UFO's and Defense What Should we Prepare For

L
THEDOST<>NSUNDAYGLOBE • MAY21,2000 E3
SCIENCE &SOCIETY
UFO theorists gain support abroad, but repression at home
Studyby French officials, routine unexplained sightings, US military safety aspects combine to boost believers
BY L~:SLIF. KEAN
ast 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
ofclues about unidentified flying objects.
"The interest has been really phenom
enal," said David Mountain, marketing di
rector for Aerial Images Inc., which post,.
ed the high-resolution photographs of
Area 61 on the Internet.
But those hopingto see signs thatcap
turecl UFOsare st.oredatthesite (assome
aficionados have suggested) were des
tined to be disappointed. MostofArea 61'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 Engl.ish 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 wit,.
nesses could be the workof craft of extra
terrestrial origin" and that, in fact, the
best explanation is "the extraterrestrial
hypothesis." Although not categorically
proven, "slrong presumptions exist in its
favor and if it is correct, it is loaded with
significant consequences."
The French group reached that eon
clusion after eJtamining nearly 600 inter
national aeronautical sightings and radar/
visual cases, and previously undisclosed
pUots'reports. Theydrew on data from of
ficial 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 abun•
dance and quality of data from them, is
growing throughout the world," the team
declared.
The authors note that about 6 percent
of sightings on which there is solid docu
mentation cannot be easily attributed to
earthly sources, such as secret military
exercises.This 6 percent seem"to be com
pletely unknown flying machines with ex
ceptional performances that are guided
by a natural or artificial intelligence," they
say. Science hasdeveloped plausible mod
els for travel from another solar system
ancl 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 con
firmed."
Given the widespread skepticism
about UFOs, many will quickly dismiss
the generals' "extraterrestrial hypoth
esis." But it is less easy t.o 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 mili
tary counselor t.o the prime minister; Gen
eral 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 "Commit,.
tee for In-depth Studies," abbreviated as
COMET.A, which authored the report.
Other contribut.ors included a three-star
admiral, the national chief of police; and
the head of a governmentagency studying
the subject, as well as scientists and weap i11g this same concern to high level fer In 1966; below right, a
craftshadowed" in the Unit,.
edStates. high school student In Beaver, Pa.; bottom right, teenage brothen In Detroit In 1967.
Edgar Mitchell, the
Apollo 14 astronautwho was
the sixth man to walk on the
moon, is one of many sup
porters of international c~
operation on UFOs. Of the
French report, he imys, "It's
significant that individuals
ofsome standing in the gov
ernment, military, and intel
ligence community in
France came forth with
this."
Mitchell, who holds a
doctorate from MITin aero
nautics and astronautics, is r ".'
convinced "at a confidence
level above 90 percent, that ' •
I •
there is reality to all ofthis."
He says, "People have been lttJ
digging through the files
and investigating for years
now. The files are quite con
vincing. The only thing
that's lacldng is the official I ;
et.amp." I .
I IMitchell joins five-star
Admiral Lord Hill-Norton,
the former head of the British Ministry of the military's lack of preparation for en ample, prohibits the release to the public
Defense, in calling for congressional fact,. counters with unexplained craft could and the mediaof any data about "those ob
finding hearings into the UFO question. provoke dangerous confrontation when, ject.'! which are not explainable." An even
Although Congress seems disinclined and if, such an encounter occurs; "precipi more reiitrictive procedure is outlined in
to pursue the matter, the public's interest tous military decisions," he warm,, "may the Joint Army Navy Air Force Publica
in UFOs is undiminished. A ballot initia lead to unnecessary confm,ion, misappli~ tion 146, which threatens to prosecute
tive underwayin Missouri, certified by the cation of forces, or possible cata.<tlrophic anyone under its jurisdiction - including
secretary of state in March, urges Con consequences." pilol.<t, civilian agencies, merchant marine
gress to convene hearings. The initiative And he says he is not alone in his con captains, and even some fishing vessels -
states that "the Federal Government's cerns. "There are U1ose in high places in for disclo~ing reports of sightings rel
handling of the UFO issue haa contribut the government who share a growing in evant to US secmity.
ed t.o the public cynicism t.ownrd, ancl gen terest in thiR fmbject," Miller rcporl.<i. Although re11earchers have been able
eral mistrust of, government." to obtain some info11nation through the
US Naval Reserve Commander Wil If the US military is concerned about Freedom of Information Act, many UFO
lard H. Miller has long been commun.icat,. UFOs, it is not saying so publicly. Indeed, documents remain classified.
In earlier decades, issues that remain
pertinent today were openly discussed. In
1960, for example, US Representative
Leonard G. Wolf of Iowa entered an "ur
gent warning" from R. E. Hillenkoetter, a
former CIA director and Navyvice admi
ral, into the Congressional Record that
"certain dangers are linked with unidenti
fied flying objects." Wolf cited General
L. M. Chassin, NATO coordinat.or of Al
lied Air Service, warning that "Ifwe per
sist in refusing to recognize the existence
of the UFOs, we will end up, one tine day,
by mistaking them for the guided missiles
of an enemy - and the worst will be upon
us."
These concerns were taken seriously
enough to be incorporated int.o the 1971
US-Soviet "Agreement on Measures to
Reduce the Outbreak of NuclearWar."
The French report may open the door
for nations to be more forthcoming once
again. Chile, for example, is ope.nly ad
dressing its own concerns aboutair safety
and UFOs. The now retired chief of the
Chilean Air Force has fonned a commit
tee with civil aviation specialists to study
recent near-collisions of UFOs and civil
ian airliners.
As the international conversation
about UFOs unfolds, sightings continue,
as they have for decades. Perhaps the
most notable recent US sighting took
place in March 1997. Hundreds of people
across Arizona reported seeing huge bi
angular objects, hovering silently in the
night sky - a sighting that, as the state's
US Senator John McCain noted recently,
has "never been fully explained."
AB recently as Jan. 6, four policemen
nt different locations in St. Claire County,
Illinois, witnessed a huge, brightly light
ed, triangular craft flying and hovering at
1,000 feet. One officer reported witness
ingextJ'eme rapid motion by the craft that
cannot be explained in conventional
terms. Nearby Scott Air Force base and
the Federal Aviation Administration pur
port to know nothing.
The Defense Department maintains it
can find no information acknowledging
the existence of the triangular objects. In
response to a suit by curious Arizonans, it
provided details of its search to US Dis
trict Court Judge Stephen M. McNamee
of Phoenix. On March 30, McNamee con
cluded that "a reasonable search was con
ducted" even though no information was
obtained, and he dismissed the case.
There is one government agencyin U1e
country that has taken steps to prepare
for a UFO encounter. The Fire Officer's
Guide to Disaster Control, second edition
- used by the Federal Emergency Man
agement Agency and taught at the seven
universities offering degrees in fire sci
ence - warns of "UFO hazards," such as
electrical fields that cause blackouts, force
fields, and physiological effects.
"Do not stand under a UFO that is
hovering at low altitudes," the book
warns. "Donottouchor attempt to toucha
UFO that has landed."
The text leaves little room for skepti
cism. John E. Mack, professor ofpsychia
try at Harvard Uruversity and a Pulitzer
Prize-winning author, stopped being
skeptical a long ti.me ago.
"No culture from the beginning of
time, no culture from anywhere on the
planet, has ever voided the ideaofallother
intelligent life other than ourselves," he
told a UFO conference at the New York
Hall ofScience two weeks ago. ''That's ar
rogance."
Leslie Kron is afreelance journalistin Ui.e
San Frmu:iaco Bay area.