Famed Life magazine photographer Allan Grant may have provided to us his greatest "picture" just before he died. The cameraman's portrait of the Roswell crash in 1947 illustrates that the event that summer was of urgent importance to the military. It also shows that the skyfallen object was in fact of a genuine "unknown."
With his passing last year, Allan Grant has been rightly elevated to legendary status in the world of journalistic photography. For decades Mr. Grant was a permanent member of the prestigious Life photographic staff. He captured on film some of the most recognizable images in history. Grant's legacy includes such memorable work as the first-ever public picture of Lee Harvey Oswald's wife Marina (taken after Lee's capture) to the haunting, last-ever picture of Marilyn Monroe. His work's "movie still" clarity, his many Life cover shots and his photographic studies were a gift left to all of us.
But Allan's best chronicle was left before he died- and surpasses any captured image of a politician or an entertainer that he ever took. His greatest gift to history was his revelation that he was involved in the Roswell saga- and his confirmation that what crashed in New Mexico those many years ago was not of a balloon or a secret aircraft experiment, but of an Unidentified Flying Object!
In 1997, Mr. Grant had written a very brief Letter to the Editor of the Los Angeles Times. Allan was upset after having read in the LA Times of the second Roswell "debunking" report issued by the USAF that year. In the letter he was somewhat cryptic- but adamant that he knew that Roswell was not what the Air Force was reporting as a balloon project. He explained that he had a personal experience fifty years prior that had left a life-long impression on him. It also left no doubt in his mind whatsoever that something "very significant" had happened.
In online researching archived newspapers this author became aware of Grant's Letter to the Editor only last year, in 2008. Hoping that Mr. Grant was still alive and able to relate more, I tracked him down and emailed him.
Unfortunately Mr. Grant was very ill. As it turned out, Allan only lived for three more months after we began corresponding, passing at age 88. His wife Karin (also a Life magazine employee for many years) helped to facilitate these communications and she also replied with her own assessments about the Roswell event as she was "Mrs. Grant" back in 1947.
In early July of 1947 Allan stated that he had received an urgent call from his Life Editor in New York- "You have to get to Roswell, NM, and fast!"
All Allan was told at the time was that a very large "meteor" had apparently crashed "outside the Roswell area" and that the Army Air Force was attempting to recover the crashed object. Mr. Grant (and Mrs. Grant) maintained that the relationship between the US military and Life magazine at the time was "very strong and deeper than people will ever know."
In fact, Allan Grant said that the Army Air Force had informed his Editor that they would even provide an officer pilot from the Air Force who would personally fly Allan out there and put him in the vicinity of the crash to visually document the "meteor" event.
From Los Angeles, Grant was flown to Albuquerque, NM. Once there he was greeted by a US Army Air Force pilot officer named Major Charles Phillips. Grant stated that they both then boarded a "military training plane" (a single engine trainer) and departed. They later landed on a makeshift runway- a dirt landing strip. When they alighted the plane, Grant was handed a loaded semi-automatic pistol by Major Phillips. Disturbed, Allan asked of the Major "what the hell do I need that for?" Phillips replied that his orders were to see that Grant was armed with a weapon. When Grant asked of Phillips "Against what?" Phillips replied "we don't know!"
Something seemed very strange about all of this to Grant. They then got into a jeep and began driving, seemingly on a "wild goose chase." But they never located a thing! No meteor, nothing. Allan could not understand why they could not find it, and the Major was oddly being of little help in trying to understand why this was so.
But we learn from Allan's widow Karin Grant that there was a reason for this strange scenario having played out in the desert those many years ago. She and her husband discussed his strange flight to New Mexico for many years after. Both had agreed that there were one of three reasons why Allan was taken out there-
1) Allan said, "Of course we never found the big "meteor' and I wonder whether or not we had arrived too early or too late."
2) He also thought that "perhaps we landed in the wrong place."
3) Ultimately though, the Grants decided that the best explanation was that "the government knew all along that there was something more than a meteor that had crashed- and what better way to deal with it than to "invite" the prestigious Life magazine to come take a look."
Grant's widow continues, "You take them someplace near -but not exactly to- the spot. Show the world there's nothing there- and everybody is happy and relieved, and you can go about your business." She believes that "perhaps they thought you could keep other media out of there if need be by saying that Life has already been there, and they found nothing." And she was right- no mainstream media reported on the event after the first wire stories based on military press releases.
Before Allan died, he told Karin that he always believed that he was "used" by the military as a "potential cover" to in some way obfuscate something. He told her that the "something" what he had always thought -even at the time- was much bigger- an unidentified flying object.
So incensed was Allan about the event -and the Air Force's 1990's reports that explained away the crash as that of a balloon crash and dummy drop- that he felt compelled to write to the LA Times. It was after he read the Air Force Roswell reports that he knew they were lying. It was then that he got the sinking, knowing feeling that Roswell was real. It was a UFO that had crashed to the desert floor decades ago.
This author decided to see if there ever was a "Major Charles Phillips" as alluded to by Grant. If so, what things was this Major associated with during his years of service in the Air Force? The answer was found in reviewing the records of the now-defunct civilian UFO organization NICAP.
Incredibly, Major Phillips -just one month after the Roswell crash- would become one of the US Air Force's first official UFO researchers! Phillips teamed with famed astronomer Dr. Lincoln LaPaz from the University of New Mexico. Together they would lead what they termed "ground survey teams" to investigate the mysterious -and still unexplained- "Green Fireball" sightings that plagued New Mexico for the next several years!
It’s hard to imagine a staged UFO event that didn’t invite at least some measure of ridicule from the mainstream media. But that’s what happened on Nov. 12, 2007, at the National Press Club in Washington. Skeptics who came looking for lunatics to slam either a) played it straight, or b) filed nothing at all.
That’s because the 14 panelists who came from as far away as Iran and Chile were professional pilots – civilian and military, including two generals and a colonel – former government officials, and/or scientists with immaculate resumes. All testified to the elusive but intimidating nature of what appear to be physics-warping technologies plying our atmosphere at will and rendering worldwide air defense systems obsolete.
The panel -- http://www.freedomofinfo.org/national_press.htm -- adjourned with a statement requesting either the U.S. Air Force, or NASA, instigate a new scientific study of UFOs for flight safety and security reasons. Brainstormed by documentary filmmaker James Fox with the help of journalist Leslie Kean’s Coalition for the Freedom of Information, the event rated poker-faced coverage from Reuters to Xinhua, from CNN to Pravda. Because these guys were bullet-proof. And there were no distracting little green men visuals or paranoid rants from omniscient moonbats.
“Because as soon as you start talking about anal probes or babies in incubators,” says Fox from San Francisco, “you’ve lost ‘em.”
Never mind that the MSM didn’t bother to follow these rich leads with independent inquiry. It’s an unfortunate congenital incapacity for which Fox has no remedy. However, after producing “UFOs: 50 Years of Denial?” for the Discovery Channel in 1998, and a related “Out of the Blue” five years later, Fox mapped out his National Press Club strategy from the moment he decided to bring the panelists together. He wanted to galvanize support for Congressional hearings on UFOs the way Michael Moore rallied the antiwar movement with “Fahrenheit 9/11.”
“On a massive scale, the majority of Americans suspect the government isn’t being entirely honest when it comes to what it knows about UFOs,” he says, referencing a 2002 Roper Poll (http://www.freedomofinfo.org/poll/roper04.html). “On the other hand, we can’t be screaming from the hilltops that ET is here unless we can prove it. And I’m not entirely sure we can prove that yet. But it does appear that we’ve discounted the terrestrial possibilities.”
So Fox’s latest doc – “I Know What I Saw” – builds on his earlier work by exploring the troubling issues raised at the 11/12/07 press conference. But the crucial twist here is distribution. Having put a video trailer online, Fox is negotiating for a big-screen theatrical release this time around. Because he’s certain of this much: “There will be no congressional hearings without constituent support for them. And I’ve screened this film for people who knew nothing about UFOs and said they were blown away by what they learned.”
As for ongoing public efforts aimed at lobbying the Obama administration and the White House Correspondents Association to start discussing this stuff, Fox is cautious. “I have to be very conservative with what I say. The UFO community is somewhat competitive and somewhat compartmentalized, and it’s unfortunate,” he says. “I truly respect all the work that everyone out there has been doing. But in terms of getting groups like (the White House press corps) talking, I don’t think we’re there yet.”
Fox concedes the possibility that the MSM may never get it. “Honestly, I don’t know what it’d take,” he says. “Maybe a massive sighting or somebody like Neil Armstrong coming forward could trigger a movement. But I haven’t figured that one out.”
Smith Mountain Lake UFO Conference Mariners Landing Resort and Conference Center Huddleston, Virginia
A Review
By Suzanne Ramsey 7-10-09
Last month my husband Scott and I attended and spoke at the Smith Mountain Lake UFO Conference. Here are a few notes I jotted down in reference to this conference and thought you might enjoy reading them.
We have know the hosts of this conference, Rob and Sue Swiatek for several years and always enjoy our time with them, so when invited us to the conference, we were excited to attend.
The conference was intimate in size, but mighty in talent. Each speaker brought new information to the table.
Rob Swiatek is a fascinating person as well as a speaker. Having been involved with aeronautics, astronautics and UFO’s in both official and non-official capacities since he was young, Rob brings a comprehensive look at UFO’s as few others can. This particular lecture covered a historical comparison of several countries and their methods of documenting UFO Sightings. Rob has the ability to help us step back and see the “big picture” at the same time paying careful attention to details.
Cameron Pack – this young man knocked our socks off. His introduction to the world of UFO’s began with a sighting that he and a friend had experienced. This moved Cameron to go to his local police department in Virginia Beach, Virginia and ask for any records that they had on UFO Sightings in the area. The police department handed the reports over to him. Cameron combed over and over the reports, with each one his interest in the topic deepened. In time, he began noticing commonalities and distinctions in the reports. This led him to back track information leads him to some exciting conclusions.
We look forward to see more information from Cameron as he has now broadened his research interest to additional sightings outside of his living vicinity.
(On a personal note, it was nice to see a young person with the concern for accuracy that Cameron is showing. Although I’m sure that there are others that are serious researchers, many seem to be focused on what they can pull up on the internet or hear say, which may be entertaining, but not necessarily truth. John Greenwalde is another young man who fits in to the category of truth seeker.) Keep up the good work gentlemen.
Antonio Huneeus- Although we had long been admirers of Antonio’s UFO Research, neither Scott or I had ever met or seen his presentation before. What an absolutely brilliant man! This multi lingual, international traveler has researched and documented UFO sightings worldwide. Antonio has seen the highs and lows of the study of UFO through out his life time taking him as far as the United Nations on behalf of Ufology. A bonus is he is able to overcome language and cultural barriers that give a more accurate experience.
If you have an chance to see him lecture of visit with him, DO NOT MISS the opportunity.
Susan Swiatek began her interest in UFO’s as a child and the interest continues. Currently she is the MUFON Virginia State Director and is active with the Fund for UFO Research. Susan shared actual case information and interviews that she has investigated in Virginia. The statistics and details she shared were great, but it doesn’t began to describe the delightful person that she is. Susan has a balance of brains and fun that is difficult to find. Plus…she was the hostess with the mostess for the conference. (Thanks again, Susan!)
Granville Angell- His lecture was on “Are we prepared to know the truth about our shared universe? Cover-up persists: thoughts on why”.
Granville is a deeply caring man who focuses on our health and well-being in preparation for contact with alien beings and other worldly forces. Granville asks questions, gives tools and examples of keeping a spiritual balance when dealing with Ufology. Step by step he walks you in a gentle manner down a path of light.
Scott and Suzanne Ramsey- I didn’t see this presentation, (Ha! Ha!) We created an informal setting where we could interact with the audience very closely. This was a rare opportunity for a closeness with the group that opened up some great questions and conversation.
This was a late evening presentation and although we were all saturated with great information from the speakers all day long, we could have easily spoken another hour about the Crash/Landing of 1948 in Aztec, New Mexico.
MY UFO EXPERIENCE: Huge Shiny Disk Like Object Hovers Over Resort Town, Mesmerizing Local Residents and Tourists!
UFO sighting early 1990’s in Majorca, Meditaranian Island resort.
Reader Submitted Report [Unedited] 6-20-09
I never believed in flying saucers and certainly not in extra terrestrial life. I was a soldier in the British Army for 4 years and believed everything had a logical explanation. My job consisted of working with the RAF, so I had exposure to the military arsenal of fighters jets used in combat.
However, my views were challenged in the most unlikely places and during complete daylight, in the Majorcan town of Magaluf on holiday with my partner. Several hundreds, if not thousands of people who watched in amazement and took photos and videos of my first and last ever sighting of a UFO witnessed the whole event.
We were eating in a beach side restaurant early evening around 7pm, when crowds started to gather and stare at the blue clear skies above. We too stood up to see what was going on in the street…what I can only describe as a shiny disk like object was seemingly stationary in the sky. Its diameter was something comparable to a Boeing 737 jet and hovering at the height I would imagine a police helicopter would fly when giving chase. At first I thought it was a prank from a hot air balloon holding a large disk underneath, but it was just too big. The hovering lasted for approx 5-10 mins and brought the local town to a stand still as spectators, including the local police stared into the sky.
We thought that was weird, but what followed made everyone noticeably gasp in astonishment…
It moved, silently a short distance sideways before accelerating at what can only be described as lightening fast and without sound, towards the mountains on the horizon. We could still see the object reflecting the sun form its silver like undercarriage some miles over the mountain range. At this pint, it then flew almost vertical into the sky and disappeared.
This was a night like no other I have encountered – it was the talking point of the night.
At 10pm, the power in Magaluf shut down, bringing the whole town to an eerie silence and to almost complete darkness, other from the odd bar with a generator backup. Very soon after, The Police were advising people to walk back on the main roads to their hotels to avoid muggings etc….
After some time sitting in the hotel bar, our holiday rep met us to discuss the events of the night. She advised us her colleagues based in other towns on the Island of Majorca has also witnessed or heard of a flying disk AND their local towns has also suffered a power failure. This was becoming a very strange night indeed.
We moved on back to our hotel balcony to play a game of cards with friends and chatted about the bizarre evening. The power was restored around 4am.
As we walked into the town for breakfast, we noticed the newsstand has the local Spanish paper headlines as UFO – We can’t read Spanish, but we understand the storyline.
When Returned form holiday, I spent many a night trawling the early and slow Internet for information about UFO’s. To my dismay, the majority of sightings were lights in the night sky. Mine and many other witnesses to this event were in clear blue skies in a major holiday resort, yet I have only ever seen one witness video of the events of that holiday.
Several years later, I worked with a chap who was dating a mixed British/Spanish girl. I met her in restaurant after one of our jobs I Birmingham England. She told me her Spanish mother and English Father raised her in Majorca. She moved to England to study at Uni etc…. I don’t tell many people the UFO story, as they generally think your nuts (like I did years back I guess). I felt compounded to tell her, expecting a roar of laughter in response. How wrong I was; I started to introduce the story and she cut me short by saying – “you saw a UFO didn’t you?” I said, “How did you know that?” She responded, by telling me her mother sees them all the time in Majorca!!
Anyway, I’d love to find out what these UFO’s are and why they are flying in certain places. This lady claims they are seen all the time in Majorca – why…it’s a holiday resort and I doubt the Spanish air force have the know how or funding to create silent aircraft. In the early 90’s would the USA know how to build a silent disk that could fly from a standing start to phenomenal speeds without any sound??
I understand logic, but this is illogical
Perhaps someone can shed some light on this, or perhaps others may have experienced something similar and are as puzzled as I am.
By Dr David Clarke drdavidclarke.blogspot.com 7-6-09
John Keel - the American journalist whose 1975 book The Mothman Prophecies was adapted into a film starring Richard Gere - has died in New York after years battling the effects of diabetes.
Keel's journalistic career began on a weekly paper in New York during the '40s and he, like me, was a keen fan of the works of Charles Fort. Keel was gripped by the flying saucer craze in 1947 and saw his first UFO in 1954 whilst visiting the Aswan Dam. One of his early books, Jadoo (1957) is a ripping yarn that describes his adventures travelling in India and Tibet, where he followed the tracks of the abominable snowman and saw demonstrations of the famous 'Indian Rope Trick.'
During the 60s and early 70s he produced a series of ground-breaking books on UFOs, crypto-zoology and alternative archaeology based upon the contemporary counter-culture zeitgeist. This view saw UFOs not as extra-terrestrial in origin but controlled by "ultra-terrestrials", nebulous powers from other dimensions who co-existed with us and loved to play games with humans.
UFOs, aliens, the sinister Men In Black and a host of other supernatural phenomena were incorporated into a bizarre but ultimately more satisfying theory which traced them to something Keel called "the super-spectrum". This was, as far as I could make out, some form of alternative reality from which they downloaded themselves into our three-dimensional world.
In retrospect, it's clear that Keel was actually constructing an updated medieval demonology carefully constructed for 20th century readers. I later learned the man himself loved playing games with his readers and had a keen sense of humour. Much of what he wrote in those books, he told me in 1992, "shouldn't be taken seriously."
By that time, however, my sense of disillusionment with Keel's writings was almost complete.
He will be remembered mostly for his 1975 book The Mothman Prophecies. This charted his investigations of an outbreak of weird happenings in the tiny West Virginia town of Point Pleasant during 1966-67. It was a fast-moving account that combined horror narrative with straight reportage. The film adaptation that followed in 2002 - to mixed reviews - used the phrase "based on true events" that has since become a horror flick staple.
Nevertheless, for a teenager growing up in bleak '80s South Yorkshire, Keel's books were a source of inspiration and escape into a world where anything was possible, and indeed probable. Keel's accounts of his adventures in West Virginia, chasing the red-eyed winged monsters, sinister MIB in dark cadillacs and cool gentleman spacemen called Indrid Cold who descended from flying stovepipes simply blew my mind.
It was partly a result of reading Keel's UFOs: Operation Trojan Horse (first published in 1970) and The Mothman Prophecies that a) encouraged me believe in six impossible things before breakfast b) placed me firmly on the flying saucer beat 30 years ago at the tender age of 13 and c) led me on the path to becoming a rookie journalist, so I could embark on my own adventures in the UFOlogical borderlands. The rest is history.
It's been said that one should never meet one's heroes in the flesh. But I did and have fond memories of showing the old buffer around the delights of Sheffield city centre when Keel spoke at the Independent UFO Network conference in 1992.
While his presentation was a bit of an anti-climax Andy Roberts and I did get to interrogate him during his three day stay in Yorkshire. The result is a transcipt that runs to several thousand words. But it does give a unique insight into the world of an eccentric, talented writer whose contribution will be sorely missed. Through the good offices of my webmaster Gary Anthony I to post the transcript of that interview onto my webpages soon.
So soon after the passing of John Michell, it seems the UFOlogical generation I grew up with is finally coming to its end.
“From time to time in the history of science, situations have arisen in which a problem of ultimately enormous importance went begging for adequate attention simply because that problem appeared to involve phenomena so far outside the current bounds of scientific knowledge that it was not even regarded as a legitimate subject of serious scientific concern. That is precisely the situation in which the UFO problem now lies. One of the principal results of my own recent intensive study of the UFO enigma is this: I have become convinced that the scientific community, not only in this country but throughout the world, has been casually ignoring as nonsense a matter of extraordinary scientific importance.”¹
—Dr. James E. McDonald Senior Physicist, Institute of Atmospheric Physics Professor of Meteorology, University of Arizona
Scientists universally profess allegiance to the lofty principles comprising the Scientific Method, both in the pursuit of their own research, as well as when reviewing the work of their peers. Therefore, one might predict that they will indignantly dismiss the suggestion that, on occasion, they have temporarily abandoned those cherished principles. Nevertheless, as regards the subject of UFOs, very few scientists actually practice what they preach.
In essence, to engage in science is to search for knowledge. This exploration is conducted through the systematic collection and objective analysis of facts. If one aspires to understand the nature of an unexplained phenomenon, one must first assemble and evaluate data—or, at least, impartially examine the data gathered by others—before drawing conclusions.
Unfortunately, most scientists reject outright the validity of UFO research, refuse to engage in it, and deliberately ignore the intriguing data compiled by a handful of their more inquisitive, less-biased peers. If this were not enough, despite their profound unfamiliarity with the subject, many of these same intransigent individuals pontificate about UFOs in the most shameless and presumptuous manner. If they were to apply this same “methodology” to their own research, their colleagues might justifiably consider their conduct incompetent, if not fraudulent. Nevertheless, it is rare to hear a scientist speak or write knowledgeably about the UFO phenomenon, and rarer still to find one who has actually studied it.
Accuse a scientist of being closed-minded about UFOs and he or she will recoil: “I’m not closed-minded, but I am skeptical!” Because the former term implies inflexible prejudice and the latter one prudent caution, it is understandable that these UFO “skeptics” would prefer to view themselves in a more flattering light.
One scientist who has advocated a comprehensive, unbiased investigation the UFO phenomenon, astronomer Dr. Bernard Haisch, defines a Skeptic as, “One who practices the method of suspended judgment, engages in rational and dispassionate reasoning as exemplified by the scientific method, shows willingness to consider alternative explanations without prejudice based on prior beliefs, and who seeks out evidence and carefully scrutinizes its validity.”²
By Haisch’s definition, very few scientists are true skeptics on the subject of UFOs. On the contrary, over the years, most have behaved as self-appointed experts, having all the answers, without first investigating any of the facts. Although scientists profess a deep curiosity about little understood or unknown phenomena, when it comes to UFOs, this assertion rings hollow. At the moment, the UFO phenomenon is a blind spot in most scientists’ field of vision. There is definitely something there to be seen, but they cannot, or will not, bring themselves to take a look.
As noted at the beginning of the chapter, the late Dr. James McDonald—one of the few scientists to have actually studied the UFO phenomenon before holding forth on the subject—once pointedly criticized the thoroughly unprofessional posture toward UFOs he observed among his colleagues and the scientific community at large.
Sad to say, some 40 years after Dr. McDonald’s lament, the same smug, dismissive attitude toward the phenomenon remains firmly entrenched in scientific circles, resulting in a pervasive, self-imposed ignorance about UFOs among those who supposedly seek the truth. At the beginning of the 21st century, it remains true that the overwhelming majority of scientists, if they consider UFOs at all, consider them to be beneath their dignity, and worthy of outright derision. With this self-righteous stance, they have effectively abdicated their collective professional responsibility in the most unscientific manner. This is not so much an accusation as it is an objective statement of fact.
Fortunately, despite the collective disinterest in UFOs exhibited by the scientific community as a whole, there have been a few brave pioneers. In the mid-1960s, Jim McDonald was well ahead of the curve, with his repeated, plaintive calls for a legitimate investigation of the UFO phenomenon. Seeking to review the available data for himself, he persistently demanded an opportunity to review the Air Force’s UFO files—at least those held by Project Blue Book—and was ultimately granted repeated access to the ones that were not classified.
As noted earlier, following those reviews, McDonald wrote, “…There are hundreds of good cases in the Air Force files that should have led to top-level scientific scrutiny of [UFOs] years ago, yet these cases have been swept under the rug in a most disturbing way by Project Blue Book investigators and their consultants.”³
Despite, or perhaps because of, the Air Force’s ongoing attempts to suppress the frequently high-quality data on UFOs it collected, McDonald began to investigate the phenomenon on his own time and at his own expense, while ignoring the very real risk to his scientific reputation. This diligence paid off and, by 1968, McDonald was widely regarded—although not among his still-dubious peers—as one of the world’s leading scientific experts on UFOs. Consequently, he was invited to address congress on the subject, during hearings held that year. McDonald’s full statement before the House Committee on Science and Astronautics, presented on July 29th, may be found in the U.S. Congressional Record, as well as on the Internet.
While acknowledging that the overwhelming majority of UFO sightings undoubtedly had prosaic explanations, and that a great many questions about the phenomenon remained unanswered, McDonald succinctly summarized his conclusions regarding the most credible of the unexplained cases: “My own present opinion, based on two years of careful study, is that UFOs are probably extraterrestrial devices engaged in something that might very tentatively be termed ‘surveillance’.”4
Although this was merely an opinion, it was after all an informed opinion on UFOs, something very few other scientists could offer, then or now. Many of McDonald’s published papers, private research notes, and personal letters relating to his investigations of the UFO phenomenon are now accessible online, providing insight into the cautious, rational reasoning underlying his dramatic conclusions.
There is an old joke about the intellectual who sniffs, “Well, it may work in fact, but it will never work in theory.” While most UFO skeptics are quick to dismiss as impossible the idea that UFOs are alien spacecraft, very few of them will ever make the effort to learn whether any evidence exists to suggest otherwise. Instead, they merely continue to assert that, as an idea, it simply does not work. However, as the joke implies, the real question to be asked is whether it works in fact. That is, is there evidence in the real world, which lends credence to the validity of the ET hypothesis of UFOs.
Granted, the proposal that UFOs are alien spaceships is decidedly “counter-intuitive”. For most scientific professionals, the notion just doesn’t make sense and almost certainly has no basis in reality. However, as is often the case in science, many ideas, which initially seem impossible, or at least highly unlikely, eventually turn out to be true. As a noted cosmologist once observed, “The greatest obstacle to the advancement of science is the illusion of knowledge—the notion that one already knows the answers.”
Precisely. At the end of the day, practicing science still involves asking questions and seeking answers, whatever those answers turn out to be. However, a scientist must actually adhere to, not just reflexively espouse, these fundamental principles. Pontificating about UFOs from the comfort of the armchair contributes nothing to the solution to the problem. To honestly attempt an understanding of UFOs, one must actually investigate the UFO phenomenon, however pointless or distasteful this proposal might seem to some. As that street-smart sage, New York Yankees catcher Yogi Berra, once observed, “You can see a lot just by looking.”
* Part 2 to appear on this website soon
References:
1. McDonald, Dr. James E. “Prepared Statement before the House Committee on Science and Astronautics”, July 29, 1968 2. UFOskeptic.org 3. [Tucson] Daily Citizen, March 1, 1967 4. McDonald, Dr. James E. “Prepared Statement before the House Committee on Science and Astronautics”, July 29, 1968
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