Larry Holcombe - The Presidents and UFOs: A Secret History from FDR to Obama

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This book is dedicated to my son Jeff, his wife, Lisa, and their children, Melissa, Jessica, Grace, Allison, Abigail, and Bret; and to my son Rob, his wife, Tracy, and their son, Lawrence. Alice and I have been blessed with these wonderful children and grandchildren.

There have been a number of people who have played important roles in the development of this project, however none more so than nuclear physicist Stanton T. Friedman, M.S. The reader will notice that throughout the book I cite Stans work a number of times in endnotes or the bibliography. I do this because I trust his dedication to research and his thoroughness. But perhaps more than anything I admire his skepticism and his ability to unmask the fraud that does so much harm to the legitimate and scientific effort in unraveling the complex and compelling story of extraterrestrial visitation.

In the world of UFOlogy the difficulty and frustration in trying to unravel the truth will unfortunately cause even some of the respected and legitimate UFO researchers to occasionally play a little loose with facts or bend them just a bit to make a story work. In my years of following Stans work I have never once found him to be guilty of this practice. He has followed in the footsteps of the late and outstanding UFO researcher and atmospheric physicist, Dr. James E. McDonald. Stan is a true gentleman who deserves the respect of all serious researchers into the UFO phenomenon.

Don Schmitt, another excellent UFOlogist, encouraged me to pursue my interest in researching Bob Emeneggers background story in making the remarkable NBC documentary, UFOs: Past, Present, and Future, and played an instrumental role in the development of this book. Antonio Huneeus and Stephen Bassett were instrumental in my initial contact with Bob Emenegger to get the project moving ahead.

Special thanks go to Bob Emenegger, who listened and replied in detail to my many questions. Bob welcomed Alice and me into his home and guesthouse for an overnight stay to interview him. Bob is a delightful and gracious man whom Alice and I consider a friend.

Dr. Robert Wood and his son Ryan Wood have been valuable assets in my research for this book. Their insight into the authenticating process involving many leaked documents gave me a comfort level that allowed me to tread into some very sensitive areas. Their work in authenticating the Majestic documents and other related documents perhaps presents some of the most solid evidence in all of UFOlogy.

Thanks also to Nick Pope, former MoD officer who ran the departments UFO investigation program from 1991 to 1994. Nicks comments on the Milton Torres encounter added clarity to one of the more important UFO events in the 1950s.

Art Campbell took the time and expense to send me a number of documents and audio recordings of his investigation into the Holloman-Eisenhower UFO encounter. Art continues to work on the Plains of San Agustin crash; my thanks to this fine researcher.

Kathleen Marden took time from her busy book-tour schedule to assist me in the abduction chapter. There is a short bio of Kathy in chapter 13. Her work in the field of hypnosis, as told in her new book with coauthor, Denise Stoner, The Alien Abduction Files, is riveting and highly recommended.

Ann Druffels help to understand the work and genius of Dr. James E. McDonald cannot be overstated. Her book on McDonald, Firestorm: Dr. James E. McDonalds Fight for UFO Science, is also highly recommended.

Bob Salas and Dr. Robert Jacobs are also due thanks for their help with the Malmstrom UFO event and the Vandenberg AFB UFO filming event.

Leslie Kean and Stan Gordon were instrumental with their comments on the Kecksburg, Pennsylvania, UFO incident. Stan spent a lot of time in correcting my synopsis of the events involved in the Kecksburg UFO crash. Thanks also to Dr. Lynne Kitei for her most helpful comments on the Phoenix Lights case.

Early in my writing career there were two people who played an important role with my writing effortsMadison Ready and Ann Everett. Madison, I understand, is about to have her first book published and Ann has two fun novels that are pure Texas sass.

I would also like to thank the directors and staff of the International UFO Museum and Research Center in Roswell, New Mexico, for their yearly invitation to attend as an author and speaker at the museums celebration of the four-day Roswell UFO festival each July. It was at the 2011 festival that the idea for this book first took shape.

Col. John K. Wilson (USAF Ret.) spent many hours talking to his military and lobby contacts to help me with my research. John, who spent many hours in the right-hand seat of the great FB-111, is a true friend, a believer in this book, and a believer in the phenomenon.

Very special thanks go to my agent, Peter McGuigan, who saw worth in this project, encouraged me to expand my original idea for the book, and then helped me develop and polish my idea. Special thanks also to my editor at St. Martins, Marc Resnick, who believed in the book and made it happen.

My brother, Calvin Cal Holcombe, also deserves special thanks for his support. A true skeptic over the years, he has supported my effort in developing this book with his advice and encouragement. Im a fortunate man to have him as my brother.

Finally, and most importantly, to my wife, Alice, whose quiet support is my strength. She has gallantly fought breast cancer and a stroke, and has overcome both. She continues to travel with me, support me, and make me proud. Im a lucky man to have her enduring love.

Larry Holcombe has provided a great deal of information about UFO sightings during the terms of all the U.S. presidents since Franklin Delano Roosevelt. It is clear that the government has not released all the information it has. Perhaps it would be useful to give some idea of the scope of the governments classified and intelligence activities to indicate why it is so difficult to dig more out of the government, and also to put out some ideas as to why aliens might want to visit Earth and why governments want to withhold information about the visitors. An alien studying Earth would quickly realize that the planet has a primitive society whose major activity is obviously tribal warfare. There are a host of air defense commands. Consider that during World War II we earthlings killed over fifty million of our own kind and destroyed 1,700 cities. We have spent a great deal of money developing weapons of mass destruction. Only two atomic bombs have been exploded on cities (Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945), when the U.S. was the only country to have atomic bombs.

The Soviet Union exploded their first atomic bomb in 1949 and, in total, we earthlings have since exploded two thousand nuclear weapons, including a number of very powerful fusion weapons, five hundred times as powerful as the Hiroshima device. Much effort has, of course, also gone into developing delivery systems such as long-range bombers and intercontinental ballistic missile systems and techniques for defending against them. Starting just before the beginning of World War II, radar was developed (mostly in secret) to monitor the skies and air defense systems to cover the planet. Since then, spy satellites and aircraft radar systems have also been widely deployed. Airborne craft coming here are treated as intruders whether from other countries or other planets. Shoot first, ask questions later is the rule. Are we warlike? The total military budget for 2014 has been estimated at $1 trillion.