Dr. Steven M. Greer, director of the Disclosure Project which is hosting the event, has made an ambitious announcement which I published on 04.28.2001 in my news section, and indeed, he kept his word.
His UFO group CSETI started "The Disclosure Project", a non-profit research organization, calling for open Congressional hearings on the UFO/Extraterrestrial presence, and for legislation that will ban space-based weapons. Congressional hearings were last held in 1968 by the House Science and Astronautics Committee (90th Congress, 2nd Session, Committee Print No. 7. "Symposium on Unidentified Flying Objects.")
The event lasted two and a half hours and was held in the National Press Club in Washington DC, USA, on Wednesday, May 9, 2001. The event itself was professionally run and very well received. There is material now "out there" for intelligent public discussion of UFOs and ET.
You can watch the press conference at www.connectlive.com/events/disclosureproject or find more information about the Disclosure Project at www.disclosureproject.org.
Steven Greer's group made references to Zero-Point Energy, anti-gravity, and that advanced technologies hold the keys to "stopping global warming" and "ending the energy crisis," among other benefits. A ban of the weaponization of space was a also a focus of the organizers. But this is only one part of the event, probably the most criticized and controversial side of Steven Greer's agenda.
The novelty of the act, was the gathering of 21 present in flesh "official" people many with solid, impressive and public credentials, former military officials Of course, such high quality witnesses have come forward many times already in the past, but isolated and with low or no media attention. this time it was a gathering, and it took place in front of a decent media panel, including deveral TV cameras.
These witnesses constitute only a small portion of a vast pool of identified present or former military, intelligence, corporate, aviator, flight control, law enforcement officers, scientists and other witnesses, who would testify at Congressional hearings if they are granted immunity when they break their security oaths.
The Project has identified several hundred witnesses throughout the world and spanning every branch of the armed services, the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), DIA, CIA, NASA, Russia, UK, and other agencies and countries. Over 100 have been videotaped; 70 have been transcribed into edited testimony. Videotaped summary of the testimony and an in-depth briefing document with witness transcripts are available at the press conference and published on the web.
The opportunity was given to interview a number of the 21 witnesses one-on-one, without intervention or spinning by the organizers.
For the first time, a respectable number of officials having UFO sightings or knowledge are saying, together, in front of a bank of 12-plus TV cameras and "real" press, that they will testify before Congress.
Regardless of the debate about CSETI's agenda or competence, and although some views from CSETI are not widely accepted by the whole ufology world, this very well thought and well organized event has been extremely important because it was the best executed such initiative ever.
So far, there has been quite decent web news coverage. Here are some reference and my review.
A sober and non emotional report which presents the event and the official USAF position.
A more detailed report presenting the CSETI event, but also many skeptics opinions which are obviously deaf to the event ("the secret could not be kept"... isn't this event the proof indeed that the secret is not well kept anymore?
A lively account of the event. It concludes that in spite of "the impressive military credentials and undoubted sincerity of the witnesses, Congress is surely unlikely to move on their request for a hearing - unless a space ship lands on, or at least within sight of, Capitol Hill."
A touching account of the courage of the witnesses, including a quote of good sense from someone: "They used to be trusted with nuclear weapons. Why would they not be trusted to believe what they saw with their own eyes."
A decent account, balanced with the reminder of the official USAF dismissal, in which we learn again that there were never any UFO and the Roswell saucer was a baloon.
Reprint of the ABC News item.
Reprint of the ABC News item.
Outtakes of the event, and after the reminder that the Roswell saucer was a baloon (didn't we read this somwhere already, the conclusion that congressional hearings about UFOS are, at best, unlikely.
Same as CNN UPI.
Same as CNN UPI.
The author is impressed, but cannot help to add the necessary irony: "The message here was that credible people, people who are not kooks, believe that UFOs contain aliens. These people have good resumes. Maybe that's not as impressive as someone coming forward with an actual alien antenna, but it's not trivial." At the end of the article, the author reverts back to a massive dose of irony, wondering whether people like Steven Greer will lead us to the world of spacebrotherhood.
Same as above.
A short report of the event, no irony at all.
TV Coverage (More to come):
WEBCAST: http://www.connectlive.com/events/disclosureproject
Website: www.disclosureproject.org
Email: Disclosure2001@cs.com
Contact: Alfred Webre 604-733-8134 econews@ecologynews.com,
Dr. Steven Greer 540-456-8302 Disclosure2001@cs.com
