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From: BOB SHELL <76750.2717@CompuServe.COM>
Date: 21 Jun 97 13:09:12 EDT
Fwd Date: Sat, 21 Jun 1997 14:08:11 -0400
Subject: James Easton's comments


On UFO Updates James Easton has commented that I stated that
I was not interested in UFOs.  James may produce documentation if he
likes, but I don't think I ever used those words.  When I first became
involved in the AA film controversy, it is true that I downplayed my
interest in UFOs, and for good reason.  In "real life" I am the
Editor of Shutterbug magazine, which is the world's third largest
montlhy photography magazine.  I had not made it known within the photo
community that I was interested in UFOs, and did not want to end up
labeled a "nut" by the community on which my job depended.  So, for
political reasons which ought to be obvious, I downplayed my prior
involvement in UFOlogy.

In actual fact, my interest in UFOs goes back to my early teens, and
came from my father.  My dad, now retired, was a TV newsman as long as
there was TV, and a radio newsman prior to that.  He went into radio
after serving in WW II, and moved over to TV when it came on the scene.
He was an investigative journalist of the old school, alwayd digging
for the truth of the matter.  He is the man who first broke the story
of the Russian downing of one of our U-2 spy planes and the capture
of Frances Gary Powers, the pilot.  This episode is given a new spin
in Corso's book, and I've bought my dad a copy to read and will be
interested in his comments.

I grew up in Roanoke, Virginia, and that is only about 60 miles from
the little town of Wytheville, Virginia.  Those who keep up with UFO
flaps will recall that Wythville has had them for years, and was one of
the first places to have numerous reports of the black triangular type
of UFO.  But the UFO activity there goes back to the 50s, at least.  My
father was a skeptic when these stories first started and he used them
as "silly season" stories in his news reports.  Over the years, though, he
had a change of heart.  He had talked to so many ordinary people telling
extraordinary stories that he became convinced that there must be something
going on.  Something strange.  He got into hot water a number of times
with the management of the TV station for doing reports and
editorials in which he treated the subject seriously.

So I went through my early teens watching my dad change his mind about
UFOs.  When I was in Washington, DC, after college working for the
Smithsonian Institution I had a girlfriend for a while who was working
as a secretary for a strange man named Don Keyhoe.  So I met Keyhoe, and
talked to him on a few occasions, and spent some time in his library
looking through the books on UFOs.  I had already met, and become
friends with zoologist Ivan T. Sanderson, who had done research and
articles about UFOs.  So I took the subject seriously.  I even wrote a
few pieces on UFOs in the early 70s for the old Gnostica magazine, when
my pal Isaac Bonewits was editor.

But career changes and my plunge into photography made it not good politics
to be openly pro-UFO, and I was disgusted with the way the field was
going, so I pretty much dropped out of active UFOlogy.  I think this was
around 1974-75.  I kept up with what was going on by reading the books, but
that was it.

The opportunity offered by the Santilli film brought me back into
UFO research, and I think I am here to stay.  I took a chance during this
period of research on the AA film to "come out of the closet" about
my interest in UFOs in the photo community.  Much to my surprise I have
found the community very receptive to this aspect of me and my interests,
and quite a few people at all levels in the photo industry have confided
to me their interest, and in some cases their personal UFO experiences.
No one has been nearly as critical of me in this community as have some
in the UFO community.

In the past two and a half years I have freely admitted my UFO interest
in interviews in the photo industry.  Photo Shopper magazine published
a lengthy interview with me about the AA film.  There is another long
interview with some UFO material posted on CompuServe's Photographers
and Models Forum (Go:PHOTOH).

I have decided to be completely open about my interest, and my own
sighting within the photo community, because it is a part of me, and
I was growing tired of pretending to be someone I am not.

In the August and September issues of Shutterbug I am publishing a two
part article on interpretation of UFO photographs by Bruce Maccabee,
to my knowledge the first publication of a serious UFO article in
a mainstream photography magazine.  I stuck my neck out with my boss
to convince him this would not reflect negatively on the magazine's
sales, and I am sure it will not.  The news stands are full of all
sorts of magazines with UFO articles right now.

Anyway, I'm sorry this post is so long, but I thought this needed
clarification.

Bob Shell