European Space Policy,
17 May 2005.
At the 15th EU-Russia Summit in Moscow, in May 2005, the leaders of the EU and Russia adopted a Roadmap for the Common Economic Space (CES), including a specific paragraph dedicated to “Space activities”. The objective is to build an effective system of cooperation and partnership between the EU and the Russian Federation in fields such as Access to space (Launchers and future Space Transportation Systems), Space applications (Satellite navigation, earth observation and satellite communications), Space exploration and the use of the International Space Station (ISS); Space Technologies Development.
The Common Economic Space (CES) is one of four common spaces which the EU and Russia decided to create at the Summit in St. Petersburg (May 2003), to reinforce their cooperation. The ultimate goal of the CES is to create an open and integrated market between the EU and Russia, to promote trade, investment and the competitiveness of our economic operators. The CES concept covers three main dimensions: liberalisation of trade and investment; regulatory convergence in priority economic fields; and integration of the EU’s and Russia’s infrastructure systems in energy, transport and telecommunications, as well as enhanced cooperation in areas such as the environment and space.
The work on a concrete ‘roadmap’ for the Common Economic Space, including specific objectives and actions, is now completed: see Road Map for the CES, “Building Blocks for Sustained Economic Growth”
A list of actions was agreed for space activities: (see pages 17-18 of above quoted "Road Map for the CES"):
Political cooperation to create favourable framework conditions in the field of space transportation, accompanying the cooperation between the European Space Agency and Russia; cooperation for the development of infrastructure for the launch of Russian SOYUZ-ST Launcher from the European Spaceport in the Guiana Space Centre.
Enhance and strengthen cooperation on Galileo and GLONASS GNSS including on compatibility and interoperability between the two systems and the creation of the conditions for industrial and technical cooperation, in the context of an intergovernmental agreement.
Provide appropriate environment for fruitful cooperation on Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES) programme and for joint projects in satellite communication systems.
Coordinate the EU and the Russian positions towards the Global Earth Observation initiative (GEO).
Continue cooperation and partnership in joint initiatives in space explorations, including Space Science on which relevant activities shall be carried out in the framework of the Common Space on Research and Education, including Culture.
Continue cooperation in the use of the ISS (International Space Station).
Support joint programmes and projects in Space Technology Development.
Setting up an expert group to establish an EU-Russia Dialogue on Space.
In the framework of the PCA institutions, establish a mechanism for cooperation to comply with the objectives agreed by the Parties.
Exchange information and ensure consultation on respective space programmes.
Group Calls for Disclosure of UFO Info
Former Government Employees Say It's Time to Reveal Evidence
May 10, 2001.
They're out there — and the government knows.
That's according to a group of about 20 former government workers, many of them military and security officials, who stepped forward on Wednesday to say they had witnessed evidence of aliens and unidentified flying objects and called for congressional hearings about such sightings.
"These testimonies establish once and for all that we are not alone," said Steven Greer, director of the Disclosure Project, a nonprofit research organization dedicated to disclosing alleged alien sightings.
Greer, who organized the program at the National Press Club in Washington, argued that the United States and other governments have known about UFOs for at least 50 years and have been keeping the information secret.
Greer said there were some 400 witnesses who claim to have firsthand experience with UFO sightings or alien evidence, and are willing to testify before Congress.
Among them is Daniel Sheehan, a well-known Washington lawyer who is acting as counsel for members of Greer's group.
Sheehan told reporters that during the Carter administration he found out about government-held UFO information that then-CIA Director George Bush, father of the current president, would not release.
Sheehan said he was then led into the National Archives, where he was shown photographs of captured UFOs, complete with what appeared to be alien writing symbols, but he was only allowed to take notes on a yellow legal pad. He traced the photos onto the cardboard back of his pad, he said.
International UFO Cabal?
James Oberg, an ABCNEWS space consultant and retired NASA engineer, says Greer has long argued "there's this bizarre theory that there is a worldwide real X-file cabal that is using UFO technology."
But Oberg noted not every witness attending the conference necessarily subscribed to Greer's theory, and says those attending the press conference shouldn't be mocked.
"People see strange things they can't understand, and that can't be explained either then or in hindsight, and it's good to keep documenting these, because often the mysterious sightings are things of interest, to military intelligence or even to science."
Source: ABC News
May 10, 2001.
They're out there — and the government knows.
That's according to a group of about 20 former government workers, many of them military and security officials, who stepped forward on Wednesday to say they had witnessed evidence of aliens and unidentified flying objects and called for congressional hearings about such sightings.
"These testimonies establish once and for all that we are not alone," said Steven Greer, director of the Disclosure Project, a nonprofit research organization dedicated to disclosing alleged alien sightings.
Greer, who organized the program at the National Press Club in Washington, argued that the United States and other governments have known about UFOs for at least 50 years and have been keeping the information secret.
Greer said there were some 400 witnesses who claim to have firsthand experience with UFO sightings or alien evidence, and are willing to testify before Congress.
Among them is Daniel Sheehan, a well-known Washington lawyer who is acting as counsel for members of Greer's group.
Sheehan told reporters that during the Carter administration he found out about government-held UFO information that then-CIA Director George Bush, father of the current president, would not release.
Sheehan said he was then led into the National Archives, where he was shown photographs of captured UFOs, complete with what appeared to be alien writing symbols, but he was only allowed to take notes on a yellow legal pad. He traced the photos onto the cardboard back of his pad, he said.
International UFO Cabal?
James Oberg, an ABCNEWS space consultant and retired NASA engineer, says Greer has long argued "there's this bizarre theory that there is a worldwide real X-file cabal that is using UFO technology."
But Oberg noted not every witness attending the conference necessarily subscribed to Greer's theory, and says those attending the press conference shouldn't be mocked.
"People see strange things they can't understand, and that can't be explained either then or in hindsight, and it's good to keep documenting these, because often the mysterious sightings are things of interest, to military intelligence or even to science."
Source: ABC News
What people are saying about Exopolitics
Excerpts from Reviews of EXOPOLITICS:
"Alfred Webre can be regarded as the founding father of Exopolitics as a field of human inquiry. His involvement with the study of the UFO phenomenon includes work with the Carter Administration and with the prestigious Stanford Research Institute, which are impressive credentials in this most controversial of emerging sciences. His book, Exopolitics, gives an overview of the field and offers a blueprint for humanity as it moves toward taking its place on a wider stage. It is a roadmap to the stars."
– Nick Pope, UFO Desk Officer for the United Kingdom ’s Ministry of Defense, 1991-1994
"The final reality is that the story must be told and will be told. Exopolitics is a logical, rational, and scholarly attempt to clarify and present to the world the structure of an existing reality that can become a valuable tool in educating and expanding human consciousness. To this effort, I commend Alfred Webre and other members of the Institute for Cooperation in Space (ICIS) for their courage and dedication. I give my full support and encouragement to this endeavor, and I pray that it succeeds. If we ever mature as a race, we must recognize our extended family and reach out to them with courage and fellowship. Exopolitics can show us the way."
– Robert O. Dean, Command Sergeant-Major, USAF (Retired), who served as an intelligence analyst with Cosmic Top Secret clearance, Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE)
"Alfred Lambremont Webre defines “Exopolitics” as a new discipline for understanding “Universe society” through its politics and government. In such terms, it would “…posit that the truest conception of our earthly circumstance may be that we are on an isolated planet in the midst of a populated, evolving, highly organized inter-planetary, inter-galactic, multi-dimensional Universe society.”
"In this context, Webre’s championship of the new discipline of “Exopolitics” is a very credible academic and scientific pursuit. His extraordinary qualifications as a former researcher and a futurist at SRI’s Center for the Study of Social Policy, and as an advisor to government on this subject, contributes to this study’s significance as a contribution to knowledge at the beginning of the 21st century."
– Father John Rossner, Ph.D., D.Sc., D.Litt., President, International Institute for Integral Human Sciences, Adjunct Professor, Religion and Culture, Concordia University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
"As our globe gets smaller and smaller, our eyes start to focus more and more on the many worlds around us. It is not just that we need more physical space for ourselves, but also existentially. We are contemporaries of God and we are duty-bound to reveal more of His greatness. Consequently, we must ask ourselves, how shall we discover more and more of Him? Alfred Webre’s book makes us realize that this may be possible in ways we did not imagine some years ago."
– Rabbi Dr. Nathan Lopes Cardozo, noted author, scholar, and lecturer, Dean, the David Cardozo School, Machon Ohr Aharon
"I urge everyone who has an open mind to read this exciting and fascinating book, which is so thought provoking that it breaks all barriers of logic and rationalism and makes ancient theories tangible and real."
– Uri Geller, world-renowned psychic and best-selling author, www.urigeller.com
"Alfred Webre’s treatise, Exopolitics, bodes well for those of us interested in the next step we must take as a species to evolve as universal beings. Here again, much will be made about the cover-up of our universal heritage, but, in truth, we need to move beyond that controversy to an awareness of the global significance of our arising consciousness and our realization of a greater cosmic reality. This, so aptly communicated in Alfred’s work, is the needed direction to take and the role that must be played by humanity at this time. Exopolitics is an inspiration, providing for me a greater understanding of my own evolving comprehension of the extraterrestrial presence and our place in the Universe."
– Robert L. Nichol, filmmaker and educator, producer of the award-winning documentary, Star Dreams: Exploring the Mystery of the Crop Circles
"Exopolitics – Politics, Government, and Law in the Universe. That is a bold book title, given that most of this planet’s human population is taught that we are a unique life form alone in the Universe. But author Alfred Lambremont Webre speaks as a futurist with a background at the Center for the Study of Social Policy at Stanford Research Institute, and as the current International Director of the Institute for Cooperation in Space.
"Exopolitics emerges at a time when astronomers are finding many planets beyond Earth, and quantum string astrophysicists even describe other universes parallel to this one. If the Universe is filled with life, and even has multiple dimensions, then numerous life forms and their various agendas would inevitably mean 'social food fights,' and, as Alfred Webre describes it, would also require government and law in the Universe."
– Linda Moulton Howe, reporter and editor, Earthfiles.com, science and environment news contributor, Clear Channel’s Premiere Radio Networks
"Alfred Lambremont Webre's odyssey into the realm of life in the vast Universe surrounding planet Earth is indeed a fascinating journey if you read it with an open mind. He postulates a Universe that includes many planets sustaining life more advanced than our own – all subject to universal governance based on the rule of law."
– Honorable Paul T. Hellyer, Minister of National Defense under Canadian Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson and Deputy Prime Minister of Canada under Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau
"His brilliant treatise, Exopolitics, forms a conceptual bridge between the familiar, locked-in, consensually limited thinking of our terrestrial society and the expanded options that humanity will enjoy in what Webre calls “Universe Society.” In light of my chosen areas of interest and advocacy – especially, socio-economic, environmental, geopolitical, and spiritual awareness issues related to truly paradigm-shifting energy inventions – I find that, for me, his insights ring true.
"Exopolitics states that we, the human race, are collectively the exo-government, the planetary Universe society. This is also the position taken by the emerging grassroots movement that is pursuing new energy research and development. That movement is in its infancy, but an organization called the New Energy Movement is dedicated to nurturing and sustaining it.
"I highly recommend Alfred Lambremont Webre’s new book, Exopolitics. It inspires hope for a better future, one in which humanity progresses beyond its present addictions to petroleum and war, and beyond its resistance to beneficial change, toward a higher level of spiritual awareness. My own experiences validate his assertion that the Universe is ultimately a spiritual domain."
– Jeane Manning, author, The Coming Energy Revolution: The Search for Free Energy
"Exopolitics: Politics, Government and Law in the Universe is an exciting new book by Alfred Webre, a former futurist at the Stanford Research Institute, advisor to the Carter administration on the extraterrestrial question, and Fulbright scholar, who received his law degree from Yale. At present, he is the International Director of the International Institute for Cooperation in Space and founder of the No Weapons in Space Campaign. He is an activist working to prevent the weaponization of space and to transform our economy from one based on war to one based on peace and sustainability.
"Take the time to listen to the message of Exopolitics. We all have a lot of work to do so that humanity can re-enter the cosmic community. Remember – you are the transformation that is needed to make this possibility a reality."
– Michael Mannion, co-founder, The Mindshift Institute, author, Project Mindshift: The Re-Education of the American Public Concerning Extraterrestrial Life.
"Alfred Webre's new book Exopolitics: Politics, Government and Law in the Universe is truly a must read for everyone. It lays the groundwork and the understandings necessary to assist Earth humanity to fulfill its destiny which is to join the greater family of man throughout the universe. It should be on the bedstand of every politician, minister, and all those in leadership positions inspiring humanity for a better tomorrow."
James Gilliland www.eceti.org
"In my opinion, the author of this volume, Alfred Lambremont Webre, has presented to readers a small package that contains a huge gift – a new vision of humanity’s place in the Cosmos. Most books about Exopolitics are written from the perspective of humanity, or from the perspective of the individual writer. Webre has provided a perspective of universal law and government that rises above the mundane politics of humanity and Earth, and views humans not as Planetary Persons but as Cosmic Citizens.
"When the reader is ready, his Exopolitics provides an individual and collective blueprint for developing a social structure on Earth that assists humanity, in a Decade of Contact, to join and participate in Universe society."
– R. Leo Sprinkle, Ph.D., counseling psychologist, professor emeritus at the University of Wyoming, distinguished Ufologist and author
"Right now, if we could only get our species to look up with wonder at the potential vastness of life and its inherent complexity, we would be on a much better track than our current embrace of denial offers us. Webre’s book is a hopeful and inspiring outlook concerning our future as a species. This is an outlook worth exploring in its fullness."
Courtney Brown, Ph.D. is an associate professor of political science at Emory University. He is the founder of the Farsight Institute, a non-profit research and educational organization dedicated to the study of the “remote viewing” phenomenon.
"TIME magazine has an annual practice of selecting The Man (or Woman) of the Year. A more appropriate ritual for the new millennium might be to select The Mind of the Year, and if that were so, Alfred Lambremont Webre would rank high on my list of suggested nominees. Among modern philosophers, Webre finds himself one of a very select few at the center of the birth of a discipline of critical importance for the future – Exopolitics."
- Paul Davids, Executive Producer of the film Roswell, starring Martin Sheen
UniverseBooks.com
"Alfred Webre can be regarded as the founding father of Exopolitics as a field of human inquiry. His involvement with the study of the UFO phenomenon includes work with the Carter Administration and with the prestigious Stanford Research Institute, which are impressive credentials in this most controversial of emerging sciences. His book, Exopolitics, gives an overview of the field and offers a blueprint for humanity as it moves toward taking its place on a wider stage. It is a roadmap to the stars."
– Nick Pope, UFO Desk Officer for the United Kingdom ’s Ministry of Defense, 1991-1994
"The final reality is that the story must be told and will be told. Exopolitics is a logical, rational, and scholarly attempt to clarify and present to the world the structure of an existing reality that can become a valuable tool in educating and expanding human consciousness. To this effort, I commend Alfred Webre and other members of the Institute for Cooperation in Space (ICIS) for their courage and dedication. I give my full support and encouragement to this endeavor, and I pray that it succeeds. If we ever mature as a race, we must recognize our extended family and reach out to them with courage and fellowship. Exopolitics can show us the way."
– Robert O. Dean, Command Sergeant-Major, USAF (Retired), who served as an intelligence analyst with Cosmic Top Secret clearance, Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE)
"Alfred Lambremont Webre defines “Exopolitics” as a new discipline for understanding “Universe society” through its politics and government. In such terms, it would “…posit that the truest conception of our earthly circumstance may be that we are on an isolated planet in the midst of a populated, evolving, highly organized inter-planetary, inter-galactic, multi-dimensional Universe society.”
"In this context, Webre’s championship of the new discipline of “Exopolitics” is a very credible academic and scientific pursuit. His extraordinary qualifications as a former researcher and a futurist at SRI’s Center for the Study of Social Policy, and as an advisor to government on this subject, contributes to this study’s significance as a contribution to knowledge at the beginning of the 21st century."
– Father John Rossner, Ph.D., D.Sc., D.Litt., President, International Institute for Integral Human Sciences, Adjunct Professor, Religion and Culture, Concordia University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
"As our globe gets smaller and smaller, our eyes start to focus more and more on the many worlds around us. It is not just that we need more physical space for ourselves, but also existentially. We are contemporaries of God and we are duty-bound to reveal more of His greatness. Consequently, we must ask ourselves, how shall we discover more and more of Him? Alfred Webre’s book makes us realize that this may be possible in ways we did not imagine some years ago."
– Rabbi Dr. Nathan Lopes Cardozo, noted author, scholar, and lecturer, Dean, the David Cardozo School, Machon Ohr Aharon
"I urge everyone who has an open mind to read this exciting and fascinating book, which is so thought provoking that it breaks all barriers of logic and rationalism and makes ancient theories tangible and real."
– Uri Geller, world-renowned psychic and best-selling author, www.urigeller.com
"Alfred Webre’s treatise, Exopolitics, bodes well for those of us interested in the next step we must take as a species to evolve as universal beings. Here again, much will be made about the cover-up of our universal heritage, but, in truth, we need to move beyond that controversy to an awareness of the global significance of our arising consciousness and our realization of a greater cosmic reality. This, so aptly communicated in Alfred’s work, is the needed direction to take and the role that must be played by humanity at this time. Exopolitics is an inspiration, providing for me a greater understanding of my own evolving comprehension of the extraterrestrial presence and our place in the Universe."
– Robert L. Nichol, filmmaker and educator, producer of the award-winning documentary, Star Dreams: Exploring the Mystery of the Crop Circles
"Exopolitics – Politics, Government, and Law in the Universe. That is a bold book title, given that most of this planet’s human population is taught that we are a unique life form alone in the Universe. But author Alfred Lambremont Webre speaks as a futurist with a background at the Center for the Study of Social Policy at Stanford Research Institute, and as the current International Director of the Institute for Cooperation in Space.
"Exopolitics emerges at a time when astronomers are finding many planets beyond Earth, and quantum string astrophysicists even describe other universes parallel to this one. If the Universe is filled with life, and even has multiple dimensions, then numerous life forms and their various agendas would inevitably mean 'social food fights,' and, as Alfred Webre describes it, would also require government and law in the Universe."
– Linda Moulton Howe, reporter and editor, Earthfiles.com, science and environment news contributor, Clear Channel’s Premiere Radio Networks
"Alfred Lambremont Webre's odyssey into the realm of life in the vast Universe surrounding planet Earth is indeed a fascinating journey if you read it with an open mind. He postulates a Universe that includes many planets sustaining life more advanced than our own – all subject to universal governance based on the rule of law."
– Honorable Paul T. Hellyer, Minister of National Defense under Canadian Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson and Deputy Prime Minister of Canada under Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau
"His brilliant treatise, Exopolitics, forms a conceptual bridge between the familiar, locked-in, consensually limited thinking of our terrestrial society and the expanded options that humanity will enjoy in what Webre calls “Universe Society.” In light of my chosen areas of interest and advocacy – especially, socio-economic, environmental, geopolitical, and spiritual awareness issues related to truly paradigm-shifting energy inventions – I find that, for me, his insights ring true.
"Exopolitics states that we, the human race, are collectively the exo-government, the planetary Universe society. This is also the position taken by the emerging grassroots movement that is pursuing new energy research and development. That movement is in its infancy, but an organization called the New Energy Movement is dedicated to nurturing and sustaining it.
"I highly recommend Alfred Lambremont Webre’s new book, Exopolitics. It inspires hope for a better future, one in which humanity progresses beyond its present addictions to petroleum and war, and beyond its resistance to beneficial change, toward a higher level of spiritual awareness. My own experiences validate his assertion that the Universe is ultimately a spiritual domain."
– Jeane Manning, author, The Coming Energy Revolution: The Search for Free Energy
"Exopolitics: Politics, Government and Law in the Universe is an exciting new book by Alfred Webre, a former futurist at the Stanford Research Institute, advisor to the Carter administration on the extraterrestrial question, and Fulbright scholar, who received his law degree from Yale. At present, he is the International Director of the International Institute for Cooperation in Space and founder of the No Weapons in Space Campaign. He is an activist working to prevent the weaponization of space and to transform our economy from one based on war to one based on peace and sustainability.
"Take the time to listen to the message of Exopolitics. We all have a lot of work to do so that humanity can re-enter the cosmic community. Remember – you are the transformation that is needed to make this possibility a reality."
– Michael Mannion, co-founder, The Mindshift Institute, author, Project Mindshift: The Re-Education of the American Public Concerning Extraterrestrial Life.
"Alfred Webre's new book Exopolitics: Politics, Government and Law in the Universe is truly a must read for everyone. It lays the groundwork and the understandings necessary to assist Earth humanity to fulfill its destiny which is to join the greater family of man throughout the universe. It should be on the bedstand of every politician, minister, and all those in leadership positions inspiring humanity for a better tomorrow."
James Gilliland www.eceti.org
"In my opinion, the author of this volume, Alfred Lambremont Webre, has presented to readers a small package that contains a huge gift – a new vision of humanity’s place in the Cosmos. Most books about Exopolitics are written from the perspective of humanity, or from the perspective of the individual writer. Webre has provided a perspective of universal law and government that rises above the mundane politics of humanity and Earth, and views humans not as Planetary Persons but as Cosmic Citizens.
"When the reader is ready, his Exopolitics provides an individual and collective blueprint for developing a social structure on Earth that assists humanity, in a Decade of Contact, to join and participate in Universe society."
– R. Leo Sprinkle, Ph.D., counseling psychologist, professor emeritus at the University of Wyoming, distinguished Ufologist and author
"Right now, if we could only get our species to look up with wonder at the potential vastness of life and its inherent complexity, we would be on a much better track than our current embrace of denial offers us. Webre’s book is a hopeful and inspiring outlook concerning our future as a species. This is an outlook worth exploring in its fullness."
Courtney Brown, Ph.D. is an associate professor of political science at Emory University. He is the founder of the Farsight Institute, a non-profit research and educational organization dedicated to the study of the “remote viewing” phenomenon.
"TIME magazine has an annual practice of selecting The Man (or Woman) of the Year. A more appropriate ritual for the new millennium might be to select The Mind of the Year, and if that were so, Alfred Lambremont Webre would rank high on my list of suggested nominees. Among modern philosophers, Webre finds himself one of a very select few at the center of the birth of a discipline of critical importance for the future – Exopolitics."
- Paul Davids, Executive Producer of the film Roswell, starring Martin Sheen
UniverseBooks.com
Odd Spot on Titan Baffles Scientists
May 25, 2005
(Source: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona/Space Science Institute)
Titan's Odd Spot Baffles Scientists.
Saturn's moon Titan shows an unusual bright spot that has scientists mystified. The spot, approximately the size and shape of West Virginia, is just southeast of the bright region called Xanadu and is visible to multiple instruments on the Cassini spacecraft.
The 483-kilometer-wide (300-mile) region may be a "hot" spot -- an area possibly warmed by a recent asteroid impact or by a mixture of water ice and ammonia from a warm interior, oozing out of an ice volcano onto colder surrounding terrain. Other possibilities for the unusual bright spot include landscape features holding clouds in place or unusual materials on the surface.
"At first glance, I thought the feature looked strange, almost out of place," said Dr. Robert H. Brown, team leader of the Cassini visual and infrared mapping spectrometer and professor at the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, University of Arizona, Tucson. "After thinking a bit, I speculated that it was a hot spot. In retrospect, that might not be the best hypothesis. But the spot is no less intriguing."
The Cassini spacecraft flew by Titan on March 31 and April 16. Its visual and infrared mapping spectrometer, using the longest, reddest wavelengths that the spectrometer sees, observed the spot, the brightest area ever observed on Titan.
Red Spot on Titan
Cassini's imaging cameras saw a bright, 550-kilometer-wide (345-mile) semi-circle at visible wavelengths at this same location on Cassini's December 2004 and February 2005 Titan flybys. "It seems clear that both instruments are detecting the same basic feature on or controlled by Titan's surface," said Dr. Alfred S. McEwen, Cassini imaging team scientist, also of the University of Arizona. "This bright patch may be due to an impact event, landslide, cryovolcanism or atmospheric processes. Its distinct color and brightness suggest that it may have formed relatively recently."
Other bright spots have been seen on Titan, but all have been transient features that move or disappear within hours, and have different spectral (color) properties than this feature. This spot is persistent in both its color and location. "It's possible that the visual and infrared spectrometer is seeing a cloud that is topographically controlled by something on the surface, and that this weird, semi-circular feature is causing this cloud," said Dr. Elizabeth Turtle, Cassini imaging team associate, also from the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory.
"If the spot is a cloud, then its longevity and stability imply that it is controlled by the surface. Such a cloud might result from airflow across low mountains or outgassing caused by geologic activity," said Jason Barnes, a postdoctoral researcher working with the visual and infrared mapping spectrometer team at the University of Arizona.
The spot could be reflected light from a patch of terrain made up of some exotic surface material. "Titan's surface seems to be mostly dirty ice. The bright spot might be a region with different surface composition, or maybe a thin surface deposit of non-icy material," Barnes added.
Scientists have also considered that the spot might be mountains. If so, they'd have to be much higher than the 100-meter-high (300-foot) hills Cassini's radar altimeter has seen so far. Scientists doubt that Titan's crust could support such high mountains.
The visual and infrared mapping spectrometer team will be able to test the hot spot hypothesis on the July 2, 2006, Titan flyby, when they take nighttime images of the same area. If the spot glows at night, researchers will know it's hot.
For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission visit http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov . For additional images visit the visual and infrared mapping spectrometer page at http://wwwvims.lpl.arizona.edu and the Cassini imaging team homepage http://ciclops.org .
The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter and its two onboard cameras were designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The visual and infrared mapping spectrometer team is based at the University of Arizona. The imaging team is based at the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Co.
Contacts:
Carolina Martinez (818) 354-9382
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
Lori Stiles (520) 626-4402
University of Arizona News Service, Tucson
Preston Dyches (720) 974-5859
Cassini Imaging Central Laboratory for Operations
Space Science Institute, Boulder, Colo.
NEWS RELEASE: 2005-086
(Source: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona/Space Science Institute)
Titan's Odd Spot Baffles Scientists.
Saturn's moon Titan shows an unusual bright spot that has scientists mystified. The spot, approximately the size and shape of West Virginia, is just southeast of the bright region called Xanadu and is visible to multiple instruments on the Cassini spacecraft.
The 483-kilometer-wide (300-mile) region may be a "hot" spot -- an area possibly warmed by a recent asteroid impact or by a mixture of water ice and ammonia from a warm interior, oozing out of an ice volcano onto colder surrounding terrain. Other possibilities for the unusual bright spot include landscape features holding clouds in place or unusual materials on the surface.
"At first glance, I thought the feature looked strange, almost out of place," said Dr. Robert H. Brown, team leader of the Cassini visual and infrared mapping spectrometer and professor at the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, University of Arizona, Tucson. "After thinking a bit, I speculated that it was a hot spot. In retrospect, that might not be the best hypothesis. But the spot is no less intriguing."
The Cassini spacecraft flew by Titan on March 31 and April 16. Its visual and infrared mapping spectrometer, using the longest, reddest wavelengths that the spectrometer sees, observed the spot, the brightest area ever observed on Titan.
Red Spot on Titan
Cassini's imaging cameras saw a bright, 550-kilometer-wide (345-mile) semi-circle at visible wavelengths at this same location on Cassini's December 2004 and February 2005 Titan flybys. "It seems clear that both instruments are detecting the same basic feature on or controlled by Titan's surface," said Dr. Alfred S. McEwen, Cassini imaging team scientist, also of the University of Arizona. "This bright patch may be due to an impact event, landslide, cryovolcanism or atmospheric processes. Its distinct color and brightness suggest that it may have formed relatively recently."
Other bright spots have been seen on Titan, but all have been transient features that move or disappear within hours, and have different spectral (color) properties than this feature. This spot is persistent in both its color and location. "It's possible that the visual and infrared spectrometer is seeing a cloud that is topographically controlled by something on the surface, and that this weird, semi-circular feature is causing this cloud," said Dr. Elizabeth Turtle, Cassini imaging team associate, also from the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory.
"If the spot is a cloud, then its longevity and stability imply that it is controlled by the surface. Such a cloud might result from airflow across low mountains or outgassing caused by geologic activity," said Jason Barnes, a postdoctoral researcher working with the visual and infrared mapping spectrometer team at the University of Arizona.
The spot could be reflected light from a patch of terrain made up of some exotic surface material. "Titan's surface seems to be mostly dirty ice. The bright spot might be a region with different surface composition, or maybe a thin surface deposit of non-icy material," Barnes added.
Scientists have also considered that the spot might be mountains. If so, they'd have to be much higher than the 100-meter-high (300-foot) hills Cassini's radar altimeter has seen so far. Scientists doubt that Titan's crust could support such high mountains.
The visual and infrared mapping spectrometer team will be able to test the hot spot hypothesis on the July 2, 2006, Titan flyby, when they take nighttime images of the same area. If the spot glows at night, researchers will know it's hot.
For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission visit http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov . For additional images visit the visual and infrared mapping spectrometer page at http://wwwvims.lpl.arizona.edu and the Cassini imaging team homepage http://ciclops.org .
The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter and its two onboard cameras were designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The visual and infrared mapping spectrometer team is based at the University of Arizona. The imaging team is based at the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Co.
Contacts:
Carolina Martinez (818) 354-9382
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
Lori Stiles (520) 626-4402
University of Arizona News Service, Tucson
Preston Dyches (720) 974-5859
Cassini Imaging Central Laboratory for Operations
Space Science Institute, Boulder, Colo.
NEWS RELEASE: 2005-086
European Commission tables first elements for a European Space Policy
European Space Policy,
23 May 2005.
The European Commission has now outlined the first elements for a European Space Policy, which is expected to be devised and approved before the end of 2005. Today’s communication (COM(2005)208 final: identifies the roles and responsibilities in space policy of the EU, Member States, the European Space Agency (ESA) and other stakeholders and the relevant funding sources and instruments. The Commission also specifies priorities, funding principles and an approach to developing a broad industry policy for Europe as a whole.
(Photo: A photo of the Earth taken by ESA astronaut André Kuipers out of the window of the Soyuz capsule. - Copyright ESA Portal Multimedia Gallery)
In particular, Galileo remains a priority for the EU and Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES) is proposed to become the second EU flagship. In the context of the “i2010” (European Information Society in 2010) initiative, long term research into satellite communications technologies will remain significant. ESA will focus on exploration of space and on the basic tools on which exploitation and exploration of space depend: access to space, scientific knowledge and space technologies. Member States in the ‘Space Council’ have been invited to introduce their national programme priorities in order to contribute to the preparation of the European Space Programme.
The costs of these priorities for the EU, ESA and Member State national programmes will be identified in the coming months and be subject to normal budgetary and programmatic approval procedures.
Europe should further build up its space partnership with Russia; maintain and develop its longstanding cooperation with the United States and continue cooperation actions in Eastern and Southern neighbour countries and developing countries.
The EU will contribute to the financing of space-related activities through different sources: funding for Galileo primarily from the trans-European networks (TEN) programme; funding for GMES from the 7th Framework Programme (FP 7), particularly the Security and Space, theme but also the Information and Communication Technologies theme; the latter also will support satellite communications research, horizontal FP7 Specific Programmes and the Competitiveness and Innovation Programme will be applicable in several areas, a range of user policies which require space-based services will make provision for operational budgets.
The implementation of the European Space Policy shall be accompanied by the development of:
(a) a sector-specific industrial policy, enabling Europe to ensure the industrial and
critical technological sources and competences required and, at the same time,
a globally competitive space industry;
(b) a policy on international cooperation which meets both wider geopolitical
objectives of European external relations policies, including neighbourhood
policy, and the effective day-to-day operation of space systems;
(c) instruments for investing in programmes and for ensuring their efficient management.
The preliminary elements will be discussed at the Space Council planned for 6- 7 June 2005 in Luxembourg; the full space policy and space programme will be presented to Member States at the following Space Council meeting anticipated at the end of November 2005.
23 May 2005.
The European Commission has now outlined the first elements for a European Space Policy, which is expected to be devised and approved before the end of 2005. Today’s communication (COM(2005)208 final: identifies the roles and responsibilities in space policy of the EU, Member States, the European Space Agency (ESA) and other stakeholders and the relevant funding sources and instruments. The Commission also specifies priorities, funding principles and an approach to developing a broad industry policy for Europe as a whole.
(Photo: A photo of the Earth taken by ESA astronaut André Kuipers out of the window of the Soyuz capsule. - Copyright ESA Portal Multimedia Gallery)
In particular, Galileo remains a priority for the EU and Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES) is proposed to become the second EU flagship. In the context of the “i2010” (European Information Society in 2010) initiative, long term research into satellite communications technologies will remain significant. ESA will focus on exploration of space and on the basic tools on which exploitation and exploration of space depend: access to space, scientific knowledge and space technologies. Member States in the ‘Space Council’ have been invited to introduce their national programme priorities in order to contribute to the preparation of the European Space Programme.
The costs of these priorities for the EU, ESA and Member State national programmes will be identified in the coming months and be subject to normal budgetary and programmatic approval procedures.
Europe should further build up its space partnership with Russia; maintain and develop its longstanding cooperation with the United States and continue cooperation actions in Eastern and Southern neighbour countries and developing countries.
The EU will contribute to the financing of space-related activities through different sources: funding for Galileo primarily from the trans-European networks (TEN) programme; funding for GMES from the 7th Framework Programme (FP 7), particularly the Security and Space, theme but also the Information and Communication Technologies theme; the latter also will support satellite communications research, horizontal FP7 Specific Programmes and the Competitiveness and Innovation Programme will be applicable in several areas, a range of user policies which require space-based services will make provision for operational budgets.
The implementation of the European Space Policy shall be accompanied by the development of:
(a) a sector-specific industrial policy, enabling Europe to ensure the industrial and
critical technological sources and competences required and, at the same time,
a globally competitive space industry;
(b) a policy on international cooperation which meets both wider geopolitical
objectives of European external relations policies, including neighbourhood
policy, and the effective day-to-day operation of space systems;
(c) instruments for investing in programmes and for ensuring their efficient management.
The preliminary elements will be discussed at the Space Council planned for 6- 7 June 2005 in Luxembourg; the full space policy and space programme will be presented to Member States at the following Space Council meeting anticipated at the end of November 2005.
Recommendation to Establish UN Agency for UFO Research
UN General Assembly decision 33/426, 1978.
United Nations
Summary: At its 87th plenary meeting, on 18 December 1978, the UN General Assembly, on the recommendation of the Special Political Committee recommended the 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.
UN General Assembly decision 33/426, 1978
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
At its 87th plenary meeting, on 18 December 1978, the General Assembly,on the recommendation of the Special Political Committee adoptedthe following text as representing the consensus of the membersof the Assembly:
"1. The General Assembly has taken note of the statements made,
and draft resolutions submitted, by Grenada at the thirty-second
and thirty-third sessions of the General Assembly regarding unidentified
flying objects and related phenomena.
"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.
"4. The Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space will permit
Grenada, upon its request, to present its views to the Committee
at its session in 1979. the committee's deliberation will be included
in its report which will be considered by the General Assembly
at its thirty-fourth session."
------------------------------------------------------------------
UN Outer Space Office Background
THE UNITED NATIONS ROLE IN SPACE
The United Nations has been a forum for international discussions
relating to space activities and the environment for many years.
But in the last few years, like many other organizations, it has
paid increasing attention to the need to protect the environment,
including the space environment.
The work of the United Nations relating to space activities and
the environment focuses on the promotion of international cooperation
in the use of space technology for monitoring the terrestrial environmental;
and working to ensure that space activities do not themselves cause
damage to the space or Earth environment.
The efforts of the United Nations to promote international cooperation
in space fall into two rather different categories. One is the
negotiation of international political and legal agreements. For
these efforts, the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space
and its Legal Subcommittee are the primary forums, and the major
participants are the space powers. The developing countries with
space programmes, including Brazil, China and India, are playing
an increasingly active role in the international policy debates,
in particular with respect to the space and Earth environments.
The second category of United Nations space activities is the
provision of technical assistance to developing countries, mainly
through the Programme on Space Applications. This Programme is
overseen by the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space,
and the major participants are, of course, the developing countries.
Efforts to promote the use of space technology for monitoring
and protecting the terrestrial environment fall mainly into this category.
The United Nations monitoring role has focused on education and
training for developing countries. The Office for Outer Space Affairs,
through its Programme on Space Applications, organizes short seminars,
workshops and training courses and arranges for fellowships for
long-term education through institutions in countries with advanced
facilities. Since its inception in 1970, this Programme has concentrated
its efforts on Remote Sensing of the Earth, Life Sciences, Space
Transportation Systems, Planetary Exploration, and Astronomy.
The fields of planetary exploration and astronomy are commonly
subsumed under the term Basic Space Science.
United Nations
Summary: At its 87th plenary meeting, on 18 December 1978, the UN General Assembly, on the recommendation of the Special Political Committee recommended the 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.
UN General Assembly decision 33/426, 1978
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
At its 87th plenary meeting, on 18 December 1978, the General Assembly,on the recommendation of the Special Political Committee adoptedthe following text as representing the consensus of the membersof the Assembly:
"1. The General Assembly has taken note of the statements made,
and draft resolutions submitted, by Grenada at the thirty-second
and thirty-third sessions of the General Assembly regarding unidentified
flying objects and related phenomena.
"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.
"4. The Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space will permit
Grenada, upon its request, to present its views to the Committee
at its session in 1979. the committee's deliberation will be included
in its report which will be considered by the General Assembly
at its thirty-fourth session."
------------------------------------------------------------------
UN Outer Space Office Background
THE UNITED NATIONS ROLE IN SPACE
The United Nations has been a forum for international discussions
relating to space activities and the environment for many years.
But in the last few years, like many other organizations, it has
paid increasing attention to the need to protect the environment,
including the space environment.
The work of the United Nations relating to space activities and
the environment focuses on the promotion of international cooperation
in the use of space technology for monitoring the terrestrial environmental;
and working to ensure that space activities do not themselves cause
damage to the space or Earth environment.
The efforts of the United Nations to promote international cooperation
in space fall into two rather different categories. One is the
negotiation of international political and legal agreements. For
these efforts, the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space
and its Legal Subcommittee are the primary forums, and the major
participants are the space powers. The developing countries with
space programmes, including Brazil, China and India, are playing
an increasingly active role in the international policy debates,
in particular with respect to the space and Earth environments.
The second category of United Nations space activities is the
provision of technical assistance to developing countries, mainly
through the Programme on Space Applications. This Programme is
overseen by the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space,
and the major participants are, of course, the developing countries.
Efforts to promote the use of space technology for monitoring
and protecting the terrestrial environment fall mainly into this category.
The United Nations monitoring role has focused on education and
training for developing countries. The Office for Outer Space Affairs,
through its Programme on Space Applications, organizes short seminars,
workshops and training courses and arranges for fellowships for
long-term education through institutions in countries with advanced
facilities. Since its inception in 1970, this Programme has concentrated
its efforts on Remote Sensing of the Earth, Life Sciences, Space
Transportation Systems, Planetary Exploration, and Astronomy.
The fields of planetary exploration and astronomy are commonly
subsumed under the term Basic Space Science.
UFOs, THE U.N. AND GA 33/426
John F. Schuessler,
HUFON REPORT Newsletter,
December 1992
Summary: Late in 1978, prominent UFO researchers approached the United Nations with the suggestion to set up some type of international clearing house whereby investigators and researchers would be able to coordinate on an international level scientific research into unidentified flying objects, and to inform the Secretary-General of the observations, research, and evaluation of such activities. The UN General Assembly responded favorably by adopting Decision GA /426. Unfortunately, nothing was done to bring the decision to fruition and it lies dormant to this very day.
Late in 1978, prominent UFO researchers approached the United Nations with the suggestion to set up some type of international clearing house whereby investigators and researchers would be able to coordinate on an international level scientific research into unidentified flying objects, and to inform the Secretary-General of the observations, research, and evaluation of such activities. The UN General Assembly responded favorably by adopting Decision GA /426. Unfortunately, nothing was done to bring the decision to fruition and it lies dormant to this very day.
Early in 1992 Mohammad Ahmad Ramadan, President of the United Nations Parapsychology Society, suggested it was time to reacquaint the United Nations with Decision GA /426 with the intent of forming the agency called for in the Decision. In order to make this happen, he felt it necessary to have a series of presentations aimed at providing an update on the UFO situation. He then proceeded, with the strong support of MUFON's Robert Bletchman, to organize the United Nations Symposium on Extraterrestrial Intelligence and Human Future which occurred on October 2, 1992, just ten days before NASA was to begin it's SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) program.
John F. Schuessler, M.S.
The symposium was not aimed at traditional academia or the media. It was felt that traditional academia has proved to be insufficient in solving problems of this magnitude and needs help itself in having credibility for the future. As far as the media is concerned, it is saturated with UFO data and all of those concerned have already made up their minds - for or against. No UFO witness will make them change their minds, unless they see for themselves. The mission of the symposium, then was not to change people but to network with those who already are willing to listen, especially among the United Nations non-governmental organizations (NGOs) such as Amnesty International, Red Cross, Greenpeace, B'nai Brith, etc. The organizations are the greatest catalyst of change in modern times.
For instance, they fought very hard to force President Bush to attend the Earth Summit in Rio. It was noted that the "old guards" of politics and science would be apprehensive, fearful we were pulling the carpet from under their feet. Therefore, the tone of the symposium was to present the data and leave the audience to decide for themselves, the way I believe it should always be done.
Hundreds of representatives of the United Nations NGOs meet weekly to investigate problems having a worldwide scope. Many of these representatives did attend the symposium and responded favorably. The Dag Hammarskjold Auditorium was filled to capacity.
We were fortunate in having Linda Howe available for a special noon program prior to the symposium, but held in the same auditorium. She provided a Crop Circle Mystery Update in a special hour and a half program.
Symposium speakers were each given one hour to present their message. After a brief introduction by Mr. Ramadan, Stanton Friedman gave an energetic and entertaining presentation entitled "The Cosmic Watergate." I followed with the "Medical and Scientific Evidence." After a short break, the program resumed with a presentation on "The Human Evidence," by Dr. Rauni Leena Kilde, MD. of Norway. Dr. Kilde revealed her own personal abduction experience. The final presenter was Dr. Norma Milanovich, speaking on the "Cosmic- Spiritual Evidence and Experience," using material channeled through her computer.
After a question and answer period by the panel of speakers, an open letter to the Secretary-General, from the panel of speakers, was read aloud to the audience. The letter was to be hand delivered to the Secretary-General on the following Monday.
The UFO mystery is not limited to the United States. It is a worldwide problem. Therefore, it was appropriate to bring this strong message to the United Nations, with the expectation that the UN will proceed to form the UFO agency called for by Decision GA /426. There is hope that it will be done correctly this time.
------------------------------------------------------------
This article originally appeared in the Dec.'92 edition of HUFON REPORT, the newsletter of the Houston UFO Network. For more information call (71) 850-152.
HUFON REPORT Newsletter,
December 1992
Summary: Late in 1978, prominent UFO researchers approached the United Nations with the suggestion to set up some type of international clearing house whereby investigators and researchers would be able to coordinate on an international level scientific research into unidentified flying objects, and to inform the Secretary-General of the observations, research, and evaluation of such activities. The UN General Assembly responded favorably by adopting Decision GA /426. Unfortunately, nothing was done to bring the decision to fruition and it lies dormant to this very day.
Late in 1978, prominent UFO researchers approached the United Nations with the suggestion to set up some type of international clearing house whereby investigators and researchers would be able to coordinate on an international level scientific research into unidentified flying objects, and to inform the Secretary-General of the observations, research, and evaluation of such activities. The UN General Assembly responded favorably by adopting Decision GA /426. Unfortunately, nothing was done to bring the decision to fruition and it lies dormant to this very day.
Early in 1992 Mohammad Ahmad Ramadan, President of the United Nations Parapsychology Society, suggested it was time to reacquaint the United Nations with Decision GA /426 with the intent of forming the agency called for in the Decision. In order to make this happen, he felt it necessary to have a series of presentations aimed at providing an update on the UFO situation. He then proceeded, with the strong support of MUFON's Robert Bletchman, to organize the United Nations Symposium on Extraterrestrial Intelligence and Human Future which occurred on October 2, 1992, just ten days before NASA was to begin it's SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) program.
John F. Schuessler, M.S.
The symposium was not aimed at traditional academia or the media. It was felt that traditional academia has proved to be insufficient in solving problems of this magnitude and needs help itself in having credibility for the future. As far as the media is concerned, it is saturated with UFO data and all of those concerned have already made up their minds - for or against. No UFO witness will make them change their minds, unless they see for themselves. The mission of the symposium, then was not to change people but to network with those who already are willing to listen, especially among the United Nations non-governmental organizations (NGOs) such as Amnesty International, Red Cross, Greenpeace, B'nai Brith, etc. The organizations are the greatest catalyst of change in modern times.
For instance, they fought very hard to force President Bush to attend the Earth Summit in Rio. It was noted that the "old guards" of politics and science would be apprehensive, fearful we were pulling the carpet from under their feet. Therefore, the tone of the symposium was to present the data and leave the audience to decide for themselves, the way I believe it should always be done.
Hundreds of representatives of the United Nations NGOs meet weekly to investigate problems having a worldwide scope. Many of these representatives did attend the symposium and responded favorably. The Dag Hammarskjold Auditorium was filled to capacity.
We were fortunate in having Linda Howe available for a special noon program prior to the symposium, but held in the same auditorium. She provided a Crop Circle Mystery Update in a special hour and a half program.
Symposium speakers were each given one hour to present their message. After a brief introduction by Mr. Ramadan, Stanton Friedman gave an energetic and entertaining presentation entitled "The Cosmic Watergate." I followed with the "Medical and Scientific Evidence." After a short break, the program resumed with a presentation on "The Human Evidence," by Dr. Rauni Leena Kilde, MD. of Norway. Dr. Kilde revealed her own personal abduction experience. The final presenter was Dr. Norma Milanovich, speaking on the "Cosmic- Spiritual Evidence and Experience," using material channeled through her computer.
After a question and answer period by the panel of speakers, an open letter to the Secretary-General, from the panel of speakers, was read aloud to the audience. The letter was to be hand delivered to the Secretary-General on the following Monday.
The UFO mystery is not limited to the United States. It is a worldwide problem. Therefore, it was appropriate to bring this strong message to the United Nations, with the expectation that the UN will proceed to form the UFO agency called for by Decision GA /426. There is hope that it will be done correctly this time.
------------------------------------------------------------
This article originally appeared in the Dec.'92 edition of HUFON REPORT, the newsletter of the Houston UFO Network. For more information call (71) 850-152.
UFO Briefing Document: International Agreements and Resolutions - United Nations
UFO Briefing Document, Don Berliner
Summary: 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.
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 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.
Don Berliner,
Summary: 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.
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 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.
Don Berliner,
Astronaut Gordon Cooper's Message to the UN
Astronaut Gordon Cooper addressing U.N. panel discussion on UFOs and ETs, 1985.
Astronaut Gordon Cooper's Message to the UN:
"I believe that these extraterrestrial vehicles and their crews are visiting this planet from other planets, which are a little more technically advanced than we are 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 interfere with these visitors in a friendly fashion.
We may first have to show them that we have learned how to resolve our problems by peaceful means rather than warfare, before we are accepted as fully qualified universal team members. Their acceptance will have tremendous possibilities of advancing our world in all areas. Certainly then it would seem that the U.N. has a vested interest in handling the subject quickly and properly.
I should point out that I am not an experienced UFO professional researcher - I have not as yet had the privilege of flying a UFO nor of meeting the crew of one. However, I do feel that I am somewhat qualified to discuss them, since I have been into the fringes of the vast areas of 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 west to east over Europe. They were at a higher altitude than we could reach with our jet fighters....
If the U.N. agrees to pursue this project and lend the credibility to it, perhaps many more well qualified people will agree to step forth and provide help and information."
[Astronaut Gordon Cooper addressing a U.N. panel discussion on UFOs and ETs in New York, in 1985; Panel was chaired by then U.N. Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim.
The above message was given to the U.N. by Astronaut Gordon L. Cooper, one of America's original seven Mercury Astronauts. Cooper orbited the Earth for a record 34 hour, 22 orbit flight in the spacecraft 'Faith 7', in May of 1963. He has been outspoken about the need for an open inquiry into UFOs - based on his own personal experience of sighting UFOs in space and the testimony of other Mercury, Gemini and Apollo Astronauts.
Source: Nov. 1988 issue (Vol 1, No. 3) issue of UFO Universe magazine; Condor Books 351 West 54th St., New York, N.Y. 10019]
An astronaut speaks out
by Timothy Green Beckley
"One of the few individuals whose prominence is beyond question has, however, over the past few months, dared to open his mouth and challenge the status quo.
Gordon Cooper was one of America's original astronauts. He helped pioneer this country's space exploration efforts when, aboard a tiny space capsule known as Mercury [Faith] 7, Cooper orbited the Earth for 34 hours, proving that man could live outside our atmosphere for prolonged periods. His patriotism, bravery and respectability go without saying...
Cooper has recently made several public pronouncements concerning his strong belief in UFOs. While a guest on the Merv Griffin Show, Cooper shocked the viewing audiences by speaking for over five minutes on a topic that was only within the past few years often considered too bizarre for polite conversation.
But there were some things that Cooper wouldn't even discuss on the air in front of the curious multitudes.
Luckily Lee Spiegel is a personal friend of Gordon Cooper. They have conferred on several occasions, and while in the company of the man who is bound and determined to crack the 'Cosmic Watergate' which he is convinced exists within the higher echelon of government, the former space traveler is more than happy to talk about his UFO experiences - and they are many.
In the early 1950s, Cooper was assigned to a jet fighter group in Germany. While stationed there, he remembers very vividly the week an entire formation of circular objects passed over the Air Base on almost a daily routine.
'We never could get close enough to pin them down, but they were round in shape and very metallic looking,' Cooper points out. UFOs were to continue to haunt him when the Air Force Colonel was transferred several years later to Edwards Air Force Base Flight Test Center in the California desert.
What happened one afternoon while he was on duty at this military base is evidence enough that the government definitely does keep a lot of secrets when it comes to UFOs!
The incident took place in the late 1950s, either 1957 or 1958 - as Cooper can best recall; and to this day, the photographic evidence of an actual UFO touching down upon the Earth is being kept under wraps.
During this period, Cooper was a Project Manager at Edwards Air Force Base, just three or four years before entering America's space program. After lunch this particular day, Cooper had assigned a team of photographers to an area of the vast dry lake beds near Edwards.
In a taped interview with UFOlogist Lee Spiegel, the former Astronaut disclosed that while the crew was out there, they spotted a strange-looking craft above the lake bed, and they began taking films of it.
Cooper says the object was very definitely 'hovering above the ground. And then it slowly came down and sat on the lake bed for a few minutes.' All during this time the motion picture cameras were filming away.
'There were varied estimates by the cameramen on what the actual size of the object was,' Cooper confesses, 'but they all agreed that it was at least the size of a vehicle that would carry normal-sized people in it.'
Col. Cooper was not fortunate enough to be outside at the time of this incredible encounter, but he did see the films as soon as they were rushed through the development process.
'It was a typical circular-shaped UFO,' he recollects. 'Not too many people saw it, because it took off at quite a sharp angle and just climbed straight on out of sight!'
Cooper admits he didn't take any kind of poll to determine who had seen the craft, 'because there were always strange things flying around in the air over Edwards.' This is a statement Lee Spiegel was able to verify through his own research efforts, having obtained closely guarded tapes of conversations between military pilots circling the base and their commanding officers in the flight tower, tracking the presence of unknown objects.
'People just didn't ask a lot of questions about things they saw and couldn't understand,' notes Cooper, who adds that it was a lot simpler to look the other way, shrug one's shoulders, and chalk up what had been seen to 'just another experimental aircraft that must have been developed at another area of the air base.'
But what about the photographic proof - the motion picture footage - that was taken? 'I think it was definitely a UFO,' Cooper states, as he makes no bones about it. 'However, where it (the object) came from and who was in it is hard to determine, because it didn't stay around long enough to discuss the matter - there wasn't even time to send out a welcoming committee!'
After he reviewed the film at least a dozen times, the footage was quickly forwarded to Washington. Cooper no doubt expected to get a reply in a few weeks' time as to what his men had seen and photographed, but there was no word, and the movie *vanished* - never to surface again....
On coast-to-coast television, Cooper recently made a blockbuster statement that had the telephone lines tied up the next day, as viewers telephoned the stations which carried the syndicated Merv Griffin Show, anxious to find out if their ears had been playing tricks on them the night before.
Toward the end of the talk-show host's interview with the former Astronaut, Merv broke into a secretive tone of voice right on the air, and aimed a hundred-thousand-dollar question at his guest: 'There is a story going around, Gordon, that a spaceship did land in middle America and there were occupants, and members of our government were able to keep one of the occupants alive for a period of time. They've seen the metal of the aircraft and they know what the people look like - is that a credible story?'
For all intents and purposes Cooper should have laughed for assuredly such a speculative story belongs in the category of science fiction or space fantasy. But Gordon Cooper kept a straight face when he replied: 'I think it's fairly credible. I would like to see the time when all qualified people could really work together to properly investigate these stories and either refute or prove them.'
The bombshell had been dropped. Cooper went on to say that from the various reports of UFO contacts and abductions he had been privy to, he was convinced that the occupants of this crashed UFO were 'probably not that different from what we are,' - that they are almost totally humanoid (i.e., have two arms, two legs, a torso and readily identifiable facial features) in appearance.
Taken aback by what Cooper had said over the national airwaves, Lee Spiegel telephoned Cooper's office the following morning and managed to get past his private secretary, though others in the media were getting the cold shoulder.
'Cooper admitted to me that he could have revealed more on the air, but he decided not to play his entire hand because he felt certain that some 'official eyebrows were going to get raised'.'"
[The above article was excerpted from the book "MJ-12 and the Riddle of Hangar 18" by Timothy Green Beckley; 1981; Inner Light Publications P.O. Box 753, New Brunswick, N.J. 08903; p.12 - 14.]
Astronaut Gordon Cooper's Message to the UN:
"I believe that these extraterrestrial vehicles and their crews are visiting this planet from other planets, which are a little more technically advanced than we are 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 interfere with these visitors in a friendly fashion.
We may first have to show them that we have learned how to resolve our problems by peaceful means rather than warfare, before we are accepted as fully qualified universal team members. Their acceptance will have tremendous possibilities of advancing our world in all areas. Certainly then it would seem that the U.N. has a vested interest in handling the subject quickly and properly.
I should point out that I am not an experienced UFO professional researcher - I have not as yet had the privilege of flying a UFO nor of meeting the crew of one. However, I do feel that I am somewhat qualified to discuss them, since I have been into the fringes of the vast areas of 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 west to east over Europe. They were at a higher altitude than we could reach with our jet fighters....
If the U.N. agrees to pursue this project and lend the credibility to it, perhaps many more well qualified people will agree to step forth and provide help and information."
[Astronaut Gordon Cooper addressing a U.N. panel discussion on UFOs and ETs in New York, in 1985; Panel was chaired by then U.N. Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim.
The above message was given to the U.N. by Astronaut Gordon L. Cooper, one of America's original seven Mercury Astronauts. Cooper orbited the Earth for a record 34 hour, 22 orbit flight in the spacecraft 'Faith 7', in May of 1963. He has been outspoken about the need for an open inquiry into UFOs - based on his own personal experience of sighting UFOs in space and the testimony of other Mercury, Gemini and Apollo Astronauts.
Source: Nov. 1988 issue (Vol 1, No. 3) issue of UFO Universe magazine; Condor Books 351 West 54th St., New York, N.Y. 10019]
An astronaut speaks out
by Timothy Green Beckley
"One of the few individuals whose prominence is beyond question has, however, over the past few months, dared to open his mouth and challenge the status quo.
Gordon Cooper was one of America's original astronauts. He helped pioneer this country's space exploration efforts when, aboard a tiny space capsule known as Mercury [Faith] 7, Cooper orbited the Earth for 34 hours, proving that man could live outside our atmosphere for prolonged periods. His patriotism, bravery and respectability go without saying...
Cooper has recently made several public pronouncements concerning his strong belief in UFOs. While a guest on the Merv Griffin Show, Cooper shocked the viewing audiences by speaking for over five minutes on a topic that was only within the past few years often considered too bizarre for polite conversation.
But there were some things that Cooper wouldn't even discuss on the air in front of the curious multitudes.
Luckily Lee Spiegel is a personal friend of Gordon Cooper. They have conferred on several occasions, and while in the company of the man who is bound and determined to crack the 'Cosmic Watergate' which he is convinced exists within the higher echelon of government, the former space traveler is more than happy to talk about his UFO experiences - and they are many.
In the early 1950s, Cooper was assigned to a jet fighter group in Germany. While stationed there, he remembers very vividly the week an entire formation of circular objects passed over the Air Base on almost a daily routine.
'We never could get close enough to pin them down, but they were round in shape and very metallic looking,' Cooper points out. UFOs were to continue to haunt him when the Air Force Colonel was transferred several years later to Edwards Air Force Base Flight Test Center in the California desert.
What happened one afternoon while he was on duty at this military base is evidence enough that the government definitely does keep a lot of secrets when it comes to UFOs!
The incident took place in the late 1950s, either 1957 or 1958 - as Cooper can best recall; and to this day, the photographic evidence of an actual UFO touching down upon the Earth is being kept under wraps.
During this period, Cooper was a Project Manager at Edwards Air Force Base, just three or four years before entering America's space program. After lunch this particular day, Cooper had assigned a team of photographers to an area of the vast dry lake beds near Edwards.
In a taped interview with UFOlogist Lee Spiegel, the former Astronaut disclosed that while the crew was out there, they spotted a strange-looking craft above the lake bed, and they began taking films of it.
Cooper says the object was very definitely 'hovering above the ground. And then it slowly came down and sat on the lake bed for a few minutes.' All during this time the motion picture cameras were filming away.
'There were varied estimates by the cameramen on what the actual size of the object was,' Cooper confesses, 'but they all agreed that it was at least the size of a vehicle that would carry normal-sized people in it.'
Col. Cooper was not fortunate enough to be outside at the time of this incredible encounter, but he did see the films as soon as they were rushed through the development process.
'It was a typical circular-shaped UFO,' he recollects. 'Not too many people saw it, because it took off at quite a sharp angle and just climbed straight on out of sight!'
Cooper admits he didn't take any kind of poll to determine who had seen the craft, 'because there were always strange things flying around in the air over Edwards.' This is a statement Lee Spiegel was able to verify through his own research efforts, having obtained closely guarded tapes of conversations between military pilots circling the base and their commanding officers in the flight tower, tracking the presence of unknown objects.
'People just didn't ask a lot of questions about things they saw and couldn't understand,' notes Cooper, who adds that it was a lot simpler to look the other way, shrug one's shoulders, and chalk up what had been seen to 'just another experimental aircraft that must have been developed at another area of the air base.'
But what about the photographic proof - the motion picture footage - that was taken? 'I think it was definitely a UFO,' Cooper states, as he makes no bones about it. 'However, where it (the object) came from and who was in it is hard to determine, because it didn't stay around long enough to discuss the matter - there wasn't even time to send out a welcoming committee!'
After he reviewed the film at least a dozen times, the footage was quickly forwarded to Washington. Cooper no doubt expected to get a reply in a few weeks' time as to what his men had seen and photographed, but there was no word, and the movie *vanished* - never to surface again....
On coast-to-coast television, Cooper recently made a blockbuster statement that had the telephone lines tied up the next day, as viewers telephoned the stations which carried the syndicated Merv Griffin Show, anxious to find out if their ears had been playing tricks on them the night before.
Toward the end of the talk-show host's interview with the former Astronaut, Merv broke into a secretive tone of voice right on the air, and aimed a hundred-thousand-dollar question at his guest: 'There is a story going around, Gordon, that a spaceship did land in middle America and there were occupants, and members of our government were able to keep one of the occupants alive for a period of time. They've seen the metal of the aircraft and they know what the people look like - is that a credible story?'
For all intents and purposes Cooper should have laughed for assuredly such a speculative story belongs in the category of science fiction or space fantasy. But Gordon Cooper kept a straight face when he replied: 'I think it's fairly credible. I would like to see the time when all qualified people could really work together to properly investigate these stories and either refute or prove them.'
The bombshell had been dropped. Cooper went on to say that from the various reports of UFO contacts and abductions he had been privy to, he was convinced that the occupants of this crashed UFO were 'probably not that different from what we are,' - that they are almost totally humanoid (i.e., have two arms, two legs, a torso and readily identifiable facial features) in appearance.
Taken aback by what Cooper had said over the national airwaves, Lee Spiegel telephoned Cooper's office the following morning and managed to get past his private secretary, though others in the media were getting the cold shoulder.
'Cooper admitted to me that he could have revealed more on the air, but he decided not to play his entire hand because he felt certain that some 'official eyebrows were going to get raised'.'"
[The above article was excerpted from the book "MJ-12 and the Riddle of Hangar 18" by Timothy Green Beckley; 1981; Inner Light Publications P.O. Box 753, New Brunswick, N.J. 08903; p.12 - 14.]
The 100 Most Influential People in Ufology Today
By FATE Magazine
FATE Magazine - 2005 UFO Special
Dan Akroyd , actor, has a long-held fascination with UFO phenomena, and was named as MUFON’s official Hollywood Consultant in 2004. In a recent interview about his newly bestowed title, Akroyd commented, “There’s footage (on MUFONs website) of some of the stuff that we’re getting out of California, some objects that are very credible.” His fame, influence, and public pro-UFO comments easily land him a spot on Fate’s 100 Most Important People in Ufology list.
Jan Aldrich is the coordinator of PROJECT 1947, a worldwide effort to document the origins of the modern UFO phenomenon. Aldrich’s project has compiled a massive amount of data ranging from government documents, newspaper stories, magazine clippings, and other documents. Much of the material gathered by PROJECT 1947 is on display at their website www.project1947.com .
Stephen Bassett is the United States’ only congressional UFO lobbyist. He is the founder of the Paradigm Research Group and Executive Director of the Extraterrestrial Phenomena Political Action Committee (X-PPAC). Bassett also runs the popular Paradigm Clock website and is a frequent guest on radio talk shows around the country. In 2002, he ran as an independent in the congressional campaign for the 8 th District of Maryland. Bassett’s annual X-Conference in Washington, D.C., is widely regarded as one of the most important annual gatherings of ufologists in the United States.
Timothy Green Beckley , “Mr. UFO,” is a prolific author and publisher of UFO books, and the force behind the popular website www.conspiracyjournal.com . Beckley’s take on UFOs? “Some UFOs may be interplanetary craft, but the majority have to be placed in some other category. During radio and TV interviews the host always asks about my opinion on UFOs. I always tell him it doesn’t matter what my opinion is, UFOs act independently of my beliefs or anyone else’s!”
Art Bell . When it comes to influential people in contemporary ufology, this late-night talk show host finds himself near the top of the heap. From his one-man broadcasting center in Pahrump, Nevada, Bell hosts the weekend edition of Coast to Coast AM, one of the most successful overnight talk radio shows in history. The creator and original weeknight host of Coast to Coast AM, Art Bell made the show wildly popular around the world, exploring such topics as UFOs, remote viewing, crop circles, cattle mutilations, conspiracy theories, and more. Bell retired from the show he made famous in 2000, but eventually returned in 2003 to become Coast’s weekend host.
Don Berliner serves as chairman of the Fund for UFO Research and is co-author of the recent book Crash at Corona, along with fellow ufologist Stanton Friedman. He is the author of numerous books and articles on aviation.
William Birnes is a best-selling author (The Day After Roswell), a New York literary publishing agent who has written and edited more than 25 books and encyclopedias, and publisher of UFO Magazine.
Greg Bishop is the editor of The Excluded Middle, a quarterly publication that brings readers articles on UFOs and general Fortean topics. His work has also appeared in UFO Magazine, Magical Blend, and Fortean Times. Bishop’s latest book is Project Beta: The Story of Paul Bennewitz, National Security, and the Creation of a Modern UFO Myth.
Errol Bruce-Knapp has worked in broadcast media for over 45 years and is the host of Strange Days Indeed, a Toronto, Ontario, UFO radio show. He’s been intrigued by UFOs for many years and got involved, on an almost full-time basis, in 1993 when he got his first computer and joined the Ontario chapter of MUFON. His website, www.virtuallystrange.com , is the online meeting place of choice for many of today’s top ufologists.
Larry Bryant operates the Washington, D.C., office of the UFO group Citizens Against UFO Secrecy (CAUS). Recently retired after a 36-year career in writing and editing for U. S. Army publications, Bryant says, “My government career paralleled my ufological pursuits; not always amicably. That certainly related to my having filed more UFO-related lawsuits in federal court than has anyone else in the entire universe.” Bryant’s UFO beliefs fall into the traditional “UFOs as mechanical craft created by extraterrestrial biological entities” category. He says, “If the hard-core evidence of UFO reality (i.e., ‘some UFOs represent somebody else’s spaceships’) were to be weighed by a grand jury, I have little doubt that an indictment would be handed down, an indictment shaming and rebuking the high priests of Scientism.”
Grant Cameron is one of Canada’s leading ufologists. He has studied and written extensively about Wilbert Smith, head of the Canadian government’s UFO investigation, Project Magnet. His most recent research involves U.S. presidents and UFOs. Cameron is, perhaps, most famous for a question he posed to U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney about UFOs on a live radio show in 2001: “Have you ever been briefed on the subject of UFOs, and if you have, when was it and what were you told?” Cheney replied, jokingly, and semi-mysteriously, “Well, if I had been briefed on it, I’m sure it was probably classified and I couldn’t talk about it.”
Mark Carlotto , professional imaging expert, is one of the foremost investigators of Martian anomalies, having written numerous books, articles, analyses, and peer-reviewed papers on the subject. Carlotto currently serves as editor-in-chief of New Frontiers in Science, an online journal that examines unexplained and controversial phenomena.
Jerome Clark is a former editor-in-chief of Fate, former vice-president and current board member of the J. Allen Hynek Center for UFO Studies, editor of the quarterly publication The International UFO Reporter, and author of reams of UFO articles, papers, reviews, and books. His three-volume UFO Encyclopedia encompasses nearly every conceivable aspect of the UFO phenomena and is widely considered a classic.
Dwight Connelly has been editor of theMUFON UFO Journal since 1997 and is the editor of The World’s Best UFO Cases, one of the best UFO titles in print.
Scott Corrales is the editor of Inexplicata: The Journal of Hispanic Ufology, and of course, a frequent contributor to Fate. Corrales’ work in illuminating UFO reports out of Latin America has been invaluable to the field of ufology. Many of today’s best UFO reports are coming from this corner of the globe, and without his important reporting, many of these sightings would likely go unnoticed in the English-speaking world of North American ufology.
Peter Davenport is among the most important people in ufology today. Since 1994, he has been director of the National UFO Reporting Center (NUFORC), which takes daily UFO reports from across North America. Davenport reports on many of the UFO sightings NUFORC receives as a regular guest on Sightings with Jeff Rense and Coast to Coast AM, as well as during lectures and presentations at annual UFO conferences. In addition to being the director of NUFORC, Davenport has served as the director of investigations for the Washington Chapter of MUFON. Davenport has a lengthy and impressive resumé, including work experience as a college instructor, a commercial fisherman, a Russian translator in the Soviet Union, a fisheries observer, and a flight instructor, and political experience as a candidate for the Washington State legislature and the U.S. House of Representatives. Davenport’s recent work involving passive-radar techniques to detect UFOs may take ufology in an important new direction in coming years.
Paul Davids is a major Hollywood player when it comes to extraterrestrial phenomena. He was executive producer and co-writer of the Showtime film Roswell, starring Martin Sheen and Kyle MacLachlan, which was nominated for a Golden Globe as Best Television Motion Picture of 1994. Davids is a frequent speaker at many annual UFO events and has been an active proponent of ufology since his own UFO sighting in 1987.
Lisa Davis has succeeded Jim Moseley as chair of the annual National UFO Conference (NUFOC). Davis has been researching UFO and abduction phenomena for nearly a decade. In 2003, she formed The Foundation For Abduction Research And Support (FFARS) to educate, support, and empower individuals unwillingly involved in the abduction experience.
Preston Dennett is a California-based field investigator for the Mutual UFO Network (MUFON). He has had more than 70 articles published in most of the major UFO publications, including Fate and the MUFON UFO Journal. He is the author of UFO Healings, One in Forty: The UFO Epidemic, Extraterrestrial Visitations, and UFOs Over Topanga Canyon.
Richard Dolan , a relative newcomer to ufology, has made a major mark with his first book UFOs and the National Security State, hailed as one of the best UFO titles to hit the market in years when it was released in 2000. Dolan became interested in the UFO problem in 1994, approaching it from the standpoint of his academic training in history and politics. He was intrigued by the fact that mainstream and academic culture continued to treat UFOs as amusement, but that so many intelligent people privately had taken it seriously. Dolan is currently working on the much anticipated follow-up to his first book.
Ann Druffel began investigating UFO reports in southern California in 1957 as a member of the National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomena (NICAP). In 1970, she joined MUFON and the then newly-formed Center for UFO Studies (CUFOS). Druffel has personally researched over 2,000 Los Angeles Basin UFO reports through the years. As a writer, she has contributed over 180 articles on various aspects of the UFO enigma to numerous UFO journals and magazines and she has also written books, including How to Defend Yourself Against Alien Abuctions, and her latest, Firestorm, a biography of scientist and UFO researcher Dr. James McDonald.
Don and Vicki Ecker are the husband and wife team behind UFO Magazine, a bi-monthly publication dedicated to bring readers the best in all things UFO-related. Don has been the director of research for UFO Magazine since 1988. Vicki is the magazine’s editor-in-chief. A retired law enforcement officer, Don Ecker broke the STS-48 space shuttle UFO encounter on NBC and CNN. During the 1990’s he wrote the “Whistleblower” series for UFO Magazine detailing the stories of John Lear, Bob Lazar, and Bill Cooper. Together, Don and Vicki Ecker have put a skeptical but honest eye on the UFO subject through their magazine. Both appear at UFO conferences around the world on a regular basis.
Lou Farish runs the UFO Newsclipping Service, which produces a monthly newsletter of UFO stories that have appeared in newspapers around the world. Farish’s newsletter is an invaluable source of credible UFO reports. In addition, he is the organizer of the annual Ozark UFO Conference, held in Eureka Springs, Arkansas.
George Filer , East Coast director of MUFON, is the man behind “Filer’s Files,” a weekly roundup of UFO reports from around the world. “Filer’s Files” appears in the MUFON UFO Journal as well as on the Internet and is required reading for anyone interested in the subject.
Raymond Fowler has worked for decades on the UFO phenomenon, and his contributions to ufology are respected by researchers throughout the world. Fowler’s background includes a tour with the U.S. Air Force Security Service and 25 years with GTE Government Systems. His UFO investigation reports have been published in congressional hearings, military publications, newspapers, magazines, and professional journals in the United States and abroad. Fowler has served as chairman of the National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomena (NICAP) Massachusetts Subcommittee, as an early warning coordinator for the USAF-contracted UFO Study at the University of Colorado, as a scientific associate for the Center for UFO Study, and as director of investigations on the MUFON board of directors. His books include, UFOs: Interplanetary Visitors, The Andreasson Affair, Casebook of a UFO Investigator, The Watchers, The Allagash Abductions, and The Andreasson Legacy.
Stanton Friedman , longtime UFO researcher, author, and lecturer, is in the upper echelon of today’s UFO field. Friedman was employed for 14 years as a nuclear physicist for companies such as GE, GM, Westinghouse, TRW Systems, Aerojet General Nucleonics, and McDonnell Douglas. Since 1967, he has lectured on the topic “Flying Saucers ARE Real!” more than 600 times in 50 states, 9 provinces, and 13 other countries. He is the author of Crash at Corona and Top Secret/MAJIC, and has published more than 80 UFO papers and articles. He has provided written testimony to the U.S. Congress and has appeared twice at the United Nations. In 2002, Friedman was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award in Leeds, England, by UFO Magazine (UK). Friedman believes that UFOs are alien spacecraft, that the subject of flying saucers represents a “Cosmic Watergate,” and that none of the anti-UFO arguments made by skeptics stand up to careful scrutiny. “We are dealing with the biggest story of the past millennium: visits to Earth by alien spacecraft and the successful cover-up by our governments.”
www.v-j-enterprises.com
Lou Gentile is the host of The Lou Gentile Show, a nighttime paranormal talk radio show based in Philadelphia and heard on 36 stations across the country. Gentile has been featured on TV’s Sightings, In Search Of, Unsolved Mysteries, The Discovery Channel, The Learning Channel, and others. Frequent guests on his show include many of ufology’s best and brightest: Whitley Strieber, Stanton Friedman, Brian Vike, Kevin Randle, and more.
AJ Gevaerd is the Editor of Revista UFO magazine, founder and director of the Brazilian Center for Flying Saucer Research (CBPDV), and Brazilian director for MUFON. He has been a UFO field investigator for three decades, personally carrying out close to 1,000 investigations. Respected as a national and international lecturer, Gevaerd has spoken in dozens of cities in his country and in other 29 countries around the world.
Timothy Good , author of the UFO classic Above Top Secret, has conducted worldwide research on the UFO phenomenon spanning more than 20 years. He has lectured at universities, schools, and many other organizations, and has even been invited for discussions at the Pentagon in 1998, and at the headquarters of the French Air Force in 2002. He has also acted as a consultant for several congressional investigations. After years of research, Good has concluded that UFOs are piloted by extraterrestrial entities and that there is a worldwide cover-up of UFO evidence underway by the intelligence communities of virtually every government on Earth. Timothy Good has written a large number of books on the UFO phenomenon, including the aforementioned Above Top Secret as well as Unearthly Disclosure, Alien Base, and Alien Liaisons.
Stan Gordon has been conducting on-scene investigations of mysterious phenomena in Pennsylvania since 1965. Gordon was the founder and director of the Pennsylvania Association for the Study of the Unexplained (PASU) and founder of the Westmoreland County UFO Study Group, which later became the Pennsylvania Center for UFO Research. Gordon also served as the Pennsylvania state director of MUFON for many years and in 1978, he became the first recipient of the annual MUFON Meritorious Achievement in a UFO Investigation award. He has written numerous articles on the unexplained covering topics from UFOs to cryptozoology in such publications as Skylook, the MUFON UFO Journal, Pursuit, and The Gate. Gordon’s most prominent UFO research involves the Kecksburg, Pennsylvania, UFO case. In 1998, he released a video documentary on the case called, “Kecksburg: The Untold Story.” His work on the Kecksburg UFO case was also featured in the Sci-Fi Channel’s recent documentaries, “The New Roswell: Kecksburg Exposed” and “The Kecksburg UFO: New Evidence.”
John Greenewald broke into the UFO scene as a child prodigy when he was featured in Whitley Strieber’s primetime NBC special “Confirmation” in 1998. Now a seasoned UFO researcher, Greenewald runs the website www.blackvault.com , which is among the most popular UFO sites in the world. Within its pages, visitors can find thousands of previously classified government documents relating to UFOs which Greenewald has obtained through the Freedom of Information Act. He has written a regular column for UFO Magazine, as well as articles for Fate and the book Beyond UFO Secrecy. Greenewald is a presenter and lecturer at many annual UFO events around the United States.
Steven Greer is the founder and international director of the Center for the Study of Extraterrestrial Intelligence (CSETI). Dr. Greer is also an emergency physician and former chairman of emergency medicine at Caldwell Memorial Hospital. As director of CSETI, he has met with and provided briefings for senior members of government, military and intelligence operations in the United States, including senior CIA officials, joint chiefs of staff, White House staff, senior members of congress and congressional committees, senior United Nations leadership and diplomats, senior military officials in the United Kingdom and Europe, and cabinet-level members of the Japanese government. On May 9, 2001, Greer’s Disclosure Project held a press briefing at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., at which more than 20 military, intelligence, government, corporate, and scientific witnesses came forward to establish the reality of UFOs, extraterrestrial life forms, and resulting advanced energy and propulsion technologies. www.disclosureproject.org
Richard Haines , co-founder of the new UFO organization National Aviation Reporting Center on Anomalous Phenomena (NARCAP), worked at NASA for 37 years as a research scientist in numerous projects, including Gemini, Apollo, Skylab, and the Space Station. His interest in UFO phenomena spans over 30 years, with special focus on sightings by pilots. He has catalogued more than 3,400 aviation-related cases of unidentified aerial phenomena. Unlike many of today’s ufologists, Haines has not yet settled on the extraterrestrial hypothesis as the most likely explanation for the UFO mystery. The disclaimer on NARCAP’s website makes this point clear: “NARCAP is aware of an intense debate regarding the existence, nature and source of so-called ‘UFOs.’ NARCAP Technical Reports and documentation have been used by various ‘UFO’ groups to promote their theories and opinions regarding the existence of ‘alien spacecraft’ and ‘extraterrestrials.’ NARCAP does not endorse any of these claims nor does it encourage this use of its material.”
Leah Haley is among the most credible of all abductees. She is the author of Lost Was The Key, a first-person account of her memories of abductions by what appeared to be both alien beings and military and government personnel. She has been featured on both television and radio across the country, and frequently gives presentations at annual UFO events. Leah is also the author of Ceto’s New Friends (1994), In Heaven (1997), Unlocking Alien Closets (2003), and numerous magazine articles.
Richard Hall is a U.S. Air Force veteran and one of the earliest members of the famed UFO group NICAP. Hall also served as chairman of the Fund for UFO Research from 1993 to 1998. He is the author of several books, including the all-time classics The UFO Evidence and The UFO Evidence, Vol. II. In recent years, Hall has been an outspoken critic of the current state of ufology, resigning from MUFON in protest in 2001. Hall once summed up his feelings during a Computer UFO Network interview: “Ufology mainly is a bunch of amateurs working in their spare time on a problem that would baffle senior scientists (if they ever paid attention) and require tremendous resources if we ever hope to learn what is going on. Our goals should be to increase our professionalism, focus on careful documentation of evidence, educate the public, and promote serious interest among scientists and other important persons whose skills or resources are necessary for a resolution of the problem. (That includes weeding out nonsense from the field.)”
Terry Hansen is a former magazine editor and now an independent journalist with a special interest in scientific controversies and the politics of knowledge. He has followed the UFO controversy for much of his life and has written about it for a variety of media. He is author of the book The Missing Times: News Media Complicity in the UFO Cover-up. He also organized and moderated two symposiums on “The Science and Politics of UFO Research” for the Science Museum of Minnesota in St. Paul.
Larry Hatch runs one of the Internet’s largest and most important UFO databases at his website www.larryhatch.net . His “U Database” contains dozens of maps highlighting UFO sightings throughout the years. Hatch’s years of hard work on the database have produced an invaluable resource for ufologists.
Michael Heiser , a Ph.D. scholar in the field of the Hebrew Bible and ancient Semitic languages, has done translation work in over a dozen ancient languages and dialects, including biblical Hebrew, Greek, Aramaic, Ugaritic, Akkadian, Egyptian, and Syriac. Since publishing The Facade, a work of UFO fiction, Heiser has spoken at the Bay Area UFO Conference, the Ancient of Days Conference, and the X-Conference. Heiser is a frequent guest on Coast to Coast AM and other radio programs. His website is www.michaelsheiser.com .
Michael Hesemann is a historian, an internationally published author, an award-winning documentarist, and an investigative journalist. A German resident, he published and edited Magazine 2000, Europe’s largest circulation magazine on mysteries of the past and present, for two decades. He is an associate member of the Society for Scientific Exploration and has been honored with the Hungarian Colman von Keviczky Medal for his research on the UFO phenomenon. Hesemann was among the first Western researchers to publish and write about the KGB files on anomalous aerial phenomena. He is a regular guest on several radio shows in the United States and Mexico, including Dreamland and 21 st Century Radio. Hesemann’s books include The Cosmic Connections, Beyond Roswell, and UFOs: The Secret History.
Bob Hieronimus is an award-winning artist and host of 21 st Century Radio, a syndicated talk radio show based in Baltimore, Maryland, which covers UFO-related topics on a regular basis.
Richard Hoagland is a former NASA consultant and former science advisor to Walter Cronkite and CBS News. For over two decades, he has been leading a scientific team in an independent analysis of possible intelligently-designed artifacts on the surface of Mars. He is the author of The Monuments of Mars: A City on the Edge of Forever and gives frequent lectures at universities and UFO events across the country. www.enterprisemission.com
Budd Hopkins is the founder of the Intruders Foundation, an organization devoted to research and public education concerning the UFO abduction phenomenon. To date, Hopkins has investigated nearly 1,000 abduction cases. His books include the groundbreaking Missing Time, as well as Intruders and Witnessed.
Linda Moulton Howe is an investigative reporter for the talk radio shows Coast to Coast AM and Dreamland and editor of the website www.earthfiles.com . She has traveled worldwide researching and reporting on strange phenomena. Her books include An Alien Harvest, Glimpses of Other Realities, and Mysterious Lights and Crop Circles. She is a regular speaker at national and international conferences and symposiums concerning UFOs and related phenomena.
J. Antonio Huneeus , a Chilean-American science journalist, is considered one of the world’s top experts on UFOs. He served for many years as international coordinator for MUFON. Huneeus was selected by Laurance S. Rockefeller to co-author a report on the best available UFO evidence that was later sent to members of the United States Congress. He has covered the UFO field for more than a quarter century, his articles having appeared in a variety of newspapers, magazines and journals throughout the world, including Mundo Desconocido in Spain, Phenomena in France, Magazine 2000 in Germany, Planeta in Brazil, Borderland and Super Science in Japan, Anomalia in Russia, and Fate in the United States. He received the Ufologist of the Year award at the National UFO Conference in Miami Beach in 1990, the 1991 annual award of the New York Fortean Society, and the Colman von Keviczky medal in 2000, awarded by UFO Magazine in Budapest, Hungary.
Patrick Huyghe is editor-in-chief of Paraview Pocket Books and editor of The Anomalist, a popular website dealing with all things strange and unknown in the news. Huyghe has written for dozens of magazines, including The New York Times Magazine, Discover, Psychology Today, and Reader’s Digest. His books include The Field Guide to Extraterrestrials and Swamp Gas Times.
David Jacobs is an associate professor of history at Temple University, specializing in 20 th -century American history and culture. Dr. Jacobs began researching unidentified flying objects in America in the mid-1960s and has amassed over 35 years of primary research data and analytical hypotheses on the subject. He has written and delivered many articles, papers, and addresses on the subject of UFO abductions, his primary area of research. Jacobs’ books include Secret Life and The Threat.
Leslie Kean is an investigative journalist and director of investigations for the Coalition for Freedom of Information www.freedomofinfo.org , a newly-formed UFO organization working toward achieving scientific, congressional, and media credibility for the study of unexplained aerial phenomena. Along with director Ed Rothschild, Kean is keeping the heat on government officials to secure the release of official information and physical evidence currently being withheld from the public.
John Keel , perhaps best known by the general public for his connection to The Mothman Prophecies, has been a researcher into strange phenomena for many years. He is the author of numerous books on the unexplained, including Our Haunted Planet, The Eighth Tower, and Disneyland of the Gods. He appears to believe that UFOs are not extraterrestrial and has half-playfully advanced the theory of “ultraterrestrials”—unknown beings who share this planet with us and continually baffle us for their own amusement.
Colm Kelleher is a biochemist with a 20-year research career in cell and molecular biology. He is best known in the UFO community for his work with the National Institute of Discovery Science (NIDS), a private research institute using forensic science methodology to unravel scientific anomalies. Dr. Kelleher has authored 38 peer-reviewed publications, as well as articles in popular magazines such as Omni.
Lynn Kitei . During the evening hours of March 13, 1997, thousands of Arizona residents witnessed a mile-long, V-shaped formation of lights in the skies overhead. The UFO sightings garnered headline news across the entire media spectrum. Dr. Lynne Kitei had been witnessing and documenting the Phoenix Lights for months before this mass sighting occurred, taking hours worth of video and dozens of pictures. Her recent book, The Phoenix Lights, is an exhaustively researched look at the phenomenon, including dozens of astonishing photographs and Kitei’s own take on the wider implications of this still unexplained UFO event.
Phil Klass is the original UFO skeptic. There were others before him, but Klass defined the role. He is thought of by some as a close-minded debunker (and perhaps rightly so), but his influence on ufology cannot be understated. Originally an aerospace journalist, Philip J. Klass went on to found the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal (CSICOP). He has served on its board since the outset, and often contributes to its official publication The Skeptical Inquirer. In addition, Klass has written six books on UFOs, including UFOs: The Public Deceived, and UFO Abductions: A Dangerous Game.
George Knapp is an investigative journalist and video producer for KLAS-TV in Las Vegas. In 1990, he received Best Individual Achievement honors from United Press International for his series about UFOs. Knapp broke the story of Bob Lazar, a self-professed government scientist who claims to have back-engineered UFO technology at Area 51. Knapp has also traveled to the former Soviet Union where he interviewed Russian scientists about UFO research there. Most recently, Knapp filed an in-depth report on Utah’s UFO Ranch.
Kal Korff : Say his name in the presence of any ufologist and you’re bound to get a reaction. Love him or hate him, Korff is a presence in contemporary ufology. He is best known for his book The Billy Meier Story: Spaceship of the Pleiades, an in-depth examination of the now infamous Meier UFO case.
Loy Lawhon is the man behind the plethora of information found on About.com’s UFO Forum. Lawhon has been seeking the truth about UFOs since he read Frank Edwards’ book Stranger Than Science at the age of 12. He is a former MUFON field investigator and state section director. Regarding his website, Lawhon says, “I come to the study of UFOs with a healthy skepticism born of a scientific background and years of work in a technical field. I hope to bring a balance between skepticism and belief to the online study of UFOs and related topics.”
Don Ledger worked as a civil servant, sound engineer, and TV producer-director for the provincial government of Nova Scotia for 34 years. He is the author of The Maritime UFO Files and co-author of Dark Object, an investigation into the Shag Harbor, Nova Scotia UFO incident. He is a regular contributor to the Toronto-based radio show Strange Days Indeed, hosted by Errol Bruce-Knapp, and has been an active UFO investigator for over 10 years.
Roger Leir , podiatric surgeon, has performed nine surgeries on alleged alien abductees in order to remove foreign objects suspected of being alien implants. Dr. Leir is a frequent guest on talk radio shows and has made numerous television appearances. His book The Aliens and the Scalpel helped open an entirely new avenue for abduction researchers to explore.
Michael and Deborah Lindemann : Michael Lindemann is the founding editor of CNI News, one-time senior editor for Future Studies at One Cosmos Network, the San Francisco-based media company founded by Joseph Firmage, and owner of Chancellor Publishing. He is one of America’s most active and well-known lecturers on the subject of UFOs and human-alien contact. In 1994, he co-founded the Institute for the Study of Contact with Non-human Intelligence (ISCNI, Inc.), the first on-line institute devoted exclusively to studying claims of human contact with other intelligent life. ISCNI offers public lectures and private classes with top researchers, plus library archives, a bookstore, news center and public discussion areas. Deborah Lindemann is a certified, registered clinical hypnotherapist. She has a dedicated interest in unusual and mystical experiences, including the UFO abduction phenomenon. Although she says reincarnation/past life therapy and altered states of consciousness originally motivated her studies in hypnotherapy, alien contact cases soon became an unexpected part of her practice. In her opinion, “When you are confronted with these profound experiences, or those who have them, you cannot ignore the reality or the sincerity of those who have traveled this road.”
Bruce Maccabee is, by most accounts, a very capable piano player. He is also one of the most respected UFO researchers in the field today. Maccabee holds a Ph.D. in physics and began work at the Naval Surface Warfare Center in 1972. He has been active in UFO research since the late 1960s when he joined NICAP. He became a member of MUFON in 1975 and was subsequently appointed to the position of state director for Maryland, a post he still holds. In 1979, he was instrumental in establishing the Fund for UFO Research (FUFOR) and was the chairman for 13 years. He presently serves on the FUFOR National Board. Maccabee is the author of The UFO/FBI Connection, and author or coauthor of about three dozen technical articles and more than 100 UFO articles over the last 25 years, including many that have appeared in the MUFON UFO Journal and MUFON symposium proceedings.
Jim Marrs is an award-winning author and journalist whose books include Rule by Secrecy, Crossfire, and Alien Agenda, which is considered by many to be a modern UFO classic.
Jaime Maussan is host of the popular Mexican radio program Extraterrestrials: An Intelligent Phenomenon, heard on 15 affiliates in the 25 largest cities of Mexico and Guatemala. Maussan also works as an investigative journalist for the television show Tercer Milenio that is broadcast via the Televisa Network to all Latin American countries. Maussan’s investigations into the on-going Mexico UFO wave have garnered worldwide attention, and he has been invited to speak at UFO conferences and gatherings around the world.
Billy Meier was born in Bülach, Switzerland, in 1937. For over 56 years, he claims, he has maintained a series of physical and telepathic contacts with extraterrestrial beings who say they come from the Plejares star cluster. Acting as a mediator and spokesperson for the Pleiadians/ Plejarens from planet Erra, Meier imparts their esoteric teachings and wisdom to us. He has taken more than 1,000 of the clearest UFO photos ever seen. Naturally, many people have come forward to claim that the entire phenomenon is a hoax. Underground Video, Inc., for example states that one of Meiers’ alleged Pleiadian beamships, taken in 1981, is really a miniature model made out of an upside-down cake pan, disconnected copper hose fitting, a bracelet, carpet tacks, and various other identifiable objects. The Meier photograph of the beautiful Pleiadian alien, Semjase, turned out to be a photocopy of a model from a Sears catalog. www.figu.org
Edgar Mitchell , Apollo astronaut and sixth man to walk on the moon, is one of contemporary ufology’s most honored and distinguished members. He is the founder of the Institute of Noetic Sciences (IONS), an organization that sponsors research into the nature of consciousness. He is co-founder of the Association of Space Explorers, an international organization founded in 1984 for all who share the experience of space travel. Mitchell is the author of Psychic Exploration: A Challenge for Science and The Way of the Explorer, as well as dozens of articles in both professional and popular periodicals. Mitchell believes governments around the world have concealed evidence of UFO contact. In a recent interview with Soul Travel Magazine, he stated that it is time for officialdom to end the cover-up: “I think it is time (now) to release the constraints on UFOs and extraterrestrial information that has been avoided or hidden by most nations, and/or in agreement with extraterrestrials themselves. The evidence for [their] existence and visitation is now widespread enough that enormous upheaval of earthly institutions is unlikely.”
Jim Moseley is known as the Court Jester of Ufology by many, El Supremo by some, R. E. Straith by a select few, and far worse by others. He is the founder of NUFOC and editor of the long-running Saucer Smear newsletter, a semi-regular ’zine that covers the personalities that make up ufology. Along with Stanton Friedman, Moseley was one of the original UFO lecturers in the United States, and has given presentations to hundreds of colleges since the 1960s. He has also discussed saucerdom on hundreds of radio and television programs through the years. Moseley is a “skeptical believer” when it comes to UFOs, and doesn’t stridently hold to any one theory to explain their existence. “UFOs as machines piloted by ETs” is far too narrow a theory for his taste. Instead, he has settled on an explanation for UFOs he has termed the “4-D theory.” You can read more about it, and all of his ufological escapades in his book Shockingly Close to the Truth.
Royce Myers , the “UFO Watchdog,” has been on the lookout for frauds and con artists within the field of ufology since 1997. Through his popular website www.ufowatchdog.com , Myers has exposed a number of high-profile UFO cases, including most famously the Jonathan Reed case. Myers was sued, unsuccessfully, by Sean David Morton in 2003 over a series of highly critical investigative articles. Fresh from his victory, Myers went back to work, this time confronting the claims of Ed Dames. “Don’t trip on your open mind” is the UFO Watchdog creed, and to this end, Royce Myers does his best to make sure that all aspects of popular modern UFO cases and the personalities that report on them are uncovered.
George Noory hosts the most popular overnight talk radio show in the world, Coast to Coast AM. Noory took over the weeknight Coast to Coast reins from Art Bell in 2003. As a teenager, Noory joined NICAP and immersed himself in ufology, “so much so that I decided I wanted to go into broadcasting in order to do unusual stories in the paranormal and stories that the mainstream media didn’t want to touch,” he told After Dark magazine. Indeed, his very first broadcast interview, while a young radio reporter for Detroit’s WCAR-AM, was with Roswell expert/physicist Stanton Friedman, with whom he has maintained a lifelong friendship. At age 28, Noory was the youngest major market news director in the country when he was at KMSP-TV in Minneapolis. Years later, his late-night radio program on KTRS in St. Louis, The Nighthawk, garnered the attention of Premiere Radio Networks executives, who were searching for a replacement for the retiring Art Bell. Noory’s penchant for covering paranormal topics with enthusiasm and skill impressed Premiere, and he was brought on board. “Coast to Coast AM may just be the most unusual show I have ever witnessed or been a part of. You really almost have to be born into that arena, I think, in order to handle it. I was very lucky, that’s the way I was guiding my own career. It was this thirst to really get to the bottom of some of these stories that kept pushing me.”
James Oberg is a prominent UFO skeptic, having been involved in a number of heated debates with some of ufology’s biggest proponents, including Don Ecker, Stanton Friedman, and astronaut Gordon Cooper. Oberg worked for 22 years as a space engineer in Houston, where he specialized in NASA space shuttle operations for orbital rendezvous. Oberg has written ten books and more than 1,000 magazine and newspaper articles on all aspects of space flight.
Karl Pflock is an author, consultant, and UFO researcher. He is a contributing editor for Reason, science columnist for Eternity Science Fiction, and contributing editor for Jim Moseley’s Saucer Smear. His articles on UFOs have appeared in Fate, the Fortean Times, Omni, International UFO Reporter, The Anomalist, MUFON UFO Journal, and other U.S. and foreign publications. A popular speaker at UFO gatherings, he was named 1998’s Ufologist of the Year by the National UFO Conference. He has appeared frequently on radio and television and has served as an advisor to the producers of Unsolved Mysteries and Sightings. His latest book is Roswell: Inconvenient Facts and the Will to Believe.
John Podesta served as chief of staff to President Bill Clinton from 1998 until 2001, and is currently a visiting professor of law at the Georgetown University Law Center and a senior fellow at the National Resources Defense Council. As part of the Coalition for Freedom of Information group, Podesta has lent his credibility and power within official Washington circles to the cause of ufology. Podesta has been an outspoken critic of government secrecy, telling reporters at 2002 press conference, “It is time for the government to declassify records that are more than 25 years old and to provide scientists with data that will assist in determining the true nature of the [UFO] phenomena.”
Nick Pope is a British Ministry of Defense official who headed up the ministry’s office for research and investigation of the UFO phenomenon from 1991 to 1994. Although most of the cases could be explained as misidentifications of known objects and phenomena, a core of sightings defied any conventional explanation. Strong evidence emerged suggesting the presence of structured craft capable of speeds and maneuvers beyond the capability of even the most advanced prototype craft operated by the British or American air forces. Pope found numerous instances where UFOs had been tracked on radar, leading to jets being scrambled. There were also cases where there had been terrifying near-misses between UFOs and civilian aircraft. Pope acknowledges the existence of extensive classified British government files on the UFO phenomenon and believes that there should be a full disclosure of all information on UFOs held by governments around the world. “I believe that governments and the military, and indeed private researchers, politicians — whoever — should place everything in the public domain on this issue. Governments can’t, I think, have it both ways. You cannot say on the one hand, as the party line often goes, that UFOs are of no defense significance, and then on the other keep back some of the data. You simply can’t do that. You have to have it one way or the other. And if, as governments consistently say when the politicians probe on this issue or when the media inquire, that there’s really nothing to worry about, then okay, let’s see all the data.”
Harold Puthoff is the director of the Institute for Advanced Studies in Austin, Texas. He is considered one of the premier theoretical physicists in the field of zero point energy and has published several seminal papers in the subject area. He is co-author of the textbook Fundamentals of Quantum Electronics. Puthoff’s latest work involving UFOs appeared in the prestigious Journal of the British Interplanetary Society, in the form of a co-authored paper entitled “Inflation-Theory Implications for Extraterrestrial Visitation.”
Kevin Randle is a former army helicopter pilot and air force intelligence officer, an active national guard member, and a UFO researcher who has been writing about the phenomenon for three decades. He has written or co-written numerous books on the subject, including UFO Crash at Roswell, The Truth About the UFO Crash at Roswell, and A History of UFO Crashes. He has made numerous appearances on television and radio, including Good Morning America Sunday, the Larry King UFO special, and Unsolved Mysteries. Randle’s research has taken him throughout the United States, interviewing witnesses, investigating sightings, and searching for the answers that have eluded so many.
Jenny Randles is a British ufologist, columnist for the MUFON UFO Journal, and author of Alien Abductions, The Complete Book of Aliens & Abductions, The Little Giant Encyclopedia of UFOs, Mind Monsters: Invaders from Inner Space? and Beyond Explanation. Randles had her first UFO sighting as a small child. She became a BUFORA field investigator in 1973 and was promoted to director of investigations in l981, a post she held until 1993. Her articles have appeared in the London Times, The Guardian, New Scientist, and OMNI. She has given lectures and presentations to groups all over the world, including the British Houses of Parliament.
Nick Redfern traces his interest in UFOs back to the late 1970s, when his father related to him an incident he was involved with while serving in the British Royal Air Force. He began writing on the UFO subject in a freelance capacity in the mid-1980s. Since then, Redfern has become one of the world’s best UFO writers, responsible for books such as A Covert Agenda: The British Government’s UFO Top Secrets Exposed, The FBI Files: The FBI’s UFO Top Secrets Exposed, and Cosmic Crashes: The Incredible Story Of The UFOs That Fell To Earth. He also writes for numerous magazines, journals, and newspapers, including Fate.
Jeff Rense hosts the popular late night talk show The Jeff Rense Program, a nationally syndicated radio show that deals with all aspects of the paranormal and UFO related phenomena. Frequent guests include Peter Davenport, George Filer, Brad Steiger, Jim Marrs, Brian Vike, and more.
Peter Robbins has been involved in UFO studies for nearly 30 years as a researcher, investigator, writer, and lecturer. He serves as head of the UFO Media Group of Central Park Media Corporation and is editor-in-chief of the well-known website www.UFOcity.com . In 1978, Robbins served as a research assistant on the United Nations report for the establishment of a UFO department. From 1980 to 1985 he was an investigator for the Scientific Bureau of Investigation, a New York City-based civilian/police UFO research and investigative organization. From 1992 to present, he has served as executive assistant to Budd Hopkins; Intruders Foundation. Robbins is a columnist for UFO Magazine and co-author of Left at East Gate.
Mark Rodeghier has served as President and Scientific Director of the J. Allen Hynek Center for UFO Studies (CUFOS) since 1986. He holds a B.S. in Astrophysics from Indiana University and a Ph.D. from the University of Illinois at Chicago in Sociology. Rodeghier has been active in the UFO field since 1974 and has done research and investigation in a variety of areas, including vehicle interference cases, abduction cases, and physical evidence cases. He has written numerous articles for the Internationl UFO Reporter and the Journal of UFO Studies and was featured prominently on the ABC-TV program “UFOs — Seeing Is Believing.”
Hilly Rose has been examining the paranormal world through radio broadcasts, books, magazines, and the Internet for many years. A seasoned broadcaster, respected by peers and fans alike, Rose honed his talk show skills in California in both the Los Angeles and San Francisco markets where he was one of the first in the United States to pursue paranormal programming on the radio. As the Internet and streaming audio developed, Rose broke new ground by creating a series of daily shows related to the world of paranormal occurrences for Imagine Radio called The I-Files. Currently, he is the host of The Hilly Rose Show, heard exclusively online at www.fatemag.com , and fill-in host for George Noory and Art Bell on Coast to Coast AM.
David Rudiak has a scientific background that includes a doctoral degree in optometry. In the field of ufology, Dr. Rudiak’s main area of expertise is the Roswell saucer crash of 1947, which he has been studying since 1994. He is best known for his work with the Ramey Memo. Using computer enhancements, Rudiak has been working to establish what information the telex photographed in Gen. Roger Ramey’s hand at a press conference held, as Ramey tried to explain away the Roswell crash as a weather balloon. This work on Ramey’s memo was presented publicly for the first time at the Ozark UFO Conference in 2001 and was featured on the 2002 Sci-Fi Channel special on Roswell.
Michael Salla is the author of Exopolitics: Political Implications of the Extraterrestrial Presence. Salla is an internationally recognized scholar in international politics, conflict resolution and United States foreign policy, and is currently a researcher in residence at American University’s Center for Global Peace. Salla launched the web site www.exopolitics.org in January 2003. It has quickly become one the most popular UFO sites on the Internet, attracting interest from those seeking to understand the big picture about the undisclosed extraterrestrial presence and its political implications.
John Schuessler serves as the International Director of MUFON. He was involved in the United States manned space program from 1962 until 1998, working in executive positions for NASA and several private aerospace companies. Aside from his MUFON duties, he is a member of the UFO Research Coalition Board of Directors and an Associate of the J. Allen Hynek Center for UFO Studies. He has authored more than 100 technical papers and articles and is the author of two books: UFO-Related Human Physiological Effects and The Cash-Landrum UFO Incident.
Esen Sekerkarar is a leading Turkish ufologist. She became involved in the UFO field in 1998 with the opening of the Sirius UFO Space Sciences Research Center (SUSSRC) where she worked until 2002. SUSSRC is the first such center in Turkey and it has organized three International UFO Symposiums in Istanbul, where many of the world’s leading authorities have participated as speakers. The Center also created a weekly TV documentary called UFO Reality, co-produced by Sekerkarar, which was broadcast on a national TV channel in Turkey. She is also one of the three founders of the International UFO Museum, which was opened in January 2002 in Istanbul. Esen Sekerkarar has lectured at the San Marino World UFO Congress and the MUFON UFO Symposium. She is also the International MUFON Representative for Turkey. Her reports have appeared on websites and publications around the world, including FATE.
David Sereda has had a lifelong interest in UFOs since experiencing the phenomena firsthand as a child. Between 1995 and 2001, he conducted an investigation of over 400 hours of NASA space shuttle mission video footage. The results of that investigation led to the development of his book and documentary film Evidence: The Case For NASA UFOs.
Seth Shostak is a senior astronomer with the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI). For much of his career, he has conducted radio astronomy research on galaxies, and has published approximately 50 papers in professional journals on this and other subjects. He has also written several hundred popular articles on various topics in astronomy, technology, film, and television. His book Sharing the Universe appeared in 1998. Shostak is a skeptic when it comes to UFOs, “I personally don’t think they are here. If aliens have been visiting the Earth for 50 years, you would think that it would not be so hard to convince a lot of people that that was true. It’s convinced 50 percent of the American public, but it’s convinced very few academics. As an astronomer friend said to me, if I thought there was a one percent chance any of that was true, I’d spend 100 percent of my time on it. In other words, if the evidence were the least bit compelling, you’d have lots of academics working on it because it’s very interesting. To me that says that the evidence is weak from the scientist’s perspective.”
Rob Simone is a UFO researcher, former assistant to the director of Citizens Against UFO Secrecy, and host of the popular talk radio show The Headroom. Frequent guests on his show include Jim Marrs, David Sereda, and Nick Pope.
Derrel Sims , the “Alien Hunter,” has pursued the UFO subject with a passion since his first alien encounter at the age of four. Those first memories are not pleasant ones, and Sims now hunts the entities who once hunted him, his son, and, perhaps, someone you know and love. Sims is a certified hypnotherapist, an international speaker, a licensed private investigator, and a researcher of alleged human/alien encounters. He has made presentations to medical and scientific conferences that provide compelling approaches to alleged human/alien contact events.
Zecharia Sitchin Considered by many to be the father of alternative archeology, Zecharia Sitchin has a deep knowledge of modern and ancient Hebrew and many other Semitic and European languages. He has done years of research on the ancient cultures of Sumer, Egypt, and Mesoamerica. One of approximately 200 scholars on the planet who can read and understand ancient Sumerian, Sitchin has written a series of intriguing books about the history of ancient human cultures and their possible interaction with UFOs and alien beings, including the classic The 12 th Planet, The Wars of Gods and Men, When Time Began, Stairway to Heaven, and The Lost Realms. Born in Russia, raised in Palestine, educated in England, and a leading journalist and editor in Israel for many years, he now lives in New York.
Brad Sparks is a UFO researcher and co-founder of Citizens Against UFO Secrecy (CAUS), the UFO organization that successfully forced the CIA to release 900 pages of government UFO documents in 1978 by using the Freedom of Information Act. Ultimately, CAUS would be responsible for the release of between 7,000 and 8,000 UFO-related documents from a who’s who of official entities, including the Air Force, Coast Guard, Navy, Defense Intelligence Agency, North American Aerospace Defense Command, Federal Aviation Administration, and others.
Steven Spielberg is certainly one of the most influential personalities in the history of film. He is perhaps Hollywood’s best known director and one of the world’s wealthiest filmmakers. He has numerous money-making, critically acclaimed credits to his name, as producer, director, and writer. He is best known within the UFO community for E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial and Close Encounters of the Third Kind, as well as the TV miniseries Taken.
Leo Sprinkle began pioneering research into the UFO abduction phenomenon in the mid-1960s and set the standard for research in this controversial field of study. He founded the Rocky Mountain UFO Conference. As a professor at the University of Wyoming and a therapist, Dr. Sprinkle has conducted over 500 hypnotic regression sessions with individuals looking to explore their possible UFO contact experiences. Among these were many of the most sensational and well-documented cases of our times.
Dennis Stacy was editor of the MUFON UFO Journal from 1985 to 1997. He received the 1995 Donald E. Keyhoe Journalism Award for a six-part series on UFOs that appeared in Omni magazine. He is also the author of The Marfa Lights: A Viewer’s Guide, and, most recently, he co-edited UFOs 1947-1997: Fifty Years of Flying Saucers with Hilary Evans.
Paul Stonehill is a Soviet-born researcher of anomalous phenomena and director of the Russian Ufology Research Center. He has written several books about anomalous phenomena, including The Soviet UFO Files, as well as numerous articles and papers for publications across the globe, including regular contributions to Fate. He been a consultant to the Sightings and Encounters TV shows and has made numerous radio appearances.
Whitley Strieber is the author of Confirmation, The Secret School, The Key, The Wolfen, and The Hunger. He is most famous, however, for his book Communion, a first-person account of his own experiences with the “visitors.” He is the host of Dreamland, a popular online talk show once hosted by Art Bell, and with his wife Anne, is the co-editor of www.unknowncountry.com .
Peter Sturrock , emeritus professor of physics at Stanford University has served as president of the Society for Scientific Exploration since 1981. In 1997, Sturrock headed a panel of nine scientists commissioned by Laurance Rockefeller that sought to determine whether UFOs were worthy of serious scientific analysis. The group concluded that, indeed, the UFO mystery has merit as a serious subject for science. Out of this panel’s discussions came The UFO Engima, a must for every ufologist’s shelf.
Curt Sutherly is a professional journalist with nearly 30 years of experience investigating UFOs and other paranormal phenomena. He is the author of two books, UFO Mysteries and Strange Encounters, and has written more than 100 magazine articles on the subject for such venerable publications as Fate, Psychic World, and Strange Magazine. A Vietnam-era veteran, Sutherly served as a maintenance crew chief on fighter aircraft and was eventually promoted to the rank of sergeant in the U.S. Air Force. He is currently employed by the Department of Air Force in a civil service capacity. Curt Sutherly has been the recipient of numerous awards and decorations for his service, including the Award for Exemplary Civilian Service, presented by the Air Force for his superior performance from 1992–94 and the Civilian of the Year Award, presented by the 360 th Air Force Recruiting Group in 1995.
Rob Swiatek joined the Fund for UFO Research in 1986. He currently serves as secretary-treasurer on the organization’s board of directors. He is also director of the UFO Research Coalition and a business board member of MUFON. He has appeared in several UFO television documentaries over the years and has spoken before numerous UFO conferences. He has undergraduate degrees in both physics and earth science and has been employed for over 25 years with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in Arlington, Virginia, where he works with aeronautics patent applications.
Michael Swords is a professor of natural science at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, Michigan. His teaching centers around human biology, the history and philosophy of science, scientific methodology, and the parasciences, including ufology. His writings have concentrated mainly on topics in ufology, parapsychology, and cryptozoology, and several have been published in the MUFON UFO Journal. Dr. Swords serves as a MUFON consultant, and was in the same capacity for the Aerial Phenomena Research Organization, the International Fortean Organization, and as a member of the advisory panel for the Society for the Investigation of the Unexplained. He is also a board member of the J. Allen Hynek Center for UFO Studies.
Kenn Thomas is the founder of Steamshovel Press, one of the most influential “conspiracy” publishing houses in existence. He is editor of Steamshovel Press magazine and author of The Octopus: The Secret Government and Death of Danny Casolaro, Inside the Gemstone File, Maury Island UFO: The Crisman Conspiracy, and Flying Saucers Over Los Angleles. He has been featured on many radio and television programs including Fox News, The X-Zone, The Jeff Rense Program, and Coast to Coast AM.
Joseph Trainor compiles and edits UFO Roundup, a weekly compilation of UFO related events, sightings, and stories from around the world. You can find UFO Roundup on the Internet at www.ufoinfo.com/roundup .
Robert Trundle is a professor of philosophy at Northern Kentucky University. He has written numerous books on the history of philosophy and the philosophy of science. In addition to having published an article on the extraterrestrial issue in Science and Method in the Netherlands, his book, Is ET Here? No Politically, But Yes Scientifically and Theologically is set for release in May 2005. On the existence of UFOs and extraterrestrial life, Trundle says, “I believe contact was made 50 years ago, and I believe beings from other planets are here now, mainly to study us. There are benign scenarios in which they might be seen as anthropologists coming here out of curiosity. Then there is a more threatening scenario, which is that they’re studying to see if the earth is habitable. An even more worrisome possibility is that they have a hybrid program of sexually mating with humans to strengthen their species. Does ET exist from a political perspective? No, because the government is afraid of the culture shock and public panic. For the government to acknowledge the existence of extraterrestrials here would be to admit it can’t protect us from them.”
Tom Van Flandern is a professional research astronomer who has taught astronomy at the University of South Florida and to Navy Department employees. He has also been a consultant to NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab and done several spots for the Project Universe series on public TV. Dr. Van Flandern is the founder and President of Meta Research, Inc., whose goal is astronomical research wherever promising avenues of advancement are blocked by funding authorities solely because the research results might conflict with an accepted paradigm. He has appeared on PAX-TV’s Encounters with the Unexplained to discuss Mars anomalies and his given numerous presentations on the possibility of artificial structures on the surface of Mars. Van Flandern is the author of the book Dark Matter, Missing Planets and New Comets.
Jacques Vallée has written numerous books on UFOs, several of them bestsellers, analyzing a notoriously ethereal subject as a hard-headed physical scientist, folklorist, and sociologist. He believes there is more than enough solid evidence to make a compelling case for the existence of UFOs. Vallée’s views about UFOs are more exotic and far stranger than what he calls the reigning “nuts and bolts” approach to the subject. Consequently, he’s been attacked by believers so often that he jokingly refers to himself a “heretic among heretics.” As Vallée puts it, “I will be disappointed if UFOs turn out to be nothing more than spaceships.”
Jean-Jacques Velasco has been the Director of SEPRA, the official French government program to study UFOs, since the early 1980s. The program is one of the only ongoing, government-sanctioned UFO investigations in the world. Velasco believes beyond a shadow of a doubt that the SEPRA program has uncovered evidence of the physical reality of UFOs.
Brian Vike is a Canadian UFO investigator and founder and director of HBCC UFO Research. The organization receives hundreds of UFO reports and sightings from across Canada every year. Their website is www.hbccufo.com
Travis Walton is perhaps the best-known abductee in ufology, at least as far as the general public is concerned. His story is recounted in his book, Fire in the Sky, and in the film of the same name (1993). On November 5, 1975, a group of loggers in the mountains of northeastern Arizona saw a strange, bright light in the sky. Walton, one of the logging party, got out of the truck—an act which he regrets to this day—and was blasted by a mysterious bolt of energy. The others fled in terror, and Walton was missing for five days. No one who has heard Walton speak can doubt his sincerity or the traumatic nature of his experience.
Larry Warren is the co-author of Left at East Gate, a firsthand account of the Rendlesham Forest UFO incident. Warren worked as an Air Force Security Specialist at Bentwaters Royal Air Force Base during the time of the December 1980 UFO sightings and was a direct eyewitness to the events that took place there.
Robert and Ryan Wood are a father and son team investigating the so-called MJ-12 documents. Robert Wood had a 43-year career at McDonnell Douglas managing research and development projects and is a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, American Physical Society, and American Society for Psychical Research, the Fund for UFO Research, MUFON, and the Society for Scientific Exploration. Ryan Wood has had a successful career in marketing for 25 years, including jobs with technology giants Intel and Toshiba. Together, the Woods have restored credibility to the MJ-12 UFO documents as an avenue worthy of serious study. Their website is www.majesticdocuments.com
FATE Magazine - 2005 UFO Special
Dan Akroyd , actor, has a long-held fascination with UFO phenomena, and was named as MUFON’s official Hollywood Consultant in 2004. In a recent interview about his newly bestowed title, Akroyd commented, “There’s footage (on MUFONs website) of some of the stuff that we’re getting out of California, some objects that are very credible.” His fame, influence, and public pro-UFO comments easily land him a spot on Fate’s 100 Most Important People in Ufology list.
Jan Aldrich is the coordinator of PROJECT 1947, a worldwide effort to document the origins of the modern UFO phenomenon. Aldrich’s project has compiled a massive amount of data ranging from government documents, newspaper stories, magazine clippings, and other documents. Much of the material gathered by PROJECT 1947 is on display at their website www.project1947.com .
Stephen Bassett is the United States’ only congressional UFO lobbyist. He is the founder of the Paradigm Research Group and Executive Director of the Extraterrestrial Phenomena Political Action Committee (X-PPAC). Bassett also runs the popular Paradigm Clock website and is a frequent guest on radio talk shows around the country. In 2002, he ran as an independent in the congressional campaign for the 8 th District of Maryland. Bassett’s annual X-Conference in Washington, D.C., is widely regarded as one of the most important annual gatherings of ufologists in the United States.
Timothy Green Beckley , “Mr. UFO,” is a prolific author and publisher of UFO books, and the force behind the popular website www.conspiracyjournal.com . Beckley’s take on UFOs? “Some UFOs may be interplanetary craft, but the majority have to be placed in some other category. During radio and TV interviews the host always asks about my opinion on UFOs. I always tell him it doesn’t matter what my opinion is, UFOs act independently of my beliefs or anyone else’s!”
Art Bell . When it comes to influential people in contemporary ufology, this late-night talk show host finds himself near the top of the heap. From his one-man broadcasting center in Pahrump, Nevada, Bell hosts the weekend edition of Coast to Coast AM, one of the most successful overnight talk radio shows in history. The creator and original weeknight host of Coast to Coast AM, Art Bell made the show wildly popular around the world, exploring such topics as UFOs, remote viewing, crop circles, cattle mutilations, conspiracy theories, and more. Bell retired from the show he made famous in 2000, but eventually returned in 2003 to become Coast’s weekend host.
Don Berliner serves as chairman of the Fund for UFO Research and is co-author of the recent book Crash at Corona, along with fellow ufologist Stanton Friedman. He is the author of numerous books and articles on aviation.
William Birnes is a best-selling author (The Day After Roswell), a New York literary publishing agent who has written and edited more than 25 books and encyclopedias, and publisher of UFO Magazine.
Greg Bishop is the editor of The Excluded Middle, a quarterly publication that brings readers articles on UFOs and general Fortean topics. His work has also appeared in UFO Magazine, Magical Blend, and Fortean Times. Bishop’s latest book is Project Beta: The Story of Paul Bennewitz, National Security, and the Creation of a Modern UFO Myth.
Errol Bruce-Knapp has worked in broadcast media for over 45 years and is the host of Strange Days Indeed, a Toronto, Ontario, UFO radio show. He’s been intrigued by UFOs for many years and got involved, on an almost full-time basis, in 1993 when he got his first computer and joined the Ontario chapter of MUFON. His website, www.virtuallystrange.com , is the online meeting place of choice for many of today’s top ufologists.
Larry Bryant operates the Washington, D.C., office of the UFO group Citizens Against UFO Secrecy (CAUS). Recently retired after a 36-year career in writing and editing for U. S. Army publications, Bryant says, “My government career paralleled my ufological pursuits; not always amicably. That certainly related to my having filed more UFO-related lawsuits in federal court than has anyone else in the entire universe.” Bryant’s UFO beliefs fall into the traditional “UFOs as mechanical craft created by extraterrestrial biological entities” category. He says, “If the hard-core evidence of UFO reality (i.e., ‘some UFOs represent somebody else’s spaceships’) were to be weighed by a grand jury, I have little doubt that an indictment would be handed down, an indictment shaming and rebuking the high priests of Scientism.”
Grant Cameron is one of Canada’s leading ufologists. He has studied and written extensively about Wilbert Smith, head of the Canadian government’s UFO investigation, Project Magnet. His most recent research involves U.S. presidents and UFOs. Cameron is, perhaps, most famous for a question he posed to U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney about UFOs on a live radio show in 2001: “Have you ever been briefed on the subject of UFOs, and if you have, when was it and what were you told?” Cheney replied, jokingly, and semi-mysteriously, “Well, if I had been briefed on it, I’m sure it was probably classified and I couldn’t talk about it.”
Mark Carlotto , professional imaging expert, is one of the foremost investigators of Martian anomalies, having written numerous books, articles, analyses, and peer-reviewed papers on the subject. Carlotto currently serves as editor-in-chief of New Frontiers in Science, an online journal that examines unexplained and controversial phenomena.
Jerome Clark is a former editor-in-chief of Fate, former vice-president and current board member of the J. Allen Hynek Center for UFO Studies, editor of the quarterly publication The International UFO Reporter, and author of reams of UFO articles, papers, reviews, and books. His three-volume UFO Encyclopedia encompasses nearly every conceivable aspect of the UFO phenomena and is widely considered a classic.
Dwight Connelly has been editor of theMUFON UFO Journal since 1997 and is the editor of The World’s Best UFO Cases, one of the best UFO titles in print.
Scott Corrales is the editor of Inexplicata: The Journal of Hispanic Ufology, and of course, a frequent contributor to Fate. Corrales’ work in illuminating UFO reports out of Latin America has been invaluable to the field of ufology. Many of today’s best UFO reports are coming from this corner of the globe, and without his important reporting, many of these sightings would likely go unnoticed in the English-speaking world of North American ufology.
Peter Davenport is among the most important people in ufology today. Since 1994, he has been director of the National UFO Reporting Center (NUFORC), which takes daily UFO reports from across North America. Davenport reports on many of the UFO sightings NUFORC receives as a regular guest on Sightings with Jeff Rense and Coast to Coast AM, as well as during lectures and presentations at annual UFO conferences. In addition to being the director of NUFORC, Davenport has served as the director of investigations for the Washington Chapter of MUFON. Davenport has a lengthy and impressive resumé, including work experience as a college instructor, a commercial fisherman, a Russian translator in the Soviet Union, a fisheries observer, and a flight instructor, and political experience as a candidate for the Washington State legislature and the U.S. House of Representatives. Davenport’s recent work involving passive-radar techniques to detect UFOs may take ufology in an important new direction in coming years.
Paul Davids is a major Hollywood player when it comes to extraterrestrial phenomena. He was executive producer and co-writer of the Showtime film Roswell, starring Martin Sheen and Kyle MacLachlan, which was nominated for a Golden Globe as Best Television Motion Picture of 1994. Davids is a frequent speaker at many annual UFO events and has been an active proponent of ufology since his own UFO sighting in 1987.
Lisa Davis has succeeded Jim Moseley as chair of the annual National UFO Conference (NUFOC). Davis has been researching UFO and abduction phenomena for nearly a decade. In 2003, she formed The Foundation For Abduction Research And Support (FFARS) to educate, support, and empower individuals unwillingly involved in the abduction experience.
Preston Dennett is a California-based field investigator for the Mutual UFO Network (MUFON). He has had more than 70 articles published in most of the major UFO publications, including Fate and the MUFON UFO Journal. He is the author of UFO Healings, One in Forty: The UFO Epidemic, Extraterrestrial Visitations, and UFOs Over Topanga Canyon.
Richard Dolan , a relative newcomer to ufology, has made a major mark with his first book UFOs and the National Security State, hailed as one of the best UFO titles to hit the market in years when it was released in 2000. Dolan became interested in the UFO problem in 1994, approaching it from the standpoint of his academic training in history and politics. He was intrigued by the fact that mainstream and academic culture continued to treat UFOs as amusement, but that so many intelligent people privately had taken it seriously. Dolan is currently working on the much anticipated follow-up to his first book.
Ann Druffel began investigating UFO reports in southern California in 1957 as a member of the National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomena (NICAP). In 1970, she joined MUFON and the then newly-formed Center for UFO Studies (CUFOS). Druffel has personally researched over 2,000 Los Angeles Basin UFO reports through the years. As a writer, she has contributed over 180 articles on various aspects of the UFO enigma to numerous UFO journals and magazines and she has also written books, including How to Defend Yourself Against Alien Abuctions, and her latest, Firestorm, a biography of scientist and UFO researcher Dr. James McDonald.
Don and Vicki Ecker are the husband and wife team behind UFO Magazine, a bi-monthly publication dedicated to bring readers the best in all things UFO-related. Don has been the director of research for UFO Magazine since 1988. Vicki is the magazine’s editor-in-chief. A retired law enforcement officer, Don Ecker broke the STS-48 space shuttle UFO encounter on NBC and CNN. During the 1990’s he wrote the “Whistleblower” series for UFO Magazine detailing the stories of John Lear, Bob Lazar, and Bill Cooper. Together, Don and Vicki Ecker have put a skeptical but honest eye on the UFO subject through their magazine. Both appear at UFO conferences around the world on a regular basis.
Lou Farish runs the UFO Newsclipping Service, which produces a monthly newsletter of UFO stories that have appeared in newspapers around the world. Farish’s newsletter is an invaluable source of credible UFO reports. In addition, he is the organizer of the annual Ozark UFO Conference, held in Eureka Springs, Arkansas.
George Filer , East Coast director of MUFON, is the man behind “Filer’s Files,” a weekly roundup of UFO reports from around the world. “Filer’s Files” appears in the MUFON UFO Journal as well as on the Internet and is required reading for anyone interested in the subject.
Raymond Fowler has worked for decades on the UFO phenomenon, and his contributions to ufology are respected by researchers throughout the world. Fowler’s background includes a tour with the U.S. Air Force Security Service and 25 years with GTE Government Systems. His UFO investigation reports have been published in congressional hearings, military publications, newspapers, magazines, and professional journals in the United States and abroad. Fowler has served as chairman of the National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomena (NICAP) Massachusetts Subcommittee, as an early warning coordinator for the USAF-contracted UFO Study at the University of Colorado, as a scientific associate for the Center for UFO Study, and as director of investigations on the MUFON board of directors. His books include, UFOs: Interplanetary Visitors, The Andreasson Affair, Casebook of a UFO Investigator, The Watchers, The Allagash Abductions, and The Andreasson Legacy.
Stanton Friedman , longtime UFO researcher, author, and lecturer, is in the upper echelon of today’s UFO field. Friedman was employed for 14 years as a nuclear physicist for companies such as GE, GM, Westinghouse, TRW Systems, Aerojet General Nucleonics, and McDonnell Douglas. Since 1967, he has lectured on the topic “Flying Saucers ARE Real!” more than 600 times in 50 states, 9 provinces, and 13 other countries. He is the author of Crash at Corona and Top Secret/MAJIC, and has published more than 80 UFO papers and articles. He has provided written testimony to the U.S. Congress and has appeared twice at the United Nations. In 2002, Friedman was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award in Leeds, England, by UFO Magazine (UK). Friedman believes that UFOs are alien spacecraft, that the subject of flying saucers represents a “Cosmic Watergate,” and that none of the anti-UFO arguments made by skeptics stand up to careful scrutiny. “We are dealing with the biggest story of the past millennium: visits to Earth by alien spacecraft and the successful cover-up by our governments.”
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Lou Gentile is the host of The Lou Gentile Show, a nighttime paranormal talk radio show based in Philadelphia and heard on 36 stations across the country. Gentile has been featured on TV’s Sightings, In Search Of, Unsolved Mysteries, The Discovery Channel, The Learning Channel, and others. Frequent guests on his show include many of ufology’s best and brightest: Whitley Strieber, Stanton Friedman, Brian Vike, Kevin Randle, and more.
AJ Gevaerd is the Editor of Revista UFO magazine, founder and director of the Brazilian Center for Flying Saucer Research (CBPDV), and Brazilian director for MUFON. He has been a UFO field investigator for three decades, personally carrying out close to 1,000 investigations. Respected as a national and international lecturer, Gevaerd has spoken in dozens of cities in his country and in other 29 countries around the world.
Timothy Good , author of the UFO classic Above Top Secret, has conducted worldwide research on the UFO phenomenon spanning more than 20 years. He has lectured at universities, schools, and many other organizations, and has even been invited for discussions at the Pentagon in 1998, and at the headquarters of the French Air Force in 2002. He has also acted as a consultant for several congressional investigations. After years of research, Good has concluded that UFOs are piloted by extraterrestrial entities and that there is a worldwide cover-up of UFO evidence underway by the intelligence communities of virtually every government on Earth. Timothy Good has written a large number of books on the UFO phenomenon, including the aforementioned Above Top Secret as well as Unearthly Disclosure, Alien Base, and Alien Liaisons.
Stan Gordon has been conducting on-scene investigations of mysterious phenomena in Pennsylvania since 1965. Gordon was the founder and director of the Pennsylvania Association for the Study of the Unexplained (PASU) and founder of the Westmoreland County UFO Study Group, which later became the Pennsylvania Center for UFO Research. Gordon also served as the Pennsylvania state director of MUFON for many years and in 1978, he became the first recipient of the annual MUFON Meritorious Achievement in a UFO Investigation award. He has written numerous articles on the unexplained covering topics from UFOs to cryptozoology in such publications as Skylook, the MUFON UFO Journal, Pursuit, and The Gate. Gordon’s most prominent UFO research involves the Kecksburg, Pennsylvania, UFO case. In 1998, he released a video documentary on the case called, “Kecksburg: The Untold Story.” His work on the Kecksburg UFO case was also featured in the Sci-Fi Channel’s recent documentaries, “The New Roswell: Kecksburg Exposed” and “The Kecksburg UFO: New Evidence.”
John Greenewald broke into the UFO scene as a child prodigy when he was featured in Whitley Strieber’s primetime NBC special “Confirmation” in 1998. Now a seasoned UFO researcher, Greenewald runs the website www.blackvault.com , which is among the most popular UFO sites in the world. Within its pages, visitors can find thousands of previously classified government documents relating to UFOs which Greenewald has obtained through the Freedom of Information Act. He has written a regular column for UFO Magazine, as well as articles for Fate and the book Beyond UFO Secrecy. Greenewald is a presenter and lecturer at many annual UFO events around the United States.
Steven Greer is the founder and international director of the Center for the Study of Extraterrestrial Intelligence (CSETI). Dr. Greer is also an emergency physician and former chairman of emergency medicine at Caldwell Memorial Hospital. As director of CSETI, he has met with and provided briefings for senior members of government, military and intelligence operations in the United States, including senior CIA officials, joint chiefs of staff, White House staff, senior members of congress and congressional committees, senior United Nations leadership and diplomats, senior military officials in the United Kingdom and Europe, and cabinet-level members of the Japanese government. On May 9, 2001, Greer’s Disclosure Project held a press briefing at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., at which more than 20 military, intelligence, government, corporate, and scientific witnesses came forward to establish the reality of UFOs, extraterrestrial life forms, and resulting advanced energy and propulsion technologies. www.disclosureproject.org
Richard Haines , co-founder of the new UFO organization National Aviation Reporting Center on Anomalous Phenomena (NARCAP), worked at NASA for 37 years as a research scientist in numerous projects, including Gemini, Apollo, Skylab, and the Space Station. His interest in UFO phenomena spans over 30 years, with special focus on sightings by pilots. He has catalogued more than 3,400 aviation-related cases of unidentified aerial phenomena. Unlike many of today’s ufologists, Haines has not yet settled on the extraterrestrial hypothesis as the most likely explanation for the UFO mystery. The disclaimer on NARCAP’s website makes this point clear: “NARCAP is aware of an intense debate regarding the existence, nature and source of so-called ‘UFOs.’ NARCAP Technical Reports and documentation have been used by various ‘UFO’ groups to promote their theories and opinions regarding the existence of ‘alien spacecraft’ and ‘extraterrestrials.’ NARCAP does not endorse any of these claims nor does it encourage this use of its material.”
Leah Haley is among the most credible of all abductees. She is the author of Lost Was The Key, a first-person account of her memories of abductions by what appeared to be both alien beings and military and government personnel. She has been featured on both television and radio across the country, and frequently gives presentations at annual UFO events. Leah is also the author of Ceto’s New Friends (1994), In Heaven (1997), Unlocking Alien Closets (2003), and numerous magazine articles.
Richard Hall is a U.S. Air Force veteran and one of the earliest members of the famed UFO group NICAP. Hall also served as chairman of the Fund for UFO Research from 1993 to 1998. He is the author of several books, including the all-time classics The UFO Evidence and The UFO Evidence, Vol. II. In recent years, Hall has been an outspoken critic of the current state of ufology, resigning from MUFON in protest in 2001. Hall once summed up his feelings during a Computer UFO Network interview: “Ufology mainly is a bunch of amateurs working in their spare time on a problem that would baffle senior scientists (if they ever paid attention) and require tremendous resources if we ever hope to learn what is going on. Our goals should be to increase our professionalism, focus on careful documentation of evidence, educate the public, and promote serious interest among scientists and other important persons whose skills or resources are necessary for a resolution of the problem. (That includes weeding out nonsense from the field.)”
Terry Hansen is a former magazine editor and now an independent journalist with a special interest in scientific controversies and the politics of knowledge. He has followed the UFO controversy for much of his life and has written about it for a variety of media. He is author of the book The Missing Times: News Media Complicity in the UFO Cover-up. He also organized and moderated two symposiums on “The Science and Politics of UFO Research” for the Science Museum of Minnesota in St. Paul.
Larry Hatch runs one of the Internet’s largest and most important UFO databases at his website www.larryhatch.net . His “U Database” contains dozens of maps highlighting UFO sightings throughout the years. Hatch’s years of hard work on the database have produced an invaluable resource for ufologists.
Michael Heiser , a Ph.D. scholar in the field of the Hebrew Bible and ancient Semitic languages, has done translation work in over a dozen ancient languages and dialects, including biblical Hebrew, Greek, Aramaic, Ugaritic, Akkadian, Egyptian, and Syriac. Since publishing The Facade, a work of UFO fiction, Heiser has spoken at the Bay Area UFO Conference, the Ancient of Days Conference, and the X-Conference. Heiser is a frequent guest on Coast to Coast AM and other radio programs. His website is www.michaelsheiser.com .
Michael Hesemann is a historian, an internationally published author, an award-winning documentarist, and an investigative journalist. A German resident, he published and edited Magazine 2000, Europe’s largest circulation magazine on mysteries of the past and present, for two decades. He is an associate member of the Society for Scientific Exploration and has been honored with the Hungarian Colman von Keviczky Medal for his research on the UFO phenomenon. Hesemann was among the first Western researchers to publish and write about the KGB files on anomalous aerial phenomena. He is a regular guest on several radio shows in the United States and Mexico, including Dreamland and 21 st Century Radio. Hesemann’s books include The Cosmic Connections, Beyond Roswell, and UFOs: The Secret History.
Bob Hieronimus is an award-winning artist and host of 21 st Century Radio, a syndicated talk radio show based in Baltimore, Maryland, which covers UFO-related topics on a regular basis.
Richard Hoagland is a former NASA consultant and former science advisor to Walter Cronkite and CBS News. For over two decades, he has been leading a scientific team in an independent analysis of possible intelligently-designed artifacts on the surface of Mars. He is the author of The Monuments of Mars: A City on the Edge of Forever and gives frequent lectures at universities and UFO events across the country. www.enterprisemission.com
Budd Hopkins is the founder of the Intruders Foundation, an organization devoted to research and public education concerning the UFO abduction phenomenon. To date, Hopkins has investigated nearly 1,000 abduction cases. His books include the groundbreaking Missing Time, as well as Intruders and Witnessed.
Linda Moulton Howe is an investigative reporter for the talk radio shows Coast to Coast AM and Dreamland and editor of the website www.earthfiles.com . She has traveled worldwide researching and reporting on strange phenomena. Her books include An Alien Harvest, Glimpses of Other Realities, and Mysterious Lights and Crop Circles. She is a regular speaker at national and international conferences and symposiums concerning UFOs and related phenomena.
J. Antonio Huneeus , a Chilean-American science journalist, is considered one of the world’s top experts on UFOs. He served for many years as international coordinator for MUFON. Huneeus was selected by Laurance S. Rockefeller to co-author a report on the best available UFO evidence that was later sent to members of the United States Congress. He has covered the UFO field for more than a quarter century, his articles having appeared in a variety of newspapers, magazines and journals throughout the world, including Mundo Desconocido in Spain, Phenomena in France, Magazine 2000 in Germany, Planeta in Brazil, Borderland and Super Science in Japan, Anomalia in Russia, and Fate in the United States. He received the Ufologist of the Year award at the National UFO Conference in Miami Beach in 1990, the 1991 annual award of the New York Fortean Society, and the Colman von Keviczky medal in 2000, awarded by UFO Magazine in Budapest, Hungary.
Patrick Huyghe is editor-in-chief of Paraview Pocket Books and editor of The Anomalist, a popular website dealing with all things strange and unknown in the news. Huyghe has written for dozens of magazines, including The New York Times Magazine, Discover, Psychology Today, and Reader’s Digest. His books include The Field Guide to Extraterrestrials and Swamp Gas Times.
David Jacobs is an associate professor of history at Temple University, specializing in 20 th -century American history and culture. Dr. Jacobs began researching unidentified flying objects in America in the mid-1960s and has amassed over 35 years of primary research data and analytical hypotheses on the subject. He has written and delivered many articles, papers, and addresses on the subject of UFO abductions, his primary area of research. Jacobs’ books include Secret Life and The Threat.
Leslie Kean is an investigative journalist and director of investigations for the Coalition for Freedom of Information www.freedomofinfo.org , a newly-formed UFO organization working toward achieving scientific, congressional, and media credibility for the study of unexplained aerial phenomena. Along with director Ed Rothschild, Kean is keeping the heat on government officials to secure the release of official information and physical evidence currently being withheld from the public.
John Keel , perhaps best known by the general public for his connection to The Mothman Prophecies, has been a researcher into strange phenomena for many years. He is the author of numerous books on the unexplained, including Our Haunted Planet, The Eighth Tower, and Disneyland of the Gods. He appears to believe that UFOs are not extraterrestrial and has half-playfully advanced the theory of “ultraterrestrials”—unknown beings who share this planet with us and continually baffle us for their own amusement.
Colm Kelleher is a biochemist with a 20-year research career in cell and molecular biology. He is best known in the UFO community for his work with the National Institute of Discovery Science (NIDS), a private research institute using forensic science methodology to unravel scientific anomalies. Dr. Kelleher has authored 38 peer-reviewed publications, as well as articles in popular magazines such as Omni.
Lynn Kitei . During the evening hours of March 13, 1997, thousands of Arizona residents witnessed a mile-long, V-shaped formation of lights in the skies overhead. The UFO sightings garnered headline news across the entire media spectrum. Dr. Lynne Kitei had been witnessing and documenting the Phoenix Lights for months before this mass sighting occurred, taking hours worth of video and dozens of pictures. Her recent book, The Phoenix Lights, is an exhaustively researched look at the phenomenon, including dozens of astonishing photographs and Kitei’s own take on the wider implications of this still unexplained UFO event.
Phil Klass is the original UFO skeptic. There were others before him, but Klass defined the role. He is thought of by some as a close-minded debunker (and perhaps rightly so), but his influence on ufology cannot be understated. Originally an aerospace journalist, Philip J. Klass went on to found the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal (CSICOP). He has served on its board since the outset, and often contributes to its official publication The Skeptical Inquirer. In addition, Klass has written six books on UFOs, including UFOs: The Public Deceived, and UFO Abductions: A Dangerous Game.
George Knapp is an investigative journalist and video producer for KLAS-TV in Las Vegas. In 1990, he received Best Individual Achievement honors from United Press International for his series about UFOs. Knapp broke the story of Bob Lazar, a self-professed government scientist who claims to have back-engineered UFO technology at Area 51. Knapp has also traveled to the former Soviet Union where he interviewed Russian scientists about UFO research there. Most recently, Knapp filed an in-depth report on Utah’s UFO Ranch.
Kal Korff : Say his name in the presence of any ufologist and you’re bound to get a reaction. Love him or hate him, Korff is a presence in contemporary ufology. He is best known for his book The Billy Meier Story: Spaceship of the Pleiades, an in-depth examination of the now infamous Meier UFO case.
Loy Lawhon is the man behind the plethora of information found on About.com’s UFO Forum. Lawhon has been seeking the truth about UFOs since he read Frank Edwards’ book Stranger Than Science at the age of 12. He is a former MUFON field investigator and state section director. Regarding his website, Lawhon says, “I come to the study of UFOs with a healthy skepticism born of a scientific background and years of work in a technical field. I hope to bring a balance between skepticism and belief to the online study of UFOs and related topics.”
Don Ledger worked as a civil servant, sound engineer, and TV producer-director for the provincial government of Nova Scotia for 34 years. He is the author of The Maritime UFO Files and co-author of Dark Object, an investigation into the Shag Harbor, Nova Scotia UFO incident. He is a regular contributor to the Toronto-based radio show Strange Days Indeed, hosted by Errol Bruce-Knapp, and has been an active UFO investigator for over 10 years.
Roger Leir , podiatric surgeon, has performed nine surgeries on alleged alien abductees in order to remove foreign objects suspected of being alien implants. Dr. Leir is a frequent guest on talk radio shows and has made numerous television appearances. His book The Aliens and the Scalpel helped open an entirely new avenue for abduction researchers to explore.
Michael and Deborah Lindemann : Michael Lindemann is the founding editor of CNI News, one-time senior editor for Future Studies at One Cosmos Network, the San Francisco-based media company founded by Joseph Firmage, and owner of Chancellor Publishing. He is one of America’s most active and well-known lecturers on the subject of UFOs and human-alien contact. In 1994, he co-founded the Institute for the Study of Contact with Non-human Intelligence (ISCNI, Inc.), the first on-line institute devoted exclusively to studying claims of human contact with other intelligent life. ISCNI offers public lectures and private classes with top researchers, plus library archives, a bookstore, news center and public discussion areas. Deborah Lindemann is a certified, registered clinical hypnotherapist. She has a dedicated interest in unusual and mystical experiences, including the UFO abduction phenomenon. Although she says reincarnation/past life therapy and altered states of consciousness originally motivated her studies in hypnotherapy, alien contact cases soon became an unexpected part of her practice. In her opinion, “When you are confronted with these profound experiences, or those who have them, you cannot ignore the reality or the sincerity of those who have traveled this road.”
Bruce Maccabee is, by most accounts, a very capable piano player. He is also one of the most respected UFO researchers in the field today. Maccabee holds a Ph.D. in physics and began work at the Naval Surface Warfare Center in 1972. He has been active in UFO research since the late 1960s when he joined NICAP. He became a member of MUFON in 1975 and was subsequently appointed to the position of state director for Maryland, a post he still holds. In 1979, he was instrumental in establishing the Fund for UFO Research (FUFOR) and was the chairman for 13 years. He presently serves on the FUFOR National Board. Maccabee is the author of The UFO/FBI Connection, and author or coauthor of about three dozen technical articles and more than 100 UFO articles over the last 25 years, including many that have appeared in the MUFON UFO Journal and MUFON symposium proceedings.
Jim Marrs is an award-winning author and journalist whose books include Rule by Secrecy, Crossfire, and Alien Agenda, which is considered by many to be a modern UFO classic.
Jaime Maussan is host of the popular Mexican radio program Extraterrestrials: An Intelligent Phenomenon, heard on 15 affiliates in the 25 largest cities of Mexico and Guatemala. Maussan also works as an investigative journalist for the television show Tercer Milenio that is broadcast via the Televisa Network to all Latin American countries. Maussan’s investigations into the on-going Mexico UFO wave have garnered worldwide attention, and he has been invited to speak at UFO conferences and gatherings around the world.
Billy Meier was born in Bülach, Switzerland, in 1937. For over 56 years, he claims, he has maintained a series of physical and telepathic contacts with extraterrestrial beings who say they come from the Plejares star cluster. Acting as a mediator and spokesperson for the Pleiadians/ Plejarens from planet Erra, Meier imparts their esoteric teachings and wisdom to us. He has taken more than 1,000 of the clearest UFO photos ever seen. Naturally, many people have come forward to claim that the entire phenomenon is a hoax. Underground Video, Inc., for example states that one of Meiers’ alleged Pleiadian beamships, taken in 1981, is really a miniature model made out of an upside-down cake pan, disconnected copper hose fitting, a bracelet, carpet tacks, and various other identifiable objects. The Meier photograph of the beautiful Pleiadian alien, Semjase, turned out to be a photocopy of a model from a Sears catalog. www.figu.org
Edgar Mitchell , Apollo astronaut and sixth man to walk on the moon, is one of contemporary ufology’s most honored and distinguished members. He is the founder of the Institute of Noetic Sciences (IONS), an organization that sponsors research into the nature of consciousness. He is co-founder of the Association of Space Explorers, an international organization founded in 1984 for all who share the experience of space travel. Mitchell is the author of Psychic Exploration: A Challenge for Science and The Way of the Explorer, as well as dozens of articles in both professional and popular periodicals. Mitchell believes governments around the world have concealed evidence of UFO contact. In a recent interview with Soul Travel Magazine, he stated that it is time for officialdom to end the cover-up: “I think it is time (now) to release the constraints on UFOs and extraterrestrial information that has been avoided or hidden by most nations, and/or in agreement with extraterrestrials themselves. The evidence for [their] existence and visitation is now widespread enough that enormous upheaval of earthly institutions is unlikely.”
Jim Moseley is known as the Court Jester of Ufology by many, El Supremo by some, R. E. Straith by a select few, and far worse by others. He is the founder of NUFOC and editor of the long-running Saucer Smear newsletter, a semi-regular ’zine that covers the personalities that make up ufology. Along with Stanton Friedman, Moseley was one of the original UFO lecturers in the United States, and has given presentations to hundreds of colleges since the 1960s. He has also discussed saucerdom on hundreds of radio and television programs through the years. Moseley is a “skeptical believer” when it comes to UFOs, and doesn’t stridently hold to any one theory to explain their existence. “UFOs as machines piloted by ETs” is far too narrow a theory for his taste. Instead, he has settled on an explanation for UFOs he has termed the “4-D theory.” You can read more about it, and all of his ufological escapades in his book Shockingly Close to the Truth.
Royce Myers , the “UFO Watchdog,” has been on the lookout for frauds and con artists within the field of ufology since 1997. Through his popular website www.ufowatchdog.com , Myers has exposed a number of high-profile UFO cases, including most famously the Jonathan Reed case. Myers was sued, unsuccessfully, by Sean David Morton in 2003 over a series of highly critical investigative articles. Fresh from his victory, Myers went back to work, this time confronting the claims of Ed Dames. “Don’t trip on your open mind” is the UFO Watchdog creed, and to this end, Royce Myers does his best to make sure that all aspects of popular modern UFO cases and the personalities that report on them are uncovered.
George Noory hosts the most popular overnight talk radio show in the world, Coast to Coast AM. Noory took over the weeknight Coast to Coast reins from Art Bell in 2003. As a teenager, Noory joined NICAP and immersed himself in ufology, “so much so that I decided I wanted to go into broadcasting in order to do unusual stories in the paranormal and stories that the mainstream media didn’t want to touch,” he told After Dark magazine. Indeed, his very first broadcast interview, while a young radio reporter for Detroit’s WCAR-AM, was with Roswell expert/physicist Stanton Friedman, with whom he has maintained a lifelong friendship. At age 28, Noory was the youngest major market news director in the country when he was at KMSP-TV in Minneapolis. Years later, his late-night radio program on KTRS in St. Louis, The Nighthawk, garnered the attention of Premiere Radio Networks executives, who were searching for a replacement for the retiring Art Bell. Noory’s penchant for covering paranormal topics with enthusiasm and skill impressed Premiere, and he was brought on board. “Coast to Coast AM may just be the most unusual show I have ever witnessed or been a part of. You really almost have to be born into that arena, I think, in order to handle it. I was very lucky, that’s the way I was guiding my own career. It was this thirst to really get to the bottom of some of these stories that kept pushing me.”
James Oberg is a prominent UFO skeptic, having been involved in a number of heated debates with some of ufology’s biggest proponents, including Don Ecker, Stanton Friedman, and astronaut Gordon Cooper. Oberg worked for 22 years as a space engineer in Houston, where he specialized in NASA space shuttle operations for orbital rendezvous. Oberg has written ten books and more than 1,000 magazine and newspaper articles on all aspects of space flight.
Karl Pflock is an author, consultant, and UFO researcher. He is a contributing editor for Reason, science columnist for Eternity Science Fiction, and contributing editor for Jim Moseley’s Saucer Smear. His articles on UFOs have appeared in Fate, the Fortean Times, Omni, International UFO Reporter, The Anomalist, MUFON UFO Journal, and other U.S. and foreign publications. A popular speaker at UFO gatherings, he was named 1998’s Ufologist of the Year by the National UFO Conference. He has appeared frequently on radio and television and has served as an advisor to the producers of Unsolved Mysteries and Sightings. His latest book is Roswell: Inconvenient Facts and the Will to Believe.
John Podesta served as chief of staff to President Bill Clinton from 1998 until 2001, and is currently a visiting professor of law at the Georgetown University Law Center and a senior fellow at the National Resources Defense Council. As part of the Coalition for Freedom of Information group, Podesta has lent his credibility and power within official Washington circles to the cause of ufology. Podesta has been an outspoken critic of government secrecy, telling reporters at 2002 press conference, “It is time for the government to declassify records that are more than 25 years old and to provide scientists with data that will assist in determining the true nature of the [UFO] phenomena.”
Nick Pope is a British Ministry of Defense official who headed up the ministry’s office for research and investigation of the UFO phenomenon from 1991 to 1994. Although most of the cases could be explained as misidentifications of known objects and phenomena, a core of sightings defied any conventional explanation. Strong evidence emerged suggesting the presence of structured craft capable of speeds and maneuvers beyond the capability of even the most advanced prototype craft operated by the British or American air forces. Pope found numerous instances where UFOs had been tracked on radar, leading to jets being scrambled. There were also cases where there had been terrifying near-misses between UFOs and civilian aircraft. Pope acknowledges the existence of extensive classified British government files on the UFO phenomenon and believes that there should be a full disclosure of all information on UFOs held by governments around the world. “I believe that governments and the military, and indeed private researchers, politicians — whoever — should place everything in the public domain on this issue. Governments can’t, I think, have it both ways. You cannot say on the one hand, as the party line often goes, that UFOs are of no defense significance, and then on the other keep back some of the data. You simply can’t do that. You have to have it one way or the other. And if, as governments consistently say when the politicians probe on this issue or when the media inquire, that there’s really nothing to worry about, then okay, let’s see all the data.”
Harold Puthoff is the director of the Institute for Advanced Studies in Austin, Texas. He is considered one of the premier theoretical physicists in the field of zero point energy and has published several seminal papers in the subject area. He is co-author of the textbook Fundamentals of Quantum Electronics. Puthoff’s latest work involving UFOs appeared in the prestigious Journal of the British Interplanetary Society, in the form of a co-authored paper entitled “Inflation-Theory Implications for Extraterrestrial Visitation.”
Kevin Randle is a former army helicopter pilot and air force intelligence officer, an active national guard member, and a UFO researcher who has been writing about the phenomenon for three decades. He has written or co-written numerous books on the subject, including UFO Crash at Roswell, The Truth About the UFO Crash at Roswell, and A History of UFO Crashes. He has made numerous appearances on television and radio, including Good Morning America Sunday, the Larry King UFO special, and Unsolved Mysteries. Randle’s research has taken him throughout the United States, interviewing witnesses, investigating sightings, and searching for the answers that have eluded so many.
Jenny Randles is a British ufologist, columnist for the MUFON UFO Journal, and author of Alien Abductions, The Complete Book of Aliens & Abductions, The Little Giant Encyclopedia of UFOs, Mind Monsters: Invaders from Inner Space? and Beyond Explanation. Randles had her first UFO sighting as a small child. She became a BUFORA field investigator in 1973 and was promoted to director of investigations in l981, a post she held until 1993. Her articles have appeared in the London Times, The Guardian, New Scientist, and OMNI. She has given lectures and presentations to groups all over the world, including the British Houses of Parliament.
Nick Redfern traces his interest in UFOs back to the late 1970s, when his father related to him an incident he was involved with while serving in the British Royal Air Force. He began writing on the UFO subject in a freelance capacity in the mid-1980s. Since then, Redfern has become one of the world’s best UFO writers, responsible for books such as A Covert Agenda: The British Government’s UFO Top Secrets Exposed, The FBI Files: The FBI’s UFO Top Secrets Exposed, and Cosmic Crashes: The Incredible Story Of The UFOs That Fell To Earth. He also writes for numerous magazines, journals, and newspapers, including Fate.
Jeff Rense hosts the popular late night talk show The Jeff Rense Program, a nationally syndicated radio show that deals with all aspects of the paranormal and UFO related phenomena. Frequent guests include Peter Davenport, George Filer, Brad Steiger, Jim Marrs, Brian Vike, and more.
Peter Robbins has been involved in UFO studies for nearly 30 years as a researcher, investigator, writer, and lecturer. He serves as head of the UFO Media Group of Central Park Media Corporation and is editor-in-chief of the well-known website www.UFOcity.com . In 1978, Robbins served as a research assistant on the United Nations report for the establishment of a UFO department. From 1980 to 1985 he was an investigator for the Scientific Bureau of Investigation, a New York City-based civilian/police UFO research and investigative organization. From 1992 to present, he has served as executive assistant to Budd Hopkins; Intruders Foundation. Robbins is a columnist for UFO Magazine and co-author of Left at East Gate.
Mark Rodeghier has served as President and Scientific Director of the J. Allen Hynek Center for UFO Studies (CUFOS) since 1986. He holds a B.S. in Astrophysics from Indiana University and a Ph.D. from the University of Illinois at Chicago in Sociology. Rodeghier has been active in the UFO field since 1974 and has done research and investigation in a variety of areas, including vehicle interference cases, abduction cases, and physical evidence cases. He has written numerous articles for the Internationl UFO Reporter and the Journal of UFO Studies and was featured prominently on the ABC-TV program “UFOs — Seeing Is Believing.”
Hilly Rose has been examining the paranormal world through radio broadcasts, books, magazines, and the Internet for many years. A seasoned broadcaster, respected by peers and fans alike, Rose honed his talk show skills in California in both the Los Angeles and San Francisco markets where he was one of the first in the United States to pursue paranormal programming on the radio. As the Internet and streaming audio developed, Rose broke new ground by creating a series of daily shows related to the world of paranormal occurrences for Imagine Radio called The I-Files. Currently, he is the host of The Hilly Rose Show, heard exclusively online at www.fatemag.com , and fill-in host for George Noory and Art Bell on Coast to Coast AM.
David Rudiak has a scientific background that includes a doctoral degree in optometry. In the field of ufology, Dr. Rudiak’s main area of expertise is the Roswell saucer crash of 1947, which he has been studying since 1994. He is best known for his work with the Ramey Memo. Using computer enhancements, Rudiak has been working to establish what information the telex photographed in Gen. Roger Ramey’s hand at a press conference held, as Ramey tried to explain away the Roswell crash as a weather balloon. This work on Ramey’s memo was presented publicly for the first time at the Ozark UFO Conference in 2001 and was featured on the 2002 Sci-Fi Channel special on Roswell.
Michael Salla is the author of Exopolitics: Political Implications of the Extraterrestrial Presence. Salla is an internationally recognized scholar in international politics, conflict resolution and United States foreign policy, and is currently a researcher in residence at American University’s Center for Global Peace. Salla launched the web site www.exopolitics.org in January 2003. It has quickly become one the most popular UFO sites on the Internet, attracting interest from those seeking to understand the big picture about the undisclosed extraterrestrial presence and its political implications.
John Schuessler serves as the International Director of MUFON. He was involved in the United States manned space program from 1962 until 1998, working in executive positions for NASA and several private aerospace companies. Aside from his MUFON duties, he is a member of the UFO Research Coalition Board of Directors and an Associate of the J. Allen Hynek Center for UFO Studies. He has authored more than 100 technical papers and articles and is the author of two books: UFO-Related Human Physiological Effects and The Cash-Landrum UFO Incident.
Esen Sekerkarar is a leading Turkish ufologist. She became involved in the UFO field in 1998 with the opening of the Sirius UFO Space Sciences Research Center (SUSSRC) where she worked until 2002. SUSSRC is the first such center in Turkey and it has organized three International UFO Symposiums in Istanbul, where many of the world’s leading authorities have participated as speakers. The Center also created a weekly TV documentary called UFO Reality, co-produced by Sekerkarar, which was broadcast on a national TV channel in Turkey. She is also one of the three founders of the International UFO Museum, which was opened in January 2002 in Istanbul. Esen Sekerkarar has lectured at the San Marino World UFO Congress and the MUFON UFO Symposium. She is also the International MUFON Representative for Turkey. Her reports have appeared on websites and publications around the world, including FATE.
David Sereda has had a lifelong interest in UFOs since experiencing the phenomena firsthand as a child. Between 1995 and 2001, he conducted an investigation of over 400 hours of NASA space shuttle mission video footage. The results of that investigation led to the development of his book and documentary film Evidence: The Case For NASA UFOs.
Seth Shostak is a senior astronomer with the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI). For much of his career, he has conducted radio astronomy research on galaxies, and has published approximately 50 papers in professional journals on this and other subjects. He has also written several hundred popular articles on various topics in astronomy, technology, film, and television. His book Sharing the Universe appeared in 1998. Shostak is a skeptic when it comes to UFOs, “I personally don’t think they are here. If aliens have been visiting the Earth for 50 years, you would think that it would not be so hard to convince a lot of people that that was true. It’s convinced 50 percent of the American public, but it’s convinced very few academics. As an astronomer friend said to me, if I thought there was a one percent chance any of that was true, I’d spend 100 percent of my time on it. In other words, if the evidence were the least bit compelling, you’d have lots of academics working on it because it’s very interesting. To me that says that the evidence is weak from the scientist’s perspective.”
Rob Simone is a UFO researcher, former assistant to the director of Citizens Against UFO Secrecy, and host of the popular talk radio show The Headroom. Frequent guests on his show include Jim Marrs, David Sereda, and Nick Pope.
Derrel Sims , the “Alien Hunter,” has pursued the UFO subject with a passion since his first alien encounter at the age of four. Those first memories are not pleasant ones, and Sims now hunts the entities who once hunted him, his son, and, perhaps, someone you know and love. Sims is a certified hypnotherapist, an international speaker, a licensed private investigator, and a researcher of alleged human/alien encounters. He has made presentations to medical and scientific conferences that provide compelling approaches to alleged human/alien contact events.
Zecharia Sitchin Considered by many to be the father of alternative archeology, Zecharia Sitchin has a deep knowledge of modern and ancient Hebrew and many other Semitic and European languages. He has done years of research on the ancient cultures of Sumer, Egypt, and Mesoamerica. One of approximately 200 scholars on the planet who can read and understand ancient Sumerian, Sitchin has written a series of intriguing books about the history of ancient human cultures and their possible interaction with UFOs and alien beings, including the classic The 12 th Planet, The Wars of Gods and Men, When Time Began, Stairway to Heaven, and The Lost Realms. Born in Russia, raised in Palestine, educated in England, and a leading journalist and editor in Israel for many years, he now lives in New York.
Brad Sparks is a UFO researcher and co-founder of Citizens Against UFO Secrecy (CAUS), the UFO organization that successfully forced the CIA to release 900 pages of government UFO documents in 1978 by using the Freedom of Information Act. Ultimately, CAUS would be responsible for the release of between 7,000 and 8,000 UFO-related documents from a who’s who of official entities, including the Air Force, Coast Guard, Navy, Defense Intelligence Agency, North American Aerospace Defense Command, Federal Aviation Administration, and others.
Steven Spielberg is certainly one of the most influential personalities in the history of film. He is perhaps Hollywood’s best known director and one of the world’s wealthiest filmmakers. He has numerous money-making, critically acclaimed credits to his name, as producer, director, and writer. He is best known within the UFO community for E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial and Close Encounters of the Third Kind, as well as the TV miniseries Taken.
Leo Sprinkle began pioneering research into the UFO abduction phenomenon in the mid-1960s and set the standard for research in this controversial field of study. He founded the Rocky Mountain UFO Conference. As a professor at the University of Wyoming and a therapist, Dr. Sprinkle has conducted over 500 hypnotic regression sessions with individuals looking to explore their possible UFO contact experiences. Among these were many of the most sensational and well-documented cases of our times.
Dennis Stacy was editor of the MUFON UFO Journal from 1985 to 1997. He received the 1995 Donald E. Keyhoe Journalism Award for a six-part series on UFOs that appeared in Omni magazine. He is also the author of The Marfa Lights: A Viewer’s Guide, and, most recently, he co-edited UFOs 1947-1997: Fifty Years of Flying Saucers with Hilary Evans.
Paul Stonehill is a Soviet-born researcher of anomalous phenomena and director of the Russian Ufology Research Center. He has written several books about anomalous phenomena, including The Soviet UFO Files, as well as numerous articles and papers for publications across the globe, including regular contributions to Fate. He been a consultant to the Sightings and Encounters TV shows and has made numerous radio appearances.
Whitley Strieber is the author of Confirmation, The Secret School, The Key, The Wolfen, and The Hunger. He is most famous, however, for his book Communion, a first-person account of his own experiences with the “visitors.” He is the host of Dreamland, a popular online talk show once hosted by Art Bell, and with his wife Anne, is the co-editor of www.unknowncountry.com .
Peter Sturrock , emeritus professor of physics at Stanford University has served as president of the Society for Scientific Exploration since 1981. In 1997, Sturrock headed a panel of nine scientists commissioned by Laurance Rockefeller that sought to determine whether UFOs were worthy of serious scientific analysis. The group concluded that, indeed, the UFO mystery has merit as a serious subject for science. Out of this panel’s discussions came The UFO Engima, a must for every ufologist’s shelf.
Curt Sutherly is a professional journalist with nearly 30 years of experience investigating UFOs and other paranormal phenomena. He is the author of two books, UFO Mysteries and Strange Encounters, and has written more than 100 magazine articles on the subject for such venerable publications as Fate, Psychic World, and Strange Magazine. A Vietnam-era veteran, Sutherly served as a maintenance crew chief on fighter aircraft and was eventually promoted to the rank of sergeant in the U.S. Air Force. He is currently employed by the Department of Air Force in a civil service capacity. Curt Sutherly has been the recipient of numerous awards and decorations for his service, including the Award for Exemplary Civilian Service, presented by the Air Force for his superior performance from 1992–94 and the Civilian of the Year Award, presented by the 360 th Air Force Recruiting Group in 1995.
Rob Swiatek joined the Fund for UFO Research in 1986. He currently serves as secretary-treasurer on the organization’s board of directors. He is also director of the UFO Research Coalition and a business board member of MUFON. He has appeared in several UFO television documentaries over the years and has spoken before numerous UFO conferences. He has undergraduate degrees in both physics and earth science and has been employed for over 25 years with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in Arlington, Virginia, where he works with aeronautics patent applications.
Michael Swords is a professor of natural science at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, Michigan. His teaching centers around human biology, the history and philosophy of science, scientific methodology, and the parasciences, including ufology. His writings have concentrated mainly on topics in ufology, parapsychology, and cryptozoology, and several have been published in the MUFON UFO Journal. Dr. Swords serves as a MUFON consultant, and was in the same capacity for the Aerial Phenomena Research Organization, the International Fortean Organization, and as a member of the advisory panel for the Society for the Investigation of the Unexplained. He is also a board member of the J. Allen Hynek Center for UFO Studies.
Kenn Thomas is the founder of Steamshovel Press, one of the most influential “conspiracy” publishing houses in existence. He is editor of Steamshovel Press magazine and author of The Octopus: The Secret Government and Death of Danny Casolaro, Inside the Gemstone File, Maury Island UFO: The Crisman Conspiracy, and Flying Saucers Over Los Angleles. He has been featured on many radio and television programs including Fox News, The X-Zone, The Jeff Rense Program, and Coast to Coast AM.
Joseph Trainor compiles and edits UFO Roundup, a weekly compilation of UFO related events, sightings, and stories from around the world. You can find UFO Roundup on the Internet at www.ufoinfo.com/roundup .
Robert Trundle is a professor of philosophy at Northern Kentucky University. He has written numerous books on the history of philosophy and the philosophy of science. In addition to having published an article on the extraterrestrial issue in Science and Method in the Netherlands, his book, Is ET Here? No Politically, But Yes Scientifically and Theologically is set for release in May 2005. On the existence of UFOs and extraterrestrial life, Trundle says, “I believe contact was made 50 years ago, and I believe beings from other planets are here now, mainly to study us. There are benign scenarios in which they might be seen as anthropologists coming here out of curiosity. Then there is a more threatening scenario, which is that they’re studying to see if the earth is habitable. An even more worrisome possibility is that they have a hybrid program of sexually mating with humans to strengthen their species. Does ET exist from a political perspective? No, because the government is afraid of the culture shock and public panic. For the government to acknowledge the existence of extraterrestrials here would be to admit it can’t protect us from them.”
Tom Van Flandern is a professional research astronomer who has taught astronomy at the University of South Florida and to Navy Department employees. He has also been a consultant to NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab and done several spots for the Project Universe series on public TV. Dr. Van Flandern is the founder and President of Meta Research, Inc., whose goal is astronomical research wherever promising avenues of advancement are blocked by funding authorities solely because the research results might conflict with an accepted paradigm. He has appeared on PAX-TV’s Encounters with the Unexplained to discuss Mars anomalies and his given numerous presentations on the possibility of artificial structures on the surface of Mars. Van Flandern is the author of the book Dark Matter, Missing Planets and New Comets.
Jacques Vallée has written numerous books on UFOs, several of them bestsellers, analyzing a notoriously ethereal subject as a hard-headed physical scientist, folklorist, and sociologist. He believes there is more than enough solid evidence to make a compelling case for the existence of UFOs. Vallée’s views about UFOs are more exotic and far stranger than what he calls the reigning “nuts and bolts” approach to the subject. Consequently, he’s been attacked by believers so often that he jokingly refers to himself a “heretic among heretics.” As Vallée puts it, “I will be disappointed if UFOs turn out to be nothing more than spaceships.”
Jean-Jacques Velasco has been the Director of SEPRA, the official French government program to study UFOs, since the early 1980s. The program is one of the only ongoing, government-sanctioned UFO investigations in the world. Velasco believes beyond a shadow of a doubt that the SEPRA program has uncovered evidence of the physical reality of UFOs.
Brian Vike is a Canadian UFO investigator and founder and director of HBCC UFO Research. The organization receives hundreds of UFO reports and sightings from across Canada every year. Their website is www.hbccufo.com
Travis Walton is perhaps the best-known abductee in ufology, at least as far as the general public is concerned. His story is recounted in his book, Fire in the Sky, and in the film of the same name (1993). On November 5, 1975, a group of loggers in the mountains of northeastern Arizona saw a strange, bright light in the sky. Walton, one of the logging party, got out of the truck—an act which he regrets to this day—and was blasted by a mysterious bolt of energy. The others fled in terror, and Walton was missing for five days. No one who has heard Walton speak can doubt his sincerity or the traumatic nature of his experience.
Larry Warren is the co-author of Left at East Gate, a firsthand account of the Rendlesham Forest UFO incident. Warren worked as an Air Force Security Specialist at Bentwaters Royal Air Force Base during the time of the December 1980 UFO sightings and was a direct eyewitness to the events that took place there.
Robert and Ryan Wood are a father and son team investigating the so-called MJ-12 documents. Robert Wood had a 43-year career at McDonnell Douglas managing research and development projects and is a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, American Physical Society, and American Society for Psychical Research, the Fund for UFO Research, MUFON, and the Society for Scientific Exploration. Ryan Wood has had a successful career in marketing for 25 years, including jobs with technology giants Intel and Toshiba. Together, the Woods have restored credibility to the MJ-12 UFO documents as an avenue worthy of serious study. Their website is www.majesticdocuments.com
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