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I'm five Symington in 1997 during my

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second term as governor of arizona i saw

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something that defied logic and

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challenged my reality i witnessed a

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massive delta-shaped craft that silently

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navigated over the Squaw Peak area in

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north phoenix in the evening and it was

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truly breathtaking to my astonishment it

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appeared that it appeared to be a solid

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structure it was huge it had a very

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distinctive a leading edge with embedded

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huge embedded lights in it and it was

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just traveling quietly made no sound

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through the arrows on a night sky I

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still don't know what it was as a pilot

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and a former air force officer I can

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definitively say that this craft did not

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resemble any man-made object that I'd

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ever seen and it was certainly not high

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altitude flares as put out by the the

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Air Force at Luke Air Force Base because

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I've never seen flares fly in formation

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the incident was witnessed by hundreds

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if not thousands of people in Maricopa

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County and in southern Arizona and my

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office was besieged with phone calls

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from very concerned citizens the growing

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hysteria intensified when the story

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broke nationally and so I decided to

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lighten the mood of the state and I

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called a press conference where I

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dressed up my chief of staff and a

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Martian outfit it was meant to be a

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spoof a good-natured spoof that worked

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we managed to lessen the sense of panic

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at the time but I also upset quite a few

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of my constituents well I'd like now to

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set the record straight I never meant to

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ridicule anyone my office did make

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inquiries as to the origin of the craft

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but to this day they remain unanswered

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eventually the Air National Guard

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claimed responsibility stating that

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their pilots had been dropping flares

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they also another individual from Tucson

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said that a 10-s had been flying in

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formation over Maricopa County but those

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of us in the Air Force and

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those of you who know about a-10s

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they're called the warthog it's a tank

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killing aircraft know that it's the

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noisiest machine in the sky and there's

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no way that a flight of a 10 s could

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come over Maricopa County and be quiet

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that just doesn't work so we get these

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explanations that fly in the face of

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facts explanations like weather balloons

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swamp gas military flares and hardware

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and software problems I was never happy

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with this silly silly explanation there

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might there might very well have been

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military flares in the sky that evening

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but that sure wasn't what what I and

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what hundreds of my fellow citizens saw

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well I now know that I'm not alone in

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witnessing something extraordinary

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that's the bottom line there are many

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high-ranking military aviation and

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government officials many of whom are

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here today who share my concerns some of

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them have truly exceptional stories to

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tell there's absolutely no doubt as to

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the veracity of what these men have told

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you they have fought in wars they have

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guarded top-secret weapons and they've

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flown countless passengers throughout

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the world skies incidents like these are

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not going away one year ago Chicago's

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O'Hare Airport experienced the UFO event

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that made national and international

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headlines pilots and many other airline

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employees observed a metallic-looking

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disc hovering over the United Airlines

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terminal for several minutes and then it

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shot straight up into the sky cut a hole

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in the sky disappeared the FAA

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apparently did not investigate dismissed

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the sightings as whether we want the

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United States government to stop

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perpetuating the myth that all UFOs can

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be explained away in down-to-earth and

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conventional terms instead our country

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needs to reopen its official

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investigation that it shut down in 1969

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the United States government can no

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longer shun an international dialogue

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about this phenomena and we invite the

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government to work in cooperation with

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countries is represented on both sides

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of me here today

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when it comes to events of this nature

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dealing with the great unknown we

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deserve I believe more openness and a

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serious pursuit of the facts by our

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government thank you very much