discs seen in the daytime. The first military studies concluded they were real and of unknown nature and origin.2
From then on, UFOs seemed to fly at will over all parts of the world: fast and exotic, untouchable and unproven. By the 1990s, there had been over 100,000 reported sightings, many by airline pilots and military pilots and other qualified witnesses.
Despite the steady accumulation of a vast quantity of information about the appearance and behavior of UFOs, little light has been shed on the two questions posed at the beginning. The armed services and universities, as well as private groups and individuals, have devoted a great amount of time to investigating UFOs, yet there is no consensus about their nature, origins or purpose.
Still, if a close look is taken at the best available evidence, it is possible to deal with what is known about UFOs, and what may reasonably be assumed. The point we will make is that the evidence to support the conclusion that UFOs are unknown aircraft/spacecraft seems to be overwhelming.
Visual Evidence
Most of what is "known" about UFOs comes from individuals' descriptions of what they say they saw. If the individuals are reliable and knowledgeable about the sky, the information stands a good chance of being useful. This is the source of the case's "credibility," one of the two primary criteria recognized by the late Dr. J. Allen Hynek, long a consultant on UFOs to the U.S. Air Force, and later the founder of the private Center for UFO Studies.
6
Dr. Hynek's other criterion is "strangeness," meaning the extent to which a reported observation differs from normal airplanes, satellites, meteors, etc. A large aluminum-looking sphere which maneuvers violently and changes speed abruptly, rates higher for "strangeness" than a somewhat peculiar light seen in the night sky.
It is the reports which rate highest in both "credibility" and "strangeness" that form the heart of the UFO mystery. Are they indeed convincing observations of unknown aircraft/spacecraft, or are they merely strangely shaped clouds or balloons seen under unusual lighting conditions, or some other natural or manmade phenomena?
Radar Evidence
Radar has played a major role in UFO sightings, repeatedly confirming the presence of something unidentified which responds to radar much as an airplane does. Clouds and other weather phenomena show up on radar, but any experienced operator can tell the difference between weather and something solid.
One popular explanation for radar/visual reports is temperature inversion. This was first brought to public attention following two nights of UFO sightings over Washington, D.C., in 1952. Inversions, the cause of mirages, probably never caused these or any other UFO reports. According to a 1969 study by the Air Force Environmental Technical Applications Center, the conditions needed to produce the UFO-like effects attributed to inversions cannot exist in the Earth's atmosphere.3
The most thoroughly investigated recent radar/visual UFO sightings occurred in Belgium and Russia. Military jet interceptors were launched following observations from the ground. Ground-based and airborne radars then confirmed what was being seen visually, including high speeds and violent maneuvers far beyond the capability of the best modern warplanes. In both countries, high government officials admitted they were baffled.
While the human eye can be fooled, and radar can be fooled, it is considered extremely unlikely that both can be fooled, in exactly the same way, at exactly the same time. Thus radar/visual reports rate among the most convincing of all types of UFO sightings.
Physical Evidence
UFOs have been seen high in the sky, near to the ground, on the ground, and even rising from water. If some UFOs have landed, it is reasonable to suspect that some of them may have left traces behind, and indeed that is the case. Imprints, residues, charred and broken tree branches and rocks are among the bits of evidence claimed for UFO landings. Furthermore, under microscopic examination, some residues exhibit strange and unusual characteristics.
Perhaps the most well known example of a physical trace case in the United States occurred in 1964 near Socorro, New Mexico, where a policeman reported seeing an egg-shaped craft sitting on slender legs in an open field. When it had flown away, he and a second policeman inspected the area where it had been parked and found depressions in the dirt, as well as still smoldering, blackened shrubs. The sighting was investigated within two hours by men from U.S. Army Intelligence and the FBI, followed a day later by the chief civilian scientific consultant to Project Blue Book (the official Air Force investigation of UFO sightings). All agreed that the primary witness was highly reliable. Later, the final director of Blue Book called this case the most puzzling of the approximately 12,500 in his files.4
7
The best documented example of a physical trace case in Europe occurred in Trans-en-Provence, France, where a farmer reported seeing a saucer-shaped craft land on his property and then fly away after a short while. Physical traces left on the ground were collected by the police within 24 hours and later analyzed in several French government laboratories. Microscopic analyses revealed anomalous biochemical and electromagnetic effects on the soil and vegetation. The director of the Service d'Expertise des Phénomènes de Rentrées Atmosphériques (SEPRA, formerly called GEPAN) at the National Center for Space Studies (CNES) describes this case as the most puzzling UFO case in the French government files.5
Government Statements
The involvement of the American government in the UFO mystery has long offered its own set of questions. Known investigations have produced ambiguous results, and explanations offered for specific cases have frequently been at odds with scientific reasoning. Sometimes, little-publicized official statements have supported the position that UFOs are real and unexplained.
Sometimes statements not intended for the public have been brought to the surface by UFO researchers:
July 30, 1947: "This 'flying saucer' situation is not all imaginary or seeing too much in some natural phenomena. Something is really flying around."6 Sept. 23, 1947: "The phenomenon reported is something real and not visionary or fictitious."7 Oct. 28, 1947: "It is the considered opinion of some elements that the object [sic] may in fact represent an interplanetary craft of some kind."8 Dec. 10, 1948: "It must be accepted that some type of flying objects have been observed, although their identification and origin are not discernible."9
In 1948, the U.S. Air Force opened a publicly-known UFO investigation called Project Sign. Later, it became Project Grudge and finally Project Blue Book. In 1955, the U.S. Air Force released a study of 3,200 UFO reports it had received between 1947 and 1952. The private Battelle Memorial Institute used the Air Force data to arrive at its own conclusions: of the cases for which there was some conclusion, almost 50% were either unexplained, or doubtfully explained. Moreover, it was determined that the higher the qualifications of the witnesses, the harder it was to explain the reports in terms of common phenomena.10
In 1967, as Project Blue Book was coming under increasing attack from the press and the public, the Air Force contracted with the University of Colorado to make a final study of UFOs. In contrast to the totally negative statements of the study director, Dr. Edward U. Condon, the body of the final report showed that about 30% of the cases studied were left without explanation.
Comments on individual cases by University of Colorado scientists included:
"This is the most puzzling case in the radar/visual files. The apparently rational, intelligent behavior of the UFO suggests a mechanical device of unknown origin as the most probable explanation. "All factors investigated - geometric, psychological and physical - appear to be consistent with the assertion that an extraordinary flying object, silvery, metallic,
8
disc-shaped, tens of meters in diameter, and evidently artificial, flew within sight of two witnesses."11
Following the recommendation of the University of Colorado, Project Blue Book was ended in late 1969, after almost 22 years of Air Force official investigations. It left behind approximately 12,500 case files, of which 585 were officially declared "Unknown." This means that the project staff felt it had sufficient information about a case, but were unable to supply a full explanation of it. Cases lacking sufficient information for meaningful analysis were kept separate. Furthermore, an official memo was released years later, under the Freedom of Information Act, that made it clear that "reports of unidentified flying objects which could affect national security... are not part of the Blue Book system." [emphasis added]. Such reports "would continue to be handled through the standard Air Force procedures designed for this purpose."12
In summary, it is apparent that the evidence - visual, radar and physical - strongly suggests that more than mistaken observations of conventional phenomena are involved in many UFO sightings. Witness testimony, backed up by official U.S. government documents, point toward the presence in the Earth's atmosphere of apparently manufactured craft that cannot be explained as mistaken observations of acknowledged aircraft, spacecraft, atmospheric or astronomical phenomena.
The Case For Extraterrestrial UFOs
If UFOs are not anything known, then they must be unknown. What says "unknown" more powerfully than "extraterrestrial?" In the absence of any specific knowledge of even a single extraterrestrial civilization, there are no constraints on theorizing about the nature, technology, and behavior of one or more hypothesized alien cultures.
But are UFOs extraterrestrial? Lacking proof, we must deal very carefully with any answers. It remains a possibility that some or all of the otherwise unexplained UFO reports will some day be explained in terms of as-yet-unknown natural phenomena, or secret highly advanced man-made aircraft and/or spacecraft.
Nevertheless, there are impressive reasons for speculating about the extraterrestrial origin for some UFOs, namely their shapes and their performance.
Shapes of UFOs
Most UFOs observed in daylight, when shapes and details can be seen, have been described as having simple geometric shapes: discs, spheres, cylinders and more recently, triangles.
Disc-shaped airplanes have been flown, but none is known to have exceeded 150 mph, nor to have other capabilities displayed by UFOs. Difficulties in stability and control have so far prevented any disc-shaped aircraft from getting beyond the stage of low-performance prototypes.
Spherical aircraft have so far been limited to gas-filled balloons, whose performance is at the bottom of the speed and maneuverability scales. Balloons can fly only as the wind blows and can be overtaken quickly by airplanes.
Cylindrical aircraft are unknown, as the lack of wings poses huge problems when it comes to such functions as taking off and flying level. Rockets and missiles are cylindrical and certainly are able to fly, but only as the result of great power in relation to their size. They can only fly upwards up at launch, and on a ballistic curve on their way to a target.
9
Triangle is the shape of delta-winged airplanes, though the flight characteristics of triangular UFOs removes them from this category.
It is entirely possible that some radical military aircraft having one or more of these shapes are flying from super-secret test facilities. But this would have to be a recent development unable to explain sightings of such craft during most of the past 50 years.
Performance of UFOs
Even more striking than the shapes of UFOs is their performance: speed, acceleration, maneuverability, silence.
Speed. UFOs have been tracked on military radar travelling silently at several thousand miles per hour well within the Earth's atmosphere. An airplane attempting this would create an inescapable sonic boom before melting from friction with the air.
Extreme Acceleration. Airplanes do not visibly accelerate in the air, though they show generally impressive acceleration during take-off. Drag-racing cars and motorcycles accelerate in a manner obvious to even the least experienced observer. In the case of UFOs, airline and military pilots have reported that they fly at the same speed as an airplane, and then display acceleration common only to anti-missile missiles. Veteran pilots describe their observations with words like "astounding" and "unbelievable."
Extreme Maneuverability. While airplanes can perform abrupt maneuvers, these are generally seen only in air shows. Even then, such flying is more often described by the outside observer as "graceful" rather than "violent," though the pilot may use the latter term. Impossibilities for airplanes (but not, apparently, for UFOs) include right-angle turns at high speed, and zig-zag flight.
Silent Hovering. While helicopters and VTOL (Vertical Take-Off and Landing) airplanes can hover, they produce noises whose quality and volume positively identify them. UFOs, on the other hand, appear able to hover with little or no motion for long periods without any sound. This remains well beyond the state of known science, let alone technology.
Summary
The U.S. Government, and many other governments, claim that although not all UFO reports can be explained, there is no evidence that Earth has been visited by aliens. Most scientists and leading journalists agree with this position. However, these same scientists believe that there must be many advanced civilizations on planets orbiting the billions of stars they estimate to exist in the universe. The gap between these two positions is generally explained by the assumed inability of even the most advanced society to travel the enormous distances separating the Earth from even the nearest stars.
Yet, there are thousands of sightings of novel, high-performance craft in our skies, reported by highly skilled and experienced observers. There are also hundreds of other reports of craft seen on the ground, and sometimes of humanoid beings in their vicinity.
The great conflict between official positions and trustworthy observations constitutes the mystery of Unidentified Flying Objects. A possible solution to this mystery is the suggestion that the official
10
position is based on an elaborate cover-up. If it is a cover-up, what then is being protected, and by whom?
The answers to these questions generally focus on the issue of national security as well as fear of the public reaction to an official disclosure of UFO reality and its extraterrestrial origin. The question of extraterrestrial intention and the frightening aspects of the alleged abduction phenomena could be extremely disturbing. However, many researchers believe that it is the science and technology behind the national security veil which lies at the heart of the secrecy, and that:
fallen discs are being reverse engineered, repaired and/or copied, and being tested; the technology is so advanced that we can barely imagine the science behind it (which
could be based on a fundamentally different understanding of gravity and electromagnetic fields);
whichever nation masters this extraordinary technology will certainly be the most powerful nation on earth;
in the opinion of those in control, the guarding of this technology for defense purposes, far outweighs its potential value for other purposes - i.e. a non-polluting, cost efficient solution to our present energy and environmental crisis.
_______________________________________ FOOTNOTES 2. Memo from Lt. Gen. Nathan Twining, Commanding General of the Air Materiel Command, Wright Field, to Gen. Spaatz, Commanding General of the U.S. Army Air Forces, September 23, 1947. 3. Menkello, F.V., "Quantitative Aspects of Mirages," USAF Environmental Technical Applications Center, 1969. 4. Steiger Brad, ed. Project Blue Book, Ballantine Books, 1976. 5. GEPAN, Note Technique No. 16, Enquête 81/01, Analyse d'une Trace, Toulouse, March 1, 1983. (English translation published in the MUFON UFO Journal, March 1984.) 6. Air Force Base Intelligence Report, "Flying Discs," AFBIR-CO, July 30, 1947. 7. Twining, ibid. 8. Draft Intelligence Collections Memorandum issued by Brig. Gen. George Shulgen, Chief of the Air Intelligence Requirements Division of the Office of the Assistant Chief of Staff of the U.S. Air Force, October 28, 1947. 9. U.S. Air Intelligence Report #100-203-79, "Analysis of Flying Objects in the U.S.," December 10, 1948. 10. Air Force Project Blue Book, "Special Report No. 14 (Analysis of Reports of Unidentified Aerial Objects)," May 5, 1955. 11. Gillmor, Daniel S., ed., Scientific Study of Unidentified Flying Objects, New York Times Books, 1969. 12. Bolender, Brig. Gen. C.H., USAF, Memo re Project Blue Book, October 20, 1969.
11
THE UFO BRIEFING DOCUMENT OVERVIEW
THE UFO COVER-UP
There are two major elements to the UFO mystery: the UFOs themselves and the intensive efforts by the governments of the world to withhold information about them. Neither the nature nor the purpose of the governments' actions are clearly understood. But this policy dates back to the latter part of World War II when UFO-like "foo fighters" were being reported by combat pilots.
A report about "foo-fighters" is said to have been prepared in 1945 by the United States Eighth Air Force, but no copy has been seen by the public, despite the passing of a half century. A year later, when "ghost rockets" were seen over Scandinavia, the Swedish Government invoked secrecy and only began to release information 40 years later. When "flying saucers" appeared over the USA in the summer of 1947, only the most general information was made public, while reports and analyses were kept under wraps, as was the fact that the government was taking the saucers seriously.13,14
The U.S. Air Force ongoing UFO investigation (Project Sign, Project Grudge, and Project Blue Book), collected more than 12,000 reports, most of which were "explained." It was official policy to refuse to comment on "unexplained" cases. By keeping case details secret, the public was kept from learning that many of the allegedly-explained cases had not been analyzed by generally accepted scientific standards.15
In 1976, with the amendment of the Freedom of Information and Privacy Act by the U.S. Congress, a mechanism was created for unearthing government UFO information whose very existence had long been denied. Formal requests, followed by appeals and sometimes legal action, produced thousands of pages of previously-classified documents from the Air Force, Central Intelligence Agency, Federal Bureau of Investigation and other intelligence-oriented agencies.
It appears, however, that the released information was the least sensitive material in the official files. Almost all the released documents had been classified merely "Confidential" or "Secret," with just a few having been "Top Secret". Many pages of these documents showed the black marks of censorship. In fact, many pages of the voluminous case files of the official U.S. Air Force investigation contained black marks hiding information.16
The rapid flow of UFO documents in the 1970s dropped to a slow trickle in the 1980s, but will probably pick up again with the Administration's recent declassification measures. However, since every government agency has at its disposal a long list of reasons for refusing to release information, it will still be easy to keep the most interesting and significant material locked up.
The most striking example of continuing government secrecy is its reaction to growing public and press interest in the apparent crash in 1947 of a strange craft on a sheep ranch in New Mexico: the so-called "Roswell Incident." Most of the time since 1947, the Air Force claimed that the crash was that of a weather balloon. Despite the testimony to the contrary of dozens of first-hand and second-hand witnesses to this event, the U.S. Government has yet to release even one Air Force Report that includes the full testimony of these witnesses. Personal efforts in 1993 by U.S.
12
Congressman Steven Schiff from New Mexico to learn about the crash were ignored. He turned the task over to the General Accounting Office, the investigative arm of the U.S. Congress.17,18
As a result of this investigation, the U.S. Air Force issued a brief report in July 1994 and a large report in 1995, both of them now stating that the wreckage found on the sheep ranch was not that of a balloon used for weather data collection, but of a balloon from a then-secret Project Mogul experiment intended to detect Soviet nuclear explosions, which used trains and clusters of standard weather balloons.19
The GAO, in its final report in July 1995, stated that it could find no evidence for a UFO wreckage, but discovered that a large quantity of potentially valuable U.S. Air Force message traffic for the period had been improperly destroyed. Furthermore, since no documentation was found to support the new Project Mogul explanation, the GAO did not endorse the current Air Force explanation and stated that "the debate on what crashed at Roswell continues."20
While there is some indication that a few governments are easing their long-held policies of withholding all UFO information, there is no sign that this could become a trend, or that it could produce truly meaningful information.
As the result of long-term and highly effective practices by many of the world's governments, the people have been kept in the dark about the extent and significance of UFO activity. Moreover, thousands of talented scientists who might contribute to the understanding of UFOs have been prevented from doing so because they are not part of the governmental system.
Since no government has openly stated that UFOs constitute a potential security threat, there is no reason to assume that there is any reasonable basis for continuing to keep UFO-related information secret. _______________________________________ FOOTNOTES 13. SAC Memo to FBI, "Protection of Vital Installations," January 31, 1949. 14. Smith, Wilbert, Memo to the Department of Transport, Ottawa, November 21, 1950. 15. Bolender, Brig. Gen. C.H., ibid. 16. Judge Gesell Ruling, ibid. 17. FBI teletype, July 5, 1947 18. Claiborne, William, "GAO Turns to Alien Turf in Probe," Washington Post, January 14, 1994. 19. Weaver, Col. Richard L., USAF, "Report of Air Force Research regarding the 'Roswell Incident,'" July 1994. USAF, "The Roswell Report: Fact versus Fiction in the New Mexico Desert," October 1995. 20. United States General Accounting Office Report to the Honorable Steven H. Schiff, House of Representatives. Government Records "Results of a Search for Records Concerning the 1947 Crash Near Roswell, New Mexico," July 1995.
13
THE UFO BRIEFING DOCUMENT
OVERVIEW
SUMMARY OF QUOTATIONS
UFOs: THE REALITY
General Nathan D. Twining, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (1957-1960):
"The phenomena reported is something real and not visionary or fictitious... There are objects probably approximating the shape of a disc, of such appreciable size as to appear to be as large as a man-made aircraft... The reported operating characteristics such as extreme rates of climb, maneuverability (particularly in roll), and action which must be considered evasive when sighted or contacted by friendly aircraft and radar, lend belief to the possibility that some of the objects are controlled either manually, automatically, or remotely." (Letter to the Commanding General of the U.S. Army Air Forces, September 23, 1947.)
Brigadier General João Adil Oliveira, Chief of the Air Force General Staff Information Service, and Director of the first official military UFO inquiry in Brazil in the mid-50s:
"It is impossible to deny any more the existence of flying saucers at the present time... The flying saucer is not a ghost from another dimension or a mysterious dragon. It is a fact confirmed by material evidence. There are thousands of documents, photos, and sighting reports demonstrating its existence." ("How to doubt?," O Globo, Rio de Janeiro, February 28, 1958.)
General Lionel M. Chassin, Commanding General of the French Air Forces, and General Air Defense Coordinator, Allied Air Forces, Central Europe (NATO):
"The number of thoughtful, intelligent, educated people in full possession of their faculties who have 'seen something' and described it grows every day... We can... say categorically that mysterious objects have indeed appeared and continue to appear in the sky that surrounds us... [they] unmistakably suggest a systematic aerial exploration and cannot be the result of chance. It indicates purposive and intelligent action." (Chassin, L., Foreward to the book by Michel Aime, Flying Saucers and the Straight Line Mystery, New York: Criterion Books, 1958.)
Admiral Roscoe Hillenkoetter, first Director of the CIA (1947-1950):
"Unknown objects are operating under intelligent control... It is imperative that we learn where UFOs come from and what their purpose is." (Maccabee, Bruce, "What The Admiral Knew: UFO, MJ-12 and R. Hillenkoetter," International UFO Reporter, Nov./Dec., 1986.)
14
UFOs: EXTRATERRESTRIAL ORIGIN
Professor Hermann Oberth, German rocket expert considered one of the three fathers of the space age. In 1955, Dr. Werner von Braun invited him to the U.S. where he worked on rockets with the Army Ballistic Missile Agency and later NASA:
"It is my thesis that flying saucers are real and that they are space ships from another solar system. I think that they possibly are manned by intelligent observers who are members of a race that may have been investigating our earth for centuries." (Oberth H., "Flying Saucers Come From A Distant World," The American Weekly, October 24, 1954.)
General Kanshi Ishikawa, Chief of Staff of Japan's Air Self-Defense Force; Commander of the 2nd Air Wing, Chitose Air Base (1967):
"Much evidence tells us UFOs have been tracked by radar; so, UFOs are real and they may come from outer space... UFO photographs and various materials show scientifically that there are more advanced people piloting the saucers and motherships." (1967 interview published in UFO News, Vol. 6, No. 1, 1974.)
Gordon Cooper, Astronaut (Mercury-Atlas 9, Gemini 5), Col. USAF (Ret):
"I believe that these extra-terrestrial vehicles and their crews are visiting this planet from other planets, which obviously are a little more technically advanced than we are here on earth. I feel that we need to have a top level, coordinated program to scientifically collect and analyze data from all over the earth concerning any type of encounter, and to determine how best to interface with these visitors in a friendly fashion." (Letter to Grenada's Ambassador to the United Nations, November 9, 1978.)
Major-General Pavel Popovich, pioneer Cosmonaut and "Hero of the Soviet Union," President of All-Union Ufology Association of the Commonwealth of Independent States:
"Today it can be stated with a high degree of confidence that observed manifestations of UFOs are no longer confined to the modern picture of the world... The historical evidence of the phenomenon... allows us to hypothesize that ever since mankind has been co-existing with this extraordinary substance, it has manifested a high level of intelligence and technology. The UFO sightings have become the constant component of human activity and require a serious global study... The scientific study of the UFO phenomenon should take place in the midst of other sciences dealing with man and the world." (Popovich, P., MUFON 1992 International Symposium Proceedings.)
UFOs: SECRECY AND NATIONAL SECURITY
Wilbert Smith, Senior radio engineer, Department of Transport, Director of Project Magnet, the first Canadian government UFO investigation in the 1950s:
"The matter is the most highly classified subject in the United States Government, rating higher even than the H-bomb. Flying saucers exist. Their modus operandi is unknown but a concentrated effort is being made by a small group headed by
15
Doctor Vannevar Bush. The entire matter is considered by the United States authorities to be of tremendous significance." (Top Secret memorandum on "Geo-Magnetics," November 21, 1950.)
Dr. Paul Santorini, Greek physicist and engineer credited with developing the proximity fuse for the Hiroshima atomic bomb, two patents for the guidance system used in the U.S. Nike missiles, and a centrimetric radar system. In 1947, he investigated a series of UFO reports over Greece that were initially thought to be Soviet missiles:
"We soon established that they were not missiles... Foreign scientists flew to Greece for secret talks with me... A world blanket of secrecy surrounded the UFO question because the authorities were unwilling to admit the existence of a force against which we had no possibility of defense." (Fowler, R., UFOs: Interplanetary Visitors, 1974.)
Senator Barry M. Goldwater, Sr., (R-Arizona), Republican presidential candidate, 1964:
"The subject of UFOs is one that has interested me for some long time. About ten or twelve years ago, I made an effort to find out what was in the building at Wright Patterson Air Force Base where the information is stored that has been collected by the Air Force, and I was understandably denied the request. It is still classified above Top Secret." (Good, T., Above Top Secret, Quill William Morrow, 1988; Frontispiece, letter to Shlomo Arnon, March 28, 1975.)
Representative Steven H. Schiff, (R-New Mexico), in response to inquiries in 1993 concerning a possible cover-up of the crash of an alleged UFO outside Roswell, NM in 1947, requested information from the Department of Defense:
"It's difficult for me to understand, even if there was a legitimate security concern in 1947, that it would be a present security concern these many years later. Frankly I am baffled by the lack of responsiveness on the part of the Defense Dept. on this one issue, I simply can't explain it." (Remarks on CBS radio's The Gil Gross Show, February 1994.)
UFOs: CHALLENGE FOR TODAY'S SCIENCE
Dr. J. Allen Hynek, Chairman of the Department of Astronomy at Northwestern University and scientific consultant to the U.S. Air Force investigations of UFOs from 1948 until 1969 (Projects Sign, Grudge and Blue Book):
"There exists a phenomenon... that is worthy of systematic rigorous study... The body of data point to an aspect or domain of the natural world not yet explored by science... When the long awaited solution to the UFO problem comes, I believe that it will prove to be not merely the next small step in the march of science but a mighty and totally unexpected quantum jump." (Hynek, J. Allen, The UFO Experience: A Scientific Inquiry, Chicago: Regnery Co., 1972.)
Dr. Felix Y. Zigel, Professor of mathematics and astronomy at the Moscow Aviation Institute, father of Russian Ufology:
16
"The important thing now is for us to discard any preconceived notions about UFOs and to organize on a global scale a calm, sensation-free and strictly scientific study of this strange phenomenon. The subject and aims of the investigation are so serious that they justify all efforts. It goes without saying that international cooperation is vital." (Zigel, F., "Unidentified Flying Objects," Soviet Life, No. 2 (137), February 1968.)
M. Robert Galley, French Minister of Defense (1974):
"I believe that the attitude of spirit that we must adopt vis-a-vis this phenomena is an open one, that is to say that it doesn't consist in denying apriori, as our ancestors of previous centuries did deny many things that seem nowadays perfectly elementary." (Bourret, Jean-Claude, La nouvelle vague des soucoups volantes, Paris: editions france-empire, 1975.)
Dr. Peter A. Sturrock, Professor of Space Science and Astrophysics and Deputy Director of the Center for Space Sciences and Astrophysics at Stanford University:
"The definitive resolution of the UFO enigma will not come about unless and until the problem is subjected to open and extensive scientific study by the normal procedures of established science. This requires a change in attitude primarily on the part of scientists and administrators in universities." (Sturrock, Peter A., Report on a Survey of the American Astronomical Society concerning the UFO Phenomenon, Stanford University Report SUIPR 68IR, 1977.)
UFOs: THE EFFECT OF RIDICULE
Admiral Roscoe Hillenkoetter (see above):
"It is time for the truth to be brought out in open Congressional hearings. Behind the scenes high ranking Air Force officers are soberly concerned about the UFOs. But through official secrecy and ridicule, many citizens are led to believe the unknown flying objects are nonsense." (Statement in a NICAP news release, February 27, 1960.)
Dr. Frank B. Salisbury, Professor of Plant Physiology at Utah State University:
"I must admit that any favorable mention of the flying saucers by a scientist amounts to extreme heresy and places the one making the statement in danger of excommunication by the scientific theocracy. Nevertheless, in recent years I have investigated the story of the unidentified flying object (UFO), and I am no longer able to dismiss the idea lightly." (Paper on "Exobiology" presented at the First Annual Rocky Mountain Bioengineering Symposium, May 1964. Quoted in Fuller, John G., Incident at Exeter, Putnam, 1966.)
Representative Jerry L. Pettis, (R-California), stated in 1968 during the House Committee on Science and Astronautics UFO hearings:
"Having spent a great deal of my life in the air, as a pilot... I know that many pilots... have seen phenomena that they could not explain. These men, most of whom have talked to me, have been very reticent to talk about this publicly,
17
because of the ridicule that they were afraid would be heaped upon them... However, there is a phenomena here that isn't explained." (U.S. House of Representatives, Ninetieth Congress, July 1968.)
Dr. Peter A. Sturrock (see above):
"In their public statements (but not necessarily in their private statements), scientists express a generally negative attitude towards the UFO problem, and it is interesting to try to understand this attitude. Most scientists have never had the occasion to confront evidence concerning the UFO phenomenon. To a scientist, the main source of hard information (other than his own experiments' observations) is provided by the scientific journals. With rare exceptions, scientific journals do not publish reports of UFO observations. The decision not to publish is made by the editor acting on the advice of reviewers. This process is self-reinforcing: the apparent lack of data confirms the view that there is nothing to the UFO phenomenon, and this view works against the presentation of relevant data." (Sturrock, Peter A., Journal of Scientific Exploration, Vol. 1, No. 1, 1987.)
18
THE UFO BRIEFING DOCUMENT CASE HISTORIES
INTRODUCTION
UFOs, under one name or another, have been described throughout history in ancient texts and paintings. Researchers place the beginning of the modern UFO era in the mid-1940s. Since then, strange sightings have been reported by tens of thousands of people from all parts of the world. Officials have exerted great effort to convince the public that UFOs have no validity and that they are no more than mistaken observations of natural phenomena and man-made objects.
To be sure, most sightings of UFOs can be explained as honestly mistaken responses to bright stars and planets, unusual clouds, unfamiliar airplanes, balloons and satellites. These are known in UFO literature as Identified Flying Objects or IFOs. Most cases are IFOs, but not all. A large number of credible UFO reports have been triggered by the appearance of "manufactured devices" which cannot be tied to known aircraft or spacecraft, after thorough analysis by competent investigators. Because of their appearance and/or behavior, they fall well outside the limits of known technology.
There is hardly a single country which has not experienced sightings in the past 50 years, most of which were never reported in UFO literature. The world's largest non-governmental collection of UFO sightings which have been reported (UFOCAT) includes more than 50,000 cases. This total far exceeds the 12,500 reports in the Project Blue Book files. Of the UFOCAT cases, there are approximately 14,240 from Europe, 4,160 from South America, 4,300 from Oceania, 735 from Africa and 27,450 from North America. The most active European countries include Great Britain with almost 7,000, France with 2,320, Germany with 1,260 and Spain with 1,200. Australia has had 3,220. In South America, the most active countries have been Argentina with 1,425 and Brazil with 1,125. Even Antarctica has had almost 50 reports.21
The case for UFO reality rests on the accumulation of reports which cannot be explained as "normal phenomena." Because of similar characteristics of appearance (shape, details) and/or behavior (maneuverability, speed, silence, etc.), they cannot be correlated with anything familiar, and therefore, must be placed in a separate category. These cases are represented in the Project Blue Book files by the approximately 600 officially unexplained cases. However, other investigating organizations report much higher numbers of unexplained cases.
Since the presentation of hundreds of cases would be completely impractical, a few prime examples which are particularly well-documented and which reveal particular characteristics are in order.
_______________________________________ FOOTNOTES 21. UFOCAT, a computerized catalog maintained by the Center for UFO Studies, Chicago, Illinois. By the end of 1993, it included 50,939 reports.
19
THE UFO BRIEFING DOCUMENT CASE HISTORIES
15th CENTURY ART
FILIPPO LIPPI's MADONNA
Painting of the Madonna and Saint Giovannino, in the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence, attrbuted to the 15th Century school of filippo Lippi. Photographs courtesy of CUFOS.
20
A close-up of the upper left section of the painting shows an object in the sky, and below, a man and dog looking at the object
Further enlargement shows an oval or discoid craft with radiating gold spikes of light painted around its perimeter. In other words, what today would be called a UFO.
21
THE UFO BRIEFING DOCUMENT CASE HISTORIES
1944-45: "FOO FIGHTERS" OVER EUROPE AND ASIA
Although reports of sightings, which were eventually termed "UFOs," can be traced far back into history, students of the subject have arbitrarily placed the beginning of the modern era in the mid-1940s with the appearance of UFOs over both the European and Pacific Theaters of War. These UFOs were called by many names, all of which revealed a lack of understanding of their nature and source. To the Allies, they were "kraut fireballs" or "foo fighters," with the latter term surviving. It is believed that the Germans and Japanese saw them also.
Reports of "unexplained transparent, metallic and glowing balls" began in quantity in June, 1944, at about the same time the Allies invaded France, and Nazi Germany began launching V-1 flying bombs aimed at London, thus starting the era of unmanned missiles. Reports intensified in November 1944, not long after the first German V-2 ballistic rockets were fired at London and Paris.
Pilots and their air crews reported that the "odd things" flew in formation with their airplanes, "played tag" with them, and generally behaved as if they were under intelligent control. At no time were they said to have displayed aggressive behavior. Nevertheless, most people assumed they were an experimental enemy device being prepared for operational use. Rumors of highly advanced weapons were common at this time, fed by the awesome reality of the V1 and V2 weapons. The following are typical of the scores of "foo fighter" reports on record. Rumors persist that the U.S. Eighth Air Force in England commissioned a study on these reports, but no documentary evidence has yet been found.
On August 10, 1944 over the Indian Ocean, the co-pilot of a U.S. Army Air Force B-29 Superfortress heavy bomber reported that:
"A strange object was pacing us about 500 yards [475 m.] off the starboard wing. At that distance it appeared as a spherical object, probably five or six feet [1_ - 2 m.] in diameter, of a very bright and intense red or orange... it seemed to have a halo effect. "My gunner reported it coming in from about a 5 o'clock position (right rear) at our level. It seemed to throb or vibrate constantly. Assuming it was some kind of radio-controlled object sent to pace us, I went into evasive action, changing direction constantly, as much as 90 degrees and altitude of about 2,000 feet [600 m.]. It followed our every maneuver for about eight minutes, always holding a position about 500 yards [475 m.] out and about 2 o'clock (right front) in relation to the plane. When it left, it made an abrupt 90 degree turn, accelerating rapidly, and disappeared into the overcast."22
On December 22, 1944 over Hagenau, Germany, the pilot and radar operator of an American night fighter encountered two "large orange glows" which climbed rapidly towards them. When the pilot dove steeply and banked sharply, the objects stayed with him. The pilot stated:
"Upon reaching our altitude, they levelled off and stayed on my tail... After two minutes, they peeled off and turned away, flying under perfect control."23
22
Documents regarding foo fighter incidents are still being discovered even 50 years after the end of World War II. In 1992, researcher Barry Greenwood of Citizens Against UFO Secrecy (CAUS) went to the National Archives in Suitland, Maryland and located fifteen "Mission Reports" from the 415th Night Fighter Squadron, covering a period between September 1944 and April 1945. Here are two samples:
"December 22/23, 1944 - Mission 1, 17:05-18:50. Put on bogie by Blunder at 17:50 hours, had A.I. [Airborne Intercept radar] contact 4 miles range at Q-7372. Overshot and could not pick up contact again. A.I. went out and weather started closing in so returned to base. Observed 2 lights, one of which seemed to be going on and off at Q-2422. "February 13/14, 1945 - Mission 2, 18:00-20:00. About 19:10, between Rastatt and Bishwiller, encountered lights at 3,000 feet, two sets of them, turned into them, one set went out and the other went straight up 2-3,000 feet [600 - 900 m.], then went out. Turned back to base and looked back and saw lights in their original position again."24
Suggested explanations, both at the time and subsequently, have included prototype enemy anti-aircraft devices, St. Elmo's fire (glowing balls of static electricity) and simple misidentification of other airplanes.25
In order to accept any of the above explanations, one would have to discount the observational skills of scores of veteran combat pilots and their crew members whose very survival depended on their ability to instantly identify and react to any potential threat.
_______________________________________ FOOTNOTES 22. Clark, Jerome, and Farish, Lucius, "The Mysterious 'Foo Fighters' of World War II," 1977 UFO Annual. 23. Ibid. 24. Greenwood, Barry, "More Foo-Fighter Records Released," Just Cause, No. 33, CAUS, September 1992. 25. Chamberlain, Jo, "The Foo Fighter Mystery," The American Legion Magazine,December 1965; Associated Press article, "Nazi Fire Balls May Be Kind of Ball Lightning," New York Herald Tribune,January 3, 1945; other miscellaneous press reports.
23
THE UFO BRIEFING DOCUMENT CASE HISTORIES
1946: "GHOST ROCKETS" OVER SCANDINAVIA
Barely a year after the "foo fighter" episodes, the second wave of UFO sightings began, this time in Scandinavia.
On the night of June 9, 1946, a brilliant light streaked over Helsinki, Finland, with a smoke trail and the sound of thunder; its luminous trail persisted for ten minutes. Had this not been repeated the next night, it would have been written off as an unusually large meteor. The second one, according to news reports, turned and went back in the direction from which it had come.
On June 12, the Swedish Defense Staff asked military personnel to report their sightings through official channels, admitting that they had been aware of the phenomenon since May. On July 9 alone, more than 200 reports were received, many of them describing tubular or "spindle-shaped" objects flying low and slowly, with little or no sound.
A week after the establishment of a special "ghost rocket" committee by the Swedish Government, American Secretary of the Navy, James Forrestal, travelled to Stockholm to meet with the Swedish Secretary of War. According to a secret FBI memo of August 19, 1947, "the 'high brass' of the War Department exerted tremendous pressure on the (Army) Air Force's Intelligence to conduct research and collect information in an effort to identify the sightings."
On August 11, 1946, more than 300 reports of strange sightings were observed in just the Stockholm area. On August 20, General Jimmy Doolittle (in Stockholm on business for the Shell Oil Company) met with the head of the Swedish Air Force. This led to wide speculation in the Swedish press, as well as The New York Times, that "ghost rockets" were the subject of the meeting. In the 1980s, however, in an interview with UFO researchers, General Doolittle denied that his Swedish trip was officially connected with the "ghost rockets," although it is certainly likely that the subject came up in casual conversation.
Soon thereafter, Swedish newspapers began censoring most reports of "ghost rockets." However, reports appeared in other Scandinavian countries. According to a British Air Ministry Intelligence Report of September 1946:
"A large number of visual observations have been obtained from Scandinavia. Some of the best came from Norway. An analysis suggests the most notable characteristics of the projectiles to be: a) great speed; b) intense light frequently associated with missile; c) lack of sound; d) approximate horizontal flight... Thus, if the phenomena now observed are of natural origin, they are unusual; sufficiently unusual to make possible the alternative explanation that at least some are missiles. If this is so, they must be of Russian origin."28
There was a concerted effort on the part of the Swedish Government to blame many of the sightings on Soviet tests of captured German rockets. The Soviet Union had occupied Peenemünde, the secret German test site across the Baltic Sea, where the V1 and V2 missiles were developed. Years later it was learned that the captured German equipment was immediately moved to Poland. There were no Soviet tests at Peenemünde, and thus the "official" explanation for the "ghost rockets" proved impossible.
24
As reports from Scandinavia began to taper off in September 1946, they were replaced by reports of similar sightings from Hungary, Greece, Morocco and Portugal. In 1984, when the Swedish Government finally opened its "ghost rocket" files, researchers found more than 1,500 reports had been secretly collected from 1946 on. One of the few official American reactions to the "ghost rockets" came in the January 9, 1947 issue of the Defense Department's Intelligence Review (classified "Secret" until 1978). This four-page summary of the "ghost rocket" events suggests that some of the sightings may have been of Soviet test missiles or jet airplanes (although no jets are known to have been in or near Scandinavia at the time).29
One sighting, detailed in the FBI report cited above, suggests there may have been more to it:
"On 14, August (1946) at 10 a.m. [a Swedish Air Force pilot]... was flying at 650 feet [200 m.] over central Sweden when he saw a dark, cigar-shaped object about 50 feet [15 m.] above and approximately 6,500 feet [2 km.] away from him travelling at an estimated 400 mph [650 km./hr.]. The missile had no visible wings, rudder or other projecting part; and there was no indication of any fuel exhaust (flame or light), as had been reported in the majority of other sightings. "The missile was maintaining a constant altitude over the ground and, consequently, was following the large features of the terrain. This statement casts doubt on the reliability of the entire report because a missile, without wings, is unable to maintain a constant altitude over hilly terrain."30
Many years later, sophisticated cruise missiles, with tiny wings that would be invisible at such a distance, would be able to achieve "terrain-following" flight as a matter of routine. In 1946, this was far beyond the capability of any existing technology.
Perhaps the lingering mystery of the "ghost rockets" was best expressed by Air Engineer Eric Malmberg, once secretary of Sweden's Defence Staff committee on the matter, who was interviewed forty years later. Mr. Malmberg stated:
"I would like to say that everyone on the committee, as well as the chairman himself, was sure that the observed phenomena didn't originate from the Soviet Union. Nothing pointed to that solution. "On the other hand, if the observations are correct, many details suggest that it was some kind of a cruise missile that was fired on Sweden. But nobody had that kind of sophisticated technology in 1946."31
_______________________________________ FOOTNOTES 28. British Air Ministry Report, "Investigation of Reported Missile Activity Over Scandinavia," September 9, 1946. 29. Intelligence Review, Number 49, January 9, 1947, "Ghost Rockets Over Scandinavia." 30. FBI Report, ibid 31. Liljegren, Anders & Svahn, Clas, "Ghost Rockets and Phantom Aircraft," paper in the anthology Phenomenon - Forty Years of Flying Saucers, Avon Books, 1989.
25
THE UFO BRIEFING DOCUMENT CASE HISTORIES
1947: FIRST AMERICAN SIGHTING WAVE
Cover of International UFO Reporter showing a photograph of Kenneth Arnold, his original sketches and a reconstruction of the flying wing he saw, which led to the name of flying saucers. Insert lower right shows Arnold's original sketch for Army Intelligence. Courtesy of CUFOS.
The first major wave of American sightings produced more than a thousand reports, the term "flying saucer," and the first confirmed investigations by the U.S. Government. The reports were from all 48 states, mainly of round objects seen in the daytime. For two weeks, especially around the July Fourth weekend, newspapers and radio broadcasts were full of stories of flying saucers and flying discs. Early official studies concluded that they were real and unexplained.
It began on the afternoon of June 24, 1947 with the sighting of a formation of strange high-speed objects. Kenneth Arnold, flying his single-engine Callair airplane over southwestern Washington State, had interrupted his business trip to assist in the search for a missing military transport plane. From the official U.S. Army Air Force's report on the event:
"I hadn't flown more than two or three minutes on my (new) course when a bright flash reflected on my airplane. It startled me as I thought I was too close to some other aircraft. I looked every place in the sky and couldn't find where the reflection had come from until I looked to the left and the north of Mt. Rainier where I observed a chain of nine peculiar looking aircraft flying from north to south at
26
approximately 9,500 feet [3,000 m.] elevation and going, seemingly, in a definite direction of about 170 degrees. "They were approaching Mt. Rainier very rapidly, and I merely assumed they were jet planes. Anyhow, I discovered that this was where the reflection had come from, as two or three of them every few seconds would dip or change their course slightly, just enough for the sun to strike them at an angle that reflected brightly at my plane. "I thought it was very peculiar that I couldn't find their tails but assumed they were some kind of jet plane. I was determined to clock their speed, as I had two definite points I could clock them by; the air was so clear that it was very easy to see objects and determine their approximate shape and size at almost 50 miles [80 km.] that day. "[The clock]... on my instrument panel, read one minute to 3 p.m. as the first object of this formation passed the southern edge of Mt. Rainier... I would estimate their elevation could have varied a thousand feet [300 m.], one way or another, up or down, but they were pretty much on the horizon to me, which would indicate they were near the same elevation as I was. "They seemed to hold a definite direction but rather swerved in and out of the high mountain peaks. Their speed at the time did not impress me particularly, because I knew that our army and air forces had planes that went very fast. "What kept bothering me as I watched them flip and flash in the sun right along their path was the fact that I couldn't make out any tail on them, and I am sure that any pilot would justify more than a second look at such a plane. "I observed them quite plainly, and I estimated my distance from them, which was almost at right angles, to be between 20 and 25 miles [30-40 km.]. I knew they must be very large to observe their shape at the distance, even on as clear a day as it was that Tuesday. In fact I compared a... fastener or cowling tool I had in my pocket with them - holding it up on them and holding it up on the DC-4 (airliner) - that I could observe at quite a distance to my left, and they seemed smaller than the DC-4; but, I should judge their span would have been as wide as the furthest engines on each side of the fuselage of the DC-4. [Note: this span is about 55 ft. or 16 m.]. "I could quite accurately determine their pathway due to the fact there were several high peaks that were a little this side of them as well as higher peaks on the other side of their pathway. "As the last unit of this formation passed the southernmost high snow-covered crest of Mt. Adams, I looked at my sweep second hand and it showed that they had travelled the distance in one minute and 42 seconds. Even at the time, this timing did not upset me as I felt confident that after I landed there would be some explanation of what I had seen. [Note: 48 miles in 1:42 seconds works out to 1,700 mph or 2,700 km./hr., at a time when the official World Speed Record was 624 mph or 1,000 km./hr.] "A number of newsmen and experts suggested that I might have been seeing reflections or even a mirage. This I know to be absolutely false, as I observed these objects not only through the glass of my airplane but turned by my airplane sideways where I could open my window and observe them with a completely
27
unobstructed view, without sun glasses... They seemed longer than wide, their thickness was about 1/20th of their width."32
To accompany his statement, Arnold added a simple sketch of one of the objects: a circle with the rear flattened or clipped off. (See above.)
It was not known at the time, but others had seen formations of strange objects in the Pacific Northwest on the same day. That morning, five or six discs were seen banking and circling from the same Cascade Mountain Range over which Arnold had been flying during his sighting; at 2:30 p.m., three flat discs were seen tilting as they flew from Richland, Washington, 100 miles [160 km.] to the east; at 3 p.m., a man saw nine discs in formation from Mineral, Washington, almost directly beneath Arnold's airplane.
The conclusion drawn later by Project Blue Book was that Arnold had failed to identify some conventional airplanes. No specifics were suggested, as there were no circular, disc or similarly shaped airplanes flying in or near the U.S., nor any airplanes in the world capable of even half the speed at which he clocked the formation. The other sightings of formations in the same area do appear in newspaper reports, but not in the official files.
This marked the beginning of the 1947 UFO sighting wave. A study of newspapers by Ted Bloecher lists 832 sighting reports between June 15 and July 15. An expansion of his study, still in progress, is expected to raise the total to at least 1,500 separate reports, including many from outside the United States.33
The files of Project Blue Book show barely 50 reports for the period. Nevertheless, the first known official study of the 1947 sighting wave concluded, from just 13 of those reports: "From detailed study of reports selected for their impression of veracity and reliability, several conclusions have been formed:
"(a) This 'flying saucer' situation is not all imaginary or seeing too much in some natural phenomena. Something is really flying around. "(b) Lack of topside inquiries, when compared to the prompt and demanding inquiries that have originated topside upon former events, give more than ordinary weight to the possibility that this is a domestic project about which the President, etc., know. "Whatever the objects are, this much can be said of their physical appearance: "1. The surface of these objects is metallic, indicating a metallic skin, at least. "2. When a trail is observed, it is lightly colored, a blue-brown haze, that is similar to a rocket engine's exhaust. Contrary to a rocket of the solid type, one observation indicates that the fuel may be throttled which would indicate a liquid rocket engine. "3. As to shape, all observations state that the object is circular or at least elliptical, flat on the bottom and slightly domed on the top. The size estimates place it somewhere near the size of a C-54 or a Constellation. [Note: 1940s airliners had a wingspan of 120 ft. or 35 m., and length of 95 ft. or 30 m.] "4. Some reports describe two tabs, located at the rear and symmetrical about the axis of flight motion. "5. Flights have been reported, from three to nine of them, flying good formation
28
on each other, with speeds always above 300 kts. [350 mph or 650 km/hr.]. "6. The discs oscillate laterally while flying along, which could be snaking."34
Official interest in the phenomena was demonstrated in a famous September 1947 memo from General Nathan D. Twining, Chief of the Air Materiel Command at Wright-Field, Ohio, who stated:
"a. The phenomena reported is something real and not visionary or fictitious. "b. There are objects probably approximating the shape of a disc, of such appreciable size as to appear to be as large as a man-made aircraft. "c. There is a possibility that some of the incidents may be caused by natural phenomena, such as meteors. "d. The reported operating characteristics such as extreme rates of climb, maneuverability (particularly in roll), and action which must be considered evasive when sighted or contacted by friendly aircraft and radar, lend belief to the possibility that some of the objects are controlled either manually, automatically, or remotely."35
Following other studies and reports, the U.S. Air Force instituted its first announced UFO investigation in January 1948: Project Sign.
_______________________________________ FOOTNOTES 32. Arnold, Kenneth, report to the U.S. Army Air Force, June 1947. Reprinted in Steiger, Brad, ed., Project Blue Book, Ballantine Books, 1976. 33. Bloecher, Ted, Report on the UFO Wave of 1947, NICAP, 1968. 34. Study by Air Force Base Intelligence Report, "Flying Discs," ibid. 35. Twining, Gen. Nathan, Memo to Commanding General Army Air Forces re "AMC Opinion Concerning 'Flying Discs'," September 23, 1947. 36. Ruppelt, Edward J., The Report on Unidentified Flying Objects, Doubleday & Co., 1956.
29
THE UFO BRIEFING DOCUMENT CASE HISTORIES
1952: SECOND AMERICAN SIGHTING WAVE
From 1947 through 1951, the U.S. Air Force UFO investigation (at first Project Sign, then Project Grudge and by 1952 Project Blue Book) had logged 700 UFO reports, an average of just over 150 per year. The staff had yet to encounter much pressure, or much attention from the press or the public. It was a fairly routine military intelligence gathering effort.36
This was the situation until the middle of 1952. The year started out as the previous one had begun, with fewer than one sighting per day in the first three months. In April and May, the flow increased to three per day, with the rate doubling in June. For the first half of the year, there had been 300 reports, at four times the annual rate, and still the peak had not been approached.
For the first three weeks of July, there was an average of eight reports per day, many of them coming from Air Force jet interceptor pilots sent aloft in response to radar or visual sightings from the ground. Starting on the 22nd and lasting through the 29th, reports jumped to an average of 27 per day. By the end of that extremely busy month, almost 400 reports had been recorded, which was more than in any previous full year.
The Project Blue Book office at Wright Field, Dayton, Ohio, was headed by Captain Edward Ruppelt, whose tiny staff was completely overwhelmed by the volume of work. Reports poured in by mail, teletype, telephone and messenger faster than they could be processed, let alone investigated. They were stacked up with vague plans to investigate when things finally calmed down.
As important as the sheer number of reports received was the particular nature of some of them, especially those from three nights of intense activity over Washington, D.C. On July 19/20, July 26/27 and August 2/3, the skies above the nation's capital were crowded with UFOs darting here and there, over the White House, over the Capitol Building, over the Pentagon.
They were seen from the ground and from control towers at Washington National Airport, Bolling Air Force Base across the Potomac River, and from nearby Andrews Air Force Base. They were also tracked on radar from all three airfields, as radar operators conferred by telephone to ensure they were tracking the same targets. (See below) In many instances, airline pilots flying in the area were able to provide visual confirmation of radar tracking.
The appearance of unidentified objects flying with impunity over the heart of the American government and its military establishment was embarrassing to the Department of Defense, whose responsibility it was to protect the country from airborne intrusion. A flood of questions from reporters led the U.S. Air Force to call its biggest press conference since World War II.
30
Captain Edward J. Ruppelt [standing], director of Project Blue Book, and Major General Samford, Chief of Air Intelligence. Photograph courtesy of United Press InternationalPhoto.
Diagram of the UFOs tracked by Washington's National Airport radar scope on July 20, 1952. At A, 7 objects approach the Nation's capital from the south. At B, some are seen over the White House and Capitol. At C, they appear over Andrews Air Force Base. At D, one UFO tracks an airliner. At E, one is seen to make a sharp right-angular turn. Courtesy of UFOs - A Pictorial History From Antiquity to the Present, by David C. Knight. (McGraw Hill Book Co., 1979.)
It was held in Room 3E-369 of the Pentagon, and was presided over by Air Force Intelligence Chief, Major General John Samford. The main explanation given for the rash of sightings over Washington was something called a "temperature inversion," which is the immediate cause of a mirage. General Samford suggested that lights on the ground may have looked like they were in the air because an inversion can act like an "air lens" and bend light rays. He added that something similar could have "tricked" radar into thinking it was tracking aerial targets, which were actually ground objects.37
The press left the 1_ hour conference confused, but convinced that the UFOs were no more than atmospheric phenomena. It wasn't until 1969 that an Air Force scientific report made it clear that inversions strong enough to create the effects with which General Samford credited them, could not exist in the earth's atmosphere! Moreover, probably no UFO report had ever been caused by a temperature inversion or mirage.38
The same day that General Samford held his press conference, the wheels began to turn at the Central Intelligence Agency. A memo from Ralph Clark, Acting Assistant Director for Scientific Intelligence to the Deputy Director for Intelligence, stated:
"In the past several weeks, a number of radar and visual sightings of unidentified aerial objects have been reported. Although this office has maintained a continuing review of such reputed sightings during the past three years, a special study group has been formed to review this subject to date."39
31
A few days later, a note was sent to Mr. Clark by Edward Tauss:
"...so long as a series of reports remains 'unexplainable' (interplanetary aspects and alien origin not being thoroughly excluded from consideration), caution requires that intelligence continue coverage of the subject."40
CIA interest in the UFO phenomenon increased and led to a secret panel of five prominent scientists, convened in January 1953. The "Scientific Panel on Unidentified Flying Objects" was chaired by astrophysicist Dr. H. P. Robertson and included Dr. Luis Alvarez, (who received the Nobel Prize for Physics many years later), Dr. Thornton Page of John Hopkins University and later NASA Johnson Space Center, and other top scientists. The negative conclusions of the so-called Robertson Panel would exert tremendous influence on all federal policy vis-a-vis UFOs. The Panel recommended in part:
"That the national security agencies take immediate steps to strip the unidentified flying objects of the special status they have unfortunately acquired."41
_______________________________________ FOOTNOTES 36. Ruppelt, Edward J., The Report on Unidentified Flying Objects, Doubleday & Co., 1956. 37. Transcript of General Samford's press conference at the Pentagon, July 29, 1952. 38. Menkello, F.V., ibid. 39. CIA memorandum to the Deputy Director/Intelligence, July 29, 1952, re "Recent Sightings of Unexplained Objects." 40. Informal CIA memorandum to Deputy Assistant Director/SI, August 1, 1952, re "Flying Saucers." 41. Central Intelligence Agency, "Report of the Scientific Panel on Unidentified Flying Objects," January 1953.
32
THE UFO BRIEFING DOCUMENT CASE HISTORIES
1956: RADAR/VISUAL JET CHASE OVER ENGLAND
On the night of August 13-14, 1956, radar operators at two military bases in the east of England repeatedly tracked single and multiple objects which displayed high speed, as well as rapid changes of speed and direction. Two jet interceptors were sent up, and were able to see and track them in a brief series of maneuvers. According to official U.S. Air Force reports, the sightings could not be explained by radar malfunction or by unusual weather.42
It began at 9:30 p.m. when Airman 2nd Class John Vaccare, of the U.S. Air Force at RAF Bentwaters, tracked one UFO on his Ground Controlled Approach radar (type AN/MPN-11A) as it flew 40-50 miles (65 to 80 km.) in 30 seconds, i.e. 4,800 to 6,000 mph (7,500 to 9,500 km./hr.).
A few minutes later Vaccare reported to T/Sergeant L. Whenry that a group of 12 to 15 unidentified targets was tracked from 8 miles (13 km.) southwest of Bentwaters to 40 miles (65 km.) northeast, at which time they "appeared to converge into one very large object, according to the size of the blip on the radar scope, which seemed to be several times larger than a B-36 aircraft [the largest operational bomber in history, with a wingspan of 230 feet or 70 m.]." The single large blip stopped twice for several minutes while being tracked, before flying off the scope.
At 10 p.m., a single unidentified target was tracked from Bentwaters as it covered 55 miles (90 km.) in just 16 seconds. This works out to over 12,000 mph (19,000 km./hr.).
Then, at 10:55 p.m., the Bentwaters GCA radar picked up an unidentified target on the same east-to-west course as the previous one, at an apparent speed of "2,000 to 4,000 mph" (3,200 to 6,400 km./hr.). Someone in the Bentwaters control tower reported seeing "a bright light passing over the field from east to west at about 4,000 feet [1,200 m.]." At about the same time, the pilot of a C-47 twin-engine military transport plane over Bentwaters said, "a bright light streaked under my aircraft travelling east to west at terrific speed." All three reports coincided.
Soon after, radars at Bentwaters and RAF Lakenheath reported a stationary object 20-25 miles (32-40 km.) southwest of the latter base. It suddenly began moving north at 400 to 600 mph (650 to 1,000 km./hr.), but "there was no build-up to this speed - it was constant from the second it started to move until it stopped." It made several abrupt changes of direction without appearing to slow for its turns.43
Around 11:30 p.m., the RAF launched a deHavilland Venom jet interceptor, from RAF Waterbeach. According to the U.S. Air Force UFO report:
"Pilot advised he had a bright white light in sight and would investigate. At 13 miles [20 km.] west he reported loss of target and white light. Lakenheath (radar) vectored him to a target 10 miles [16 km.] east of Lakenheath and pilot advised (that) target was on his radar and was 'locking on.' Pilot then reported he had lost target on his radar. "Lakenheath GCA reports that as the Venom passed the target on radar, the target began a tail chase of the friendly fighter. Radar requested pilot acknowledge this chase. Pilot acknowledged
33
and stated he would try to circle and get behind the target. Pilot advised he was unable to 'shake' the target off his tail and requested assistance. "One additional Venom was scrambled from RAF station. Original pilot stated: 'Clearest target I have ever seen on radar.'"
The following conversation between the two Venom fighter pilots was heard by the Lakenheath watch supervisor:
"Did you see anything?" [Pilot #2] "I saw something, but I'll be damned if I know what it was." [Pilot #1] "What happened?" [Pilot #2] "He - or it - got behind me and I did everything I could to get behind him and I couldn't. It's the damndest thing I've ever seen." [Pilot #1]44
The 1969 report by the Air Force-funded study at the University of Colorado under Dr. Edward U. Condon concluded:
"In summary, this is the most puzzling and unusual case in the radar-visual files. The apparent rational, intelligent behavior of the UFO suggests a mechanical device of unknown origin as the most probable explanation of this sighting. However, in view of the inevitable fallibility of witnesses, more conventional explanations of this report cannot be entirely ruled out." 45
_______________________________________ FOOTNOTES 42. USAF Air Intelligence Information Report filed by Captain Edward L. Holt, August 31, 1956. 43. Ibid. 44. Ibid. 45. Gillmor, Daniel S., ibid.
34
THE UFO BRIEFING DOCUMENT CASE HISTORIES
1957: THIRD AMERICAN SIGHTING WAVE
The third of the major American waves of UFO reports peaked in the first week46 of November 1957, with at least 30 accounts of electrical devices experiencing temporary failure in connection with a UFO sighting.
The files of Project Blue Book show 330 reports for that week, while the files of the private National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomena (NICAP) list almost 90 unexplained reports.
It started four weeks after the Soviet Union shocked the world by launching the first earth-orbiting satellite, Sputnik I, and a day before Sputnik II was orbited with a small dog as passenger. Public enthusiasm for searching the night sky for a glimpse of the first satellite had waned, and that for the second had not yet begun.
The most striking feature of this sighting wave was the concentration of "electromagnetic effect" cases around the west Texas town of Levelland. There were at least eight such reports in the space of 2.5 hours in an area to the west, north and east of Levelland:
"At 10:30 p.m. came the report from truck driver Pedro Saucedo, who described seeing a blue torpedo-shaped object with yellow flame and white smoke coming out of its rear. He estimated it was 200 feet [60 m.] long and 6 feet [2 m.] wide. He said it rose from a nearby field and roared low over his truck with a loud, explosive sound, and produced so much heat he got out of his truck and lay on the ground. 'It sounded like thunder, and my truck rocked from the blast.' He thought it came within 200-300 feet [60-90 m.]. His truck lights and engine failed while the UFO was in view; after it disappeared, his lights worked perfectly, and he was able to re-start the engine. "At Pettit, Texas, 10 miles [16 km.] to the northwest, two grain combines failed as a UFO flew past. "Shortly before midnight, Jim Wheeler reported seeing a large 200 ft. [60 m.] elliptical object on the road; as he drove toward it, his car lights and engine failed. The UFO rose and flew off, and when it blinked off, his lights came back on and he was able to re-start his engine. "At the same time, Jose Alvarez's car lights and engine died when he saw a glowing, 200-foot [60 m.] UFO nearby. After the object flew away, his lights came back on and he was able to re-start his engine. "At about 12:05 a.m., college student Newell Wright's car lights and engine failed. He got out to fix them, looked up and saw a glowing, bluish-green, flat-bottomed, oval object on the highway. The object was in sight for four or five minutes. During that time, Wright tried to start his engine, and while the starter made contact, the motor was unaffected. The object disappeared, straight up, and immediately the car lights came back on, the engine started, and then operated perfectly. "At 12:25 a.m., Frank Williams' car experienced a failure of its lights and engine, when a glowing, egg-shaped object appeared on or near the ground pulsating brightly. When it rose straight up, the car returned to normal. 'When it took off, it sounded like thunder.' "At 12:45 a.m., Ronald Martin's truck lights and engine stopped working when a round, glowing
35
UFO landed and changed from orange to blue-green. He said the glow was so bright it lit up the inside of his truck. The UFO then changed back to orange and took off straight up. The car lights came back on, and his engine re-started by itself! "At 1 a.m., some 17 miles [27 km.] to the north, Fire Marshall Ray Jones reported seeing a streak of light and at the same time his car lights dimmed and his engine almost quit. "At 1:15 a.m., James Long said he saw an elliptical UFO on the road ahead, and when he drove to within 200 feet [60 m.] of it, the lights and engine of his truck died. The UFO then shot up vertically with a sound like thunder, and the lights and engine returned to normal. "By 1:30 a.m., Hockley County Sheriff Weir Clem had heard so many reports that he decided to see for himself. He drove out with a deputy sheriff, and saw a large oval red light, though he did not experience electrical system problems. Years later he said: 'The object was shaped like a huge football and had bright white lights. The blinding lights flashed on, it went right over the car and was gone. No living human being could believe how fast it traveled. The whole thing was as bright as day; it lit up the whole area.'"48
Project Blue Book sent a single investigator to Levelland to check the reports. His explanation, accepted as the official Air Force conclusion, was that:
"... the major cause for the Levelland case was a severe electrical storm. The storm stimulated the populace into a high level of excitement. This excitement reflected itself in their reactions to ordinary circumstances, and resulted in the inflation of the stories of some of the witnesses concerning their experiences."49
Ten years after these incidents, atmospheric physicist Dr. James McDonald completed a study and determined that there had been no storm in the area, and thus no source of excessive moisture to interfere with the automobiles' electrical systems. With no "severe electrical storm" to "stimulate the populace into a high level of excitement," the official explanation falls apart.
_______________________________________ FOOTNOTES 46. Project Blue Book case files, U.S. National Archives, Washington, D.C. 47. Webb, Walter N., NICAP Field Investigation Report, 1957. 48. Project Blue Book report, "Levelland, Texas, November 2-4, 1957." 49. McDonald, James, "UFOs: Greatest Scientific Problem of Our Time?," lecture to the American Society of Newspaper Editors, Washington, D.C., April 22, 1967.
36
THE UFO BRIEFING DOCUMENT CASE HISTORIES
1958: BRAZILIAN NAVY PHOTOGRAPHIC CASE
On February 21, 1958, the Brazilian newspapers Correio de Manha and O Jornal published a sequence of clear daytime photographs showing an oval object with a ring in the center, flying off the island of Trindade in the South Atlantic Ocean. The photos were taken by a professional civilian photographer, Almiro Barauna, on board the Brazilian Navy training ship NE Almirante Saldanha, which was conducting research for the International Geophysical Year (IGY). The Navy at first kept the matter secret, but the photos were eventually given to the press by the President of Brazil, Juscelino Kubitschek.50
Map of Trindad Island showing the location of the ship and the trajectory of the UFO with the position where Barauna's photographs were taken.
Other high-ranking officials such as the Minister of the Navy, Admiral Alves Camera, were quoted in the press vouching for the photos. Following his weekly meeting with the President, the Minister told the United Press that "the Navy has a great secret which it cannot divulge because it cannot be explained."51 On February 27th, Deputy Sergio Magalhaes of the House of Representatives formally requested the Navy Ministry to answer several questions about the photos and other prior UFO observations at the IGY post, maintained by the Navy in Trindade Island.52
The Navy eventually released a detailed report on the matter entitled "Clarification of the observation of unidentified flying objects sighted on the Island of Trindade, in the period of 12/5/57 to 1/16/58," prepared by Captain of Corvette (CC), Carlos Alberto Ferreira Bacellar, Commander
37
of the Oceanographic Station at Trindade. The report begins with a short summary of four UFO sightings by Navy crewmen and workers at the station from early December 1957 to mid-January 1958, including a phenomenon seen by Captain Bacellar with a theodolite (a surveying instrument for measuring vertical and horizontal angles). Four observations occurred in daytime and one at night; one was considered likely to be a seagull.
The report then introduces Almiro Barauna as "a professional civilian photographer who was on deck in the stern of the ship, ready to photograph the operation of hoisting the launch," when he was "alerted about the UFO" and was able to take four photographs showing the object. The crucial details of the development of the film are discussed:
"That, after having taken the above-mentioned photographs, the photographer, in the presence of CC Bacellar and other persons, took the roll of film from the camera; later, in the company of this official he went to the darkroom of the ship (improvised in the infirmary), dressed as he was in shirt and shorts, and where he remained only ten minutes, presenting at once the negative of the film to CC Bacellar, who affirms having seen the above-mentioned UFO represented on the negative, although with much less clarity because the film was somewhat dark."53
An analysis of the facts in the report confirms there were may witnesses on deck of the Almirante Saldanha of "various qualifications - workmen, sailors, dentist, doctor, aviation officer and professional photographer," but no exact number is given. A report by Dr. Willy Smith, published by the Center for UFO Studies, indicates that "all in all, 48 ocular witnesses were on deck during the incident," although no source for this figure is provided. These included sailors, workers and the ship's dentist, as well as members of a civilian submarine diving group to which Baruana and Brazilian Air Force Captain (Ret.) J.T. Viejas belonged.54
Captain Viejas' eyewitness description of the incident was published in the Brazilian press:
"The first view was that of a disc shining with phosphorescent glow, which -even at daylight - appeared to be brighter than the moon. The object was about the apparent size (angular diameter) of the full moon. As it followed its path across the sky, changing to a tilted position, its real shape was clearly outlined against the sky: that of a flattened sphere encircled, at the equator, by a large ring or platform. Its speed was around 700 miles an hour [1,100 km./hr.] at the moment it disappeared into the horizon."
Captain Viejas added that the sighting occurred at 12:20 p.m., causing "a tremendous confusion aboard. Mr. Barauna found it very difficult to operate his camera, being pushed and pulled by excited observers around him."55 Neither CC Bacellar nor the Captain of the Almirante Saldanha, Jose Saldanha da Gama, observed the phenomenon, although they did see the commotion caused by the event.
Baruana gave detailed interviews to Brazilian reporters. His camera was a Rolleiflex 2.8 camera, model E, "set at speed 125, with the aperture at f/8." He shot the first two photos before the object disappeared behind the peak "Desejado." The UFO then reappeared, "bigger in size and flying in the opposite direction, but lower and closer than before, and moving at a higher speed. I shot the third photo." The fourth and fifth photos were lost when Barauna was pushed by other witnesses. The last photo in the roll of film was taken when the object was moving back toward the sea.
Barauna also disclosed that he had been interrogated for four hours at the Navy Ministry and that:
"Some days later I was called again. This time they [Navy] also asked for my Rolleiflex. They wanted to make tests in order to estimate, if possible, the speed of
38
the flying saucer at the moment of the sighting. The tests were performed. They showed that I had taken my six pictures in 14 seconds, and that the saucer was flying at 900 to 1,000 km./hr. [550 to 600 mph]."56
The negatives were analyzed by Navy and civilian experts from the Cruzeiro do Sul Aerophotogrammetric Service. The previously cited Navy document states that a technician from the Hydrographic Navy Department concluded there were no signs of tampering with the negatives which showed "the object photographed." A "more complete and thorough examination" was made by photo technicians from Cruzeiro do Sul (a private airline company), "including microscopic, for the verification of granulation, verification of signs, luminosity, and details of contour." The Cruzeiro experts concluded:
"There was on the above-mentioned negatives no sign of montage, all indicating it to be a negative of the object really photographed; "Any hypotheses of later montage were removed; it would be impossible to prove either the existence or nonexistence of prior montage, which requires, however, extreme technical skill and circumstances favorable to its execution."
The Navy's final conclusion was very cautious, due to Barauna's reputation as a highly skilled photographer with some experience in UFO montages, which he had previously shown while refuting the 1952 Barra de Tijuca UFO photo case. The report's two final conclusions regarding the photos are:
"That the strongest and most valid testimony, that of the photographer, loses its definitely convincing character given the technical impossibility of proving if there was or not previous photographic montage. "That, finally the existence of personal testimonies and of a photographer, of some value given the circumstances involved, permit the admission that there are indications of the existence of the UFO [underlined in the original]." 57
Enlargement of first UFO photograph taken by Barauna from a Brazilian Navy ship off Trindade Island. Insert shows enlargement of UFO itself.
39
Enlargement of second UFO photograph taken by Barauna. Photographs (both) courtesy of ICUFON Archives.
In contrast to the careful and neutral style of the Brazilian Navy report, the U.S. Naval Attaché in Rio, the Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI) and Project Blue Book at the Air Technical Intelligence Center (ATIC), did not hesitate to label the Trindade Island UFO photos as a notorious hoax. The ONI Information Report from the Naval Attaché, while containing valuable data about the case and the position of the Brazilian Navy, is written in a very slanted negative style. It labels Barauna as a man with "a long history of photographic trick shots" and suggests that "the whole thing is a fake publicity stunt put on by a crooked photographer, and the Brazilian Navy fell for it." The coup de grace, however, is the final concluding remark by Captain Sunderland, USN:
"It is the reporting officer's private opinion that a flying saucer would be unlikely at the very barren island of Trindade, as everyone knows Martians are extremely comfort loving creatures."58
Dr. J. Allen Hynek, Northwestern University astronomer serving as consultant to Project Blue Book, observed appropriately that "such bias and flippancy have no place in scientific investigations." 59
Likewise, Blue Book was quick to determine that "analysis of the Brazil picture by ATIC led to the conclusion that it was probably a hoax," although a "Record Card" admits that "this center [ATIC] has been unable to obtain copies of the photos."60 This, despite the fact that Barauna's photos were widely available to the press and several UFO organizations both in Brazil and the United States.
Olavo T. Fontes, the late pioneer Brazilian UFO investigator and medical doctor, compiled an extensive report on the case for the Aerial Phenomena Research Organization (APRO) in the U.S., with transcripts of all the official statements and interviews published in the Brazilian press.
40
Fontes disclosed additional sightings off Trindade Island, as well as other observations in the Atlantic Ocean from the Navy ships Tridente and Triunfo, and on the island of Fernando Noronha, located between Brazil and Africa, where "a U.S. guided missile and satellite tracking station" had just been set up. No official confirmation of the Noronha reports, however, was provided by Fontes.61
_______________________________________ FOOTNOTES 50. Fontes, Olavo T., M.D., "UAO Sightings Over Trindade," originally published in three parts in The A.P.R.O. Bulletin, Alamogordo, New Mexico, January, March, and May 1960; reprinted in full as "The Brazilian Navy UFO Sighting At The Island Of Trindade," Flying Saucers, Amherst, Wisconsin, Feb.'61. 51. United Press News wire from Rio de Janeiro, February 25, 1958; reprinted in Fontes, O.T., ibid. 52. Ibid. 53. 6 page document from the Brazilian Department of the Navy, General Staff of the Fleet, Subdivision of Information, "SUBJECT: Clarification of the observation of unidentified flying objects sighted on the Island of Trindade, in the period of 12/5/57 to 1/16/58." English translation in the papers of the late Dr. Edward U. Condon at the American Philosophical Society in Philadelphia. 54. Smith, Willy, "Trindade Revisited," International UFO Reporter, CUFOS, July/August 1983. 55. Fontes, O.T., ibid. 56. Interview with Almiro Barauna, O Globo, Rio de Janeiro, February 24, 1958; reprinted in Fontes, O.T., ibid. 57. Brazilian Navy report, ibid. 58. Sunderland, M., Capt., USN, ONI Information Report re "Brazilian Navy - Flying Saucer Photographed from ALMIRANTE SALDANHA," March 11, 1958; reprinted in Hynek, Dr. J. Allen, The Hynek UFO Report, Dell, 1977. 59. Hynek, ibid. 60. ATIC documents in the Condon papers at the American Philosophical Society in Philadelphia. 61. Fontes, O.T., ibid.
41
THE UFO BRIEFING DOCUMENT CASE HISTORIES
1964: LANDING CASE AT SOCORRO, NEW MEXICO
Until the experience of a small-town policeman in New Mexico, reports from persons claiming to have seen small beings in connection with UFOs on the ground (CE-III or Close Encounters of the Third Kind) were looked upon with considerable disfavor within the UFO research community. After the landing near Socorro, New Mexico, confirmed by a second reputable witness, attitudes changed. The years following this event produced an unprecedented flow of reports of high credibility and strangeness.
At about 5:45 p.m. on Friday, April 24, 1964 Socorro policeman Lonnie Zamora was chasing a speeding car when his attention was drawn to a peculiar sight in the sky. "At this time I heard a roar and saw a flame in the sky to the southwest some distance away." Thinking it might be an explosion connected with a building known to contain explosives, he forgot about the car chase, and sped off in the direction of the UFO.
The next time he saw it, it was on the ground, and from a distance it looked like a car that had overturned. As he drove closer, he could see that it resembled a large egg, sitting on one end and supported by slender legs. He stated:
"I saw two people in white coveralls very close to the object. One of these persons seemed to turn and look straight at my car and seemed startled -seemed to quickly jump somewhat. I don't recall noting any particular shape or possibly any hats or headgear. These persons appeared normal in shape -but possibly they were small adults or small kids."
As he drove closer, a small hill blocked his view of the object, though at one point he heard a noise like a door closing. When he could again see the object, there was no one near it. He drove as close as the rough terrain would permit, stopped, parked his police cruiser and got out, intending to walk toward the craft. At this point "I heard about two or three loud 'thumps,' like someone possibly hammering or shutting a door or doors hard. These 'thumps' were possibly a second or less apart."
The white-suited individuals were not seen after he heard the thumps. As he started towards the object, it began to roar:
"It started at a low frequency, but quickly the roar rose in frequency and in loudness... Flames were under the object... light blue and at bottom was a sort of orange color."
Assuming it might be about to explode, Zamora quickly hid behind his cruiser for protection. The roaring then stopped and he looked up to see it hovering a few feet above the ground. "It was so quiet you could have heard a pin drop." The vehicle then moved away slowly, gathering speed as it headed toward the dynamite shack, which it cleared by a few feet.
42
Map of Socorro landing site and Zamora's sketches of the object and its insignia, from the Project Blue Book case file. Courtesy of Brad Steiger.
At this time, Zamora was joined by a police sergeant who watched the craft fly away into the distance. Zamora and the sergeant then walked to where it had been parked, and noted charred and singed grass, underbrush and imprints in the ground corresponding to where the vehicle had landed.62
Within hours, Zamora was interviewed by U.S. Army Captain Richard T. Holder, Up-Range Commander of the White Sands Missile Range, and by FBI Special Agent Arthur Byrnes, Jr., the latter requesting that the FBI's involvement be kept secret. Zamora described the object to them:
"It was smooth - no windows or doors. As the roar started, it was still on or near the ground. There was red lettering of some type. The insignia was about 2.5 feet [75 cm.] high and about 2 feet [60 cm.] wide. It was in the middle of the object. The object was... aluminum-white."
He then drew a sketch of the object with the red "insignia": half of a circle over an inverted V with a vertical line inside and horizontal line below.63 (See map above.)
A day or two later, Dr. J. Allen Hynek arrived to investigate the report for the Air Force's Project Blue Book. In addition to questioning Zamora, Hynek measured and photographed the landing site. He located what appeared to be impressions in the ground made by the landing gear, as well as several small footprints.
The case received rapid and extensive press coverage, and the Air Force was under pressure to explain it as something less momentous than a landed spacecraft. Among the explanations considered and rejected were a rancher's helicopter and an experimental NASA lunar lander.
43
In the end, Project Blue Book declared the report "unsolved," and Major Hector Quintanilla, the project's final director, stated that there is no doubt that Lonnie Zamora saw an object which left quite an impression on him:
"There is also no question about Zamora's reliability. He is a serious police officer, a pillar of his church, and a man well versed in recognizing airborne vehicles in his area. He is puzzled by what he saw, and frankly, so are we. This is the best-documented case on record, and still we have been unable, in spite of thorough investigation, to find the vehicle or other stimulus that scared Zamora to the point of panic."64
_______________________________________ FOOTNOTES 62. Written statement by Lonnie Zamora to Project Blue Book, 1964; reprinted in Steiger, Brad, ed. Project Blue Book, ibid. 63. Ibid. 64. Quintanilla, Hector, "The Investigation of UFO's," Studies in Intelligence, Vol. 10, No. 4, Fall 1966.
44
THE UFO BRIEFING DOCUMENT CASE HISTORIES
1967: PHYSIOLOGICAL CASE AT FALCON LAKE, CANADA
The experience of Stephen Michalak in the Falcon Lake area in Manitoba, at noon on May 20, 1967, is a CE-II (Close Encounter of the Second Kind) on two counts: physical traces were found on the area where the UFO reportedly landed, and the witness experienced a series of physiological effects apparently linked to his close encounter with a metallic-looking, disc-shaped object. Michalak is an industrial mechanic from Winnipeg who was doing some amateur prospecting in the area.
Drawing with notes by Michalak of the landed UFO he encountered at Falcon Lake. Notice grill pattern (encircled) and compare to burn marks above. From the declassified files of the RCAF and
RCMP. Courtesy of ICUFON Archives.
The case was investigated extensively by Canadian authorities, the Condon Commission, and several civilian UFO groups from the U.S. and Canada. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), the Department of National Defense (DND), the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF), and the Manitoba Department of Health were some of the agencies involved. Canadian officials reacted quickly after some radioactive traces were detected in soil samples from the landing area as well as on Michalak's garments. Many reports and documents on the case were eventually released by the Canadian government. One document provides a full summary of the case and investigation:
"A Mr. Steven Michalak of Winnipeg, Manitoba reported that he had come into physical contact with a UFO during a prospecting trip in the Falcon Lake area, some 90 miles east of Winnipeg on the 20 May 67. Mr. Michalak stated that he was examining a rock formation when two UFOs appeared before him. One of the UFOs remained airborne in the immediate area for a few moments, then flew off at great speed. The second UFO landed a few hundred feet away from his position. As he approached the UFO, a side door opened and voices were heard coming from
45
within. "Mr. Michalak states he approached the object but was unable to see inside due to a bright yellow bluish light which blocked his vision. He endeavored to communicate with the personnel inside the object [in English, Russian, German, Italian, French and Ukrainian], but without result. As he approached within a few feet of the object, the door closed. He heard a whining noise and the object commenced to rotate anti-clockwise and finally raised off the ground. He reached out with his left gloved hand and touched the object prior to its lifting off the ground; the glove burned immediately as he touched the object. "As the object left the ground, the exhaust gases burned his cap, outer and inner garments, and he sustained rather severe stomach and chest burns. As a result of these he was hospitalized for a number of days. The doctors who attended and interviewed Mr. Michalak were unable to obtain any information which could account for the burns to his body. The personal items of clothing which were alleged to have been burnt by the UFO, were subjected to an extensive analysis at the RCMP Crime laboratory. The analysts were unable to reach any conclusion as to what may have caused the burn damage. "Soil samples taken by Mr. Michalak from the immediate area occupied by the UFO were analyzed and found to be radioactive to a degree that the samples had to be safely disposed of. An examination of the alleged UFO landing area was made by a radiologist from the Department of Health and Welfare and a small area was found to be radioactive. The Radiologist was unable to provide an explanation as to what caused this area to become contaminated. "Both DND and RCMP investigation teams were unable to provide evidence which would dispute Mr. Michalak's story."65
The RCAF investigation of Michalak, undertaken by Squadron Leader P. Bissky, was tough and highly skeptical. There were a few problems: Michalak failed to locate the landing site on two occasions when accompanied by the RCMP, but found it later with a friend. Much was made of this by physicist Roy Craig of the Condon committee, who eventually dismissed the case.66 However, Canadian researcher Chris Rutkowski makes a reasonable case of "disorientation in the wilderness" in discussing the details of the initial searches. Michalak had literally been taken from the hospital and flown in a helicopter by the RCAF to search for the spot. By the time of the third search, Michalak had partially recovered from his burns.67
Photograph of Stephen Michalak showing the geometric burn pattern on his body. Courtesy of ICUFON Archives.
S/L Bissky looked at the possibility of a hoax, searching for small details; for example whether Michalak had handled "radium sources" at the cement company where he worked as a mechanic. Although S/L Bissky was trying to find holes in the story, he had to admit that "notwithstanding the
46
evidence as it appears, the abdominal burns sustained by Mr. Michalak remain unexplainable as to the source of the burn."68
Michalak underwent several medical examinations in the course of the following months. The first took place on the evening of May 20 at Misericordia General Hospital in Winnipeg, where Michalak was taken by his son following his return from Falcon Lake on the same day of the incident. The RCAF file includes a memorandum by a Deputy Base Surgeon who interviewed the physician who examined Michalak. The physician was not aware that the injuries were reportedly linked to a close encounter with a UFO, but had just been told that it was an accident. Surgeon D.J. Scott reported:
"At examination the physician found an area of first degree burns over the upper abdomen, covering an area of 7-8 inches [17-20 cm.] and consisting of several round and irregular shaped burns the size of a silver dollar or less. These were a dull red in color, the hair over the lower chest was singed as was the hair on the forehead with some questionable redness of the right cheek and temple."69
It is interesting to note that the geometrical burn marks on Michalak's chest and abdomen appear to conform to "a grid-like exhaust vent" observed by Michalak. According to Rutkowski's report:
"Unexpectedly, the craft shifted position, and he was now facing a grid-like exhaust vent which he had seen earlier to his left. A blast of hot air shot on to his chest, and set his shirt and undershirt on fire, and also caused severe pain. He tore off his burning garments, and threw them to the ground. He then looked up in time to see the craft depart like the first, and felt a rush of air as it ascended... He walked over to where he had left his things, and noticed that his compass was behaving erratically; after a few minutes, it became still. He went back to the landing site, and immediately felt nauseous and a surge of pain from a headache."70
Rutkowski summarized other physiological effects such as weight loss, "a drop of his blood lymphocyte count from 25 to 16 per cent," swelling of his body, and other ailments. He described as well the circumstances surrounding a series of physical and psychiatric tests undertaken by Michalak at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota in 1968, at his own expense. Since Michalak was found in general good health, normal medical explanations such as neurodermatitis and hyperventilation were hypothesized. The psychiatrists determined that, despite the stress caused by all the publicity generated by his UFO experience, "there was no other evidence of delusions, hallucinations or other emotional disorders."71
One of the weaknesses of the case is that Michalak was the only witness. No one corroborated his crucial testimony of the landing or overflight of a disc-shaped object. Professor Craig chose to dismiss the whole incident with curious reasoning in his final "Conclusion of 'Case 22'" for the Condon Report:
"If Mr. A's [Michalak] reported experience were physically real, it would show the existence of alien flying vehicles in our environment. Attempts to establish the reality of the event revealed many inconsistencies and incongruities in the case, a number of which are described in this report. Developments subsequent to the field investigation have not altered the initial conclusion that this case does not offer probative information regarding unconventional craft."72
Yet a careful review of all the physical and medical evidence collected by the RCMP and others could easily lead one to the opposite conclusion. Moreover, some of the physiological effects reported in the Falcon Lake incident are not isolated events in the UFO literature. Aerospace engineer John Schuessler has been documenting UFO medical cases for many years, compiling a Catalog of Medical Injury Cases. The 1995 version of the catalog contains approximately 400 cases.73 Although this particular field requires further research, it is one area where at least
47
"partial proof" can be offered. _______________________________________ FOOTNOTES 65. "UFO Report - Falcon Lake, Man." Document in the RCMP case file; no author, agency or department are identified. 66. Gilmor, Daniel S., ibid. 67. Rutkowski, Chris, "The Falcon Lake Incident," 3-part article published in Flying Saucer Review, July, August and November 1981. 68. Bissky, S/L P., "Report of an Investigation Into the Reported UFO Sighting by Mr. Stephen Michalak on May 20, 1967 in Falcon Lake Area," in the RCAF file. 69. Scott, DJ, Deputy Base Surgeon, Memorandum to S/L P. Bissky, May 26, 1967; in the RCAF file. 70. Rutkowski, C., ibid. 71. Rutkowski, C., ibid. 72. Craig, Roy, "Case 22 North Central Spring 67," in Gilmor, D.S., ibid. 73. Schuessler, John F., "Developing a Catalog of UFO-Related Human Physiological Effects," MUFON 1995 International UFO Symposium Proceedings.
48
THE UFO BRIEFING DOCUMENT CASE HISTORIES
1975: STRATEGIC AIR COMMAND BASES UFO ALERT
Visual sightings and radar tracking of UFOs in the vicinity of military installations have been reported since the beginning of the modern era. The number and nature of most of these events has been kept from the public by military security, but on occasion information has been released, although its significance is usually played down.
From late October through the middle of November 1975, high-security bases along the U.S.-Canada border were the scene of intrusions of what were euphemistically called "mystery helicopters," despite their unhelicopter-like appearance and behavior.
The most complete recounting of the events from anyone in the U.S. or Canadian Governments is from the Commander-in-Charge of the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), on November 11, 1975:
"Part I. Since 28 Oct. '75, numerous reports of suspicious objects have been received at the NORAD CU. Reliable military personnel at Loring AFB, Maine, Wurtsmith AFB, Michigan, Malmstrom AFB, Montana, Minot AFB, North Dakota, and Canadian Forces Station Falconbridge, Ontario, Canada, have visually sighted suspicious objects. "Part II. Objects at Loring and Wurtsmith were characterized to be helicopters. Missile Site Personnel, Security Alert Teams, and Air Defense Personnel at Malmstrom AFB, Montana report an object which sounded like a jet aircraft. FAA advised there were no jet aircraft in the vicinity. Malmstrom search and height finder radars carried the object between 9,500 ft. [2,900 m.] and 15,600 ft. [4,850 m.] at a speed of seven knots [9 mph or 14 km./hr.]. There was intermittent radar contact with the object from 080753Z through 0900Z November 1975. F-106's scrambled from Malmstrom could not make contact due to darkness and low altitude. Site personnel reported the object as low as 200 ft. [60 m.] and said that as the interceptors approached, the lights went out. After the interceptors had passed, the lights came on again, one hour after the F-106's returned to base. Missile site personnel reported the object increased to a high speed, raised [sic] in altitude and could not be discerned from the stars. "Part III. Minot AFB on 10 Nov. reported that the site was buzzed by a bright object the size of a car at an altitude of 1,000 to 2,000 ft. [300 to 600 m.]. There was no noise emitted by the vehicle. "Part IV. This morning, 11 Nov. '75 CFS Falconbridge reported search and height finding radar paints on an object 25 to 30 nautical miles [30 to 35 statute miles or 48 to 56 km.] south of the site ranging in altitude from 26,000 ft. to 72,000 ft. [6,500 m. to 18,000 m.]. The site commander and other personnel say the object appeared as a bright star but much closer. With binoculars, the object appeared as a 100 ft. diameter sphere and appeared to have craters around the outside. "Part V. Be assured that this command is doing everything possible to identify and provide solid factual information on these sightings. I have also expressed my concern to SAFOI [Secretary of the Air Force, Office of Information] that we come up soonest with a proposed answer to queries from the press to prevent over reaction by the public to reports by the media that may be blown out of proportion. To date, efforts by Air (National) Guard helicopters, SAC helicopters and NORAD F-106s have failed to produce positive ID [identification]."74
49
The most important fact omitted from the NORAD report was that many of the sightings were of objects over or near areas used for the storage of nuclear weapons. This fact is clearly established by other declassified documents which mention that, "in the interest of nuclear weapons security the action addressees will assume Security Option III during hours of darkness until further notice." A SAC message on the subject of "Defense Against Helicopter Assault," captures the alert mood:
"Several recent sightings of unidentified aircraft/helicopters flying/hovering over Priority A restricted areas during the hours of darkness have prompted the implementation of security Option 3 at our northern tier bases. Since 27 Oct. 75, sightings have occurred at Loring AFB, Wurtsmith AFB, and most recently, at Malmstrom AFB. All attempts to identify these aircraft have met with negative results."75
With the exception of the object reported form CFS Falconbridge, only limited descriptions were given of the appearance of the UFOs. From a variety of military sources come these descriptions:
"October 28, Loring AFB, Maine. Unknown craft with a white flashing light and an amber or orange light. Red and orange object, about four car-lengths long. Moving in jerky motions, stopped and hovered. The object looked like all the colors were blended together; the object was solid. "October 30, Wurtsmith AFB, Michigan. One light pointing downward, and two red lights near the rear. Hovered and moved up and down in an erratic manner. A KC-135 aerial tanker crew established visual and radar contact with UFO: 'Each time we attempted to close on the object, it would speed away from us. Finally, we turned back in the direction of the UFO and it really took off... I know this might sound crazy, but I would estimate that the UFO sped away from us doing approximately 1,000 knots [1,150 mph or 1,800 km./hr.].' "November 7, Malmstrom AFB, Montana. A Sabotage Alert Team described seeing a brightly glowing orange, football field-sized disc that illuminated the Minuteman ICBM missile site. As F-106 jet interceptors approached, the UFO took off straight up, NORAD radar tracking it to an altitude of 200,000 feet [38 miles or 60 km.]. An object... emitted a light which illuminated the site driveway. The orange-gold object overhead also has small lights on it. "November 8, Malmstrom AFB. Radar showed up to 7 objects at 9,500 to 15,000 feet [2,900 m. to 4,700 m.]. Ground witnesses reported lights and the sound of jet engines, but radar showed objects flying at only 7 kts. [8 mph or 13 km./hr.]. "November 10, Minot AFB, North Dakota. A bright, noiseless object about the size of a car buzzed the base at 1,000-2,000 feet [300-600 m.]."76
_______________________________________ FOOTNOTES 74. Official U.S. Air Force report, NORAD, November 11, 1975. 75. CINCSAC Offutt AFB message, "Subject: Defense Against Helicopter Assault," November 10, 1975. 76. Extracts: 24 NORAD Region Senior Director Log November 1975.
50
THE UFO BRIEFING DOCUMENT CASE HISTORIES
1976: MULTIPLE WITNESS CASE IN THE CANARY ISLANDS
A large unidentified luminous phenomenon was observed throughout the Spanish Canary Islands on the night of June 22, 1976. Newspaper headlines proclaimed the following day that "thousands of people" had seen a "spectacular luminous phenomenon" which "lasted twenty minutes and was observed from Tenerife, La Palma and La Gomera."77 The most sensational aspect was the experience of a medical doctor and his taxi driver, who reported a transparent sphere with two tall entities inside.
Photograph of large luminous phenomenon seen over the Canary Islands in June 1976. From the declassified file of the Spanish Air Force. Courtesy of Antonio Huneeus.
On June 25, 1976, the Commanding General of the Canaries' Air Zone named an "Investigative Adjutant" to investigate the case. Copies of some of the depositions, though technically confidential, were given by a Spanish Air Force General to journalist J.J. Benitez in October 1976, who subsequently published them in his book UFOs: Official Documents of the Spanish Government.78 The complete Air Force file on the case, comprising over 100 pages of questionnaires, evaluation, appendices, illustrations, etc., was officially declassified in June 1994, as part of the ongoing public release of the Spanish Air Force UFO files which began in 1992.
51
The Air Force file contains depositions with fourteen witnesses. In a previously established methodology, it divides observers into four categories according to their reliability: from high credibility rating (pilots, aeronautical engineers, astronomers) all the way to a very unreliable rating (those who were illiterate, mentally impaired or under the influence of alcohol or drugs). Likewise, each observation is also divided into four levels, according to the number and quality of additional witnesses, radar evidence, etc. The dossier also included a color photograph of the phenomenon, taken by a tourist and obtained with the assistance of the Civil Guard; according to the photo lab where the film was developed, "no trickery or modification of any kind was added."
The Investigative Adjutant reconstructed the sequence of events in his final report. The first observation was made at 21:27 hrs. on June 22, 1976 by the entire crew of the corvette Atrevida of the Spanish Navy, which was located 3 nm (3.5 statute miles or 5.5 km.) off Punta Lantailla on the coast of Fuerteventura Island. The ship's captain provided a detailed description of the event:
"At 21:27 (Z) hrs. on 22 June, we saw an intense yellowish-bluish light moving out from the shore towards our position. At first we thought it was an aircraft with its landing lights on. Then, when the light had attained a certain elevation (15 - 18 degrees), it became stationary. The original light went out and a luminous beam from it began to rotate. It remained like this for approximately two minutes. Then an intense great halo of yellowish and bluish light developed, and remained in the same position for 40 minutes, even though the original phenomenon was no longer visible. "Two minutes after the great halo, the light split into two parts, the smaller part being beneath, in the center of the luminous halo, where a blue cloud appeared and the part from which the bluish nucleus had come, vanished. The upper part began to climb in a spiral, rapid and irregular, and finally vanished. None of these movements affected the initial circular halo in any way, which remained just the same the whole time, its glow lighting up parts of the land and the ocean, from which we could deduce that the phenomenon was not very far away from us, but was close."79 (see diagram 1)
The file also includes the deposition of a lieutenant, the Atrevida's first officer, and indicates "the phenomenon was initially observed by the entire crew" of the Navy warship. The report adds that no echo was detected on the ship's surface radar. Three minutes later, at 21:30 hrs., a very similar phenomenon was observed by many people in the Grand Canary Island. The majority of the witnesses interviewed by the Air Force were from the villages of Galdar, Las Rosas and Agaete. They were from different professions: medical doctor, school teacher, farmer, sergeant, two taxi drivers, police guard and laborers. Newspapers and UFO investigators located additional witnesses in the islands.
The Investigative Adjutant determined that there was no aerial traffic or military exercises at the time that could account for the phenomenon. The observation itself was divided into two categories: the large luminous halo in the sky, seen by many people; and the smaller luminous globe with two figures inside, observed by a doctor, a taxi driver and one woman. The Adjutant had no problem accepting the reality of the first event. Noting that it was vouched for officially by the crew of the Atrevida, he added:
"Then, numerous witnesses belonging to different positions and cultural strata, saw it with similar characteristics in the Grand Canary island. Therefore, the fact that a very strange and peculiar aerial phenomenon occurred on the night of 22 June is a true and proven fact, as incredible as its behavior and conditions may seem."
The Adjutant considered four possible explanations - aircraft, missile test, aurora, and meteor fall - only to reject each hypothesis, one at a time. The report also considered and rejected other explanations such as weather balloons and meteorological phenomena, admitting that "its nature is totally unknown." 80
52
The Investigative Adjutant, however, had more problems accepting the reality of the CE-III (Close Encounter of the Third Kind) described by some of the witnesses. Not because he questioned their veracity or suspected them of hoaxing, but simply because of the nature of the report. The CE-III's main witness was a physician from the town of Guía, Dr. Francisco Padrón León. His deposition is the longest in the file. The Air Force had also checked his background and psychological condition. Dr. Padrón explained that he had been called to attend a patient and was riding in a taxi to see her in the town of Las Rosas:
"We were talking about hunting... as we entered the last part of the road, the car lights pointed at a slightly luminous sphere that was stationary and very close to the ground, although I can't say for sure if it was touching it; it was made of a totally transparent and crystalline-like material, since it was possible to see through it the stars in the sky; it had an electric blue color but tenuous, without dazzling; it had a radius of about 30 m. [100 ft.], and in the lower third of the sphere you could see a platform of aluminum-like color as if made of metal, and three large consoles. At each side of the center there were two huge figures of 2.50 to 3 m. [8.5 to 10 ft.] tall, but no taller than 3 m. [10 ft.], dressed entirely in red and facing each other in such a way that I always saw their profile." (see diagram 2)
They were humanoid in shape with the head proportionate to the thorax and wearing some kind of head gear. Dr. Padrón asked the taxi driver if he was seeing the same thing, and he exclaimed, "My God! What is that?" As the car reached the patient's house, the doctor noted:
"Then I observed that some kind of bluish smoke was coming out from a semi-transparent central tube in the sphere, covering the periphery of the sphere's interior without leaking outside at any moment. Then the sphere began to grow and grow until it became huge like a 20-story house, but the platform and the crew remained the same size; it rose slowly and majestically and it seems I heard a very tenuous whistling."
Dr. Padrón entered the house and alerted the residents, who went outside and saw:
"The sphere, now high, was moving slowly toward Tenerife; suddenly it reached enormous speed like none I ever saw in an airplane; the sphere dissolved into a bluish spindle-shape with red underneath; a brilliant white halo was formed close to the object, which bit by bit was forming another very brilliant blue halo. It disappeared in the direction of Tenerife."81
Dr. Padrón's testimony was confirmed by the taxi driver, who also saw "a craft that looked as if it was made of transparent crystal," about 25 m. (85 ft.) high and 20 m. (65 ft.) wide, with "two persons dressed in brilliant red inside." In addition, there was a third witness, an illiterate woman who was a relative of the doctor's patient. She was watching TV when the screen went blank and the dogs began to bark. She ran to the window in time to:
"... see the doctor's car and just above it the great blue ball... It was like a perfectly round globe, but very big, transparent, the stars could be seen through it. She saw two man-like figures inside, but she is not completely sure as she panicked, closed the windows and doors of the house and began to pray."82
53
Diagram 1: The transparent sphere with two tall occupants seen by a medical doctor and two other witnesses. From the declassified file of the Spanish Air Force. Courtesy of Antonio Hunneus.
54
Diagram 2: Diagram of the phenomenon seen by the crew of the Spanish Navy corvette Atrevida.
Because of the strange nature of the CE-III, the Investigative Adjutant had reservations accepting it. He remarked that:
"We should forcefully consider the VERY PROBABLE [sic] circumstance that both witnesses, facing the presence of an unusual phenomenon in the sky, narrated what their 'minds' made them see, mutually influencing each other. This Investigative Adjutant doesn't have the slightest doubt about their seriousness and sincerity. They told what they unquestionably 'believed' to have seen."83
The Adjutant's final conclusion, however, was that what the crew of the corvette Atrevida and many other witnesses observed in the sky on the night on June 22, was indeed an "Unidentified Aerial Phenomenon." It is important to note that this incident was neither the first nor the last UFO report investigated officially in the Canary Islands. On November 19, 1976, the Commanding General of the Canaries' Air Zone, Gen. Carlos Dols de Espejo, and his aides observed first-hand another large halo while flying on an Air Force T-12 transport plane. The crew of a Spanish Navy training ship and the personnel at the Gando Air Base also reported the phenomenon. The Investigative Adjutant in that case concluded his report:
"If we study as a whole the three reports issued up to the present (1/75, 1/76, and 2/76), we should have to think seriously of the necessity of considering the possibility of accepting the hypothesis that a craft of unknown origin, propelled by an equally unknown energy, is moving freely over the skies in the Canaries."84
_______________________________________ FOOTNOTES 77. Benítez, J.J., OVNIS: Documentos Oficiales del Gobierno Español, Barcelona, Plaza & Janes, 1977. 78. Ibid. 79. Deposition No. B-07 of the Captain of Corvette in the Spanish Air Force file; English translation by Gordon Creighton, Flying Saucer Review, Vol. 23, No. 3, 1977.
55
80. Adjutant's Report, Las Palmas Aerial Sector, July 16, 1976. 81. Deposition No. A-01 by Dr. Francisco Padrón León in the Spanish Air Force file. 82. Deposition No. A-02 by taxi driver and No. B-05 by woman in Galdar, in the Spanish Air Force file. 83. Adjutant's Report, ibid. 84. Benítez, J.J., "Informe 02/76 de las Fuerzas Aéreas españolas," Mundo Desconocido, Barcelona, September 1979; quoted in Huneeus, Antonio, "Top Spanish General sees UFO", The News World, New York, December 5, 1981.
56
THE UFO BRIEFING DOCUMENT CASE HISTORIES
1976: UFO DOG-FIGHT OVER TEHRAN
One of the best documented UFO-aircraft incidents took place over the skies of Tehran, Iran, on the night of September 18-19, 1976, when a UFO was observed flying over the capital's restricted airspace. Two U.S.-made F-4 Phantom II jet fighters of the Imperial Iranian Air Force were scrambled, but as the pilots closed in on the target, their communications and weapons systems were suddenly jammed. The incident was confirmed by high ranking officers of the Iranian Air Force and later documented by several agencies of the U.S. military.
Lt. General Azarbarzin, Deputy Commander-in-Chief of Operations of the Imperial Iranian Air Force, confirmed in a 1977 interview the strong electromagnetic effect experienced by the two F-4s:
"That is true. They both were scrambled and they locked on the target but they received a very strong jamming. And then they lost almost every avionics system they had on the airplane... The jets couldn't fire their missiles because they had very strong jamming... this technology it [UFO] was using for jamming was something we haven't had before and we don't have it. It doesn't exist because it was a very wide band and could jam different bands, different frequencies at the same time. It's very unusual."85
General Nader Yousefi, Base Operations commander and the number three man in the Imperial Iranian Air Force, authorized the scramble mission and was also an eyewitness, as described in a recent TV interview:
"I put down my phone [with the Control Tower] and I ran to my balcony to see if I can see that object. I saw a big star among the other stars, which it was at least twice as large as the normal stars... It was around 12 miles [19 km.], we lost communication and I heard nothing from the pilots, so I was so scared what's going to happen and what happened to the pilots. I asked from the tower controller to tell them to continue their mission and see if they can get more information from the flying object... and it [UFO] was coming toward them, they try to shoot them down, when they squeezed the trigger it didn't work and the trigger was inoperative, they couldn't shoot the missiles."86
The sequence of events can be reconstructed from both Iranian sources and declassified U.S. intelligence documents:
Between 10:30 and 11:15 p.m. on September 18, several calls were received by the Control Tower at Mehrabad Airport, reporting an unknown object hovering 1,000 feet (300 m.) above the ground in the northern section of Tehran. The night shift supervisor, Hossain Perouzi, initially didn't pay too much attention. The radar system was turned off since it was under repair. After he received the fourth telephone call at 11:15 p.m., Perouzi went to the terrace next to the tower and observed the UFO with binoculars:
"Suddenly I saw it. It was rectangular in shape, probably seven to eight meters [24 to 27 ft.] long and about two meters [7 ft.] wide. From later observations I made, I would say it was probably cylindrical. The two ends were pulsating with a whitish blue color. Around the mid-section of the
57
cylinder there was this small red light that kept going around in a circle... I was amazed. I didn't know what to think. There definitely was a very strange object there in the sky right over Tehran."87
At 12:30 a.m. on September 19, Perouzi called the Air Force Command post to report the UFO. The Base Commander, in turn, called General Yousefi, who authorized the scramble of an F-4 Phantom jet from Shahrokhi AFB to investigate. The first scramble is summarized in a "Memorandum for Record" from the U.S. Defense Attaché Office (DAO) in Tehran:
"The F-4 took off at 01:30 a.m. and proceeded to a point about 40 nm [45 statute miles or 75 km.] North of Tehran. Due to its brilliance the object was easily visible from 70 miles [110 km.] away. As the F-4 approached a range of 25 nm [29 statute miles or 46 km.], he lost all instrumentation and communications (UHF and Intercom). He broke off the intercept and headed back to Shahrokhi. When the F-4 turned away from the object and apparently was no longer a threat to it, the aircraft regained all instrumentation and communications."88
At 01:40 a.m., Gen. Yousefi authorized a second F-4 scramble piloted by Lt. Jafari, who quickly established radar contact with the UFO. The DAO Memorandum describes the events of the second scramble:
"The size of the radar return was comparable to that of a [Boeing] 707 tanker. The visual size of the object was difficult to discern because of its intense brilliance. The light that it gave off was that of flashing strobe lights arranged in a rectangular pattern of alternating blue, green, red and orange, in color. The sequence of the lights was so fast that all the colors could be seen at once. "The object and the pursuing F-4 continued a course to the south of Tehran when another brightly lighted object, estimated to be .5 to .33 the apparent size of the moon, came out of the original object. The second object headed straight toward the F-4 at a very fast rate. The pilot attempted to fire an AIM-9 missile at the object, but at that instant his weapons control panel went off and he lost all communications (UHF and Interphone). At this point, the pilot initiated a turn and negative G dive to get away."89
The aircraft electric system went back to normal once the F-4 reached a certain distance from the UFO. The small object returned to the primary object, but a second one emerged and flew toward the ground. Gen. Yousefi observed the landing from the balcony of his Tehran residence:
"He went down and landed on the ground and now it is a communication between the mothership and that small flying object, and it shows the lights between those two is connected."90
More strange events were still reported that night. A UFO seemed to follow the F-4 as it approached the runway, and a civil airliner experienced communications failure but did not see anything. The DAO Memorandum describes the investigation early that morning:
"During daylight, the F-4 crew was taken out to the area in a helicopter where the object apparently had landed. Nothing was noticed at the spot where they thought the object landed (a dry lake bed), but as they circled off to the West of the area they picked up a very noticeable beeper signal. At that point, where the return was the loudest was a small house with a garden. They landed and asked the people within if they had noticed anything strange last night. The people talked about a loud noise and a very bright light like lightning."91
The trail ends there. Although the Attaché Office added that the area had been checked for possible radiation and that "more information will be forwarded when it becomes available," the details surrounding the beeper signal and the ground witnesses have not been released. A report published in a 1978 classified U.S. military journal, MIJI Quarterly, basically repeats the facts
58
contained in the original DAO message, although its author begins the article with this interesting remark:
"Sometime in his career, each pilot can expect to encounter strange, unusual happenings which will never be adequately or entirely explained by logic or subsequent investigation. The following article recounts such an episode as reported by two F-4 Phantom crews of the Imperial Iranian Air Force during late 1976. No additional information or explanation of the strange events has been forthcoming; the story will be filed away and probably forgotten, but it makes interesting, and possibly disturbing, reading."92
Recent taped testimonies by Iranian Air Force Generals Nader Yousefi and Mahmoud Sabahat, now retired and living in exile in the United States, reveal that Gen. John Secord, then chief of the USAF mission in Iran, attended a high level briefing with Iranian authorities and the pilots and air traffic controllers involved in the incident. A Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) "Evaluation" summarized the salient features of the Iranian incident:
"An outstanding report. This case is a classic which meets all the criteria necessary for a valid study of the UFO phenomenon: "a) The object was seen by multiple witnesses from different locations (i.e. Shemiram, Mehrabad and the dry lake bed) and viewpoints (both airborne and from the ground). "b) The credibility of many of the witnesses was high (an Air Force General, qualified aircrews, and experienced radar operators). "c) Visual sightings were confirmed by radar. "d) Similar electromagnetic effects (EME) were reported by three separate aircraft. "e) There were physiological effects on some crew members (i.e. loss of night vision due to the brightness of the object). "f) An inordinate amount of maneuverability was displayed by the UFOs."93
_______________________________________ FOOTNOTES 85. Cathcart, John, transcript of interview with Lt. Gen. Azarbarzin, January 4, 1977, filed with the Fund for UFO Research. 86. International Noor Productions, Sherman Oaks, California, videotaped interview with Gen. Yousefi, shown in the TV program Sightings, 1994. 87. Petrozian, transcript of interview with Hosain Perouzi, December 22, 1976, filed with the Fund for UFO Research. 88. Mody, Lt. Colonel Olin, USAF, Memorandum for Record, "Subject: UFO Sighting," undated; the text appears virtually identical to an "unclassified" message from the Defense Attaché Office in Tehran, September 23, 1976. 89. Ibid. 90. International Noor Productions, ibid.
59
91. Mody, ibid. 92. Shields, Captain Henry. USAFE, "Now You See It, Now You Don't." United States Air Force Security Service, MIJI Quarterly, October 1978. 93. Defense Information Report Evaluation, DIA, October 12, 1976; reprinted in The UFO Cover-up, by Lawrence Fawcett & Barry Greenwood, Simon & Schuster, 1992.
60
THE UFO BRIEFING DOCUMENT CASE HISTORIES
1980: UFO INCIDENTS AT RENDLESHAM FOREST, ENGLAND
Several UFO incidents, including multiple-witness sightings by military personnel and ground traces with above normal radioactive readings, were reported in late December 1980 at the Rendlesham Forest in Suffolk, England. The site was near two then-important NATO bases leased to the U.S. Air Force: RAF Bentwaters and RAF Woodbridge. Although details and dates reported by various investigators in the past decade are somewhat confusing, there is an official record of the case in a memorandum to the British Ministry of Defence (MOD), signed by USAF Lt. Col. Charles I. Halt, Bentwaters Deputy Base Commander:
"SUBJECT: Unexplained Lights TO: RAF/CC "1. Early in the morning of 27 December, 1980 (approximately 0300L, or 3 a.m. local time), two USAF security police patrolmen saw unusual lights outside the back gate at RAF Woodbridge. Thinking an aircraft might have crashed or been forced down, they called for permission to go outside the gate to investigate. The on-duty flight chief responded and allowed three patrolmen to proceed on foot. The individuals reported seeing a strange glowing object in the forest. The object was described as being metallic in appearance and triangular in shape, approximately two to three meters [7 to 10 ft.] across the base and approximately two meters [6.5 ft.] high. It illuminated the entire forest with a white light. The object itself had a pulsing red light on top and a bank of blue lights underneath. The object was hovering or on legs. As the patrolmen approached the object, it maneuvered through the trees and disappeared. At this time, the animals on a nearby farm went into a frenzy. The object was briefly sighted approximately an hour later near the back gate."94
In addition to Col. Halt's summary, testimony was provided by the USAF patrolmen involved in the case. Law enforcement airman John Burroughs wrote an official deposition of his experience after spotting some lights while on patrol near Woodbridge's East Gate:
"We stopped the truck where the road stopped and went on foot. We crossed a small open field that lead into the trees where the lights were coming from and as we were coming into the trees there were strange noises, like a woman was screaming, also the woods lit up and you could hear the farm animals making a lot of noise and there was a lot of movement in the woods. All three of us hit the ground and whatever it was started moving back towards the open field and after a minute or two we got up and moved into the trees and the lights moved out into the open field."95
Burroughs drew a sketch of the object in his official statement. (see sketch below) In a 1990 interview, Burroughs described the object as:
"A bank of lights, differently colored lights that threw off an image of like-a-craft. I never saw anything metallic or anything hard."
61
Yet the most interesting part of his testimony is not the presence of the lights, but rather his sensation of an altered state of consciousness:
"Everything seemed like it was different when we were in that clearing. The sky didn't seem the same... it was like a weird feeling, like everything seemed slower than you were actually doing, and all of a sudden when the object was gone, everything was like normal again."96
The testimonies of Burroughs and the other members of the USAF security patrol were confirmed the following day by the finding of ground traces with radioactive readings in the forest. Col. Halt summarized the events in his memorandum to the MOD:
"2. The next day, three depressions 1.5 feet [.5 m.] deep and 7 feet [2 m.] in diameter were found where the object had been sighted on the ground. The following night (29 December, 1980) the area was checked for radiation. Beta/gamma readings of 0.1 milliroentgen were recorded with peak readings in the three depressions and near the center of the triangle formed by the depressions. A nearby tree had moderate (.05-.07) readings on the side of the tree toward the depressions."97
Col. Halt, moreover, became directly involved in the UFO incidents when he led a second patrol into the forest two nights later. He made an audio tape recording describing live the puzzling events of that night. While the tape runs for about 20 minutes, it covers a span of over three hours, so there are obviously cuts in between. The tape describes their efforts to carry on the radiation readings quoted above and, as the night goes on, the voices become increasingly excited as strange lights appear in the forest:
"OK, we're looking at the thing, we're probably about two or three hundred yards. It looks like an eye winking at you. It's still moving from side to side and when you put the starscope [a night vision device] on it, it's like this thing has a hollow center, a dark center. It's a bit like a pupil of an eye looking at you, winking, and the flash is so bright through the starscope that it almost burns your eye."98
62
Sketch with notes by USAF law enforcement patrolman John Burroughs of the UFO he encountered at the Rendlesham Forest after Christmas 1980. Courtesy of Antonio Huneeus.
Col. Halt summarized these events in the third part of his memo to the MOD:
"3. Later in the night, a red sun-like light was seen through the trees. It moved about and pulsed. At one point, it appeared to throw off glowing particles and then broke into five separate white objects and then disappeared. Immediately thereafter, three star-like objects were noticed in the sky, two objects to the north and one to the south, all of which were about 10 degrees off the horizon. The objects moved rapidly in sharp angular movements and displayed red, green and blue lights. The objects to the north appeared to be elliptical through an 8-12 power lens. They then turned to full circles. The objects to the north remained in the sky for an hour or more. The object to the south was visible for two or three hours and beamed down a stream of light from time to time. Numerous individuals, including the undersigned, witnessed the activities in paragraphs 2 & 3."99
Charles Halt discussed the case again after retiring from the USAF with the rank of full colonel. He told the TV program Unsolved Mysteries in 1991:
"I was very skeptical. I found what allegedly had taken place hard to believe, and I was really going to debunk it quite frankly; and as events unfolded I became more and more concerned that there maybe is something to this... I kept telling myself that there had to be some type of explanation for it, but I certainly couldn't find one and even to this day I can't explain what happened."
Col. Halt alluded to the military implications of the event when describing beams from the object pointing to the weapons storage area a Woodbridge:
63
"We could very clearly see it... I noticed other beams of light coming down from the same object falling on different places on the base. My boss was standing in his front yard in Woodbridge and he could see the beams of light falling down, and the people in the weapons storage area and other places on the base also reported the lights."100
Many accounts and commentaries have been published on the Rendlesham Forest or Bentwaters incidents. Some, like the appearance of ghost-like entities, are still enveloped by controversy. The Rendlesham events have been mentioned in both the House of Commons and the House of Lords, and looked into by Nebraska Senator James Exon.101
A re-examination of the Rendlesham Forest UFO incidents was undertaken recently by Nick Pope during his 3-year tour as head of the MOD Secretariat Air Staff (AS2) office, which inherited the UFO reporting function from DS8. Mr. Pope checked with radiation experts as to the significance of the 0.1 milliroentgen of beta/gamma readings taken by Col. Halt's patrol:
"I went to an organization called the Defense Radiological Protection Service, which is a unit attached to the Institute of Naval Medicine near Gosport, Hampshire, and they told me that the levels of radiation reported by Col. Halt in that memo were ten times what they should be in that area compared to their background samples."102
British author and researcher Ralph Noyes was for four years the head of Defense Secretariat 8 (DS8), retiring in 1977 with the rank of Under Secretary of State. He wrote regarding this case:
"Our worried skeptical colleagues have already had to advance an extraordinary hotch-potch of explanations: space debris, a bright meteor, a police car, drink and drugs, a lighthouse, other lights on the coast, dear old Sirius. "Occam, you will remember, urged us to cut away unnecessary complications in our attempts to explain phenomena and to look for the simplest explanation. The simplest explanation of Halt's memorandum is that he was reporting - as precisely as wondrous events permit - what he and 'numerous individuals' encountered on December 29/30, together with such facts as he had been able to ascertain from his subordinates about the occurrences of December 26/27."103
_______________________________________ FOOTNOTES 94. Halt, Lt. Col. Charles I., USAF, Memorandum to MOD, "SUBJECT: Unexplained Lights," January 13,1980. 95. Huneeus, Antonio, "The Testimony of John Burroughs," Fate, September 1993. 96. Ibid. 97. Halt, C. I., ibid. 98. Transcript of Col. Halt's audio recording published in Good, T., Above Top Secret, Quill, William Morrow, 1988. 99. Halt, C. I., ibid. 100. Interview with Col. (Ret.) Halt, Unsolved Mysteries, "U.S. military officers discuss a 1980
64
sighting of an unidentified flying craft near a U.S. air base in England," originally broadcast on NBC-TV on September 18, 1991. 101. See Butler, Street & Randles, Sky Crash, Neville Spearman, 1984; Randles, J., From Out of the Blue, Global Communications, 1991; "The Bentwaters Incident," articles by Jenny Randles, Ray Boeche and Antonio Huneeus, Fate, September 1993. 102. Pope, Nick, lecture at the New Hampshire MUFON Conference, Portsmouth, September 10, 1995. 103. Noyes, Ralph, "UFO lands in Suffolk - and that's Official," chapter in Timothy Good's anthology, The UFO Report 1990, Sidgewick & Jackson, 1989.
65
THE UFO BRIEFING DOCUMENT CASE HISTORIES
1981: PHYSICAL TRACE CASE IN TRANS-EN-PROVENCE, FRANCE
Diagram: The UFO landing at Trans-en-Provence with insert of craft seen by farmer Nicolai. Courtesy of CNES/SEPRA
On the afternoon of January 8, 1981, a strange craft landed on a farm near the village of Trans-en-Provence in the Var region in southeastern France. Physical traces left on the ground were collected by the Gendarmerie within 24 hours and later analyzed in several French government laboratories. Extensive evidence of anomalous activity was detected.
The case was investigated by the Groupe d'Etudes des Phénomènes Aérospatiaux Non-identifiés (GEPAN), or Unidentified Aerospace Phenomena Study Group, established in 1977 within the National Center for Space Studies (CNES) in Toulouse, the French counterpart of NASA. (The functions of GEPAN were reorganized in 1988 into the Service d'Expertise des Phénomènes de Rentrées Atmosphériques or SEPRA). The primary investigator was Jean-Jacques Velasco, the current head of SEPRA.
The witness was the farmer Renato Nicolai, 55, on whose property the UFO landed and then took-off almost immediately. Thinking that it was a military experimental device, Nicolai notified the local gendarmes on the following day. The gendarmes interviewed Nicolai and collected soil and plant
66
samples from the landing site within 24 hours of the occurrence, notifying GEPAN on January 12 as part of a cooperation agreement for UFO investigation between the two agencies. Further collection of samples and measurements of the site were undertaken by the GEPAN team, and the samples were thoroughly analyzed by several government laboratories.
The first detailed report on the case was published by GEPAN in 1983 in its "Technical Note No. 16, Inquiry 81/01, Analysis of a Trace." Nicolai's testimony to the police was simple and straightforward:
"My attention was drawn to a small noise, a kind of little whistling. I turned around and I saw, in the air, a ship which was just about the height of a pine tree at the edge of my property. This ship was not turning but was descending toward the ground. I only heard a slight whistling. I saw no flames, neither underneath or around the ship. "While the ship was continuing to descend, I went closer to it, heading toward a little cabin. I was able to see very well above the roof. From there I saw the ship standing on the ground. "At that moment, the ship began to emit another whistling, a constant, consistent whistling. Then it took off and once it was at the height of the trees, it took off rapidly... toward the northeast. As the ship began to lift off, I saw beneath it four openings from which neither smoke nor flames were emitting. The ship picked up a little dust when it left the ground. "I was at that time about 30 meters [100 feet] from the landing site. I thereafter walked towards the spot and I noticed a circle about two meters [7 feet] in diameter. At certain spots on the curve of the circle, there were tracks (or traces). "The ship was in the form of two saucers upside down, one against the other. It must have been about 1.5 meters [5 feet] high. It was the color of lead. The ship had a border or type of brace around its circumference. Underneath the brace, as it took off, I saw two kinds of round pieces which could have been landing gear or feet. There were also two circles which looked like trap doors. The two feet, or landing gear, extended about 20 centimeters [8 inches] beneath the body of the whole ship."104 (See diagram and photograph)
The samples of soil and wild alfalfa collected from the landing site, as well as the control samples from varying distances from the epicenter, were subjected to a number of analyses: physico-chemical analysis at the SNEAP laboratory, electronic diffraction studies at Toulouse University, mass spectrometry by ion bombardment at the University of Metz, and biochemical analysis of the vegetable samples at the National Institute of Agronomy Research (INRA), among others.105
The Trans-en-Provence case is very likely the most thoroughly scientifically documented CE-II (Close Encounter of the Second Kind) ever investigated. Some of the scientific findings included:
"Traces were still perceptible 40 days after the event. "There was a strong mechanical pressure forced (probably the result of a heavy weight) on the surface. "A thermatic heating of the soil, perhaps consecutive to or immediately following the shock, the value of which did not exceed 600 degrees. "The chlorophyll pigment in the leaf samples was weakened from 30 to 50
67
percent... The young leaves withstood the most serious losses, evolving toward the content and composition more characteristic of old leaves." "The action of nuclear irradiation does not seem to be analogous with the energy source implied with the observed phenomenon; on the other hand, a specific intensification of the transformation of chlorophyll... could be tied to the action of a type of electric energy field. "On the biochemical level, the analysis was made on the entirety of the factors of photosynthesis, lipids, sugars and amino acids. There were many differences between those samples further from the spot of the landing and those that were closer to the spot. "It was possible to qualitatively show the occurrence of an important event which brought with it deformations of the terrain caused by mass, mechanics, a heating effect, and perhaps certain transformations and deposits of trace minerals. "We cannot give a precise and unique interpretation to this remarkable combination of results. We can state that there is, nonetheless, another confirmation of a very significant event which happened on this spot."106
Photograph: Ground traces found in Trans-en-Provence in January 1981. Courtesy of CNES/SEPRA.
Most of the puzzling biochemical mutations were discovered by Michel Bounias of INRA. Describing the young leaves to a journalist from France-Soir magazine, Bounias stated in 1983 that:
"From an anatomical and physiological point, they [leaves] had all the characteristics of their age, but they presented the biochemical characteristics of leaves of an advanced age: old leaves! And that doesn't resemble anything that we know on our planet."107
In a technical report published in the Journal of Scientific Exploration, Bounias concluded that:
"It was not the aim of the author to identify the exact nature of the phenomenon observed on the 8th of January 1981 at Trans-en-Provence. But it can reasonably be concluded that something unusual did occur that might be consistent, for
68
instance, with an electromagnetic source of stress. The most striking coincidence is that at the same time, French physicist J.P. Petit was plotting the equations that led, a few years later (Petit, 1986), to the evidence that flying objects could be propelled at very high speeds without turbulence nor shock waves using the magnetohydrodynamic effects of Laplace force action!" 108 (See chart 1.)
Chart 1: Summary and Conclusion of Trans-en-Provence case. Courtesy of CNES/SEPRA.
Out of a total of 2,500 reports collected officially in France since 1977 and investigated by GEPAN, this case and three other ground trace incidents (where strange ground traces were left after alleged UFO landings) continue to puzzle the original investigator, Jean-Jacques Velasco. At a meeting of the Society for Scientific Exploration (SSE) in Glasgow in 1994, Velasco summarized the "four noteworthy cases" with "effects observed on vegetation": (See chart 2.)
69
Chart 2: Four UFO cases with physiological signs on vegetation. Courtesy of CNES/SEPRA.
"These cases have all been the subject of enquiries by the police, then GEPAN or SEPRA. In each of these situations, a UAP [Unidentified Aerospace Phenomena] was observed in direct relation in a zone perturbed by the phenomenon. "1. 'CHRISTELLE' case of 27/11/1979: Persistence of flattened grass several days after the observation. The samples taken and analyzed by a plant biology laboratory at Toulouse University did not give unequivocal evidence of chemical or biological disturbance of the samples taken from the marked area relative to controls. A study of the mechanical properties of grass tissue subjected to strong mechanical pressure showed that the duration is a more important factor than the mass. "2. 'TRANS EN PROVENCE' case of 8/01/81: Apparition of a circular print in a crown shape after observation of a metallic object resting on the ground. The vegetation, a kind of wild alfalfa, showed withering of the dried leaves in the central part of the print. The analyses revealed damage of a specific kind affecting the functional relationships of the photosynthetic system. "3. 'AMARANTE' case of 21/08/82: Severe drying of the stems and leaves on a bush (amaranth), punctuated by the appearance of raised blades of grass before the phenomenon disappeared. Biochemical analyses revealed that no reported outside agent could be the cause of such effects. Only a corona effect due to powerful electromagnetic fields could partially explain the observations. "4. 'JOE LE TAXI' case of 7/09/87: Leaf damage on a tree (birch) and functional disturbance of the photosynthetic system after an intense light and sound phenomenon had been observed. This case demonstrated the importance of good sample collection and preservation for biochemical analysis."109
70
Of these four cases, Trans-en-Provence still remains the best documented one. Velasco concluded that, after years of investigations:
"The laboratory conclusion that seems to best cover the effects observed and analyzed is that of a powerful emission of electromagnetic fields, pulsed or not, in the microwave frequency range." 110
SEPRA's latest thrust in the investigation has centered on "experimentally reproducing in the laboratory, continuous and pulsed emissions of microwave fields at various powers and frequencies so as to verify biochemical effects on plants." While the studies are still preliminary, Velasco concluded his SSE presentation with the following statement:
"However these initial studies carried out to validate the hypothesis of microwave action on the biological activity of plants in relation with UAPs need to be extended if we are to understand the mechanisms involved at molecular scale. Similarly, an investigation of the frequency range, the power and the exposure time would be useful to confirm the hypothesis of microwaves combined with other fields of electromagnetic forces coming into play in the propulsion of UAPs."111
_______________________________________ FOOTNOTES 104. GEPAN, Note Technique No. 16, Enquête 81/01, Analyse d'une Trace, March 1, 1983. 105. Velasco, Jean-Jacques, "Report on the Analysis of Anomalous Physical Traces: The 1981 Trans-en-Provence UFO Case," Journal of Scientific Exploration, Vol. 4, No. 1, 1990. 106. GEPAN, ibid. 107. Roussel, Robert, Les Vérités Cachées de l'Enquête Officielle, Albin Michel, 1994; quoted in Huneeus, A., "The French government UFO dossier," Fate, October 1994. 108. Bounias, Michel, "Biochemical Traumatology as a Potent Tool for Identifying Actual Stresses Elicited by Unidentified Sources: Evidence for Plant Metabolic Disorders in Correlation with a UFO Landing," Journal of Scientific Exploration, Vol. 4, No. 1, 1990. 109. Velasco, J-J., "Action Of Electromagnetic Fields In The Microwave Range On Vegetation," paper presented at a meeting of the Society for Scientific Exploration in Glasgow, Scotland, August 1994. 110. Ibid. 111. Ibid.
71
THE UFO BRIEFING DOCUMENT CASE HISTORIES
1986: JET CHASE OVER BRAZIL
As many as twenty UFOs were seen and tracked by ground radar and at least six airplanes during the night of May 19, 1986 over several states in southeastern Brazil. Unidentified radar returns were tracked by airports in São Paulo and the Integrated Air Defense & Air Traffic Control Center (CINDACTA) in Brasilia. Two F-5E and three Mirage jet fighters were scrambled from Santa Cruz AFB in Sao Paulo State, and Anápolis AFB in Goias State.
The case was discussed openly by high ranking government officials. It was first reported by Colonel (Ret.) Ozires Silva, president of the state-owned oil company Petrobrás, who was flying on an executive Xingu jet, when he and the pilot saw and pursued unidentified objects for about 25 minutes. The incident was covered widely in the Brazilian media, leading to a press conference at the Ministry of Aeronautics in Brasilia on May 23, with air traffic controllers and air force pilots involved in the scramble mission.
The Minister of Aeronautics, Brigadier General Otávio Moreira Lima, was very outspoken:
"Between 20:00 hrs. (5/19) and 01:00 hrs. (5/20) at least 20 objects were detected by Brazilian radars. They saturated the radars and interrupted traffic in the area. Each time that radar detected unidentified objects, fighters took off for intercept. Radar detects only solid metallic bodies and heavy (mass) clouds. There were no clouds nor conventional aircraft in the region. The sky was clear. Radar doesn't have optical illusions. "We can only give technical explanations and we don't have them. It would be very difficult for us to talk about the hypothesis of an electronic war. It's very remote and it's not the case here in Brazil. It's fantastic. The signals on the radar were quite clear."112
The Minister also announced that a commission would study the incident. Air Force Major Ney Cerqueira, in charge of the Air Defense Operations Center (CODA), was equally candid:
"We don't have technical operational conditions to explain it. The appearance and disappearance of these objects on the radar screens are unexplained. They are Unidentified Aerial Movements... The technical instruments used for the identification of the lights had problems in registering them. CODA activated two F-5E and three Mirages to identify the objects. One F-5E and one Mirage remained grounded on alert. A similar case occurred four years ago [the Commander Brito VASP airliner radar-visual incident in 1982]. The lights were moving at a speed ranging between 250 and 1,500 km./hr. [150 to 1,000 mph] The Air Force has not closed the case."113
Aeronautics Commission report was not released. However, the accounts of air force pilots and radar controllers were published widely in the press and later studied by Brazilian researchers. A comprehensive report was made by Basílio Baranoff, an airline captain, member of the Aerospace Technical Center, and consultant for the Brazilian UFO organization CBPDV. Baranoff provided a chronology of events for the night of May 19, 1986:
"6:30 p.m. local time - First visual sightings by control tower personnel at the São José dos Campos airport in São Paulo State. Controllers notice two intense lights aligned with the runway axis at 330 degrees azimuth and approximately 15 km. [10 m.] distance from the tower.
72
"7:00 p.m. - The control towers in São Paulo and Brazilia confirm to São José that they have three primary targets on their screens, and that there are no scheduled aircraft in those areas. "8:00 p.m. - CINDACTA (Brasilia) detects up to eight targets (echoes) on its screens. "8:30 p.m. - A new object is observed with binoculars at the São José tower; it shows defined edges and red-orange color; it approaches the tower and then retreats. "9:00 p.m. - The oil company Xingu executive jet with Col. Silva requests landing conditions at São José. Both Silva and Commander Alcir Pereira, the Xingu pilot, confirm visually the luminous objects at 330 degrees azimuth. The Xingu jet attempts to follow the UFOs for 10 minutes. "9:10 p.m. - The Xingu jet returns for landing when a new, large luminous object heads toward the aircraft. The São Paulo tower confirms two echoes: the Xingu and an unknown, which disappears from the screen 15 minutes later. "9:20 p.m. - The Air Control Center in Brasilia (ACC-BR) informs the Air Defense Command about the situation. "9:25 p.m. - The Xingu returns for a second landing attempt when the São Paulo tower reports yet another object at 180 degrees south, which is observed and followed by Commander Pereira. "9:30 p.m. - The Xingu returns for a third landing attempt when ACC-BR reports the appearance of new objects. The Xingu, now at 3,000 meters [10,000 ft.] of altitude, makes visual contact with three luminous objects flying low over Petrobrás refineries and heading towards Serra do Mar. The Xingu finally lands in São José dos Campos. "9:40 p.m. - More visual sightings of a round object at 320 degrees azimuth. "9:50 p.m. - A luminous yellow object surrounded by smaller lights is observed at 110 degrees azimuth. "10:23 p.m. - The first F-5E jet fighter, piloted by Air Force Lt. Kleber Caldas Marinho, is scrambled from Santa Cruz AFB in Rio State. "10:45 p.m. - The second F-5E jet, piloted by Captain Brisola Jordão, is scrambled from Santa Cruz. The first Mirage F-103, armed with Sidewinder and Matra missiles, is scrambled from Anápolis AFB in Goias State. "10:55 p.m. - Anápolis AFB detects the objects on radar. The Mirage piloted by Captain Viriato does not make visual contact with the UFO, but a target is detected on its onboard radar... Captain Viriato later explained at the press conference in Brasilia that he was chasing the UFO 'at 1,350 km./hr. [850 mph], approaching the object up to a distance of 6 miles [9.5 km.]. The object was heading up front and moving from one side to the other (zig-zagging) on my radar scope. Suddenly, the blip disappeared from my radar scope.' "11:00 p.m - The second Mirage F-103 is scrambled from Anápolis. "11:15 p.m. - Lt. Kleber's F-5E makes visual contact with a ball of light and chases the UFO at Mach 1.1 (1,320 km./hr. or 850 mph)... Kleber later declared at the press conference: 'I had one visual contact and one contact with my aircraft radar of something that looked like a luminous point, which was 12 miles [19 km.] in front of me, a distance confirmed by ground radar. The object was moving from left to right and then began to climb... [it] was at 10 km [6 mi.] of altitude and flying over 1,000 km./hr. [600 mph]. I followed it up to 200 miles [320 km.] over the Atlantic Ocean [limit of Brazil's territorial waters]. I wasn't afraid because I like the unknown.'
73
"11:17 p.m. - The third Mirage jet is scrambled from Anápolis AFB. "11:20 p.m. - Captain Jordão's F-5E establishes radar contact... At the press conference a few days later, he stated: 'Near to São José dos Campos, radar detected several targets, 10 to 13 targets, at a distance of 20 miles [32 km.]. The sky was clear but I didn't see anything. Ground radar informed me that the objects were closing in: 20 miles, 15, 10, 5, suddenly there were 13 objects behind my aircraft, 6 on one side and 7 on the other, during several minutes. After I maneuvered the aircraft, the objects had disappeared.' [Captain Jordão flew for 1 hour 20 minutes.] "11:36 p.m. - The third Mirage is scrambled from Anápolis AFB. "1:00 a.m. (May 20) - By this time all jet fighters have returned to their bases."114
These are the basic known facts surrounding the multiple UFO jet scramble incidents over southeastern Brazil on the night of May 19-20, 1986. It is noteworthy that Captain Baranoff added that "two nights after, ten to eleven unidentified luminous objects returned for a new round over São José dos Campos; they were observed visually and detected by the São Paulo, ACC-BR and by CINDACTA 1 radars." This time there was no official confirmation from Air Force authorities.115
Lacking the final Ministry Commission report with all the pertinent data, it is difficult to make a final conclusion about this case. Many hypotheses were offered in the Brazilian media by skeptical astronomers and scientists, ranging from a meteor shower, a reflection of the full moon and ball lightning, to radar malfunction, space debris and spy planes. Most of these explanations seem quite insufficient to explain the events of May 19. One of the more plausible was offered by British space researcher Geoffrey Perry. According to Perry, the Soviet space station Salyut-7 ejected several boxes of debris on that night, which re-entered the earth's atmosphere around central-western Brazil. The re-entry of NASA's Solarwind satellite was also discussed in the Brazilian press.116
However, Brigadier José Cavalcanti from Brazil's Air Defense Command, was not impressed with the Salyut-7 and Solarwind explanations. He told the weekly magazine Veja:
"It could have been space debris, but it wasn't only that. A metallic box with space debris can be detected by radar, but it will always fall in the same direction and at constant velocity. That was not the case of what was seen in Brazil, where the objects detected by radar had speeds that varied from very slow to extremely high."117
Another interesting view is the final comment in a short message from the USDAO (U.S. Defense Attaché Office) in Rio to DIA (Defense Intelligence Agency) on the subject, entitled "BAF [Brazilian Air Force] has a Close Encounter of the First Kind":
"COMMENT: [Censored] While RO [Reporting Officer] does not believe in UFO's or all the hoopla that surrounds previous reporting, there is too much here to be ignored. Three visual sightings and positive radar contact from three different types of radar systems, leads one to believe that something arrived over Brazil the night of 19 May."118
_______________________________________ FOOTNOTES 112. Covo, Claudeir, "Maio de 86 - A Mobilizaçao No Céu Brasileiro," o assunto é... UFOLOGIA, No. 14, Editora Trés, Sao Paulo, 1986; contains transcripts of all the statements by military officers
74
at the May 23, 1986 press conference. 113. Ibid. 114. Baranoff, Basílio, "Casuistica UFO - OVNIs em Maio de 1986", PSI-UFO, No. 4, CBPDV, Campo Grande, Jan./Feb. 1987. CBPDV stands for Centro Brasileiro para Pesquisas de Discos Voadores. 115. Ibid. 116. Huneeus, Antonio, "UFO Alert in Brazil," UFO Review, New York, 1986. 117. Veja, "Lixo espacial - Surgem novas explicações para os OVNIs da FAB," September 10, 1986; English translation in Huneeus, A., ibid. 118. Department of Defense JCS [Joint Chiefs of Staff] Message Center, "Info Report" re "Subject: BAF has a Close Encounter of the First Kind," May 1986.
75
THE UFO BRIEFING DOCUMENT CASE HISTORIES
1986: JAPAN AIRLINES 747 OVER ALASKA
Japan Air Lines Flight 1628 was near the end of the Iceland-to-Anchorage leg of its flight from Paris to Tokyo with a cargo of wine, when its flight crew saw and tracked three unidentified objects. On the night of November 17, 1986, the sighting of at least one of the UFOs was initially confirmed by FAA and U.S. military ground radar.
According to Captain Kenju Terauchi, First Officer Takanori Tamefuji and Flight Engineer Yoshio Tsukuda, two small lights and one huge lighted object were in sight on their radar for more than a half hour. They watched as they flew 350 miles (550 km.) southward across Alaska from Ft. Yukon toward Anchorage.
Drawings by Captain Terauchi and the crew of JAL flight 1628 of the UFOs they observed over Alaska in November 1986. Courtesy of FAA.
Captain Terauchi, a veteran of 29 years flying, said "It was a very big one--two times bigger than an aircraft carrier." (see drawing above) He changed altitude and made turns, with FAA permission, in an effort to identify the objects which continued to follow him. He said the objects moved quickly and stopped suddenly. At one time, the light from the large object was so bright that it lit the airplane's cockpit and Captain Terauchi said he could feel heat from it on his face. He
76
added that he had been watching the UFO for six minutes before notifying anyone on the ground; this would make the start of the sighting about 6:13 p.m.
The FAA at first confirmed the claims that several of its radar traffic controllers tracked the 747 and the large object, and that U.S. Air Force radar did as well. Later official statements hedged on this, and tried to ascribe the radar targets to weather effects. At the end, however, an FAA spokesman stated, "We are accepting the descriptions of the crew, but are unable to support what they saw."119
The summary of the communication between JAL Captain Terauchi and ground controllers was published by the Federal Aviation Administration:
"6:19 p.m. local time - The pilot of JL1628 requested traffic information from the ZAN (FAA Air Route Traffic Control Center, Anchorage) Sector 15 controller. "6:26 p.m. - ZAN contacted the Military Regional Operations Control Center (ROCC), and asked if they were receiving any radar returns near the position of JL1628. The ROCC advised that they were receiving a primary radar return in JL1628's 10 o'clock (left-front) position at 8 miles [13 km.]. "6:27 p.m. - The ROCC contacted ZAN to advise they were no longer receiving any radar returns in the vicinity of JL1628. "6:31 p.m. - JL1628 advised that the 'plane' was 'quite big,' at which time the ZAN controller approved any course deviations needed to avoid the traffic. "6:32 p.m. - JL1628 requested and received a descent from FL350 to FL310 (flight level 350 and 310, meaning altitude of 35,000 and 31,000 feet, or 10,500 m. and 9,500 m.). When asked if the traffic was descending also, the pilot stated it was descending 'in formation.' "6:35 p.m. - JL1628 requested and received a heading change to two one zero (210 degrees, or southwest). The aircraft was now in the vicinity of Fairbanks and ZAN contacted Fairbanks Approach Control asking if they had any radar returns near JL1628's position. The Fairbanks Controller advised they did not. "6:36 p.m. - JL1628 was issued a 360 degree turn and asked to inform ZAN if the traffic stayed with them. "6:38 p.m. - The ROCC called ZAN advising they had confirmed a 'flight of two' in JL1628's position. They advised they had some 'other equipment watching this,' and one was a primary target only. "6:39 p.m. - JL1628 told ZAN they no longer had the traffic in sight. "6:42 p.m. - The ROCC advised it looked as though the traffic had dropped back and to the right of JL1628, however, they were no longer tracking it. "6:44 pm.. - JL1628 advised the traffic was now at 9 o'clock (left). "6:45 p.m. - ZAN issued a 10 degree turn to a northbound United Airlines flight, after pilot concurrence, in an attempt to confirm the traffic. "6:48 p.m. - JL1628 told ZAN the traffic was now at 7 o'clock (left rear), 8 miles [13 km.].
77
"6:50 p.m. - The northbound United flight advised they had the Japan Airlines flight in sight, against a light background, and could not see any other traffic. "6:53 p.m. - JL1628 advised that they no longer had contact with the traffic."120
Official statements became increasingly negative as the days passed, casting doubt on the radar confirmation of the visual observations. But at a press conference held by the FAA on March 5, spokesman Paul Steucke stated: "As far as we know, the whole crew are people of integrity and did report what they saw accurately." 121
The JAL case was analyzed by optical physicist Dr. Bruce Maccabee, who divided it into four phases. In the first phase, Captain Terauchi saw some distant lights below and to his left, which seemed to pace the 747. Terauchi initially thought they were military aircraft, but was told by the Control Center that there was no traffic in the area. The second phase was the multiple-witness sighting by the whole crew when the lights moved abruptly in front of the aircraft. Maccabee wrote:
"The multiple-witness sighting of the arrays of lights seems inexplicable. The sighting cannot have been a hallucination by the whole crew. The lights could not have been stars or planets. These stars and planets were visible before the 'ships' appeared in front of the plane and were still visible after the 'ships' had moved away. There is no natural phenomenon that can account for the rectangular arrangement of lights in horizontal rows, for the occasional sparking, for the vertical rectangular dark space between the rows, for the reorientation of the pairs of arrays from one above the other to one beside the other, for the heat which the captain felt on his face, and so on."122
The third phase occurred as the "ships" receded and could only be seen as "two dim, pale, white lights," but an echo was picked up by the aircraft on-board radar. While Maccabee concedes that the echo could have been caused by "a temporary (self-repairing) failure" (as suggested by the FAA), he added that "it seems much more likely that there was some object out there."
The last phase is perhaps the most controversial one, as Captain Terauchi was the only witness of the so-called giant spaceship "two times bigger than an aircraft carrier." Maccabee conceded:
"It seems at least plausible that he may have misinterpreted oddly lighted clouds which the crew had reported to be below the aircraft. Although the several ground radar returns behind the jet were intriguing, the failure of the radar to show a continuous track of some unknown primary target makes the radar confirmation ambiguous at best. Therefore it seems that, at the very least, the last portion of the sighting is not so convincing as the earlier portions. "Even if one arbitrarily ignores that latter part of the 'Fantastic Flight of JAL1628' one is still left with an intriguing sighting of the two 'ships' which paced the aircraft. It seems, then, that the JAL1628 was accompanied during part of its flight by at least two TRUFOS (True UFOs)."123
_______________________________________ FOOTNOTES 119. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) report, December 29, 1986. 120. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), "Chronological Summary of the Alleged Aircraft
78
Sightings by Japan Airlines Flight 1628, January 6, 1987. 121. Statement by FAA Regional Director, Paul Steucke, at March 5, 1987, press conference in Anchorage, Alaska. See Anchorage Daily News, March 6, 1987. 122. Maccabee, Bruce, "The Fantastic Flight of JAL1628", International UFO Reporter, Vol. 12, No. 2, CUFOS, March/April 1987. 123. Ibid.
79
THE UFO BRIEFING DOCUMENT CASE HISTORIES
1989: MULTIPLE WITNESS CASE AT RUSSIAN MISSILE BASE
Very little was known about UFO investigations in Russia and the republics of the former USSR during the communist era. UFOs were officially labeled "capitalist propaganda" in the 1950s and 1960s. A few scientists such as Professor Felix Zigel and Yuri Fomin documented UFO incidents, but their results were rarely published and circulated mostly in samizdat form. Ufology began to prosper in the early 1980s when "Commissions on Anomalous Phenomena" were established under the patronage of a few academicians.
Stories of secret military UFO investigations began to spread with glasnost, increasing with the break-up of the USSR. Retired military and intelligence officers were now speaking up and offering documents. One collection, covering a 10-year period of military UFO investigations between 1978 and 1988, was sold by its former director, Colonel Boris Sokolov, to American journalist George Knapp and to ABC News.124 In 1991, the Committee of State Security (KGB) declassified 124 pages of documents of "Cases of Observations of Anomalous Occurrences in the Territory of the USSR, 1982-1990," covering a total of 17 regions.125
One of the most interesting cases in the KGB file is a multiple-witness CE-I (Close Encounter of the First Kind) at an army missile base in the district of Kapustin Yar, Astrakhan Region, on the night of July 28-29, 1989. The file is surely incomplete, but still offers an interesting glimpse into the maneuverability of UFOs. The dossier consists of the depositions of seven military witnesses (two junior officers, a corporal and four privates) plus illustrations of the object by the observers, and a brief case summary by an unnamed KGB officer. (Neither the author nor the department are identified, but the document is at the beginning of the KGB file on the Kapustin Yar incident). It states in part:
"Military personnel of the signal center observed UFOs in the period from 22:12 hrs. to 23:55 hrs. on 28 July 1989. According to the witnesses' reports, they observed three objects simultaneously, at a distance of 3-5 km. [2-3 mi.]."
A nearby base reported the UFO from 23.30 hrs. on July 28 until 1.30 hrs. on July 29. The report continues:
"After questioning the witnesses, it was determined that the reported characteristics of the observed UFOs are: disc 4-5 m. [13-17 ft.] diameter, with a half-sphere on top, which is lit brightly. It moved sometimes abruptly, but noiselessly, at times coming down and hovering over ground at an altitude of 20-60 m. [65-200 ft.]. The command of [censored] called for a fighter... but it was not able to see it in detail, because the UFO did not let the aircraft come near it, evading it. Atmospheric conditions were suitable for visual observations."126
The KGB file on the case is obviously incomplete, since there is no data on the jet scramble mission or whether ground or airborne radar detection was also reported. Nevertheless, the hand written descriptions by the seven witnesses from the signal center do provide interesting reading about the flight behavior exhibited by the UFOs. The most detailed communication was submitted by the Officer-on-Duty, Ensign Valery N. Voloshin. A Captain from the telegraph center informed him at 23:20 hrs. that "an unidentified flying object, which he called a flying saucer, was hovering
80
over the military unit for over an hour." After confirming the sighting with the operation signal officer on duty, Ensign Voloshin and Private Tishchayev climbed the first part of an antenna tower. According to his deposition:
"One could clearly see a powerful blinking signal which resembled a camera flash in the night sky. The object flew over the unit's logistics yard and moved in the direction of the rocket weapons depot, 300 meters [1,000 ft.] away. It hovered over the depot at a height of 20 meters [65 ft.]. The UFO's hull shone with a dim green light which looked like phosphorous. It was a disc, 4 or 5 m. [13-17 ft.] in diameter, with a semispherical top. "While the object was hovering over the depot, a bright beam appeared from the bottom of the disc, where the flash had been before, and made two or three circles, lighting the corner of one of the buildings... The movement of the beam lasted for several seconds, then the beam disappeared and the object, still flashing, moved in the direction of the railway station. After that, I observed the object hovering over the logistics yard, railway station and cement factory. Then it returned to the rocket weapons depot, and hovered over it at an altitude of 60-70 m. [200-240 ft.]. The object was observed from that time on, by the first guard-shift and its commander. At 1:30 hrs., the object flew in the direction of the city of Akhtubinsk and disappeared from sight. The flashes on the object were not periodical, I observed all this for exactly two hours: from 23:30 to 1:30."127
A drawing of the UFO was attached:
Drawing by Ensign Voloshin of UFO with beam seen over a Russian missile base in Kapustin Yar in July 1989.
Reconstruction of the event published in the Moscow magazine Aura-Z. Both illustrations courtesy of Antonio Huneeus/Aura-Z.
Private Tishcahayev essentially confirmed Ensign Voloshin's testimony. The guard-shift of Corporal Levin and Privates Bashev, Kulik and Litvinov basically tell the same story. They were all
81
alerted by 1st Lt. Klimenko and they all saw up to three UFOs performing fantastic acrobatics in the sky, such as:
"Suddenly, it flew in our direction. It approached fast and increased in size. It then like divided itself in three shining points and took the shape of a triangle. Then it changed course and went on flying in the same sector." "After veering, it began to approach us and its speed could be felt physically. (It swelled in front of our eyes). Its flight was strange: no aircraft could fly in this manner. It could instantly stop in the air (and there was an impression that it wobbled slightly up and down); it could float (exactly that: float, because the word 'fly' would not be adequate, it was as if the air was holding it, preventing it from falling). At all times that I observed it, it was blinking, blinking without any order and constantly changing colors (red, blue, green, yellow). The point itself was not blinking but something above it." "Here is what I observed: there was a flying object, resembling an egg, but flatter. It shone brightly alternating green and red lights. This object gathered a great speed. It accelerated abruptly and also stopped abruptly, all the while doing large jumps up or down. Then appeared a second and then a third object. One object rose to low altitude and stopped. It stayed there in one place and was gone. Later a second object disappeared, and only one stayed. It moved constantly along the horizon. At times, it seemed it landed on the ground, then it rose again and moved."130
All the testimonies coincided with the appearance of a jet fighter attempting to intercept the UFOs. The fighter made a first pass above the object apparently without seeing it. Then, according to Lt. Klimenko's deposition, "the airplane, which could be identified by its noise, approached the object, but the object disengaged so fast, that it seemed the plane stayed in one place."
It is difficult to make a final evaluation of the Kapustin Yar CE-I, since no information about the scramble mission and possible radar tracking has been released by the KGB. But the detailed testimony of seven military witnesses, who were familiar with rocket launches and various aircraft because of their post (Kapustin Yar is somewhat equivalent to the White Sands Proving Grounds in New Mexico), appears to confirm the unusual flight characteristics and extraordinary maneuverability displayed by UFOs in many instances. Moreover, as in the SAC flap of 1975 and the Bentwaters affair in England in 1980, the UFOs seemed capable of "demonstrating a clear intent in the weapons storage area," as described in a 1975 declassified teletype concerning Loring AFB in Maine. 131
One of the official milestones of Soviet/Russian ufology occurred less than a year later, as a result of a radar-visual and jet scramble incident on the Pereslavl-Zalesskiy region, east of Moscow, on the night of March 21, 1990. A statement issued by Colonel-General of Aviation Igor Maltsev, Chief of the Main Staff of the Air Defense Forces, was published in the newspaper Rabochaya Tribuna. Unit commanders compiled "more than 100 visual observations" and passed them on to Gen. Maltsev, who stated:
"I am not a specialist on UFOs and therefore I can only correlate the data and express my own supposition. According to the evidence of these eyewitnesses, the UFO is a disc with a diameter from 100 to 200 meters [320 to 650 feet]. Two pulsating lights were positioned on its sides... Moreover, the object rotated around its axis and performed an 'S-turn' flight both in the horizontal and vertical planes. Next, the UFO hovered over the ground and then flew with a speed exceeding that of the modern jet fighter by 2 or 3 times... The objects flew at altitudes ranging from 100 to 7,000 m. [300 to 24,000 ft.]. The movement of the UFOs was not accompanied by sound of any kind, and was distinguished by its startling maneuverability. It seemed the UFOs were completely devoid of inertia. In other words, they had somehow 'come to terms' with gravity. At the present time, terrestrial machines could hardly have any such capabilities."132
82
_______________________________________ FOOTNOTES 124. Knapp, George, "What the Russians Know About UFOs," MUFON 1994 International UFO Proceedings; "KGB UFO Files," ABC News Prime Time Live, broadcast originally in October 1994. 125. KGB UFO File released in 1991; excerpts of the documents published in English in "Classification: 'Secret' - From the KGB Archives," AURA-Z, No. 1, Moscow, March 1993. 126. KGB file entitled "Communication on Observation of Anomalous Event in the District of Kapustin Yar (July 28, 1989)"; English translation by Dimitri Ossipov. 127. Ensign Voloshin's Report in the Kapustin Yar KGB file, ibid. 128. Deposition by Pvt. Bashev, Kapustin Yar KGB file, ibid. 129. Deposition by Cpl. Levin, Kapustin Yar KGB file, ibid. 130. Deposition by Lt. Klimenko, Kapustin Yar KGB file, ibid. 131. Fawcett, L. and Greenwood, B., ibid. 132. "UFOs on Air Defense Radars," Rabochaya Tribuna, Moscow, April 19, 1990; English translation by the U.S. Foreign Broadcast Information Service (FBIS).
83
THE UFO BRIEFING DOCUMENT CASE HISTORIES
1989-1990: UFO SIGHTING WAVE IN BELGIUM
From October 1989 throughout 1990, hundreds of reports of lighted objects, frequently described as enormous and triangular in shape were recorded in Belgium. Air Force supersonic F-16 jets chased these strange objects, which were simultaneously tracked by both airborne and ground radars. The Belgian Government cooperated fully with civilian UFO investigators, an action without precedent in the history of government involvement in this field.
Montage of eyewitness drawings and reconstructions of triangular craft seen in Belgium between 1989 and 1993.
Courtesy of SOBEPS.
The Chief of Operations of the Royal Belgian Air Force, Colonel Wilfred De Brouwer (now Major General and Deputy Chief of the Belgian Air Force), set up a Special Task Force Unit to work closely with the Gendarmerie to investigate the sightings as soon as they were reported. Among the thousands of witnesses were many military and police officers, pilots, scientists and engineers.
84
The wave was documented by the Belgian Society for the Study of Space Phenomena (SOBEPS), a private organization from Brussels, which published two thick volumes on the UFO wave. 133 (see montage)
The first important case was a multiple-witness observation of a strange aircraft, reported by gendarmes on patrol near the town of Eupen, not far from the German border. Auguste Meessen, professor of physics at the Catholic University in Louvain and a scientific consultant of SOBEPS, summarized the case:
"On November 29, 1989, a large craft with triangular shape flew over the town of Eupen. The gendarmes von Montigny and Nicol found it near the road linking Aix-la-Chapelle and Eupen. It was stationary in the air, above a field which it illuminated with three powerful beams. The beams emanated from large circular surfaces near the triangle's corners. In the center of the dark and flat understructure there was some kind of 'red gyrating beacon.' The object did not make any noise. When it began to move, the gendarmes headed towards a small road in the area over which they expected the object to fly. Instead, it made a half-turn and continued slowly in the direction of Eupen, following the road at low altitude. It was seen by different witnesses as it flew above houses and near City Hall."134
Sightings continued to be logged by SOBEPS and the Gendarmerie during the fall and winter of 1989-1990. Most witnesses described seeing dark, triangular objects with white lights at the corners and a red flashing light in the middle. Many of the objects were said to have hovered, with some of them then suddenly accelerating to a very high speed. Most of the objects made no sound, but some were said to have emitted a faint humming like an electric motor.
Public interest in the wave reached its peak with a radar/visual and jet scramble incident on the night of March 30-31, 1990. This scramble was seen and reported by hundreds of citizens. A preliminary report prepared by Major P. Lambrechts of the Belgian Air Force General Staff was released to SOBEPS. The "Report concerning the observation of UFOs during the night of March 30 to 31, 1990," includes a detailed chronology of events and dismisses several hypotheses such as optical illusions, balloons, meteorological inversions, military aircraft, holographic projections, etc.
The incident began at 22:50 hrs. on March 30 when the Gendarmerie telephoned the radar "master controller at Glons" to report "three unusual lights forming an equilateral triangle." More gendarmes confirmed the lights in the following minutes. When the NATO facility at Semmerzake detected an unknown target at 23:49 hrs., a decision to scramble two F-16 fighters was made. The jets took off at 0:05 hrs. from Beauvechain, the nearest air base, on March 31 and flew for just over an hour. According to Major Lambrecht's report:
"The aircraft had brief radar contacts on several occasions, [but the pilots]... at no time established visual contact with the UFOs... each time the pilots were able to secure a lock on one of the targets for a few seconds, there resulted a drastic change in the behavior of the detected targets... [During the first lock-on at 0:13 hrs.] their speed changed in a minimum of time from 150 to 970 knots [170 to 1,100 mph and 275 to 1,800 km./hr.] and from 9,000 to 5,000 feet [2,700 m. to 1,500 m.], returning then to 11,000 feet [3,300 m.] in order to change again to close to ground level."135
85
The Electronic War Center (EWC) of the Air Force undertook a much more detailed technical analysis of the F-16 computerized radar tapes, led by Col. Salmon and physicist M. Gilmard. Their study was completed in 1992 and was later reviewed by Professor Meessen. (See below.)
Montage of radar-visual incident in Belgium on the night of March 30-31, 1990:
Two computerized radar images of the UFO tracked by an F-16 fighter.
Apparent trajectory of the UFO, from the technical Gilmard-Salmom study of the Royal Belgian Air Force.
Trajectory of the two F-16's. Courtesy of RBAF/SOBEPS.
Although many aspects of this case still remain unexplained, Meessen and SOBEPS have
86
basically accepted the Gilmard-Salmon hypothesis that some of the radar contacts were really "angels" caused by a rare meteorological phenomenon. This became evident in four lock-ons, "where the object descended to the ground with calculations showing negative [emphasis added] altitude... It was evidently impossible that an object could penetrate the ground, but it was possible that the ground could act as a mirror."
Meessen explained how the high velocities measured by the Doppler radar of the F-16 fighters might result from interference effects. He points out, however, that there is another radar trace for which there is no explanation to date. As for the visual sightings of this event by the gendarmes and others, Meessen suggests that they could possibly have been caused by stars seen under conditions of "exceptional atmospheric refraction."136
In a recent interview, Major General De Brouwer summarized his reflections on this complex case:
"What impressed me the most were the witnesses, some of whom I know personally and convinced me that, in fact, something was going on. These were credible people and they told clearly what they saw. "We always look for possibilities which can cause errors in the radar systems. We can not exclude that there was electromagnetic interference, but of course we can not exclude the possibility that there were objects in the air. On at least one occasion there was a correlation between the radar contacts of one ground radar and one F-16 fighter. This weakens the theory that all radar contacts were caused by electromagnetic interference. If we add all the possibilities, the question is still open, so there is no final answer."137
The Belgian UFO wave yielded a rich volume of good quality cases and many videos and photographs. One strikingly clear photograph of a triangular-shaped craft was taken at Petit-Rechain in early April 1990. As of 1994, it remained unexplained after numerous analyses, including a thorough computerized study at the Royal Military Academy. (see below)
Although public interest in the Belgian wave reached its peak in the 1990-91 period, SOBEPS was still documenting cases in late 1993. Marc Valckenaer listed the main characteristics of the Belgian UFOs in the latest SOBEPS study. Various shapes such as round, rectangular and cigar were reported, but the wave was dominated by triangular objects. Some of their characteristics included:
"Irregular displacement (zig-zag, instantaneous change of trajectory, etc.). "Displacement following the contours of the terrain. "Varying speeds of displacement (including very slow motion). "Stationary flight (hovering). "Overflight of urban and industrial centers. "Sound effects (faint humming... to total silence)."138
Because the bulk of the Belgian sightings described triangular-shaped objects, many European and American researchers and journalists speculated that these were caused by either F-117A stealth fighters or some other revolutionary U.S. secret military aircraft. However, the only truly unusual characteristic of the F-117 is its near-invisibility to radar and infrared detection - it looks, flies and sounds like any other sub-sonic jet airplane. Similar claims about the presence of other American advanced airplanes are even harder to substantiate: the A-12 Avenger II was never
87
built, and the existence of the TR-3A "manta" is unconfirmed. Neither has even been rumored to be able to fly in the manner reported for the Belgian UFOs.
Photographs of the triangular UFO photo taken in Petit-Rechain in early April 1990
Computer enhancement analysis made at the Royal Military Academy by Prof. M. Acheroy.
Courtesy of Guy Mossay/Sofam.
Despite the fact that the secret military aircraft hypothesis has been denied officially over and over again by the Belgian Ministry of Defense and Air Force, as well as by the U.S. Embassy in Brussels and the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency, some publications continue to champion the stealth fighter theory.
In a letter to French researcher Renaud Marhic, the Minister of Defense at the time of the UFO wave, Leo Delcroix, wrote:
"Unfortunately, no explanation has been found to date. The nature and origin of the phenomenon remain unknown. One theory can, however, be definitely dismissed since the Belgian Armed Forces have been positively assured by American authorities that there has never been any sort of American aerial test flight."139
88
_______________________________________ FOOTNOTES 133. SOBEPS, Vague d'OVNI sur la Belgique - Un Dossier Exceptionnel, Brussels 1991; Vague d'OVNI sur la Belgique 2 - Une Enigme Non Résolue, Brussels, 1994. 134. Meessen, Auguste, "Observations, analyses et recherches," Chapter 10 in Vague d'OVNI 2, ibid. 135. Lambrechts, Major P., "Report Concerning the Observation of UFOs During the Night of March 30-31, 1990," preliminary report dated May 31, 1990. 136. Meessen, A., ibid. 137. Huneeus, A., telephone interview with Major General De Brouwer, October 5, 1995. 138. Valckenaers, Marc, "Etude des particularités remarquables," Chapter 2 in Vague d'OVNI 2, ibid. 139. Marhic, Renaud, "Ovnis belges: nouvelle rumeur," Phénomèna No. 13, Jan./Feb. 1993, SOS OVNI, Aix-en-Provence, France.
89
THE UFO BRIEFING DOCUMENT CASE HISTORIES
1991-1994: RECENT CASES
While this report only discusses UFO cases up through the Belgian Wave of 1989-1990, many impressive sightings have continued to be logged by both official and private entities around the world.
These cases have not been included because thorough investigations are still underway. In order to make a proper evaluation of the validity of a promising UFO case, an in depth study with scientific scrutiny must be made, which requires a great deal of time. However, in order not to ignore some of these noteworthy "pending" cases, some of them are presented herewith in outline form:
1991: Paraguay. A radar/visual UFO sighting was reported on the night of June 8 from two airplanes: a private Cessna 210 carrying three passengers, and a Paraguayan Air Lines flight from Asunción to Miami. Air traffic control at Asunción's airport detected an unknown radar track and also saw an object hovering over a runway. An official document from the Civil Aeronautical Agency of the Ministry of Defense confirms the radar detection. The Cessna's automatic direction finder (ADF) malfunctioned during the sighting. Pilot César Escobar reported:
"During close approaches, the Cessna instruments 'went crazy'... The (ADF) was moving around indiscriminately, without any sense of direction. When the light moved a little farther away, everything returned to normal. It repeated this 'game' several times. It seemed to be under intelligent control."140
1992/1993: Mexico. In 1992/93, there were many UFO sightings over Mexico City. The sightings reported over the Benito Juárez International Airport on March 4-5, 1992 were confirmed by radar detection. One case was reported by pilots of two airliners while preparing to land around 4:00 p.m. on September 16, 1993. One pilot described the UFO as shaped like a praying mantis. He added:
"It was a beautiful day. I first thought it was a balloon, but... it was going too fast. We saw it really good and it was not a plane."141
1993: United Kingdom. Lights were widely reported moving erratically over Great Britain on the night of March 30-31, and were investigated by the Ministry of Defense. Five members of a family described a huge diamond-shaped object flying slowly over their heads with an unpleasant low humming sound. An RAF meteorologist reported an object, at first stationary, then moving erratically toward him, with speeds of several hundred miles per hour. It then shone a beam of light toward the ground, which tracked across a field. He also heard a low humming sound.142
1994: United States. On the night of March 8, police in southwestern Michigan were flooded with calls from dozens of witnesses about strange lights and vague objects. Officer Jeff Velthouse was dispatched to the sighting area, where he confirmed the presence of three objects moving in the same direction. These objects were also recorded by a U.S. Weather Service radar. The radar operator commented:
90
"There were three and sometimes four blips, and they weren't planes. Planes show as pin points on the scope; these were the size of half a thumb nail... They were moving all over the place. I never saw anything like it before, not even during severe weather."143
_______________________________________ FOOTNOTES 140. Ramírez, Jorge A., "UFO Intercepts Aircraft Over Paraguay," MUFON UFO Journal, No. 310, February 1994. 141. Maussán, Jaime, "OVNIS Sobre la Tierra," Epoca, Mexico, Nov. 15, 1993; quoted in Hunneus, Antonio, "UFO Chronicle: More UFOS and IFOs from Mexico (Part II)," Fate, December 1994. 142. Pope, Nick, lecture at the New Hampshire MUFON Conference, Portsmouth, September 19, 1995. 143. Coyne, Shirley, "Michigan Visual & Radar Sightings," MUFON UFO Journal, No. 317, September 1994.
91
THE UFO BRIEFING DOCUMENT CASE HISTORIES
CASE HISTORIES SUMMARY
These cases are among the most detailed, best authenticated and most puzzling of the many thousands of unexplained UFO reports. They are by no means the only such cases. In fact, it is the great mass of baffling reports from expert witnesses, past and present, that form the basis of the UFO mystery.
When studied as a group, these case histories exhibit clear patterns which strongly suggest that they belong to a distinct new class of phenomena, rather than being a formless collection of disparate observational errors.
Each of the cases detailed here is representative of one or more characteristics of UFO reports: radar/visual detection, physical traces, air-to-air sightings, attempted intercepts, multiple witness observations, etc. Each of these characteristics can be found in dozens of other well authenticated multiple witness cases, and well investigated reports. Most of these cases, as well as many hundreds more, involve some degree of government activity.
The primary question remains: if UFOs are so different from all known phenomena, what are they? The great majority of sightings reported as UFOs can be explained as IFOs, but a significant percentage cannot, and it is those which constitute the mystery.
Some of them may be secret aircraft, since at any time there are legitimately classified projects being conducted by several governments. Others may be unknown natural phenomena, since there is no way to completely rule out things which are, by definition, unknown. Still others may well be hoaxes, though these have played, statistically, a minor role in the history of UFOs.
But this still leaves thousands of highly detailed descriptions of apparently manufactured devices which are capable of speed and maneuverability far in excess of anything known to have been built in the 1990s, let alone the 1940s.
It is this large quantity of evidence of the existence of something completely baffling which motivates many of us to urge the governments of the world to release all they know about UFOs so that the people of the world, and especially scientists, can begin to come to grips with a mystery that has for too long been subjected to secrecy and ridicule.
92
THE UFO BRIEFING DOCUMENT QUOTATIONS
Quotes from Prominent World Government and Military Officials
US Military/Intellegence | US Presidents | US Congress Argentina | Belgium | Brazil | Canada | England | France Hungary | Indonesia | Japan | Spain | USSR | Zimbabwe
UNITED STATES Military / Intelligence General Nathan D. Twining, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (1957-1960). As Lieutenant General in charge of the Air Force Air Materiel Command at Wright-Field, Ohio, he reported in 1947 on his investigation of UFO sightings to date:
"a. The phenomena reported is something real and not visionary or fictitious. b. There are objects probably approximating the shape of a disc, of such appreciable size as to appear to be as large as a man-made aircraft. c. There is a possibility that some of the incidents may be caused by natural phenomena, such as meteors. d. The reported operating characteristics such as extreme rates of climb, maneuverability (particularly in roll), and action which must be considered evasive when sighted or contacted by friendly aircraft and radar, lend belief to the possibility that some of the objects are controlled either manually, automatically, or remotely." (Letter to the Commanding General of the U.S. Army Air Forces, September 23, 1947.)
J. Edgar Hoover, in response to a government request to study UFOs:
"I would do it, but before agreeing to do it, we must insist upon full access to discs recovered. For instance, in the L.A. [or La.] case, the Army grabbed it and would not let us have it for cursory examination." (Handwritten note to Clyde Tolson, July 15, 1947.)
General Walter Bedell Smith, Director of the CIA from 1950-53 stated:
93
"The Central Intelligence Agency has reviewed the current situation concerning unidentified flying objects which have created extensive speculation in the press and have been the subject of concern to Government organizations... Since 1947, approximately 2,000 official reports of sightings have been received and of these, about 20% are as yet unexplained. "It is my view that this situation has possible implications for our national security which transcend the interests of a single service. A broader, coordinated effort should be initiated to develop a firm scientific understanding of the several phenomena which apparently are involved in these reports..." (1952 memorandum to the National Security Council.)
General Douglas MacArthur:
"Because of the developments of science, all the countries on earth will have to unite to survive and to make a common front against attack by people from other planets. The politics of the future will be cosmic, or interplanetary." (The New York Times, October 8, 1955.) "You now face a new world - a world of change. The thrust into outer space of the satellite, spheres and missiles marked the beginning of another epoch in the long story of mankind - the chapter of the space age... We speak in strange terms: of harnessing the cosmic energy... of the primary target in war, no longer limited to the armed forces of an enemy, but instead to include his civil populations; of ultimate conflict between a united human race and the sinister forces of some other planetary galaxy... " (Address by General Douglas MacArthur to the United States Military Academy at West Point, May 12, 1962.)
Captain Edward J. Ruppelt, Chief of Project Blue Book, from his book, The Report on Unidentified Flying Objects, 1956:
"Every time I get skeptical, I think of the other reports made by experienced pilots and radar operators, scientists, and other people who know what they are looking at. These reports were thoroughly investigated and they are still unknowns. "We have no aircraft on this earth that can at will so handily outdistance our latest jets... The pilots, radar specialists, generals, industrialists, scientists, and the man on the street who have told me, 'I wouldn't have believed it either if I hadn't seen it myself,' knew what they were talking about. Maybe the Earth is being visited by interplanetary space ships.
His comments on the Lubbock lights case:
"When four college professors, a geologist, a chemist, a physicist and a petroleum engineer report seeing the same UFOs on fourteen different occasions, the event can be classified as, at least, unusual. Add the fact that hundreds of other people saw these UFOs and that they were photographed, and the story gets even better. Add a few more facts - that these UFOs were picked up on radar and that a few people got a close look at one of them, and the story begins to convince even the most ardent skeptic." (Ruppelt, Edward J., The Report on Unidentified Flying Objects, New York: Doubleday, 1956.)
94
Admiral Roscoe Hillenkoetter, first Director of the CIA (1947-50). In 1957, he joined the Board of Governors of the National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomenon (NICAP), a UFO investigating group. In 1960, he stated:
"Unknown objects are operating under intelligent control... It is imperative that we learn where UFOs come from and what their purpose is... " (Maccabee, Bruce, "What The Admiral Knew: UFO, MJ-12 and R. Hillenkoetter," International UFO Reporter, Nov./Dec., 1986.)
He also recommended:
"It is time for the truth to be brought out in open Congressional hearings. Behind the scenes high ranking Air Force officers are soberly concerned about the UFOs. But through official secrecy and ridicule, many citizens are led to believe the unknown flying objects are nonsense." (Statement in a NICAP news release, February 27, 1960.)
General Curtis LeMay, Air Force Chief of Staff, in his 1965 autobiography, Mission With LeMay, stated that although the bulk of UFO reports could be explained as conventional or natural phenomena, some could not:
"We had a number of reports from reputable individuals (well-educated serious-minded folks, scientists and fliers) who surely saw something. "Many of the mysteries might be explained away as weather balloons, stars, reflected lights, all sorts of odds and ends. I don't mean to say that, in the unclosed and unexplained or unexplainable instances, those were actually flying objects. All I can say is that no natural phenomena could be found to account for them... Repeat again: There were some cases we could not explain. Never could." (Statement from 1965 autobiography Mission With LeMay, with MacKinlay Kantor, New York: Doubleday, 1965.)
Major General E.B. LeBaily, USAF Director of Information:
"Many of the reports that cannot be explained have come from intelligent and technically well-qualified individuals whose integrity cannot be doubted." (September 28, 1965, letter to USAF Scientific Advisory Board requesting a review of the UFO project. Gillmor, Daniel S., ed. "Scientific Study of Unidentified Flying Objects" (The Condon Report), New York Times Books, 1969.)
General George S. Brown, USAF Chief of Staff, addressed the appearance of UFOs during the Vietnam War at a press conference:
"I don't know whether this story has ever been told or not. They weren't called UFOs. They were called enemy helicopters. And they were only seen at night and they were only seen in certain places. They were seen up around the DMZ [demilitarized zone] in the early summer of '68. And this resulted in quite a little battle. And in the course of this, an Australian destroyer took a hit and we never found any enemy, we only found ourselves when this had all been sorted out. And this caused some shooting there, and there was no enemy at all involved but we
95
always reacted. Always after dark. The same thing happened up at Pleiku at the Highlands in '69." (Department of Defense transcript of press conference in Illinois, October 16, 1973.)
Lt. Col. Lawrence J. Coyne, U.S. Army Reserve helicopter pilot with 3,000 hours of flying time. He and other three airmen had a close encounter with a UFO on the night of October 18, 1973, while flying in a U.S. Army Bell Huey utility helicopter in the vicinity of Mansfield, Ohio. Lt. Coyne described his experience at a United Nations UFO hearing in 1978:
"With the aircraft under my control, I observed the red-lighted object closing upon the helicopter at the same altitude at a high rate of speed. It became apparent a mid-air collision was about to happen unless evasive action was taken. "I looked out ahead of the helicopter and observed an aircraft I have never seen before. This craft positioned itself directly in front of the moving helicopter. This craft was 50 to 60 feet long with a grey metallic structure. On the front of this craft was a large steady bright red light. I could delineate where the red stopped on the structure of this craft because red was reflecting off the grey structure. The design of this craft was symmetrical in shape with a prominent aft indentation on the undercarriage. From this portion of the undercarriage, a green light, pyramid-shaped, emerged with the light initially in the trail position. This green light then swung 90 degrees, coming directly into the front windshield and lighting up the entire cockpit of the aircraft. All colors inside the cabin of the helicopter were absorbed by this green light. That includes the instrument panel lights on the aircraft. "As a result of my experience, I am convinced this object was real and that these types of incidents should require a thorough investigation. It is my own personal opinion that worldwide procedures need to be established to effectively study this phenomena through an international cooperative effort. The establishment of a Transponder Code for aircraft flying worldwide is needed, to identify to ground controllers that a pilot is indeed experiencing a UFO phenomena and that pilot anxiety can be reduced to provide safe effective flying, knowing he is under radar control." (Statement to the Special Political Committee of the United Nations, November 27, 1978.)
Victor Marchetti, former CIA official:
"We have, indeed, been contacted - perhaps even visited - by extraterrestrial beings, and the U.S. government, in collusion with the other national powers of the earth, is determined to keep this information from the general public. "The purpose of the international conspiracy is to maintain a workable stability among the nations of the world and for them, in turn, to retain institutional control over their respective populations. Thus, for these governments to admit that there are beings from outer space... with mentalities and technological capabilities obviously far superior to ours, could, once fully perceived by the average person, erode the foundations of the earth's traditional power structure. Political and legal systems, religions, economic and social institutions could all soon become meaningless in the mind of the public. The national oligarchical establishments, even civilization as we now know it, could collapse into anarchy. "Such extreme conclusions are not necessarily valid, but they probably accurately
96
reflect the fears of the 'ruling classes' of the major nations, whose leaders (particularly those in the intelligence business) have always advocated excessive governmental secrecy as being necessary to preserve 'national security.'" (Marchetti, Victor: "How the CIA Views the UFO Phenomenon," Second Look, Vol. 1, No.7, Washington, D.C., May 1979.)
UNITED STATES Presidents Harry S. Truman, at the time he was President, commented:
"I can assure you that flying saucers, given that they exist, are not constructed by any power on earth." (April 4, 1950, White House Press Conference.)
President Gerald Ford, in a letter he sent as a Congressman to L. Mendel Rivers, Chairman of the Armed Services Committee, on March 28, 1966:
"No doubt, you have noted the recent flurry of newspaper stories about unidentified flying objects (UFOs). I have taken special interest in these accounts because many of the latest reported sightings have been in my home state of Michigan... Because I think there may be substance to some of these reports and because I believe the American people are entitled to a more thorough explanation than has been given them by the Air Force to date, I am proposing that either the Science and Astronautics Committee or the Armed Services Committee of the House, schedule hearings on the subject of UFOs and invite testimony from both the executive branch of the Government and some of the persons who claim to have seen UFOs... In the firm belief that the American public deserves a better explanation than that thus far given by the Air Force, I strongly recommend that there be a committee investigation of the UFO phenomena. I think we owe it to the people to establish credibility regarding UFOs and to produce the greatest possible enlightenment on this subject." (Committee on Armed Services of the House of Representatives, Eighty-Ninth Congress, Second Session, Hearing on Unidentified Flying Objects, April 5, 1966.)
President Jimmy Carter during his election campaign in May 1976:
"If I become President, I'll make every piece of information this country has about UFO sightings available to the public, and the scientists. I am convinced that UFOs exist because I've seen one... " (The National Enquirer, June 8, 1976, "The Night I Saw a UFO." Statement confirmed by White House special assistant media liaison, Jim Purks, in an April 20, 1979 letter.)
President Ronald Reagan was often quoted referring to the possibility of an alien threat. Describing discussions held privately with General Secretary Gorbachev, he stated:
"... when you stop to think that we're all God's children, wherever we may live in the world, I couldn't help but say to him, just think how easy his task and mine
97
might be in these meetings that we held if suddenly there was a threat to this world from some other species from another planet outside in the universe. We'd forget all the little local differences that we have between our countries and we would find out once and for all that we really are all human beings here on this earth together." (White House transcript of "Remarks of the President to Fallston High School Students and Faculty," December 4, 1985.)
In an address to the United Nations General Assembly in September 1987:
"In our obsession with antagonisms of the moment, we often forget how much unites all the members of humanity. Perhaps we need some outside, universal threat to make us recognize this common bond. I occasionally think how quickly our differences worldwide would vanish if we were facing an alien threat from outside this world." (Speech to the United Nations General Assembly, Forty-second session, "Provisional Verbatim Record of the Fourth Meeting", September 21, 1987.)
UNITED STATES Congress Representative John W. McCormack, (D-Massachusetts), Speaker of the House stated in a November 4, 1960 letter to Major Donald Keyhoe:
"Some three years ago, [1957], as chairman of the House Select Committee on Outer Space out of which came the recently established NASA, my Select Committee held executive sessions on the matter of 'Unidentified Flying Objects.' We could not get much information at that time, although it was pretty well established by some in our minds that there were some objects flying around in space that were unexplainable." (Hall, Richard, The UFO Evidence, NICAP, 1964.)
Representative Jerry L. Pettis, (R-California), stated in 1968 during the House Committee on Science and Astronautics hearing on UFOs:
"Having spent a great deal of my life in the air, as a pilot... I know that many pilots... have seen phenomena that they could not explain. These men, most of whom have talked to me, have been very reticent to talk about this publicly, because of the ridicule that they were afraid would be heaped upon them... However, there is a phenomena here that isn't explained." (U.S. House of Representatives, Ninetieth Congress, Second session, July 29, 1968.)
Senator Barry M. Goldwater, Sr., (R-Arizona), Republican presidential candidate (1964). In a letter to researcher Shlomo Arnon, dated March 28, 1975, he stated:
"The subject of UFOs is one that has interested me for some long time. About ten or twelve years ago, I made an effort to find out what was in the building at Wright Patterson Air Force Base where the information is stored that has been collected by the Air Force, and I was understandably denied the request. It is still classified
98
above Top Secret. I have, however, heard that there is a plan under way to release some, if not all, of this material in the near future. I'm just as anxious to see this material as you are, and I hope we will not have to wait too much longer." (Good, T., Above Top Secret, New York: Quill William Morrow, 1988; Frontispiece.)
In an April 11, 1979 letter to Mr. Lee M. Graham, he added:
"It is true I was denied access to a facility at Wright-Patterson. Because I never got in, I can't tell you what was inside. We both know about the rumors. "Apart from that, let me make my position clear: I do not believe that we are the only planet of some two billion that exist that has life on it. I have never seen what I would call a UFO, but I have intelligent friends who have, so I can sort of argue either way." (Good, T., ibid.)
Representative Steven H. Schiff, (R-New Mexico), in response to inquiries from his constituents in 1993 concerning a possible cover-up of the crash of an alleged UFO outside Roswell, NM in 1947, requested information from the Department of Defense. In a CBS radio interview in February 1994, he stated:
"I wrote to the Dept. of Defense, laying out these allegations and asking them if someone could come over with the file and brief me on it. My intent was to simply release this back to whomever inquired, which is very routine in Congress. "The response I got was not routine. The response I got was a very brief letter from the Air Force saying that my request had been referred to the National Archives, without any further comment... and without any offer of any kind of assistance in retrieving it... So I went to the National Archives and the National Archives wrote a letter back to me saying they didn't have anything in their files on the Roswell incident... I just have to say this much: the way the Dept. of Defense has responded has not been routine."
Having been given a "runaround" in his search, he instigated an inquiry by the GAO (General Accounting Office) in 1994 into the handling of Air Force files relating to this matter.
"I did not ask the General Accounting Office to try once and for all to resolve this matter... What I asked the GAO to do was to assist me in locating whatever Air Force and Defense Department files would have existed on the subject, or an accounting of what happened to them. "To me the issue is government accountability. I think that people who want to see government records are entitled to see government records or to get an explanation of what happened to them, regardless of their reason, regardless of the subject matter. It was my intention simply to make that information public if I could... unless there is a present security reason why not - and I have to add real fast if the matter is classified 'military secret,' we members of Congress can't just go monkeying around in there anytime we want. There are procedures for us too and that's fine with me. "I was not told that we have a file that's classified. I was simply referred to an agency which I have to believe - now that I know the prominence of the Roswell incident - I have to believe the Dept. of Defense knew very well that I wasn't going to find anything in the National Archives when they sent me there twice.
99
"It's difficult for me to understand even if there was a legitimate security concern in 1947, that it would be a present security concern these many years later. Frankly I am baffled by the lack of responsiveness on the part of the Defense Dept. on this one issue, I simply can't explain it." (Excerpts of Congressman Schiff's remarks on CBS radio's The Gil Gross Show, February 1994.)
ARGENTINA Argentine Navy. In the 1960s, the Argentine Navy was charged with the official investigation of UFO sightings, particularly those reported by its own personnel. A 1965 "Official UFO Report" prepared by Captain Sánchez Moreno from the Naval Air Station Comandante Espora in Bahía Blanca, revealed that:
"Between 1950 and 1965, personnel of Argentina's Navy alone made 22 sightings of unidentified flying objects that were not airplanes, satellites, weather balloons or any type of known (aerial) vehicles. These 22 cases served as precedents for intensifying that investigation of the subject by the Navy. In the past two years, nine incidents have been recorded that are being studied by Captain Pagani and a team of military and civilian scientists and collaborators. Likewise, a meticulous questionnaire was drafted, printed and distributed to different bases. In a short time, the Service of Naval Intelligence was in possession of a stack of highly significant reports of testimonies. On the basis of this important documentation, it was possible to obtain a coherent overview of the problem." (Captain Sánchez Moreno, Informe Oficial O.V.N.I., Sumario S# A. 02778-DTO. OVNI, Naval Air Station Comandante Espora, in ICUFON Project World Authority for Spatial Affairs (W.A.S.A.), New York, 1979.)
Captain Engineer Omar R. Pagani, Director of the Argentine Navy UFO investigation team in the 1960s. As a result of a series of observations at Argentine and Chilean meteorological stations on Deception Island, Antarctica, in June and July 1965, Captain Pagani disclosed at a press conference that:
"The unidentified flying objects do exist. Their presence and intelligent displacement in the Argentine airspace has been proven. Their nature and origin is unknown and no judgement is made about them." (Sánchez Moreno, ibid.)
In addition, the Argentine Navy Bulletin #172 of July 7, 1965 reported:
"From the Navy post at the South Orkney Islands comes a message of extreme importance: during the passage of the strange object over the base [earlier the same day], two magnetometers in perfect working condition registered sudden and strong disturbances of the magnetic field (at 17:03 hrs.), which were recorded on their tapes." (Perissé, Captain D. A., "Deception Island UFO Sightings," in the MUFON 1987 International UFO Symposium Proceedings, Washington, D.C., June 1987.)
100
BELGIUM Major-General Wilfred De Brouwer, Deputy Chief, Royal Belgian Air Force:
"In any case, the Air Force has arrived to the conclusion that a certain number of anomalous phenomena has been produced within Belgian airspace. The numerous testimonies of ground observations compiled in this [SOBEPS] book, reinforced by the reports of the night of March 30-31 [1990], have led us to face the hypothesis that a certain number of unauthorized aerial activities have taken place. Until now, not a single trace of aggressiveness has been signalled; military or civilian air traffic has not been perturbed or threatened. We can therefore advance that the presumed activities do not constitute a concrete menace. "The day will come undoubtedly when the phenomenon will be observed with technological means of detection and collection that won't leave a single doubt about its origin. This should lift a part of the veil that has covered the [UFO] mystery for a long time. A mystery that continues to the present. But it exists, it is real, and that in itself is an important conclusion." (De Brouwer, W., "Postface" in SOBEPS' Vague d'OVNI sur la Belgique - Un Dossier Exceptionnel, Brussels: SOBEPS, 1991.)
BRAZIL Brigadier General João Adil Oliveira, Chief of the Air Force General Staff Information Service (with the rank of Colonel), led the first official military UFO inquiry in Brazil in the mid-50s. In a "Briefing" to the Army War College in Rio de Janeiro on November 2, 1954, Col. Oliveira stated:
"I wish to give you a summary of what is known in the world about 'flying discs,' of what is known about the opinion of qualified experts who have dealt with this matter. The problem of 'flying discs' has polarized the attention of the whole world, but it's serious and it deserves to be treated seriously. Almost all the governments of the great powers are interested in it, dealing with it in a serious and confidential manner, due to its military interest." (Col. Oliveira's Briefing included short summaries of several UFO incidents in the USA and Brazil. The full text was published in O'Cruzeiro magazine, Rio de Janeiro, December 11, 1954; reprinted in Martins, João, As Chaves do Mistério, Rio: HUNOS 1979.)
Later promoted to the rank of Brigadier General, he was interviewed by the Brazilian press on February 28, 1958:
"It is impossible to deny any more the existence of flying saucers at the present time... The flying saucer is not a ghost from another dimension or a mysterious dragon. It is a fact confirmed by material evidence. There are thousands of documents, photos, and sighting reports demonstrating its existence. For instance, when I went to the Air Force High command to discuss the flying saucers I called for ten witnesses - military (AF officers) and civilians - to report their evidence about the presence of flying saucers in the skies of Rio Grande do Sul, and over Gravataí AFB [Air Force Base]; some of them had seen UFOs with the naked eye, others with high powered optical instruments. For more than two hours the phenomenon was present in the sky, impressing the selected audience: officers, engineers, technicians, etc." ("How to doubt?," O Globo, Rio de Janeiro,
101
February 28, 1958; cited in Fontes, Olavo, M.D., "UAO Sighting Over Trindade," The A.P.R.O. Bulletin, May 1960.)
System of Investigation of Unidentified Aerial Objects (SIOANI). In 1969, the IV Aerial Zone in São Paulo (changed in 1973 to the IV Regional Aerial Command, IV COMAR) established a specialized UFO bureau called SIOANI, under Major (later Colonel) Gilberto Zani. A letter signed by Colonel João Glaser from the IV COMAR to the Brazilian UFO group CPDV, dated November 28, 1984, gives a summary of SIOANI's functions:
"From 1969 to 1972, the ufological activities of this organization (SIOANI) were most varied, including the elaboration of information bulletins, a draft of SIOANI regulations, contacts with interested parties, panels, catalogs of contacts and others, always attempting to contribute in this field of research that was already well known in Brazil." (Os Documentos Oficiais da Força Aérea Brasileira, Centro para Pesquisas de Discos Vaodores (CPDV), Campo Grande, 1991.)
Ministry of Aeronautics. A letter signed by Air Force Colonel Sergio Candiota da Silva, Assistant to the Minister of Aeronautics, to Brazilian UFO researcher Irene Granchi, dated December 19, 1988, acknowledges that the Ministry investigates UFO reports:
"His Excellency recognizes the importance of the [UFO] matter, to the extent that within the Ministry of Aeronautics there exists a Bureau in charge of studying the matter, receiving, analyzing and archiving chronologically the phenomena observed in Brazilian airspace that comes to the attention of this Ministry." (Os Documentos Oficiais, ibid.)
CANADA Wilbert Smith, Senior radio engineer with the Department of Transport, headed Project Magnet, the first Canadian government UFO investigation in the 1950s. He stated in a Top Secret Memorandum:
"The matter is the most highly classified subject in the United States Government, rating higher even than the H-bomb. Flying saucers exist. Their modus operandi is unknown but a concentrated effort is being made by a small group headed by Doctor Vannevar Bush. The entire matter is considered by the United States authorities to be of tremendous significance." (Department of Transport memorandum on "Geo-Magnetics," November 21, 1950.)
ENGLAND Sir Winston Churchill, when Prime Minister, asked to be thoroughly briefed:
"What does all this stuff about flying saucers amount to? What can it mean? What is the truth?" (July 28, 1952 memo to Secretary of State for Air, Lord Cherwell; reprinted in Good, T., ibid.)
102
Prince Phillip, His Royal Highness, Duke of Edinburgh. Having been interested in the subject of UFOs since the early 1950s, he has stated:
"There are many reasons to believe that they (UFOs) do exist: there is so much evidence from reliable witnesses." (Sunday Dispatch, London, March 28, 1954.)
Air Chief Marshal Lord Dowding, Commander-in-Chief of RAF Fighter Command during the Battle of Britain, made the following comment to the press in 1954:
"More than 10,000 sightings have been reported, the majority of which cannot be accounted for by any 'scientific' explanation... I am convinced that these objects do exist and that they are not manufactured by any nation on earth. I can therefore see no alternative to accepting the theory that they come from some extraterrestrial source." (Sunday Dispatch, London, July 11, 1954.)
Earl of Kimberly, former Liberal Party spokesman on aerospace, and member of the House of Lords:
"UFOs defy worldly logic... The human mind cannot begin to comprehend UFO characteristics: their propulsion, their sudden appearance, their disappearance, their great speeds, their silence, their manoeuvre, their apparent anti-gravity, their changing shapes." (House of Lords, Debate on Unidentified Flying Objects, HANSARD (Lords), vol. 397, no. 23, January 18, 1979.)
Lord Davies of Leek, Member of the House of Lords.
"If one human being out of tens of thousands who allege to have seen these phenomena is telling the truth, then there is a dire need for us to look into the matter." (Ibid.)
Lord Rankeillour, Member of the House of Lords.
"Many men have seen them [UFOs] and have not been mistaken. Who are we to doubt their word?... Only a few weeks ago a Palermo policeman photographed one, and four Italian Navy officers saw a 300-foot long fiery craft rising from the sea and disappearing into the sky... Why should these men of law enforcement and defense lie?" (Ibid.)
Lord Hill-Norton (GCB), Chief of Defense Staff, Ministry of Defense, Great Britain (1971-73); Chairman, Military Committee of NATO (1974-77); Admiral of the Fleet; Member of House of Lords. In 1987, he wrote the Foreword to a book written by British UFO researcher Timothy Good, Above Top Secret, in which he stated:
"The evidence that there are objects which have been seen in our atmosphere, and even on terra firma, that cannot be accounted for either as man-made objects or as any physical force or effect known to our scientists seems to me to be overwhelming... A very large number of sightings have been vouched for by
103
persons whose credentials seem to me unimpeachable. It is striking that so many have been trained observers, such as police officers and airline or military pilots. Their observations have in many instances... been supported either by technical means such as radar or, even more convincingly, by... interference with electrical apparatus of one sort or another..." (Good, T., ibid.)
FRANCE General Lionel M. Chassin, Commanding General of the French Air Forces, and General Air Defense Coordinator, Allied Air Forces, Central Europe (NATO). From 1964 until his death in 1970, he was president of the French private UFO research group GEPA.
"The number of thoughtful, intelligent, educated people in full possession of their faculties who have 'seen something' and described it, grows every day... We can... say categorically that mysterious objects have indeed appeared and continue to appear in the sky that surrounds us."
He observed that some UFO sightings by different persons over a 24-hour period, when plotted on a map, revealed that the UFO appeared to travel in either a straight line or a large circle. Concerning these patterns, he concluded:
"Webs and networks... unmistakably suggest a systematic aerial exploration and cannot be the result of chance. It indicates purposive and intelligent action." (Chassin, L., Foreword to the book by Michel Aime, Flying Saucers and the Straight Line Mystery, New York: Criterion Books, 1958.)
M. Robert Galley, French Minister of Defense, interviewed on radio by Jean-Claude Bourret, on February 21, 1974, stated:
"I must say that if listeners could see for themselves the mass of reports coming in from the airborne gendarmerie, from the mobile gendarmerie, and from the gendarmerie charged with the job of conducting investigations, all of which reports are forwarded by us to the National Center for Space Studies, then they would see that it is all pretty disturbing." "I believe that the attitude of spirit that we must adopt vis-a-vis this phenomena is an open one, that is to say that it doesn't consist in denying apriori, as our ancestors of previous centuries did deny many things that seem nowadays perfectly elementary." (Bourret, Jean-Claude, La nouvelle vague des soucoups volantes, Paris: editions france-empire, 1975.)
French Space Agency. Since 1977, France has maintained an office for investigating UFO reports attached to the National Center for Space Studies (CNES) in Toulouse. The original bureau GEPAN (Groupe d'Etudes des Phénomènes Aérospatiaux) was changed in 1988 into the current SEPRA (Service d'Expertise des Phénomènes de Rentrées Atmosphériques). GEPAN/SEPRA has analyzed the best UFO reports collected by the National Gendarmerie, relying on laboratories and scientific centers throughout France for many of its investigations. After reviewing hundreds of UFO reports collected by the Gendarmerie between 1974 and 1978, nineteen experts at GEPAN completed a report of five volumes for the GEPAN Scientific
104
Committee, supervised by Dr. Claude Poher, Ph.D. in astronomy, the founder and first director of GEPAN. The expert team concluded:
"Taking into account the facts that we have gathered from the observers and from the location of their observations, we concluded that there generally can be said to be a material phenomenon behind the observations. In 60% of the cases reported here (references cited), the description of this phenomenon is apparently one of a flying machine whose origin, modes of lifting and/or propulsion are totally outside our knowledge. "The study of the observed phenomenon seems to us, by its extraordinary characteristics, potentially able to bring to humankind knowledge and eventually techniques of considerable importance. We suggest that a deep study of this phenomenon be undertaken with a high degree of priority." (GEPAN Report to the Scientific Committee, June 1978, Vol. 1, Chapter 4.)
Jean-Jacques Velasco, the last head of GEPAN and current director of SEPRA at CNES Headquarters in Toulouse. In an interview with the French magazine Phénomèna, Velasco stated that SEPRA's primary task was tracking "satellite re-entries, which are more and more numerous, and secondly, to continue the activities of GEPAN, stopped in 1988." He further stated:
"There are cases which remain unexplained... Let's say simply that the events which were registered and measured, particularly at Trans-en-Provence, but also in the case of l'Amarante [a CE-II on Oct. 21, 1982] and two others, allow us to suppose that there are phenomena which escape our understanding completely. I must say that this permits us to suppose that there is an intelligence behind the phenomena. But I believe it would be largely speculation to go beyond this point." (Petrakis, Perry & Marhic, Renaud, "Le SEPRA, côte coulisses," Phénomèna, No. 4, July-August 1991.)
HUNGARY George Keleti, Minister of Defense:
"I believe that we are not alone in the universe and other galaxies are also carrying life on the planets. I never saw any alien green men here on the Earth. Yes, I was a columnist [in Budapest's Ufomagazin] and I published UFO cases that were observed and registered within the Hungarian armed forces. I never stated that we are preparing any kind of action against UFO forces, I only pointed out to the public that, as a civilization, we would be unable to defend ourselves here on the Earth... Around Szolnok many UFO reports have been received from the Ministry of Defense, which obviously and logically means that they [UFOs] know very well where they have to land and what they have to do. It is remarkable indeed that the Hungarian newspapers, in general newspapers everywhere, reject the reports of the authorities." (Lenart, Attila, "Ask a Question to the Minister of Defense, George Keleti, are you afraid of a UFO invasion?," Nepszava, Budapest, August 18, 1994.)
105
INDONESIA Air Marshall Roesmin Nurjadin, Commander-in-Chief of the Indonesian Air Force, stated in 1967:
"UFOs sighted in Indonesia are identical with those sighted in other countries. Sometimes they pose a problem for our air defence and once we were obliged to open fire on them." (Letter to Yusuke J. Matsumura, May 5, 1967; reprinted in Good, T., ibid.)
Air Commander J. Salutun, Member of Parliament and Secretary of the National Aerospace Council of the Republic of Indonesia, stated in 1974:
"I am convinced that we must study the UFO problem seriously for reasons of sociology, technology and security... " (Letter published in UFO News, Vol. 6, No. 1, 1974, CBA International, Yokohama, Japan.)
JAPAN General Kanshi Ishikawa, Chief of Staff of Japan's Air Self-Defense Force; Commander of the 2nd Air Wing, Chitose Air Base. In 1967, he stated:
"Much evidence tells us UFOs have been tracked by radar; so, UFOs are real and they may come from outer space... UFO photographs and various materials show scientifically that there are more advanced people piloting the saucers and motherships." (1967 interview published in UFO News, ibid.)
Toshiki Kaifu, Prime Minister, gave a brief interview to students of Waseda University in Tokyo in November 1989. The question of whether Japan had an official UFO organization was discussed:
"Japan does not have such organizations at a government level... If young people display a serious interest in similar phenomena, we should perhaps think of forming a UFO-data collecting group under the auspices of the Ministry of Education." (Ovsyannikov, Vladimir, "Toshiki Kaifu: 'I want to believe in my dream'," New Times, Moscow, April 16-22, 1991.)
A year later, concerning an upcoming Symposium on Space and UFOs, he stated:
"First of all, I told a magazine this past January that, as an underdeveloped country with regards to the UFO problem, Japan had to take into account what should be done about the UFO question, and that we had to spend more time on these matters. In addition, I said that someone had to solve the UFO problem with far reaching vision at the same time. Secondly, I believe it is a reasonable time to take the UFO problem seriously as a reality... I hope that this Symposium will contribute to peace on earth from the point of view of outer space, and take the first step toward the international cooperation in the field of UFOs. From the point of view of 'people' in outer space, all human beings on earth are the same people, regardless of whether they are American, Russian, Japanese, or whoever." (Letter
106
to Mayor Shiotani, dated June 24, 1990, endorsing a forthcoming Space & UFO Symposium in Hakui City, Ishikawa prefecture.)
SPAIN General Carlos Castro Cavero, General in the Spanish Air Force, at one time Commander of Spain's Third Aerial Region. In a 1976 interview with journalist J.J. Benítez, he acknowledged that UFOs were taken quite seriously by the Spanish military. He added:
"Everything is in a process of investigation both in the United States and in Spain, as well as in the rest of the world... Look, as a General, as a military man, I have the same position as the one officially held by the Ministry [of Defense]. Now, from a personal position, as Carlos Castro Cavero, I believe that UFOs are spaceships or extraterrestrial craft... The nations of the world are currently working together in the investigation of the UFO phenomenon. There is an international exchange of data. Maybe when this group of nations acquire more precise and definite information, it will be possible to release the news to the world."
During the same interview, the General described a daytime UFO sighting at his ranch near Zaragoza:
"I myself have observed one [UFO] for more than an hour... It was an extremely bright object, which remained stationary there for that length of time and then shot off towards Egea de los Caballeros, covering the distance of twenty kilometers in less than two seconds. No human device is capable of such a speed." He added that the Spanish Air Ministry investigated UFO cases, including instances in which pilots had flown alongside UFOs, but when they tried to get closer, the UFOs moved away at fantastic speeds. The investigations were kept confidential at the time, but in 1992 the Spanish Air Force finally began to declassify its UFO files systematically. (Benítez, J.J., La Gaceta del Norte, Bilbao, Spain, June 27, 1976.)
USSR/RUSSIA Mikhail Gorbachev, in a speech to the International Forum, "For a Nuclear-Free World and the Survival of Humanity," at the Grand Kremlin Palace in Moscow on February 16, 1987 stated:
"In spite of all the differences between us, we must all learn to preserve our one big family of humanity. At our meeting in Geneva, the U.S. President said that if the earth faced an invasion by extraterrestrials, the United States and the Soviet Union would join forces to repel such an invasion. I shall not dispute the hypothesis, though I think it's early yet to worry about such an intrusion. (Soviet Life Supplement, May 1987.)
In reply to the question, "Does the USSR government study UFOs?," asked while visiting the Uralmash plant in Sverdlovsk on April 26th, 1990, he answered:
107
"I know that there are scientific organizations which study this problem." (Pravda, April 27, 1990; Major General Pavel Popovich in a letter to Colman S. Von Keviczky, July 31, 1991.)
ZIMBABWE On July 22, 1985, in western Zimbabwe, a UFO was witnessed by dozens of persons on the ground and in the control tower at Bulawayo Airport, as well as by the pilots of two Hawk jets that were scrambled to pursue it. The UFO was also tracked on radar. The UFO was very bright and rounded, with a short cone above it, and evaded the Hawk jets. Air Marshal Azim Daudpota:
"This was no ordinary UFO. Scores of people saw it. It was no illusion, no deception, no imagination." (The Times, London, August 3, 1985.)
Air Commodore David Thorne, Director General of Operations in a October 24, 1985 letter to Timothy Good stated:
"[Although not speaking officially], as far as my Air Staff is concerned, we believe implicitly that the unexplained UFOs are from some civilization beyond our planet." (Good, T., ibid.)
108
THE UFO BRIEFING DOCUMENT QUOTATIONS
Quotes from US and USSR Astronauts
US Astronauts | USSR Astronauts
UNITED STATES Gordon Cooper, Astronaut (Mercury-Atlas 9, May 15, 1963; Gemini 5, August 21, 1965), Col. USAF (Ret); letter to Granada's Ambassador Griffith at the United Nations, November 9, 1978:
"I wanted to convey to you my views on our extra-terrestrial visitors popularly referred to as ' UFOs,' and suggest what might be done to properly deal with them. "I believe that these extra-terrestrial vehicles and their crews are visiting this planet from other planets, which obviously are a little more technically advanced than we are here on earth. I feel that we need to have a top level, coordinated program to scientifically collect and analyze data from all over the earth concerning any type of encounter, and to determine how best to interface with these visitors in a friendly fashion. We may first have to show them that we have learned to resolve our problems by peaceful means, rather than warfare, before we are accepted as fully qualified universal team members. This acceptance would have tremendous possibilities of advancing our world in all areas. Certainly then it would seem that the UN has a vested interest in handling this subject properly and expeditiously. "I should point out that I am not an experienced UFO professional researcher. I have not yet had the privilege of flying a UFO, nor of meeting the crew of one. I do feel that I am somewhat qualified to discuss them since I have been into the fringes of the vast areas in which they travel. Also, I did have occasion in 1951 to have two days of observation of many flights of them, of different sizes, flying in fighter formation, generally from east to west over Europe. They were at a higher altitude than we could reach with our jet fighters of that time. "I would also like to point out that most astronauts are very reluctant to even discuss UFOs due to the great numbers of people who have indiscriminately sold fake stories and forged documents abusing their names and reputations without hesitation. Those few astronauts who have continued to have participation in the UFO field have had to do so very cautiously. There are several of us who do believe in UFOs and who have had occasion to see a UFO on the ground, or from an airplane. There was only one occasion from space which may have been a UFO. "If the UN agrees to pursue this project, and to lend their credibility to it, perhaps
109
many more well qualified people will agree to step forth and provide help and information." (Good, T., ibid.)
On several occasions, he described his own sighting in Germany in 1951:
"Several days in a row we sighted groups of metallic, saucer-shaped vehicles at great altitudes over the base, and we tried to get close to them, but they were able to change direction faster than our fighters. I do believe UFOs exist and that the truly unexplained ones are from some other technologically advanced civilization. From my association with aircraft and spacecraft, I think I have a pretty good idea of what everyone on this planet has and their performance capabilities, and I'm sure some of the UFOs at least are not from anywhere on Earth." (Omni, Vol. 2, No. 6, March 1980.)
Donald (Deke) Slayton, "Mercury Seven" astronaut, stated in an interview, that he had seen a UFO in 1951:
"I was testing a P-51 fighter in Minneapolis when I spotted this object. I was at about 10,000 feet on a nice, bright, sunny afternoon. I thought the object was a kite, then realized that no kite is gonna [sic] fly that high. As I got closer, it looked like a weather balloon, gray and about three feet in diameter. But as soon as I got behind the darn thing, it didn't look like a balloon anymore. It looked like a saucer, a disc. About that same time, I realized that it was suddenly going away from me - and there I was, running at about 300 miles an hour. I tracked it for a little while, and then all of sudden the damn thing just took off. It pulled about a 45-degree climbing turn and accelerated and just flat disappeared. A couple of days later, I was having a beer with my commanding officer, and I thought, ' What the hell, I'd better mention something to him about it.' I did, and he told me to get on down to intelligence and give them a report. I did, and I never heard anything more on it." (National Enquirer, October 23, 1979.)
Edgar Mitchell, Apollo 14 lunar module pilot and founder of the Institute of Noetic Sciences:
"I've changed my position in the last two or three years - the last two years to be precise - to suggest that the evidence is strong enough that we really need to have serious open discussion and release of information that it is quite clear the government and other governments do hold, and that this become a part of our official knowledge... Now, whether it's true or not, it deserves to be handled with a serious investigation. There is too much smoke here not to be fire, and so I personally in the last couple of years have come out - I don't know the answers, but I've come out - and I say, this has gone far enough. If it's real, let's get it out in the open; let's break the deadlock that bureaucracy has on this. There is enough evidence pointing in the direction that clearly there is information being withheld. How far we can go with it, I don't know." (Excerpt from his lecture "Science and the Inner Experience" sponsored by the friends of The Institute of Noetic Sciences, New York City, December 4, 1991.)
Al Worden, Apollo 15 astronaut who later became a poet. In a lengthy interview in a documentary
110
produced for the 20th anniversary of the landing on the Moon, Worden discussed his views that Earth was probably visited in the past by extraterrestrial explorers. He began by commenting on the well known "UFO interpretation" of the vision of the prophet Ezekiel in the Bible:
"And a literal translation describes very clearly a spacecraft with the ability to land vertically and take-off vertically, and it was an object that looked very much like the Lunar Module that we used on the Moon; and if it's going to land vertically and take-off vertically, it had to come from some place and go back some place. "In my mind the universe has to be cyclic, so that in one galaxy if there is a planet maybe that has arrived at the point of becoming unlivable, you will find in another part of a different galaxy a planet that has just formed which is perfect for habitation. I see some kind of intelligent being, like us, skipping around the universe from planet to planet as, let's say, the South Pacific Indians do on the islands, where they skip from island to island. When the first island blows up due to a volcano, they will have their progeny on all these other islands and they will be able to continue the species. I think that's what the [alien] space program is all about. "I think we may be a combination of creatures that were living here on Earth some time in the past, and having a visitation, if you will, by creatures from somewhere else in the universe, and those two species getting together and having progeny. I am not at all convinced that we are not the result of that particular union some many thousands of years ago. If that is the case in fact, a very small group of explorers could land on a planet and create successors to themselves that would eventually take up the pursuit of, let's say, inhabiting the rest of the universe." (Excerpts from his interview in the documentary "The Other Side of the Moon," produced by Michael G. Lemle, and broadcast by PBS in July 1989.)
Eugene Cernan, Apollo 17 Commander:
"I'm one of those guys who has never seen a UFO. But I've been asked, and I've said publicly I thought they were somebody else; some other civilization..." (Chriss, Nicholas, "Cernan Says Other Earths Exist," Los Angeles Times, January 6, 1973.)
Story Musgrave, Space shuttle astronaut who flew on the repair mission of the Hubble Space Telescope:
"I try to communicate with the life that's out there. I'm serious. It is not that far out. When I'm circling around out there, I try in whatever ways I can to get them to come down here and get me." (The Houston Post, December 1, 1993.)
USSR/RUSSIA Yevegni Khrunov, Soyuz-5 spacecraft pilot in 1969:
111
"Is the presence of extraterrestrial civilizations conceivable? Of course. Before the uniqueness of the earth is demonstrated, this assumption should be taken as quite legitimate. As regards UFOs, their presence cannot be denied: thousands of people have seen them. It may be that their source is optical effects, but some of their properties, for instance, their ability to change course by 90 degrees at great speed, simply stagger the imagination." (Sputnik, "UFOs Through the Eyes of Cosmonauts," December 1980.)
Vladimir Kovalyonok, Major-General of Aviation stated:
"On May 5, 1981, we were in orbit [in the Salyut-6 space station]. I saw an object that didn't resemble any cosmic objects I'm familiar with. It was a round object which resembled a melon, round and a little bit elongated. In front of this object was something that resembled a gyrating depressed cone. I can draw it, it's difficult to describe. The object resembles a barbell. I saw it becoming transparent and like with a ' body' inside. At the other end I saw something like gas discharging, like a reactive object. Then something happened that is very difficult for me to describe from the point of view of physics. Last year in the magazine Nature I read about a physicist... we tried together to explain this phenomenon and we decided it was a ' plasmaform.' I have to recognize that it did not have an artificial origin. It was not artificial because an artificial object couldn't attain this form. I don't know of anything that can make this movement... tightening, then expanding, pulsating. Then as I was observing, something happened, two explosions. One explosion, and then 0.5 seconds later, the second part exploded. I called my colleague Viktor [Savinykh], but he didn't arrive in time to see anything. "What are the particulars? First conclusion: the object moved in a suborbital path, otherwise I wouldn't have been able to see it. There were two clouds, like smoke, that formed a barbell. It came near me and I watched it. Then we entered in to the shade for two or three minutes after this happened. When we came out of the shade we didn't see anything. But during a certain time, we and the craft were moving together." (Videotaped interview with Giorgio Bongiovanni in the village of Kosnikov, near Moscow, 1993. Videotape courtesy of Michael Hesemann.)
Major-General Pavel Popovich, pioneer Cosmonaut, "Hero of the Soviet Union," and the President of All-Union Ufology Association of the Commonwealth of Independent States:
"Today it can be stated with a high degree of confidence that observed manifestations of UFOs are no longer confined to the modern picture of the world, or the simple refutation of the orthodox natural science paradigm. The historical evidence of the phenomenon, the singularity of its newly gained kinematic, energetic, and psychophysical features allows us to hypothesize that ever since mankind has been co-existing with this extraordinary substance, it has manifested a high level of intelligence and technology. The UFO sightings have become the constant component of human activity and require a serious global study. In order to realize the position of man on earth and in the universe, ufology, the scientific study of the UFO phenomenon, should take place in the midst of other sciences dealing with man and the world... "The influence the UFO has on people, as well as the effects it produces, should become the items of special research. The UFO's interaction with the environment, the behavior that it motivates, and its genesis, also present
112
interesting areas for concentrated study. Today, many specialists have come to the opinion that [UFO] phenomenon research should be taken up along with understanding and comprehension of other unexplained phenomena... The development of new approaches for the identification and study of energy and information processes will allow for an enthusiastic move toward the comprehension of the phenomenon. The results of these studies should aid the survival of the people on earth... "It's necessary to carry out the popular ufological enlightenment, since the probability for a meeting of a person with a UFO exists, and this person should be ready for this event. Precautionary measures are especially important. It's necessary to tell the truth, which has been distorted previously by the politically engaged sciences and most recently by ufological dilettantes. The main purpose of the primary local groups, that of controlling the ufological situation, mustn't be forgotten. The ufologists should know all the UFO's landing places and contacts in their regions. They should have relations with the local authorities, and in particular, with the police, the civil defense bodies, as well as information, scientific, and medical organizations." (Popovich, P., "Ufology in the Commonwealth of Independent States: Organization Problems," in the MUFON 1992 International UFO Symposium Proceedings.)
113
THE UFO BRIEFING DOCUMENT QUOTATIONS
Quotes from Prominent World Scientists
United States | Belgium | China | France | Germany | Greece | Switzerland | USSR
UNITED STATES Dr. Clyde W. Tombaugh, American astronomer who discovered the planet Pluto. On August 20, 1949, he observed a UFO that appeared as a geometrically arranged group of six-to-eight rectangles of light, window-like in appearance and yellowish-green in color, which moved from northwest to southeast over Las Cruces, New Mexico. He stated:
"I doubt that the phenomenon was any terrestrial reflection, because... nothing of the kind has ever appeared before or since... I was so unprepared for such a strange sight that I was really petrified with astonishment." (The UFO Evidence, ibid.)
Dr. Carl Sagan, Professor of Astronomy and Space Sciences at Cornell University:
"It now seems quite clear that Earth is not the only inhabited planet. There is evidence that the bulk of the stars in the sky have planetary systems. Recent research concerning the origin of life on Earth suggests that the physical and chemical processes leading to the origin of life occur rapidly in the early history of the majority of planets. The selective value of intelligence and technical civilization is obvious, and it seems likely that a large number of planets within our Milky Way galaxy - perhaps as many as a million - are inhabited by technical civilizations in advance of our own. Interstellar space flight is far beyond our present technical capabilities, but there seems to be no fundamental physical objections to preclude, from our own vantage point, the possibility of its development by other civilizations." (Sagan, Carl, "Unidentified Flying Objects," The Encyclopedia Americana, 1963.)
Dr. Frank B. Salisbury, Professor of Plant Physiology at Utah State University:
"I must admit that any favorable mention of the flying saucers by a scientist amounts to extreme heresy and places the one making the statement in danger of excommunication by the scientific theocracy. Nevertheless, in recent years I have investigated the story of the unidentified flying object (UFO), and I am no longer able to dismiss the idea lightly." (Paper on "Exobiology" presented at the First Annual Rocky Mountain Bioengineering Symposium, held at the United States Air Force Academy, in May 1964. Quoted in Fuller, John G., Incident at Exeter, Putnam, 1966.)
114
Dr. J. Allen Hynek, Chairman of the Department of Astronomy at Northwestern University and scientific consultant for Air Force investigations of UFOs from 1948 until 1969 (Projects Sign, Grudge and Blue Book). Over his long career, he made numerous comments about the scientific implications of the UFO phenomenon:
"Despite the seeming inanity of the subject, I felt that I would be derelict in my scientific responsibility to the Air Force if I did not point out that the whole UFO phenomenon might have aspects to it worthy of scientific attention." (Hearings on Unidentified Flying Objects, Committee on Armed Services, House of Representatives, Eighty-ninth Congress, Second Session, 1966.) "I have begun to feel that there is a tendency in 20th Century science to forget that there will be a 21st Century science, and indeed a 30th Century science, from which vantage points our knowledge of the universe may appear quite different than it does to us. We suffer, perhaps, from temporal provincialism, a form of arrogance that has always irritated posterity." (Hynek, J. Allen, letter to Science magazine, August 1, 1966.) "When one gets reports from scientists, engineers and technicians whose credibility by all common standards is high and whose moral caliber seems to preclude a hoax, one can do no less than hear them out, in all seriousness." (Hynek, J. Allen, "The UFO Gap," Playboy, Vol. 14, No. 12, December 1967.) "There exists a phenomenon... that is worthy of systematic rigorous study... The body of data point to an aspect or domain of the natural world not yet explored by science... When the long awaited solution to the UFO problem comes, I believe that it will prove to be not merely the next small step in the march of science but a mighty and totally unexpected quantum jump." (Hynek, J. Allen, The UFO Experience: A Scientific Inquiry, Chicago: Regnery Co., 1972.)
Dr. Leo Sprinkle, Professor of psychology at the University of Wyoming had his first UFO sighting in 1951 when he and a friend saw "something in the sky, round and metallic looking." In 1956, he had a second sighting while driving with his wife near Boulder, Colorado:
"We watched it for quite a few minutes. We could see it was larger than the headlights of the cars below. And we could see it was not attached to anything. And there was no sound. I became frightened actually, because it wasn't anything I could understand... from a personal viewpoint, I am pretty well convinced that we are being surveyed." ("Flying Saucers," Special Issue of Look magazine, 1967.)
Dr. James E. McDonald, Senior Physicist at the Institute of Atmospheric Physics at the University of Arizona, testified at the UFO hearings convened by the House Committee on on Science and Astronautics in 1968:
"The type of UFO reports that are most intriguing are close-range sightings of machine-like objects of unconventional nature and unconventional performance characteristics, seen at low altitudes, and sometimes even on the ground. The general public is entirely unaware of the large number of such reports that are coming from credible witnesses... When one starts searching for such cases, their number are quite astonishing. Also, such sightings appear to be occurring all over the globe." ("Symposium on Unidentified Flying Objects," Hearings before the
115
Committee on Science and Astronautics, U.S. House of Representatives, July 29, 1968.)
Dr. Robert M. L. Baker, Jr., President of West Coast University; author of two astrodynamics textbooks; head of Lockheed's Astrodynamics Research Center (1961-64); member of the faculty of Astronomy and Engineering at UCLA (1959-71). He has specialized in the study of motion pictures of UFOs and anomalistic radar images, and has concluded that two of the most famous UFO motion pictures, taken in the 1950s, cannot be explained in terms of conventional phenomena. In 1968, he made the following statement concerning the one U.S. radar system in operation at that time that, to his knowledge, exhibited sufficient continuous coverage to reveal UFOs operating above the earth's atmosphere:
"The system is partially classified and, hence, I cannot go into great detail... Since this particular sensor system has been in operation, there have been a number of anomalistic alarms. Alarms that, as of this date, have not been explained on the basis of natural phenomena interference, equipment malfunction or inadequacy, or man-made space objects." (1968 Congressional Hearings, ibid.)
Stanton T. Friedman, nuclear physicist and well known UFO researcher, responsible for the original investigation of the Roswell, New Mexico incident. In a prepared statement submitted to the House Science and Astronautics Committee UFO Hearings in 1968, he posed and answered a series of key questions about the UFO phenomenon:
"1. To what conclusions have you come with regard to UFOs? I have concluded that the earth is being visited by intelligently controlled vehicles whose origin is extraterrestrial. This doesn't mean I know where they come from, why they are here, or how they operate. "2. What basis do you have for these conclusions? Eyewitness and photographic and radar reports from all over the earth by competent witnesses of definite objects whose characteristics such as maneuverability, high speed, and hovering, along with definite shape, texture, and surface features, rule out terrestrial explanations. "6. Were there any differences between the unknowns and the knowns? A 'chi square' statistical analysis was performed comparing the unknowns in this study to all the knowns. It was shown that the probability that the unknowns came from the same population of sighting reports as the knowns, was less than 1%. This was based on apparent color, velocity, etc... Maneuverability, one of the most distinguished characteristics of UFOs, was not included in this statistical analysis." (1968 Congressional Hearings, ibid.)
Dr. Margaret Mead, world-renowned anthropologist, stated:
"There are unidentified flying objects. That is, there are a hard core of cases - perhaps 20 to 30 percent in different studies - for which there is no explanation... We can only imagine what purpose lies behind the activities of these quiet, harmlessly cruising objects that time and again approach the earth. The most likely explanation, it seems to me, is that they are simply watching what we are up
116
to." (Mead, Margaret, "UFOs - Visitors from Outer Space?," Redbook, vol. 143, September 1974.)
American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics UFO Subcommittee. The AIAA established a subcommittee in 1967 to look into the UFO question. The UFO Subcommittee issued several reports and statements, including in-depth studies of two UFO incidents. The UFO Subcommittee stated that its "most important conclusion" was that government agencies consider funding UFO research:
"From a scientific and engineering standpoint, it is unacceptable to simply ignore substantial numbers of unexplained observations... the only promising approach is a continuing moderate-level effort with emphasis on improved data collection by objective means... involving available remote sensing capabilities and certain software changes." (Story, Ronald D., The Encyclopedia of UFOs, New York: Doubleday, 1980.)
The Subcommittee of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics criticized the conclusion of The Condon Report as the personal views of Dr. Condon, and added:
"The opposite conclusion could have been drawn from The Condon Report's content, namely, that a phenomenon with such a high ratio of unexplained cases (about 30 percent) should arouse sufficient scientific curiosity to continue its study." (Story, Ronald D., ibid.)
Dr. Richard Haines, Psychologist specializing in pilot and astronaut "human factors" research for the Ames NASA Research Center in California, from where he retired in 1988 as Chief of the Space Human Factors Office. He has stated:
"We're not dealing with mental projections or hallucinations on the part of the witness but with a real physical phenomenon." (Haines, Dr. Richard, Observing UFO's, Chicago: Nelson-Hall, 1980.)
A principal focus of his UFO research concerns aircraft cases:
"Reports of anomalous aerial objects (AAO) appearing in the atmosphere continue to be made by pilots of almost every airline and air force of the world in addition to private and experimental test pilots. This paper presents a review of 56 reports of AAO in which electromagnetic effects (E-M) take place on-board the aircraft when the phenomenon is located nearby but not before it appeared or after it had departed. "Reported E-M effects included radio interference or total failure, radar contact with and without simultaneous visual contact, magnetic and/or gyro-compass deviations, automatic direction finder failure or interference, engine stopping or interruption, dimming cabin lights, transponder failure, and military aircraft weapon system failure." (Haines, Dr. Richard, "Fifty-Six Aircraft Pilot Sightings Involving Electromagnetic Effects," MUFON 1992 International UFO Symposium Proceedings.)
Dr. Peter A. Sturrock, Professor of Space Science and Astrophysics and Deputy Director of the
117
Center for Space Sciences and Astrophysics at Stanford University; Director of the Skylab Workshop on Solar Flares in 1977. He has stated:
"The definitive resolution of the UFO enigma will not come about unless and until the problem is subjected to open and extensive scientific study by the normal procedures of established science. This requires a change in attitude primarily on the part of scientists and administrators in universities." (Sturrock, Peter A., Report on a Survey of the American Astronomical Society concerning the UFO Phenomenon, Stanford University Report SUIPR 68IR, 1977.) "Although... the scientific community has tended to minimize the significance of the UFO phenomenon, certain individual scientists have argued that the phenomenon is both real and significant. Such views have been presented in the Hearings of the House Committee on Science and Astronautics [and elsewhere]. It is also notable that one major national scientific society, the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, set up a subcommittee in 1967 to 'gain a fresh and objective perspective on the UFO phenomenon.' In their public statements (but not necessarily in their private statements), scientists express a generally negative attitude towards the UFO problem, and it is interesting to try to understand this attitude. Most scientists have never had the occasion to confront evidence concerning the UFO phenomenon. To a scientist, the main source of hard information (other than his own experiments' observations) is provided by the scientific journals. With rare exceptions, scientific journals do not publish reports of UFO observations. The decision not to publish is made by the editor acting on the advice of reviewers. This process is self-reinforcing: the apparent lack of data confirms the view that there is nothing to the UFO phenomenon, and this view works against the presentation of relevant data." (Sturrock, Peter A., "An Analysis of the Condon Report on the Colorado UFO Project," Journal of Scientific Exploration, Vol. 1, No. 1, 1987.)
Dr. Jacques Vallee, astrophysicist, computer scientist and world renowned researcher and author on UFOs and paranormal phenomena. He worked closely with Dr. J. Allen Hynek. Commenting on the need for science "to search beyond the superficial appearances of reality":
"Skeptics, who flatly deny the existence of any unexplained phenomenon in the name of 'rationalism,' are among the primary contributors to the rejection of science by the public. People are not stupid and they know very well when they have seen something out of the ordinary. When a so-called expert tells them the object must have been the moon or a mirage, he is really teaching the public that science is impotent or unwilling to pursue the study of the unknown." (Vallee, J., Confrontations, New York: Ballantine Books, 1990.)
In his last book, he reveals from his diaries how the government has deliberately misled the scientific world, the media and the public regarding their information on UFOs and paranormal research:
"It is unusual for scientists to keep diaries and even more unusual for them to make them public... I have followed this rule of silence for the last thirty years, but I have finally decided that I had no right to keep them private anymore... They provide a primary source about a crucial fact in the recent historical record: the appearance of new classes of phenomena that highlighted the reality of the paranormal. These phenomena were deliberately denied or distorted by those in authority within the government and the military. Science never had fair and
118
complete access to the most important files. "The thirteen years covered here, from 1957 to 1969, saw some of the most exciting events in technological history... Behind the grand parade of the visible breakthroughs in science, however, more private mysteries were also taking place:... all over the world people had begun to observe what they described as controlled devices in the sky. They were shaped like saucers or spheres. They seemed to violate every known principle in our physics. "Governments took notice, organizing task forces, encouraging secret briefings and study groups, funding classified research and all the time denying before the public that any of the phenomena might be real... The major revelation of these Diaries may be the demonstration of how the scientific community was misled by the government, how the best data were kept hidden, and how the public record was shamelessly manipulated." (Vallee, J., Forbidden Science, Berkeley: North Atlantic Books, 1992.)
Dr. John E. Mack, Professor of psychiatry at The Cambridge Hospital, Harvard Medical School, and founding director of the Center for Psychology and Social Change. A 1977 Pulitzer Prize winner for his biography of Lawrence of Arabia, Dr. Mack has studied the subject of UFO abductions in recent years:
"I will stress once again that we do not know the source from which the UFOs or the alien beings come (whether or not, for example, they originate in the physical universe as modern astrophysics has described it). But they manifest in the physical world and bring about definable consequences in that domain." (Mack, J., Abduction - Human Encounters With Aliens, New York: Scribners, 1994.)
BELGIUM Dr. Auguste Meessen, Professor of physics at the Catholic University in Louvain and one of the scientific consultants for the Belgian Society for the Study of Space Phenomena (SOBEPS). In an interview with French journalist, Marie-Therese de Brosses, Professor Meessen discussed the recent UFO wave in Belgium:
"There are too many independent eyewitness reports to ignore. Too many of the reports describe coherent physical effects, and there is an agreement among the accounts concerning what was observed... But of course there are also physical effects. The Air Force report [of the F-16 jet scramble incident on the night of March 30-31, 1990] allows us to approach the problem in a rational and scientific way. The simplest hypothesis is that the reports are caused by extraterrestrial visitors, but that hypothesis carries with it other problems. We are not in a rush to form a conclusion, but continue to study the mystery." (Brosses, M.-T. de, "F-16 Radar Tracks UFO," Paris Match, July 5, 1990. English version in the MUFON UFO Journal, No. 268, August 1990.)
119
CHINA Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. One of the branches of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences is the China UFO Research Organization (CURO). As of 1985, CURO had 20,000 members, and two publications, the Journal of UFO Research and Space Exploration. The Journal's first issue in 1981 included an article by Comrade Bang Wen-Gwang of the Chinese Academy of Sciences' Beijing Astronomical Research Society. The article stated in part:
"In this field [Ufology], prejudice will take you farther from the truth than ignorance... But with a topic such as UFOs, where does the scientific method begin? And where does it end? This grand endeavor would consist of the serious recording of the enormous available data and the use of all scientific procedures for the purpose of analysis... China is so vast, and UFOs are certainly being witnessed again and again all throughout China, and China most definitely will evolve her own indigenous school of UFO researchers. This is our sincerest and deepest hope." (Wen-Gwang, B., "The Aspirations & Hopes of the Chinese UFO Investigator," The Journal of UFO Research, No. 1, People's Republic of China, 1981.)
UFO Scientific Conference in Darlian. In 1985, the government newspaper, China Daily, reported that a UFO Scientific Conference was held in Darlian, with some forty papers presented on various aspects of UFO research. Professor Liang Renglin of Guangzhou Jinan University, Chairman of CURO, stated in the Darlian Conference that more than 600 UFO reports had been made in China during the past five years. The article concluded:
"UFOs are an unresolved mystery with profound influence in the world." ("UFO Conference Held in Darlian," China Daily, August 27, 1985; quoted in Good, T., ibid.)
FRANCE Dr. Pierre Guérin, senior researcher at the French National Council for Scientific Research (CNRS), has written extensively about the need for scientific research in the UFO field. He concluded a summary of the UFO evidence published in Sciences & Avenir in 1972 with the following words:
"At the very least, it is already possible to show scientifically the evidence for physico-chemical modifications affecting sometimes the ground of alleged landing sites, as well as the effects produced on the vegetation. Such research has already begun and doesn't necessarily require large sums. "The UFO problem in its totality, nevertheless, cannot be really understood unless our science someday is able to propose physical models that take into account the observed phenomena. We are not able to know if this will ever occur, and in any event, we are still very far from that stage." (Guérin, P., "Le Dossier des Objets Volants Non Identifiés," Sciences & Avenir, No. 307, Paris, September 1972.)
Dr. Claude Poher, expert on aeronautics, astronomy and astronautics, engineer at the French Space Agency (CNES) for thirty years, specializing in rocket propulsion and nuclear space energy;
120
former Chairman of many working groups in the International Astronautical Federation; founder of GEPAN in May 1977 and its first Director until 1979. Before creating GEPAN, he had studied the UFO phenomenon for many years and had access to French military and police UFO files, including classified reports. In a report on UFOs for French officials, he wrote:
"The phenomenon seems to be real... The general coherence of sighting reports worldwide should not leave researchers indifferent. One does not conceive objective arguments to justify an attitude that would avoid at all cost these observations... The risk is, at worst, to confirm the existence of unknown vehicles appearing erratically into our atmosphere - a hypothesis that seems to explain nearly all reported aspects of the phenomenon and could be linked to the current (1970) exobiology branch of space research." (1971 Statistical Study prepared for the CNES and French officials.)
He further comments on the science and technology implied by the eyewitness descriptions of the phenomenon:
"Given the volume of the objects described in the observations... I can affirm that our futuristic space generators are far from being able to produce the amount of energy seen by the UFO witnesses. The light power seen is probably the tip of the iceberg, because no thermodynamic system can produce energy without dissipating a part of it. The megawatts of observed light are most likely the energy 'leak' from the energy conversion system used by the flying object, which means that the useful energy produced is much greater than what is seen. "The knowledge of such an energy production method is crucial for the future of mankind. The UFO observation reports tells us that ambitious, entirely new, solutions are possible [underlined in the original]. This is very important." (Letter to Marie Galbraith, November 26, 1995.)
GERMANY Professor Hermann Oberth, German rocket expert considered (with Robert Goddard and Konstantin Tsiolkovsky) one of the three fathers of the space age. In 1955, Dr. Werner von Braun invited him to the U.S. where he worked on rockets with the Army Ballistic Missile Agency and later NASA. Oberth's active interest in UFOs began in 1954:
"It is my thesis that flying saucers are real and that they are space ships from another solar system. I think that they possibly are manned by intelligent observers who are members of a race that may have been investigating our earth for centuries. I think that they possibly have been sent out to conduct systematic, long-range investigations, first of men, animals, vegetation, and more recently of atomic centers, armaments and centers of armament production." (Oberth H., "Flying Saucers Come From A Distant World," The American Weekly, October 24, 1954.)
As a rocket scientist and space pioneer, Prof. Oberth paid close attention to the propulsion aspect of UFO research:
121
"They are flying by means of artificial fields of gravity... They produce high-tension electric charges in order to push the air out of their paths, so it does not start glowing, and strong magnetic fields to influence the ionized air at higher altitudes. First, this would explain their luminosity... Secondly, it would explain the noiselessness of UFO flight... Finally, this assumption also explains the strong electrical and magnetic effects sometimes, though not always, observed in the vicinity of UFOs." ("Dr. Hermann Oberth discusses UFOs," Fate, May 1962.) "It is my conclusion that UFOs do exist, are very real, and are spaceships from another or more than one solar system. They are possibly manned by intelligent observers who are members of a race carrying out long-range scientific investigations of our earth for centuries." (UFO News, 1974.)
GREECE Dr. Paul Santorini, Greek physicist and engineer credited with developing the proximity fuse for the Hiroshima atomic bomb, two patents for the guidance system used in the U.S. Nike missiles, and a centimetric radar system. He has stated that he believes UFOs are under intelligent control. In 1947, he investigated a series of UFO reports over Greece that were initially thought to be Soviet missiles. He stated:
"We soon established that they were not missiles. But, before we could do any more, the Army, after conferring with foreign officials, ordered the investigation stopped. Foreign scientists flew to Greece for secret talks with me... A world blanket of secrecy surrounded the UFO question because the authorities were unwilling to admit the existence of a force against which we had no possibility of defense." (Fowler, R., UFOs: Interplanetary Visitors, New York: Bantam Books, 1974.)
SWITZERLAND Dr. Carl Gustav Jung, Pioneer of psychiatry, stated in 1954:
"A purely psychological explanation is ruled out... the discs show signs of intelligent guidance, by quasi-human pilots... the authorities in possession of important information should not hesitate to enlighten the public as soon and as completely as possible." ("Dr. Carl Jung on Unidentified Flying Objects," Flying Saucer Review, Vol. 1, No. 2, 1955.) "Unfortunately, however, there are good reasons why the UFOs cannot be disposed of in this simple manner. It remains an established fact, supported by numerous observations, that UFOs have not only been seen visually but have also been picked up on the radar screen and have left traces on the photographic plate. It boils down to nothing less than this: that either psychic projections throw back a radar echo, or else the appearance of real objects affords an opportunity for mythological projections." ("A Fresh Look at Flying Saucers," Time, August 4, 1967.)
122
USSR/RUSSIA Dr. Felix Y. Zigel, Professor of mathematics and astronomy at the Moscow Aviation Institute, known as the father of Russian Ufology. In a November 10, 1967 broadcast on Moscow Central Television, with Soviet Air Force General Porfiri Stolyarov, Zigel stated:
"Unidentified flying objects are a very serious subject which we must study fully. We appeal to all viewers to send us details of strange flying craft seen over the territories of the Soviet Union. This is a serious challenge to science and we need the help of all Soviet citizens." (Good, T., ibid.) "Observations show that UFOs behave 'sensibly.' In a group formation flight, they maintain a pattern. They are most often spotted over airfields, atomic stations and other very new engineering installations. On encountering aircraft, they always maneuver so as to avoid direct contact. A considerable list of these seemingly intelligent actions gives the impression that UFOs are investigating, perhaps even reconnoitering... The important thing now is for us to discard any preconceived notions about UFOs and to organize on a global scale a calm, sensation-free and strictly scientific study of this strange phenomenon. The subject and aims of the investigation are so serious that they justify all efforts. It goes without saying that international cooperation is vital." (Zigel, F., "Unidentified Flying Objects," Soviet Life, No. 2 (137), February 1968.)
In an interview with Henri Gris in 1981, he stated:
"We have seen these UFOs over the USSR; craft of every possible shape: small, big, flattened, spherical. They are able to remain stationary in the atmosphere or to shoot along at 100,000 kilometers per hour... They are also able to affect our power resources, halting our electricity generating plants, our radio stations, and our engines, without however leaving any permanent damage. So refined a technology can only be the fruit of an intelligence that is indeed far superior to man." (Gente, July 31, 1981 and August 7, 1981.)
Institute of Space Research of the Soviet Academy of Sciences published in 1979, a 74-page statistical analysis of over 250 UFO cases reported in the Soviet Union. After stating that hallucinations, errors, and conventional explanations (aircraft, satellites, etc.) could not account for many of the reports, the study concluded:
"Obviously, the question of the nature of the anomalous phenomena still should be considered open. To obtain more definite conclusions, more reliable data must be available. Reports on observations of anomalous phenomena have to be well documented. The production of such reports must be organized through the existing network of meteorological, geophysical, and astronomical observation stations, as well as through other official channels... In our opinion, the Soviet and foreign data accumulated so far justifies setting such studies." (Gindilis, L.M., Men'kov, D.A. & Petrovskaya, I.G., "Observations of Anomalous Atmospheric Phenomena in the USSR: Statistical Analysis," USSR Academy of Sciences Institute of Space Research, Report PR 473, Moscow, 1979. The English translation of the full report in "NASA Technical Memorandum No. 75665," was reprinted by the Center for UFO Studies in June 1980.)
123
USSR Scientific Commissions. The Soviet press was informed in the mid-80s that the All-Union Council of Scientific and Technical Societies (now the Council of Scientific and Engineering Societies) had set up a non-governmental Commission on Paranormal Events, headed by V.S. Troitsky, a Corresponding Member of the USSR Academy of Sciences. A glimpse at the activities of the Commission was published in 1989 by members A. Petukhov and T. Faminskaya:
"Of special value are the archives set up by the Commission. They contain over 13 thousand reports connected with PEs [Paranormal Events] and with UFOs in particular... UFOs have been seen to hover over ground objects, to chase or fly side by side with airplanes and cars, to follow geometrically regular trajectories, and to send out ordered flashes of light. In other words, such 'paranormals' behave, from the viewpoint of human beings, quite often showing capabilities yet beyond the reach of the machines built on the Earth." (Faminskaya, T. & Petukhov, A., "At 4.10 Hours and After," Almanac Phenomenon 1989, Moscow Mir, 1989.)
124
THE UFO BRIEFING DOCUMENT APPENDICES
U.S. GOVERNMENT UFO PROJECTS & STUDIES
The involvement of the U.S. Government in the UFO mystery dates back to the latter part of World War II, when "foo-fighters" (luminous orbs at night, shiny and reflective in daylight) puzzled Allied airmen by approaching and pacing their aircraft during missions, then suddenly darting away. The objects, though assumed by debriefing intelligence officers to be enemy weapons or observation devices, never posed a threat. Sightings of them were recorded in military unit records, but it is not clear that they were ever systematically studied.
When the first major, well-recorded UFO sighting wave began in July 1947 in the Pacific Northwest, the reports stirred memories of "foo-fighters" among World War II veterans. Once again shiny, maneuverable unidentified objects were reported to be pacing aircraft and widely seen by ground observers as well. When thousands of citizens reported daylight sightings of disc and oval-shaped, apparently metallic objects coursing through the skies, the Army and the spin-off Air Force (formerly Army Air Corps) initiated urgent studies.
At first it was feared that the Soviet Union, despite its bedraggled state, had somehow made a major aeronautical breakthrough - perhaps with the assistance of captured German engineers. At the onset of the Cold War, this posed a threat to U.S. and Allied interests. The initial readings quickly ruled out a Soviet origin, but left an important mystery. These early intelligence findings remained totally secret for many years.
The top-level evaluations produced such conclusions as: "This 'flying saucer' situation is not all imaginary or seeing too much in some natural phenomena. Something is really flying around." "The phenomenon reported is something real and not visionary or fictitious." 144
In October 1947, a U.S. Air Force document classified "secret" included the statement: "...it is the considered opinion of some elements that the object [sic] may in fact represent an interplanetary craft of some kind." 145
In the succeeding years, there were at least six U.S. Air Force projects and studies ostensibly aimed at solving the UFO mystery. Although these studies have been perceived by the news media and important segments of the public as having fully explained UFOs in "prosaic" terms, a closer study reveals their serious flaws and shortcomings. The following brief summaries describe the six studies.
Project Sign
Project Sign was the first U.S. Air Force investigation of UFOs and lasted from January 1948 to April 1949. Based at Wright-Patterson AFB, Dayton, Ohio, it collected several hundred sighting reports from government and non-government sources, and claimed to explain most of them. Due to its unwillingness to accept UFO reports not sent directly to it, the Project Sign files include only a few dozen reports from 1947, while newspapers received more than 1,500 reports in just two weeks.
125
Project Grudge
Project Grudge replaced Project Sign in April 1949. In December 1949, a magazine article on UFOs written by the famous aviation writer, Donald Keyhoe, based on his private investigations and military contacts, elicited enormous media attention. In it, Keyhoe insisted that UFOs were alien spacecraft and that the U.S. Government was keeping this knowledge secret. In response to the furor that Keyhoe's article caused, and to demonstrate that there was nothing to get excited about, the Air Force reduced Project Grudge to a routine intelligence effort. However, in October 1951, Project Grudge was returned to its original status as a special project. This investigation ended in March 1952. The final report suggested that most sightings had been explained. However, a large percentage of the reports were left either unexplained or only conditionally explained.
Project Blue Book
The final open U.S. Air Force UFO investigation took over from Project Grudge in 1952 and lasted until December 1969. By this time, almost 13,000 sighting reports had been collected by all three projects combined. Approximately 600-700 cases remained unexplained (depending on which Air Force statistics are accepted). However, it is notable that hundreds of other cases have been labelled as explained without adequate justification and often in ways counter to known facts. Thousands of reports received conditional explanations (e.g., "possible balloon"; "probable aircraft"). But when the annual statistics were compiled, the qualifiers were dropped and "possible balloons" would become definite balloons, as if speculative answers were established facts.
The project was closed down in late 1969, concluding that the continuation of Project Blue Book "cannot be justified, either on the ground of national security or in the interest of science... A panel of the National Academy of Sciences concurred in these views, and the Air Force has found no reason to question this conclusion." The memorandum recommending this action made it clear that the system which had long dealt with "reports of UFOs which could affect national security would continue to be handled through the standard Air Force procedures designed for this purpose," namely as it had all along - separately, "not part of the Blue Book system and in accordance with JANAP 146 or Air Force Manual 55-11." 146
After the end of Project Blue Book, its case files were opened to public inspection at the Air Force Archives. They were withdrawn in 1974, to reappear in 1976 in the U.S. National Archives, after the names of all witnesses had been censored, thus preventing the reinvestigation of cases.
Project Stork
In late 1952, Project Blue Book director, Capt. Edward J. Ruppelt, ordered a study of all the cases in the files for 1947-1952, under a contract with the Battelle Memorial Institute. The data were supplied by the Air Force, while the conclusions were those of the Battelle scientists. The Air Force issued the final report as "Project Blue Book Special Report No. 14." It was released in 1955, accompanied by an Air Force news release. Although the Air Force stated their own conclusion that there was nothing to warrant interest or concern, this was contrary to the conclusions of the Battelle study. The Battelle scientists had stated that of almost 2,000 reports that were deemed to have sufficient information to permit analysis, 22.8% were judged to be "unexplained," and another
126
31.3% were judged to be "doubtfully" explained. In total, therefore, 54% of the sightings were said to lack convincing explanations! 147
The Robertson Panel
In July 1952, a major sighting wave occurred and Air Force jet interceptors chased UFOs all over the country. Around Washington, D.C., UFOs were tracked by several radar installations simultaneously, and seen visually from the air and ground. The Central Intelligence Agency apparently became concerned that whether UFOs were real or not, the reports might clog the Nation's intelligence channels, allowing an enemy to attack undetected.
In January 1953, the CIA convened a panel of scientists, chaired by H.P. Robertson, a scientist at Cal Tech, to look at some of the Government's UFO data. The scientists were briefed by an Air Force team. After three days, the panel concluded that its original concern was correct, but that there was no convincing evidence that UFOs themselves were a threat to national security. The panel's recommendation that the Government treat UFOs more openly was never implemented. 148
The Condon Committee
By the mid-1960s the Air Force was becoming increasingly embarrassed by its poorly thought out public statements on UFOs, which were highly criticized by the public. After Congressional hearings were held in response to public complaints, plans were begun to have one or more universities review the Air Force project and study the UFO situation independently. Eventually, the Air Force Office of Scientific Research gave a grant to the University of Colorado for a study to be headed by Dr. Edward U. Condon. From the very beginning, the project was under a cloud of suspicion due to Dr. Condon openly expressing his view in public forums that UFOs were nonsense.
A letter was discovered in the project files in which a prominent leader of the study suggested to university officials that skeptical scientists could be disarmed by assuring them that the study would only appear to be an objective one, and that the researchers were not expecting to find anything significant, in any case. Recently, further documentation has been found which makes it clear that the Air Force was encouraging the university to help them justify closing down Project Blue Book and abandoning open UFO studies. 149
In early 1969, the $500,000 study was completed and the public received a strangely conflicting report, reminiscent of the conflicting Air Force/Battelle statements 15 years earlier. Dr. Condon dismissed UFOs, reporting that they were without substance or significance. In the body of the report, however, more than 30% of the cases were left without satisfactory explanation. In some instances, the University of Colorado scientists made it clear that they were completely baffled by many things, such as sightings in which visual observations were confirmed by radar trackings. 150
The Roswell Crash and Project Mogul
In July 1947, something crashed on a ranch outside of Roswell, New Mexico, giving rise to a long-term controversy: Was it an alien spacecraft, or a weather balloon as claimed by the U.S.
127
Government? At first, the U.S. Army Air Force said it had recovered the remains of a "crashed flying disc," which was an early term for UFOs. This explanation was soon changed to "a weather balloon," which remained the official position for several decades.
Witnesses, interviewed long after the fact, describe debris of several types, including metallic materials of extreme strength and very light weight. They also tell of extraordinarily high security in connection with the recovery and shipment of a large quantity of debris (and in some versions, alien bodies) from the crash site.
In 1994, the U.S. Air Force announced that in fact, the debris was from a cluster of balloons being tested for a long-secret project called Project Mogul, designed to detect nuclear explosions within the Soviet Union. 151
In 1995, the Air Force published an exhaustive 1,000-page report documenting the Mogul balloon project, purporting to prove the Mogul explanation for Roswell. Once again, the Air Force summary conclusions conflict with information in the body of the report. The data clearly indicates that the only test balloon clusters that conceivably could have landed at the ranch near Roswell were never tracked, and so their landing sites remain unknown. Moreover, the balloons consisted only of familiar materials (not exotic metals) and would have quickly decomposed in the hot sun. The balloon clusters were held together by a braided line. The debris described by witnesses at the scene included neither braided line nor standard balloon material.
Conclusions
While the U.S. Air Force unquestionably had the capability to investigate UFOs scientifically, there is no evidence that it has ever done so. Published reports and related documents suggest studies that were hastily done, each time forced by short-term political considerations and public pressures rather than scientific inquiry. The resulting studies were superficial at best, inept at worst.
At various stages of UFO history, the Air Force high command considered UFOs to be possibly extraterrestrial spaceships... and at the other extreme an annoying public relations problem. Even Air Force officers at the Air University, Air Command and Staff College, wrote reports puzzling over the Air Force position and raising serious issues about the significance of UFO data. 152 _______________________________________ FOOTNOTES 144. Air Force Base Intelligence Report, ibid.; Twining, ibid. 145. Shulgen, Brig. Gen. George, ibid. 146. Bollender, Brig. Gen. C.H., ibid. 147. Project Blue Book Special Report 14, ibid. 148. Report of the Scientific Panel on Unidentified Flying Objects - Robertson Panel, January 17, 1953. 149. Memo to E. James Archer and Thurston E. Manning from Robert J. Low, August 9, 1966; Letter to Dr. Condon from Lt. Col. Robert R. Hippler, USAF Science Division, January 16, 1967.
128
150. Scientific Study of Unidentified Flying Objects, "Condon Report." 151. Weaver, Col. Richard L, USAF, ibid. 152. Air Force Research Reports on UFOs, Fund for UFO Research, 1995.
129
THE UFO BRIEFING DOCUMENT APPENDICES
CONGRESSIONAL HEARINGS ON UFOs
Only two formal hearings on UFOs have ever been held: I. The House Armed Services Committee convened the first hearing in 1966 in response to widely publicized sightings and strong public and editorial criticism of the handling of the Air Force Project Blue Book UFO program. This effort was supported by the House Minority Leader, Gerald Ford (R-Mich.), whose home state was the focus of many sightings.
Only witnesses connected to the Air Force project testified. Thereupon, the Secretary of the Air Force announced the formation of an outside review of Project Blue Book and an independent study of current cases. This resulted in the University of Colorado "Scientific Study of UFOs" which became known as the Condon Committee project, after the name of its director.
April 5, 1966. House Armed Services Committee (89th Congress, 2nd Session). Committee Print No. 55. "Unidentified Flying Objects." Chairman:
L. Mendel Rivers (D-S.C.)
Witnesses:
Harold Brown, Secretary of the Air Force. Dr. J. Allen Hynek, Scientific Consultant to the Air Force. Maj. Hector Quintanilla, Jr., Chief, Project Blue Book
II. The House Science and Astronautics Committee convened a second hearing two years later, during the final stages of the Condon Committee project, to review the scientific evidence for UFOs. It took the form of a scientific symposium in which six scientists testified and six others submitted prepared papers.
July 29, 1968. House Science and Astronautics Committee (90th Congress, 2nd Session). Committee Print No. 7. "Symposium on Unidentified Flying Objects." Chairman:
George P. Miller (D-Calif.)
Hearing Chairman:
J. Edward Roush (D-Ind.)
Witnesses:
130
Dr. J. Allen Hynek, Head, Dept. of Astronomy, Northwestern University Dr. James E. McDonald, Senior Physicist, Institute of Atmospheric Physics, University of Arizona Dr. Carl Sagan, Dept. of Astronomy, Cornell University Dr. Robert L. Hall, Head, Dept. of Sociology, University of Illinois-Chicago Dr. James A. Harder, Assoc. Professor, Civil Engineering, University of California-Berkeley Dr. Robert M. L. Baker, Jr., Professor, Dept. of Engineering, University of California-Los Angeles
(Submitted statements from: Dr. Donald Menzel, Harvard College Observatory; Dr. R. Leo Sprinkle, Psychology, University of Wyoming; Dr. Garry C. Henderson, Senior Research Scientist, General Dynamics; Stanton T. Friedman, Nuclear Physicist, Westinghouse Astronuclear Laboratory; Dr. Roger N. Shepard, Psychology, Stanford University; and Dr. Frank B. Salisbury, Plant Sciences, Utah State University.)
Findings of the Condon Committee:
In 1969, the Condon Committee published its findings. The project director, physicist Dr. Edward U. Condon, concluded that there was no convincing scientific evidence for UFOs and therefore recommended the termination of Project Blue Book.
However, critics of the Condon Report pointed out that up to 30% of the cases investigated by the committee had remained unexplained! According to the critics, such as Dr. J. Allen Hynek, Dr. Condon's conclusions were politically oriented rather than scientific (i.e., the Air Force wanted Blue Book terminated and needed a good reason).
Opinions of the Scientific Symposium:
Of the six scientists who testified in the Symposium, five were of the opinion that there was a valid scientific anomaly that should be further investigated. Only Dr. Sagan, while conceding that some cases remained unexplained, was more skeptical. In fact, Dr. McDonald's thoroughly prepared paper with case histories is considered a milestone in UFO research. McDonald concluded: "My own study of the UFO problem has con- vinced me that we must rapidly escalate serious scientific attention to this extra- ordinarily intriguing puzzle."
Dr. Baker, whose testimony highlighted the unexplained nature of UFO movie films he had analyzed, recommended: "[establishment of] an interdisciplinary, mobile task force or team of highly qualified scientists...on a long-term basis, well funded, and equipped to swing into action and investigate reports on anomalistic phenomena....We must get a positive scientific program off the ground...."
Unfortunately, to date no such officially funded and open investigation has been undertaken.
Note: In 1976, Marcia Smith, a specialist in aerospace with the Congressional Research Service, prepared a comprehensive report on UFOs entitled "The UFO Enigma." It was revised and updated by George D. Havas in 1983 into a 143-page Report No. 83-205 SPR. It contains sections
131
on types of encounters, witness credibility, pre-1947 accounts, history of Air Force UFO investigations, international perspectives, appendices with selected case summaries, etc. "The UFO Enigma" provides a well researched and unbiased overview of the phenomenon.
132
THE UFO BRIEFING DOCUMENT APPENDICES
INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENTS AND RESOLUTIONS
Although this Briefing Document contains a small sample of UFO cases, the global nature of the phenomenon is shown by its geographical distribution. The cases studied include: Germany (foo fighters), Scandinavia (ghost rockets), several regions of the United States (Alaska, Washington, Washington, D.C., Texas, New Mexico, northern tier near Canadian border), England (Suffolk), Canada (Manitoba), Brazil, Spain (Canary Islands), Iran, France, Belgium and Russia. UFO cases can be easily found for the rest of the world.
While the air forces (and in some cases other military, intelligence, space, and/or scientific agencies) in these countries have dealt with the UFO problem at one time or another, there is little evidence of any long-standing open international cooperation effort. However, some examples of bilateral, regional and global approaches have been found.
I. 1975: Bilateral: USA-USSR
A curious clause about "unidentified objects" exists in an Agreement on Measures to Reduce the Risk of Nuclear War between the United States of America and the Union of Soviet Socialists Republics. The Agreement was part of the policy of detente during the Nixon and early Brezhnev administrations. It was signed on September 30, 1971 by Secretary of State, William Rogers, and Foreign Minister, Andrei Gromyko.
The Agreement has nine articles on issues such as informing each other "against the accidental or unauthorized use of nuclear weapons under its control," notification in advance of missile launches that go beyond the national territory of each country, and other measures of cooperation in order to avert "the risk of outbreak of nuclear war." Article 3 reads:
"The Parties undertake to notify each other immediately in the event of detection by missile warning systems of unidentified objects [emphasis added], or in the event of signs of interference with these systems or with related communications facilities, if such occurrences could create a risk of outbreak of nuclear war between the two countries."153
The interpretation of Article 3 as including the possibility of UFO incursions seems inescapable. It is indeed reassuring in view of the cases where UFOs hovered over military facilities with nuclear weapons (SAC bases in USA, NATO bases in England, missile bases in Russia). On the other hand, attorney Robert Bletchman has pointed out that "unidentified objects" (UOs) include non-UFO situations as well (such as an accidental overflight by a civilian aircraft or a terrorist attack), but in the final analysis,UOs do include UFOs. What degree of cooperation about UOs/UFOs existed between the USA and USSR (and currently with Russia), is hard to say, but Article 9 stated: "This Agreement shall be of unlimited duration."
133
II. 1977-78: Global: United Nations
In the mid-1970s, the Prime Minister of the new member state of Grenada, Sir Eric Gairy, began a lobbying initiative to incorporate the UFO problem in the United Nations agenda. Prime Minister Gairy and UN Ambassador Wellington Friday raised the UFO issue at a meeting of the thirty-second General Assembly Special Political Committee on November 28, 1977. Grenada was proposing the "establishment of an agency or a department of the United Nations for undertaking, coordinating and disseminating the results of research into Unidentified Flying Objects (UFOs) and related phenomena." 154
Grenada made further statements on November 30 and December 6, 1977. As a result of this effort, at the 101st plenary meeting on December 13, 1977, "the General Assembly adopted Decision 32/424," which acknowledged "the draft resolution submitted by Grenada" and further stated that:
"3. The General Assembly requests the Secretary-General to transmit the text of the draft resolution, together with the above-mentioned statements, to Member States and to interested specialized agencies, so that they may communicate their views to the Secretary-General."155
Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim duly forwarded "Decision 32/424" to the Member States by a "note verbale" on March 13, 1978. However, only three governments responded (India, Luxembourg and Seychelles) and only two specialized agencies (International Civil Aviation Organization and UNESCO) replied with a flat "no comments to offer."156 Not deterred, Grenada launched a new offensive during the thirty-third General Assembly.
A group of recognized experts was brought to testify before a Hearing of the Special Political Committee on November 27, 1978. Besides Sir Eric Gairy and Wellington Friday, the Hearing included testimony by Drs. Allen Hynek and Jacques Vallee, and a first-hand witness account by Lt. Col. Lawrence Coyne of the U.S. Army (Reserve) on the famous 1973 UFO-helicopter near collision case in Ohio (see Quotations, section on Military/Intelligence). A letter of endorsement by astronaut Gordon Cooper, who was then Vice-President of Research & Development of Walt Disney Enterprises, was also read into the record (see Quotations, section on Astronauts).
At the 87th plenary meeting of the General Assembly on December 19, 1978, Decision 33/426 was adopted with the same heading to the previous Decision 32-424 cited above, "Establishment of an agency or a department of the United Nations for undertaking, coordinating and disseminating the results of research into unidentified flying objects and related phenomena." The "consensus text" informed in its Point 1 that the General Assembly had "taken note" of the "draft resolutions submitted by Grenada" and that:
"2. The General Assembly invites interested Member States to take appropriate steps to coordinate on a national level scientific research and investigation into extraterrestrial life, including unidentified flying objects, and to inform the Secretary-General of the observations, research and evaluation of such activities. "3. The General Assembly requests the Secretary-General to transmit the statements of the delegation of Grenada and the relevant documentation to the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, so that it may consider them at its session in 1979."157
Point 4 finally stated that the Outer Space Committee would permit Grenada "to present its views" in 1979 and the Committee's deliberation would be included in its report to the thirty-fourth General Assembly. The Grenada initiative was gradually opening the door to UFO cooperative international
134
investigation, but unfortunately the effort came to an abrupt halt when the Gairy government was overthrown by a Marxist revolution led by Maurice Bishop. The new government launched a publicity campaign to discredit Gairy as a believer in voodoo and flying saucers. Decision 33/426 was never implemented, but its mere existence provides a useful framework for any future initiative on the matter.
III. 1990-93: Regional: European Parliament
As a result of all the activity registered during the UFO wave in Belgium, the European deputy, Mr. Di Rupo, who served as Minister of Education for Wallonia (the French-speaking region of Belgium where the wave occurred), proposed a motion in 1990 to set up a "European UFO Observation Center" under the aegis of the Committee on Energy, Research and Technology (CERT). The Di Rupo motion proposed that this Center "should collect together the isolated observations made by members of the public and by military and scientific institutions and organize programmes of scientific observation." 158
The matter was eventually entrusted to another Eurodeputy, Professor Tullio Regge, an Italian member of the European Parliament with a Ph.D. in physics, who released a "Draft Report" on August 17, 1993. Professor Regge sought the advice of Jean-Jacques Velasco, who heads SEPRA (Service for Assessment of Atmospheric Re-entry Phenomena) at the French National Center for Space Research (CNES) in Toulouse, as the only official European organization with experience in UFO investigations. The section titled "Motion for a Resolution" further stated that:
"The European Parliament... proposed that SEPRA be regarded as a responsible partner of the EC [European Community] so far as UFOs are concerned and that it be given a statute enabling it to carry out inquiries throughout the Community's territory. Any additional costs which might arise as a result of SEPRA's increased role must be covered by agreements between the French government and the other EC Member States or, where necessary and with the approval of the governments involved, directly between SEPRA and other EC research institutes or organizations."159
The section titled "Explanatory Statement" in Regge's report, consisted of a 7-page discussion of the UFO subject covering the following scientific, sociological and political items:
1. "Military secrets; 2. Alien civilizations; 3. Supertechnologies; 4. The role of the mass media; 5. Various explanations; 6. Link between show business and sightings; 7. Analogy with group religious experiences; 8. The recent spate of sightings in Belgium; 9. Unknown atmospheric phenomena; 10. Interviews with witnesses; 11. Air forces in the EC; 12. Conclusions."
135
The tone of the report was very cautious and did not endorse the extraterrestrial hypothesis. However, the report did recognize that a small percentage of UFO cases remain unexplained and warrant further scientific attention. The section on "Various explanations" concluded:
"A second conclusion is that the few remaining inexplicable sightings (about 4%) must for the time being be regarded as UFOs (unidentified flying objects) in the literal sense of the term. The lack, perhaps temporary or accidental, of an explanation in no way allow us to regard a sighting as certain proof or even an indication that aliens exist, with technological capabilities vastly superior to our own. However, scientists still have a duty to continue researching into these events in order to arrive at a satisfactory explan- ation."160
Regge's final conclusion was to propose that SEPRA expand its UFO activities to cover all the EC Member States:
"It might be worthwhile, however, setting up a central office to compile and collate information concerning UFOs throughout the EC. Such an office could help, first and foremost, to stem the flood of uncontrolled rumors that confuse the public and become a point of reference when, as very frequently happens, sightings are reported... Lastly, the office could have an invaluable role to play in exploring the existence and nature of rare meteorological phenomena and could draw on the support of existing organizations. Given that SEPRA has acquired considerable experience in this field, the logical and economical solution would be to assign it a Community-wide role and Community status, thereby enabling it to conduct investigations and disseminate information through the EC."161
Unfortunately, the European Parliament did not have the necessary votes to implement and fund Professor Regge's recommendations and so the matter lies essentially dormant for the time being. As with the General Assembly Decision 33/426, however, the Regge motion for a European UFO Center linked to SEPRA remains as a potentially useful framework should the political will change in the future.
_______________________________________ FOOTNOTES 153. United States Treaties and Other International Agreements, Volume 22, Part 2, 1971, "Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, Measures to Reduce the Risk of Nuclear War Outbreak." 154. United Nations Office of Public Information, "Special Political Committee Begins Debate on UFO Item," November 28, 1977. 155. United Nations General Assembly, Thirty-third session, Agenda item 126, "Establishment of an Agency or a Department of the United Nations for Undertaking, Co-ordinating and Disseminating the Results of Research into Unidentified Flying Objects and Related Phenomena," Report of the Secretary-General, October 6, 1978. 156. Ibid. 157. United Nations General Assembly, Thirty-third Session, "Decisions adopted on the reports of the Special Political Committee." 158. European Parliament, "Draft Report of the Committee on Energy, Research and Technology on the proposal to set up a European centre for sightings of unidentified flying objects (B3-1990/90)," Rapporteur: Mr. Tullio Regge, August 17, 1993.
136
159. Ibid. 160. Ibid. 162. Ibid.
137
THE UFO BRIEFING DOCUMENT APPENDICES
EXAMPLE OF AIR FORCE POLICY WHEN QUESTIONED BY CONGRESS REGARDING RESULTS OF ITS UFO INVESTIGATIONS
In a letter to Senator Patty Murray (D-Washington), August 25, 1993, the Air Force states:
"The Air force began investigating UFOs in 1948 under a program called Project Sign. Later, the program's name was changed to Project Grudge and, in 1953, it became known as Project Blue Book. On December 17, 1969, the Secretary of the Air Force announced the termination of Project Blue Book... As a result of these investigations, studies, and experience, the conclusions of Project Blue book were: 1) no UFO reported, investigated and evaluated by the Air Force has ever given any indication of threat to our national security..." (Emphasis added.)162
Compare this with the statement of General Carroll Bolender, USAF, in 1969 when recommending the closing of Project Blue Book (unclassified, but 16 attachments "could not be found"):
"Moreover, reports of unidentified flying objects which could affect national security are made in accordance with JANAP 146 or Air Force Manual 55-11, andare not part of the Blue Book system... However, as already stated, reports of UFOs which could affect national security would continue to be handled through the standard Air Force procedures designed for this purpose." (Emphasis added.)163
The Air Force statement to Senator Murray is the truth, but Not the whole truth. Project Blue Book did not handle the important material which would affect national security. But since the public and Congress do not know this, the impression is given that the Air Force never discovered anything of importance among its many thousands of UFO reports. The Air Force chose to keep some UFO investigations classified and not to inform Senator Murray or other legislators either of their existence or the results of their inquiries.
_______________________________________ FOOTNOTES 162. August 25, 1993 letter to Senator Patty Murray (D-Washington), from the Air Force. 163. General Carroll H. Bolender memo of October 20, 1969.
138
THE UFO BRIEFING DOCUMENT APPENDICES
THE ROSWELL CASE
In the middle of the first major American wave of UFO sightings in 1947, while the country was intrigued by reports of strange disc-shaped craft flying erratically overhead, an unusual crash was reported on a sheep ranch northwest of Roswell, in central New Mexico.
The first government officials on the scene were Roswell Army Air Field intelligence officer, Major Jesse Marcel, and counter-intelligence corps Captain Sheridan Cavitt. According to Marcel, they surveyed a large area littered with unrecognizable debris. After careful examination, they brought two carloads back to Roswell.
Roswell AAF Public Information Officer, Lt. Walter Haut, distributed a press release describing the U.S. Army Air Forces' acquisition of "the remains of a flying disc". The story spread quickly across the country and around the world. A few hours after the news release, the commander of the 8th Air Force, Brig. Gen. Roger Ramey, announced to a small press conference that there had been a mistake: the debris consisted of nothing more than the remains of a common weather balloon.
Newspapers and radio stations carried the story of the exciting discovery, and then of its mundane explanation. The "crashed flying saucer" story vanished, not to be heard of again for more than 30 years. UFOs continued to fill the skies and the public imagination, but the thought that one of them might have crashed was barely considered.
In the late 1970's, private UFO researchers began to raise questions regarding the weather balloon explanation. First-hand witnesses, such as Major Marcel, described in detail the large quantity of completely unfamiliar materials which covered a vast area of 50 acres. As more was learned, the chances of the Air Force having correctly identified the debris seemed increasingly remote.
Major Marcel and other technically competent witnesses described metallic foil lighter than household aluminum, yet impossible to crease, puncture, cut or burn. They also found slender I-beams, similarly light and strong, which carried undecipherable symbols embossed on their sides.
The first book on the subject was published in 1980: The Roswell Incident, by Charles Berlitz and William Moore. It made a strong case for the "Roswell crash" having been a UFO rather than a balloon, due to the nature of the recovered materials, their wide dispersal, and the behavior of the security-conscious military.
Interest grew and more investigators went to work, locating and interviewing additional witnesses. By the late 1980's, it had become the most thoroughly investigated and best authenticated of all reported UFO crashes. There would soon be four books and scores of papers and television programs devoted to this single episode.
In the early 1990's, the refusal of the Air Force to comment publicly on the growing dispute, led to a formal request for information from Rep. Steven Schiff (R-NM), in whose district the crash had occurred. His inability to get a satisfactory answer from the Pentagon led him then to request the General Accounting Office to conduct a search for official documents related to the event.
139
The first official statement by the Air Force in a quarter century came in September 1994. This report explained that the debris found at Roswell was from a crash of then secret constant-altitude balloons designed to carry scientific equipment to detect Soviet nuclear explosions. Test flights of clusters of these balloons launched from Alamogordo, NM, were part of a classified program called "Project Mogul", (which never became operational.)
In July 1995, the GAO reported to Rep. Schiff that it had been unable to find documents explaining what really happened in the desert in 1947. It concluded that many documents from the Roswell Army Air Force base had been improperly destroyed, and that "the debate over what crashed at Roswell continues."
In September 1995, the Air Force released a 1,000-page report reinforcing its position that a Project Mogul balloon cluster was responsible for all the furor. It never quite said that a Mogul balloon rig had crashed on the sheep ranch, only that this was a possibility.
In fact, there is no evidence in any official report that such a balloon came anywhere near the sheep ranch, only that two such clusters were never found, and thus might have landed there. At the same time, the Air Force discounted the possibility that the debris could have been the result of the crash of a military airplane, the impact of a test rocket or missile, or any sort of nuclear accident.
With the GAO stating it had found no evidence for a Mogul balloon, and the Air Force eliminating most other possible explanations, the crash remains that of an unidentified flying object.
140
THE UFO BRIEFING DOCUMENT APPENDICES
CHARACTERISTICS OF IFOs and UFOs
Common characteristics of IFOs (Identified Flying Objects), which are naturally occurring by day, include clouds (especially lenticular), flocks of birds, atmospheric phenomena such as "sun dogs" and "mock sun." Common characteristics of IFOs which are naturally occurring by night include stars, planets (especially Venus), meteors and atmospheric phenomena such at St. Elmo's fire and ball lightning.
Common characteristics of IFOs which are man-made and observed by day include unusual planes, balloons of different types, and helicopters. Man-made IFOs observed at night are usually airplane lights, satellites, spotlights, and advertising on strips trailing behind planes.
Common characteristics of UFOs (Unidentified Flying Objects) can be described in terms of their appearance, their behavior, and their unusual effects.
1. UFOs generally appear in four main shapes: the disc (or saucer), the enormous triangle, the cylinder, and the sphere. They often exhibit brilliant luminosity, illuminating the terrain beneath, and shooting out beams of light. These beams are sometimes truncated. There is often a pulsation of a full spectrum of colors. Frequently, they are surrounded by vapor, sometimes appearing in cloud-like lenticular forms. Often the objects are domed, have portholes, and have a metallic-looking, shiny, lightly-colored surface. 2. The behavior patterns of UFOs varies. Often there is a prolonged hovering, which is almost motionless, followed by an extreme acceleration which is frequently straight upwards. Another familiar flight pattern is an erratic, non-linear, non-smooth, zigzagging, darting motion. Sometimes the vehicles seem to flip end over end, or to stand upright in flight, or to fall like leaves. They are able to make very sudden right angle turns at enormous velocities. They exhibit super-sonic speed with no sonic boom. In fact, there is rarely any sound, sometimes just a high frequency, low volume humming sound. 3. UFOs have unusual effects upon their immediate surroundings. Animals may behave strangely, often panicking, cows' milk production ceases, etc. Electromagnetic effects cause electrical malfunction to occur - car engines stop running, as well as car radios, headlights, etc. - as soon as the UFO is in close proximity. Upon departure of the UFO, all systems often start up again on their own. Furthermore, there may be signs of radiation effects on humans, animal and plant life in the immediate area as well as feelings of cold or heat. 4. UFOs leave after-effects on the ground. Impressions are often left forming a geometric design. Soil and vegetation in the affected area is dehydrated and will not absorb water. Affected vegetation will not seminate, or regrow for a long time.
141
THE UFO BRIEFING DOCUMENT APPENDICES
TERMINOLOGY OF UFOs
The frequently used term "Close Encounters" was coined by the late Dr. J. Alan Hynek as part of a terminology designed to categorize different types of UFO experiences. There are six main categories:
1. Nocturnal lights 2. Daylight discs 3. Radar/visual 4. CE-I (Close Encounter of the First Kind) to denote a close observation. 5. CE-II (Close Encounter of the Second Kind) to denote cases where physical evidence is
left by the UFO, i.e. ground traces, electromagnetic effects on motors, physiological effects.
6. CE-III (Close Encounter of the Third Kind) to denote cases where occupants are reported in addition to the object.
Researchers have recently expanded this terminology to include CE-IV for alleged abductions.
142
THE UFO BRIEFING DOCUMENT APPENDICES
RESOURCES
Reading | Catalogs
RESOURCES - READING
1) 1964: UFO Evidence. Report by Richard Hall, of NICAP (National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomena - now defunct.) 746 classic cases from the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s reported by pilots, engineers, scientists, etc. Well documented. NICAP files are now archived by CUFOS.
2) 1968: Congressional Hearings. July 29, 1968. Symposium on Unidentified Flying Objects, Hearings before the Committee on Science and Astronautics, U.S. House of Representatives, Ninetieth Congress. Included testimony and prepared papers by Drs. Hynek, McDonald, Carl Sagan and other scientists. The very detailed and well documented McDonald Report summarized the best documented UFO cases up to that time.
3) 1969: Condon Report. Scientific Study of Unidentified Flying Objects, conducted by the University of Colorado under the direction of Dr. Edward U. Condon. Includes 117 well documented cases, reviewed by aeronautic experts, physicists and astronomers. Dr Condon's well publicized introduction attempted to disclaim the UFO phenomena, yet 30% of the cases admittedly could not be explained by any "natural" theory. (Published by New York Times/Bantam Books, 1969.)
4) 1984: Clear Intent. The first book, by Lawrence Fawcett and Barry Greenwood, to publish the declassified UFO files of the U.S. government. (Reprinted by Simon & Schuster with the title The UFO Cover-Up, 1992.)
5) 1987: Above Top Secret. By Timothy Good. World wide cases, very detailed and well documented. Originally published in England. (American edition published by Quill William Morrow, NY, 1989.)
6) 1988: Uninvited Guests. By Richard Hall, Aurora Press.
7) 1990-96: The UFO Encyclopedia, Three Volumes. By Jerome Clark, Apogee Books.
143
RESOURCES - CATALOGS
1 - UFO Sightings:
UFOCAT. Computer catalog of raw UFO sighting reports from around the world, initiated in the 1970s by Dr. David Saunders. It has over 50,000 reports from five continents and is currently maintained by CUFOS.
2 - Ground Traces:
Catalog of UFO landing cases where plants and soil were affected, initiated by Ted Phillips in the 1970s. It has approximately 4,000 reports from several countries. The last printed catalog was published by CUFOS.
3 - Pilot Cases:
NASA scientist Dr. Richard Haines has kept a computerized catalog of UFO sightings by military, civil, test and private pilots since the early 1980s. More than 3,600 cases have been logged, including many in which electromagnetic effects were also detected by the aircraft instruments. Dr. Haines has published several papers on aspects of his pilot UFO catalog.
4 - Vehicle Interference Catalog:
Mark Rodeghier of CUFOS compiled in 1988 a catalog of 441 UFO reports in which car engines, batteries or radios malfunctioned in close proximity to a UFO. A preliminary listing was published by CUFOS.
5 - Medical Injury Catalog:
Engineer John Schuessler of MUFON has compiled a catalog of close encounters in which the witness(es) suffered physiological effects and/or injuries. 400 cases were contained in the 1995 version of the catalog. A sample of the Medical Catalog was published by Schuessler in the 1995 MUFON Symposium Proceedings.
144
THE UFO BRIEFING DOCUMENT APPENDICES
CUFOS, FUFOR AND MUFON
CENTER FOR UFO STUDIES 2457 West Peterson Ave. Chicago, IL 60659-4118 Tel: (312) 271-3611 www.cufos.org/
The Center for UFO Studies is a non-profit, tax-exempt organization founded by Dr. J. Allen Hynek in 1973. Its mission is the scientific collection, evaluation, and dissemination of information about the UFO phenomenon. CUFOS comprises an international group of scientists, academics, investigators, and volunteers and is a clearinghouse for the two-way exchange of information where UFO experiences can be reported and researched. It maintains one of the world's largest repositories of UFO-related data.
FUND FOR UFO RESEARCH P.O. Box 277 Mt. Rainier, MD 20712 Tel: (703) 684-6032 www.fufor.com/
This non-profit corporation was established in 1979 to raise money to support scientific and educational projects submitted by qualified researchers. It is composed solely of a 15 member Board, most of the members being Ph.D.'s in various scientific fields. In its 16 years, it has raised more than $500,000, which has been used to fund investigations in the physical and social sciences, to support scientific conferences, and to encourage the serious treatment of UFOs by the press.
MUTUAL UFO NETWORK 103 Oldtowne Road Seguin, TX 78155 Tel: (210) 379-9216 www.mufon.org
The Mutual UFO Network, Inc. is the world's largest UFO investigative and research organization, with representatives in 39 countries and every state in the U.S. It is a non-profit, tax-exempt corporation dedicated to resolving the phenomenon of unidentified flying objects through scientific investigations and research. The results of major cases are published in the MUFON UFO Journal, a monthly magazine. MUFON sponsors an annual international UFO symposium and publishes papers from the symposium proceedings.
1
MADAM CHAIRWOMAN, MY NAME IS PAT FRASCOGNA, LEGAL
COUNSEL TO JAMES PENNISTON AND JOHN BURROUGHS, BOTH OF
WHOM PROUDLY AND PASSIONATELY SERVED OUR COUNTRY IN
THE UNITED STATES AIR FORCE. MR. BURROUGHS AND MR.
PENNISTON ARE SEATED WITH ME THIS MORNING ALONG WITH
NICK POPE, FORMERLY WITH THE UNITED KINGDOM’S MINISTRY OF
DEFENCE. MR. POPE HAS BEEN A LONGTIME ADVOCATE FOR
FULL DISCLOSURE OF THE EVENTS FOR WHICH WE WILL DISCUSS
TODAY. IT IS INDEED NOTHING SHORT OF AN HONOR FOR ME TO
BE SEATED BESIDE THESE GENTLEMEN TODAY.
THIRTY-THREE (33) YEARS AGO AT THE ZENITH OF THE COLD
WAR IN 1980, STAFF SERGEANT JAMES PENNISTON AND AIRMAN
FIRST CLASS JOHN BURROUGHS WERE ASSIGNED TO THE TWIN
ROYAL AIR FORCE BASES (“RAF”) OF BENTWATERS AND
WOODBRIDGE NEAR SUFFOLK, ENGLAND. AT THAT TIME RAF
BENTWATERS AND WOODBRIDGE WERE LEASED BY THE UNITED
KINGDOM TO THE UNITED STATES AIR FORCE. TOGETHER THE
TWIN BASES WERE HOME TO THE LARGEST TACTICAL FIGHTER
WING IN EXISTENCE ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD AT THAT TIME.
JAMES PENNISTON HELD U.S. AS WELL AS N.A.T.O. SECURITY
2
CLEARANCES, AND WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE PROTECTION OF
SOPHISTICATED WAR-MAKING ASSETS IN ADDITION TO THE
PERSONNEL LOCATED AT BENTWATERS AND WOODBRIDGE. BY
DECEMBER OF 1980 HE WAS THE SENIOR SECURITY OFFICER IN
CHARGE OF BASE SECURITY AT THE TWIN BASE FACILITY.
AFTER MIDNIGHT ON DECEMBER 26, 1980 AIRMAN
BURROUGHS, ALONG WITH STAFF SERGEANT BUD STEFFENS,
WERE ON PATROL TOGETHER WHEN THEY NOTICED STRANGE
LIGHTS EMANATING FROM JUST OUTSIDE THE EAST GATE OF THE
BENTWATERS BASE IN THE ADJACENT RENDLESHAM FOREST.
MR. BURROUGHS HAD BEEN STATIONED AT THE TWIN BASE
FACILITY FOR NEARLY TWO (2) YEARS AND HAD NEVER SEEN
SUCH AN UNUSUAL PHENOMENON PREVIOUSLY IN RENDLESHAM
FOREST. SERGEANT STEFFENS AND AIRMAN BURROUGHS
TELEPHONED CENTRAL SECURITY CONTROL (“CSC”) FROM THE
KIOSK AT THE EAST GATE TO REPORT THE UNIDENTIFIED LIGHTS
JUST BEYOND THE BASE PERIMETER. SHORTLY THEREAFTER,
MR. PENNISTON WAS BRIEFED BY STAFF SERGEANT STEFFENS
REGARDING THE STRANGE LIGHTS THEY HAD SEEN IN THE
FOREST. MR. PENNISTON WAS FURTHER INFORMED THAT THE
3
LIGHTS DID NOT RESULT FROM A CRASH BUT HAD “LANDED” IN THE
FOREST BUT HE DISCOUNTED THIS REMARK BY SERGEANT
STEFFENS AND PROCEEDED TO NOTIFY THE BASE CONTROL
CENTER THAT THERE WAS, INSTEAD, A POSSIBLE DOWNED
AIRCRAFT JUST OUTSIDE THE BASE. MR. PENNISTON ALSO
LEARNED THAT AN OBJECT HAD BEEN SEEN ON RADAR OVER
RENDLESHAM FOREST. MOREOVER, A CALL CAME OVER HIS
RADIO THAT EASTERN RADAR HAD ALSO CONFIRMED AN OBJECT
THAT DISAPPEARED FROM THEIR SCREENS OVER THE FOREST.
THE TEAM MR. PENNISTON ASSEMBLED TO INVESTIGATE THE
LIGHTS IN RENDLESHAM FOREST CONSISTED OF HIMSELF, AIRMAN
BURROUGHS, AND AIRMAN ED CABANSAG (kuh-bann-sac). AS HE
AND THE REST OF THE TEAM APPROACHED THE FOREST THEY
EXPERIENCED UNCHARACTERISTIC PROBLEMS WITH THEIR
RADIOS. AS A RESULT, MR. PENNISTON INSTRUCTED AIRMAN
CABANSAG TO REMAIN AT THE EDGE OF THE FOREST TO ACT AS A
RELAY FOR TRANSMISSIONS FROM HE AND MR. BURROUGHS AS
THEY ENTERED THE FOREST ITSELF. AS THESE TWO GENTLEMEN
PROCEEDED INTO THE FOREST THEY WERE EXPECTING TO FIND A
DOWNED AIRCRAFT.
4
UPON ARRIVING AT THE SUSPECTED CRASH SITE, IT
IMMEDIATELY BECAME APPARENT TO BOTH PENNISTON AND
BURROUGHS THAT THEY WERE NOT LOOKING AT A CRASHED
AERIAL VEHICLE OR, FOR THAT MATTER, ANY KIND OF AERIAL
VEHICLE THEY HAD EVER SEEN. SUDDENLY, A BLINDING FLASH
OF WHITE LIGHT EMANATED FROM THE CRAFT INSTINCTIVELY
CAUSING PENNISTON AND BURROUGHS TO DROP TO THE
GROUND. AS BOTH MEN RETURNED TO THEIR FEET, THEY
WITNESSED A TRIANGULAR CRAFT APPROXIMATELY NINE (9) FEET
LONG BY SIX AND A HALF (6.5) FEET WIDE AT REST IN A SMALL
CLEARING AMONG THE TREES. ALSO OBSERVED WERE BLUE AND
YELLOW LIGHTS “SWIRLING” AROUND THE EXTERIOR SKIN OF THE
CRAFT AS IF THEY WERE PART OF THE CRAFT’S SKIN ITSELF. THE
AIR IN THE VICINITY OF THE CRAFT FELT ELECTRICALLY CHARGED
AND WAS, IN FACT, SO FULL OF STATIC ELECTRICITY THEY FELT IT
ALL OVER THEIR CLOTHES, SKIN, AND THROUGHOUT THEIR HAIR.
NOTHING, ABSLOUTELY NOTHING, IN THE MILITARY TRAINING OF
THESE MEN HAD PREPARED THEM FOR THIS ENCOUNTER.
AFTER PERHAPS TEN (10) MINUTES HAD PASSED WITHOUT
ANY RECOGNIZEABLE AGGRESSION DISPLAYED BY THE CRAFT,
5
MR. PENNISTON CONCLUDED THERE WAS NO THREAT TO EITHER
HIMSELF OR MR. BURROUGHS AND THE REST OF HIS RESPONSE
TEAM OR, MOST IMPORTANTLY, THE BENTWATERS BASE ITSELF.
CONSEQUENTLY, HE COMMENCED A THOROUGH ON-SITE
INSPECTION OF THE CRAFT IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE USUAL
SECURITY PROTOCOLS. HIS INSPECTION OF THE CRAFT
INCLUDED PHOTOGRAPHS, NOTEBOOK ENTRIES, AND RADIO
CONTACT WITH AIRMAN CABANSAG FOR RELAY BACK TO THE
BENTWATERS CONTROL CENTER. MR. PENNISTON NOTED A ROW
OF SYMBOLS WHICH WAS TWO AND A HALF (2.5) FEET-LONG AND
ABOUT THREE (3) INCHES IN HEIGHT ON ONE SIDE OF THE CRAFT.
THE SYMBOLS MR. PENNISTON SAW WERE PICTORIAL AND
HIEROGLYPHIC-LIKE IN DESIGN, THE LARGEST ONE BEING A
TRIANGLE WHICH WAS CENTERED IN THE MIDDLE OF OTHERS. ALL
OF THE SYMBOLS WERE ETCHED INTO THE SKIN OF THE CRAFT
WHICH WAS ITSELF WARM TO THE TOUCH AND SMOOTH AS GLASS.
APPROXIMATELY FORTY-FIVE (45) MINUTES AFTER ARRIVING ON
SCENE WITH THE CRAFT IT RAPIDLY BEGAN TO BRIGHTEN. IN
RESPONSE, BOTH PENNISTON AND BURROUGHS TOOK DEFENSIVE
POSITIONS AWAY FROM IT AND WATCHED AS THE CRAFT BECAME
6
AIRBORNE WITHOUT GENERATING ANY AIR OR SOUND
DISTURBANCE. THE CRAFT MANEUVERED THROUGH THE TREES
AS IT ASCENDED SKYWARD THEN STREAKED AWAY AT AN
UNBELIEVEABLE RATE OF SPEED. IN FACT, MR. PENNISTON
DESCRIBED THE CRAFT’S DEPARTURE SPEED IN HIS FIELD NOTES
AS “IMPOSSIBLE”. THE CRAFT’S DEPARTURE FROM THE FOREST
WAS OBSERVED NOT ONLY BY PENNISTON AND BURROUGHS, BUT
BY MORE THAN FORTY (40) AIR FORCE PERSONNEL, ALL OF WHOM
WERE TRAINED OBSERVERS ASSIGNED TO THE EIGHTY-FIRST
(81ST) SECURITY POLICE SQUADRON.
THE INFORMATION ACQUIRED DURING PENNISTON AND
BURROUGHS’ INVESTIGATION IN THE FOREST WAS DUTIFULLY
REPORTED BY THEM THROUGH NORMAL MILITARY CHANNELS.
THEIR TEAM AND OTHER PERSONNEL WHO WITNESSED THE
CRAFT WERE INSTRUCTED TO TREAT THE INVESTIGATION AS TOP
SECRET AND NOT TO DISCUSS WHAT THEY HAD SEEN ANY
FURTHER. THE CAMERA FILM CONTAINING PHOTOGRAPHS OF
THE CRAFT MR. PENNISTON TOOK WERE TURNED IN TO THE BASE
LAB BUT WHEN HE PICKED THEM UP THEY WERE, STRANGELY, ALL
OVER-EXPOSED RENDERING THEM USELESS. ADD TO THIS
7
ODDITY THAT FOLLOWING THE ENCOUNTER IN THE FOREST BOTH
PENNISTON AND BURROUGHS WERE INTERROGATED BY
GOVERNMENT “AGENTS”, BELIEVED TO BE FROM THE AIR FORCE
OFFICE OF SPECIAL INVESTIGATIONS (“AFOSI”), IN WHICH
NARCOTICS WERE EVEN GIVEN THEM PRIOR TO INTERROGATION
AS IF THEY WERE SOME KIND OF ENEMY CAPTIVES.
THE PREVIOUS DESCRIPTION OF THE ENCOUNTER JIM
PENNISTON AND JOHN BURROUGHS HAD IN RENDLESHAM FOREST
IN LATE DECEMBER OF 1980 WAS NOT SOLITARY. JOHN
BURROUGHS WOULD JOIN COLONEL CHARLES HALT ON ANOTHER
INVESTIGATION INTO THE FOREST TWO (2) NIGHTS LATER WHEN
AN ILLUMINATED CRAFT MOVED SILENTLY THROUGH THE FOREST
BEFORE BECOMING MULTIPLE AERIAL OBJECTS OVERHEAD.
COLONEL HALT GENERATED AN OFFICIAL AIR FORCE
MEMORANDUM (COMMONLY REFERRED TO AS THE “HALT MEMO”),
IN WHICH HE MEMORIALIZES THIS EVENT. MOREOVER, THE
COLONEL HAS EVEN STOOD IN THIS VERY ROOM WE ARE IN TODAY
AND SAID HE BELIEVED THE OBJECTS WERE UNDER INTELLIGENT
CONTROL.
8
JIM PENNISTON AND JOHN BURROUGHS BOTH BEGAN
SUFFERING FROM PHYSICAL AILMENTS AFTER THEIR ENCOUNTER
IN THE FOREST; AILMENTS WHICH DID NOT EXIST PRIOR TO
JOINING THE AIR FORCE BUT, AILMENTS WHICH BEGAN ALMOST
IMMEDIATELY AFTER EXPOSURE TO THE CRAFT IN RENDLESHAM
FOREST. THESE AILMENTS HAVE PERSISTED IN BOTH MEN TO
THIS DAY. IN 2011 I BEGAN ASSISTING BOTH GENTLEMEN IN
PROPUNDING FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (“FOIA”) REQUESTS
ON THE CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY (“CIA”), NATIONAL
SECURITY AGENCY (“NSA”), DEFENSE INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
(“DIA”), DEPARTMENT OF THE AIR FORCE (“USAF”), DEFENSE
ADVANCED RESEARCH PROJECTS AGENCY (“DARPA”) VIA THE
DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE (“DoA”), AIR FORCE OFFICE OF SPECIAL
INVESTIGATIONS (“AFOSI”), AND THE DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS
AFFAIRS. ALL OF THE PREVIOUSLY LISTED DIVISIONS OF OUR
GOVERNMENT RESPONDED TO OUR INQUIRIES FOR INFORMATION
REGARDING JOHN BURROUGHS AND JIM PENNISTON BY
ESSENTIALLY SAYING THEY HAD NOTHING ON FILE ABOUT THEM.
THE ONE EXCEPTION IS THE CIA’S RESPONSE WHICE WAS THE
MOST FRUSTRATING OF THEM ALL BY THEIR STATING THAT THEY
9
COULD “NEITHER CONFIRM NOR DENY THE EXISTENCE OR
NONEXISTENCE OF RECORDS RESPONSIVE TO OUR REQUEST.” IN
OTHER WORDS, NONE OF THE GOVERNMENTAL ENTITIES WE
CONTACTED, EVEN THE AIR FORCE, SEEMED TO KNOW ANYTHING
ABOUT A JOHN BURROUGHS OR A JIM PENNISTON DESPITE THE
FACT THAT WE ARE ALL CERTAIN THEY DID INDEED SERVE IN THIS
COUNTRY’S ARMED SERVICES FOR MANY, MANY YEARS.
WE HAVE REPEATEDLY SOUGHT TO OBTAIN THE MEDICAL
RECORDS OF JOHN’S AND JIM’S THROUGH FOIA REQUESTS BUT
HAVE YET TO SUCCEED. JOHN’S PHYSICIANS IN PARTICULAR
HAVE REQUESTED HIS SERVICE MEDICAL RECORDS, ESPECIALLY
THOSE RELATED TO WHAT IT WAS HE AND JIM CAME INTO
CONTACT WITH IN RENDLESHAM FOREST IN 1980. THEY HAVE
REQUESTED THIS INFORMATION TIME-AND-TIME AGAIN FROM
JOHN IN ORDER TO PROVIDE THE BEST CHANCE TO TREAT HIS
MEDICAL PROBLEMS WHICH HAVE, AT TIMES, BEEN LIFE
THREATENING. WE EVEN ENLISTED THE HELP OF A FORMER
SENATOR FROM JOHN’S HOME STATE BUT STILL DID NOT GET
ANYTHING OTHER THAN LEARNING THAT THE VETERANS
ADMINISTRATION HAS A CLASSIFIED RECORDS DIVISION. THIS IS
10
WHERE WE NOW BELIEVE JOHN’S MEDICAL RECORDS TO BE.
CURRENTLY, SENATOR JOHN McCAIN’S OFFICE IS ASSISTING US
BUT THE FINAL RESULT OF SENATOR McCAIN’S HELP WE DO NOT
KNOW.
IN CLOSING, I WANT TO SAY THAT I WAS IN COLLEGE IN
DECEMBER OF 1980, THOUSANDS OF MILES AWAY AND
COMPELTELY UNAWARE OF THESE GENTLEMEN OR THEIR
ENCOUNTER IN RENDLESHAM FOREST. I WOULD NOT EVEN COME
TO KNOW OF THEM OR THEIR REMARKABLE EXPERIENCE FOR
ANOTHER TWENTY-EIGHT (28) YEARS, IN 2008. BUT ONCE I
LEARNED OF THEIR STORY I FELT COMPELLED TO ASSIST THEM
HOW EVER I COULD AS THIS WAS AN EVENT OF TREMENDOUS
FASCINATION, IMPORTANCE AND, ONE WITH CASUALTIES, TOO. IT
HAS BEEN COWARDLY THE WAY THEIR REQUESTS FOR MEDICAL
RECORDS AND THE LIKE HAVE BEEN REJECTED BY EXCUSES LIKE
“WE HAVE NO RECORDS RESPONSIVE TO YOUR REQUEST”, OR
“THE REQUESTED RECORDS ARE NO LONGER UNDER OUR
PURVIEW”. NEVERTHELESS, WE CONTINUE UNDAUNTED IN OUR
SEARCH FOR THESE GENTLEMEN’S MEDICAL RECORDS SO THAT
THEIR PHYSICIANS MAY PROPERLY TREAT THEM. AS JOHN
11
BURROUGHS ONCE SAID TO ME: “JIM AND I HAVE BEEN LEFT
BEHIND ON THE BATTLEFIELD OF THE COLD WAR.”
Nick Pope Opening Statement
Rendlesham Forest Incident Panel
The UK’s best-known and most compelling UFO incident is a series of sightings that
occurred in December 1980 and are collectively known as either the Rendlesham
Forest incident or the Bentwaters incident. The sightings took place near the twin
military bases of Bentwaters and Woodbridge. These were bases in the UK,
operated by the United States Air Force (USAF). There were several dozen military
witnesses, the most senior of whom was the Deputy Base Commander, Lieutenant
Colonel Charles Halt.
I will give a brief summary of events as I see them before focusing in on aspects of
the case of which I have more direct knowledge.
On December 26 1980, two members of the USAF who had been sent to investigate
a suspected crashed civilian aircraft encountered an unknown craft, which had
apparently landed in a small clearing. One of them got close enough to see strange
hieroglyphic symbols on the side and indeed to touch it. The craft rose slowly above
the trees and then accelerated away at great speed. A subsequent analysis of the
landing site showed indentations in the ground, scorch marks on the sides of the
trees and radiation levels which MoD’s Defense Intelligence Staff assessed as being
“significantly higher than the average background”. The UFO was briefly tracked on
military radar. Two nights later the UFO returned and fired light beams at the Deputy
Base Commander and a small team of men who had gone to investigate. It later fired
light beams at a particularly sensitive area of the military base.
Though these events happened many years before I joined the MoD, it was a case
that was raised with me on numerous occasions during my time working on MoD’s
UFO project, between 1991 and 1994. It was certainly the case on which I received
most enquiries, from UK Parliamentarians, the media and the public. So as to be
better able to respond to such questions, I not only read all the relevant papers on
the case, but launched a retrospective review of the incident – something akin to
what the police would call a cold case review. Subsequent to this, I have met – in a
private capacity – most of the key witnesses to this incident.
Investigations by the UK were inconclusive. I do not know the results of the US
investigations, because as MoD documents released under the UK’s Freedom of
Information Act show, some evidence was removed by the US authorities without
informing the UK Government. Specifically, the MoD case file reveals that shortly
after the incident, General Gabriel visited the twin bases of Bentwaters and
Woodbridge, was briefed on the incident and took various items relating to the
investigation back to his headquarters in Ramstein, Germany. At the time, General
Gabriel held the post of Commander in Chief, United States Air Forces in Europe.
The MoD document concerned - though carefully worded - leaves little doubt that the
UK authorities were less than pleased with evidence being removed in this way, with
the MoD not being informed at the time and not – so far as I am aware – being
briefed subsequently on the conclusions of whatever USAF and/or DoD investigation
followed General Gabriel’s visit.
My cold case review showed that General Gabriel’s removal of evidence was one of
a number of factors that adversely affected the contemporaneous investigation. A
combination of confusion over jurisdiction (i.e. between the US and UK authorities),
delay, and poor information-sharing fatally undermined the original investigation. Part
of the problem was that the US investigation was, in of itself, a direct contradiction of
the US Government’s public line on UFOs – namely that the subject is of no official
interest and that no investigations took place after the termination of the USAF’s
UFO investigation program, Project BLUE BOOK, at the end of 1969. This clearly put
senior USAF officers in an extremely difficult position and it was clear to me that the
US authorities wished to hand the investigation off to the British, while the MoD was
equally keen to see the Americans take the lead.
The confusion over precisely what happened at the time is compounded by the fact
that some MoD Defense Intelligence Staff UFO files covering the time period of the
Rendlesham Forest incident have been destroyed, seemingly without proper
authorization. While I am aware that this action has generated some conspiracy
theories, I am not aware of any evidence that suggests this was a deliberate attempt
to hide information. While some internal MoD emails expressed delight at the loss of
these files, my assessment is that these were unfortunate remarks by comparatively
junior staff and were motivated by nothing more sinister than the relief of not having
to respond to further Freedom of Information Act requests for the documents.
By the MoD’s own admission, there was no definitive explanation for the
Rendlesham Forest incident and the case remains unexplained to this day. However,
when pressed to make a statement on the incident, MoD consistently said that the
events were judged to be of “no defense significance” – a catch-all soundbite that the
MoD consistently used with all UFO sightings, explained or unexplained. In this way,
the MoD could justify taking no further action, whatever the circumstances of a case.
It is worth quoting the assessment of Lord Hill-Norton on this point. Lord Hill-Norton
was a retired 5-Star Admiral who was a former Chief of the Defense Staff and a
former Chairman of NATO’s Military Committee. Chief of the Defense Staff is a UK
post equivalent to the US post of Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Commenting
on MoD’s “no defense significance” line on the Rendlesham Forest incident Lord Hill-
Norton said this:
“My position both privately and publicly expressed over the last dozen years or more,
is that there are only two possibilities, either:
a. An intrusion into our Air Space and a landing by unidentified craft took place at
Rendlesham, as described.
or
b. The Deputy Commander of an operational, nuclear armed, US Air Force Base in
England, and a large number of his enlisted men, were either hallucinating or lying.
Either of these simply must be 'of interest to the Ministry of Defense', which has been
repeatedly denied, in precisely those terms.”
It is difficult to disagree with Lord Hill-Norton’s assessment.
In the course of my cold case review of the Rendlesham Forest incident, I examined
critically all the various theories that sought to explain the sightings in conventional
terms, as misidentification, hoax or delusion. None of the theories fitted the facts.
Most people, whatever their views on the UFO mystery, have probably heard of the
alleged crash of a UFO at Roswell. Arguably, in the Rendlesham Forest incident, we
have a UFO incident more recent, better documented and better evidenced than the
Roswell incident.
Nick Pope Opening Statement
UFOs and Government Panel
The UK Ministry of Defense (MoD) is an organization broadly analogous to the US
Department of Defense and has a dual role as a policy-making Department of State
and as the UK’s highest-level military headquarters.
The MoD’s UFO project ran from 1953 to 2009 and in that time over 12,000 UFO
sightings were logged and investigated. MoD’s role here was to research and
investigate the UFO phenomenon to determine whether there was evidence of any
potential threat to the defense of the United Kingdom, or anything of more general
defense interest. The UK’s interest in UFOs had its roots in concerns that some
objects might be foreign – mainly Soviet – military aircraft on reconnaissance
missions, or on missions to test the capabilities and effectiveness of our air defense
network, both in terms of military radar and air defense fighters. The work that we did
was very similar to the work done by the US Government’s UFO program, which was
embedded in the United States Air Force under a number of different project names,
the best-known of which was BLUE BOOK. The UK’s program had no formal project
name.
Our conclusions were that most UFO sightings could be explained as
misidentifications of known objects or phenomena, as hoaxes, or as delusions of
some sort – psychological or psychiatric. However, around 5% appeared to defy
conventional explanation and were of considerable interest. We took no position on
the nature of these sightings and remained open-minded as to the possibilities.
Accordingly, while we were aware of no evidence that would support the theory that
any UFO sightings were attributable to extraterrestrial life, we did not entirely rule out
the possibility. It was regarded as a “low probability/high consequence” scenario,
which is why, from time to time, the possibility was at least considered in internal
MoD discussions. Despite the wider, societal implications, MoD’s interest was
narrowly focused on technology acquisition. Scientific and technical intelligence
experts in MoD’s Defense Intelligence Staff were not averse to speculating about
exotic energy sources, propulsion systems and aerodynamics, in relation to UFOs.
Perhaps the most graphic illustration of this was a Defense Intelligence Staff
document from 1995, which read, in part:
“If the sightings are of devices not of the Earth then their purpose needs to be established as a matter of priority. There has been no apparent hostile intent and other possibilities are: 1) military reconnaissance; 2) scientific; 3) tourism.” The intent was practical, as the document went on to set out: “We could use this technology, if it exists.”
Though we accepted UFO reports from everyone (and indeed the vast majority of
sightings came to us from the public), the sightings that were of most interest were
those where the witnesses were police officers, pilots, or military personnel. We were
also particularly interested in sightings where there was some corroborative
evidence, e.g. in terms of radar data, or a photograph or film that specialist imagery
analysis staff could evaluate.
Of particular concern to us were a number of incidents where there were near-
misses between UFOs and commercial aircraft. There are several such cases in the
MoD UFO files and in the files of the Civil Aviation Authority – a UK Government
agency broadly equivalent to the US Federal Aviation Administration.
The UK’s best-known and most compelling UFO incident is a series of sightings that
occurred in December 1980 and are collectively known as either the Rendlesham
Forest incident or the Bentwaters incident. These sightings are the subject of a
separate panel on which I am sitting.
In the late Nineties the MoD’s Defense Intelligence Staff commissioned a review of
many of the UFO sightings that the MoD had investigated over the years. This
intelligence analysis was known as Project Condign (a randomly generated
codeword) and attempted some trend analysis of the reports received, as opposed to
reinvestigation of individual cases. The final report was published in 2000 and ran to
over 400 pages. The title was “Unidentified Aerial Phenomena in the UK Air Defense
Region” – the MoD often uses the phrase UAP (Unidentified Aerial Phenomenon) in
internal correspondence, so as to avoid the unfortunate, pop-culture baggage that
comes with the term “UFO”. At the time, Project Condign’s final report was classified
Secret UK Eyes Only. Its controversial conclusion was that some UFO sightings
might be attributable to exotic atmospheric plasmas and that there might be novel
military applications (e.g. in terms of directed energy weapons) that might merit
further study. Again, the air safety implications of the phenomenon were judged to be
important. One recommendation read as follows:
"No attempt should be made to out-maneuver a UAP during interception". Another recommendation stated: "At higher altitudes, although UAP appear to be benign to civil air traffic, pilots should be advised not to maneuver, other than to place the object astern, if possible". A redacted version of Project Condign’s final report was made available to the public in May 2006, following a number of Freedom of Information Act requests. There is in the UK – as in the US – a widely-held belief that the authorities know more about UFOs than they are telling the public, i.e. that there is a cover-up and a conspiracy on the subject. I think there are two relevant factors here. Firstly, the MoD was (and still is) an inherently secretive organization, despite the introduction of the UK’s Freedom of Information Act. Secondly, it was the longstanding policy of the MoD to downplay the extent of the Department’s interest and the scope of our official research and investigation – not all of which, especially post-Freedom of Information Act, generated the paper trail that one might expect. To give a practical example of
this, we consistently told the UK’s Parliament, the media and the public that UFOs were of limited interest and “no defense significance”, while highly-classified intelligence studies such as Project Condign were being carried out away from public scrutiny. That said, despite the secrecy and the downplaying of MoD’s UFO-related work, I am not aware of any cover-up or conspiracy in the sense that proponents of such theories mean. MoD’s UFO project was terminated in 2009 as part of a wider series of defense cuts. While the public no longer have an official point of contact for their sightings, pilots can continue to make reports on an ad hoc basis, though they would be well-advised to avoid the phrase “UFO” (or “UAP”) altogether – as they traditionally tended to do anyway – and use alternative phrases such as “unusual aircraft”. In 2007 the MoD made a policy decision to declassify and release its entire archive of UFO files, following a similar decision by the French Government. This five-year program – in which I have been personally involved – began with the release of a first batch of files in May 2008. Subsequent batches followed and the program reaches its climax this year. To date, over 50,000 pages of documents have been sent to the UK’s National Archives. The UK and France are two of a number of nations that have opened their UFO files recently, in response to pressure from media and the public. In concluding, I should say that I do not have a single, neat explanation for the UFO mystery and neither am I aware that anyone else in the UK Government has reached a definitive conclusion. However, having undertaken three years of official UK Government research and investigation into the UFO phenomenon, my assessment is that whatever the true nature of this phenomenon, it raises important defense, national security and air safety issues. Additionally, as pointed out in Project Condign’s final report, there are potential novel military applications that may derive from a proper scientific study of the phenomenon.
1
MADAM CHAIRWOMAN, MY NAME IS PAT FRASCOGNA, LEGAL
COUNSEL TO JAMES PENNISTON AND JOHN BURROUGHS, BOTH OF
WHOM PROUDLY AND PASSIONATELY SERVED OUR COUNTRY IN
THE UNITED STATES AIR FORCE. MR. BURROUGHS AND MR.
PENNISTON ARE SEATED WITH ME THIS MORNING ALONG WITH
NICK POPE, FORMERLY WITH THE UNITED KINGDOM’S MINISTRY OF
DEFENCE. MR. POPE HAS BEEN A LONGTIME ADVOCATE FOR
FULL DISCLOSURE OF THE EVENTS FOR WHICH WE WILL DISCUSS
TODAY. IT IS INDEED NOTHING SHORT OF AN HONOR FOR ME TO
BE SEATED BESIDE THESE GENTLEMEN TODAY.
THIRTY-THREE (33) YEARS AGO AT THE ZENITH OF THE COLD
WAR IN 1980, STAFF SERGEANT JAMES PENNISTON AND AIRMAN
FIRST CLASS JOHN BURROUGHS WERE ASSIGNED TO THE TWIN
ROYAL AIR FORCE BASES (“RAF”) OF BENTWATERS AND
WOODBRIDGE NEAR SUFFOLK, ENGLAND. AT THAT TIME RAF
BENTWATERS AND WOODBRIDGE WERE LEASED BY THE UNITED
KINGDOM TO THE UNITED STATES AIR FORCE. TOGETHER THE
TWIN BASES WERE HOME TO THE LARGEST TACTICAL FIGHTER
WING IN EXISTENCE ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD AT THAT TIME.
JAMES PENNISTON HELD U.S. AS WELL AS N.A.T.O. SECURITY
2
CLEARANCES, AND WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE PROTECTION OF
SOPHISTICATED WAR-MAKING ASSETS IN ADDITION TO THE
PERSONNEL LOCATED AT BENTWATERS AND WOODBRIDGE. BY
DECEMBER OF 1980 HE WAS THE SENIOR SECURITY OFFICER IN
CHARGE OF BASE SECURITY AT THE TWIN BASE FACILITY.
AFTER MIDNIGHT ON DECEMBER 26, 1980 AIRMAN
BURROUGHS, ALONG WITH STAFF SERGEANT BUD STEFFENS,
WERE ON PATROL TOGETHER WHEN THEY NOTICED STRANGE
LIGHTS EMANATING FROM JUST OUTSIDE THE EAST GATE OF THE
BENTWATERS BASE IN THE ADJACENT RENDLESHAM FOREST.
MR. BURROUGHS HAD BEEN STATIONED AT THE TWIN BASE
FACILITY FOR NEARLY TWO (2) YEARS AND HAD NEVER SEEN
SUCH AN UNUSUAL PHENOMENON PREVIOUSLY IN RENDLESHAM
FOREST. SERGEANT STEFFENS AND AIRMAN BURROUGHS
TELEPHONED CENTRAL SECURITY CONTROL (“CSC”) FROM THE
KIOSK AT THE EAST GATE TO REPORT THE UNIDENTIFIED LIGHTS
JUST BEYOND THE BASE PERIMETER. SHORTLY THEREAFTER,
MR. PENNISTON WAS BRIEFED BY STAFF SERGEANT STEFFENS
REGARDING THE STRANGE LIGHTS THEY HAD SEEN IN THE
FOREST. MR. PENNISTON WAS FURTHER INFORMED THAT THE
3
LIGHTS DID NOT RESULT FROM A CRASH BUT HAD “LANDED” IN THE
FOREST BUT HE DISCOUNTED THIS REMARK BY SERGEANT
STEFFENS AND PROCEEDED TO NOTIFY THE BASE CONTROL
CENTER THAT THERE WAS, INSTEAD, A POSSIBLE DOWNED
AIRCRAFT JUST OUTSIDE THE BASE. MR. PENNISTON ALSO
LEARNED THAT AN OBJECT HAD BEEN SEEN ON RADAR OVER
RENDLESHAM FOREST. MOREOVER, A CALL CAME OVER HIS
RADIO THAT EASTERN RADAR HAD ALSO CONFIRMED AN OBJECT
THAT DISAPPEARED FROM THEIR SCREENS OVER THE FOREST.
THE TEAM MR. PENNISTON ASSEMBLED TO INVESTIGATE THE
LIGHTS IN RENDLESHAM FOREST CONSISTED OF HIMSELF, AIRMAN
BURROUGHS, AND AIRMAN ED CABANSAG (kuh-bann-sac). AS HE
AND THE REST OF THE TEAM APPROACHED THE FOREST THEY
EXPERIENCED UNCHARACTERISTIC PROBLEMS WITH THEIR
RADIOS. AS A RESULT, MR. PENNISTON INSTRUCTED AIRMAN
CABANSAG TO REMAIN AT THE EDGE OF THE FOREST TO ACT AS A
RELAY FOR TRANSMISSIONS FROM HE AND MR. BURROUGHS AS
THEY ENTERED THE FOREST ITSELF. AS THESE TWO GENTLEMEN
PROCEEDED INTO THE FOREST THEY WERE EXPECTING TO FIND A
DOWNED AIRCRAFT.
4
UPON ARRIVING AT THE SUSPECTED CRASH SITE, IT
IMMEDIATELY BECAME APPARENT TO BOTH PENNISTON AND
BURROUGHS THAT THEY WERE NOT LOOKING AT A CRASHED
AERIAL VEHICLE OR, FOR THAT MATTER, ANY KIND OF AERIAL
VEHICLE THEY HAD EVER SEEN. SUDDENLY, A BLINDING FLASH
OF WHITE LIGHT EMANATED FROM THE CRAFT INSTINCTIVELY
CAUSING PENNISTON AND BURROUGHS TO DROP TO THE
GROUND. AS BOTH MEN RETURNED TO THEIR FEET, THEY
WITNESSED A TRIANGULAR CRAFT APPROXIMATELY NINE (9) FEET
LONG BY SIX AND A HALF (6.5) FEET WIDE AT REST IN A SMALL
CLEARING AMONG THE TREES. ALSO OBSERVED WERE BLUE AND
YELLOW LIGHTS “SWIRLING” AROUND THE EXTERIOR SKIN OF THE
CRAFT AS IF THEY WERE PART OF THE CRAFT’S SKIN ITSELF. THE
AIR IN THE VICINITY OF THE CRAFT FELT ELECTRICALLY CHARGED
AND WAS, IN FACT, SO FULL OF STATIC ELECTRICITY THEY FELT IT
ALL OVER THEIR CLOTHES, SKIN, AND THROUGHOUT THEIR HAIR.
NOTHING, ABSLOUTELY NOTHING, IN THE MILITARY TRAINING OF
THESE MEN HAD PREPARED THEM FOR THIS ENCOUNTER.
AFTER PERHAPS TEN (10) MINUTES HAD PASSED WITHOUT
ANY RECOGNIZEABLE AGGRESSION DISPLAYED BY THE CRAFT,
5
MR. PENNISTON CONCLUDED THERE WAS NO THREAT TO EITHER
HIMSELF OR MR. BURROUGHS AND THE REST OF HIS RESPONSE
TEAM OR, MOST IMPORTANTLY, THE BENTWATERS BASE ITSELF.
CONSEQUENTLY, HE COMMENCED A THOROUGH ON-SITE
INSPECTION OF THE CRAFT IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE USUAL
SECURITY PROTOCOLS. HIS INSPECTION OF THE CRAFT
INCLUDED PHOTOGRAPHS, NOTEBOOK ENTRIES, AND RADIO
CONTACT WITH AIRMAN CABANSAG FOR RELAY BACK TO THE
BENTWATERS CONTROL CENTER. MR. PENNISTON NOTED A ROW
OF SYMBOLS WHICH WAS TWO AND A HALF (2.5) FEET-LONG AND
ABOUT THREE (3) INCHES IN HEIGHT ON ONE SIDE OF THE CRAFT.
THE SYMBOLS MR. PENNISTON SAW WERE PICTORIAL AND
HIEROGLYPHIC-LIKE IN DESIGN, THE LARGEST ONE BEING A
TRIANGLE WHICH WAS CENTERED IN THE MIDDLE OF OTHERS. ALL
OF THE SYMBOLS WERE ETCHED INTO THE SKIN OF THE CRAFT
WHICH WAS ITSELF WARM TO THE TOUCH AND SMOOTH AS GLASS.
APPROXIMATELY FORTY-FIVE (45) MINUTES AFTER ARRIVING ON
SCENE WITH THE CRAFT IT RAPIDLY BEGAN TO BRIGHTEN. IN
RESPONSE, BOTH PENNISTON AND BURROUGHS TOOK DEFENSIVE
POSITIONS AWAY FROM IT AND WATCHED AS THE CRAFT BECAME
6
AIRBORNE WITHOUT GENERATING ANY AIR OR SOUND
DISTURBANCE. THE CRAFT MANEUVERED THROUGH THE TREES
AS IT ASCENDED SKYWARD THEN STREAKED AWAY AT AN
UNBELIEVEABLE RATE OF SPEED. IN FACT, MR. PENNISTON
DESCRIBED THE CRAFT’S DEPARTURE SPEED IN HIS FIELD NOTES
AS “IMPOSSIBLE”. THE CRAFT’S DEPARTURE FROM THE FOREST
WAS OBSERVED NOT ONLY BY PENNISTON AND BURROUGHS, BUT
BY MORE THAN FORTY (40) AIR FORCE PERSONNEL, ALL OF WHOM
WERE TRAINED OBSERVERS ASSIGNED TO THE EIGHTY-FIRST
(81ST) SECURITY POLICE SQUADRON.
THE INFORMATION ACQUIRED DURING PENNISTON AND
BURROUGHS’ INVESTIGATION IN THE FOREST WAS DUTIFULLY
REPORTED BY THEM THROUGH NORMAL MILITARY CHANNELS.
THEIR TEAM AND OTHER PERSONNEL WHO WITNESSED THE
CRAFT WERE INSTRUCTED TO TREAT THE INVESTIGATION AS TOP
SECRET AND NOT TO DISCUSS WHAT THEY HAD SEEN ANY
FURTHER. THE CAMERA FILM CONTAINING PHOTOGRAPHS OF
THE CRAFT MR. PENNISTON TOOK WERE TURNED IN TO THE BASE
LAB BUT WHEN HE PICKED THEM UP THEY WERE, STRANGELY, ALL
OVER-EXPOSED RENDERING THEM USELESS. ADD TO THIS
7
ODDITY THAT FOLLOWING THE ENCOUNTER IN THE FOREST BOTH
PENNISTON AND BURROUGHS WERE INTERROGATED BY
GOVERNMENT “AGENTS”, BELIEVED TO BE FROM THE AIR FORCE
OFFICE OF SPECIAL INVESTIGATIONS (“AFOSI”), IN WHICH
NARCOTICS WERE EVEN GIVEN THEM PRIOR TO INTERROGATION
AS IF THEY WERE SOME KIND OF ENEMY CAPTIVES.
THE PREVIOUS DESCRIPTION OF THE ENCOUNTER JIM
PENNISTON AND JOHN BURROUGHS HAD IN RENDLESHAM FOREST
IN LATE DECEMBER OF 1980 WAS NOT SOLITARY. JOHN
BURROUGHS WOULD JOIN COLONEL CHARLES HALT ON ANOTHER
INVESTIGATION INTO THE FOREST TWO (2) NIGHTS LATER WHEN
AN ILLUMINATED CRAFT MOVED SILENTLY THROUGH THE FOREST
BEFORE BECOMING MULTIPLE AERIAL OBJECTS OVERHEAD.
COLONEL HALT GENERATED AN OFFICIAL AIR FORCE
MEMORANDUM (COMMONLY REFERRED TO AS THE “HALT MEMO”),
IN WHICH HE MEMORIALIZES THIS EVENT. MOREOVER, THE
COLONEL HAS EVEN STOOD IN THIS VERY ROOM WE ARE IN TODAY
AND SAID HE BELIEVED THE OBJECTS WERE UNDER INTELLIGENT
CONTROL.
8
JIM PENNISTON AND JOHN BURROUGHS BOTH BEGAN
SUFFERING FROM PHYSICAL AILMENTS AFTER THEIR ENCOUNTER
IN THE FOREST; AILMENTS WHICH DID NOT EXIST PRIOR TO
JOINING THE AIR FORCE BUT, AILMENTS WHICH BEGAN ALMOST
IMMEDIATELY AFTER EXPOSURE TO THE CRAFT IN RENDLESHAM
FOREST. THESE AILMENTS HAVE PERSISTED IN BOTH MEN TO
THIS DAY. IN 2011 I BEGAN ASSISTING BOTH GENTLEMEN IN
PROPUNDING FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (“FOIA”) REQUESTS
ON THE CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY (“CIA”), NATIONAL
SECURITY AGENCY (“NSA”), DEFENSE INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
(“DIA”), DEPARTMENT OF THE AIR FORCE (“USAF”), DEFENSE
ADVANCED RESEARCH PROJECTS AGENCY (“DARPA”) VIA THE
DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE (“DoA”), AIR FORCE OFFICE OF SPECIAL
INVESTIGATIONS (“AFOSI”), AND THE DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS
AFFAIRS. ALL OF THE PREVIOUSLY LISTED DIVISIONS OF OUR
GOVERNMENT RESPONDED TO OUR INQUIRIES FOR INFORMATION
REGARDING JOHN BURROUGHS AND JIM PENNISTON BY
ESSENTIALLY SAYING THEY HAD NOTHING ON FILE ABOUT THEM.
THE ONE EXCEPTION IS THE CIA’S RESPONSE WHICE WAS THE
MOST FRUSTRATING OF THEM ALL BY THEIR STATING THAT THEY
9
COULD “NEITHER CONFIRM NOR DENY THE EXISTENCE OR
NONEXISTENCE OF RECORDS RESPONSIVE TO OUR REQUEST.” IN
OTHER WORDS, NONE OF THE GOVERNMENTAL ENTITIES WE
CONTACTED, EVEN THE AIR FORCE, SEEMED TO KNOW ANYTHING
ABOUT A JOHN BURROUGHS OR A JIM PENNISTON DESPITE THE
FACT THAT WE ARE ALL CERTAIN THEY DID INDEED SERVE IN THIS
COUNTRY’S ARMED SERVICES FOR MANY, MANY YEARS.
WE HAVE REPEATEDLY SOUGHT TO OBTAIN THE MEDICAL
RECORDS OF JOHN’S AND JIM’S THROUGH FOIA REQUESTS BUT
HAVE YET TO SUCCEED. JOHN’S PHYSICIANS IN PARTICULAR
HAVE REQUESTED HIS SERVICE MEDICAL RECORDS, ESPECIALLY
THOSE RELATED TO WHAT IT WAS HE AND JIM CAME INTO
CONTACT WITH IN RENDLESHAM FOREST IN 1980. THEY HAVE
REQUESTED THIS INFORMATION TIME-AND-TIME AGAIN FROM
JOHN IN ORDER TO PROVIDE THE BEST CHANCE TO TREAT HIS
MEDICAL PROBLEMS WHICH HAVE, AT TIMES, BEEN LIFE
THREATENING. WE EVEN ENLISTED THE HELP OF A FORMER
SENATOR FROM JOHN’S HOME STATE BUT STILL DID NOT GET
ANYTHING OTHER THAN LEARNING THAT THE VETERANS
ADMINISTRATION HAS A CLASSIFIED RECORDS DIVISION. THIS IS
10
WHERE WE NOW BELIEVE JOHN’S MEDICAL RECORDS TO BE.
CURRENTLY, SENATOR JOHN McCAIN’S OFFICE IS ASSISTING US
BUT THE FINAL RESULT OF SENATOR McCAIN’S HELP WE DO NOT
KNOW.
IN CLOSING, I WANT TO SAY THAT I WAS IN COLLEGE IN
DECEMBER OF 1980, THOUSANDS OF MILES AWAY AND
COMPELTELY UNAWARE OF THESE GENTLEMEN OR THEIR
ENCOUNTER IN RENDLESHAM FOREST. I WOULD NOT EVEN COME
TO KNOW OF THEM OR THEIR REMARKABLE EXPERIENCE FOR
ANOTHER TWENTY-EIGHT (28) YEARS, IN 2008. BUT ONCE I
LEARNED OF THEIR STORY I FELT COMPELLED TO ASSIST THEM
HOW EVER I COULD AS THIS WAS AN EVENT OF TREMENDOUS
FASCINATION, IMPORTANCE AND, ONE WITH CASUALTIES, TOO. IT
HAS BEEN COWARDLY THE WAY THEIR REQUESTS FOR MEDICAL
RECORDS AND THE LIKE HAVE BEEN REJECTED BY EXCUSES LIKE
“WE HAVE NO RECORDS RESPONSIVE TO YOUR REQUEST”, OR
“THE REQUESTED RECORDS ARE NO LONGER UNDER OUR
PURVIEW”. NEVERTHELESS, WE CONTINUE UNDAUNTED IN OUR
SEARCH FOR THESE GENTLEMEN’S MEDICAL RECORDS SO THAT
THEIR PHYSICIANS MAY PROPERLY TREAT THEM. AS JOHN
11
BURROUGHS ONCE SAID TO ME: “JIM AND I HAVE BEEN LEFT
BEHIND ON THE BATTLEFIELD OF THE COLD WAR.”
My Biography
I am Technical Sgt. David C. Scott, U.S. Air Force Security Police, retired. At the time
of the sighting, I was an airman first class, with a secret security clearance and was
assigned to Alpha Flight, 91st Missile Security Squadron, SAC Minot AFT, ND.
Sighting Report Alpha Launch Facility
Minot AFTB ND (SAC)
November, 1974
It was after midnight when Grey, a member of my Security Alert Team and I were
dispatched from Alpha L.C.F. (Launch Control Facility) to an alarm situation at one
of our 10 Minute Man nuclear missile sites, “Probably just another jack rabbit
setting off an Outer Zone Alarm”, we thought.
As we drove there, Grey spotted a strange light in the night sky, and called it to my
attention. It appeared to be about the size of the stars in the sky but was pulsating a
red color.
We checked the site and found everything secure, Grey said that the strange light
had gotten bigger and acted weird when I was below. Then we parked our vehicle
off site to wait for the alarm system to re-set and the order which would allow us to
leave the area. Now the strange light in the sky was pulsating and changing color in
the sequence red, blue, and yellow. Suddenly our radio went dead and the idling
engine of our vehicle quit.
Grey and I sat there and on guard for 45 minutes, protecting our missile site. He
wondered aloud if the strange light hovering overhead could be a UFO.
When the light changed to white pulsated three times and in quick succession, it
disappeared and our engine came to life as the radio also came back on. As it did
Sergeant Hicks, our Flight Security Controller called, ordering us back to Alpha 1
(LCF). All alarms had reset properly back at the missile site.
We arrived back at the Alpha 1 (LCF) a little after 0300 hours we reported our story
to Sergeant Hicks about the strange light. We wanted to convince hm that we had
not fallen asleep on post. He said, “I believe you, men”.
Then Sgt. Hicks hit us with a bombshell! All Minuteman nuclear missile site alarms
in our wing had sounded simultaneously. Many Security Police/Security Alert
teams reported seeing the strange lights, which Grey and I saw, and they too lost
radio communications and vehicle power.
“You know what I think?” Grey asked. “I think it was a UFO.”
Sgt. Hicks just nodded.
I ventured, “Should we report it? Grey and I aren’t lying. We’ll write statements.”
Grey signaled his agreement with a nod.
Sgt. Hicks, said “Why stir up a lot of trouble? The official Air Force position is that
UFO’s don’t even exist. Let’s just drop it unless you two want to get laughed out of
service.”
A few nights later in the S.P. barracks of Minot AFB, ND, I was listening to a news
broadcast from a Winnipeg, Canada, radio station. The announcer read the story of
an incident, which had occurred just a few nights before. Fighter planes of the
Canadian Air Force would release a report on the incident May, 1975, but the day
came and went without any officially recognized that event.
My name is Bruce Fenstermacher.
I was a captain in the US Air Force and Minuteman III Combat
Crew Commander from 1974 until 1977. I was stationed at FE
Warren AFB Wyoming and assigned to the 400th
Strategic
Missile Squadron. I was (and still am) a skeptic and at the time
did not believe in UFOs.
In the fall of 1976 my deputy and I were on duty at the Romeo
Launch facility (or LCF). The LCFs at FE Warren were assigned
alphabetic characters A through T. The LCF was the part of
Romeo that was above the ground. The Launch Control Capsule
(or LCC) was where the crew members did their jobs - safe and
secure 50 feet below the ground and behind an 8 ton door.
In order to stay wide awake we were monitoring the VHF radio
communication between the LCF topside security NCO
(officially called the Flight Security Controller or FSC) and the
Security Alert Team (SAT) members. The SAT members were
doing routine checks for the 10 missiles Silos (officially called
Launch Facilities or LFs).
At approximately 2 AM the FSC called the SAT and requested
that they pull over, get out of the vehicle and “look around to
see what they could see”. Not telling them to look at any
specific direction or give them any other guidance.
A few seconds later they reported that they saw nothing and
then suddenly said that they did see something in the distance.
The FSC asked them what they saw and a SAT member replied
in an excited voice that they saw a light in the sky. It was a
bright white pulsating light with other colors visible between
pulsations. The FSC asked them where this light was located
and the reply was that it was some distance to the north and –
after a short pause - that it looked like it was near the LCF. The
FSC then asked the SAT to return to the LCF.
My deputy and I looked at each other and kind of did a double
take. I got on the direct line to the FSC and asked him what was
going on. His reply was that right above the LCF there was a
silent object with a very bright white pulsating light. Between
pulsations he could see a blue light and a red light. I asked for
specifics and he said that it was shaped like a fat cigar and was
about 80 to 100 feet above him and appeared to be 40 to 50
feet long. He said he called the SAT to make sure confirm his
observation. While we were talking he reported that it was
slowly and quietly moving away to the east.
I asked him to keep us updated. My deputy and I talked about
what we should do with this information. In a few minutes the
FSC called back and said the object stopped a few miles to the
east and appeared to be above the closest LF.
We ordered the SAT to go to the LF that had the object above it.
They said that they had to return to the LCF for fresh batteries
for their flashlights. Ten minutes or so later we asked the
status of the SAT team and were told that they had made it
back to the LCF but had not yet departed for the LF. We were
told that they were just about to leave and would be there
shortly.
The object moved further east to approximately the location of
another LF. We again ordered the SAT team to that location
and they reported that they had to gas up the truck. It seemed
to take them a long time before they appeared to be on their
way.
Shortly after the object went to the first LF we reported the
incident to the SAC command post at FE Warren. The NCO that
took the call laughed at the report and said to call him back
when the thing “ate the SAT” and hung up. As well as logging all
the activity in the official log, my deputy also started taking
personal notes detailing what transpired.
At our next hourly 400th
SMS crew check in for flights Poppa,
Quebec, Romeo, Sierra, and Tango we told the other crew
members about our object and received laughter and an
attitude of general disbelief. Right after the group
communication, the crew from Quebec called - they were the
team we had dropped off our way to Romeo - and stated that
earlier that morning they had a similar object above a couple of
their LFs. When asked what direction it was headed they said
that it appeared to be heading towards our area (Romeo). We
asked what happened when they reported the incident the
answer was “Are you crazy? We didn’t report it we would have
been laughed at”. They also mentioned that the SAT team that
they sent to one of the LFs had an accident leaving the LF and
the Quebec crew seemed to find humor in the SAT accident.
We contacted the FE Warren SAC Command Post a few more
times and finally asked if this incident had been entered into
the log. They said it had not. I asked for the officer in charge
and stated that if they did not enter it I would wake up the base
commander and report it directly to him (now about 3 AM in
the morning). Shortly after that we got a call form a senior
NCO at the Command Post asking for specific details about the
incident.
The object moved to another LF and the SAT team never made
it to that one either. Our FSC kept us appraised of each
movement and reported that at 4 AM it moved away very
rapidly to a star sized object and then disappeared.
The next morning we were relieved by another crew for our
normal return to FE Warren and when we went topside we
found the FSC curled up in a chair. He too had been relieved by
the day FSC but said that he was unable to sleep and was
obviously very distressed. The SAT members were conveniently
not at the LCF.
My deputy and I were both prior service (had enlisted time
before becoming officers) and had a good rapport with our FSC.
We asked about the difficultly the SAT team had about getting
to the LFs in question. After promising not to report the SAT,
we were told that they said the SAT members were not going to
any LF that had that thing over it and – in fact – had never left
the LCF area.
We picked up the crew from Quebec and on our return trip to
FE Warren and discussed the excitement of the early morning
hours. They insisted they would NOT report the incident ever
and if we included them in our report they would deny it
happened.
Upon our return to the 400th
SMS we discussed the incident
with our flight commander. The next morning we were called
in to the 400th
SMS commander’s office. He asked us about the
incident and when he learned about our personal notes he
asked to look at them. Once in his hands he tore them up and
said we were never to talk about this again and required us to
sign documents that seemed to say we would not talk about it.
We reluctantly signed them.
At our next couple of departure meetings an officer in uniform
(not a crew uniform and not someone we recognized) briefed
all the crews that this incident was classified and officially never
happened and that no one should talk about this again.
After a UFO press conference in September 2010, I was given a
name of a former Quebec team SAT member that wanted to
talk to me. I contacted him, heard his story and am confident
that he was one of the SAT members on duty the night of our
incident at Romeo.
This is what he told me.it. As they approached Quebec 9, they
saw a bright pulsating light with a beam of light extending
down to the LF. While attempting to accomplish one of the
checklists for the LF he actually reached into the beam. That
action spooked both of the SAT members and they jumped in
their truck and as they raced away from the LF they had an
accident and the truck was damaged (but drive able).
When they went back to FE Warren they were ridiculed by
other Security Policemen after they reported the incident. To
this day he is upset about the ridicule. Once he finished his
story he said he was very relieved to talk to someone else that
was involved in that incident. I asked him to share his story
with others and make a formal statement but he said that “This
was it”. He was done and would not talk to anybody about it
again - Including me. And he has not responded to any calls or
emails from me.
I kept silent about the 1976 incident (a good officer follows
his/her orders) until I caught Larry King live on a Friday night in
July of 2008 and saw a former AF officer talking about a similar
situation. I did not hear the beginning of the segment and I
assumed that he (his name was Bob Salas) was one of the crew
members at Quebec until the date was discussed. It was in
1967 and was at Malmstrom AFB – not FE Warren.
A skeptic on the show did not believe Mr. Salas’s story and
seemed to doubt his credibility (and perhaps sanity). After
much thought, months later I contacted one of the other guests
on the show and officially told my tale. And here I am.
Possible questions:
1. Why did you come forward with this incident?
2. As a skeptic, what did you think actually happened that
night (What was the object)?
3. You said you did not believe in UFOs. What do you now
believe?
4. Did you actually see the object?
5. Have you been made aware of other incidents at FE
Warren AFB?
Richard DolanCitizen’s Hearing Panel. Nuclear Interest by UFOS 1
From the beginning of the atomic age, there have been good reports of unknown objects with
extraordinary capabilities being in the vicinity of our most advanced nuclear facilities. They certainly
appear to be interested.
We are fortunate in having obtained a few items of interest via the Freedom of Information Act. It is
obvious that much remains beyond our reach, but what we have is certainly of interest. I’m going to
describe a few of these documents for you, but first I want to describe an event that is not in a
declassified document, but a written account from a credible witness that really is quite fascinating.
This is from a U.S. Navy officer named Byron D. Varner, who wrote a privately published book called
Living on the Edge: An American war hero's daring feats as a Navy fighter pilot, civilian test pilot, and
CIA mercenary.
This book includes a UFO encounter by another Navy Pilot, Rolan Powell. Both of these gentlemen was
interviewed at length by the thenhead of the Mutual UFO Network, Mr. Walter Andruss.
Here’s what happened:
In July 1945, near the close of the Pacific War, the Hanford Atomic Facility, located in the State of
Washington, was one of the key elements of America’s new nuclear infrastructure. Although by now no
one thought the Japanese could threaten it, there were still standby aircraft, armed and ready at all
times, just in case.
At noon, an alert was sounded. Radar had detected a fastmoving object that was now in a holding
pattern directly above the Hanford plant. It was extremely high, and no one can see it at first. Six pilots,
flying Grumman F6F Hellcats, were sent up. Finally, they saw it and flew to intercept it. It was estimated
to be at 65,000 feet. Extremely high.
No one can recognize it. It had what the book described as “a saucerlike appearance,” bright, extremely
fast, and very high. The pilot Rolan Powell later described the object to be as large as “three aircraft
carriers side by side, oval shaped, very streamlined like a stretchedout egg and pinkish in color.” It
emitted a kind of vapor, he said, around the outside edges, from portholes or vents. He speculated that
the vapor was being discharged to form a cloud for disguise.
1
The pilots are baffled and told to go higher. They reply, "if we go much higher we can ruin these
engines." The answer comes back: "Blow the engines if you have to, but use full military power, full
throttle injection, maximum, continuous. Go for it!"
They are told that if the engines quite, they are to "glide back towards the airport and hope that you make
it."
Even so, no one can get close enough to the object. It didn’t seem to do anything. It merely hovered
there as if observing, staying well enough out of reach. The pilots could not believe its ability to hover like
this. Finally, some of the engines did begin to fail, fuel consumption got critical, and the planes returned
to base. After this, the strange craft disappeared as quickly as it came. It did not return.
The pilots had pushed their aircraft up to 42,000 feet, well above their maximum ceiling of 37,000 feet. A
rather serious event.
There was no press coverage of any of this, not surprisingly.
Now, some might quibble that this is just a story, unconfirmed by any government or military document.
But this was a detailed story from an experienced WWII pilot, and you can take from it what you will. We
do, however, have a number of declassified government documents that describe UFOs being seen
over America’s nuclear facilities in the early atomic era.
Several from the FBI describe a series of events over and near Los Alamos, a central component of
America’s nuclear program.
One document, from January 31, 1949, and other from a year and a half later, August 1950, describe
what can only be called invasions of sensitive airspace by unknown and very extraordinary objects.
The first document gives specific dates for the initial sightings when they began in December 1948. In
that month, they occurred on the 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 11th, 13th, 14th, 20th, and 28th. The witnesses were
nearly all of very high calibler: Special Agents of OSI, Airline Pilots; Military Pilots, and Los Alamos
Security Inspectors. There was some speculation that the objects were Soviet, but no reasons or
evidence were offered. Meteorites were ruled out.
The provisional conclusion was that this was either a previously unknown natural phenomena or
2
something man made. Except that no one seemed to know of any project anywhere that could have
caused the sightings. After more than 60 years, we still don’t.
The later document said that a total of roughly 150 observations had been made. It noted that there had
been three types of objects. First, the type known as Green Fireballs, which were “objects moving at
high speed in shapes resembling halfmoons, circles, and discs emitting green light.” The second type
were a bit more of the inyourface variety, that is, “Discs, round flat shaped objects or phenomena
moving at fast velocity and emitting a brilliant white light or reflected light.” Third the author writes
“Meteors,” at which the reader might breathe a sigh of relief. Except that he then writes: “aerial
phenomena resembling meteoric material moving at high velocity and varying in color.” Colors noted
were white, amber, red, and green. Quite a range.
Another key place where the U.S. developed its atomic technology was at Oak Ridge, Tennessee. Here
is where the Manhattan Project had established a pilot plant for the production of plutonium. UFOs were
reported from here, as well. A declassified teletype from October 13, 1950 stated that, the night before,
an Air Force radar installation picked up eleven unknown objects or perhaps more, traveling across Oak
Ridge. These were slow moving, and at low altitude, from 1000 to 5000 feet. Fighters were scrambled
but the pilots saw nothing. The teletype stated that “no reasonable explanation for radar readings yet
developed although operators are experienced reliable personnel and radar set is in perfect operating
condition.”
This was only the beginning at Oak Ridge. An FBI teletype of December 5, 1950 writes of six unidentified
objects over Oak Ridge from the previous day. It’s clear that people were scratching their heads, and
some wondered if there was a possible weather phenomenon going on. Yet yet another teletype from
the FBI’s Richmond Office, dated December 8, 1950, stated: “This office very confidentially advised by
Army Intelligence, Richmond, that they have been put on immediate high alert for any data whatsoever
concerning flying saucers.”
Violations of air space there occurred on the 15th and 16th of December 1950, and quite a few over the
next few months.
Recall that this was during the Korean War. A major crisis was occurring on the other side of the world,
monopolizing the new and the efforts of the U.S. military, and yet we have this statement.
Odd craft were seen for quite some time over Oak Ridge. A fascinating document from late 1953
describes a visual sighting of a UFO seen over the facility. An F86 fighter aircraft had just flown by, after
3
which a black object was seen to appear out of a high white cloud, about 12000 to 15000 feet altitude. It
began to travel in large circles very rapidly for at least five minutes. Sometimes it looked cigar shaped,
sometimes round. Now, in the words of the report:
“Object was extremely black in color, having an appearance of a deep black metal exterior with a fine
gloss. It did not leave a vapor trail …. No sound was heard. The object flew east at a tremendous speed
for what appeared to be three miles where it stopped. The object was then joined by two more of these
same objects. A formation similar to a spread “V” was formed and the objects, at a tremendous speed
flew in an eastward direction.”
Rather extraordinary.
Incidentally, there is one more document describing a UFO over the Hanford Nuclear Plant, which came
up at the beginning of my statement. Well, We have an Air Force memo from August 8, 1950, which
shows us that Hanford continued to be a place of interest. Listen to this brief statement:
“Since 30 July 1950 objects, round in form, have been sighted over the Hanford AEC Plant…. Air Force
jets attempted interception with negative results. All units including the antiaircraft battalion, radar units,
Air Force fighter squadrons, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation have been alerted for further
observation. The Atomic Energy Commission states that the investigation is continuing …”
All I can say is, good grief. Do you think they were taking this seriously? Yes, I think they were.
These are more than mere accident or coincidence. Anyone charged with security over these vital
installations would have to take these events very seriously. Indeed, not to do so would be a grave
violation of one’s sworn duty to protect and defend such installations. And it would not be hard to see
why deep secrecy would dominate the subject of UFOs.
There are other incidents regarding UFOs and Nuclear installations that occurred in later years. I will
discuss some of those in the next panel shortly. There is even evidence that these types of events have
continued to occur much more recently, although they are harder to confirm. And yet, the events which
took place so long ago not only demand a scientific analysis, but also cry out to be understood for what
they were: a key component in the implementation of secrecy so profound, so serious, that they
contributed to the creation of a state within a state, not bound by the traditional American goals of public
openness and responsiveness to the people.
4
One might argue that such events are so serious that the public really doesn’t have a need to know.
Well, I beg your pardon, but I do think that citizens in a free republic, if they are to govern, which is the
basic idea, do have a need to know the important things in their world.
5
Richard Dolan
Citizen’s Hearing Panel. Nuclear Interest by UFOS 2
Earlier, I spoke about the appearance of unknown and extraordinary objects engaging in what appeared
to be some sort of monitoring or observation of key American nuclear facilities during the very early Cold
War. I need not point out that this is a serious development, and one would think that academic
historians would find this to be something noteworthy of study. And yet, to this day, there is not one
single academic monograph or book length study on any of this. There are a few serious works on the
matter, including my own, but none that come from a university setting.
This, despite the fact that the accounts of such events are right there in the public record, courtesy of
the declassification process, and can easily be obtained not merely by going to the National Archives
repository in College Park, Maryland, but simply by going online and hunting them down. It’s not hard to
do.
One of these reports describes an extraordinary event at Minot Air Force Base, in North Dakota, on
August 24, 1966.
This base was a major Strategic Air Command (SAC) base at the time, with nucleartipped
intercontinental ballistic missiles, as well as manned bombers and aerial refueling aircraft.
That night, an airman radioed to the base about a multicolored light, very high in the sky. A team went to
the location, confirmed the original unknown, then saw a second, white object pass in front of clouds.
The base radar tracked the object, which was as high as 100,000 feet (almost twenty miles). The object
rose and descended several times; each time it descended, an air force officer in charge of a missile
crew found his radio transmission interrupted by static, even though he was sixty feet below the ground.
The object eventually descended to ground level ten to fifteen miles south of the area. The Air Force
sent a strike team to check. Apparently, they saw the object either on the ground or hovering very low.
According to the official report:
“When the team was about ten miles from the landing site, static disrupted radio contact with them. Five
to eight minutes later, the glow diminished, and the UFO took off. Another UFO was visually sighted and
confirmed by radar. The one that was first sighted passed beneath the second. Radar also confirmed
this. The first made for altitude toward the north, and the second seemed to disappear with the glow of
red.”
1
The incident lasted nearly four hours and was confirmed by three different missile sites.
As with all good UFO reports, there are some serious questions here. What kind of object could make
the dramatic changes in altitude that were noted? What was the mission involved in these unknown
objects? That is, what were they doing? And a real puzzler who could have been manufacturing
them? The Russians? Really? Of course, in nearly 50 years, nothing has turned up to point to such a
conclusion, but the real question is, what kind of technology could have done that. In particular with the
ability to jam the radio transmissions? Certainly what it looks like is that some agency with tremendous
technology was snooping around one of America’s key ICBM sites. Then it just … left.
We have a few more nuggets, legacies of the Glory Era of the American Freedom of Information Act.
On the evening of October 27, 1975, a lowhovering object invaded the airspace of Loring Air Force
Base in northern Maine. This object penetrated the perimeter just 300 feet above the ground. Personnel
inside the base said it had a white strobe light and what appeared to be a red navigation light. It circled
inside the base and came to within 300 yards of the nuclear weapons area, By that time it was only 150
feet above the ground. For about an hour, while the object was being observed, the base was on high
alert status. All attempts to identify the object failed. It then left and went north toward Canada.
Twentyfour hours later, the scene was repeated. Security personnel saw an object approaching from
the north at an altitude of 3,000 feet. It had flashing white lights and a solid amber light. Even though it
was under constant radar and visual observation, it somehow disappeared several times. On the
previous night, the base commander had been denied air support; this time he received permission for a
National Guard helicopter to be dispatched.
Before the helicopter arrived, however, this object did something rather impressive. It had been keeping
a distance of at least three miles from the base all the while; now, somehow, it penetrated the base
perimeter and appeared over the end of the runway, not more than 150 feet off the ground. Personnel
nearby described it as red and orange, and resembling a stretched out football. The object hovered in
midair, then turned out its lights and seemingly disappeared. Its lights went on and off several times.
When, on one occasion, the lights turned back on, the object had gotten very close to the weapons
storage area. By now, it was 1 a.m., which means the encounter had been going on for more than five
hours. there is a record stating that the National Guard helicopter unsuccessfully attempted to contact
and identify the object at this time. Then, for another two hours, the object remained inside or very close
to the base, as it was seen over the weapons storage area once again at 3 a.m., completely unlit but
visible to ground personnel.
2
Consider how ominous and provocative this action was. When the helicopter again arrived to
investigate, its crew members could not see the object, even though the frustrated ground personnel
plainly saw both objects. Shortly after, the unknown craft flew off. It had been inside the base for seven
hours.
Those who insist upon conventional explanations to this event might consider the possibility of the
intruder being a helicopter. The problem is that no one heard any sounds from the object, despite its low
altitude. Moreover, several times, personnel could see its shape, yet none described it as a helicopter.
As with the other incursions of this period, the identity of this intruder has never been confirmed.
Equally fascinating were the events of November 7 and 8, 1975 at Montana’s Malmstrom Air Force
Base. The base contained ICBMs over a very large area. At 3 p.m., electronic sensors detected an
intrusion at one of the missile sites. A Sabotage Alert Team was ordered to investigate, and when the
members came to within a mile of the site, they reported by radio that they could see a bright glowing
orange disk as large as a football field. It was simply hovering there, over the missile site. It was
apparently an unsettling sight to behold, because when they were ordered to proceed to the site, the
men refused to go any further.
The object soon began to rise, whereupon it was registered on NORAD radar. F106 interceptors were
scrambled, but the object continued to rise to the incredible altitude of 200,000 feet. This is more than
double the ceiling of the ultrahigh flying U2 spy plane, and the intercepting jets never saw the object.
Upon inspection, a missile at the site showed indications that its computerized targeting system had
been tampered with, and it had to be removed. It would appear that the UFO was responsible.
More UFOs reported the following night at the base. Once again, two F106s were scrambled,
whereupon ground personnel observed a catandmouse game during which the UFOs turned off their
lights each time the jets approached. When the jets departed, the objects would turn their lights back on.
Clearly, these objects were able to outclass American intercepting jets with ease.
There are other stories indicating UFO interest in nuclear technology and weapons. The problem is that
many are unconfirmed. They may well be true, and the people describing the events often have high
credibility. But again, our efforts are hampered, frankly, by an excess of restrictions that have been
placed upon the public’s legitimate right to know. It has been over thirty years since FOIA was truly
convenient to UFO researchers, in which new and fresh information could be obtained.
We are so busy congratulating ourselves on being a free society, that many people forgotten actually to
3
look long and hard at what kind of system has been evolving over the years. Former President
Eisenhower warned, many years ago, of the dangers posed by the growing MilitaryIndustrial complex.
Indeed, our nation and world have transformed so radically since that time, but yet we still use the same
terminology as before: we talk about democracy and republican institutions. But these are meaningless
words today, if citizens are shut out from what they need to know in order to govern. By removing such
key information, the result is that citizens become infantilized, ignorant, dulled, distracted, and no longer
able to fulfill the critical role they need to in order to maintain a free society.
The appearance of unknown craft and highly advanced technology is something that affects not merely
national security interests, but the entire world and everyone in it. We are not served by dealing with this
in an atomized, isolated manner. We need to organize, we need to share data, we need to share ideas,
and mostly we need to act intelligently in a coordinated fashion. And yet, every step of the way, there has
been a silent yet overpowering player, embedded somewhere in the U.S. national security structure, that
is immune to public inquiry, and certainly does not support the public’s legitimate interest in learning the
full truth of what I believe to be the most important existential development of our time. The appearance
of … let us call them “Others,” here on planet Earth, interacting in some manner with humanity.
Thank you.
4
Citizens Hearing on Disclosure
Statement
Robert L. Salas
April 30, 2013
I would first like to briefly describe the incident that I experienced in March 1967. At that
time I was a first lieutenant, U.S. Air Force stationed at Malmstrom AFB, Montana. I was
trained and assigned duties as a missile launch officer for the Minuteman I Intercontinental
Ballistic missile. I was designated Deputy Missile Combat Crew Commander and part of a
two-man crew. My commander at that time was Lt. Frederick Miewald. I will briefly review
the diagrams showing the configuration of a Launch Control Center and Launch Facility.
[Show graphic of LCF/LF] We were on duty inside the Oscar Launch Control Center, a
concrete capsule located about sixty-feet underground. We had operational control over ten
Minuteman I nuclear missiles. Each missile operates independently and has its own source
of primary and backup power systems. It is important to note that, the command and
control for these missiles was entirely located within the capsule. There was absolutely no
means to affect any of the missile systems from the outside the capsule.
On the evening of March 24, 1967, while my commander was on a scheduled rest period, I
received the first of two phone calls from by topside Flight Security Controller (FSC). The first
call was to report unidentified lighted objects flying above the facility. Minutes later, the FSC
phoned again and reported, in a very agitated state, that there was a large oval-shaped,
glowing, red-colored object hovering silently directly above the front gate of our facility. All
of the security guards had their weapons trained on the object and they were awaiting my
orders. I simply told them not to allow anything inside the perimeter-fenced area.
Immediately after that call as I started to inform my commander about the incident, our
missiles began to shut down. We lost alert status on all ten missiles while this object was
above our facility. When we queried the fault system, all missiles reported “Guidance and
Control System Failure.” At the same time, we had indicator lights showing security
violations at two of the Launch Facilities (LF) where the missiles were physically located.
While Lt. Miewald reported the incident to the Wing Command Post, I phoned upstairs and
directed that Security Alert Teams be sent to those LFs with security violations to investigate.
At that time, The FSC reported to me that the object had flown off at high speed. When the
Security Alert Team (SAT) arrived at the affected LFs, they reported seeing the object
hovering over those sites. As they approached closer to the object, they lost all
communication with the FSC. After speaking to the Wing Command Post, Lt. Miewald
informed me that the same thing happened at another flight. As I found out later, that
incident happened eight days earlier on March 16 at Echo flight. [MIEWALD AUDIO] In that
incident all ten missiles were also disabled during UFO sightings over the launch facilities.
The involvement of UFOs at the Echo launch facilities before and during the shutdown of
Echo flight has been verified by Col. (ret.) Walter Figel, the Deputy Missile Combat Crew
Commander (DMCCC) during the incident. I will play an audio clip from our conversation in
1996. [FIGEL AUDIO]
After we were relieved by another crew the next morning and arrived back at the base, we
reported to our Squadron Commander’s office. There we were ordered to sign ‘non-
disclosure’ statements regarding our specific incident and that we were not to speak to
anyone about it. It was then designated a highly classified incident. At no time did we lose
power during the incident. The Sensitive Information Network (SIN) cables that carried
signals to the missile systems were triple-shielded from electro-magnetic interference. The
preliminary investigation isolated the failure to the logic coupler of each missile. The logic
coupler is associated with the missile guidance system. I refer you to a portion of the Wing
Unit History document that states, “The opinion of the team was that external generated
signals caused the generation of these two channels and shutdown of the launch facilities.
The possibility of this is very remote due to the fact that all 10 couplers would have to fail in
the flight within a few seconds of each other.” [Show graphic of page from UNIT WING
HISTORY] This statement confirms that signals were sent to each individual missile
separately in order to disable them. From my knowledge of the operating system at the time
neither I, nor the investigative team could define the method or means by which these
signals were sent to disable the missiles, each in the same manner.
Mr. Robert Kaminski was the Boeing team leader for the investigation of the Echo Flight
shutdown. In a response to our inquiry, he stated “…this kind of event is virtually impossible
once the system was up and running...The team met with me to report their findings and it
was decided that the final report would have noting significant in it to explain what
happened at E-Flight.” After meeting with his engineers to discuss the results of their
investigation, Mr. Kaminski was notified by his supervisor that he should not submit his final
report because the incident was reported to be a UFO event. Even though the Boeing
Company was the principal contractor for the Minuteman I missile systems, their report on
the incident was not submitted by request from the Air Force. However the Air Force did
perform their own, classified investigation where they identified a possible failure mode as
stated above. In my opinion we did not have the technical capability to produce a machine,
then or now, that would be able to instigate the failure mode of these missiles identified in
the Unit Wing History. In addition, the unidentified objects displayed physical and flight
characteristics that no known aircraft type could achieve, then or now. Therefore, I have
concluded that the objects were non-terrestrial in origin.
On December 17, 1969, the official U.S. Air Force investigation into the UFO phenomenon
was terminated. The principal basis given for this termination was the evaluation of a report
prepared by the University of Colorado entitled, “Scientific Study of Unidentified Flying
Objects.” In August 1966, the U.S. Air Force awarded a half-million dollar contract to the
University of Colorado for the purpose of studying the UFO phenomenon. I will refer to this
study as the Condon Investigation for its team leader, Dr. Edward Condon. In fact, it was
never intended to be a scientific study because the Air Force did not propose that any
scientific hypothesis regarding the phenomenon be evaluated. The Condon team relied on
input and evaluations of reported UFO incidents from Air Force officers at various bases. The
Condon team was, except for one individual, not authorized to review classified reports of
Air Force incidents regarding the phenomenon. They were not even informed that classified
UFO files existed until after the termination of their study.
With respect to the 1967 Echo and Oscar Flight UFO incidents, there was a deliberate effort
to keep information about those incidents from the Condon investigators. In August 1967,
Dr. Roy Craig, the chief investigator for the Condon team was informed by Mr. Raymond
Fowler, a contractor working for Sylvania on Minuteman electrical system, that the Echo
Flight shutdown at Malmstrom AFB had occurred during a UFO sighting. In October 1967, he
visited Malmstrom AFB to inquire about this report. Dr. Craig recalls this inquiry with Lt. Col.
Lewis Chase, the Base Operations Officer: “After Colonel Chase and I had exchanged
pleasantries in his office, I asked him about the Echo incident. The Colonel caught his breath,
and expressed surprise that I knew of it. ‘I can’t talk about that’ (he said). …Colonel Chase
had assured me that the incident had not involved a UFO. Since Colonel Chase was the last
man I would doubt when he conveyed this information, I accepted the information as factual,
and turned the review (of the report of the incident) over to Bob Low, who had received
security clearance to read secret information related to the UFO study.” When Dr. Robert
Low, the deputy to Dr. Condon, requested the Air Force to allow him to review the secret
report on the Echo Flight incident, he was informed that the report would be too highly
classified to allow that review. Dr. Craig did not interview any of the many witnesses that
could have informed him about the Echo and Oscar incidents.
In addition, the Air Force office of Project Blue Book was deliberately dis-informed about
these incidents. In a letter from Col. James Manatt, Director of Technology/UFO, Wright
Patterson AFB to Lt. Col. Lewis Chase in June 1967, he inquired about reports they had
received that there were “equipment malfunctions and abnormalities” during the UFO
sightings. The written reply from Col. Chase stated “This office has no knowledge of
equipment malfunctions and abnormalities in equipment during the period of reported UFO
sightings.”
This is evidence that the Air Force purposefully denied the Condon investigators the
knowledge that the Echo and Oscar flight shutdowns were UFO related incidents. Since the
Air Force cites this particular study as the primary reason for their official rejection of the
UFO phenomenon and claims that “No UFO reported, investigated and evaluated by the Air
Force was ever an indication of threat to our national security”, and, in light of my own
experience and others, I must conclude that the U.S. Air Force was and is engaged in lying
and dis-informing the public about the reality of the UFO phenomenon.
I would be happy to answer any questions you may have about my statement to the best of
my ability.
Citizens Hearing on Disclosure
Statement
By David D. Schindele,
Captain, United States Air Force, Retired
Citizens Hearing on Disclosure - Statement 1
By David D. Schindele, Captain, USAF Retired
My name is David D. Schindele, Captain, U.S. Air Force Retired. In 1966, I
was involved in an incident while stationed at Minot Air Force Base, North
Dakota. I was told to never speak of the incident again, and also told that
as far as I was concerned, “It Never Happened.” Because of that, I am
before you today with a bit of trepidation, as I have never before shown my
face in person on this matter.
I was a Minuteman ICBM Launch Control Officer, a First Lieutenant, and a
Deputy Missile Combat Crew Commander in a two man Launch Crew with
my crew commander who held the rank of Major. I was attached to the
Strategic Air Command, and part of the 742nd Strategic Missile Squadron,
one of three squadrons of the 455th Strategic Missile Wing based at Minot. I
held a Top Secret clearance, which was required for my job.
It all began one morning when I was watching TV while having breakfast,
and I heard the local news announcer mention that some residents in the
town of Mohall had seen strange lights overnight, which they attributed to a
UFO. This caught my attention because I was scheduled for duty that
morning at a Launch Control Facility, called November Flight, about 3 miles
west of Mohall and about 37 miles north of Minot Air Force Base.
I lived in the town of Minot at the time, and I drove to the airbase to attend
the morning Predeparture Briefing at Wing Headquarters, where all 15
missile crews would normally meet each day prior to “pulling alert duty” at
their respective Launch Control Facilities. During the briefing, it was
mentioned that some missiles at November Flight had gone “off alert”
during the night, but no further information was provided. I immediately
connected this to the news item that I had heard earlier in the morning
regarding a possible UFO sighting near the town of Mohall.
2
When the briefing was over, several of the launch crews seated near me
commented about the news item, which they had also heard that morning,
and there was speculation about a possible connection with November
Flight. My crew commander had also heard the news item, and we were
both anxious and curious about what we might find as we drove out to the
Launch Control Facility.
The usual procedure upon arrival was to inspect the grounds and building,
but this time my commander immediately went to the security section of the
building to debrief security personnel and guards. I entered the facility from
the back door and then encountered the Site Manager, a Tech. Sargent,
who immediately took me into the “day room” and asked if I had been
briefed on the previous night’s events. I said I hadn’t.
We then proceeded toward the windows on the west side of the day room
where he described to me the large object with flashing lights that had been
hovering just outside the fence that night, and he spread his arms out in
front of him to indicate its size. Based on his description, I estimated that
the object may have been 80 to 100 feet wide and about 100 feet from the
building, maybe a bit closer.
I immediately asked if it had been a helicopter, and he said that it just
hovered with no noise being heard, quite unlike the usual noisy helicopters
heard from within the building. I also asked what the flashing lights were
like, but he could not answer. They were unlike any he had ever seen; they
were not like the usual beacon lights on planes, but something like a
pulsating glow.
He then said that the object, while hovering close to the ground, then glided
to the right toward the North end of the building out of sight. The object
then came into view from the security section of the facility, and hovered
just behind and slightly to the right of the main gate, concealed partly by the
large garage located within the fenced area to the right of the gate. This
location put the object almost directly above the hardened Launch Control
Capsule located 60 feet below ground. This was the Launch Crew Quarters
3
and the Launch Control Center for the ten interconnected nuclear tipped
ICBM missiles located 4 to 14 miles in all directions from the facility.
Security personnel confirmed everything that the Site Manager had related
to me. My commander and I then proceeded to take the elevator down to
the Launch Control Center to relieve the two man officer crew below. After
entering the capsule, our eyes were immediately transfixed on the Launch
Control Console, which showed that all missiles were off alert and
unlaunchable.
The outgoing crew briefed us on the wild events that transpired overnight,
and indicated that the missiles malfunctioned at the time the object was
hovering directly above the capsule and next to the main gate. We
speculated on the possibility of an EMF pulse that might have created the
situation. We had no doubt, however, that the 10 outlying nuclear tipped
missiles of November Flight had been compromised, tampered with, and
put out of commission by the object that had paid a visit. Normally, it was
quite unusual to have even one missile down, except for maintenance, and
Wing Headquarters was very proud of having more than 95% up time for all
150 missiles in the Wing.
The following morning, after we had been relieved by a follow-on crew, and
we had arrived topside, I attempted to further query the Flight Security
Controller who had been on duty at the time of the situation, but he
interrupted me and said that he had been instructed to not discuss the
incident. That is when my commander told me that he had received a call
while I was on a scheduled rest break below ground, and he was told that
we were to never discuss the incident. When I asked where the directive
came from, he said the OSI.
With no discussion allowed on this subject, my crew commander and I
were left in limbo, and left on our own to conjure in our own minds how
other similar situations might unfold and be handled. This serious lack of
follow through by the Air Force was more than bewildering and it served to
keep this situation on our minds.
4
Altogether, there were a dozen of us involved with this incident. My
commander and I were not there during the encounter, but we had to deal
with the ramifications of the incident, and I will never forget the frightened
emotion on the faces of topside airmen who were gathered there with me
when I was briefed by the Site Manager. Besides those of us at the Launch
Control Facility, there had to be many more personnel involved, including
maintenance people who had to retarget and realign the missiles, also
additional security personnel to guard and protect the missile Launch
Facilities, and who knows how many other concerned people there were on
base.
Everyone had been silenced. The incident was never discussed and I
never heard a word of any other incident from people that I associated with.
I never spoke a word about my incident for almost 40 years, and my wife
never knew.
After several years of searching the internet, in hopes of finding someone
who could give me a clue about my incident, I then found what was
described by Captain Robert Salas and I felt an immediate joyous freedom
from the haunting memory that I had harbored for so long. I then quickly
informed my wife.
Since then, I have run across several missileers from my days at Minot who
were there with me in the Wing, and two of them have gone public with
their own experiences. Two others have described their unique
experiences to me, but they have pleaded that I not divulge their names.
They fear losing their Air Force pension, or losing their personal integrity in
keeping a secret, or of being ridiculed. I also know of two other officers
involved in incidents, but they will not admit to their secret, probably for the
same fear.
And then there is the late Captain Val Smith of my squadron who was
mentioned in official documents released via the Freedom of Information
Act. He was interviewed by the late Dr. Allen Hynek of Blue Book fame who
wrote an article in the Saturday Evening Post, published on 17 December
5
1966, which described the incident that Smith was involved with on 25
August 1966.
Hynek stated in that article that,
“This incident, which was not picked up by the press, is typical of the
puzzling cases that I have studied during the 18 years that I have served as
the Air Force's scientific consultant on the problem of UFO's.”
Just prior to release of that Post article, the Minot Daily News got wind of it
and then published, on 6 December 1966, a front page news item with a
major bold headline that read, “Minot Launch Control Center ‘Saucer’ Cited
As One Indication of Outer Space Visitors.”
In 1966, when I was at Minot, the evidence was everywhere that something
quite unique was happening, but I was embedded in a shell of silence.
The Air Force knew the Truth, the Air Force knew that I knew the Truth,
and that is the only reason they warned and instructed me that, “It Never
Happened.”
Thank You for your attention.
BIOGRAPHICAL STATEMENT
Peter B. Davenport
Peter Davenport, Director of the National UFO
Reporting Center since July 1994, was born in
St. Louis, Missouri, where he lived to the age of
14. As a boy, he attended high school in St.
Louis, Ethiopia, and New Hampshire.
Peter received his undergraduate education at
Stanford University in California, where he
earned bachelor’s degrees in both Russian and
biology, and a translator’s certificate in Russian.
His graduate education was completed at the
University of Washington in Seattle, where he
earned an M.S. degree in the genetics and
biochemistry of fish from the College of
Fisheries, as well as an M.B.A. degree in finance
and international business from the Graduate
School of Business.
Peter has worked as a college instructor, a commercial fisherman, a Russian translator in
the Soviet Union, a fisheries observer aboard Soviet fishing vessels, a flight instructor
(gliders), and a businessman. Peter was the founding president of a Seattle-based
biotechnology company, which, at one time, employed over 300 scientists and
technicians.
In 1986, Peter was a candidate for the Washington State legislature, and in 1992, he was a
declared candidate for the U. S. House of Representatives (District 1) from that state.
Peter has had an active interest in the UFO phenomenon from his early boyhood. He
experienced his first UFO sighting over the St. Louis municipal airport in the summer of
1954, and he investigated his first UFO case during the summer of 1965 in Exeter, New
Hampshire.
Peter has been witness to several anomalous events, possibly UFO related, including a
dramatic sighting over Baja California in February 1990, and several nighttime sightings
over Washington State during 1992.
In addition to being the Director of the National UFO Reporting Center, Peter is a current
member of MUFON, and is a former Co-State Section Director (King County), and
former Director of Investigation, for the Washington State chapter of MUFON.
CHD POSITION STATEMENT
FROM: Peter B. Davenport, Director
National UFO Reporting Center
Washington State
PROPOSED TITLE: “WHERE WE ARE IN UFOLOGY”
The question of whether human beings are alone in the
Universe is the most important scientific question that has
ever confronted mankind.
In point of fact, the question is not limited just to our study
of science. If it is indeed the case that other intelligent
civilizations are present in our galaxy, that discovery by
man cuts to almost every other facet of his existence…to
our religions, to our understanding of history, and to many
other fundamental questions that are related to our presence
here on Earth.
Were we suddenly to awaken to the fact that we have
sentient neighbors in our galaxy, and, therefore, probably in
other parts of the Universe as well, that discovery certainly
would challenge virtually every one of our self-perceptions.
The realization that we are not alone would compel us to
re-evaluate such fundamental questions as who we are,
where we have come from, what our purpose is here on
Earth, what the origin of consciousness is, and whether that
consciousness can somehow survive our corporeal death.
There are many, many other equally profound questions
that could be cited here, of course.
As a result of the profound importance of the question of
whether we are alone, the study of ufology is justified.
Some skeptics might say that those of us who pursue the
UFO question do not have any tangible evidence to show
for our work…evidence which would be accepted in all
venues as “proof.” However, that very same statement
could be made for many other scientific or academic
pursuits, which nevertheless are accepted by those selfsame
skeptics as being “legitimate.” Those who study “black
holes,” for example, don’t yet have a piece of one, and yet
a myriad of conferences are held annually on precisely that
subject! Those who pursue an explanation of gravity can’t
yet describe it satisfactorily, although we know that such a
force exists everywhere around us. Those who seek to
unravel the mysteries of “dark” matter and “dark” energy,
which appear to constitute most of the Universe we live in,
are at only just the outset of their pursuit.
Hence, just because ufologists have not yet been able to
place on a laboratory bench, for all to see, a craft of
demonstrably extra-terrestrial origin, that fact does not
mean that our pursuit of the subject is not justified. The
history of science is replete with examples of how the focus
of an investigator’s pursuit remained tantalizingly just out
of reach of its pursuer, waiting for just the right fact, just
the right revelation, or just the right epiphany, to suddenly
allow a thorough understanding of a complex, and hitherto,
unexplained phenomenon.
I am confident that our day in ufology will arrive, and
perhaps arrive sooner than we might guess. Strong
evidence is mounting that we in that field of endeavor are
correct in believing that Earth is being visited, and being
visited frequently by alien craft, and by their presumed
occupants.
From my vantage point on the subject, and based on the
UFO evidence available to me, it appears that it is only a
matter of time before man awakens to the fact that we have
“neighbors,” and that his civilization on Earth is probably
only but one of what, in the final analysis, we will discover
are many!
1
“ARE WE ALONE IN OUR GALAXY?”
Peter B. Davenport
Director, National UFO Reporting Center
Hosted by:
CITIZENS HEARING FOR DISCLOSURE
National Press Club
Washington, D.C.
April 29-May 03rd
, 2013
Summaries of a few interesting cases reported to the National UFO Reporting Center:
--Eklutna, AK October 1936 Evening Description: Two men hitchhiking to Anchorage witness a very bright light approaching their location
at high speed. The object hovers above them, causing them to dive into a snow bank to escape from it.
--Fontana, CA Late 1930’s Night
Description: Three young boys, returning from the local movie theatre, are suddenly illuminated from
above by a very bright shaft of light. They run to a nearby orange grove to take cover.
--Exeter/Kensington, NH September 03, 1965 Morning
Description: Many people in south-eastern New Hampshire witness a peculiar disc-shaped object.
Later, a young man and two police officers witness the disc up quite close, and it moves very quickly.
--Northern California September 09, 1994 Early morning
Description: Multiple dramatic reports of objects streaking across the morning sky. A young school
girl reports to school nurse being approached at a bus stop by a strange, diminutive grey creature.
--Palouse, WA December 29, 1994 Evening
Description: A woman decides to take a short-cut home through a wheat field. Three wedge-shaped
objects, with lights on their leading edge, pass in front of her car. Event frightened her badly.
--McMinnville, TN January 07, 1995 Evening
Description: Multiple witnesses on the ground report a “fleet” of peculiar looking objects allegedly
seen descending slowly and vertically. One of objects appears to blow up. TEMA activated.
--Eastern United States March 15, 1995 Evening
Description: Multiple sightings reported from the eastern United States of a bizarre blue-green, egg-
shaped object that streaked across the night sky, hovered, and then streaked across the horizon.
2
--Cordova, AK March 28, 1995 Midnight
Woman sees object fly in front of her car several times in heavy fog. Suddenly, it stops and hovers just
above her right fender. Several miles further along highway, she witnesses two discs on ground.
--Western Pennsylvania/Canada August 25, 1995 00:40 hrs. (Eastern)
Description: An extremely bright, perfectly round blue spherical object streaked south across Ontario,
Canada, and then western Pennsylvania. Bizarre interaction with driver on Pennsylvania Turnpike.
--New England/Eastern Seaboard November 17, 1995 21:00 hrs. (Eastern)
Description: An extremely bright, yellow and blue disc streaks down the coast of Maine, over New
England; rendezvous with six brightly lighted objects over New Jersey. Multiple reports to FAA.
--Doylestown, PA February 25, 1996 02:30 hrs. (Eastern)
Description: A young man was driving his van along Rte. 313, when he witnesses three peculiar
“meteors” in the sky. His van stops suddenly, and he experiences several anomalous sensations.
--Phoenix, Arizona March 13, 1997 1955 hrs. (Mountain)
Description: Multiple objects, estimated to be 1-2 miles in width, pass over the states of Nevada and
Arizona. The objects hovered motionless in several locations. Very dramatic sighting by thousands.
--Eastern seaboard March 17, 1997 19:00 hrs. (Eastern)
Description: An FAA Air Traffic Controller telephones NUFORC to report multiple sighting reports
by airline pilots of “metallic cigar tubes” tracking their aircraft for several seconds.
--Pacific Northwest November 14, 1997 21:20 hrs. (Pacific)
Description: A bizarre cluster of lights moves across the night sky, generating thousands of reports.
Some reports suggest significant magnetic anomalies occurred. Other reports in OR, CA, Mexico.
--Pacific Northwest April 22, 1998 2120 hrs. (Pacific)
Description: A former Canadian CF-104 pilot in Whistler, B.C., is stunned to see a green ball of light
streaking to the S; many witnesses. Obj. stops, flies directly over Bangor Sub Base nuclear weapons.
--Longview, WA February 25, 1999 1159 hrs. (Pacific)
Description: Fourteen forestry workers witness a horseshoe shaped object lift an adult elk out of the
forest and fly off with the apparently dead, or unconscious, animal.
--Southwest U. S. August 15, 1999 2318 hrs. (Mountain)
Description: Observers throughout NM and CO are witness to an immense flash of intensely bright
light, which illuminated up to 12,000 square miles like daylight. Occurs 2nd
time in NV 22 min. later.
--Dallas/Ft. Worth, TX October 26, 1999 0236 hrs. (Central)
Description: Two airline pilots, both former military pilots, are shocked to see 3 gigantic lights
approach their a/c at cruise altitude. Object executes sudden turn to east, streaks off. FAA audio report.
--St. Clair County, IL January 05, 2000 0410 hrs. (Central)
Description: Officers from eight police departments witness, pursue, and photograph a huge, triangular
object. Object “jumps” an estimate 20 miles in seconds. Scott AFB claims they did not see object.
3
--Rockford, IL; Prescott, AZ February 2000 Evenings
Description: Multiple sightings of clusters of yellow lights appear over Prescott, AZ, and Rockford,
IL. No explanation for the events. (See similar event over Carteret, NJ, for July 15, 2001.)
--Washington & B.C. April 28, 2000 2200 hrs. (Pacific)
Description: Multiple witnesses to an extremely bright object streaking over Puget Sound from south
to north. Looked like a silver disc. Stops over Aldergrove, B.C., descends, and streaks off.
--Rhode Island June 22, 2000 2115 hrs. (Eastern)
Description: A commercial pilot, flying from Nantucket Island, MA, sees a charcoal-black, egg-shaped
object streaking toward his airliner. The object is seen on radar to reverse its course and track the a/c!
--Oklahoma August 11, 2000 0200 hrs. (Central)
Description: Law enforcement officer becomes lost at night on a rural road in Oklahoma. Is
approached by strange creatures, and he fires his service revolver. Witness found by police in roadway.
--Victoria, B.C. August 12, 2000 0001 hrs. (Pacific)
Description: A group of people at a wedding celebration witness a cluster of lights in the night sky,
which form a symmetrical pattern, and hover for 5-10 minutes. The lights then streak off to the east.
--North Texas September 01, 2000 0230 hrs. (Central)
Description: A young woman is driving alone through northern Texas, when a very large and strange
light approaches her vehicle. She experiences missing time, and later returns to the site.
--Houston, TX September 08, 2000 0800 hrs. (Central)
Description: A man driving to work on the outer ring road witnesses a very bizarre object moving
slowly to the south over heavy traffic. He appears to be the only witness.
--Challis, Idaho (rural) September 27, 2000 2130 hrs. (Mountain)
Description: Four hunters, all experienced outdoorsmen, witness a gigantic, unlighted triangular craft
pass over their campsite. Two men drive to town. Two USAF F-16’s fly over camp. FAA report.
--Cygnet, OH October 31, 2000 1915 hrs. (Eastern)
Description: Two young men, driving from Florida to Detroit, witness a “fireball” streaking in front of
their car, from east to west. The object stops, and they see that it is a black, egg-shaped object. Hovers.
--OR, WA, & B.C. March 13, 2001 Evening (3 hrs.)
Description: Multiple sightings of yellow lights in night sky over Oregon. Later, three yellow lights
seen by many witnesses streaking in formation from south to north over Puget Sound.
--Mahnomen, MN March 28, 2001 0130 hrs. (Central)
Description: A Canadian truck driver witnesses a disc-shaped object hovering low over the local
airport. The disc suddenly accelerates and shoots across the airport, where it hovers above trees.
--Bellevue, ID April 24, 2001 1235 hrs. (Mountain)
Description: A local businessman sees some movement in the western sky, and sees a disc-shaped
object hovering against the mountains. Other discs streak up to the first, and then the cluster departs.
4
--Carteret, NJ July 15, 2001 00:30 hrs. (Eastern)
Description: Two clusters of yellow spheres move across New Jersey very rapidly, then slow and
hover in the vicinity of Newark Airport. Multiple witnesses stop on New Jersey Turnpike to view.
--Rock River, WY August 17, 2001 2220 hrs. (Mountain)
Description: Multiple reports from Wyoming of a fireball streaking across the sky very rapidly.
Railroad conductor witnesses a large, flaming ball of light hovering over an empty field.
--Roswell, NM January 07, 2002 2107 hrs. (Mountain)
Description: A man and his son see a dramatically bright fireball overhead, moving from south to
north very rapidly. They could hear (!!) the meteor as they watched it pass overhead.
--Cape Girardeau, MO January 26, 2002 2145 hrs. (Central)
Description: A radar patrol officer witnesses an unlighted, disc-shaped object, move across the
highway. He points his radar gun at the object, but gets no return. He pursues it, but it disappears.
--California Desert January 31, 2002 0530 hrs. (Pacific)
Description: A senior INS Border Patrol officer and his dog witness a disc pass over their patrol
vehicle very rapidly. Peculiar sound emanates from it. Seconds later, another dozen are witnessed.
--Salem, OR March 29, 2002 1920 hrs. (Pacific)
Description: Three teenagers witness several extremely bright lights in the evening sky above an
empty field. The object is a triangular, solid craft. It suddenly changes color, turns, and streaks off.
--Bakersfield, CA March 29, 2002 2130 hrs. (Pacific)
Description: A young couple, driving south on Interstate 5 approximately 100 miles north of
Bakersfield, witness a triangular shaped craft moving slowly above nearby houses, illuminating them.
--Yuma, AZ March 30, 2002 1430 hrs. (Pacific)
Description: A group of boaters on the Colorado River, approximately 30 miles north of Yuma,
witness three, bright, disc-shaped objects in the sky. Two more suddenly appear. All streak north.
--Andrews AFB/Waldorf, MD July 26, 2002 01:30 hrs. (Eastern)
Description: Many people awakened by multiple launches of F-16 fighters, on afterburner, out of
Andrews AFB. Witnesses observe two F-16’s in high-speed, low-altitude pursuit of “red ball of light.”
--Meriwether Co., GA April 13, 2003 19:45 hrs. (Eastern)
Description: Three adults are driving in a rural area of Georgia, when all three become aware of
flashing lights behind their vehicle. Suddenly, the vehicle is filled with small spheres of red light.
--Rochester, IN April 8, 2004 22:00 hrs. (Central)
Description: Multiple witnesses in northern Indiana witness a very large, disc-shaped object near their
respective residences. Analysis suggests that the object was approximately 200 feet in width.
--Omaha, NE March 25, 2004 19:00 hrs. (Central)
Description: The crew of an airliner report seeing four disc-shaped objects, which remain visible ahead
of the aircraft for 10-15 minutes. Objects did not appear on FAA radar during the entire sighting.
5
--Orlando, FL April 15, 2004 06:00 hrs. (Eastern)
Description: A woman awakens and walks to her screened bedroom window, sees a self-luminous
spherical object hovering. Her housecat notices object, which suddenly streaks away.
--Port Clements, B.C. April 21, 2004 06:05 hrs. (Pacific)
Description: A young woman walks out of her place of work and sees a contrail in the sky. Upon
further observation, she observes tiny object near aircraft. Object suddenly disappears.
--McFall, MO May 04, 2004 03:45 hrs. (Central)
Description: A young woman on a newspaper delivery route witnesses a perfectly spherical, self-
luminous “fireball” streak through the sky on the near side of nearby trees. Very fast object.
--Seattle, WA June 20, 2004 23:15 hrs. (Pacific)
Description: An adult male was standing outside in the University District, looking to the west, when
he observed a bizarre, triangular craft streak from north to south in the clear, cloudless sky.
--Twin Cities, MN August 19, 2004 09:00-20:00 hrs. (Central)
Description: A very large, unidentified white object hovered over the Twin Cities area for
approximately ten hours. No one, including the FAA or NWS, could identify the object.
--Tinley Park, IL August 21, 2004 22:30 hrs. (Central)
Description: Multiple witnesses report seeing three, or more, distinctly red lights hovering in the night
sky. The lights moved, relative to one another, and moved off to the south.
--Tinley Park, IL October 31, 2004 23:00 hrs. (Central)
Description: Multiple, bright-red lights witnessed by hundreds of observers. Lights seen to manoeuvre
as a group, move above the cloud layer, then slowly move to the west.
--Exeter, NH July 20, 2005-07-30 15:15 hrs. (Eastern) Description: A former U. S. Navy Chief is mowing his lawn, looks up to the west, and reports
witnessing a huge, cigar-shaped craft with multiple “windows” along its side.
--Tinley Park, IL September 30, 2005 23:15 hrs. (Central) Description: Three red lights return to Tinley Park. Multiple witnesses over a wide area observe three
red lights hover and manoeuvre in the night sky.
--O’Hare Airport, Chicago, IL November 07, 2006 16:00 hrs. (Central)
Description: Dozens of airline and FAA (?) personnel at O’Hare Airport observe a disc-shaped object
hovering above Gate C-17. Object suddenly accelerates straight up, and disappears through overcast.
--Stephenville, TX January 08, 2008 18:07 hrs. (Central)
Description: Dozens, or hundreds, of witnesses observe an immense object streak across sky, then stop
directly above town. Minutes later, object is seen being chased by F-16 fighters.
--O’Hare Airport, Chicago, IL August 04, 2008 19:01 hrs. (Central)
Description: A husband and wife, probably qualified witnesses, observe from Gate K-7 a dull-gray
disc fly over the airport area.
6
--Chicago, IL November 04, 2008 21:30 hrs. (Central)
Description: A young woman, driving her small car on a three-lane road, is suddenly “shoved” into the
right lane no apparent reason. Strange damage seen done to left side of car. No explanation.
--St. Louis, MO June 01, 2012 21:00 hrs. (Central)
Description: A St. Louis law enforcement officer and his wife and daughter witness 20-30 orange-
colored “fireballs” move from west to east over I-55. The spectacle caused an auto collision.
--Beacon Rock State Park, WA June 02, 2012 20:30 hrs. (Pacific)
Description: Several groups of campers witness approximately 20 orange “fireballs,” apparently at
very high altitude, which approached their campsite from the west, then turned to the north.
--Castle Rock, WA November 10, 2012 18:28 hrs. (Pacific)
Description: A retired airline pilot, while driving east on Hwy. 504, witnessed three orange “fireballs”
approaching, and descending, from the south. The witness turned around on highway, departed.
--Los Angeles, CA November 10, 2012 19:40 hrs. (Pacific)
Description: A retired U. S. Marine Corps officer and his wife witness three orange “fireballs” in the
nighttime sky.
--Spokane Valley, WA December 08, 2012 20:45 hrs. (Pacific)
Description: A group of approximately nine adults witness approximately 6-8 red/orange “fireballs” in
the western sky.
--U.S. & Worldwide June 2012 to present All hours
Description: Several thousands of reports of red, orange, and yellow luminous objects, reported from
across the U. S., Canada, and from other nations, as well. No ready explanation for what the objects
are is apparent. Please see www.UFOCenter.com for original witness sighting reports.
TESTIMONY
OF
GARY HESELTINE (UK)
FOR THE CITIZEN HEARINGS
WASHINGTON DC
29 APRIL-3 MAY 2013
Good morning/afternoon
My name is Gary Heseltine and I am a recently retired police detective
having served almost 24 years with the British Transport police in
England.
I am here on behalf of police officers worldwide who have witnessed
UFOs.
In January 2002 I created the POLICE REPORTING UFO SIGHTINGS
website otherwise known as the PRUFOS Database.
(www.prufospolicedatabase.co.uk), a facility catering for on and off duty
British police officer UFO sightings.
When I began my research I did so with a handful of reports involving a
dozen officers. 11 years later I can reveal that I have over 425 cases
involving in excess of 935 British police officers.
These sightings have taken place the length and breadth of Britain and
have been reported at all times of the day.
Analysis of the cases on the database reveals that over 70% are multiple
officer reports thus offering significant corroboration to a sighting event.
Several cases involve corroboration by 6 officers or more with many of
those events being witnessed by officers in multiple geographical
locations.
In one particular case over 24 officers were involved in tracking at least
one object over at least six county areas of Britain on the night of March
30-31st 1993. This case is referred at the Cosford Incident.
Many of the cases on the database are truly extraordinary.
For example many officers have observed structured craft of huge size at
close proximity to their positions on the ground.
These craft range in shape and dimensions from tens of feet to many
hundreds of feet in size.
For example in October 1984 near RAF NORTHHOLT in Middlesex a
silent black triangular craft seen at low altitude by two uniformed officers
on mobile patrol which was described as the being the size of three
football fields. When I sought to clarify the estimate of the size the officer
told me that the size was accurate because when it was observed it was
seen directly over three football fields.
The source of this report is Police Constable (ret) ROBIN PERRY- a
copy of his report has been supplied to you for your perusal.
On another occasion in October 1978 three uniformed police officers in a
rural area of Buckinghamshire observed a huge object (described as the
size of a football field) which suddenly and silently materialised in front
of them in the blink of an eye at relative close proximity to their position.
A number of smaller objects were seen flying around the larger main
craft. The object then sent down a wide beam of light down to the ground
as it slowly traversed the landscape for several minutes before suddenly
disappearing in the blink of an eye. The manner of its appearance and
disappearance was described as like switching a light bulb on and off.
The source of this report is Police Constable (ret) ERIC RAYMENT- a
copy of his report has been supplied to you for your perusal.
Many officers have seen objects that appear to move in ways that seem to
defy the known laws of aerodynamics.
For example in May of 1981 or 82 two firearms officers were involved in
the close protection of a then prominent Conservative Minister at a secret
location in North Yorkshire. At approximately 0530 hours as they were
walking around outside in the grounds of the residence they suddenly
became aware that the sky had darkened. When they looked up to
establish the cause of the change of light they saw a huge dark purple
cylindrical object with a pronounced undercarriage underneath that was
described as being the length of a football field hovering silently above
the house at an altitude of 200/300 feet. The object remained motionless
above the house for 5-10 minutes before it suddenly and silently
accelerated toward the horizon at a tremendous speed. There it remained
stationary for a short time before quickly accelerating out of sight.
The source of this report was Police Sergeant (ret) John Pawson – a copy
of his report has been supplied to you for your perusal.
In my introduction I mentioned that I would refer to police officer
sightings worldwide and in the time permitted I would like to draw your
attention to two particular countries where numerous police officer
sightings have taken place.
Namely I refer to the United States and Belgium.
Many of the US cases are outstanding. I will highlight two of them.
Just after midnight on December 14 1994 15 police officers of Trumball
County, Ohio, observed multiple circular UFOs from different
geographical positions. In one particular sighting the police vehicle
driven by Sergeant Toby Maloro suddenly cut out. After alighting the
vehicle he observed the UFO directly above him. As soon as the object
moved silently away the car the engine started and he tried to pursue it.
A summary report is submitted for your perusal.
On January 5th
2000 in Illinois multiple officers observed a large
triangular craft from many different geographical locations and
sometimes at close proximity to their ground positions. A summary report
is submitted for your perusal.
Broadly speaking all the officers involved in those two events describe
objects that moved in silence and that were able to make incredible high
speed manoeuvres.
Finally in the skies above Belgium between 1989-1991 hundreds of
police officers observed large triangular objects all over the country.
Many of these sightings involved multiple officer witnesses and
numerous cases were observed at relative close proximity to their ground
locations. In addition many of these sightings were also confirmed on
radar by civilian and military authorities. A summary report is submitted
for your perusal.
In the allotted 10 minutes given to brief you I want to say on behalf of all
police officers worldwide that what many of them have observed were
craft, physical in nature and that moved in ways in which the officers
involved have never witnessed before or since their encounters.
In closing I urge this panel to accept their testimonies as genuine and that
collectively they offer compelling circumstantial evidence that many of
these sightings represent extraterrestrial objects flying in our airspace.
In closing and on a personal note I believe the time is now to lift the veil
of secrecy that has shrouded this subject for over 60 years and that the
subject of UFOs be openly accepted in the mass media and in doing so
would allow people from around the world to come forward without fear
of ridicule.
As a police detective of many years service I believe the collective
testimonial and documentary evidence obtained in over sixty years of
UFO research overwhelmingly confirms that some UFO sightings
represent an ongoing extraterrestrial interaction with planet Earth.
I am deeply honoured to have given testimony before this panel and I
submit it to your on behalf of police officers worldwide.
Thank you.
Gary Heseltine
April 29, 2013 1st Panel - 2013 Citizen Hearing, Disclosure Linda Moulton Howe
Addressed To:
Chairman Bartlett and other distinguished retired Congressional representatives
on the Citizen Hearing Disclosure Panel
National Press Club
Washington, D. C.
My name is Linda Moulton Howe. I grew up in Boise, Idaho, where my father, Chet
Moulton, was Director of Aeronautics for Idaho. One of his friends was Kenneth Arnold,
who reported the unidentified flying objects over Mount Rainier in June 1947, and a local
reporter coined the phrase "U.F.O.," unidentified flying objects.
I remember my father dismissed the idea of extraterrestrials and that is the bias with
which I grew up. I attended the University of Colorado in Boulder where I earned a cum
laude Bachelor of Arts in English Literature. Then I went to Stanford University in Palo
Alto, California, to earn a Masters Degree in Communication. For two years I produced,
wrote, directed and edited documentary films for the Stanford Medical Center and my
Master's thesis film was about the Stanford Linear Accelerator's first efforts to have
computers analyze sub-atomic particle bombardments.
From Stanford, I went to TV news at KNBC-TV in Los Angeles, where my beat was
science, environment and medicine. Later, I was honored at WCVB in Boston as a
producer sharing the station's Peabody Award for Science and Medical Programming
Excellence.
Then I became Director of Special Projects at the Denver CBS affiliate, KMGH-TV. I
produced, wrote, directed, edited and reported a dozen TV documentaries and several live
studio programs about science, medical and environmental issues that earned three
Regional Emmys, a National Emmy nomination and several other documentary film
awards.
One of my documentaries was an investigation of the strange, bloodless, trackless
mutilations of animals ranging from cattle and horses to goats, sheep, pigs and rabbits -
and even wild animals such as deer and elk - that were repeatedly occurring in Colorado,
all over the United States and Canada and other parts of the world.
The first research interview I did for that animal mutilation TV documentary was with
former Logan County Sheriff Tex Graves. He told me bluntly, "The perpetrators of
animal mutilations are creatures from outer space."
In fact, a few ranchers told me about beams of light from round, glowing objects in the
sky they had seen with their own eyes pick up cattle from a pasture - or lower an animal
2
to a pasture - dead with bloodless excisions. The beam transport would explain why there
often are no tracks - not even the animal's own tracks.
That documentary, A Strange Harvest, was first broadcast in a 90-minute special May 25,
1980, and was awarded a Regional Emmy. Later Home Box Office (HBO) in New York
City contacted me to follow up A Strange Harvest with an hour special for HBO with the
working title: UFOS: The E. T. Factor.
A contract was signed and New York attorney Peter Gersten, who filed the first Freedom
of Information requests back at the end of the 1970s for information about UFOs from
the CIA (Central Intelligence Agency), NSA (National Security Agency), DIA (Defense
Intelligence Agency, NRO (National Reconnaissance Organization) and military offices -
arranged for me to have a meeting at Kirtland AFB in Albuquerque. Mr. Gersten had
received correspondence from an agent at the U. S. Air Force Office of Special
Investigations about a dramatic landing of a disc and humanoid entities at Ellsworth
AFB, South Dakota.
In the meeting at the Kirtland AFOSI meeting on April 9, 1983, the AFOSI Agent
showed me a document entitled: "Briefing Paper for the President of the United States
On the Subject of Unidentified Aerial Craft." The document gave a history of the U. S.
government's retrieval of crashed or landed craft in Aztec, Magdalena and Roswell, New
Mexico, in 1947, and again in 1949; Kingman in northern Arizona; and northern Mexico
south of Laredo, Texas.
The alleged presidential briefing paper also described information from a live
extraterrestrial biological entity - or EBE - taken from a crash site near Roswell, New
Mexico, in 1949 - two years after the historically famous 1947 July crashes of wedge-
shaped craft, not discs, that contained small humanoid bodies, both dead and alive.
I was told that one of the first scientists brought in on autopsies of dead alien bodies was
a herpetologist, who studies reptiles such as snakes as well as amphibians. The skin and
eyes of the non-humans were described as bumpy like snakeskin and the eyes had vertical
slit pupils beneath dark lenses.
Since April 9, 1983, I have accumulated testimonies from witnesses and physical
evidence that support the alleged presidential briefing paper shown to me at Kirtland
AFB. Today on April 29, 2013 - thirty years later - in addition to work as a long-time TV
producer and investigative reporter, I also produce, write, report and edit the science and
environment website, Earthfiles.com, and report three hours of Earthfiles news
investigations monthly for Premiere Radio Networks broadcast of Coast to Coast AM
(estimated weekly audience 4 million).
Today I can assert that the pressure of facts accumulated from military and intelligence
eyewitnesses; from ranchers and pathologists; from pilots and astronauts; from fellow
human experiencers in the UFO abduction syndrome; and from leaks by scientists and
computer experts, who have worked on back-engineering extraterrestrial technologies
3
extracted from non-human craft - leaves no doubt that Need-To-Know agents in the U. S.
government since World War II and the FDR and Truman Administrations have known
about the extraterrestrial interactions with Earth and that their policies of denial in the
alleged interest of national security are still in effect.
My greatest challenge as a journalist is to get on the record what I am told by military and
intelligence agents and other eyewitnesses. National security in what is supposed to be a
democratic government of, by and for the people, is not served by lies and secrecy. Every
American and the whole world deserve the truth about non-humans past, present and
future interacting with Earth.
Linda Moulton Howe – Background / 2013
Linda Moulton Howe is a graduate of Stanford University with a Masters Degree in
Communication. She has devoted her documentary film, television, radio, writing and
reporting career to productions concerning science, medicine and the environment. Ms.
Howe has received local, national and international awards, including three regional
Emmys, a national Emmy nomination and a Station Peabody award (medical
programming).
Linda produces, reports and edits the award-winning science, environment and earth
mysteries news website, Earthfiles.com, honored with a WebAward for News Standard of
Excellence, a W3 Silver Award in the news category, an Award for Standard of
Excellence presented by the internet’s WebAward Association and Encyclopaedia
Britannica Award for Journalistic Excellence.
Her monthly 3-hour radio news reports about science, environment and earth mysteries
are broadcast on Premiere Radio Networks Coast to Coast AM throughout North
America. She also produces radio broadcasts for Whitley Strieber’s Dreamland Online.
Linda has been interviewed for all seasons 2009-2012 of the TV series, Ancient Aliens,
broadcast on the History Channel.
Linda has written four books: Mysterious Lights and Crop Circles, 2nd Edition, © 2002,
about eyewitness accounts and the scientific research of biophysical and biochemical
changes in affected cereal crops by complex energy systems; An Alien Harvest © 1989,
about the worldwide animal mutilation phenomenon; Glimpses of Other Realities,
Volumes I and II © 1993 and 1998, about U. S. military, intelligence and civilian
testimonies concerning non-human interactions with Earth.
In April 2013, Linda was honored with the first Lucius Farish Foundation award for
excellence in research and productions concerning the UFO phenomena at the 26th
Annual 2013 Ozark Conference in Eureka Springs, Arkansas.
In June 2012, Linda traveled as a reporter with Robert Schoch, Ph.D., Geologist, Boston
University, who led a group to Turkey and specifically to the 12,000-year-old Gobekli
4
Tepe that astonishes archaeologists. Linda reported about the ancient, mysterious site
referred to as the oldest “cathedral on a hill” known to humankind in a 6-part Earthfiles
series and in radio reports for Coast to Coast AM and Dreamland.
In 2011, Linda traveled nationally and internationally to speak at several conferences
about government leaked information concerning extraterrestrials, time travel and self-
activating software and machines. She was hosted on a speaking tour in Australia from
Perth to Melbourne to Sydney to the Sunshine Coast and the 2011 International NEXUS
Conference.
She was a keynote speaker before the audience of 1,500 at the Open Minds Conference
in Phoenix, Arizona, on February 25, 2011. In 2011, Linda also spoke before the 23rd
annual Eureka Springs UFO Conference in Arkansas on April 9, 2011; presented her
investigation of the RAF Bentwaters-Woodbridge military phenomena at the 1st annual
Jackson, Mississippi UFO conference in the Jackson Convention Center; spoke about
“E.T.s, Time Travelers and Self-Activating Machines” for Whitley Strieber’s Dreamland
Festival in Nashville on June 25, 2011; was the featured speaker in an Australia tour of
Perth, Adelaide, Sydney and the Sunshine Coast NEXUS Conference for most of July
2011; spoke before the International MUFON Conference in Irvine, California on July 31,
2011; and presented at the Pennsylvania MUFON Conference in Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania, on October 15, 2011; the Philadelphia Cosmo Club on October 17, 2011;
and Friends of the Institute of Noetic Sciences (FIONS) in New York City on October 22,
2011.
In 2010, Linda was honored with the Courage In Journalism Award at the National Press
Club in Washington, D. C., by the Paradigm Research Group’s X Conference. In
December 2010, Linda traveled with Prometheus Productions, Los Angeles, to RAF
Bentwaters-Woodbridge in England for Ancient Aliens TV production about the December
1980 mysterious lights, beams and missing time of military men involved during a 72-
hour-period between midnight December 26 and sunrise December 28, 1980, with
technologies of unknown origin. In September 2010, Linda was a featured speaker at a
Mist Productions conference about the science of crop formations in Sao Paulo and Rio
de Janeiro, Brazil.
In January 2009, Linda spent two weeks in Costa Rica to research environmental
restoration projects; in July to August 2009, Linda spent three weeks in Wiltshire,
England, to investigate crop formations, report a live 3-hour radio broadcast for Premiere
Radio Networks in the U. S., and to participate in a Brazil documentary production about
the crop phenomenon; in November 2009, Linda was videotaped in Roswell, New
Mexico, for the History Channel TV series, Ancient Aliens.
In October 2008, Linda was videotaped in New York City by RAI-TV, Italy, for a broadcast
special about unusual aerial phenomena. In 2006, Linda was the on-camera field
investigator of a Montana cattle mutilation for a Canadian television special, Best
Evidence. She traveled to England for other field investigations of the crop formation
mystery and to do science news interviews at Cardiff University for Earthfiles and
5
Premiere Radio Networks. In 2005, Linda participated in the Canadian documentary, Star
Dreams, produced by Genesis Communications Corp., about the global crop formation
mystery.
In August 2004, Linda was on-camera field investigator for a History Channel program
about an unusual cow death in Farnham, Nebraska. Linda also traveled to Florence and
San Marino, Italy, to speak about her earth mysteries investigations. She also produced
and reported Earthfiles segments for Comcast Cable broadcasts in San Francisco and
Los Angeles.
In 2003, Linda investigated mysterious light phenomena in Corguinho, Brazil, and
England. In 2002, she traveled to Norway to join astronomers, physicists and engineers
in the study of “thermal plasmas of unknown origin” in the Hessdalen Valley. In 2001,
Linda traveled to Hong Kong and Laos to investigate “tall wild men” reports for The
Discovery Channel television series, Modern Mysteries of Asia.
Linda’s Emmy Award-winning documentaries have included Poison in the Wind and A
Sun Kissed Poison, which compared smog pollution in Los Angeles and Denver; Fire In
The Water about hydrogen as an alternative energy source to fossil fuels; A Radioactive
Water about uranium contamination in public drinking water in a Denver suburb; and A
Strange Harvest, which explored the worldwide animal mutilation mystery that has
haunted the United States and other countries since the 1960s and continues to date.
Another film, A Prairie Dawn, focused on astronaut training in Denver. Linda has also
produced documentaries in Ethiopia and Mexico for UNICEF about child survival efforts
and for Turner Broadcasting in Atlanta about environmental challenges.
A few of Linda’s other television productions have included The World of Chemistry for
PBS and a two-hour special, Earth Mysteries: Alien Life Forms, in association with
WATL-Fox, Atlanta. Linda was Supervising Producer and Original Concept Creator for
UFO Report: Sightings financed by Paramount Studios and the Fox network in Los
Angeles. Its first broadcast was in October 1991, which was expanded into the Sightings
series on Fox.
Linda was an honored medical producer in Boston’s WCVB Station Excellence Peabody
Award. As Director of Special Projects at the KMGH-TV station in Denver, Colorado, she
received the Aviation & Space Writers Association Award for Writing Excellence in
Television, a Chicago Film Festival Golden Plaque for A Radioactive Water, Colorado’s
Florence Sabin Award for “outstanding contribution to public health” and several dozen other
local and regional awards, including Emmys. She also worked as Director of International
Programming for Earthbeat, an environmental series broadcast on Turner’s WTBS
Superstation in Atlanta, GA.
Linda has traveled in Venezuela, Peru, Brazil, England, Norway, France, Switzerland,
The Netherlands, Yugoslavia, Turkey, Ethiopia, Kenya, Egypt, Australia, Japan, Canada,
Mexico, the Yucatan and Puerto Rico for research and productions. Linda has written four
books: Mysterious Lights and Crop Circles, 2nd Edition, September 2002, about
6
eyewitness accounts and scientific research of biophysical and biochemical changes in
affected cereal crops by complex energy systems; An Alien Harvest © 1989, about the
worldwide animal mutilation phenomenon; Glimpses of Other Realities, Volumes I and II
© 1993 and 1998, about U. S. military, intelligence and civilian testimonies concerning
non-human interactions with Earth.
Linda is also asked to speak as an investigative reporter at national and international
conferences and symposiums, including NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, and has
been interviewed on a Larry King Live special, CNN; The O’Reilly Factor, Fox; Sightings
and Strange Universe, Fox; NBC’s The Other Side; Britain’s Union Pictures, ITN and
BBC; The Discovery Channel special Evidence On Earth; the NBC network special,
Mysterious Origins of Man and the 2009 - 2013 Ancient Alien series on the History
Channel.
Submitted by:
Linda Moulton Howe
Reporter and Editor
Earthfiles.com and
Investigative Reporter
Premiere Radio Networks
P. O. Box 21843
Albuquerque, NM 87154
PH: 505-797-7727
Email: earthfiles@earthfiles.com
Peter Robbins: Opening Statement
Citizen’s Hearing on UFO Secrecy
National Press Club, Washington, D.C., May 1, 2013
Madame Chair, distinguished committee members, colleagues and
friends, I want to take a moment to thank Steven Bassett, the
organizer of this unique event, for the opportunity to offer
testimony here before you this morning. For more than thirty years
now I have pursued the field of UFO investigation on a number of
fronts, always doing my utmost to approach each new case,
witness claim, research paper or interview free of prejudice or
agenda, my only objective being to get as close to the truth as my
means, investigative skills and common sense will allow me.
However before proceeding I think it should be on the record that I
am self-trained as an investigative writer. My degree is in painting
and film history and I began my professional life as a painter and
art instructor. Over the years I was developing my skills as a writer
I made my living as a painting instructor at New York’s School of
Visual Arts, as house manager for an Off Broadway repertory
company, as a New York City tour guide and a copywriter. I also
spent eight of those years as an online phone volunteer and shift
supervisor on the busiest crisis intervention and suicide hotline in
the country. Some may feel that such an eclectic and decidedly
unrelated background may not be much of a asset in field I
ultimately chose to enter, but can only beg to differ.
Subjects I’ve chosen to investigate have included but not been
limited to, the origins of the UFO ridicule factor, the United
Kingdom’s Rendlesham Forest UFO incident, roadblocks on the
path to disclosure; the Strange Death of James Vincent Forrestal,
first Secretary of Defense and early casualty of UFO secrecy;
critical thinking, deductive reasoning and ufology; stress and UFO
studies; the UFO abduction phenomenon, and UFOs, Organized
Religion, and Fundamentalist Thinking. As this morning’s
discussion topic is listed as “various topics” I believe I qualify.
While I stand ready to try and answer any questions this committee
may have for me regarding these subjects, I want to single out two
in particular for you’re your consideration, 1. the so-called UFO
ridicule factor. We now know for a fact that the subject of UFOs
and their implications have been regarded as extremely serious by
our military and intelligence communities from at least the summer
of 1947 on, more seriously in fact than any other matter facing this
nation since the end of World War II. Why then have the
overwhelming majority of UFO related news reports been
subjected to a level of ridicule, sarcasm and condescension
unmatched in Post War journalism? How and why did this all-
pervasive pattern come to pass, and what is its legacy for the
American people?
The second subject is one you were introduced to during yesterday
morning’s hearings, that is, the UK’s Rendlesham Forest UFO
incident. I first heard of these events in the autumn of 1983, shortly
after the story first broke in Britain that October. The following
year I first met and briefly chatted with Larry Warren, the former
United States Air Force Security Police officer who had,
completely on his own, blown the whistle on the events of
December 1980, and without whom we might never have learned
about Bentwaters, or at the least might not have learned of it until
many years after we did.
In June 1987 I attended a UFO conference at American University
not far from here in Washington. I appeared on a panel discussion,
but that former security cop was one of the speakers and he related
the account of his awareness of and involvement in the events, and
did so with frustration, and barely concealed anger - about what
had been done to him and other witnesses, not by ‘them,’ but by
‘us.’ By the end of his talk I knew I wanted to interview him, but
was not expecting that he was interested in having me co-write a
book about Rendlesham with him. However that’s exactly what I
agreed to following a visit from him the very next weekend. I
imagined such an undertaking might take us a year or two to
complete, cost us a few thousand each, and result in a lucrative
book deal. In fact I had no idea of what I was getting myself into.
Nine years later our publisher received the manuscript which went
on to become a highly regarded bestseller across the United
Kingdom, helped along by the efforts of former Attorney General
Ramsey Clark, in the library of the (then) newly elected Prime
Minister Tony Blair, championed by a former Ministry of Defence
Chief of Staff, read in part into the daily Parliamentary Record,
and the impetus for a fifteen city.
All well and good, but the fact is, Larry Warren’s having had the
courage and idealism to take the action he did, cost him, and cost
him dearly. For the thirty years he has been the subject of ridicule,
attacks on his character, motivations and accuracy, from skeptics,
debunkers, and even some within the UFO community itself. I
regret that this statement must remain somewhat incomplete as I
find myself still at the keyboard when I should, and need, to get
some sleep. I will endeavor to fill in whatever blanks I’m able as
you proceed with whatever questions you may have.
Thank you.
Peter Robbins
35 North Applegate Road
Ithaca, New York 14850
607 277 6615
Cell 607 351 6537
probbinsny@yahoo.com
Documents.. 10 minutes for CHD Panel 2, Wednesday, May 4,10:45 AM
I must admit that I am a document hound and have visited 20 different Archives.including many visits to
the Truman,, Eisenhower, Kennedy, and Reagan Presidential Archives, the National Archives, The Library
of Congress Manuscript Division. There have been special sites such as the Harvard Archives (Papers of
Donald Menzel), The Princeton Archives (papers of James Forrestal), MIT Archives (Papers of Vannevar
Bush), The American Philosophical Society Library (Which has some papers of Edward Condon, Donald
Menzel, Philip Klass.), Boston University Archives (John Fuller, Ben Simon) etc
There have been surprises and I have seen many phony documents (not at archives) especially ones
supposedly dealing with the Majestic 12 group. I am fortunate in that having worked under security for
14 years, I dealt often with classified documents and learned the rules of the game.
I have found that there are many misconceptions about documents these include: A. Documents are
periodically reviewed for declassification and must be declassified after a certain number of years (NOT
SO). B. People working on classified projects (such as Majestic 12) would of course talk to a spouse
about what they were doing. (I had a clearance for 14 years and never talked to my wife about classified
work). Van Bush’s secretary told me she worried about saying something classified in her sleep, because
her husband did not have a clearance.
C Having a certain level clearance, such as TOP SECRET, gives one access to all TOP SECRET Documents
(False .One needs a need to know.)I couldn’t get access to US Nuclear Submarine radiation shielding
information though I had the appropriate security clearance, but no need to know for access for my
aircraft nuclear propulsion program shielding work.
D.Higher security documents can be referenced in lower security ones.NO
E. That all documents have been scanned and are easily accessed from a home computer . Would that it
were so.There are various technical archives for which this may be true. For example, in 1970, at
McDonnell Douglas I had a search done of Government Contract reports using the keyword
Magnetoaerodynamics. They found 900 documents of which 90% were classified. I suspect some were
for black projects. And maybe even dealing with plasmas and UFOs.
I have spent a great deal of effort on the question of legitimacy of the Majestic 12 documents and have
reported my findings in my Book “TOP SECRET/MAJIC”, in an update Chapter in my book “Flying Saucers
and Science”, and in my “Final Report on Operation Majestic 12”. I have dealt with all the anti
arguments about “The Eisenhower Briefing Document” , “The Truman Forrestal Memo”, “ The Cutler
Twining Memo”. All three stand up to the attacks. That includes proving that Donald Menzel did loads of
very classified work though unknown to the outside world. I showed that Phil Klass’ false claim that the
Pica typeface on the Cutler Twining memo proved it was a phony, by providing many documents using
the same size and style type. He paid me $1000. for proving him wrong. It has been claimed that the use
of generic ranks (such as Admiral instead of rear admiral for officers such as Roscoe Hillenkoetter)
proves the document is false. It was standard practice in many situations as I demonstrated . I have also
shown that there are dozens of phony documents prepared to try to confuse the Issue. One called
deuterium Light hydrogen. It is Heavy hydrogen. One instructed general Twining “ to proceed to New
Mexico when you are finished at Sandia”. But Sandia is in New Mexico. One claimed General Spaatz met
with General Twining on a certain date and location. Their flight logs and desk calendars showed that
wasn’t true.
I have had lots of help from Archivists. Two stated that they each had TOP SECRET Documents without
Top Secret control numbers. Two debunkers had claimed that all TS documents had to have TS control
numbers. NOT SO.. I asked an archivist at the Marshall Archives if he could see any reason why General
Wedemeyer, a China expert, would have been involved in Majestic 12. He couldn’t think of any, but
referred me to Wedemeyer’s book. It was at the University of New Brunswick Library a mile from my
home and contained 3 documents that some faker had retyped with a few changes. They were clearly
emulations. Other books provided originals served as genuine when they weren’t.
There are some important questions that need attention. Because some documents are fraudulent does
NOT mean that all are. The fact that more than 99% of naturally occurring isotopes are not fissionable
doesn’t mean none are. Because about 80% of UFO sightings can be explained as relatively
conventional phenomena, doesn’t mean the other 20% can also be explained. The Basketball coach
knows that most people aren’t seven feet tall. He is happy to find one person who is.
Also there can be gaps. Phil Klass’papers at the American Philosophical Library are extensive, but contain
no Friedman file, though we corresponded for more than 20 years. I suspect he didn’t want anybody to
know that he paid me that $1000. for proving him wrong or that I had pointed out that other of his
claims were also nonsense
One debunker claimed that all the Documents in the AF Headquarters files of Record Group 341 were
TOP SECRET and that all had control numbers and I was well aware of that. I pointed out that the Finders
Aid showed that there were over 8000‘ of shelf space(About 1000 4 drawer file cabinets.), for RG 341.
Less than 10% of the documents were TS.
One must also be wary that a widely distributed SECRET Document might have to have some lies about
no crash retrieval if not everybody on the distribution list had a Top Secret Code word clearance. This
applies to a memo from General Twining to attendees at a general briefing session.
Stanton T. Friedman www.stantonfriedman.com fsphys@rogers.com
Flying Saucers
and
Science
Thanks for Listening
Citizens Hearing on Disclosure
Dr. Robert M. Wood
Dr. Wood received a B.S. in Aeronautical Engineering from University of Colorado in 1949, a PhD in Physics from Cornell
in 1953, worked for General Electric Aeronautics and Ordnance, served in the US Army at Aberdeen Proving Ground for
two years, and then completed 43 years with Douglas Aircraft and its successors until he retired to work full time on his
avocation of UFO research. A long-time Director of the Mutual UFO Network (MUFON), a Councilor for the Society for
Scientific Exploration, and member of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics since 1947, he has
garnered a reputation for integrity and scholarship in this field over the last 15 years. (Bob’s photo optional)
Documents Panel
“I got a PhD in physics so I could become a better engineer, and it turned out very well for me. I wound up working
continuously for 43 years at one company, the Douglas Aircraft Company, becoming McDonnell Douglas, now part of
Boeing. My normal career there had me involved in the thermodynamics of keeping missiles cool; managing and selling
the independent research and development projects of a couple of dozen scientists and engineers; designing radars to
discriminate between Soviet ballistic missiles and their decoys; applying advanced technology to make the Space Station
cheaper, better, and sooner; and finally helping to sell the Delta launch vehicle as the workhorse for NASA orbital
payloads. In addition, I ran one project in the late 60s to find out how UFOs work (we did not find out) and one project
on Remote Viewing, both proprietary.
My involvement with questioned documents came shortly after I had retired from McDonnell Douglas in 1993. It
was about the end of 1994 when my former colleague (Stan Friedman) from our old UFO research project called me up
and said that he had received a fax copy of an alleged War Office training manual entitled, “Extraterrestrial Entities
and Technology – Recovery and Disposal.” (Photo of cover page) Was I interested in trying to dig deeper? The answer
was yes, and I called the possessor of the 35mm film from which this copy had been made, Don Berliner. Don was also
interested in determining whether they might be genuine or fake, and he and I took the negatives to his local photo
shop, where we both monitored the process of reproduction and printing. Don was further helpful in lending me the
box in which the film was mailed. (Photo of box). It had been mailed from a drug store in La Crosse, WI on March 7,
1994.
The manual itself consists of 28 numbered pages plus the cover and one document control page i. There were six
chapters and four Appendices listed, but only the first appendix was shown. The manual was a simple summary of the
project and a detailed set of instructions of how to handle the recovery and removal of extraterrestrial craft and living
organisms (or EBEs, Extraterrestrial Biological Entities), where to ship the parts, how to do all this and how to deceive
the public with security measures. It was stamped with a security caveat of TOP SECRET / MAJIC EYES ONLY on every
page. Of particular interest is a table that specifies where to send the parts or bodies, noting “Area 51 S-4” and “Blue Lab
WP-61,” both of which have been claimed by others to involve Government UFO storage facilities. Also of
authentication interest is the page i, documenting removal and replacement pages and the initials of the Majic-12
Operations Officer involved. The two sets of initials are EWL and JRT. Neither person has been identified.
After I had a high quality copy available, I was able to make an appointment with a public relations person from
the Government Printing Office. A long-time employee of the Public Printer, Mr. McArtor was knowledgeable and
helpful. He read the entire document while I waited, stopped several times to look more carefully, and then said
something like, “Well, based on only the content of the manual, I would say it was probably a fake, but there is
something remarkable that makes me think twice about it. If you look closely, you will see that some of the “z”s are
slightly raised. This was happening with this type font in the 1950’s time, because the less-used letters, especially the
z, would get some debris on the bottom of the lead, and when they dropped down, they sometimes would not fully
seat. This is so unusual that I would say there is no doubt at all that they were printed on one of the presses in use at
that time. We had one in this building and one in the basement of the Pentagon, and they were set up to handle top
secret jobs with all of the security controls in place.” Because of the subtleties of the shape of the f and the g letters, we
identified the type font exactly, Monotype Modern, a popular one in heavy use at that time. Our conclusion: this
document was authentically printed by the Government for some reason in 1954.
The success of this evaluation caused Stan Friedman to call me again and say that he had someone writing to
him that he had received many “leaked” documents from various sources, and that he lived in Big Bear Lake, a lot closer
to me than he in eastern Canada did. Therefore, with proper introduction, my wife and I visited Tim Cooper at his home
there. He said he was willing to share these documents because he wanted to determine their authenticity. He had
become interested in the topic because his father had told him a story about his own involvement in covertly printing a
UFO retrieval report, and had told Len Stringfield about this experience. Tim Cooper shared copies of several of his
documents from several different sources that were included in an October 1998 presentation to a UFO symposium
jointly with my son and colleague Ryan. This was the first time that significant authentication reports had been
presented to the UFO community, and the word spread, resulting in a sponsor asking to further authenticate these
documents and publish them widely. The sponsor also wanted Ryan and me to make a television documentary on their
authenticity, and it was produced and shown on the Sci-Fi channel as “The Secret.” We decided that there was
interest by other researchers, and so Ryan created the website www.majesticdocuments.com for easy access to all the
documents we possessed.
Many of the documents we have were received from multiple different sources to Tim Cooper. We have
established beyond any doubt in our minds that he was not the “author” of any of these documents several ways. We
have the original envelopes used to mail the documents. More importantly, we have used some forensic linguistics
(including spelling errors, word and sentence length and syntax) to show that Cooper’s writing (of which we have a
huge sample about the history of White Sands Missile Range) is inconsistent with ANY of the questioned documents.
It is clear that if there were secret projects studying UFOs, there would be written records. In the days of carbon
copies, leaks would be expected to happen, so plans would be made to deal with them. Such plans would involve
controlling the media as much as possible, while denigrating and discouraging reality reporting, and maximizing the idea
that it’s easy to fake anything these days with computers. This is not true when you have original paper and ink, and
recognizing that many of the documents were leaked well before 2000.
Authentication of documents is a very orderly process. First, you establish provenance if possible – usually
unlikely for illegally leaked documents. There are two kinds of tests that can be performed: physical and intellectual.
The physical ones involve dating the ink, watermark or paper, identifying the typewriter make or model, matching the
type font and press, and comparing signatures, other notation, and handwriting. The intellectual tests look for
anachronisms, comparing the language use, and comparing with known, authentic documents. More recently, the use
of computerized forensic linguistics techniques permit one to make an estimate that a specific person was or was not
the author of a questioned document. Signatures can be nearly identical if created with a polygraph device that
permitted Truman to sign five letters at a time.
The identification of one aspect of a questioned documents as being anomalous often results in a skeptic
accepting none of the rest of the document, even though it might be filled with accurate information. It seems to be
accepted in the intelligence community that fake documents usually if not often, contain much valid information to help
get it accepted as genuine throughout. Each part of a questioned document should be evaluated for its specific
information and appearance and background.
In the last decade, I have presented lectures in coordination with my son Ryan, author of Majic: Eyes Only
identifying 74 UFO crash recoveries) on the authenticity of the documents and the influence of their alien presence in
our society.
So, where next for Dr. Bob Wood? For me, the leaked documents, the synthesis with the literature and papers of
the ufology community have provided extra insight into how we got to where we are. The conclusion I have come to is
incredibly wild: those “in charge” have been successful in keeping secret the greatest story of mankind while covertly
spending staggering sums to create hidden underground resources. Until we can quantify the alien threat, how can we
know whether these actions are “good” or “bad?” I am generally against evil, and in favor of good. Let us hope (maybe
with the help of aliens) that God will make the right thing happen.
Here in the Beltway, I’m told everyone has an agenda. Very few really want, ‘The truth, the whole truth and nothing
but the truth, so help me God.’ I think the American people deserve most of it – we paid for it!”
Robert M. Wood, 14 April 2013
PHOTO OF THE COVER
“Extraterrestrial Entities and Technology, Recovery and Disposal”
Top Secret
War Office logo
Majestic-12 Group
FILM IN A GREEN
PHARMACY BOX
Postage Fmeter, 2223773, Postalia, La Crosse, WI, Mar 7, 1994; Issued to Quillin’s Drugs
2
5/21/2013 Copyright 2003 by Robert M. Wood 3
HERE IS THE CONTROL
PAGE
Change pages noted
Dates noted
OK’d by JRT or EWL
5/21/2013 Copyright 2003 by Robert M.
Wood 4
THE RAISED “z”s MATCH
n From April ‘54, SOM1-01
n From November 1954 Camera Guide
PARTNER AND SON
RYAN S. WOOD
www.majesticdocuments.com
COOPER IS NOT A FAKER
One of many sources Typewriter fonts don’t match Spelling errors are different Did not seek publicity Bob and Ryan sought him out Many of the documents
traveled by mail, postmarked
HOW DO YOU
AUTHENTICATE?
Establish provenance if possible
Physical Date the ink, watermark or paper
Identify typewriter make and model
Match the type font and press
Compare signatures and other notation
Intellectual Hunt for anachronisms
Compare language use: etymology
Compare with known, authentic docs
Use forensic linguistics
TRUMAN SIGNING FIVE
AT ONCE
Roswell Panel , Wednesday, May 1, 2013, 1:45PM Stanton T. Friedman
People have often asked me why I think aliens would want to visit Earth. I have noted many reasons,
(Graduate students doing their thesis research on a primitive society, mining of dense metals as we have
the densest planet in the solar system , etc, but the most important to me is that I consider all
civilizations would be concerned about their own survival and security. That means keeping tabs on
those primitive societies in the neighborhood that show signs of being able to bother them. By July,
1947, it was clear to any aliens in the neighborhood, that we have a primitive society whose major
activity is tribal warfare and that soon (Less than 100 years)we will be able to visit aliens out there,
taking our brand of friendship (everybody else calls it hostility).The facts that demonstrate that are
nuclear weapons, powerful rockets, and radar (the beginning of advanced electronic systems). Isn’t it
amazing that the only place in the world where one could then study all three was Southeastern New
Mexico. Our first nuclear weapon was detonated at Trinity Site on the White Sands Missile Range in New
Mexico, July 16, 1945. White Sands is where we were testing captured German V-2 rockets and others.
That is where we had our best radar to track the Rockets. Sometimes they went South instead of
North..And of course as it turns out there were at least 3 flying Saucer crashes in New Mexico. In Early
July 1947 there was a crash near the small town of Corona less than 80 miles from the Roswell Army Air
Field In nearby Roswell. 100 miles west there was an unpublicized crash at about the same time in the
Plains of San Agustin as described in a soon to be published book by Arthur Campbell, and there was a
crash retrieval operation in Aztec, New Mexico, in the 4 corners area in March 1948.See” The Aztec
Incident” by Scott and Suzanne Ramsey
I was the first to hear about the Corona crash as discussed in my book ”Crash at Corona” with Don
Berliner. Simple story. I had begun lecturing about flying saucers in 1967 while working as a nuclear
physicist in industry for companies such as GE,GM, Westinghouse, etc.. In 1978 I was in Baton Rouge
Louisiana to speak at Louisiana State University. I was at a TV station to do three interviews to promote
my LSU lecture that evening. I had done 2 of the interviews ,but the third reporter was not to be found
in those pre cell phone days. The station manager knew I had other things to do and was giving me
coffee and looking at his watch. Out of the blue he said “The guy you really ought to talk to is Jesse
Marcel. He handled wreckage of one of those saucers when he was in the military”. I practically dropped
my teeth.” What do you know about him?,” I asked. “He lives in Houma”. That wasn’t much help as I
didn’t then know where it was. City in Louisiana.that I visited later to interview Jesse “ We are ham
radio buddies, you should talk to him.” Then the third reporter showed up, interviewed me, and I was
on my way for other activities.
That night there was a great crowd. Next day I was at the airport early, called information, got a number
for Jesse Marcel in Houma and called him. He told me his story. He, as I found out later, couldn’t deny
his involvement as his name was in papers across the country. Soon thereafter I heard about the Plains
of San Agustin crash after a lecture in Bemidji, Minnnesota. I shared both stories with an old colleague
from Pittsburgh, Bill Moore, who lived in Minnesota. He had a third story from the” Flying Saucer
Review” of the UK. An English actor named Hughie Green had noted that he heard about a crashed
saucer in New Mexico when driving from LA to Philadelphia. He recalled the date as early July 1947, Bill
looked at Newspapers at the University of Minnesota and found the story. We were off to the races and
over the next 18 months we found 62 people from the 509th
Bomb Group, the most elite military group
in the world having dropped nuclear weapons on Hiroshima and Nagasaki and 2 more at Operation
Cross roads in 1946. I called the Roswell Daily Record . I mentioned I had some articles noting a crash of
a saucer as reported by Walter Haut (spelled 4 different ways) I was shocked to be told that his wife
worked at the paper! I spoke with her and then Walter who was a big help for many years. I also got
lucky calling information and finding Bill Brazel son of the rancher who had reported the wreckage. I
checked with West Point and located retired General Thomas J. Dubose who shows up with 8th
Air Force
commander General Roger Ramey in widely circulated pictures taken in Ramey’s office A DVD
“Recollections of Roswell” has interviews with 27 first hand witnesses including Jesse Marcel, Walter
Haut, T.J. Dubose, Bill Brazel etc. Several of us here will be speaking at the annual Roswell Festival July 4-
7, 2013. I should stress that much of the Early Roswell research was done before the Internet. There is
an important witness here today. Colonel Jesse A. Marcel Junior, is a medical doctor who was called
back in the army at age 68 to fight in Iraq and flew over 200 combat hours as a flight surgeon in
helicopters.His father was Major Jesse Marcel Jr. And he handled Saucer Wreckage in 1947.
There are, of course, many Roswell debunkers who do their research by proclamation, not investigation.
Their motto is “Don’t bother me with the facts, my mind is made up” and “what the public doesn’t know
I won’t tell them.”As a physicist I want facts not fantasy..Note that fusion rockets will go to the stars. I
worked on fusion rockets in 1961
Stanton T. Friedman fsphys@rogers.com www.stantonfriedman.com
Roswell Panel , Wednesday, May 1, 2013, 1:45PM Stanton T. Friedman
People have often asked me why I think aliens would want to visit Earth. I have noted many reasons,
(Graduate students doing their thesis research on a primitive society, mining of dense metals as we have
the densest planet in the solar system , etc, but the most important to me is that I consider all
civilizations would be concerned about their own survival and security. That means keeping tabs on
those primitive societies in the neighborhood that show signs of being able to bother them. By July,
1947, it was clear to any aliens in the neighborhood, that we have a primitive society whose major
activity is tribal warfare and that soon (Less than 100 years)we will be able to visit aliens out there,
taking our brand of friendship (everybody else calls it hostility).The facts that demonstrate that are
nuclear weapons, powerful rockets, and radar (the beginning of advanced electronic systems). Isn’t it
amazing that the only place in the world where one could then study all three was Southeastern New
Mexico. Our first nuclear weapon was detonated at Trinity Site on the White Sands Missile Range in New
Mexico, July 16, 1945. White Sands is where we were testing captured German V-2 rockets and others.
That is where we had our best radar to track the Rockets. Sometimes they went South instead of
North..And of course as it turns out there were at least 3 flying Saucer crashes in New Mexico. In Early
July 1947 there was a crash near the small town of Corona less than 80 miles from the Roswell Army Air
Field In nearby Roswell. 100 miles west there was an unpublicized crash at about the same time in the
Plains of San Agustin as described in a soon to be published book by Arthur Campbell, and there was a
crash retrieval operation in Aztec, New Mexico, in the 4 corners area in March 1948.See” The Aztec
Incident” by Scott and Suzanne Ramsey
I was the first to hear about the Corona crash as discussed in my book ”Crash at Corona” with Don
Berliner. Simple story. I had begun lecturing about flying saucers in 1967 while working as a nuclear
physicist in industry for companies such as GE,GM, Westinghouse, etc.. In 1978 I was in Baton Rouge
Louisiana to speak at Louisiana State University. I was at a TV station to do three interviews to promote
my LSU lecture that evening. I had done 2 of the interviews ,but the third reporter was not to be found
in those pre cell phone days. The station manager knew I had other things to do and was giving me
coffee and looking at his watch. Out of the blue he said “The guy you really ought to talk to is Jesse
Marcel. He handled wreckage of one of those saucers when he was in the military”. I practically dropped
my teeth.” What do you know about him?,” I asked. “He lives in Houma”. That wasn’t much help as I
didn’t then know where it was. City in Louisiana.that I visited later to interview Jesse “ We are ham
radio buddies, you should talk to him.” Then the third reporter showed up, interviewed me, and I was
on my way for other activities.
That night there was a great crowd. Next day I was at the airport early, called information, got a number
for Jesse Marcel in Houma and called him. He told me his story. He, as I found out later, couldn’t deny
his involvement as his name was in papers across the country. Soon thereafter I heard about the Plains
of San Agustin crash after a lecture in Bemidji, Minnnesota. I shared both stories with an old colleague
from Pittsburgh, Bill Moore, who lived in Minnesota. He had a third story from the” Flying Saucer
Review” of the UK. An English actor named Hughie Green had noted that he heard about a crashed
saucer in New Mexico when driving from LA to Philadelphia. He recalled the date as early July 1947, Bill
looked at Newspapers at the University of Minnesota and found the story. We were off to the races and
over the next 18 months we found 62 people from the 509th
Bomb Group, the most elite military group
in the world having dropped nuclear weapons on Hiroshima and Nagasaki and 2 more at Operation
Cross roads in 1946. I called the Roswell Daily Record . I mentioned I had some articles noting a crash of
a saucer as reported by Walter Haut (spelled 4 different ways) I was shocked to be told that his wife
worked at the paper! I spoke with her and then Walter who was a big help for many years. I also got
lucky calling information and finding Bill Brazel son of the rancher who had reported the wreckage. I
checked with West Point and located retired General Thomas J. Dubose who shows up with 8th
Air Force
commander General Roger Ramey in widely circulated pictures taken in Ramey’s office A DVD
“Recollections of Roswell” has interviews with 27 first hand witnesses including Jesse Marcel, Walter
Haut, T.J. Dubose, Bill Brazel etc. Several of us here will be speaking at the annual Roswell Festival July 4-
7, 2013. I should stress that much of the Early Roswell research was done before the Internet. There is
an important witness here today. Colonel Jesse A. Marcel Junior, is a medical doctor who was called
back in the army at age 68 to fight in Iraq and flew over 200 combat hours as a flight surgeon in
helicopters.His father was Major Jesse Marcel Jr. And he handled Saucer Wreckage in 1947.
There are, of course, many Roswell debunkers who do their research by proclamation, not investigation.
Their motto is “Don’t bother me with the facts, my mind is made up” and “what the public doesn’t know
I won’t tell them.”As a physicist I want facts not fantasy..Note that fusion rockets will go to the stars. I
worked on fusion rockets in 1961
Stanton T. Friedman fsphys@rogers.com www.stantonfriedman.com
DENICE MARCEL WITNESS STATEMENT
First of all I want to thank the committee for taking
the time to listen to our family’s history.
My name is Denice Marcel; I am the granddaughter
of Major Jesse Marcel Sr. and the daughter of
Retired Colonel Dr. Jesse Marcel Jr.
My grandfather was the first military officer at a
UFO crash site in Roswell New Mexico. While there,
he collected some of the crash site debris.
He was so amazed by the characteristics of the
debris he decided he had to show it to my father
and grandmother.
And whatever it was they were looking at, has had a
great impact on our ENTIRE family.
When we moved to Clancy, Montana, in the early
70’s, my father built a telescope in our backyard,
now this was not one of your ordinary telescopes.
To start, he dug a hole in our backyard the size of a
small room. For months I remember my Mother and
us kids helping him polish this very large mirror.
From there he began constructing the entire
telescope, including building a rotating dome. This
was a telescope that was later loaned to Helena
Astronomy association.
This was a man who had witnessed something and
wanted to know the truth. This was a man who was
driven.
That telescope opened up a whole new world to our
family. It was around the age of 9 that I first became
aware of UFO’s not only because of the telescope,
but also because there were times my Father and us
kids would camp out all night specifically looking for
movement in the skies hoping to catch a glimpse of
a UFO.
One has to remember that we didn’t have the
internet then, and UFO’s were not discussed like
they are today. So the only way we would have
learned about them was from my father and
grandfather
I do not think that my parents would lead us to
believe at such a young age that UFO’s existed if my
father and grandfather had not witnessed
something extraordinary.
In January of 1997 I accompanied my father and
Kent Jeffries for a hypnosis session that Dr. Neil
Hibler would conduct over the course of three days.
Dr. Hibler was one of the world’s leading experts
who used hypnotic regressions for forensic
purposes. I had been very fortunate to be able to
participate because I had just been certified as a
hypnotherapist. The sessions were successful.
While under hypnosis my father said he couldn’t
believe how vividly he could see his dad. I saw the
emotion in his face and how it touched his heart
seeing his father so clearly that day. During the
session’s my father recalls being woken up by my
grandfather telling him: “to come look at pieces of a
FLYING SAUCER”... a term in which most people
including himself was not familiar with. When
asked about the materials my father’s descriptions
did not waiver from what he had been describing
throughout the years.
One of the more interesting facets of the debris
descriptions are the symbols, or hieroglyphics, that
my father had seen on an I-beam. While under
hypnosis the facts remained the same. Just like
when he was a child, He motioned grabbing the
I-beam and holding it above of his head to get a
better look at the purple reflecting symbols.
The military claimed that these symbols were
merely Christmas wrap tape, but it is very unlikely
and does not seem possible that 3 people did not
recognize simple holiday decorations on some
scotch tape.
Another interesting fact my father recalled was that
soon after the incident his father told the family
“NEVER to talk about it again” that it was a “NON-
EVENT”….why would they have to remain silent
about a weather balloon?
It has been said that since my father did not
remember anything new, and did not remember
seeing any exotic debris, electronic components or
nothing that resembled motors, which they were
specifically looking for….this material could not
have been from a UFO, the material was just too
mundane.
This argument works against itself because if it had
been some radar device there should have been
some very basic electronic components and it
would have been mundane, therefore my
grandfather would have never brought it home to
show his family. The only explanation that he
brought this home was because he was very excited
about what he had found.
My grandfather and father were both very
dedicated military men and always followed
through with their orders. They both remained
silent to the public about the incident until my
grandfather had been approached by Stanton
Friedman nearly 30 years after the event.
During interviews when my grandfather was asked
about the materials, he would say “IT WAS NOT
ANYTHING FROM THIS EARTH, THAT I AM QUITE
SURE OF!” these words would change the course of
the Marcel family forever.
The reason he was ordered to go to the site was
because he was an intelligence officer familiar with
almost all of the materials used in aircraft, and air
travel. HE was very qualified to make an
assessment of the crash site debris.
And for the record…my grandfather had nothing to
gain when he spoke to Stanton Friedman, he just
felt the way I do….the world should know the truth!
It has affected my family’s life in so many ways,
some good, some bad. But because of this I was
also given the greatest gift of all and that is to have
an open mind. I feel that sometimes agendas are
put in front of our rights of being citizens and not
everything that the government has told us is the
truth
…because when it comes to the Roswell incident…I
believe my father and grandfather!
Testimony Of Jesse Marcel III
I am here today not to speak as an expert witness to what I have
heard and researched, about Roswell but simply to help you to
get to know two great men, my grandfather, Maj. Jesse Marcel
Sr., and my father, Dr. Jesse Marcel Jr.
My grandfather was a simple man who just wanted to lead a
simple life. Starting at a very early age when he wasn’t helping
the family with the farm, He would sneak away to find parts to
build radios.
Later in life before entering the war he would use these skills to
build a Ham radio that would become a lifelong passion. He would
spend endless ours chatting with people from around the world.
Things would change rapidly as we were pulled into the second
world war. On his own accord He went from his job as a civilian
draftsman to joining the war effort where he exceled in his duties
from the very beginning.
His superiors recognized his aptitude towards problem solving
and sent him to intelligence school. Again he excelled in his
courses and was asked to teach the next incoming classes.
He would eventually end up on the Roswell Airbase working in
our nuclear bombing program with the 509th Bomb Group.
With the war over and life returning to a sense of normalcy
Grandpa would receive a simple order, an order that would
change his and most of our lives forever. The heavens would
send us a visitor that would establish the words Alien and flying
saucer in the English vernacular; and it was him they sent to
investigate our visitors...
Decades later, my father followed in grandpas footsteps as a
military man serving in the navy to train to be a medical doctor,
soon after he would settle down in Clancy Montana to raise a
family and to continue in the reserves to become a helicopter
pilot.
As the only ENT in town, I remember as a child going with my
father on his rounds, not the ones in the hospital, but the ones
where he would visit his patients in their homes. He would carry
in his little black bag and take care of his patients, in the same
caring way that he would take care of the rest of us. Back in his
office, if a child showed up in ratty shoes to his appointment, a
new pair would be waiting for that child on his next visit.
My father introduced me to many things, the telescope that he
built in the back yard where we often gazed at stars, the Science
Fiction of Kubrick, and technology before its time. I remember
very fondly watching him not only build the telescope, but his
design and construction of a computer guidance system for his
telescope, long before there was such a thing at least on an
amateur level. He spent endless hours wrapping small green
glass switches that would eventually become the “brain”.
In the summer we would all pile into a van, rv, or whatever form of
transportation that we would have available to us and head to
Houma, Louisiana where my grandparents had returned to live
out the rest their lives.
I remember so clearly driving down their shell covered road
leading up the their house
with the most notable feature being a huge green house that
easily equaled the size of their residence, that my grandfather
lovingly built for his wife Viaud. My grandmother had a green
thumb like no other. My father would send her a tomato plant that
could barely survive the short Montana summers into immense
vegetation that would reach from floor to ceiling.
Each morning my grandfather would lead me to his shop
occupying a space between the house and garage. He would
reach up into the rafters and pull down fishing poles that had been
there for decades. These poles were not made of fiberglass but of
bamboo, very simple but effective in their trade
I Recall leaning against a table saw in his work shop watching
him attach the reel with a hand that was missing a digit from some
long ago battle.. with that very same table saw.
He would add the weights and the bobber from two rusty old
tackle boxes and finish the
Session off with showing me how to delicately hook the work
without injuring myself, although this was not always the case.
We would make our way out the back door and onto his lawn that
ran up against a bayou. After a couple of casts, we could sit back
and talk and enjoy each other’s company.
My grandfather’s other great passions were sports, LSU provided
the teams that he most favored and occupied his weekend TV
viewing hours. I will always remember Grandpa as a gentle giant
who somehow lived the life of a southern gentleman who would
be at least partially responsible for changing the way people of
our world would look into the nights sky and think to themselves
maybe, just maybe, someone was looking back…
Once we were back home and settled into our normal routines,
well almost normal, we always had little reminders that our
family was not alone in all of this, usually receiving a friendly call
from the 301 area code to see if we were back home.
Today I share these same stories that I learned as a child with
my own kids, Roswell is now a topic of conversation between the
kids and their teachers in there elementary school.
This legacy will go on….
OPENING STATEMENT – ROSWELL PANEL
By Donald R Schmitt
Distinguished Congresswomen and Congressmen - Good afternoon. I
personally would like to thank you for this opportunity to speak out on
behalf of the many now passed through the portals of history, unable to
speak for themselves. Men and women who have served this country
selflessly and with honor, who were witnesses to something
extraordinary…something beyond the human condition. Most would
maintain their sworn silence for a lifetime. Others would eventually confide
to their immediate loved ones or us the truth of the matter. Moreover, to
these, who this panel represents today, who so valiantly fought for freedom
during WW2, who saved the world from Nazi domination, the fates were not
finished with such devotion to their country. Within two years of the
surrender of Germany and Japan, they would be called on again to lead us
into an unprecedented awareness that there may be another threat…another
invader. However, this time, not from any distant nation, but conceivably,
from across the vast distance of space.
Prior to the summer of 1947, visitors from other planets were strictly the
fancy of science fiction writers. For lack of outside influence, spaceships
were rockets and spacemen looked like our neighbors down the street. All of
which were portrayed in popular TV series such as Flash Gordon and Buck
Rogers during that time period. Nevertheless, the summer of 1947 would
forever change that perception. Among others, highly skilled and
professional people such as college professors, astronomers, and commercial
pilots were observing “flying discs” and military fighters were scrambled on
these reported unknown aerial objects. From all accounts, they outperformed
and outmaneuvered the best we could throw at the newly arrived
phenomenon. The very words “flying saucer” would forever become part of
our vernacular. Many assumed they were of American design, many
believed Soviet, but then something happened in the high desert of New
Mexico, which would alter the course of history.
Ironically, the first atomic bomb wing, the 509th Bomb Group, was
stationed at Roswell in 1947. This was a composite group assigned in the
final months of the war comprised of the best officers, pilots and their crews,
doctors, nurses…all under one unit…all with top security clearances…the
elite within the U.S. military. Their mission; to drop one and if necessary,
additional atomic bombs on Japan. Two years later, they would have another
mission…unlike the first; this was an assignment to retrieve something,
which “dropped” out of the sky. In addition, for those involved, who knew
the truth, the stars would beckon with even greater brightness.
On July 8, 1947, the Roswell Army Air Field announced to the world
they had captured a flying saucer on a ranch north of town. This is a matter
of historic fact. Detractors would suggest that other UFO accounts are based
on a faulty premise…that the phenomenon exists. The Roswell Incident of
1947 does not suffer any preconceived misinterpretation of the event. It
entirely rests on the premise that the U.S. Army Air Corps recovered a
crashed flying saucer. Historically, the first explanation lasted for all of five
hours as it slowly evolved from something other-worldly into a very
common, “off the shelf” weather balloon device.
Please allow me to propound a consideration for everyone here present.
Would any of us have any difficulty identifying materials such as rubber,
wooden sticks, reflective foil, masking tape and string? No need to raise
your hands. As a continuing insult to the integrity and intelligence of the
very personnel who were in charge of the atomic bomb at Roswell,
officialdom, after 65 years of ridicule and defamation of eyewitnesses,
insists that this “elite” military squadron would all raise their hands. The
balloon that was assembled and launched daily by these same personnel,
somehow morphed into wreckage that even by today’s standards, defied
conventional explanation. Dozens of witnesses have described to us paper-
thin metal-like material that could not be damaged by any standard means.
Yet, you could crumble it up; crush it into a ball, release your grip and it
would open up and flow like water over your hands. Weather balloon? ...
Not a single witness to that alternative-explanation.
Since that time, due to eyewitness pressure, along with the assistance of
one of your esteemed colleagues, the late congressman Steven Schiff of New
Mexico has caused the Pentagon to issue two additional solutions to what
was recovered back in 1947. The third being Project Mogul which was the
exact same balloon contraption with the inclusion of an acoustic device. The
fourth and most baseless of all, “time traveling” wooden crash dummies
parachuted five years later in 1952. Even Jay Leno made jest about such
fodder after the Pentagon disclosed its fourth version. Editorial writers and
newspaper cartoonists lampooned the very suggestion and indicted the
proponents as the “real dummies.”
To think, we now have four official versions to one historic event. Even
politicians can’t get away with that. However, which is the consensus of the
eyewitnesses. Which of the four would provide sufficient evidence, albeit
circumstantial, in any court of law? Former U.S. Attorney General Joseph
diGenova has stated, “Circumstantial evidence is often stronger than
eyewitness testimony, because it’s based on the facts. When you have
footprints in the snow, it proves someone was there.”
The Roswell Incident has produced hundreds of footprints, not in snow,
but rather the desert soil of New Mexico. Sworn affidavits and a growing list
of deathbed confessions all stating that the first press release about the
recovery of the flying saucer was the correct one. As attorneys, you all know
that deathbeds are admissible. If we were to dismiss the Roswell witnesses,
then we would have to deny all such end-of-life declarations. There should
be no discrimination just because we do not like their testimony.
The proponents of new theory and ideas are rightfully pressed for
answers. Yet, whether one is able to offer evidence either pro or con should
not be the issue, rather the situation, where after years of inquiry and
investigation there still remain questions. The mystery continues. That alone
should generate further doubt and speculation. To do otherwise and persist
in ignoring one of the most significant discovers of all time may be one of
the greatest mistakes in the history of humanity. To paraphrase
Shakespeare’s Hamlet, “There are more things in heaven and earth Horatio,
than are in your dreams.”
Thank you.
13-05-01_PM - Roswell - Marcell Jesse Jr - Marcel_StatementI am the son of Major Jesse Marcel. who was the intelligence officer for the 509th Composite Bomb Group based out Roswell Army Air Field in 1947. The 509th you may remember was the squadren who ended the war with theatomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. My dad's credentials are impressivein that during the course of his career in that he not only was one of the few officers selected for the 509th but he also went to radar school and was a staff member of the Air Force Intelligence school. I myself followed a career in medicineand in the military finally retiring as an army Colonel in Dec. of 2005 after a 13month deployment to Iraq as a flight surgeon. My story began in the wee hours of morning in early July 1947 when I was awakened by my dad who was returning from an assignment to collect debris ofunknown origin from a ranch out off Roswell. Apparently a rancher by the nameof Mac Brazil notified a local sheriff about the downing of some sort of aircraft onhis land who in turn then contacted Col. Blanchard who commanded the air base. Col. Blanchard sent my dad and another gentleman to the ranch to ascertain thenature of the craft and gather portions for for further study. As it turns out our housein Roswell was on the way to the base and since this had not yet been classifiedmy dad stopped by to show myself and my mother what was found. Needless tosay my dad was quite excited over the material and he said in so many words thiswas debris from a flying saucer. The material was indeed strange with a foil componentas well as small beams with a peculiar writing on one surface. There were no electroniccomponents such as batteries, vacuum tubes or wiring. My dad and I gathered thematerial up and he brought it to the base for Col Blanchards inspection. He was then ordered to fly the material in a B-29 under armed guard to Gen'l Ramey' office at the Ft. Worth Army Air field. That is where the cover up began and the rest is history.
Page 1
Testimony Of Jesse Marcel III
I am here today not to speak as an expert witness to what I
have heard and researched, about Roswell but simply to
help you to get to know two great men, my grandfather, Maj.
Jesse Marcel Sr., and my father, Dr. Jesse Marcel Jr.
My grandfather was a simple man who just wanted to lead a
simple life. Starting at a very early age when he wasn’t
helping the family with the farm, He would sneak away to
find parts to build radios.
Later in life before entering the war he would use these skills
to build a Ham radio that would become a lifelong hobby. He
would spend endless ours chatting with people from around
the world. Things would change rapidly as we were pulled
into the second world war. On his own accord He went from
his job as a civilian draftsman to joining the war effort where
he exceled in his duties from the very beginning.
His superiors recognized his aptitude towards problem
solving and sent him to intelligence school. Again he
excelled in his courses and was asked to teach the next
incoming classes.
He would eventually end up on the Roswell Airbase working
in our nuclear bombing program with the 509th Bomb Group.
With the war over and life returning to a sense of normalcy
Grandpa would receive a simple order, an order that would
change his and most of our lives forever. The heavens would
send us a visitor that would establish the words Alien and
flying saucer in the English vernacular; and it was him they
sent to investigate our visitors...
Decades later, my father followed in grandpas footsteps as a
military man serving in the navy to train to be a medical
doctor, soon after he would settle down in Clancy Montana
to raise a family and to continue in the reserves to become a
helicopter pilot.
As the only ENT in town, I remember as a child going with
my father on his rounds, not the ones in the hospital, but the
ones where he would visit his patients in their homes. He
would carry in his little black bag and take care of his
patients, in the same caring way that he would take care of
the rest of us. Back in his office, if a child showed up in ratty
shoes to his appointment, a new pair would be waiting for
that child on his next visit.
My father introduced me to many things, the telescope that
he built in the back yard where we often gazed at stars, the
Science Fiction of Kubrick, and technology before its time. I
remember very fondly watching him not only build the
telescope, but his design and construction of a computer
guidance system for his telescope, long before there was
such a thing at least on an amateur level. He spent endless
hours wrapping small green glass switches that would
eventually become the “brain”.
In the summer we would all pile into a van, rv, or whatever
form of transportation that we would have available to us and
head to Houma, Louisiana where my grandparents had
returned to live out the rest their lives.
I remember so clearly driving down their shell covered road
leading up the their house
with the most notable feature being a huge green house that
easily equaled the size of their residence, that my
grandfather lovingly built for his wife Viaud. My grandmother
had a green thumb like no other. My father would send her
a tomato plant that could barely survive the short Montana
summers into immense vegetation that would reach from
floor to ceiling.
Each morning my grandfather would lead me to his shop
occupying a space between the house and garage. He
would reach up into the rafters and pull down fishing polls
that had been there for decades. These polls were not made
of fiberglass but of bamboo, very simple but effective in their
trade
I Recall leaning against a table saw in his work shop
watching him attach the reel with a hand that was missing a
digit from some long ago battle.. with that very same table
saw.
He would add the weights and the bobber from tow rusty old
tackle boxes and finish the
Session off with showing me how to delicately hook the work
without injuring myself, although this was not always the
case.
We would make our way out the back door and onto his lawn
that ran up against a bayou. After a couple of casts, we
could sit back and talk and enjoy each other’s company.
My grandfather’s other great passions were sports, LSU
provided the teams that he most favored and occupied his
weekend TV viewing hours.
Today I share these same stories that I learned as a child
with my own kids, Roswell is now a topic of conversation
between the kids and their teachers in there elementary
school.
This legacy will go on….
1
DECLARACIÓN DE ANTHONY CHOY
Señores Congresistas muy buenos días:
Soy el Dr. Anthony Choy , abogado y periodista, fundador e investigador
principal de la Dirección de Investigación de Fenómenos Aéreos Anómalos
(DIFAA) de la Fuerza Aérea del Perú, fundada el 1ro. de noviembre del
2001.
Alrededor de las 7 de la noche del dia 13 de octubre del 2001, en los cielos
de la ciudad de Chulucanas , al norte de Perú, aparecieron ocho esferas de
luz, de intenso color rojo anaranjado y delante de decenas de testigos
permanecieron flotando cerca de dos horas y media y moviéndose
lentamente, en completo silencio, formando aparentemente figuras
geométricas que interactuaban con los testigos, hasta desaparecer.
Posteriormente, el 25 de octubre, un objeto luminoso de aproximadamente
25 metros de diámetro, apareció flotando sobre la campiña cercana a la
ciudad, acompañado de otras pequeñas esferas luminosas, una de las cuales
“aterrizó” en una ladera de una colina cercana, durando todo el evento
cerca de 26 minutos. Casi al finalizar dicho evento, los testigos
unánimemente señalaron haber escuchado un especie de mensaje, en sus
cabezas, a la manera de “saludo”. Y finalmente el 15 de noviembre una
esfera luminosa rojo anaranjada descendió lentamente sobre la misma
ciudad, y luego de breves minutos desapareció.
Todos estos eventos, debemos destacar fueron grabados en tres videos
cuyas copias en estos momentos entregamos al Comité, por Ivan Iza
Nanfaro, un camarógrafo de la localidad a quien yo le solicité una copia
para iniciar la investigación respectiva.
El caso fue denominado, ante los medios de comunicación como “El
Incidente Chulucanas”, siendo entregado los videos a la Fuerza Aérea del
Perú y siendo recibidos por el Comandante FAP Julio Chamorro Flores,
Jefe de la Oficina de investigación ovni de la FAP (DIFAA), quien me
encargó proseguir con las investigaciones.
De este modo se inició una investigación que duró tres años y medio en los
cuales viajé cerca de 28 veces a dicha zona y constaté que la presencia de
2
fenómenos aéreos anómalos en toda la región era muy antigua, se recopiló
decenas de testimonios de testigos civiles y militares; se encontró
interesantes evidencias arqueológicas de potencial presencia extraterrestre,
en ancestrales culturas arqueológicas que habitaron en dicha región como
la Cultura Vicus y su ricos ornamentos de oro y plata. Debo señalar que
muchos de los avistamientos reportados se dieron cerca o en las
inmediaciones del Cerro Pilán, el mas alto de la región, sobre la cual se
han tejido innumerables leyendas desde tiempos inmemoriales.
Dentro de la investigación se pudo constatar dicha presencia de fenómenos
aéreos anómalos a través de diversos hechos acaecidos en la zona
totalmente la mayoría de ellos totalmente desconocidos por la opinión
pública mundial, algunos de los cuales paso a continuación a relatar.
- Año 1959, durante un vuelo de entrenamiento militar de un
escuadrón de 4 aviones P 47 en las cercanías a la ciudad de
Chulucanas, el Capitán FAP Ernesto Arancibia Linares tuvo un
encuentro con un Ovni que apagó los motores de su avión, lo
mantuvo suspendido en el aire durante una hora, durante el cual
dicho oficial narró haber tenido un encuentro y comunicación con
los supuestos tripulantes, quienes de acuerdo al testimonio de dicho
oficial militar, parecían humanos de apariencia nórdica. Toda la
experiencia fue reportada por Arancibia a su Comando pero ésta
nunca dada a conocer a la opinión pública.
- Año 2002, durante un vuelo militar de entrenamiento nocturno en la
zona del Valle del Morropón, muy cerca a la ciudad de Chulucanas,
el Capitán FAP Germán Schrock Castillo con otro piloto, ante un
reporte de un vuelo comercial, y sobevolando a 12,000 pies detectó
un inexplicable círculo perfecto delineado por fuego de un diámetro
gigantesco de entre 15 a 18 kms. No se pudo hallar una explicación
a dicho fenómeno, que tampoco nunca fue revelado a la opinión
pública.
- Año 2004, un equipo de la Cadena de Televisión Univisión-Denver
Colorado, viajó a la zona para realizar un reportaje periodístico sobre
la temática ufo y el 6 de agosto hacia la 1.33 de la madrugada, pudo
grabar en video un extraño objeto que sobevoló el Cerro Pilán cerca
3
de 50 minutos, causando extraños disturbios en el funcionamiento
del equipo de filmación.
El 19 de noviembre del 2002 se realizó una reunión en el Cuartel General
de la Fuerza Aérea del Perú entre miembros del Alto Mando y miembros de
las Direcciones de Inteligencia y de Información , jefaturados por el Sub
Jefe de Estado Mayor, Mayor General FAP César Cortés Mansilla con el
equipo en pleno de la DIFAA, en el cual se presentó un extenso informe
de mi Investigación Preliminar presentado con la denominación FAA
001/DINAE/OIFAA, para discutir acerca del “Incidente Chulucanas” y su
futuro enfoque frente a los medios de comunicación.
A finales de febrero del 2003 y por una iniciativa personal, “El Incidente
Chulucanas” fue divulgado en compañía del Coronel FAP José Raffo
Moloche, Jefe de la Dirección de Intereses Aeroespaciales en
representación de la Fuerza Aérea Peruana, en diferentes medios de
comunicación peruanos e internacionales, en los cuales se reconoce como
la primera investigación oficial de un caso ovni ocurrido en el Perú.
CONCLUSIONES:
Las Conclusiones a las que podemos arribar son las siguientes:
1.- La Fuerza Aérea Peruana tuvo la importante y valiente iniciativa de
abrir una oficina de investigación del fenómeno Ovni en el Perú, ante la
creciente presencia ufo sobre el espacio aéreo peruano, presencia que al
parecer ha sido una constante durante los mas de 5,000 años de refinada
civilización andina. El Perú como se sabe, está considerado en uno de las 5
lugares donde se originó la civilización humana, junto con Egipto, China ,
La India, la antigua Mesopotamia y la zona Maya y el único en el
hemisferio sur. Lamentablement desde esa fecha, hasta ahora, la DIFAA
ha mostrado una inexplicable inactividad y silencio.
2.- El Incidente Chulucanas se convirtió en la primera investigación oficial
sobre un caso ovni en ser divulgada a través de los medios de
comunicación.
3.- Existen evidencias innegables a través del testimonio de testigos de
reconocida credibilidad, de que personal militar, en especial de la Fuerza
Aérea Peruana, han tenido encuentros con naves aéreas no identificadas e
4
incluso con sus tripulantes, que éstas han demostrado una tecnología
totalmente desconocida y superior y que invariablemente se ha ejecutado
una política reiterada de ocultamiento y/o desconocimiento de los hechos.
Ejemplo el Caso Arancibia en 1969 y el Caso La Joya en 1980. Sin
embargo debo reconocer que en los últimos años, dicha postura ha
empezado a cambiar positiva, aunque aún muy lentamente. Esta apertura
creemos se ha debido, entre otros factores a una mayor presencia ovni en
los cielos peruanos, en las últimos años. En la actualidad, si bien es cierto
que subsiste la Oficina de investigación ovni en el organigrama interno, en
la práctica dicha entidad está prácticamente inactiva.
4.- La Investigación del Incidente Chulucanas concluyó que las extrañas y
silenciosas esferas de luz que se movían de manera inteligente y que
conmovieron a la población durante los meses de octubre y noviembre del
2001, tenían una naturaleza totalmente física, ya que podían ser
fotografiadas y grabadas en video pero que aun en nuestros días, no tienen
una explicación convencional, llámese aeronáutica, aeroespacial,
meteorológica, geofísica y similares, además que tampoco fueron
detectadas por la Base Aérea Militar mas cercana.
5.- Sin embargo debemos subrayar que en la misma región, se ha recogido
testimonios civiles y militares ocurridos en diversos años que describen la
relación de dicho eventos aéreos anómalos con la presencia de lo que
podemos denominar “inteligencias autoconcientes no humanas” dueñas
de una tecnología desconocida y en muchos casos superior a la de la actual
civilización humana.
6.- Las Investigaciones realizadas en el Perú demuestran que en nuestro
país la actividad ovni ha sido intensa desde tiempos inmemoriales,
manifestada a través de los denominados encuentros cercanos de todos los
tipos de acuerdo a la Clasificación Hynek. Estos eventos se han suscitado
cerca a restos arqueológicos, zonas de intensa actividad volcánica y
sísmica, cerca a Centrales Eléctricas o Termoeléctricas y con además la
cercanía al Ecuador Magnético, por lo que estos hechos nos deben hacer
profundizar en la relación entre el fenómeno Ufo y las fuentes de energía
electromagnética.
5
7.- Luego de más de seis décadas de investigación ovni, debemos reconocer
que en muchos de los eventos suscitados, tanto la aplicación de los métodos
tradicionales de investigación científica como la tecnología de última
generación en no pocos casos, han sido rebasados por la complejidad del
fenómeno. Por lo que el replanteamiento de la investigación ufológica se ha
convertido en todo un desafío epistemológico, que nos confronta con una
realidad en la cual conceptos como la Física Cuántica, la Sicología
Transpersonal, las pesquisas paranormales y el papel de la Conciencia
Humana y la forma cómo aprehendemos la realidad potencialmente
multidimensional, se convierten en claves en la búsqueda de desentrañar el
que consideramos el enigma mas importante de todos los tiempos.
7.- Sres. Congresistas de los Estados Unidos, mi presencia aquí se explica
porque deseo confrontar las experiencias norteamericanas y de otras
regiones del mundo con las que se suscitan en Sudamerica y en concreto en
mi pais Perú, porque eso es revelador y ratifica que estamos ante un
desafio global que exige una respuesta global: la presencia extraterrestre no
está en un solo país sino que se presenta en todo el Mundo. Y mi mensaje
es: ¿Por qué debemos pensar que es un potencial peligro para todos, cuando
podríamos convertir dicha presencia en un regalo para toda la Humanidad?.
Señores, estamos ante el mayor de los misterios y si todas las evidencias
presentadas en esta Audiencias Históricas nos indican , sin lugar a ninguna
duda, que la interacción con civilizaciones o inteligencias No Humanas es
desde siempre, debemos reconocer que si bien desconocemos realmente el
alcance de esa influencia en nuestras sociedades y las consecuencias que de
eso deriven, estoy seguro que estamos inmersos en un proceso de
preparación de larga duración, para el contacto.
Que hoy el Ser Humano está mejor preparado que hace sesenta años para
entender ciertas verdades, es una realidad. Y que los Gobiernos, en un afán
proteccionista o interesado, nos quieren permanenteme ocultar. Que los
Gobiernos divulguen lo que saben. Que la Comunidad Científica se acerque
con humildad a esta enriquecedora fuente de conocimientos que surgen de
las experiencias Ufo. Que los medios de comunicación abandonen ese
espíritu irónico y de conmiseración con el cual abordan al Fenómeno Ovni
y sus investigadores. Porque la Vida nunca fue prerrogativa de este rincón
del Universo. Porque la única forma de ser libres es volar en las alas de la
Verdad y el Conocimiento. Y por que es tiempo que la Humanidad
6
abandone su soledad cósmica de siglos. Porque no estamos solos. Ni nunca
lo estuvimos. Por eso les pido a todos los que me escuchan en cualquier
rincón del planeta, es que si fuimos polvo cósmico, nuestras Vidas no son
sino el viaje de retorno al Hogar. A ese Hogar que compartimos con
muchas civilizaciones. Y eso solo se podrá cumplir con La Paz y La
Verdad. Mientras tanto un ultimo consejo: Vigilen los cielos…vigilen los
cielos. Señores Congresistas. Muchas Gracias.
------------------------------
More than Fifty Years of Military/ Civilian Ufological Projects
First official phenomena recognition* May 1962
Espora Naval Base,Bahia Blanca
Fighter squadron detect Ufos along its flight path.
Sightings and radar detection lasted half hour.
The Antarctic Sightings (1965-67)
Second Official Acnowledgment by Naval Stations
Isla Decepcion Naval Station - Argentinian Antarctic
The Olavarria Case (July 1968)
Captain Niotti Case - Air Force Investigation -
Digital analysis (late seventies) GSW
La Florida’s Dam-San Luis Province -- Feb 4, 1978- CE III
Caso La Florida -- Artist rendition --
Base Naval Comandante Espora / 1973-November
Witness ufo around the base * 3 th official recognition
Base Naval Belgrano - Bahia Blanca
Ramblon Case (San Juan/Mendoza provinces) July
1978-5 th Police Official Report-EC II
Trancas Case-
7 th Official Recognition-January 1986
El Pajarillo Case – Cordoba Province ECII (Crash)
Osnis-USOs –North Patagonia (1960-
1968) Golf San Jose/Golf San Jorge
Golf Nuevo-Feb 1960- Argentinian-US Navy ops-(reconst)
Osnis-Usos --Golf San Jorge –July 1964
Gendarmeria Nacional Ufo Documents
Gendarmeria- (Border Mountain Rangers) cases
Gendarmeria-Documentos oficiales
Gendarmeria Nacional Documents
Navy Cases studied by Eduardo Azcuy (1960’s)
Argentinian Air Force
Argentinian Groups-CIU-CEFORA
Platos Voladores –Playing Cards
Newspapers Clips-Antarctica Cases *1965
Press Coverage on Antartica Peninsula
Caso Fattorell-Rio Negro ECII
Fuerza Aerea Argentina- FAA
Caso La Florida - Witness sketches
Ghost Submarines
Crash studied by military forces
Tarija crash-Bolivian-argentinian border (1978)
Usos/Osnis on Peninsula Valdes-
Chasing the ghost/uso subs
Parallel Sightings between Civilian Airline (Argentine
Airline & Gendarmeria Nacional Airplane-N.Patagonia
Argentinian Air Force One -Dic 20,2012* Rio Gallegos- Santa Cruz Province.
Argentinian Air Force One Ufo
Incident (2012)
Caso Arevalo- Patagonia Sur
Argentinian Air Force One -2012 EC1
Cattle Mutilations/Mutilaciones
Interception by Combat Planes
Ufos/Ovnis Peninsula Valdes
1
DECLARACIÓN DE ANTHONY CHOY
Señores Congresistas muy buenos días:
Soy el Dr. Anthony Choy , abogado y periodista, fundador e investigador
principal de la Dirección de Investigación de Fenómenos Aéreos Anómalos
(DIFAA) de la Fuerza Aérea del Perú, fundada el 1ro. de noviembre del
2001.
Alrededor de las 7 de la noche del dia 13 de octubre del 2001, en los cielos
de la ciudad de Chulucanas , al norte de Perú, aparecieron ocho esferas de
luz, de intenso color rojo anaranjado y delante de decenas de testigos
permanecieron flotando cerca de dos horas y media y moviéndose
lentamente, en completo silencio, formando aparentemente figuras
geométricas que interactuaban con los testigos, hasta desaparecer.
Posteriormente, el 25 de octubre, un objeto luminoso de aproximadamente
25 metros de diámetro, apareció flotando sobre la campiña cercana a la
ciudad, acompañado de otras pequeñas esferas luminosas, una de las cuales
“aterrizó” en una ladera de una colina cercana, durando todo el evento
cerca de 26 minutos. Casi al finalizar dicho evento, los testigos
unánimemente señalaron haber escuchado un especie de mensaje, en sus
cabezas, a la manera de “saludo”. Y finalmente el 15 de noviembre una
esfera luminosa rojo anaranjada descendió lentamente sobre la misma
ciudad, y luego de breves minutos desapareció.
Todos estos eventos, debemos destacar fueron grabados en tres videos
cuyas copias en estos momentos entregamos al Comité, por Ivan Iza
Nanfaro, un camarógrafo de la localidad a quien yo le solicité una copia
para iniciar la investigación respectiva.
El caso fue denominado, ante los medios de comunicación como “El
Incidente Chulucanas”, siendo entregado los videos a la Fuerza Aérea del
Perú y siendo recibidos por el Comandante FAP Julio Chamorro Flores,
Jefe de la Oficina de investigación ovni de la FAP (DIFAA), quien me
encargó proseguir con las investigaciones.
De este modo se inició una investigación que duró tres años y medio en los
cuales viajé cerca de 28 veces a dicha zona y constaté que la presencia de
2
fenómenos aéreos anómalos en toda la región era muy antigua, se recopiló
decenas de testimonios de testigos civiles y militares; se encontró
interesantes evidencias arqueológicas de potencial presencia extraterrestre,
en ancestrales culturas arqueológicas que habitaron en dicha región como
la Cultura Vicus y su ricos ornamentos de oro y plata. Debo señalar que
muchos de los avistamientos reportados se dieron cerca o en las
inmediaciones del Cerro Pilán, el mas alto de la región, sobre la cual se
han tejido innumerables leyendas desde tiempos inmemoriales.
Dentro de la investigación se pudo constatar dicha presencia de fenómenos
aéreos anómalos a través de diversos hechos acaecidos en la zona
totalmente la mayoría de ellos totalmente desconocidos por la opinión
pública mundial, algunos de los cuales paso a continuación a relatar.
- Año 1959, durante un vuelo de entrenamiento militar de un
escuadrón de 4 aviones P 47 en las cercanías a la ciudad de
Chulucanas, el Capitán FAP Ernesto Arancibia Linares tuvo un
encuentro con un Ovni que apagó los motores de su avión, lo
mantuvo suspendido en el aire durante una hora, durante el cual
dicho oficial narró haber tenido un encuentro y comunicación con
los supuestos tripulantes, quienes de acuerdo al testimonio de dicho
oficial militar, parecían humanos de apariencia nórdica. Toda la
experiencia fue reportada por Arancibia a su Comando pero ésta
nunca dada a conocer a la opinión pública.
- Año 2002, durante un vuelo militar de entrenamiento nocturno en la
zona del Valle del Morropón, muy cerca a la ciudad de Chulucanas,
el Capitán FAP Germán Schrock Castillo con otro piloto, ante un
reporte de un vuelo comercial, y sobevolando a 12,000 pies detectó
un inexplicable círculo perfecto delineado por fuego de un diámetro
gigantesco de entre 15 a 18 kms. No se pudo hallar una explicación
a dicho fenómeno, que tampoco nunca fue revelado a la opinión
pública.
- Año 2004, un equipo de la Cadena de Televisión Univisión-Denver
Colorado, viajó a la zona para realizar un reportaje periodístico sobre
la temática ufo y el 6 de agosto hacia la 1.33 de la madrugada, pudo
grabar en video un extraño objeto que sobevoló el Cerro Pilán cerca
3
de 50 minutos, causando extraños disturbios en el funcionamiento
del equipo de filmación.
El 19 de noviembre del 2002 se realizó una reunión en el Cuartel General
de la Fuerza Aérea del Perú entre miembros del Alto Mando y miembros de
las Direcciones de Inteligencia y de Información , jefaturados por el Sub
Jefe de Estado Mayor, Mayor General FAP César Cortés Mansilla con el
equipo en pleno de la DIFAA, en el cual se presentó un extenso informe
de mi Investigación Preliminar presentado con la denominación FAA
001/DINAE/OIFAA, para discutir acerca del “Incidente Chulucanas” y su
futuro enfoque frente a los medios de comunicación.
A finales de febrero del 2003 y por una iniciativa personal, “El Incidente
Chulucanas” fue divulgado en compañía del Coronel FAP José Raffo
Moloche, Jefe de la Dirección de Intereses Aeroespaciales en
representación de la Fuerza Aérea Peruana, en diferentes medios de
comunicación peruanos e internacionales, en los cuales se reconoce como
la primera investigación oficial de un caso ovni ocurrido en el Perú.
CONCLUSIONES:
Las Conclusiones a las que podemos arribar son las siguientes:
1.- La Fuerza Aérea Peruana tuvo la importante y valiente iniciativa de
abrir una oficina de investigación del fenómeno Ovni en el Perú, ante la
creciente presencia ufo sobre el espacio aéreo peruano, presencia que al
parecer ha sido una constante durante los mas de 5,000 años de refinada
civilización andina. El Perú como se sabe, está considerado en uno de las 5
lugares donde se originó la civilización humana, junto con Egipto, China ,
La India, la antigua Mesopotamia y la zona Maya y el único en el
hemisferio sur. Lamentablement desde esa fecha, hasta ahora, la DIFAA
ha mostrado una inexplicable inactividad y silencio.
2.- El Incidente Chulucanas se convirtió en la primera investigación oficial
sobre un caso ovni en ser divulgada a través de los medios de
comunicación.
3.- Existen evidencias innegables a través del testimonio de testigos de
reconocida credibilidad, de que personal militar, en especial de la Fuerza
Aérea Peruana, han tenido encuentros con naves aéreas no identificadas e
4
incluso con sus tripulantes, que éstas han demostrado una tecnología
totalmente desconocida y superior y que invariablemente se ha ejecutado
una política reiterada de ocultamiento y/o desconocimiento de los hechos.
Ejemplo el Caso Arancibia en 1969 y el Caso La Joya en 1980. Sin
embargo debo reconocer que en los últimos años, dicha postura ha
empezado a cambiar positiva, aunque aún muy lentamente. Esta apertura
creemos se ha debido, entre otros factores a una mayor presencia ovni en
los cielos peruanos, en las últimos años. En la actualidad, si bien es cierto
que subsiste la Oficina de investigación ovni en el organigrama interno, en
la práctica dicha entidad está prácticamente inactiva.
4.- La Investigación del Incidente Chulucanas concluyó que las extrañas y
silenciosas esferas de luz que se movían de manera inteligente y que
conmovieron a la población durante los meses de octubre y noviembre del
2001, tenían una naturaleza totalmente física, ya que podían ser
fotografiadas y grabadas en video pero que aun en nuestros días, no tienen
una explicación convencional, llámese aeronáutica, aeroespacial,
meteorológica, geofísica y similares, además que tampoco fueron
detectadas por la Base Aérea Militar mas cercana.
5.- Sin embargo debemos subrayar que en la misma región, se ha recogido
testimonios civiles y militares ocurridos en diversos años que describen la
relación de dicho eventos aéreos anómalos con la presencia de lo que
podemos denominar “inteligencias autoconcientes no humanas” dueñas
de una tecnología desconocida y en muchos casos superior a la de la actual
civilización humana.
6.- Las Investigaciones realizadas en el Perú demuestran que en nuestro
país la actividad ovni ha sido intensa desde tiempos inmemoriales,
manifestada a través de los denominados encuentros cercanos de todos los
tipos de acuerdo a la Clasificación Hynek. Estos eventos se han suscitado
cerca a restos arqueológicos, zonas de intensa actividad volcánica y
sísmica, cerca a Centrales Eléctricas o Termoeléctricas y con además la
cercanía al Ecuador Magnético, por lo que estos hechos nos deben hacer
profundizar en la relación entre el fenómeno Ufo y las fuentes de energía
electromagnética.
5
7.- Luego de más de seis décadas de investigación ovni, debemos reconocer
que en muchos de los eventos suscitados, tanto la aplicación de los métodos
tradicionales de investigación científica como la tecnología de última
generación en no pocos casos, han sido rebasados por la complejidad del
fenómeno. Por lo que el replanteamiento de la investigación ufológica se ha
convertido en todo un desafío epistemológico, que nos confronta con una
realidad en la cual conceptos como la Física Cuántica, la Sicología
Transpersonal, las pesquisas paranormales y el papel de la Conciencia
Humana y la forma cómo aprehendemos la realidad potencialmente
multidimensional, se convierten en claves en la búsqueda de desentrañar el
que consideramos el enigma mas importante de todos los tiempos.
7.- Sres. Congresistas de los Estados Unidos, mi presencia aquí se explica
porque deseo confrontar las experiencias norteamericanas y de otras
regiones del mundo con las que se suscitan en Sudamerica y en concreto en
mi pais Perú, porque eso es revelador y ratifica que estamos ante un
desafio global que exige una respuesta global: la presencia extraterrestre no
está en un solo país sino que se presenta en todo el Mundo. Y mi mensaje
es: ¿Por qué debemos pensar que es un potencial peligro para todos, cuando
podríamos convertir dicha presencia en un regalo para toda la Humanidad?.
Señores, estamos ante el mayor de los misterios y si todas las evidencias
presentadas en esta Audiencias Históricas nos indican , sin lugar a ninguna
duda, que la interacción con civilizaciones o inteligencias No Humanas es
desde siempre, debemos reconocer que si bien desconocemos realmente el
alcance de esa influencia en nuestras sociedades y las consecuencias que de
eso deriven, estoy seguro que estamos inmersos en un proceso de
preparación de larga duración, para el contacto.
Que hoy el Ser Humano está mejor preparado que hace sesenta años para
entender ciertas verdades, es una realidad. Y que los Gobiernos, en un afán
proteccionista o interesado, nos quieren permanenteme ocultar. Que los
Gobiernos divulguen lo que saben. Que la Comunidad Científica se acerque
con humildad a esta enriquecedora fuente de conocimientos que surgen de
las experiencias Ufo. Que los medios de comunicación abandonen ese
espíritu irónico y de conmiseración con el cual abordan al Fenómeno Ovni
y sus investigadores. Porque la Vida nunca fue prerrogativa de este rincón
del Universo. Porque la única forma de ser libres es volar en las alas de la
Verdad y el Conocimiento. Y por que es tiempo que la Humanidad
6
abandone su soledad cósmica de siglos. Porque no estamos solos. Ni nunca
lo estuvimos. Por eso les pido a todos los que me escuchan en cualquier
rincón del planeta, es que si fuimos polvo cósmico, nuestras Vidas no son
sino el viaje de retorno al Hogar. A ese Hogar que compartimos con
muchas civilizaciones. Y eso solo se podrá cumplir con La Paz y La
Verdad. Mientras tanto un ultimo consejo: Vigilen los cielos…vigilen los
cielos. Señores Congresistas. Muchas Gracias.
------------------------------
1
Brasília, December 9 2012
Minister Celso Amorim
Ministry of Defense
Brasília (DF)
FOZ DO IGUAÇU LETTER
Excellency.
The participants of the IV World UFO Forum (I UFOZ 2012), that occurred in Foz do Iguaçu from 6
thru 9 of December, under signers of this letter as representatives of the Brazilian UFO Community and
some 15 other countries, respectfully present the following facts as premises to your excellency, and last-
ly, demand for action, as follows:
1. Considering the unquestionable reality of the worldwide manifestations of the so-called flying
saucers, UFOs, which are widely known by various scientific and military segments, for at least
60 years, as advanced extraterrestrial crafts of physical and intelligent nature, and manifested
by means of highly advanced technology.
2. Considering that such manifestations, commonly known as UFO Phenomenon, are being sur-
veyed and studied by military authorities under several circumstances, including some Brazilian
Air Force (FAB) officials, via the Unidentified Aerial Objects Investigation System (Sistema de
Investigação de Objetos Aéreos Não Identificados – SIOANI), in 1969, and by the Operation
Plate, in 1977, both publicly known through the partial disclosure of documents related to their
workings and achieved results.
3. Considering the system and instrument records of these manifestations as already publicly
recognized by several nations around the globe, and the same has occurred in Brazil, in August
10th, 2010, with the publication at the Nation official journal (Diário Oficial da União) of the
Resolution 551/GC3, sent forth and signed by the Aeronautic commander, Brigadier Juniti Sai-
to(tenente-brigadeiro-do-ar), making known the fact that the Brazilian Air Force (FAB) does ac-
commodate, processes and has procedures for UFO sightings and accounts.
4. Considering the numerous occurrences of such phenomenon, when recorded and organized in
systematic manner by the Air Forces of several nations, including Brazil, had risen considerable
attention to their characteristics in several military rankings and attested that the crafts in-
volved possesses an incompatible technology to what is currently known by science and
though only conceited within such reserved ranks, need further consideration and investiga-
tion.
2
5. Considering that, due to their nature, though fully described and known by such military com-
mands, and due to their constant growing manifestation throughout the planet, the UFO Phe-
nomenon has led many nations to dispense their active military resources, through official in-
stitutions and investigation offices, cataloguing and studying their peculiar characteristics, and
through such process came to being, inclusively, procedures of cooperation between military
forces in these various countries, and in some cases with researchers and civil entities to inves-
tigate and research the subject aiming at properly disclosing their findings to the citizens.
6. Considering that, in Brazil, the Air force has already produced significant quantities of infor-
mation and documentation regarding sightings, recordings, radar detection, direct contact and
even aerial pursuits of such vehicles, and in their majority such data has been classified in vari-
ous legal security categories, some remaining as such to this day by unjustifiable means, since
they do not pose any national security or civil threats, as determined by the adjunct article
XXXIII of the 5th Constitutional Amendment.
7. Finally Considering, that regardless of the dedicated efforts of researchers of the theme, such
as the campaign UFOs Freedom of Information Now, from the Brazilian UFO Researchers
Commission (CBU), in order to, through the legal parameters allowed, effectively proceed with
the declassification of military information about the subject in its totality and promoting the
full disclosure of such material for public and scientific access, only the Brazilian Air force (FAB)
has opened part of its files about the matter to the national archives, while the Navy and Army
are delaying in releasing their files in any possible way, against the mandate law number
12.527/2011 (Access of Information Law)
Such Brazilian UFO Community, under the umbrella of the Brazilian UFO Researchers Commis-
sion (CBU) and the Brazilian UFO Magazine, which for over three decades promotes the research and
disclosure of the UFO Phenomenon, respectfully solicits to your Excellency to proceed accordingly to
the following, making it through public manifestation as this OFFICIAL MINISTRY POSITION:
1. Declassification in totality and without restriction of all information and documents previously
generated through the Ministry of Defense, including all military forces, that may have had any
relation with studying the aforementioned UFO Phenomenon, specifically those that have been
insistently requested by ufologists, by means of the Law 12.527/2011, and especially those be-
longing to the Navy and Army, though they yet refuse to respond to several requests previous-
ly submitted.
2. Determine if, henceforth, any information or manifestation of UFO nature within National Ter-
ritory, should be recognized as highly valued both scientifically and culturally, and will no long-
er be classified within any of the three legal security categories currently enforced.
3. Disclose to the public all the information relating to the theme in question, both in the past
and any that may still be generated by this Ministry, determining the immediate surrender of
any material to the National Archives, and not only copies of such, procedure that is being
adopted exclusively by the Air Force (FAB), though only partially.
4. Create a mixed and multi-disciplinary commission, with the participation of all three military
forces (Aeronautics, Army and Navy) and members of the Brazilian UFO Community, such that,
with the aid of military logistic and civilian ufologists, proceeding in the research of the mani-
3
festation of the UFO Phenomenon, with subsequent disclosure to society, through regular
means of information that may be suited to the subject.
Sincerely undersigning,
National Speakers in alphabetical order:
A. J. Gevaerd (PR)
Fernando A. Ramalho (DF)
Gener Silva (SP)
Inajar Antonio Kurowski (PR)
Marco Antonio Petit (RJ)
Marco Aurélio Seixas (SP)
Mônica de Medeiros (SP)
Rafael Amorim (RS)
Ricardo Varela Correa (SP)
Thiago L. Ticchetti (DF)
Wallacy Albino (SP)
International Speakers in alphabetical order:
Andrea Simondini (Argentina)
Antonio Huneeus (EUA)
Cel. Ariel Sanchéz (Uruguay)
Gary Heseltine (Inglaterra)
Jaime Maussán (México)
Jaime Rodriguez (Ecuador)
Coronel Julio Chamorro (Peru)
Roberto Pinotti (Itália)
Rodrigo Fuenzalida (Chile)
Ronald Maidana (Paraguai)
Stephen Bassett (EUA)
Yohanan Díaz Vargas (México)
Expositors in alphabetical order:
Ataide Ferreira Neto (MT)
Carlos Odone (RS)
Daniela Elisa F. Gevaerd (MS)
Eduardo Grosso (Argentina)
Ernani Pimentel (DF)
Francisco Pires de Campos (SP)
Gábor Tarcali (Hungary)
Gilda Moura (RJ)
Guillermo Aldunatti (Argentina)
Liliana F. Grosso (Argentina)
Luis Reinoso (Argentina)
Marcos Malvezzi (SP)
Margarete Áquila (SP)
General Paulo Yog Uchôa (DF)
Silvia Simondini (Argentina)
Wilson Picler (PR)
Ministry of Defense and Ufologists establish unique
communication channel in the world
Historic meeting in Brasília on April 18 initiates mutual cooperation between
military commands and civilian UFO investigators
“Members of the Brazilian Committee of UFO Researchers (CBU) and members of the Brazilian Armed Forc-
es met this Thursday afternoon in Brasília under the Ministry of Defense’s intermediation to discuss access
to military documents and reports of Unidentified Flying Objects (UFOs).”
Those were the introductory words used on the official note published on the website of the Brazilian Min-
istry of Defense (MoD), describing the historic meeting just held in Brasília, the Federal Capital, on April 18,
a date to be remembered in the years to come. The meeting was the first step towards the oncoming future
cooperation between the Brazilian military and UFO researchers to provide the society with some concrete
about the fascinating UFO Phenomena.
The meeting was as a direct response to the Iguassu Falls Letter by the Ministry of Defense, issued by the
Brazilian Committee of UFO Researchers (CBU) and staff members of the UFO Brazilian Magazine during the
4th World UFO Forum, held in Iguassu Falls last December. Signed by over 30 speakers from a dozen coun-
tries and nearly 600 people from the audience, the Letter has turned out to be the element that has engen-
dered the meeting.
An official bureau for UFO research
“Brazil is one of the leading countries in the world in number of incidents involving UFO sightings and en-
counters with extraterrestrials. It is highly contradictory that neighboring nations already have official
committees for UFO reports analysis and investigation, while Brazilian UFO researchers still relies on prom-
ises from the Government that never seemed to be kept,” said A. J. Gevaerd, Brazilian UFO Magazine’s edi-
tor, while advocating, during the meeting, the establishment of a bureau with the specific purpose of inves-
tigating UFOs. It should be composed of both civilian and military.
During the 75-minute meeting at the Ministry of Defense, the Brazilian Committee of UFO Researchers
(CBU) was amazed to realize that that some of participating military had no knowledge whatsoever of some
important and classical UFO cases registered in Brazil, such as the Operation Saucer and the famous Vargin-
ha Incident, which were then accordingly described by the members of the CBU.
Also during the meeting, the UFO researchers made it clear to the Secretary of the Ministry of Defense’s
Institutional Coordination and Organization, the assembly’s mediator, Ari Matos Cardoso, as well as to all
the military members of the Brazilian Army, Navy and Air Force also present at the meeting, that a coopera-
tion scenario between both parties is desired and necessary, in which total access to governmental UFO
files would be granted to civilians investigators for analysis and subsequent divulgation.
It is a commonly known fact throughout Brazilian UFO Community that the Brazilian Committee of UFO Re-
searchers (CBU) has always – and particularly through its campaign “UFOs: Freedom of Information Now”,
since 2004 – claimed that a serious and systematic study of the UFO Phenomenon is in order, and relying on
governmental support given by the Armed Forces it may result in invaluable scientific knowledge to be ac-
cessible to the Brazilian and worldwide societies.
Many unanswered questions
During the Ministry of Defense meeting, the UFO researchers reported their difficulties to access docu-
ments classified as either secret or ultra-secret. “Many questions remain unsolved about famous incidents
such as Varginha, the Operation Saucer, aerial and naval vessel pursues, the Trindade Island incident and
what is largely known as Brazilian Official UFO Night,” pointed out A. J. Gevaerd, Brazilian UFO Magazine’s
editor. “The complete declassification of the documents of those cases would enable us to have a broader
view of the facts.”
In reply to Gevaerd, Secretary Ari Cardoso declared that those yet classified cases are exceptions in the
Ministry of Defense system, saying that “MoD's general rule is to make all UFO documents accessible to the
researchers, even those documents still kept in secrecy by the Armed Forces”. He added that “some cases
still have to go through the legal deadlines, but that is an issue that will soon be resolved. It is a matter of
time until the CBU has access to what it is requesting.”
In addition, the Secretary assured to the UFO researchers that the Ministry of Defense has great respect for
the subject: “I want you gentlemen to know that we take these matters very seriously, and we have deep
respect for your work. We will do everything we can to establish a clear and effective communication chan-
nel between MoD and CBU, and also help you to reach your goals,” he said, accompanied by Mr. Adriano
Portella, Director of the MoD’s Organization and Legislation Department.
The CBU staff members who attended the meeting were the UFO researchers and Brazilian UFO Magazine
specialists Gener Silva (lawyer), Thiago Ticchetti (administrator), Fernando Ramalho (public servant), Marco
Petit (writer), Francisco Pires de Campos (businessman) and the editor Gevaerd (journalist), presiding over
the meeting on the UFO researchers side. Professor Wilson Picler and engineer Ricardo Varela had been
scheduled to be in Brasília as well, but unfortunately were unable to go.
Requests through the Access to Information Act
The serious way that the Ministry of Defense has approached the subject is not a chance circumstance. Ac-
cording to Air Force Colonel Alexandre Spengler, who is in charge of the MoD’s Service of Information to
the Citizen, most of the requests received by his bureau through the recent established Access of Infor-
mation Act (LAI) involve UFO incidents, a fact that has encouraged the militaries and the public agents to
organize the meeting with the UFO researchers.
As Spengler said, “all requests made by society and later turned down were due to the fact that the infor-
mation requested either did not exist in our files or contains national security issues. Apart from that, all the
requests have been answered.” The predominant incidence of requests involving UFO cases through the
use of the LAI was also emphasized by Secretary Ari Cardoso.
According to information from Brazilian New Agency, the requests for information on flying saucers to the
Ministry of Defense based on that Act have actually broken all records and were higher than any other top-
ic. The numbers are revealing: among all types of requests, the majority is about UFO related data, with 107
occurrences. In second place come 27 occurrences about military matters.
Ufology as serious business
The CBU members present at the historic meeting at the Ministry of Defense meeting, thereby representing
the whole Brazilian UFO Community, discussed with MoD officials and the military several important details
and particularities about the UFO Phenomena, thus extending the conversation beyond the need to dis-
close information which is still being kept secret about the topic.
One of the topics discussed in the meeting was about the frequent request made by the UFO researchers,
who would like to see established an official committee or bureau for UFO research, composed both my
civilian and military members. This is one of the items on the Iguassu Falls Letter, one of its most important
ones, according to the text that can be accessed in the links below. “The Brazilian Committee of UFO Re-
searchers (CBU) has repeatedly asked the Government the creation of such entity during its campaign
‘UFOs: Freedom of Information Now’, since 2004.”
The Letter posed again such request to the Ministry of Defense in these terms: “To establish a multidiscipli-
nary and mixed committee, with the joint participation of military from the three Armed Forces and mem-
bers of the Brazilian UFO Community, so that with military logistics and the mutual cooperation of UFO re-
searchers and civilian scientists, a proper co-joint study of the UFO activity can be carried out, to be subse-
quently disclosed to society by means of regular informative instruments, suitable to the issue’s im-
portance”.
The military participation in the meeting
Over ten military from the three Armed Forces – Army, Navy and Air Force – were present at the meeting,
but only the representative of the Air Force Command made a significant contribution, surprising the UFO
researchers with his frankness and stating that it was quite true that some UFO documents still remain se-
cret and are yet to be declassified. He added, however, “that the proper measures were being taken about
it so that the Brazilian Committee of UFO Researchers (CBU) request should be met soon.”
Gevaerd has pointed out that the Navy representative merely said, during the meeting, that there were no
UFO documents in possession of his corporation, but Brazilian UFO Magazine’s co-editor Marco A. Petit
later contradicted him by demonstrating the existence of numberless facts that had been investigated by
the Navy, among which, especially, the famous Trindade Island Incident.
“As for the representative of the Army Command, however, who had also been summoned to the meeting
by the Ministry of Defense, his participation was disappointing,” said the editor Gevaerd. Lieutenant-
colonel R. Okamoto only claimed – to everyone’s amazement – that he was called only at the last minute
and was not aware of the subject to be discussed, although the Army had been duly notified of the topics
for the conversation.
It is a known fact that the Brazilian Committee of UFO Researchers (CBU) main request to the MoD, by
means of the Iguassu Falls Letter, was the declassification of documents about the most important episode
in Brazilian Ufology, the Varginha Incident. About the subject, Colonel Spengler surprisingly said that “the
Army claims that it does not have in its possession any documents about the so-called Varginha’s ET inci-
dent, which occurred in 1996, in the State of Minas Gerais, either because those documents have gone
astray or were destroyed with the order of its destruction along, according to the law.”
Brazil needs its own bureau for UFO investigation
The attempts to establish an official bureau for UFO investigation in Brazil are important for one more rea-
son. Several South American nations, such as Uruguay and Chile, have their own investigative bureaus for
UFO analysis and study, and they operate with transparency. “How come Brazil, the largest country in the
continent, does not yet have one such bureau?” asks Gevaerd. Uruguay has the oldest such department in
the world, the Comissión Receptadora y Investigadora de Denuncias de Objectos Voladores No Identifica-
dos (Cridovni). Operating since 1979, the Comissión collects and analyses UFO incident reports that come to
the Uruguayan Air Force’s knowledge.
Other such examples are the Centro de Estudios de Fenómenos Aéreos Anómalos (CEFAA) in Chile, operat-
ing since 1997 inside the General Management of Civilian Aviation, and the Peruvian Air Force (FAP) Oficina
de Investigación de Fenómenos Anómalos Aeroespaciales (OIFAA), created by a presidential act in 2002, but
currently not operative.
As a matter of fact, Brazil did have official entities for UFO investigations in three occasions, 1954, 1969 to
1972 and 1977, this one being the Operation Saucer. In the brief period between 1969 and 1972, the entity
operated within the 4th Regional Air Command (IV COMAR) in São Paulo and was called System for the In-
vestigation of Unidentified Flying Objects (Sioani). During its short, though prolific existence, the System
investigated over 100 UFO incidents and produced thousands of pages of documentation, photographs and
drawings, with the results from its researches.
“The UFO reality is worthy of attention”
Sioani came into existence thanks to the personal initiative of Major Brigadier José Vaz da Silva, from the
Brazilian Air Force (FAB), a man who convinced his military peers that the UFO reality was worthy of atten-
tion. And he did so during the Brazilian Dictatorship days. Sioani investigated a variety of cases involving
UFOs, including those in which occupants were sighted and had some kind of contact with witnesses. Most
of the documents produced by the Sioani are now available on Brazilian UFO Magazine’s website
(www.ufo.com.br).
Sioani’s extraordinary trajectory, which was paradoxically unknown by many officers of the Brazilian Air
Force (FAB) today, including some present at the Ministry of Defense meeting, may be a source of inspira-
tion for the establishment of a new committee for UFO analysis and study, as the Brazilian Committee of
UFO Researchers (CBU) seeks. Such a committee would be under military wing, involving this time not only
the three Armed Forces, but also segments of the Brazilian UFO Community.
The Air Force has already shown how it regards the UFO issue seriously. For example, in 2010, Air Force
Commander, Lieutenant Brigadier Juniti Saito, signed Ordinance 551/GC3, determining that all documents
about UFOs produced within FAB’s wing should be sent to the National Archives.
Saito’s Ordinance 551/GC3’s most important part is: “The Brazilian Airspace Defense Command (Comdab-
ra), being the central organ within the Brazilian Airspace Defense System (Sisdabra), is the organization in
charge of receiving and cataloguing registers of UFOs reported in the organ’s own forms by users of the air
traffic control services and forwarding them to the CENDOC on a regular basis. It is the COMAER the organi-
zation in charge of copying, binding, filing copies from reports sent by Comdabra, and periodically send the
originals to the National Archives.”
The Air Force takes it seriously
On April 18 there was a most auspicious discussion about the establishment within the Ministry of Defense
of a committee comprising UFO researchers whose aim would be to receive all registers of UFO occurrences
(which FAB calls “Traffic H”) collected by the Brazilian Airspace Defense Command (Comdabra). “Such in-
formation shows the extent to which the military, especially those from the Air Force, take the UFO phe-
nomenon seriously,” said another co-editor of the Brazilian UFO Magazine, Fernando Ramalho.
Establishing such a bureau whose aim would be to investigate the immense and complex range of UFO ac-
tivity in Brazil would meet not only the Brazilian UFO Community demands, but also those of the nation’s
society, as can be seen by the huge amount of requests for information on UFOs based on LAI, which have
astounded the militaries and become one of the motivations that culminated the official meeting.
The members of the CBU and the members of Brazilian UFO Magazine volunteer their services to the new
bureau, which could be an improved version of the ancient Sioani, as suggested Colonel Antonio Celente
Videira. The bureau’s goal would be to serve the Brazilian public and help to decipher one of the most im-
pressive enigmas the mankind has ever faced: the visits from other species to our planet, a phenomenon
that has given our country an outstanding place in the world because of the immense amount of UFO sight-
ings and encounters with extraterrestrials that happen here, as well as their immense variety.
A demand from the Brazilian Society
“That is precisely why a new official research bureau is urgently needed, so that it can seek out those an-
swers demanded by Brazilian society,” concluded editor Gevaerd. He added that all the members of the
Brazilian Committee of UFO Researchers (CBU) present at the historic meeting were happy about the re-
sults, and hopeful to see the promises made by the Ministry of Defense officials kept.
The most important among those promises was the one made by the Secretary for the MoD’s Institutional
Coordination and Organization, and mediator of the event, Ari Matos Cardoso: the establishment of a clear
and effective channel of communication between the CBU and MoD so that the researchers may have un-
limited, unobstructed and bureaucracy-free access to the information needed.
With those words Ari Cardoso closed the meeting, but before the assembly actually dispersed, editor A. J.
Gevaerd took the opportunity to add to the Secretary’s promise: “Since such a channel is about to be con-
sidered and established, why not make a slightly bigger effort and consider the additional possibility of cre-
ating a committee for UFO research which we have long expected?”
Now it is up to the UFO researchers to wait for the next steps.
Source: Brazilian UFO Magazine website: www.ufo.com.br
Download the Foz do Iguaçu Letter here:
http://www.ufo.com.br/public/carta_foz/iguassu_falls_letter.pdf
Download photos of the MoD meeting here:
http://www.ufo.com.br/public/mod
-General Ricardo Bermudez
An Exclusive Interview with General Ricardo Bermúdez: Director of Chile’s Official UFO Committee By J. Antonio Huneeus
At a press conference on March 13, 2012, retired General Ricardo Bermúdez, director of Chile’s official
Committee for the Study of Aerial Anomalous Phenomena (CEFAA), released an extraordinary set of multiple videos taken during an important daytime ceremony for the Chilean Air Force (FACH). The incident occurred at the air force academy at El Bosque Air Base in Santiago, on the morning of November 4, 2010. The El Bosque ceremony was attended by such important people as the president of Chile, the cabinet, military brass (including General Bermúdez), and diplomatic corps. The story was picked up quickly by the Chilean press and followed by extensive international web coverage after journalist Leslie Kean published a piece in the Huffington Post on the same day. General Bermúdez discussed the event in detail during his historic presentation at the 2012 International UFO Congress (IUFOC) in Fountain Hills, Arizona, in late February.
The CEFAA is quickly becoming the world’s leader of “official ufology.” Chile’s model of an official UFO agency is unique in that it’s the only country with a UFO bureau attached to the civil aviation agency known in Chile under the Spanish acronym of DGAC (General Direction of Civil Aeronautics). CEFAA was created in late 1997 and began to function in 1998 when General Bermúdez took his official post; it was part of his duties as director of Chile’s Technical School of Aeronautics, which is responsible for training air traffic controllers.
General Bermúdez is not your typical ufologist in Chile or anywhere else. He served in the FACH for many years. He served first as a fighter pilot, then rose in the ranks to sub-director of Chile’s Air Force Academy, after which he became commander of the Third Air Brigade in southern Chile and air attaché in London. After his retirement from the FACH, he transferred to the DGAC, where he became the director of the Technical School of Aeronautics and its incipient UFO committee. He then resumed the post of CEFAA director when the committee was reactivated in 2010 as a full-time investigator.
This interview with General Bermúdez was conducted shortly after his IUFOC lecture on February 25, 2012.
Antonio Huneeus (AH): Can you tell us about the creation of the official committee that you preside over?
Ricardo Bermúdez (RB): The committee (CEFAA) was created at the end of 1997 and began to function in 1998. After my retirement from the air force, I joined the civil aviation agency and took post as the director of the Technical School of Aeronautics, which included being president of this committee. Back then, we only had a partial amount of time dedicated to the committee, not like now when we are devoted one hundred percent to [UFO] investigation. The committee was later in recess for a few years; it was reactivated in 2010 due to a number of cases that occurred in the airways and also due to increased
pressure from the general public wanting to know what happened with these investigations, especially since they were aware that a committee had been created in 1997. So that’s why this committee was reactivated in 2010, and along with its reactivation came a new energy. We started to work with universities, specialists, doctorates in various fields, delegates from the armed forces, the uniformed and civilian police, and with some serious [Chilean UFO] investigators—they all worked together in the investigation under our leadership naturally.
AH: Typically, how does the committee conduct its business?
RB: Our primary source of information comes from the civil aviation agency; specifically, the conversations that take place between pilots and the air traffic control centers throughout the country. These are tape recordings, and when something happens, like when a pilot sees something and reports it, we investigate. That’s why one of our main goals is to create awareness among pilots so that they can report [UFO cases] and not fear being called crazy.
AH: Yes, traditionally, pilots didn’t report UFO sightings so that their careers wouldn’t be harmed.
RB: Exactly. That used to be the case. But now that we are working in a more serious manner, pilots have become more open and the air traffic controllers themselves have given us materials which previously they were afraid to give us for fear of ridicule. That is our main source of information, but we also receive reports from the civilian population, and we try to satisfy their needs. We are able to explain approximately 95% [of the cases received] and
we are left with 5%, of which more or less than 3% can be catalogued as unidentified flying objects.
AH: Can you explain the conditions you required in order to resume the job of directing CEFAA?
RB: I have the advantage that I was a member of the Chilean Air Force, and when the director of [civil] aeronautics invited me to put together the committee, I gave him my conditions. My conditions were to work with the universities, doctors, the armed forces, police corps, and serious investigators. [This was something] not happening in other countries.
AH: Will you give us a couple of the more interesting reports investigated by the committee in recent years?
RB: Well, one of the more important cases is one that happened last year (2011), the Pelican case. Two aircraft arrived in Santiago on different airways and at the same time both pilots reported seeing an object that crossed their airway. Meanwhile, three hundred nautical miles behind was a navy airplane, which also reported seeing the same object but stated that the object came right up to their aircraft, flying underneath them, made a turn, and then crossed the airway at their same level. So within the airways, multiple pilots are reporting unidentified flying objects—that’s why these cases are being studied. As I said in my [IUFOC] lecture, we could be talking about the same object, or possibly two different objects. If it was the same object, then it was able to instantly travel 300 miles; speeds that are not possible with [the technology] we know. We interviewed the six pilots, and all six are in agreement as to what they saw, thus adding to the credibility of their testimony.
AH: Do you also have cases where a UFO was detected by radar?
RB: Yes. Another very interesting case is a radar detection case from Punta Arenas in which the radar controller gave a warning to the pilot that he had unidentified traffic four miles ahead of him, at twelve o’clock. Four miles for a plane moving at high speed can be compared to two or three steps ahead on the ground; in other words, very close to the airplane. The pilot saw the object and described it as a cloud or something camouflaged inside a cloud. It was also seen from the ground by the air controller, and the same pilot saw it again after landing. Thus, we have multiple sightings of the object. This case is particularly important because radar detected the object. It is a very valuable case for us.
AH: Tell me about the multiple daytime video cases during that important air force ceremony in 2010?
A pilot and co-pilot aboard a police chopper [were returning] from a police mission, when they saw, near the Tobalaba field (in Santiago), over the Catholic University stadium, a big saucer the size of the stadium.
LEFT
: Cre
dit:
CEFA
A
RIGH
T: C
redi
t: CE
FAA
General Bermúdez in his CEFAA office at the National Aeronautics and Space Museum in Santiago, Chile.
Official document from Chile’s Civil Aviation agency with the resolution to reactivate the CEFAA Committee, dated December 15, 2009.
RB: The other case I presented [at the IUFOC] is the case of El Bosque; this was the ceremony for the changing of the commander in chief of the air force, which takes place every four years. At the event, an aerial object appears to cross the [aircraft] formations in different spots. The object moves [back and forth] toward the aircraft. This happened with all the aircraft formations that passed, and there were many, including most of the materiel of the air force, the acrobatic team of the Halcones (Falcons), the F-5s, the F-16s, other combat aircraft, transport aircraft, helicopters . . .
AH: Was it a parade?
RB: An aerial and terrestrial parade.
AH: But nobody saw the UFO?
RB: No one saw it. I was there attending the ceremony but I didn’t see anything either.
AH: And how was it that you received the material?
RB: Well, seven people nearby saw it—they were not among the public audience, but in ENAER (Chile’s National Enterprise of Aeronautics), which is our airplane factory. It was those seven personnel at ENAER who filmed the
parade—with different cameras of course, some with cell phones, others with better cameras—and the [UFO] appears in all the footage.
AH: Any other interesting cases you would like to share?
RB: We have an interesting case from March 2011. A pilot and co-pilot aboard a police chopper [were returning] from a police mission, when they saw, near the Tobalaba field (in Santiago), over the Catholic University stadium, a big saucer the size of the stadium. We are studying that case. [See sidebar at the end of the interview for translation of the case report.]
AH: Can you tell me about CEFAA’s international relations?
RB: Well, we have signed an agreement with NARCAP (the National Aviation Reporting Center on Anomalous Phenomena) here in the United States. We have relations and are exchanging information with fourteen countries, and we are expanding. CEFAA is close to signing an agreement to exchange information with Sigma, the 3AF organization (Aeronautical & Astronomical Association) which is a very powerful organization in France. We also have relations with radar controllers from the civil aviation agencies in Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, Peru, Ecuador, Argentina, and also with CRIDOVNI (Commission for the Reception & Investigation of Reports of Unidentified Flying Objects) in Uruguay. Lastly, we are working on relations with England through Nick Pope.
AH: So there is already a functioning official network?
RB: Exactly.
AH: But you want to create something more solid through the United Nations, right?
RB: Well, that is my personal preference. I’d say that in
The official conclusion is that the anomalous aerial phenomenon known as unidentified flying objects is real and is present within the controlled airspace and outside the controlled airspace.
Five cases are recorded in a CEFAA document titled, “Summary of Unsolved Aeronautical Cases 2010-2012.” Case #4 is the event involving a Chilean police helicopter case as mentioned by General Bermúdez. The crew of the helicopter reported a huge UFO over Santiago on February 5, 2011. Here is the complete translation of that case:
4. Report No. 21305022011
Location: SantiagoDate: 05 FEBRUARY 2011Time: 07:20 UTCNo. of witnesses: 02 (Crew)Duration: 12 seconds approximatelyRadar detection: No
Description: A helicopter from the police air brigade was conducting a patrol flight over the city when, in a sector south of Cerro San Cristóbal (San Cristóbal Hill), they visualized an object in the southeastern direction. According to the description by one of the members of the crew, they saw an “oval object of great dimensions, over the sector San Carlos de Apoquindo, which was moving slowly in a southern direction. It had three flashing lights of white, blue and red colors.” The crew consulted with ACC (Control Center Area) with frequency 122.4 if there was any traffic in the sector; the response was negative.
Action taken: The pilot and co-pilot were requested to complete the questionnaire of their report. DASA (Chile’s department of airfields and aviation services) was asked to locate tapes of communications between the aircraft and ACC and a copy of a cassette of this [communication] was obtained. There is no register of an astronomic event or a satellite.
The Police Chopper Case
TOP
LEFT
AND
BOT
TOM
: Cre
dit:
Anto
nio
Hune
eus
General Bermúdez lecturing at the International UFO Congress on February 25, 2012.
General Ricardo Bermúdez (center), J. Antonio Huneeus (right), and Dr. Roberto Pinotti.
order to coordinate all the information possessed by all countries, a department or a unit in the United Nations Office of Outer Space Affairs should be established so we can gather all the information and take a course of action that will show how to study better and know more about this phenomenon.
AH: What are the official conclusions reached by your committee?
RB: The official conclusion is that the anomalous aerial phenomenon known as unidentified flying objects is real and is present within the controlled airspace and outside the controlled airspace. It is also present in the sea—we have some reports from our navy in that respect. It is present everywhere, and therefore it is necessary to share the information in order to have more background and be able to study it more scientifically, so that we can give real information to the people and not rely on what is shown on TV and in sensationalist media.
Although General Bermúdez discussed the main aspects of the El Bosque case in the interview. It is important to add a little more information about CEFAA’s official conclusions and analysis of this important case. The footage was analyzed thoroughly by CEFAA’s External Committee of Advisors, which established that the object was not a meteoroid, a comet, reentry of space junk, a bird, or an airplane. Furthermore, the scientists’ report noted that the UFO undertook “a risky maneuver in front of the Halcones from west to east” and did “a flight maneuver at low altitude and high speed.” The report also established that “the object shows light and shadow effects of metallic like reflections and shows ellipsoidal shape,” and “the land observers do not detect the object in spite that it passes over their heads, thereby it is not accompanied by a sound wave.” Finally, the report indicated, “the object moves east with 25 degrees inclination . . . the same angle spacecraft enter the atmosphere.”
Frame from the first video at the FACH Ceremony in El Bosque, Chile, November 4, 2010, showing a clear image of the metallic looking object.
Frame from the second El Bosque video with the F5s showing the heat signature of both the FACH jets and the UFO.
Frame from the third El Bosque video showing the F16s and UFO. The official analysis indicated the speed of the UFO was eighteen times faster than the F16s.
LEFT
TOP
, MID
DLE
AND
BOTT
OM: C
redi
t: CE
FAA
J. Antonio Huneeus
Citizen Hearing/South America: Chile
In recent years Chile has become one of the world’s leading nations in the official study and
recognition of the UFO phenomenon. UFO agencies or departments have been traditionally
under the Air Force in most countries. In France, as we shall see in the next session, the effort is
under the space agency, but Chile has taken a novel approach which makes logical sense: its
committee known as CEFAA (Committee for the Study of Anomalous Aerial Phenomena) is
under the Civil Aviation agency DGAC. In other words, it’s like if the FAA, the Federal
Aviation Administration, had a UFO department. Civil aviation agencies all over the world deal
with aircraft safety and navigation and UFOs, though not regulated by human governmental
agencies, are primarily flying in the air and could pose a threat to aviation safety.
Chile has a rich history of UFO cases, some of them highly strange, like an incident involving a
group of seven soldiers and a corporal near Putre in Chile’s northern Atacama region near the
border with Peru in 1977, the so-called time warp case of Corporal Valdes, which became the
subject of my very first article on UFOs back in 1977. In the 1980s, Gustavo Rodriguez, an air
traffic controller, began to collect cases involving pilots who would call the control tower asking
if there was any traffic that could explain lights or objects they were seeing during the course of
their flights. There were also incidents involving the scramble of military jets, a situation
common to many countries of the world.
In the mid-90s Rodríguez received the support of Gen. Ramón Vega, a former Commander-in-
Chief of the Chilean Air Force and later a senator. I had the opportunity of meeting both Gustavo
Rodríguez and Gen. Vega during several trips to Santiago in the 1990s. I gave the general, in
fact, a copy of the Laurance Rockefeller-sponsored UFO Briefing Document which I had
coauthored and which perhaps played a small role in marshaling the evidence for the creation of
CEFAA in 1997. During its first months, however, CEFAA seemed rudderless until Air Force
General (Ret.) Ricardo Bermúdez was named director. Gen. Bermúdez was the director of the
Technical School of Aeronautics, which trains air traffic controllers, and it was at this school—
which I visited many times—where the Commission was housed for a number of years.
CEFAA’s mission is to:
Record and analyze all relevant reports concerning UAP [Unidentified Aerial
Phenomena] occurring within the national territory, on the basis of a serious, objective
and scientific analysis with the purpose of determining any possible risk to air operations.
In 2002 CEFAA became essentially inactive for a number of years, but in December of 2009 the
DGAC announced that CEFAA was being reactivated and once again Gen. Bermúdez was
brought back to direct it and Gustavo Rodríguez to serve as secretary. The Committee’s
headquarters was moved to a new location at the National Aeronautical and Space Museum near
the old airport of Los Cerrillos in Santiago. One of the first things they did was to launch an
official website [http://www.cefaa.cl/web/home.html], which is by far the best of all the South
American official agencies. It contains several UFO aircraft incidents with audio recordings of
pilot-control tower communications, videos, documents, articles, and other data.
CEFAA has an “External Committee of Advisors” which includes eight top scientists from the
Chilean Commission of Nuclear Energy, Aerospace Medicine at Santiago University,
astronomers from the Metropolitan and Catholic Universities, a plasma physicist from Santiago
University, a geographer and expert of satellite imagery from Chile State University, and two
psychologists. There is also a CEFAA Internal Committee which includes experts on Operations
Safety, Air Control Center, Meteorology, Air Accidents Investigations, Aerospace Engineering
and Audiovisual. They also have representatives from each branch of the armed forces and the
police.
On August 11, 2008, the Chilean government passed Law 20.285 known as “Transparency
Law.” In some respects it works similarly to our Freedom of Information Act—government
agencies have 20 days to responds to queries from the public regarding public records—but in
some respects it goes beyond the FOIA. With the exception of matters dealing with national
security and foreign relations, the Transparency Law was designed so government agencies can
act in an open and transparent manner even in cases where they received no queries from the
public. CEFAA has fully complied with the requirements of the Transparency Law, and as
explained by Gen. Bermúdez, “this is the way we deal with the phenomenon, openly and freely.”
CEFAA has documented many UFO cases involving commercial and military pilots. One of the
more interesting ones known as the Pelican case occurred on June 24, 2010 and it involved three
different aircraft—two airliners and a navy plane called Pelican. As put by Gen. Bermúdez at a
lecture he gave at the International UFO Congress in Fountain Hills, Arizona, in 2012,
“three airplanes witnessed the same phenomenon, two commercial planes are
approaching Santiago, the military plane is coming 300 miles from the north, and an
object is cruising his airway. The pilot reports something he sees camouflaged in erratic
motion. In the audio communication, one can hear the pilot saying, “ROGER…At this
moment I can’t see it anymore…I could see a traffic loud and clear…it looked like a
cloud… Camouflaged as a cloud but with erratic motion.”
This case, as well as another one in Punta Arenas detected by primary radar in 2011, is important
because you have different professional pilots reporting the same object. As explained by Gen.
Bermúdez:
“Think for a moment, if one experienced commercial pilot reports to me that something
flew across in front of his airplane, I pay careful attention; but now if a second commercial
pilot reports the same a few seconds later, I become interested; but if a third pilot, a
military one, confirms the same fact, I tend to believe it. In this case, do we have one UFO
close to the airplanes, or we have two UFOs? If we have one, its incredible speed doesn’t
correspond to anything we have now.”
During the same lecture at the International UFO Congress, Gen. Bermúdez released a multiple
video case taken at the El Bosque base in Santiago, where the Air Force Academy is located,
which made world headlines. This was because several videos were taken during an important
ceremony for the change of the Commander of the Chilean Air Force on November 4, 2010,
attended by the President, all the commanders of the armed forces and top brass, the Minister of
Defense and other cabinet members, the diplomatic corps and many other important officials
including Gen. Bermúdez himself. The ceremony is popular with the public and widely
photographed and filmed because it includes the air parade by all the different squadrons of the
Chilean Air Force. It must be clarified, however, that none of the dignitaries or public saw the
UFOs at the time. These were discovered later as people began to review the footage they had
taken. I am enclosing an interview I did with Gen. Bermúdez, published in Open Minds
magazine issue 16, Oct.-Nov. 2012, where he explains the methodology of CEFAA as well as
many of their best UFO cases, including the multiple footage case of El Bosque.
Chile has shown that a serious and open official investigation of UFOs can be conducted in a
serious and scientific manner. Some of the ingredients include cooperation among different
government agencies, scientific and academic institutions and even the civilian UFO community.
Official and private investigators can and should cooperate instead of fighting with each other.
This same model has taken place in other South American countries like Uruguay, Brazil,
Argentina, Peru and Ecuador. Another key component is to establish official cooperation among
different countries since UFOs don’t seem to care about national boundaries and are reported
widely all over the world. For this reason, CEFAA and CRIDOVNI, the official UFO agency run
by the Uruguayan Air Force since 1978, signed an official agreement of cooperation and
exchange of data in 2012.
The United States likes to think that it’s always ahead in all areas of society, but I am afraid that
this is not the case in the field of ufology. Other countries are moving ahead with an open and
transparent investigation of this phenomenon. The unknown nature of the phenomenon itself and
the likelihood that it originates not on this Earth requires a change of attitude and a level of
openness that seems to be amiss in this country. Let me finish with a quote from my interview
with Gen. Bermúdez:
The official conclusion is that the anomalous aerial phenomenon known as unidentified
flying objects is real and is present within the controlled airspace and outside the
controlled airspace. It is also present in the sea—we have some reports from our navy in
that respect. It is present everywhere, and therefore it is necessary to share the information
in order to have more background and be able to study it more scientifically, so that we
can give real information to the people and not rely on what is shown on TV and in
sensationalist media.
Thank you very much.
1
Citizen Hearing on Disclosure
Statement by Colonel of the Uruguayan Air Force, Ariel Rios Sanchez
Washington DC, Thursday May 2, 2013
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I am retired Col. Ariel Rios Sanchez of the UFO Complaints Recipient and Research Comission
of Uruguay, an organization within the Official Air Force of my Country, and responsible for
carrying out all the tasks of research and analysis of UFO complaints filed by citizens in
Uruguay.
I work within this organization as Technical Director, and I have been investigating the UFO
phenomenon for over 23 years, having started while as a Lieutenant, as a researcher, and Chief
of Archives.
I retired from the Air Force approximately nine months ago. I belonged to the Air Corps as
Navigator of aircraft transportation in the specialty as Air Traffic Radar Controller, Aviation
Safety Officer, Staff Officer, Professor for the Staff Officers School, and have held various
positions within the organization.
At the same time, I am the Director of the Regional Research Center for Aerospace and
Terrestrial Phenomena, a non-governmental civil organization, also dedicated to the investigation
of the UFO phenomenon at a regional level.
Through these investigation groups, Uruguay owns an archive with more than 1300 cases
investigated over 33 years, 3% of them of unconventional characteristics. Let me point out to
you, that Uruguay is a country of only 3.251 million people within an area of 176,215 km2, and
its main industry is livestock and agriculture.
The CRIDOVNI was created August 7, 1979, by an order of the General Command of the
Armed Forces, to perform the tasks of collecting (UFO) complaints made by citizens, especially
in greater reiteration in the 70s, although some of the first records date back to 1942.
Being responsible for the custody of their airspace, and ensuring the security of citizenship, as
well as air passengers, crews, and aerial means, the Air Force put in charge of this Commission
the analysis of all complaints related to people’s sightings of UFOs that were reaching their
offices through various means.
I must emphasize, that never in the order of its creation, nor during the long thirty-three years of
its activity, the FAU (Uruguay Air Force) Command ever established a directive in the form of
guidance, direction, limitation or diffusion of research. The Command of the FAU has never
exercised any interference in the work of the Commission. It has not established any kind of
preconceived idea about it, therefore, through the work of the commission, it is not about
2
denying, hiding, or misinterpreting facts or situations experienced by the complainants. It only
aims to clarify anomalous situations experienced by the witnesses, and it has been entrusted
solely to perform serious, and rigorously scientific study of a phenomenon that occurs within the
scope of competence of the Air Force, to gain understanding through this medium, what it is, and
to what it responds.
So in order to perform the task thoroughly, interviews were conducted at all schools and with
individuals throughout the country who were interested in the subject, so that in the spirit of
objective, disinterested, scientific investigation, they could voluntarily come together as a single
government agency, work as a team, and maximize all efforts at a national level.
It was on August 7, 1979, when three officers were appointed to begin the task of compilation
and analysis: a Lieutenant Colonel, a Major, a Lieutenant, and the incorporation of more than 20
civilian investigators of different professional backgrounds.
This is how this Commission, composed by civilian and military personnel, began its work. The
CRIDOVNI is currently a government organization dedicated publicly to the study of the UFO
phenomenon, being the oldest organization in continuous employment of civilians and military.
In April of 2001 also in Uruguay, the Regional Center for Investigation of Aeroespacial and
Terrestrial Phenomena, CRIFAT - a civil, non nongovernmental group that has CRIDOVNI as
one of its main members - was created, by the one speaking. The objective of UFO research
groups in South America, is the exchange of information about the phenomenon, as well as
adopting one working methodology, which allows us to create a large database that can be
consulted by all countries’ members.
The promotion of this idea bore results recently, as of April 2012, when for the first time in ever,
two South American Air Forces through their research groups, CEFAA, the Committee for the
Study of Anomalous Aerial Phenomena, lead by General Ricardo Bermudez, and CRIDOVNI,
lead by the undersigned, signed the first joint, exchange, and cooperation agreement, with
unprecedented presence of the international press.
In reference to CRIDOVNI and CRIFAT, I would like to explain briefly, its organization and
work methodology, which are basically the same. Linking all possible elements, we sought first
the creation of an organization which would allow the task at hand.
By rule of the work methodology, after several attempts the organization has been attained,
turning out to be the most appropriate to its needs.
Therefore, the Commission is organized as follows:
1. General Direction
a. President
b. Secretary
3
2. Operational Direction
3. Technical Direction
4. Direction of Archives and Statistics
Once created and integrated - before starting to analize the constitution of previous cases, in
order to investigate the presentation of new ones - the Commission encountered, and had to solve
some problems, for which and by which, valid, consistent, and fair agreements and conclusions
would be reached by all parties involved in the case.
The first problem was: what and how should we investigate? the second problem was: how to
evaluate something that is not known what it is?
The decision was to adopt a fully open position, free from bias or preconceived ideas, for or
against the phenomenon; to be guided by an analytical, rational research method in order to
accept any type form of sighting report, and study it until a verification of facts would be
obtained.
A study of the unidentified flying object itself was determined, primarily, as well as everything
else which in some way surrounds and therefore interacts with the object, such as marks on the
ground, and effects on people, animals, or materials that witnesses saw or believed were made by
UFOs; revelations and statements of any kind by complainants, including mystic or religious
influences or considerations.
The conclusion was that given the variety and extent of the subject, this was not only an aerial
phenomenon, but a general one, covering, and affecting several different environments.
Given the scope of the picture research had to be done, not just of a mere sighting of something
in the air, but of a phenomenon that was actually happening, and it was necessary to know what
it is, and what is causing it.
As we were placing ourselves, not just before a fact, but a totally unknown phenomenon - which
in turn presented great difficulties to center in perspective - in order to observe, study and
analyze, it was necessary to have an inquisitive and curious ‘researcher’ mind, so as to adjust the
overall activities with scientific stringency.
At the same time, it was necessary to elaborate an investigative work methodology, which would
be appropriate for this purpose; and subsequently, an evaluation system to quantify the results.
The first analysis and evaluation system used is based on two pillars:
1) the compilation of the maximum of information available, and
2) the detailed and comparative study of that information.
4
The realization of this job would always be done aiming at the possibility of answering five
fundamental questions. These five questions act as “sieves”, where the various data,
informations, and findings of the case will combine to answer, and they are:
1) What are the possibilities of fraud on part of the witnesses?
2) What are the odds of fraud by third parties?
3) What are the possibilities that which is described corresponds to a conventional fact?
4) How likely is it a psychological illusion?
If the previous questions were negative, or partially negative, or left a reasonable doubt in their
evidence, then the last question, indefectibly, will be:
5) What possibility is there that the phenomenon is not conventional?
Even if no one knows what it is, and we can not identify it.
The established methodology determines when a case is designated as unidentified flying object,
or partially a possible UFO, when even with the data that is available its nature remains unknown
and cannot be identified, or cannot be related to anything known, or of conventional nature.
To ensure the maximum objectivity in the analysis of the allegations, confirms the scientific
method as a form of research to ensure a reasonable doubt about the facts and witnesses, to
approach as much as possible the truth of the events.
To conclude and finalize, all the research and its various results are assessed by a final
percentage system, which provides in a clear and practical fashion the scientific possibility
within the occurrence of a phenomenon or fact of the 'unconventional' kind.
According to what has been heard in this international event referent to the possibility of creating
an International Work Group, which will give answers to questions about the UFO phenomenon,
I think it is appropriate to offer our organizational model and work methodology, as a basis for
the creation of that team of researchers, which may perhaps be embedded in the United Nations
Organization, and thereby unite the world to lift the tip of the veil in the pursuit of knowledge
that will lead us to find the light in wisdom.
5
Thank you very much,
Colonel (Uruguayan Air Force) (R) Ariel Rios Sanchez
PICTURE
RATIO OF COMPLAINTS IN URUGUAY
DECADE 1970
DECADE 1980
INSERT GRAPHS
6
FIGURES:
• Complaints registered in the period 1979 to 2012:
• 2320
• Cases investigated in the period 1979 to 2012;
• 1300
• Non – conventional cases investigated:
• 39 cases (3 % of the total investigated cases)
Members of CRIDOVNI
PICTURE MEMBERS
CAZANDO UN OVNI Existe un documento del Departamento de Defensa de los Estados Unidos de Norteamérica, en el cual se informa que en el año 1,980, en las cercanías de la Base Aérea La Joya, al sur de Perú, se observó en dos oportunidades un UFO, la primera vez en horas de la mañana y la segunda en horas de la noche del día siguiente. Al UFO que apareció en horas de la mañana, un avión SU-22 intento interceptarlo y destruirlo, pero sin lograr su objetivo.
- - - - - - - - -
El piloto de dicha aeronave fui yo y procederé a narrar los hechos. En la Base Aérea de “La Joya”, Departamento de Arequipa, al sur del Perú, el día viernes 11 de abril de 1980, a las 7:15 horas de la mañana, las aproximadamente 1,800 personas que participaban de la formación diaria de inicio de labores, pudieron observar hacía el final de la pista de aterrizaje un objeto que parecía un globo aerostático suspendido en el aire, como a unos 5 kilómetros de distancia y a 600 metros de altitud. El sistema de radares no había detectado el acercamiento del globo, y éste no respondía a las llamadas de radio en frecuencia local y de emergencia internacional, efectuadas por la torre de control. Al encontrarse dicho objeto en zona restringida para el vuelo de aeronaves no militares sin contar con permiso de sobrevuelo, y se temía que era una actividad de espionaje que constituía un peligro para la seguridad nacional, el Segundo Comandante de la Unidad ordenó al Escuadrón Aéreo de aviones Sukoi-22, que uno de los pilotos de alerta despegara y proceda al derribo del objeto. El Comandante del Escuadrón Aéreo, me dio la orden de despegar para derribar al supuesto globo antes de que éste se aproxime a las instalaciones de la Base Aérea, por lo que procedí a dirigirme rápidamente a la línea de vuelos y subir a mi avión que ese día estaba equipado con obuses de 30 mm. Después del despegue realicé un ascenso por la derecha hasta los 2,500 metros de altura e inicie la maniobra de ataque, colocando al objeto dentro del recuadro de la mira de disparo y al llegar a la distancia adecuada le dispare una ráfaga de 64 obuses de 30mm, esperando ver la destrucción del globo, pero ello no ocurrió.
Aparentemente el globo no sufrió daños y empezó a ascender y a alejarse de la Base Aérea a gran velocidad, por lo que procedí a perseguirlo conectando la postcombustión de mi avión. Durante la persecución del globo, mi avión mantenía una velocidad promedio de 900 Km/h y no podía alcanzarlo, y al llegar a los 84 Km. de distancia de la Base y a una altura de 11,000 metros, el “globo” se detuvo en forma brusca, por lo que realice una maniobra evasiva para evitar impactar con él y procedí a obtener condiciones para dispararle. Cuando estaba por alcanzar la distancia de disparo, el “globo” realizó un ascenso súbito dejándome por debajo de él sin posibilidad de dispararle. En dos oportunidades más realice la maniobra de ataque al “globo”, pero en ambas ocasiones evadió mi ataque ascendiendo en el último momento antes de mi disparo, llegando así hasta los 14,000 metros de altura. Tome la decisión de acelerar a gran velocidad y ascender muy alto, para luego atacarlo descendiendo en forma casi vertical, y si durante el ataque el globo iniciaba un ascenso como en las tres oportunidades anteriores, éste no se salga del centro de la mira y poder dispararle con comodidad. Aceleré mi avión hasta obtener una velocidad de 1.6 mach, aproximadamente 1,850 Km/h, e inicie el ascenso, sobrepasando la posición del globo, y esperando obtener la suficiente altura para realizar mi maniobra de ataque, pero para sorpresa mía el “globo” inició un ascenso a gran velocidad logrando ponerse en paralelo conmigo, dejándome sin posibilidad de atacarlo. Continúe con mi ascenso esperando sobrepasarlo para iniciar mi ataque, pero no podía. Así fue que llegamos a la altura de 19, 200 metros, unos 63,000 pies, donde el “globo” detuvo su ascenso y entonces trate de colocar el recuadro (piper) de la mira sobre el “globo” para poder dispararle, pero no era posible. En esos momentos tuve en mi avión la señal de bajo nivel de combustible, indicando que tenía el suficiente combustible para regresar a aterrizar. Al no poder continuar con mi ataque, me acerqué hasta unos 100 metros del “globo”, y al observarlo quedé sorprendido de apreciar que el “globo” no era un globo aerostático sino que era un objeto de 10 metros de diámetro, que en su parte superior tenía una cúpula esmaltada no metálica de color crema, y en su base tenía una superficie circular metálica ancha de color plateado, asimismo, no poseía alas, motores de propulsión, ventanas, antenas, etc., que son superficies que normalmente emplean las aeronaves,
Reponiéndome de la impresión inicie mi retorno a la Base Aérea informando a la torre de control lo que acababa de observar. Fueron 22 minutos de maniobras que han quedado muy grabadas en mi memoria y me han convencido que si existe tecnología y vida extraterrestre.
OVNI
Base Aérea “La Joya”, Viernes 11 de Abril 1980, 07:15 am
5 a 6 Km
RAFAGA DE 64
OBUSES DE 30mm
BA La Joya Cámana
Altura 11,000 mts
Altura 600 mts
Distancia 84 Kms
BA La Joya
Cámana
Ascenso súbito de 1,000 mts
Altura 14,000 mts
Altura 11,000 mts
BA La Joya
Cámana
14,000 mts
19,200 mts
10 mts
10 mts
CHASING A UFO
On Friday April 11th 1980, at 7.15 a.m., about 1,800 people engaged in the early daily work at “La Joya” air base sighted towards the end of the landing runway an object that resembled an aerostatic globe hanging in the air, about 5 km away from the base and at a height of 600 meters. As the radar system had not detected the approaching globe, and since the object was not responding to radio calls either in local frequency or in international emergency made by the control tower, and because the object was in an area that was off limits for non-military aircraft without flight permit, and it was feared to be part of espionage activities that would pose danger to national security, the Unit’s Second Commander ordered the Sukoi-22 Air Squad to send one of its alert pilots to shoot down the object. The Air Squad Commander ordered me to fly in and knock down the so-called globe before it came closer to the Air Base facilities. Quickly, I proceeded to the line of flights and to the climb phase; on that day, my plane was duly equipped with 30mm projectiles. After take-off, I made a right-side ascension, up to 2,500 meters, and prepared for an attack maneuver, framing the object within my firing sights. When I was within shooting range, I fired 64 30-mm projectiles against it, expecting to see the object destroyed. However, that did not occur. Apparently, the globe was unscathed, and it began to gain altitude and move away from the Air Base at great speed. I then proceeded to chase it by connecting my aircraft’s pos-combustion. All through the chase, my plane flew at an averaged 950 km/h and was not able to catch up with the object. When it was 84 km away from the Base, at a height of 11,000 meters, the “globe” suddenly halted. I then made an evasive maneuver to avoid collision, and prepared myself for the proper firing conditions. When I was close to firing distance, the “globe” made a sharp turn upwards, leaving me underneath it, completely unable to fire at it. In two other occasions, I proceeded to make an attack maneuver against the “globe”, but it in both occasions, it evaded my attach by climbing higher up, and at the last minute before I fired, it reached a height of 14,000 meters.
I decided to accelerate at great speed and climb really high, so that I could hit the object while descending upon it in near vertical fashion. If, during the attack, the globe should start climbing up again as it did in the three previous occasions, it would still remain in my sights and I could have fired easily. I sped up until I reached a 1.6 mach speed, almost 1,850 km/h, and began to ascend, expecting to climb high enough to make an attach maneuver; but to my amazement, the “globe” began to ascend at great speed, paralleling to my position, thus rendering all attempts to shoot useless. I continued to ascend, expecting to overtake it and initiate the attack, but I couldn’t do it. We thus reached the height of 19,200 meters, about 63,000 feet, when the “globe” stopped its climb. I then tried to fix my firing sights upon the “globe” so I could fire at it, but I still wasn’t possible, as I was still underneath it. Suddenly I saw my aircraft signaling a low fuel level, indicating I still had enough fuel to return and land the aircraft. Unable to proceed with my attach, I approached the “globe” to about 100 meters, and as I looked closer I was amazed to see that the “globe” was not an aerostatic globe at all, but a 10-m diameter object with a lacquered, non-metallic dome on top, creamy in color; its basis had a wide metallic and circular surface of silvery color. The object had no wings, propulsion engines, windows, antennas, etc., which are common features in aircraft. As I got over my amazement, I began to fly back to the Air Base and reported my sighting to the control tower. It was a 22-minute period of maneuvers which are firmly registered in my memory, and which have convinced me that extraterrestrial life is real. Oscar Santa María Huertas
My name is Grant Robert Cameron. I am a private UFO investigator. For the past 38 years I have
attempted to focus on what the highest levels of the US Government, military, and intelligence agencies
know about the UFO phenomena. I am the Director of the Presidents UFO Website and the co-author of
the recently released book “UFOs, Area 51, and Government Informants.”
I would like to testify to evidence from Canadian documents and statements that show clearly that the
Obama White House statement claiming there is no credible evidence of am ET presence or cover-up of
evidence is not true. The main part of my testimony deals with the official Canadian government
investigation into flying saucer that ran from December 1950 to August 1954.
The records for the Canadian investigations are on line in Canada and the Canadian government has
never disputed the validity of any of these documents.
My testimony is also based on the personal files of Wilbert B. Smith, the Superintendent of Radio
Regulations for the Department of Transport, who was the head of the government investigations.
The Canadian story provides some of the most conclusive evidence to indicate extraterrestrials have
visited the Earth and that American and Canadian officials have known this since at least 1950. It all
centers on a Top Secret memo that National Research Council officials had planned to destroy, but
accidently released.
Curious as to the truth of the flying saucer stories, the Canadians, led by Wilbert Smith, arranged
through Arnault Wright, the Canadian military attaché in Washington D.C., to contact officials at the
Research and Development Board in the United States. Officials there were asked about the true of the
flying saucer mystery.
The answers to the questions were gathered up and summarized in a November 1950 Top Secret memo,
written by Wilbert Smith to his superiors in the Canadian government. This document remained
classified until 1978. In his report Smith reported that information gathered from American officials
indicated that;
1) Flying saucers were real.
2) It was the most highly classified subject in the United States rated two points higher that the
hydrogen bomb which would not be tested till two years after the memo was written.
3) A small group headed by President Roosevelt’s former science advisor Dr. Vannevar Bush was in
charge of the investigation.
4) That American officials considered the matter to be of utmost significance.
5) That American officials were notifying the Canadians that other things might be associated with
the saucer such as mental phenomena. This “mental phenomena” aspect was later confirmed by
two high level Americans.
Records left by Smith in his personal files show that at least one paper on UFO propulsion was given to
the head of the American program, Dr. Vannevar Bush, for review.
The Canadian flying saucer investigation shows that besides tracking sighting reports, a flying saucer
detection station had been set up at Shirley’s Bay outside the Canadian capitol. In 1954 the highly secure
Top Secret Army base at Suffield, Alberta had been opened for UFOs to land at. This was made public by
the Minister of National Defense in a 1967 speech. The Canadian government does not deny any of this.
On August 8, 1954, the flying saucer observatory recorded an unknown object flying over. When this
was written up by the press, the public flying saucer investigation was quickly shut down.
After Smith’s personal files were made public in 1982 more details related to the United States / Canada
joint flying saucer investigations were made public. Smith’s letters showed that he was receiving UFO
hardware from the US authorities to analyze. When I asked his metallurgist Arthur Bridge how much
material they had actually handed he replied “tons of it.” In interviews with Smith shortly before his
death he told a group of visiting researchers from Ohio “that united states military intelligence has tons
of hardware” and “they also had much film." Smith spelled out to researchers that the hardware was
controlled by “government officials” and not the USAF.
Finally, Smith’s oldest son James has testified on record at least twice that his father confirmed just
before he died that he had been shown a downed flying saucer and bodies by American officials.
Smith’s files identified two of the American sources. 1) Dr. Vannevar Bush who was headed up the
United States classified flying saucer program and 2) Dr. Robert Sarbacher, who was a consultant to the
various military services in Washington.
When Dr. Sarbacher was tracked down the 1983 he detailed on audioi and in writing that in 1950 he had
been invited to series of briefing at Wright Patterson Air Force Base held to brief top military scientists
about a UFO crash and bodies. Although Sarbacher couldn’t go, he had spoken to many of the scientists
and engineers who did. Sarbacher identified many of the engineers and scientists who attended
including one who was still alive.
That engineer, Dr. Eric Walker, confirmed to researcher Bill Steinman that he had attended the briefings.
Walker held many top jobs such as 15 years as President of Penn State University, Chairman of the
Board of the Institute for Defense Analysis (the top military think tank used by the Department of
Defense), Chairman of the National Science Foundation, Executive Secretary of the Research and
Development Board, and head of the Navy’s Applied Research Lab at State College Pennsylvania. In
discussions with more than a half dozen researchers over 8 years, Dr. Walker tried not to talk about the
subject but did confirm there had been ET recoveries, communication with aliens, and that there was a
secret control group that was overseeing the entire ET subject.
After Dr. Walker’s death, his son Dr. Brian Walker confirmed that there had been a file that contained a
number of official government documents but he claims he did not read them. He recalls that there
were drawings but does not mention of what ie disks, bodies etc. He claims the file contained
information on an event in Pennsylvania and one in the southwestern US. He thinks his father
destroyed it before his death as it was no longer around when Brian moved the remaining files from the
house to Penn State University.
Most of the UFO sighting reports from the various agencies are now sent to a UFO private researcher in
Winnipeg, who researches and files them. He receives no Secret or Top Secret files.
i http://www.presidentialufo.com/the-canadian-cover-up/144-stanton-friedman-robert-sarbacher-interview-1983
Possible questions
What evidence later surfaced which backed up the statement in the Top Secret memo that “mental phenomena”
was associated with the flying saucers?
How do we know that the Canadians had planned to destroy the Top Secret memo?
J. Antonio Huneeus
Citizen Hearing/Other Countries: France & Russia
Good afternoon, distinguished members and panelists of the Citizen Hearing on UFOs.
Today we are discussing official investigations from various countries around the world.
Among those nations that have conducted some kind of official UFO research besides the
United States and South America--which have been dealt in previous sessions--we can
mention Russia, the United Kingdom, France, Belgium, Spain, Italy, Sweden, Denmark,
Ukraine, Poland, Australia and New Zealand to cite a few. We have with us experts that
will discuss some of these countries like Italy, the UK, Canada and China, but no
representatives from the other nations, so I will cover briefly the history of official
investigations of two particularly important countries--France and Russia--which have a
rich amount of material in this field.
Let’s start with France, a country that has one of the oldest, continuous and most rational
approaches to the UFO problem. Some military investigations in France go back to the
fifties, but the current program really took off in the mid-seventies, when a series of
important steps were taken by the French government. In 1974, the Minister of Defense,
Robert Galley, admitted in a famous radio interview that “the mass of reports coming in
from the Gendarmerie” were “pretty disturbing.” The Minister added that, “I believe that
the attitude of spirit that we must adopt vis-à-vis this phenomena is an open one, that is to
say that it doesn’t consist in denying apriori, as our ancestors of previous centuries did
deny many things that seem nowadays perfectly elementary.”
The National Gendarmerie, which is a national police force similar to our state troopers,
had been investigating UFO incidents since the sixties, including a famous UFO landing
and close encounter of the third kind (CE-III), cases where humanoid beings or UFO
occupants are seen in connection with a sighting, in Valensole in 1965. Ten years later,
the Gendarmerie formalized its UFO protocols by issuing instructions that gendarmes
throughout the French territory, including those overseas like French Guyana or Reunion
Island in the Indian Ocean, should respond and investigate any UFO incident reported by
French citizens. These protocols are still current.
In 1977, the Institute of High Studies of National Defense or IHEDN, a key think tank of
the French military, released an important study which recommended the establishment
of a permanent agency to study UFOs. This was accomplished later that year when the
CNES, the French space agency equivalent to our NASA, created the Study Group of
Unidentified Aerospace Phenomena (GEPAN) under the direction of aerospace engineer
Claude Poher, who had conducted UFO research on his own for a number of years. One
of his first tasks was to conduct a statistical study of 354 UFO cases collected by the
Gendarmerie, 25% of which remained unexplained.
On the morning of January 8, 1981, GEPAN’s most important case took place: a UFO
landed on the property of a farmer in Trans-en-Provence in the Var region of southwest
France. Although the case had only one witness, the farmer Renato Nicolai, the case
became important because of the physical evidence left by the UFO on the alfalfa field,
which was analyzed scientifically by a number of French laboratories. Among other
things, the alfalfa leaves lost from 30 to 50 percent of chlorophyll and the traces on the
terrain “were still perceptible 40 days after the event,” according to the official report.
Stranger still was what an official GEPAN chart characterized as “Time / Space effect.”
Prof. Bounias, one of the scientists who conducted the analysis, explained that while the
plants were physiologically young, after the UFO landing they “presented the
biochemical characteristics of leaves of an advanced age: old leaves!” The final
Conclusion in the GEPAN chart was, “physical phenomenon of unexplained nature; High
probability of electro-magnetic mode of propulsion.”
Despite this and other significant cases investigated and documented by GEPAN, the
agency was downgraded in the mid-eighties and the name was changed to SEPRA, an
acronym for the reentry of atmospheric objects, although the agency continued to
investigate UFO cases under the direction of Jean-Jacques Velasco, who was the case
investigator of the Trans-en-Provence incident. In 2007, however, a new reorganization
took place and the name was changed again to GEIPAN, Study and Information Group of
Unidentified Aerospace Phenomena. GEIPAN also launched a comprehensive website
and began the process of releasing all of its documents, which are now available within
the CNES portal.
Parallel to the official GEIPAN and Gendarmerie investigations, there has also been
some highly interesting semi-official reports from groups connected to the French
military, intelligence and aeronautical establishments. The first and most famous one was
the so-called COMETA Report of 1999, entitled “UFOs and Defense: What Should We
Prepare For?” Although not an official government report in the strict sense of the word,
COMETA was composed of a group of retired high-ranking military and intelligence
officers under the direction of retired Major General Denis Letty. Their conclusions that
UFOs were definitely real and most likely of extraterrestrial origin were very strong.
More recently, another quasi-official organization, the 3AF, which stands for the
Aeronautical and Astronomical Association of France, created a high-level study group
known as the Sigma Commission under the direction of Alain Boudier. Sigma has
recently completed a long report, again confirming the existence of a real UFO
phenomenon of likely ET origin, but the final report has not yet been released to the
public, although this is expected to occur soon. We attach instead a Preliminary Report
issued in 2010, which we translated and published in the openminds.tv website a while
ago.
From all this material briefly outlined in this presentation, you can see that the French are
undoubtedly among the leading nations to conduct significant UFO research both
officially and semi-officially. Instead of burying their heads in the sand pretending that
the UFO phenomenon doesn’t exist or it’s not important, France, the cradle of rationalism
in the modern era, have taken an aggressive approach towards solving this phenomenon.
Let me outline now very briefly the history of UFO research in Russia and the old Soviet
Union. In the early days of communism the subject of UFOs was heavily censored,
although some research was conducted privately by a few scientists such as the late Prof.
Felix Zigel, an astronomer with the Moscow Aviation Institute who is considered the
father of Russian ufology. Things began to change after a highly publicized event in
Petrozovadosk in Karelia, northern Russia, in September of 1977, which led to the
creation of a Commission for the study of Anomalous Phenomena attached to the USSR
Academy of Sciences. This Commission was public since it solicited reports from the
Soviet citizenry. Not known to the public, however, was a second secret study conducted
by the KGB and the Soviet Ministry of Defense, although its existence was not revealed
until after the breakdown of the USSR in 1990. Eventually some military and KGB files
from this commission were released in the nineties, including incidents involving UFOs
flying over nuclear facilities.
One of the most interesting cases in the KGB file is a multiple-witness CE-I (Close
Encounter of the First Kind) at a top secret army missile base in the district of Kapustin
Yar, Astrakhan Region, on the night of July 28-29, 1989. The file is surely incomplete,
but still offers an interesting glimpse into the maneuverability of UFOs. The dossier
consists of the depositions of seven military witnesses (two junior officers, a corporal and
four privates) plus illustrations of the object by the observers, and a brief case summary
by an unnamed KGB officer. One of the depositions mentions a disc-shaped object
moving “in the directions of the rocket weapons depot” and then hovering over the depot
and emitting “a bright beam.” Another case from 1982 involved a series of sightings of
UFOs over a nuclear missile base near Usovo, Ukraine, which coincided with a
malfunction of the computerized console controlling the launch of nuclear weapons. This
was obviously of great concern to the Soviet military and it’s quite similar to the events at
Malmstrom Air Force Base in Montana discussed in another session of these Hearings.
It is perhaps due to these kinds of incidents involving nuclear weapons that a curious
clause about “unidentified objects” was added to an Agreement on Measures to Reduce
the Risk of Nuclear War between the United States of America and the Union of Soviet
Socialists Republics. The Agreement was part of the policy of detente during the Nixon
and early Brezhnev administrations. It was signed on September 30, 1971 by Secretary of
State, William Rogers, and Foreign Minister, Andrei Gromyko.
The Agreement has nine articles on issues such as informing each other “against the
accidental or unauthorized use of nuclear weapons under its control,” notification in
advance of missile launches that go beyond the national territory of each country, and
other measures of cooperation in order to avert “the risk of outbreak of nuclear war.”
Article 3 reads:
“The Parties undertake to notify each other immediately in the event of detection
by missile warning systems of unidentified objects [emphasis added], or in the
event of signs of interference with these systems or with related communications
facilities, if such occurrences could create a risk of outbreak of nuclear war
between the two countries.”
Several UFO cases involving Russian cosmonauts have also become public over the
years. One of the most interesting was a report by cosmonaut Major-General Vladimir
Kovalyonok from the Salyut-6 space station on May 5, 1981. The sighting of a pulsating
“round object which resembled a melon” and then became like a barbell and “didn’t
resemble any cosmic objects I’m familiar with,” was admitted on the record in a
videotaped interview by the cosmonaut many years later. Another cosmonaut, Major-
General Pavel Popovich, even became at one point the President of the All-Union
Ufology Association of the Commonwealth of Independent States. A quote from a 1992
paper by Gen. Popovich provides an appropriate ending to this brief presentation. He
wrote:
The UFO sightings have become the constant component of human activity and
require a serious global study. In order to realize the position of man on earth and
in the universe, ufology, the scientific study of the UFO phenomenon, should take
place in the midst of other sciences dealing with man and the world...
Thank you very much.
Citizen Hearing on Disclosure
“Other Countries” Panel
Nick Pope Opening Statement
The UK Ministry of Defense (MoD) is an organization broadly analogous to the US
Department of Defense and has a dual role as a policy-making Department of State
and as the UK’s highest-level military headquarters.
The MoD’s UFO project ran from 1953 to 2009 and in that time over 12,000 UFO
sightings were logged and investigated. MoD’s role here was to research and
investigate the UFO phenomenon to determine whether there was evidence of any
potential threat to the defense of the United Kingdom, or anything of more general
defense interest. The UK’s interest in UFOs had its roots in concerns that some
objects might be foreign – mainly Soviet – military aircraft on reconnaissance
missions, or on missions to test the capabilities and effectiveness of our air defense
network, both in terms of military radar and air defense fighters. The work that we did
was very similar to the work done by the US Government’s UFO program, which was
embedded in the United States Air Force under a number of different project names,
the best-known of which was BLUE BOOK. The UK’s program had no formal project
name.
Our conclusions were that most UFO sightings could be explained as
misidentifications of known objects or phenomena, as hoaxes, or as delusions of
some sort – psychological or psychiatric. However, around 5% appeared to defy
conventional explanation and were of considerable interest. We took no position on
the nature of these sightings and remained open-minded as to the possibilities.
Accordingly, while we were aware of no evidence that would support the theory that
any UFO sightings were attributable to extraterrestrial life, we did not entirely rule out
the possibility. It was regarded as a “low probability/high consequence” scenario,
which is why, from time to time, the possibility was at least considered in internal
MoD discussions. Despite the wider, societal implications, MoD’s interest was
narrowly focused on technology acquisition. Scientific and technical intelligence
experts in MoD’s Defense Intelligence Staff were not averse to speculating about
exotic energy sources, propulsion systems and aerodynamics, in relation to UFOs.
Perhaps the most graphic illustration of this was a Defense Intelligence Staff
document from 1995, which read, in part:
“If the sightings are of devices not of the Earth then their purpose needs to be established as a matter of priority. There has been no apparent hostile intent and other possibilities are: 1) military reconnaissance; 2) scientific; 3) tourism.” The intent was practical, as the document went on to set out:
“We could use this technology, if it exists.”
Though we accepted UFO reports from everyone (and indeed the vast majority of
sightings came to us from the public), the sightings that were of most interest were
those where the witnesses were police officers, pilots, or military personnel. We were
also particularly interested in sightings where there was some corroborative
evidence, e.g. in terms of radar data, or a photograph or film that specialist imagery
analysis staff could evaluate.
Of particular concern to us were a number of incidents where there were near-
misses between UFOs and commercial aircraft. There are several such cases in the
MoD UFO files and in the files of the Civil Aviation Authority – a UK Government
agency broadly equivalent to the US Federal Aviation Administration.
The UK’s best-known and most compelling UFO incident is a series of sightings that
occurred in December 1980 and are collectively known as either the Rendlesham
Forest incident or the Bentwaters incident. These sightings are the subject of a
separate panel on which I am sitting.
In the late Nineties the MoD’s Defense Intelligence Staff commissioned a review of
many of the UFO sightings that the MoD had investigated over the years. This
intelligence analysis was known as Project Condign (a randomly generated
codeword) and attempted some trend analysis of the reports received, as opposed to
reinvestigation of individual cases. The final report was published in 2000 and ran to
over 400 pages. The title was “Unidentified Aerial Phenomena in the UK Air Defense
Region” – the MoD often uses the phrase UAP (Unidentified Aerial Phenomenon) in
internal correspondence, so as to avoid the unfortunate, pop-culture baggage that
comes with the term “UFO”. At the time, Project Condign’s final report was classified
Secret UK Eyes Only. Its controversial conclusion was that some UFO sightings
might be attributable to exotic atmospheric plasmas and that there might be novel
military applications (e.g. in terms of directed energy weapons) that might merit
further study. Again, the air safety implications of the phenomenon were judged to be
important. One recommendation read as follows:
"No attempt should be made to out-maneuver a UAP during interception". Another recommendation stated: "At higher altitudes, although UAP appear to be benign to civil air traffic, pilots should be advised not to maneuver, other than to place the object astern, if possible". A redacted version of Project Condign’s final report was made available to the public in May 2006, following a number of Freedom of Information Act requests. There is in the UK – as in the US – a widely-held belief that the authorities know more about UFOs than they are telling the public, i.e. that there is a cover-up and a conspiracy on the subject. I think there are two relevant factors here. Firstly, the MoD was (and still is) an inherently secretive organization, despite the introduction of the UK’s Freedom of Information Act. Secondly, it was the longstanding policy of the
MoD to downplay the extent of the Department’s interest and the scope of our official research and investigation – not all of which, especially post-Freedom of Information Act, generated the paper trail that one might expect. To give a practical example of this, we consistently told the UK’s Parliament, the media and the public that UFOs were of limited interest and “no defense significance”, while highly-classified intelligence studies such as Project Condign were being carried out away from public scrutiny. That said, despite the secrecy and the downplaying of MoD’s UFO-related work, I am not aware of any cover-up or conspiracy in the sense that proponents of such theories mean. MoD’s UFO project was terminated in 2009 as part of a wider series of defense cuts. While the public no longer have an official point of contact for their sightings, pilots can continue to make reports on an ad hoc basis, though they would be well-advised to avoid the phrase “UFO” (or “UAP”) altogether – as they traditionally tended to do anyway – and use alternative phrases such as “unusual aircraft”. In 2007 the MoD made a policy decision to declassify and release its entire archive of UFO files, following a similar decision by the French Government. This five-year program – in which I have been personally involved – began with the release of a first batch of files in May 2008. Subsequent batches followed and the program reaches its climax this year. To date, over 50,000 pages of documents have been sent to the UK’s National Archives. The UK and France are two of a number of nations that have opened their UFO files recently, in response to pressure from media and the public. In concluding, I should say that I do not have a single, neat explanation for the UFO mystery and neither am I aware that anyone else in the UK Government has reached a definitive conclusion. However, having undertaken three years of official UK Government research and investigation into the UFO phenomenon, my assessment is that whatever the true nature of this phenomenon, it raises important defense, national security and air safety issues. Additionally, as pointed out in Project Condign’s final report, there are potential novel military applications that may derive from a proper scientific study of the phenomenon. Nick Pope Washington DC May 2, 2013