by Leslie Kean
June 2000
from
ProjectProve Website
The
following is an unedited version of journalist Leslie
Kean’s article on the 3-year French COMETA
study on UFO/ET, posted with her permission on
UFOUpdates. Her landmark article appeared, in edited
versions in the Boston Globe, Irish Times, and VSD
(France).
[From
VSD: The recent diffusion in the United States of
the Cometa Report generates multiple reactions
starting from politicians from Congress and military men
from the Pentagon. Leslie Kean, an American
journalist, examines the situation.] |
Last month’s release of the first detailed satellite images of
Area 51, the top-secret US
Air Force test site in Nevada, prompted a Web site meltdown as
people from across the nation logged on in search of clues about
unidentified flying objects.
’’The interest has been really phenomenal,’’ said David.
Mountain, marketing director for Aerial Images Inc., which
posted the high-resolution photographs of Area 51 on
the Internet.
But those hoping to see signs that captured UFOs are
stored at the site (as some aficionados have suggested) were
destined to be disappointed. Most of Area 51’s operations
occur underground, making photos meaningless.
Anyone looking for fresh information on UFOs would have
better luck trying a new, but less publicized, source: a study by
the French military, just translated into an approved English
edition.
High-level officials - including retired generals from the French
Institute of Higher Studies for National Defense, a
government-financed strategic planning agency - recently took a
giant step in openly challenging skepticism about UFOs.
In a report based on a three-year study, they concluded that ’’numerous
manifestations observed by reliable witnesses could be the work of
craft of extraterrestrial origin’’ and that, in fact, the best
explanation is ’’the extraterrestrial hypothesis.’’ Although
not categorically proven, ’’strong presumptions exist in its favor
and if it is correct, it is loaded with significant consequences.’’
The French group reached that conclusion after
examining nearly 500 international aeronautical sightings and radar/
visual cases, and previously undisclosed pilots’ reports. They drew
on data from official sources, government authorities, and the air
forces of other countries.
The findings are contained in a 90-page
report titled ’’UFOs and Defense: What Should We Prepare
For?’’
’’The number of sightings, which are
completely unexplained despite the abundance and quality of data
from them, is growing throughout the world,’’ the team declared.
The authors note that about 5 percent of
sightings on which there is solid documentation cannot be easily
attributed to earthly sources, such as secret military exercises.
This 5 percent seem ’’to be completely unknown flying machines
with exceptional performances that are guided by a natural or
artificial intelligence,’’ they say. Science has developed
plausible models for travel from another solar system and for
technology that could be used to propel the vehicles, the report
points out.
It assures readers that UFOs have demonstrated no
hostile acts, ’’although intimidation maneuvers have been
confirmed.’’
Given the widespread skepticism about UFOs, many will
quickly dismiss the generals’ ’’extraterrestrial hypothesis.’’
But it is less easy to do so once the authors’ credentials are
considered. The study’s originators are four-star General Bernard Norlain, former commander of the French Tactical Air Force
and military counselor to the prime minister; General Denis Letty,
an air force fighter pilot; and Andre Lebeau, former head of
the National Center for Space Studies, the French
equivalent of NASA.
They formed a 12-member ’’Committee for In-depth Studies,’’
abbreviated as COMETA, which authored the report.
Other contributors included a three-star admiral, the national chief
of police, and the head of a government agency studying the subject,
as well as scientists and weapons engineers.
Not only does the group stand by its findings, it is urging
international action. The writers recommend that France
establish ’’sectorial cooperation agreements with interested
European and foreign countries’’ on the matter of UFOs.
They suggest that the European Union undertake diplomatic
action with the United States ’’exerting useful pressure to clarify
this crucial issue which must fall within the scope of political and
strategic alliances.’’
Why might the United States be interested - albeit,
privately - in a subject often met with ridicule, or considered the
domain of the irrational?
For one thing, declassified US government documents show that
unexplained objects with extraordinary technical capabilities pose
challenges to military activity around the globe. For example, US
fighter jets have attempted to pursue UFOs, according
to North American Aerospace Defense Command logs and Air
Force documents. Iranian and Peruvian
air force planes attempted to shoot down unidentified craft in
1976 and 1980. Belgium F-16s armed with
missiles pursued a UFO in 1990.
Further, the French report says that there have been
’’visits above secret installations and missile bases’’ and
’’military aircraft shadowed’’ in the United States.
COMETA spokesperson Michel Algrin says that the report
was delivered to French president Jacques Chirac and Prime
Minister Lionel Jospin.
"No response is awaited, only
action," he says.
"The COMETA made no
request to the US government. It is not entitled to do so," says
Algrin, an attorney and political scientist. "But, in its
report, it recommended to the French government to seek
for a cooperation [sic] with its American ally on the
subject of UFOs."
Dr. Edgar Mitchell, the Apollo
14 astronaut who was the sixth man to walk on the moon, is one
of many supporters of such cooperation.
"It’s significant that individuals
of some standing in the government, military and intelligence
community in France came forth with this," he said
in a recent interview from his home in Florida. Mitchell,
who holds a doctor of science degree from MIT, is convinced "at
a confidence level above 90%, that there is reality to all of
this."
He joins five-star Admiral Lord
Hill-Norton, the former head of the British Ministry of
Defense and Major Gordon L. Cooper, one of America’s
original seven Mercury astronauts, in calling for
Congressional fact-finding hearings into the UFO
question.
"People have been digging through
the files and investigating for years now. The files are quite
convincing. The only thing that’s lacking is the official
stamp," Mitchell says.
Despite the fact that Mitchell is
a national hero and has been honored with the Presidential Medal
of Freedom, the USN Distinguished Service Medal and the
NASA Distinguished Service Medal, his request for an
investigation has been ignored by U.S. officials.
As the COMETA report points out, the U.S. is unique
in its silence on this issue. UFOs and Defense
notes that many UFO files are classified above top
secret, and accuses the U.S. of following a policy of
disinformation. It says that the government has an "impressive
repressive arsenal" in place, which includes military regulations
prohibiting public disclosure of UFO sightings.
Air Force Regulation 200-2, "Unidentified Flying Objects
Reporting,’’ for example, prohibits the release to the
public and the media of any data about "those objects which are not
explainable.’’ An even more restrictive procedure is outlined in the
Joint Army Navy Air Force Publication 146, which threatens to
prosecute anyone under its jurisdiction - including pilots,
civilian agencies, merchant marine captains, and even some fishing
vessels - for disclosing reports of sightings relevant to US
security.
Although some documentation has been released through the Freedom
of Information Act (FOIA), researchers have had an
increasingly difficult time accessing information about a subject
that the U.S. government claims does not exist. A 1980 Federal suit
is a case in point.
The case was filed in the US District Court
of the District of Columbia against the National Security
Agency (NSA) for 156 UFO documents the
agency refused to release. The NSA provided U.S.
District Court Judge Gerhard A.Gesell with a 21-page,
Above Top Secret affidavit justifying the withholding. No one
else was permitted to see the affidavit.
The judge dismissed the lawsuit stating that,
"public interest in disclosure is
far outweighed by the sensitive nature of the materials
and the obvious effect on national security their release may
entail."
MILITARY CLOSE ENCOUNTERS
A few months after the French release of the COMETA report,
U.S. Naval Reserve Commander Willard H. Miller agreed to go
on the record about his participation in a series of previously
undisclosed briefings for Pentagon brass about
national security and military policy regarding UFOs.
Miller has been a key liaison to the Pentagon on
the subject for years.
"It’s time to give some credibility
to the fact that there are those in high places in the
government who have an interest in this subject," he says,
taking a considerable risk by coming forward.
Miller retired in 1994 from
active duty on the Current Operations Staff (J3)
of U.S. Atlantic Command, Norfolk, Virginia where he worked
operations, intelligence, and special contingency issues. With over
30 years of experience in Navy and Joint Interagency operations with
the Department of Defense, Commander Miller has held a Top
Secret clearance with access to sensitive compartmented
information.
It has not been easy for Miller to overcome the taboo that
the UFO subject carries among his colleagues in the military.
"It is treated much the way we used
to view mental illness. Hide the crazy daughter in the
attic," he says.
In a February, 2000 confidential memo
titled "Selected Discussions with Key United States (US)
Department of Defense (DoD) Intelligence Personnel on the
Subject of Unidentified Flying Objects (UFOs) and
Extraterrestrial Intelligence (ETI)" prepared for this
reporter, Miller spelled out the details of meetings between
1989 and 2000 with named high level Department of Defense
intelligence personnel - including the Director of the Defense
Intelligence Agency (DIA), an Admiral on the Joint
Staff, and the U.S. Atlantic Command Director for Intelligence -
among others.
Miller says he initiated briefings,
"to provide the flag officers with
information to help the military decision-making processes when
these unexplained craft are encountered by members of the
Department of Defense."
Concerned that many high-ranking
military officers are not properly informed about the UFO
phenomenon, Miller believes that the generals who have
come forward in France could have a significant impact.
"Without preparation and planning
for encounters, precipitous military decisions may lead to
unnecessary confusion, misapplication of forces, or possible
catastrophic consequences," he says.
The Navy Commander’s concern is
justified by the historical record.
Declassified government
documents show that unexplained objects with extraordinary technical
capabilities pose challenges to military activity around the globe.
U.S. fighter jets have been scrambled to pursue UFOs,
according to North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD)
logs and U.S. Air Force documents. Peruvian and Iranian
Air Force planes attempted to shoot down unexplained objects
during air encounters, and Belgium F-16’s equipped with
automatically guided missiles pursued UFO’s in 1990.
In earlier decades, such concerns were openly discussed among
American government officials. In 1960, for example, Representative
Leonard G. Wolf of Iowa entered an "urgent warning" from
former CIA Director Vice Admiral R.E. Hillenkoetter
into the Congressional Record that "certain dangers are linked with
unidentified flying objects."
Wolf cited Gen. L.M. Chassin,
NATO coordinator of Allied Air Service, warning
that,
"if we persist in refusing to
recognize the existence of the UFOs, we will end
up, one fine day, by mistaking them for the guided missiles of
an enemy - and the worst will be upon us."
Wolf also referenced a three-year
study which determined that air defense scrambles and alerts had
already occurred due to the presence of UFOs. All
defense personnel "should be told that UFOs are real and
should be trained to distinguish them - by their characteristic
speeds and maneuvers - from conventional planes and missiles" the
study said.
These concerns were taken seriously enough to be incorporated into
the 1971 "Agreement on Measures to Reduce the Outbreak of Nuclear
War" between the U.S. and the Soviet Union. The treaty states
that the two countries will,
"notify each other immediately in
the event of detection by missile warning systems of
unidentified objects...if such occurrences could create a risk
of outbreak of nuclear war between the two countries."
The COMETA assures its
readers that UFOs have not been the cause of any
hostile acts "although intimidation maneuvers have been confirmed."
In France, they say, there have been "visits above
secret installations and missile bases" and "military aircraft
shadowed" by UFOs.
Like Miller, they warn
against impulsive, uninformed actions.
"In the face of an unknown
situation, one must be on guard against any instinctive
self-defense reaction that could be easily interpreted as a
provocation."
Reports such as the one from
France may open the door for the U.S. and other nations to
be more forthcoming.
Chile, for example, is openly
addressing it’s own concerns about air safety and UFOs.
The now retired Chief of the Chilean Air Force has formed a
committee with military and civil aviation experts to study recent
near collisions between UFOs and civilian airliners.
GOVERNMENT WITNESSES: EXTRAORDINARY AND
UNAMBIGUOUS EVENTS
While Commander Miller alerted the Pentagon,
researcher
Steven M. Greer was working
the issue within the U.S. Congress and the executive branch.
Greer, an emergency physician who has assembled government
documents, visual evidence and credible witness reports on
UFOs, also attended some of the Pentagon
briefings with Miller.
In 1993, Greer was invited to meet with President Clinton’s
first sitting CIA Director, Admiral James Woolsey.
The three hour event was arranged by futurist John L. Petersen,
President and founder of the Washington area think tank The
Arlington Institute, who "specializes in the area of national
and global security" and currently serves as a Pentagon
consultant, according to Institute materials. Petersen’s
credentials include stints at the Office of the Secretary of Defense
and the National Security Council staff.
Petersen declined to answer questions concerning his purpose
in hosting the dinner meeting at his home in Arlington, Virginia.
However, he obviously was aware of the high stakes involved.
In a
sensitive memo he sent to Greer just prior to the meeting, he
said that the dinner with Woolsey would,
"move the whole thing to a much,
much higher plane..." and that "the most powerful people in the
world will have a deep, compelling interest in our
activities..."
At the same time, he pointed out that
the meeting - kept secret until 1998 - would raise "significant red
flags for those who don’t want to see this succeed."
Greer says he only needed 15 minutes to present Woolsey
with the documentation he brought in a large briefcase. Woolsey
was already convinced as to the reality of UFO’s. Most
of the meeting was spent discussing "what all of this means" and
"the geopolitical implications of disclosing this matter fully to
the public," Greer says
In August 1995, philanthropist Laurance Rockefeller provided
Greer’s briefing materials to President Clinton,
Hillary Clinton, and Presidential science advisor Jack
Gibbons while they spent a weekend at
Rockefellers’ Wyoming ranch.
Clinton then instructed Associate Attorney General at the
Justice Department, Webster Hubbell, to investigate the
existence of UFOs, as disclosed in his book Friends in
High Places.
Despite this request from the Commander-in-Chief,
Hubbell was unable to obtain information on the subject.
Greer has worked tirelessly in an effort to bring about
Congressional hearings into the UFO question. He has earned the
trust of over 100 government witnesses with personal, first-hand
knowledge of UFO phenomena and related projects who
are committed to testify under oath.
These witnesses made their
observations while in the Air Force, Army,
Navy, NASA, private industry and
intelligence operations. According to Greer, they are
waiting only for Congressional subpoenas to protect them from
penalties for violating national security oaths before coming
forward.
Apollo Astronaut Edgar Mitchell has talked to a number of
these witnesses. "They have stated their first hand experience with
conviction and their stories check out," he said. Coupled with the
new military disclosures acknowledging national security concerns,
advocates for Congressional hearings believe that the testimonies of
these highly credible government witnesses could force, once and for
all, a government examination of the "extra-terrestrial
hypothesis" as has been done in France.
As a small prelude to these hearings, eleven witnesses risked coming
forward "for ethical, moral and patriotic reasons" as Greer
explained it. On April 9, 1997, Greer and his associates held
an unprecedented, confidential congressional briefing at the Westin
Hotel in Washington.
The VIP’s in attendance included Representative Dan Burton, Chair of the House Committee on Government Reform
and Oversight, with his chief of staff, and staffers from nearly
thirty congressional offices. Representatives from the executive
branch, including a staff member from Vice President Gore’s
office, were present, along with representatives of two state
governors, the Department of Defense, and the scientific community.
Greer told the attendees that the witnesses,
"have directly handled this subject
or have been present while it was occurring - major events,
unambiguous events, not a light in the sky, but extraordinary
events" and "are tremendously dedicated to trying to bring this
forward to the public."
For over one and a half hours,
participants heard from a Pentagon cryptologist
who said he viewed extraterrestrial space debris containing
indecipherable writing, and a NASA sub-contractor who
saw restricted satellite photos showing flying discs that were
routinely airbrushed out before public release.
A navy pilot and his
crew experienced electromagnetic effects in their airplane when a 300 foot UFO flew 25 miles in two seconds directly in
front of the plane, as confirmed by Gander radar and official
government documents.
Witnesses touched on national security concerns such as those
brought to the Pentagon by Commander Miller.
Loring Air Force base was visited by a silent triangular ship
which hovered over B-52’s on strategic alert. A senior admiral, amid
command center chaos, issued a "force down" order against an
elliptical-shaped craft of unknown origin, tracked by satellite,
radar, and chased by military planes. According to the witness, it
literally jumped between states in under a minute, flew out to sea
and suddenly left the earth’s atmosphere.
By all accounts, the VIP’s present paid close attention. They had
been clearly informed that these witnesses were only the tip of
the iceberg out of a pool of more than 100.
"This is a subject that can either
bore you to death or shock you to death or absolutely leave you
speechless" witness Major Steven Lovekin told them.
A veteran Congressional staffer received
a standing ovation when, unsolicited, she took the floor and
declared her determination to bring this information to the public
by organizing for hearings on Capitol Hill.
The next day, Miller,
Lovekin, Mitchell and Greer brought the same
information to the Joint Staff Vice Director for Intelligence at
a private Pentagon briefing.
PROTECTING HARD-EARNED REPUTATIONS
Two years after the Washington briefing, the
COMETA released its dramatic report which ended by stating
that,
"only increasing pressure from
public opinion, possibly supported by the results of independent
researchers, by more or less calculated disclosures, or by a
sudden rise in UFO manifestations might perhaps induce U.S.
leaders and persons of authority to change their stance."
Witness testimonies and other evidence
presented in 1997 did not seem to create movement in that direction.
"Because the Congress is
afraid they won’t get re-elected, they don’t even want to talk
about this. I just think somebody should do something," says the
Congressional staffer who is working for hearings behind the
scenes.
When Representative Burton left
the Westin Hotel that night, he requested that all
information on the subject be sent to his office.
Yet a recent
inquiry to Burton’s office revealed that whatever interest
the Congressman may have shown will not bear fruit until the demand
for hearings - from both the press and the public - escalates.
"We haven’t heard a very loud call
for hearings on this issue yet," said press secretary John
Williams. "As far as any intention of holding hearings
regarding the existence of UFOs or anything that
pertained to that briefing, we have no intention of holding any
hearings on that right now."
Williams stated that Burton’s
interest in the subject is purely personal.
Some representatives are interested, but only behind closed doors,
says a democratic campaign manager, requesting anonymity, who has
been intimately involved in electoral politics for 29 years. He has
met personally with a number of members of congress on the subject.
"With our thirty second commercials’
ability to destroy hard-earned reputations, particularly using a
subject like this, people are very hesitant to take a leading
role on the subject, although they know that it’s a very real
matter," he says.
Nonetheless, one congressman did respond
to public pressure.
In 1993, New Mexico representative Steven
Schiff requested that the General Accounting Office investigate
the infamous 1947 crash of a mysterious object in the desert near Roswell, New Mexico. Two years later, he learned from the
GAO that all documents and radio messages during the relevant time
period had been destroyed "without proper authority." Schiff
was unable to attend the Washington briefing in 1997 and died of an
aggressive skin cancer the following year. No other member has
picked up where he left off.
Greer, who has privately
briefed both Representative Christopher Cox and Senator
Richard Bryan of the Senate Intelligence Committee, is asking
supporters to apply pressure.
Missouri, the "Show Me" state, has become the first to launch
a ballot initiative urging Congress to convene hearings in which
government witnesses can testify "regarding their personal knowledge
of any UFO-related evidence."
Certified by the Missouri
secretary of state in March, the initiative states that,
"the Federal Government’s handling
of the UFO issue has contributed to the public
cynicism toward, and general mistrust of, government - a
development injurious to our republic."
Robert Bletchman, a Connecticut
attorney who conceived of the initiative, has no doubt it would win
votes in the November election, as long as the requisite number of
signatures are collected in time.
"My expectation is that Missouri
will kindle a firestorm of proactive interest throughout the
country in those sixteen states that allow for the direct
initiative," he says. Hundreds of thousands of votes would be
involved. "What does Congress pay attention to? How real people
at the ballot box actually vote," Bletchman says.
"Maybe
for the first time the politicians would have to pay overt
attention."
THE REAL NATIONAL SECURITY THREAT
On September 15, 1998, Commander Willard Miller and Dr.
Steven Greer entered the Pentagon through the VIP
entrance.
After passing through metal detectors, they were escorted
past armed security guards, up the massive staircase and into the
innermost ring of the Pentagon. An electrically controlled
door brought them into the comfortable outer office of the Director
of the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA),
adorned with mahogany, walnut, brass, and military plaques.
Thirty minutes later, the DIA Director came out of his
inner chamber, parting company with an entourage of high-level
foreign Admirals and Generals. He graciously ushered in his two
guests, taking his place at the head of a massive wood table.
According to Miller’s confidential memo of February 2000, an
Army Colonel, a DIA staff member and a
Defense Department clerk were also seated around the table. The
briefing lasted 50 minutes.
Greer provided the military officials with declassified
documents from the CIA, DIA, FBI, NORAD, SAC (Strategic
Air Command) and NMCC (National Military
Command Center), referencing specific UFO events
connected with military forces and bases. At the general’s request,
he provided a "comprehensive overview" of the subject.
Commander Miller’s Military Information Outline
prepared for the briefing included a discussion of national security
implications, military risks and recommended courses of action.
Greer and Miller explained to the DIA Director
that there is no credible evidence of hostility from UFO
occupants.
"The only threat to the national
security of the United States is the continued denial of
undeniable physical UFO occurrences and sightings to a
public growing increasingly frustrated with its government’s
weak explanations," Miller says he told the Pentagon
officials. "Some US Air Force denials defy logic and strain
the public’s tolerance, he said.
His point was dramatically illustrated
in the aftermath of an extraordinary event that occurred one spring
evening over the state of Arizona.
On March 13, 1997, thousands
observed enormous, lighted, triangular craft flying low and
silently, sometimes hovering wingless over populated areas. Hundreds
of feet long, air traffic controllers failed to register them on
radar. To this day, the people of Arizona do not know what
penetrated US airspace that night.
In response to public demand, Phoenix city council member Frances Barwood initiated an investigation into the Arizona
triangles.
"I like answers. I don’t like
unfinished business. People need to push their elected officials
to find out what is invading our air space," she says.
Barwood says she personally spoke
with over seven hundred people who saw the objects.
She was never provided any reasonable explanation. Instead, the
councilwoman was given the run-around from her city, state and
federal government - including Arizona Senator John McCain -
and was publicly ridiculed by the mayor of Phoenix.
Yet she still
considers this "an issue of state and national significance."
Barwood has retired from politics to write a book about this
experience.
"The fact that the government
never interviewed one witness doesn’t make me feel too
secure about our national security," she commented during a
recent interview.
Arizona attorney Peter Gersten
responded by filing a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit
against the Department of Defense in 1999. The case
challenged the adequacy of the governments "reasonable search" for
information about the triangular objects seen over Arizona in 1997,
and elsewhere in the US over the last twenty years.
As recently as January 5, 2000, four policemen at different
locations in St. Claire County, Illinois, witnessed a brightly lit,
huge triangular craft flying at 1000 feet, according to the Los
Angeles Times.
Most alarming was the report from Lebanon police
officer Thomas Barton that he witnessed the hovering object
jump at least 8 miles in 3 seconds. Aeronautical expert Paul
Czysz, who spent 29 years at McDonnell-Douglas designing
faster-than-sound aircraft, says that such rapid motion cannot be
explained in conventional terms.
The object would be a "fireball"
and "people on board would be mush," he says. Yet nearby Scott
Air Force base and the FAA purport to know nothing
On February 29, 2000, a reporter brought the issue of military
denial and the Arizona lawsuit to the attention of U.S. Senator
John McCain of Arizona at a California press conference.
"I think it’s of great interest,"
responded the Presidential candidate, acknowledging that the
1997 "lights" seen over Arizona have "never been fully
explained."
Nonetheless, the DoD
continues to maintain that it can find no information about the
triangular objects. It provided details of its search to the court
as required by U.S. District Court Stephen M. McNamee of
Phoenix for Gersten’s lawsuit. On March 30, 2000, the judge
concluded that "a reasonable search was conducted’ even though no
information was obtained, and he dismissed the case.
Like Barwood, Gersten is incredulous.
"What is it that has unlimited,
unrestricted access to our airspace in populated areas?" he
says. "With so many worries about terrorist attacks, how could
they not know what these triangles are?"
The danger of such blatant denial
is what Navy Commander Willard Miller brought to the
attention of the three star general from the Defense Intelligence
Agency that day in 1998. Miller told him that the continued
denial of information,
"causes the public to begin to loose
additional faith in the military and the government. That’s not
good for the country. That type of non-response
threatens the stability, trust and fabric of an open
democratic society," he said.
Miller and Greer left the
DIA director with a multi-volume package of briefing
materials and video documentation which had been prepared for the
Washington briefing in 1997.
Once again, the French Generals make the same point
raised by their American counterparts.
"How can one try to ignore a
phenomena that is manifested by the regular crossing of our air
space by moving objects... If we do nothing, the very principle
of defense and air intelligence would be called into question,"
they state.
According to Miller, all of the
high-ranking military officers at the briefings showed "a great
amount of inquisitiveness." There was little laughter. "The
briefings were accorded the same serious attention given to other
briefings on national security matters," says Miller.
He has
yet to assess, however, whether he achieved the desired effect of
transforming military policy towards UFO encounters and response to
public inquiries.
"WHAT SHOULD WE PREPARE FOR?" ASK
AMERICAN FIRE FIGHTERS
UFOs and Defense: What Should We
Prepare For?, recommends that the French government
reflect on,
"the measures to take in the event of a spectacular and
indisputable manifestation of a UFO."
Surprisingly,
the United States has taken one small step in that direction. The
second edition of the Fire Officer's Guide to Disaster Control
is currently used for training by the Federal Emergency
Management Agency (FEMA)
at its National Fire Academy and is taught nationally through the
seven universities offering degrees in fire science.
Chapter 13 of
the guide is titled "Enemy Attack and UFO Potential." It
warns fire fighters of known "UFO hazards" such as electrical
fields that cause blackouts, air and ground travel disruptions by
force fields, and physiological effects.
"Do not stand under a UFO
that is hovering at low altitudes. Do not touch or attempt to
touch a UFO that has landed," the book warns.
Researched primarily by now deceased
US Naval Reserve Captain Charles Bahme, a Los Angeles
deputy fire chief who also worked for the Department of Defense and
the U.S. State Department, the chapter describes the role that fire
fighters should play "in the event of the unexpected arrival of UFOs in their communities."
As an example, it outlines a
scenario of a UFO crashing into the boiler room of a school,
where the spilled oil ignites, endangering the lives of those inside
the craft. The fire officials are instructed to let the military
take over.
Dr. William M. Kramer, professor of Fire Science at the
University of Cincinnati and an Ohio Fire Chief, co-authored the
chapter and will be updating it this year. Kramer says that
"the vast majority of fire fighters believe very definitely that UFOs are genuinely unidentifiable craft and are not
natural phenomena native to our known earth and our known
existence." Like most people, they are reluctant to admit this
publicly.
The French Institute of Higher Studies for National Defense
and the National Center for Space Studies are a few steps
ahead of the United States military and NASA.
Not only do they openly present information acknowledging the
existence of UFOs and attempt to explain their origin,
they also recommend a widespread information and training campaign
on preparedness which would reach all sectors of the relevant
political, military, and civilian spectrum in their country.
Perhaps
the report by the bold French generals - with its goal of "stripping
the phenomenon of UFOs of its irrational layer" - will be a
catalyst for American authorities to examine the issue of UFO’s
in a new light.
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