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From: Stephen G. Bassett <ParadigmRG@aol.com>
Date: Wed, 23 Jun 1999 18:42:03 EDT
Fwd Date: Thu, 24 Jun 1999 07:55:21 -0400
Subject: Paradigm Research Group Update - 6/22/99

P  R  G
Paradigm Research Group

PRG UPDATE:   June 22, 1999

General Overview

The presidential impeachment process and accompanying scandal
have exited stage right, and now the NATO action in Yugoslavia
is exiting stage left.  The President and presidency will enjoy
a measure of revitalization.  The Congress will soon fully focus
on business as usual.  Dozens of hours of monthly political
media coverage will become available to other issues.

The sitting President has shown more publicly disclosed interest
in the UFO issue than any other in this century.  He has alluded
to the subject in public discourse, permitted members of his
advisory staff to be briefed, taken briefings himself, and
directed an associate attorney general to make direct inquiries.
His CIA director took a 3-hour briefing on the UFO issue and
government cover-up.

It is ten months to the start of the 2000 presidential and
congressional primaries. Introduction of the fundamental facts
surrounding the extraterrestrial presence via congressional
hearings can still take place in time to make them part of the
debates selecting the first public officials to serve in the
21st century.  This represents a window of opportunity for those
elements within the government favoring basic formal disclosure.

These individuals are most certainly aware of the public and
private statements by former government employees.  They
understand the damage being done to the public trust and the
social contract as the withholding of this information continues
while the unclosable breach in the cover-up grows.

But opposition within the government to formal disclosure exists
as well.  Without focused pressure from the public, this
opportunity could pass unrequited.

PRG's Immediate Agenda

The primary focus remains the initiation of potent investigative
journalism targeting the ongoing leakage from the standing
government cover-up and the efforts to obtain open Congressional
hearings.  Such reportage could come from any of a half dozen
directions at this time.

Further, the return to relative normalcy within the nation's
capitol reopens the door for direct engagement of House and
Senate members.  This will begin immediately after the 1999
MUFON International Symposium being held in Arlington, VA, just
across the river from Washington, on July 2,3,4.

Note:  the 1999 event will be an excellent conference and there
is still time to make reservations.  More information is at [
http://dc.jones.com/~lauraufo/symposium99.htm">http://dc.j
ones.com/~laur aufo/symposium99.htm ].  PRG is doing
everything it can to assist Susan Swiatek of MUFON in making the
1999 Symposium as successful as possible.   I intend to be at
the conference for the entire schedule. Anyone wanting to get
together, please email
ParadigmRG@aol.com">ParadigmRG@aol.com.

Congressional members are naturally more attuned to respond to
their constituents.  Any assistance in arranging meetings with a
member or appropriate aide is most helpful.  A sample letter one
might use to set up such a meeting is appended for your
convenience.  Please convey this wording to any one who might be
in a position to approach their representatives in this context.
___________________________________

Dear Representative/Senator  ________:

As a result of public statements by Col. Philip Corso, Apollo
astronaut Dr. Edgar Mitchell, Mercury astronaut Gordon Cooper
and others, I am greatly concerned that elements of some
government agencies are not being properly forthright with the
American people regarding the alleged presence of
extraterrestrial life forms in our world, now.

I am also aware of a national effort to initiate open
Congressional hearings to take testimony from many other
government witnesses who have personal experience with events
and evidence potentially confirming so called UFOs as space
craft and the presence of non-human life forms.   These efforts
include a national petition and state ballot initiative
targeting 16 state elections.

Stephen Bassett of the Paradigm Research Group is a consultant
and lobbyist registered to represent a number of organizations
regarding this issue as well as the issue itself.   He is
capable of speaking to the specifics regarding the points
raised.

I strongly encourage you to set up a meeting between your office
and Mr. Bassett so you may be properly informed as to the merits
of holding such hearings.  His contact information is as
follows:  Phone: 301-564-1820, Fax:  301-564-4066, Email:
ParadigmRG@aol.com">ParadigmRG@aol.com.

Thank you for your consideration in this matter.
_________________________________________

The effort to directly approach legislative members is intended
to tie in with….

The UFO State Ballot Initiative

Early in the year, Robert Bletchman, MUFON Director of Public
Relations, considered the implications of using the power
available in some states of legal referendums.  Bob drafted a
proposed "UFO Ballot Initiative," and contacted Larry Bryant,
MUFON Director of Governmental Affairs, to assist him in
convincing national MUFON to endorse the project.

There are 16 states that recognize the direct initiative
process, whereby constitutional amendments or statutes proposed
by the people are directly placed on the election ballot and
then submitted to the people for their approval or rejection.
(This is the Direct Initiative, where the state legislature has
no role in the process.  An additional seven states permit
indirect initiatives in which the passed proposition is
presented to the legislature for final vote.)

The following are direct initiative states: Alaska, Arizona,
Arkansas, California, Colorado, Idaho, Missouri, Montana,
Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah,
Washington, and Wyoming.  To place a Direct Initiative on the
ballot requires a signed petition by the voters within the
state.  The number of signatures varies by state and is usually
a small percentage of the previous voter turnout.  Additional
information can be obtained at [
http://www.ufocity.com">http://www.ufocity.com].

The proposed language of the "Ballot Initiative to End Official
Secrecy on UFO Reality" is as follows:
____________________________

We the voting citizens of the state of Arizona [and, eventually,
of other similarly empowered states] do hereby direct this
state's governor to issue, forthwith in the customary manner, an
OFFICIAL PROCLAMATION, the wording of which shall be:

"It is hereby proclaimed that the year 2000 be observed as the
year of UFO awareness.  Because of the federal government's
failure to be officially forthcoming about Unidentified Flying
Objects, the public remains ill informed and confused on a
matter of potentially great consequence.

We therefore urge the U.S. Congress to expeditiously convene
open, comprehensive hearings in which governmental personnel
(military, civilian-contract, and agency employees -- active and
retired) are permitted to present sworn testimony regarding
their personal knowledge of any UFO-related evidence, to be
given under immunity by waiver of any applicable security oath
or agreement of nondisclosure.  This proclamation acknowledges
the following facts:

(1)	The weight of the cumulative evidence -- e.g., eyewitness,
electronic-detection, photographic, documentary - overwhelmingly
supports the conclusion of a majority of Americans that some of
the reported UFOs represent somebody else's spacecraft;

(2)	The federal government's handling of the UFO issue has
contributed to the public cynicism toward and general mistrust
of government -- a development injurious to our republic;

(3)	This initial year of the third millennium affords us a
renewed opportunity to explore, assess, and convey every facet
of UFO reality." _____________________________________

It should be noted that at the heart of the USBI is wording
associated with the national 'Open Congressional Hearing for
Modern UFO Evidence' petition.  More information on this is
located at: [
http://www.paradigmclock.com/therighttopetition.html#Petit
ion">http://ww
w.paradigmclock.com/therighttopetition.html#Petition ]

The ballot initiative signature collection will require MUFON
members within each state to coordinate the work necessary to
obtain the signatures and deal with the governor's
representatives.  The drive would be publicized in the MUFON UFO
Journal, with press releases prepared by Robert H. Bletchman for
the states involved and additional support from MUFON
headquarters.

There is the possibility the ballot initiative process has the
power to transform MUFON into a powerful representative of the
public's interest in the political/social implications of the
UFO/ET/Government connection.   It could add thousands of
members and substantial resources should MUFON choose to use the
initiative process as a tool for expansion.  All of this will be
a major topic of discussion at the 1999 MUFON National
Symposium, and is one more reason to attend.

The UFO State Ballot Initiative (USBI) should attract media
attention later this year, which could assist the legal work
being conducted by….

CAUS (Citizens Against UFO Secrecy)

Peter Gersten, an attorney and co-founder of CAUS, is pursuing:

1)  an FOIA lawsuit against the Department of Defense regarding
information about the triangular shaped UFOs. The preliminary
pretrial conference scheduled for June 14th was canceled by the
Court.  The US Attorneys Office is preparing a Motion for
Summary Judgment (to dismiss) the lawsuit based upon the fact
that the DoD conducted a "reasonable" search and did not find
any information.  CAUS will be filing a Motion for Limited
Discovery, asking the Court to allow it to submit a list of 40
interrogatories (questions) to be submitted to the DoD.

2)  an FOIA lawsuit against the FBI; CIA & Department of Defense
regarding information about the 'alien abduction phenomenon.'
The lawsuit planned for this summer, assuming the necessary
affidavits have been received.  All three agencies have reported
a finding of "no records."

3)  a non-FOIA lawsuit against the US Government and State of
Arizona which will be based upon the provision of Article IV;
Sec IV of the US Constitution which states that the federal
government shall (must) protect the states against invasion.
CAUS will argue that the alien abduction phenomenon as well as
certain aspects of the UFO phenomenon constitute an invasion
under this provision.  CAUS will be asking a federal judge to
direct the federal government to protect the citizens of Arizona
from this invasion...or at least conduct a hearing into its
nature, origin and identity.

In support of this lawsuit, CAUS is seeking affidavits regarding
black triangle sightings and the reported abduction phenomenon.
Full information and the affidavit form and instructions are on
the CAUS website:

http://www.caus.org

CAUS' need for affidavits will be helped along by the……..

World Wide Watch

The concept for the World Wide Watch was launched by Diana
Botsford and the MSN UFO Community website and is scheduled for
June 26th (Saturday), 1999.  The start time is 8pm - YOUR local
time and the Watch ends at 11pm, Hawaii, USA time or 4 am EST
(Sunday)

This is a global sighting expedition in which organizations and
individuals will join in searching the skies for unusual
phenomena.  The MSN UFO Community's chat room will be kept open
for a 24-hour period so regional coordinators can receive
sightings reports from any and all observers. This information
will be made instantly available on a public database created
solely for this event.

Organizations involved include:  Skywatch International, MUFON,
Citizens Against UFO Secrecy, the World Wide UFO Reporting
Center, CSETI, The Australian UFO Research Network & Affiliates,
and La Sociedad de
Investigaciones Biofísicas.

Much more information can be seen at:

http://communities.msn.com/ufo/www.asp

Seeing a number of organizations working together prompts a
commentary on………..

Financial Support

Don't wait for the largess of philanthropists.  Interest level
in UFO/ET phenomena is at an all time high and now extends into
the tens of millions in the US alone.  For about $300 per year,
less than a fitness club membership, it is possible to join, or
contribute to at a commensurate level, the most prominent
research/activist organizations in the field and subscribe to
the primary publications.   Interested citizens, rather than
joining one group to feel "connected" to the issue, need to see
their support of all primary organizations as their family
investment in the single most important event/transition in
human history.  Such an opportunity will not come again and is
possible solely by the chance timing of their birth.   They must
decide now whether they wish to play an active, tangible role in
this extraordinary occurrence or simply be a spectator -
treating this paradigm change as if it were just another
television special for their entertainment.

If 10,000 citizens choose to "hit for the cycle" and cover the
field, they would immediately pump $3,000,000 into the science
and politics of UFO/ET phenomena/disclosure - 100,000 put
$30,000,000 into the work.   And no one has spent more than
their annual cable TV bill.

The financial power to ensure full citizen participation in what
heretofore has been dominated by military/intelligence
components of the state has always been in our hands.  All that
is required is an act of will.   A basket of organizations to
join/support and recommend to your associates might include:

CAUS: Citizens Against UFO Secrecy www.caus.org/support.htm
$20 (contribution)

CNI News: www.cninews.com/CNI_Subscribe.html
$24 (subscription)

CSETI: Center for the Study of Extraterrestrial Intelligence
$40 (membership)
www.cseti.org/member/morder.htm

CUFOS: Center for UFO Studies
www.cufos.org/assoc1.html">www.cufos.org/assoc1.html
$25 (membership)

EM: Enterprise Mission
www.enterprisemission.com">www.enterprisemission.com
$20 (contribution)

FUFOR:  Fund for UFO Research www.fufor.org">www.fufor.org]
$20 (contribution)

MUFON:Mutual UFO Network
www.mufon.com/about/member.nclk"
$30 (membership)

NUFORC: National UFO Reporting Center
$20 (purchase)

www.nwlink.com/~ufocntr/Video.html

ORTK: Operation Right to Know www.ortk.org/member.html
$15 (membership)

PEER: Program for Extraordinary Experience Research
$30 (contribution)
www.peer-mack.org/orderform.html

SI: Skywatch International
$25 (membership)
www.itlnet.net/web/skywatch/application.html

UFO Magazine www.ufocity.com/ufomag/subscribe.html
$30 (subscription)

$299


It is not difficult to lose touch with what is at stake with the
issues these organizations and people are attempting to resolve
in the interest of the nation and its citizens.   There have
been reminders……

Health and Morbidity Watch

The health and morbidity of researcher/activists continues to be
monitored at the following page on the Paradigm Clock website [

www.paradigmclock.com/In_Memoriam-Healthwatch.html">www.pa
radigmclock.co m/In_Memoriam-Healthwatch.html ].

During the past twelve months, five individuals who are
prominent and involved on the cutting edge of either research,
activism or public awareness on the UFO/ET issue have suffered
heart conditions.   Three are recovering from heart attacks -
Richard Hoagland (age 54), Dr. Roger Leir (64) and Bud Hopkins
(67); one died from a heart attack - Col. Philip Corso (83); and
one is recovering from a bout of ventricular tachycardia - Keith
Rowland (40+).

In the past three years five more individuals, who have or had
also been on the cutting edge of research, activism or public
awareness, were struck with cancer.  Four died from these
cancers - Kathy Keeton (58), Steven Schiff (51), Shari Adamiak
(40+) and Karla Turner (60+); and one survived two bouts of
malignant melanoma - Dr. Steven Greer (43).

There have been other deaths, including Betty Cash (69), but by
far the most troubling for this author was that of the
Congressman from New Mexico, the Honorable Steven Schiff.  He
was the first member of the House or Senate since 1968 to make
the UFO/ET question a proper matter of legislative inquiry.  He
was not satisfied with the responses he received regarding
Roswell related records and said so on television programs
numerous times.   He was struck with an unusual and powerful
squamous cancer of the ear, which resisted all treatment and
went into his brain.  It is quite unlikely that anyone receiving
this update has ever known anyone who has died from such a
cancer.

What must we learn from this growing health/morbidity list?

1.  The individuals who have elected to address this subject are
not exactly having their lives extended.

2.  The work is enormously difficult and requires tremendous
sacrifices.

3.  The personal and financial stresses placed on
researchers/activists is great enough without being enhanced by
infighting, petty bickering, personal grudges, libel, slander,
side taking, back stabbing, and purely self serving agendas.

4.  Aside from any bait tossing government operatives and agent
provocateurs, the honest people in the field have much more in
common than not.  Respect and understanding of other's
contributions and theories coupled with tolerance and
forgiveness of other's faults and mistakes will ultimately serve
everyone's interests in the greatest measure.

5.  These illnesses on first glance seem to challenge actuarial
expectations. Until we know more, it is essential that all of us
pay close attention to this matter and publicize the specifics
when possible.  In that regard please consider sending any new
information regarding the health of individuals within the field
to ParadigmRG@aol.com">ParadigmRG@aol.com.

Whatever negatives one may perceive, there is much to admire in
those who have taken on the responsibility their special
knowledge has forced upon them.  As it happens, there is one
quality in particular possessed by those whom I admire most -
fearlessness.   I deal with politicians, staff and media who are
afraid for their job, their income, their reputation, and their
image.  They're afraid of ridicule, their boss, their own
government and their peers.

Sarah McClendon, Richard Hoagland, Larry Bryant, Peter Gersten,
Steven Greer, Art Bell, Jim Marrs, Roger Leir, Derrel Sims,
Robert Dean, Bud Hopkins, Steven Schiff, Edgar Mitchell and
others are people I have found be afraid of no idea, no person
and no government.  They intend to pursue the truth as best they
can, no matter what the cost.  The message that is conveyed
transcends being right on every aspect of every proposed theory
or interpretation.    That message is this:  until the citizens
of this country are in full partnership with their own
government on matters of policy and understanding regarding the
extraterrestrial presence - they will not back off - ever.

The concept of common interest brings to mind another point……

The Power of an in situ Collective

Exceptional as the Internet is as a tool for empowering the
individual, it has the drawback of creating a virtual collective
of separated, and to some degree, isolated people.   This
citizen movement has largely been a home office,
one-person-one-computer enterprise with little division of
labor.  Everyone works hard and everyone is overwhelmed.  This
state of affairs is, of course, mostly a matter of money.

There is a pressing need for greater coalitioning - for
consolidation and sharing of resources.   In this regard,
benefactors can play a major role.   A hundred proposals could
be written tomorrow.  I can only speak to my area of interest.

It would cost about $125,000 a year to operate a formal, officed
lobbying effort targeting the government on its handling of the
UFO/ET phenomena issue.  This would include a chief lobbyist,
two paid staff, a few volunteers, modest rent and the
appropriate computer and communications equipment - $125,000.
Such a modest sum to address the social/political implications
(the science needs $millions).

Perhaps someone of means, capable of understanding just what is
at stake in all this, would consider an opportunity to
participate in the greatest event in human history and possibly
save our constitutional republic in the bargain, one worth
taking.