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Former Government Employees Say It�s Time to Reveal UFO Evidence

ABCNews.com - That�s according to a group of about 20 former government workers,
many of them military and security officials, who stepped forward on Wednesday
to say they had witnessed evidence of aliens and unidentified flying objects and
called for congressional hearings about such sightings.
"These testimonies establish once and for all that we are not alone," said
Steven Greer, director of the Disclosure Project, a nonprofit research
organization dedicated to disclosing alleged alien sightings.
Greer, who organized the program at the National Press Club in Washington,
argued that the United States and other governments have known about UFOs for at
least 50 years and have been keeping the information secret.
Greer said there were some 400 witnesses who claim to have firsthand experience
with UFO sightings or alien evidence, and are willing to testify before
Congress.
Among them is Daniel Sheehan, a well-known Washington lawyer who is acting as
counsel for members of Greer�s group.
Sheehan told reporters that during the Carter administration he found out about
government-held UFO information that then-CIA Director George Bush, father of
the current president, would not release.
Sheehan said he was then led into the National Archives, where he was shown
photographs of captured UFOs, complete with what appeared to be alien writing
symbols, but he was only allowed to take notes on a yellow legal pad. He traced
the photos onto the cardboard back of his pad, he said.
International UFO Cabal? James Oberg, an ABCNEWS space consultant and retired
NASA engineer, says Greer has long argued "there�s this bizarre theory that
there is a worldwide real X-file cabal that is using UFO technology."
But Oberg noted not every witness attending the conference necessarily
subscribed to Greer�s theory, and says those attending the press conference
shouldn�t be mocked.
"People see strange things they can�t understand, and that can�t be explained
either then or in hindsight, and it�s good to keep documenting these, because
often the mysterious sightings are things of interest, to military intelligence
or even to science."
Oberg says people sometimes can be too quick to conclude that the explanation is
little green men.
"Often, I�ve seen people jump to conclusions about what they saw, because, after
all, to have been scared by a distant fireball can be embarrassing but to have
encountered an alien space ship is more exciting."
Military Denies UFOs
The U.S. government repeatedly has denied having any evidence of alien species,
though it investigated UFOs for decades.
The Air Force was responsible for investigating alleged sightings for the
military. From 1947 to 1969, the service�s Project Blue Book at Wright-Patterson
Air Force Base, Ohio, investigated 12,618 reported sightings. It said it found
explanations for all but 701, such as swamp gas, airplane lights, weather
balloons and other natural phenomena.

Sightings for which explanations couldn�t be determined were categorized as
sketchy reports that couldn�t be pinned down.
In 1997, the Air Force announced it was formally closing its nearly 50-year
investigation into the alleged alien sighting at Roswell, N.M. It denied that
there was evidence of a UFO at Roswell and that the military covered it up.
"Information obtained through exhaustive records searches and interviews
indicated the material recovered near Roswell was consistent with a balloon
device of the type used in a then-classified project," said a Pentagon
statement. "No records indicated, or even hinted at, the recovery of �alien�
bodies or extraterrestrial materials."
Alien Energy?
In another statement Wednesday, Donna Hare, a former NASA contract employee,
said that Apollo astronauts saw an alien craft when they landed on the moon, but
were told not to reveal it. Hare�s source was a man who had been quarantined
with the astronauts.
Former Air Force Maj. George Filer III told reporters that when he was at
McGuire Air Force Base in New Jersey, an alien craft came down, and an alien got
out and was shot by a military policeman.
"Our security police went out there and found him at the end of the runway
dead," Filer said.
"They asked me to brief the general staff," he said, but was later told not to.
He said he would tell the story in front of Congress.
Filer is not new to UFO sightings. He has his own Web site caled Filer�s Files,
where he says he also chased an alien ship over England when flying for the U.S.
Air Force.
"I personally have observed a UFO both visually and on radar. I�ve been chasing
them ever since," he writes.
Greer said extraterrestrials could provide a new, plentiful source of energy
that would supply the world�s energy needs.
Information from alien encounters, said Greer, could also have significant
impact on the global environment and the quest for world peace.
ABCNEWS� Katelynn Raymer in Washington and David Ruppe in New York contributed
to this report. _____
- - - 
Disclosure Press Conference Review By Dick Farley The American UFO Newsletter
5-10-1

I was there. (Actually I asked the last questions, of Dan Sheehan and Steven
Greer. Sheehan answered his but Greer "didn�t have time." Event over!) The event
lasted two and a half hours; I do not know how much of it is archived. It is
supposed to remain on the NPC site for six months, but you should watch it soon.
I am told the Project Discovery (CSETI & Paradigm Research Group) site has it
too.
The event was held in the ballroom (13th Floor) of the National Press Club in
Washington (14th and F. Streets, NW). While the room is available for rental by
anyone, it costs less if rented through a Press Club member.  According to the
manager of catering for the NPC, the Project Disclosure event was booked by Ms.
Sarah MacClendon, a now-90-ish veteran White House reporter who has been a thorn
in the sides of many Presidents who sought to keep the American people in the
dark about something Sarah believed we needed to know. This is important to
consideration of the Project Disclosure event.
It was well-connected, well-funded. There were references to Zero-Point Energy,
anti-grav and other claims of technical advances some on this list are working
on. You�ll be happy to know you�ve already succeeded and that your technologies
hold the keys to "stopping global warming" and "ending the energy crisis," among
other benefits. Of course, the weaponization of space was a primary focus of the
organizers (they�re against it). But the real stars were the retired military
officers and FAA officials, who are agreeing to testify before a Congressional
committee if one can be prodded into holding open hearings on it.
One area of advance hype that did not happen were appearances via video tape of
former astronauts Edgar Mitchell and Gordon Cooper. No mention was made of this
and there was no video tape shown. The 21 "in person" witnesses each made a
five-minute or less presentation, the majority of which were coherent and
persuasive. As I am not given to hyperbole, and whatever one thinks about Greer
and his gig, I do have to report that the event itself was professionally run
and very well received. There is material now "out there" for intelligent public
discussion of UFOs and ET,s and if there are some on this list concerned about
efforts to "start up a new religion" for the Technocratic Age, do fasten your
seat belts, because here it comes! Now!  Greer referred (without attribution) to
Arthur Clarke�s characterization of this time as "the end of humanity�s
childhood." I will leave it to you to see the event on the web.
What Greer & Company have formed is something I have called in the past a
"nontraditional alliance," of former military folks who are decidedly
conservative patriots working alongside abject liberals like Daniel Sheehan, who
did legal work for the New York Times on the Pentagon Papers case and later was
involved in the Karen Silkwood case (about Kerr-McGee�s nuclear operations for
DoE, in Texas, etc.). It is a fascinating mix and again, well worth personal
review & analysis by each of you.
It had an impressive array of witness (21 present in the flesh), many with solid
and public credentials. For the first time, some "official" folks having UFO
sightings or knowledge are saying, in front of (a bank of 12-plus TV cameras and
"real" press) that they will testify before Congress. This is one initiative the
"Majestic-12" gang will find it impossible to ignore, and with Rumsfeld-Bush
space policies up for review, it will be along lines of opening up "black
budget" projects where Congress will dig.
Again, regardless of one�s perspective or bias about the "players," today�s
event is singularly important because it�s the best executed such initiative
we�ve ever had. I have my own views, of course, about some of what was said. And
no, I am NOT "drinking the Kool-Aid" (none was served). But rather than burn up
the Internet with chaff and hearsay, this one is worth you science guys and
others on-list tuning in. More later and I certainly will respond to questions
and to clarify "hearsay," etc. It is important that this effort not degenerate
into simply more disinformation and angry invective, personal attacks and
accusations. Kudos to Greer and Steve Bassett for a program well-conducted.
As to "what it all means," what other motives or agendas are in play here, that
will take months to gauge. Some of the "usual suspects" were present, of course,
from the "Retail UFOlogy of Usual Kind" cadres, no doubt to find and amplify the
weakest links or wildest tales, to again try and derail the campaign.  But it
won�t work this time around. As Greer noted, today�s event is the start of "a
process."
My sense is THIS disclosure initiative is getting support from official, if not
necessarily "political," levels in the government and military, with an eye
toward perhaps "cleaning up" bad secrets from the Cold War corroding public
confidence. There no doubt are elements of the "Matrix of UFO Beliefs" this
particular group is not interested in addressing (at least publicly), such as
"mind control" allegations or "angelic/demonic" interpretations of alien
abductions, "hybridization" suspicions or the ultimate intentions of the
"visiting others."

The mood expressed by principles of the organizing entities (sorry, couldn�t
resist ;-) is decidedly
"peaceful surrender" to the "aliens," as Greer�s rationale (as he expressed it
during the Q. & A. period) is that if "they" wanted to harm us they already
would have, given our bad treatment of them over the years. And Greer, Sheehan
and others are, of course, of the "belief" that disclosure of what they are
certain is at the heart of the UFO "cover-up" will be a planetary unification
stimulus, which Greer and obviously his backers clearly favor. But for the
present, Steven and his allies are focusing on the "real sightings" of an
unexplained kind, letting the retired military and aviation officials "break
trail" on it.

I�m waiting to gauge the media penetration, "spin" and any counterattacks before
I weigh in with analysis or "local color." But I am glad I went in person, and I
had an opportunity to interview a number of the witnesses one-on-one, without
intervention or spinning by the organizers. Let�s see how the fallout and
counterattacks by those who do not favor "UFO disclosure" or "space
demilitarization" takes shape.
Later! If it�s real, it has a politics. Once "disclosure" happens, the real
debates begin!

Regards, Dick Farley National Affairs Correspondent The American UFO Newsletter
Washington, DC USA Copyright 2001 by C. Richard Farley, Jr.
(Permission granted to reprint or repost this in its entirety, with no editing
or interspersed commentary, and not for commercial gain without permission.)