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.
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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.