John B. Alexander - UFOs: Myths, Conspiracies, and Realities

This book is dedicated to all scientists who have been willing to follow the data and acknowledge that phenomena do existeven at the risk of their careers.

On July 20, 2010, Dr. Dean Judd died unexpectedly, and thus I can now publicly acknowledge his involvement. For many years he was one of my closest confidants and his support is evident in many places in this book. Dean served the nation as the Chief Scientist of SDI (Star Wars), the National Intelligence Officer for Science and Technology, a member of the U.S. Air Force Science Advisory Board, and Senior Fellow at Los Alamos National Lab. He was a true skeptic. We served together on several advisory boards, and often discussed matters on national security at great length. On UFOs he asked tough questions while providing key insights into the U.S. space architecture. He was one of many people who noted there was absolutely no connection between SDI and preparing to fight ET.

Finally, I thank my wife, Victoria, who sometimes bridges realities with courage that would fail most people.

CONTENTS

by Burt Rutan

by Tom Clancy

by Jacques F. Vallee

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Over the decades many people have supported my efforts in researching UFOs and other phenomena. For good reason, some of them choose to help from the sidelines and remain anonymous. That is true for several members who participated in the Advanced Theoretical Physics group. Very importantly, my acknowledgment does not mean that we necessarily agree on all aspects of the topicand in some cases we profoundly disagree.

Among those who deserve thanks for participation and support are Hal Puthoff, Kit Green, Jacques Vallee, Edward Teller, Tom Clancy, Bob Jahn, Brenda Dunne, Peter Sturrock, Ted Rockwell, Ben Rich, Scott Jones, Jack Houck, Howell McConnell, Marty Piltch, John Mack, Dave Pritchard, Bill Coleman, Phil Corso, Edgar Mitchell, Ron Blackburn, Bob and Ryan Wood, Eric Davis, Colm Kelleher, George Onet, John Petersen, Jim Channon, Max Thurman, Dick Trefry, Gordon Sumner, Frank Burns, Bob Klaus, Tyler Nelson, George Knapp, Al Harrison, Burt Rutan, Jack Schmitt, Bert Stubblebine, Bruce Maccabee, John Schuessler, Chuck Halt, Bob Salas, Lynne Kitei, Nick Pope, Michael Hesemann, Illobrand von Ludwiger, Anne and Whitley Strieber, Roger Leir, Steve Bassett, Gordon Novel, Helen and Bob Kupperman, Bob Friend, Paul Tyler, Kreskin, Joe McMoneagle, Ingo Swann, Paul Smith, Bill McGarity, Oke Shannon, Stan Friedman, Larry Dossey, Mark Rodeghier, James Gilliland, Gabe Valdez, and others I may have inadvertently left out. My appreciation also goes to my family members who provided details of their sightings.

Special thanks go to Bob Bigelow for the creation of the National Institute for Discovery Science and allowing me the opportunity to participate for several years.

Finally, thanks also go to my editor, Pete Wolverton, and his staff at Thomas Dunne Books for their support on this project.

PROLOGUE

Imagination is more important than knowledge.

ALBERT EINSTEIN

UFOs are real! With no prevarication or qualification of terms, there are physical objects of unknown origin that do transit our universe. The evidence that supports those statements is simply overwhelming. That evidence includes both hard data collected via multispectral sensors and from high-quality eyewitnesses that are neither misreporting facts nor delusional. Determining what these objects are, let alone the question of origin, is another matter. There are no simple solutions that fit all of the facts. For about six decades I have been actively exploring the topic and Im finally taking the time to write about it.

This book differs from all others written about UFOs because it details a personal exploration of the topic in ways that no other researcher has been able to accomplish. What is important and unique are the details of direct interactions with senior officials from many agenciesand finding that no one was responsible for this topic anywhere in the U.S. Government. That fact is very significant and runs counter to conventional wisdom. This book addresses those problems so that the reader can understand the governments role in UFOs as it really is; not the way many people believe it should be.

Requirements for Researching UFOs

In presentations and discussions on the topic of unidentified flying objects (UFOs), I always begin by stating my position. This is important as there is considerable misinformation about me and my role in the investigation of this fascinating subject. There are three things that anyone who wants to become involved in the study of UFOs will require. While they will be more fully explained later, these attributes are:

First, a sense of humor; as you will be attacked sooner or later.

Second, an understanding of conspiracy theory; you are now part of the plot.

And finally, a day jobor be independently wealthy; nobody is making big money from the topic.

My position is simple: by definition, UFOs must exist. At the most elemental level of understanding, this means that any object that flies, and is not identified, is a UFO. Of course many things begin as UFOs, and are later identified as some prosaic alternative, and thus move out of the UFO status. But that is not what youre here for. What we are really discussing are mysterious craft that appear in physical reality and that have been observed and reported for millennia. Most important, the evidence supporting the reality of UFOs, as they are commonly understood by the general public, is proven beyond any reasonable doubt. There is a core set of casesthat after you eliminate all of the alternative explanationsjust defy conventional wisdom. Any so-called skeptic that states, There is no hard evidence to support the existence of UFOs, is simply wrong! What he or she really means is that they havent taken the time to seriously review the data, and most likely you can infer that they arent about to start now.

Over the past decades I have had the opportunity to research the topic both officially and as an avocation. My interest in UFOs began with the first public pronouncements of Ken Arnolds experience and various other sightings in 1947. When I was ten years old, I remember a broadcast of the topic on our schools internal radio system. I attended the Training School, which was located on the campus of what was to become the University of WisconsinLa Crosse. As a side note, the name of the school was changed as some people thought we went to a reformatory, rather than a very progressive school that provided human guinea pigs for young student teachers.

Throughout the course of this book what I have learned will be covered in detail. I promise to tell you only things that are believed to be true. There will be no intentional misleading of the reader. It must also be accepted that people can, in good conscience, look at the same facts and arrive at different conclusions. In fact, I have some good friends whose opinions are highly respected that fall into that sector. Later some of those alternative opinions will be addressed specifically as well as the reasons that we see the conclusions quite differently.

Frequently Im asked whether or not Ive seen a UFO. The answer is yes, but it was not very dramatic. When visiting James Gilliland at his remote site in Washington State, well known for sightings, I did witness a minor unique event. This nighttime observation included what appeared to be a satellite moving across the sky from west to east. I was watching this high-altitude object through very good, third-generation night-vision goggles when it suddenly stopped moving. Satellites dont do that. Compared to what others have reported, that is hardly earth-shattering, but its the best I have been able to come up with. More important, my studies indicate that while personal observations are interesting, it is the multisensor data that have been reported by many different systems that confirm the reality of physical craft beyond any reasonable doubt.