99 lines
6.2 KiB
Plaintext
99 lines
6.2 KiB
Plaintext
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I met with the author of the following document, Jerry Birdsall, at the
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Lincoln Symposium, and found him to be genial and credible. He has asked
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me to post this information with the understanding that I not mention the
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name of the individual or the book referred to. You can correspond with
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Jerry on this system, in private mail to: JERRY BIRDSALL.
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--Jim Speiser
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-------------------
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THE GROWING CONCERN REGARDING MISINFORMATION AND UNFOUNDED CONSPIRACY
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SPECULATIONS IN THE UFO COMMUNITY
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The purpose of this letter is to warn interested persons that mis-
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information is occurring in the UFO community and in at least one case is
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being carelessly propagated. This is based on my own experience due to the
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publishing of a recent trade paperback concerning UFO phenomena in the
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greater New York area. This book specifically contains naive and off-based
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speculations about certain government involvement in this phenomena.
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I am referred to in this book (under an alias) as a government agent
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who interfered, threatened, and in general loused up research investiga-
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tions. Nearly all of the recounting concerning me is either out of se-
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quence, out of context, misinterpreted, or out-and-out wrong. It is true
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that I did work for the Department of Defense when I first contacted the
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author in 1984 (I left the government shortly thereafter). I volunteered
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this information up front so that this sort of misunderstanding would not
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happen and stressed that I was interested for purely personal reasons
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only. I did not in any manner represent myself as an "agent" from the
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government as was alluded. The main reason that I wanted to meet the
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author was to try to get him funding through the Fund For UFO Research
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(FUFOR) of which I was a member while I lived in the DC area. As a point
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of fact, several key members of FUFOR are employed by the government -one
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by the Navy, one a Pentagon lawyer, and one by the CIA.
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I tried to contact the author several times by phone between the
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Fall of '84 to the present. It was only just recently that I finally got
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through to him. He was not interested in hearing me out but chose instead
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to cling to his seemingly paranoid conspiracy beliefs. I think that this
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is quite unfortunate - that someone who purports to be an authority on
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UFOs hasn't the interest or courtesy to listen to someone who he has in
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effect slandered in the eyes of the UFO community. And what happened to
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scientific objectivity? We should all truly examine our definitions of
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what an authority in this field means. There are those who represent them-
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selves as such who are doing harm, in my opinion, to the future of UFO re-
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search. If the legitimate UFO community as a whole shared information more
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openly and networked more efficiently, consensus approval could be given
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to those who wish approval from the UFO community as legitimate and re-
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sponsible researchers.
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I contend that there is no room for unfounded, wild speculation in a
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field such as this where things are bizarre enough on their own without
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the creation of contrived, self indulgent, half-cocked bizarreness. I am
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really disappointed in the author, and have lost nearly all respect for
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him. Irresponsible writing of this nature only serves to raise the ambient
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level of paranoia, muddles future research, and is a true disservice to
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the field in general.
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I first found out about the author from a local newspaper article
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when I came home to Connecticut one weekend. I was living and working in
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Maryland at the time. This was in the summer of 1984. I called him from my
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home in Maryland (he said I called from my office), we spoke briefly (he
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said I quizzed him for an hour), and I didn't mention any details of what
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work I did until we met at my parent's home weeks later. Furthermore, I
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only had his home number and could not have called him from work because I
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didn't have his work number. In fact, I didn't even have an office!
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It would take several pages to list all the errors about me in his
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book, and that is not the point I wish to make here. If the author was
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half the investigator that he makes himself out to be, you [would] think
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that he would have bothered to verify that I indeed was from Connecticut,
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and not only that, but was raised in the same town he was! He did admit to
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me that his editor did change a few things around. I contend that the mo-
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tive was to add drama to help sell his book.
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It was just recently when I had finally spoken to the author and
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heard his position that I felt I owed this to the UFO community at least
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to set matters straight. I am all for the government coming clean on all
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it knows about UFOs. I am however totally against irresponsible, conjec-
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tural accusations being leveled against anyone - the government included.
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I think it is absurd that two persons who are on the same side of the
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fence - even between the same fenceposts - on the UFO issue should be at
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odds with one another. This is through no fault of my own. The author
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knows that anytime he wishes to talk, I am more than willing.
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I feel now more than ever it is time for responsible, objective, and
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open-minded research into all areas scientific, psychological, sociologi-
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cal, medical and paranormal if we are to make any real progress regarding
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the UFO question. This is the time for more cooperation and sharing of
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information within the UFO community. As our awareness of the UFO issue
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grows broader, and our notions of the phenomena become more complex and
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unusual, I think we will find that we will be straining our perceptions of
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reality itself. It will become increasingly difficult to remain objective.
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It is time we put our preconceived notions aside and reexamine the issues
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with a fresh eye.
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Jerry Birdsall
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d such as this where things are bizarre enough on their own without
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the creation of contrived, self indulgent, half-co
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