70 lines
4.4 KiB
Plaintext
70 lines
4.4 KiB
Plaintext
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>> Mr. Howard is the former Western States Associate Director of the venerable Ground Saucer Watch (GSW).
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Forty years! Forty years since the Kenneth Arnold sighting near
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Mt. Rainier in Washington state. Forty years since the popular press
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coined the term "flying saucer."
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An incredible span of time for so little accomplishment in dis-
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covering the secrets of the enigmatic UFO. An incredible span of time
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for such little scientific headway in explaining the UFO phenomena.
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Or has there been little progress?
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During this period the Air Force concluded Project Twinkle with
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the assertion that the UFO phenomena was not of earthly origin. Some
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time later the Air Force repudiated that conclusion and instituted
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Project Blue Book to explain away the phenomena.
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In the same period the Robertson panel, in essence, concluded
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that the American people were not psychologically capable of accepting
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the truth of the existence of extraterrestrials. That such informa-
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tion could cause mass hysteria and economic collapse.
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We've had Adamski and Van Tassel. We've also had hoaxers,
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grifters, and scam workers galore, those that sought notoriety,
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glamor, fame and money through exploitation of the UFO phenomena.
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We, as a nation, have in the same time created a space program
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and landed men on the moon. We have created an international telecom-
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munications network with man made orbiting satellites. We have creat-
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ed electricity through the use of controlled nuclear fission. We have
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launched ships and submarines propelled, and spacecraft powered by
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that selfsame energy.
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For a short time shadowy "men in black" seemed to haunt those
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that reported a UFO. And the scientists of our nation took flight
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with a great monotonous cry denouncing reported UFO sightings as
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misapprehension, reflections from birds, sunlight glinting from high
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flying aircraft, swamp gas, hoax, any and everything but an honest
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evaluation of the phenomena.
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In light of our national accomplishments and great strides in
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technology, and despite incredible, even superhuman, efforts by the
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debunkers, the UFO phenomena persists. There is a core of inex-
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plicable sightings reported by reputable citizens. Inexplicable, in
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the sense that they are too well documented by people with nothing to
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gain from their reports except, invariably, a big hassle and a desire
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for the truth. Inexplicable in the sense that these few reports are
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not explained by any known phenomena.
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The FOIA has given the serious researchers and investigators a
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tool with which, hopefully, to free the UFO phenomena from the
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clutches of governmental secrecy. We, additionally, need to continue
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the pursuit of "good" sightings. We need to analyze and correlate the
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data that we have. We need to establish a working hypothesis or
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hypotheses that can and will account for all the cases of reported UFO
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sightings.
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What is my axe?, you might ask. I remember my interest as I read
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the newspaper account of the Arnold sighting, and my immature specula-
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tion regarding the account. Man and boy, for forty years, I have fol-
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lowed the continuing UFO reports. I have been air crew and pilot,
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back yard astronomer and photographer, professionally involved in
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electronics and computers, yet the interest remains. I have been in-
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volved with organizations whose goal was the scientific investigation
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of the UFO phenomena and I participated in a number of field investi-
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gations of purported UFO sightings with no slackening of interest.
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Truly it has waxed and waned, with the seasons of my life, occupying
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differing degrees of priority as those seasons have passed; yet, the
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interest still remains.
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What is the explanation of this enigmatic UFO phenomena? For the
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unknowns there is, as yet, no satisfactory scientific explanation.
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Do I believe in a phenomena, global in nature, respecter of no
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person or intellect, seemingly oblivious to national boundaries, cares
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nothing for season or belief, and repeats in tantalizing ways? Sure!
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I believe that something, as yet unexplained, is happening in the
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skies over the planet earth, or in the minds of earth people every-
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where, and I would like to live long enough to see this mystery
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solved.
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