Tag: Stanton Friedman

70 Years of UFO Cover-Ups Are Finally Coming to an End

Article by Gary Heseltine                                                    July 2, 2021                                                          (rt.com)

• For more than 70 years, highly trained, credible people have reported interactions with some kind of intelligence that is, literally, out of this world. Yet, the mass of corroborated testimony from military pilots, commercial pilots, astronauts, cosmonauts, radar operators, air traffic controllers, sonar operators, military personnel, and police officers from all around the world have been largely ignored by governments, military and scientists and the academic world. Why? Because governments across the planet, supported by the mainstream media, have poured scorn on and trivialized the subject of UFOs since the early 1950s. As the late Stanton Friedman used to say, “It can’t be, so it isn’t.”

• While the subject has opened up to the public in recent years, the manufactured stigma attached to the UFO topic makes it is still too ‘taboo’ for most. Scientists and academics still do not take the UFO phenomena seriously. It isn’t surprising, since for most of their lives they have been told that there is no evidence to support the premise that some of these reports are credible, cannot be explained, and may be of extraterrestrial/non-human origin.

• Almost all of these scientists, professors and the public in general do not realize that they have been hoodwinked by a huge propaganda machine that was deliberately created by the United States. In January 1953, a group of scientists met to figure out a way to ‘strip the aura’ from ‘flying saucers’. They decided the best way to do this was to dismiss, trivialize, scorn and debunk all UFO sightings through the use of the media in all its forms – television, film, newspapers, books, and magazines. They commissioned the ‘Robertson Panel’ to begin the process of stigma and ridicule that has plagued this topic for decades.

• Today, most astronomers won’t even consider looking at the mountain of UFO evidence, due to the perceived risk of ridicule and the effect on their careers. This has proven to be a powerful deterrent for those that dare to take the phenomena seriously. The message was clear to scientists and academics: stay away from UFO research or risk ruining your career.

• Yet over the past months, there have been significant developments on the UFO subject that seem to be signaling the end to this policy of deceit and denial. A government investigative task force just submitted a nine-page preliminary assessment report to Congress regarding US Navy encounters with UFOs off the east and west coasts of America in recent years. It cited 144 cases recorded by the US military since 2004 and stated that 143 remained unexplained. Given the huge technological resources the US has, it is a staggering statistic. We’ve also seen people at the highest levels of government and the military speak out about the phenomenon, in complete contrast to what leaders have said on the matter before.

• Said Senator Marco Rubio: “We have things flying around military bases and places where we’re conducting military exercises, and we don’t know what it is and it isn’t ours. …I’d say frankly if it’s something outside this planet it would actually be better than the fact that we’ve seen some technology leap on behalf of the Russians, the Chinese, or some other adversary…” Rubio later added: “We cannot allow the stigma of UFOs to keep us from seriously investigating these encounters.”

• Former CIA Director John Brennan said to an audience at George Mason University: “I think it’s a bit presumptuous and arrogant for us to believe that there’s no other form of life anywhere in the entire universe… I think some of the phenomena we’re going to be seeing continues to be unexplained and might, in fact, be some type of phenomenon that is the result of something that we don’t yet understand, and that could involve some type of activity that some might say constitutes a different form of life.”

• John Ratcliffe, a former director of national intelligence, recently said on Fox News: “There’s actually quite a few of those (UFOs). … [T]here are instances where we don’t have good explanations for some of the things that we have seen. When we talk about sightings, it’s not just a pilot or just a satellite, or some intelligence collection. Usually, we have multiple sensors that are picking up these things.”

• Former director of national intelligence, James Clapper, told CNN: “I don’t know why we haven’t been more transparent about (UFOs) in the past, and I’m part of that crime I guess… I didn’t insist on more transparency with respect to this issue.”

• Even former President Barack Obama has talked in specifics about UFOs. On the James Corden talk show Obama said: “But what is true… is that there’s footage and records of objects in the sky that we don’t know exactly what they are. We can’t explain how they moved, their trajectory. They did not have an easily explainable pattern.”

• These comments from such high-level individuals indicates the very real possibility that we have been witnessing UFOs in action around our Earth for decades, and that for the first time it will be taken seriously and investigated properly by the world’s top scientists. And this in turn is likely to have profound implications for humanity. In the second part of my article, I will detail some of the most astonishing unexplained encounters.

 

The policy of denial and debunking evidence of encounters with ‘alien spacecraft’,

   the late great Stanton Friedman

that’s been in place since the 1950s, is crumbling. Even ex-US presidents and CIA directors admit there’s something out there we can’t explain.

It’s often said that when mankind acknowledges that ‘life’ in the universe has been confirmed and an intelligent civilization reaches out to us, that ‘contact’ will be the most profound moment in human history. So, almost everyone is in agreement as to the ramifications of such ‘contact’, but have we actually not had an ongoing engagement between humans and super-intelligent creatures from other planets for decades?

                       John Brennan

Today, on World UFO Day, as we approach the summer of 2021, the world is potentially on the brink of learning something that most people will be astonished and perhaps shocked by.

For more than 70 years, highly trained, credible people have found themselves involved in multiple witness reports and having an interaction with some kind of intelligence that is, literally, out of this world. These cases from all around the

                            Marco Rubio

world have been fully investigated and documented, yet have largely been ignored by governments, military and scientists and the academic world.

                        James Clapper

Why?

The explanation is simple and stark: governments across the planet, supported by the mainstream media, have poured scorn on and trivialised the subject of unidentified flying objects, or flying saucers, since the early 1950s.

As the late Stanton Friedman, a nuclear physicist and huge UFO proponent, used to

                       John Ratcliffe

say, “It can’t be, so it isn’t.”

                         Barack Obama

That phrase is particularly apt if we ask the question as to why the scientific and academic worlds have largely ignored the mass of corroborated testimony from military pilots, commercial pilots, astronauts, cosmonauts, radar operators, air traffic controllers, sonar operators, military personnel, and police officers etc.

In recent years, a new acronym has been created to replace the term ‘UFO’ – Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP) – in the hope that science, academia, and the media would be more open to investigating the subject. However, such is the manufactured stigma attached to this topic that it is still deemed too ‘taboo’ for most.

READ ENTIRE ARTICLE

 

FAIR USE NOTICE: This page contains copyrighted material the use of which has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. ExoNews.org distributes this material for the purpose of news reporting, educational research, comment and criticism, constituting Fair Use under 17 U.S.C § 107. Please contact the Editor at ExoNews with any copyright issue.

Archivist Delighted to Comb Through Mountain of Late UFO Researcher’s Records

Listen to “E143 Archivist Delighted to Comb Through Mountain of Late UFO Researcher's Records” on Spreaker.

October 13, 2019                (cbc.ca)

• Nuclear physicist and ufologist Stanton Friedman devoted his life to researching and investigating UFOs since the late 1960s. He was credited with bringing the 1947 Roswell Incident back into the mainstream conversation. Friedman died in May at the age of 84.

• In the months leading up to his death, Friedman began donating his vast collection of records to the Provincial Archives of New Brunswick, in Eastern Canada. Archivist Joanna Aiton-Kerr has received about 300 boxes so far and expects several more cargo vans to come. Aiton-Kerr welcomes this treasure trove of a thorough researcher and a kind-hearted individual that reflects a brilliant, curious mind. She told Shift New Brunswick, “This has been a real education for me, and I don’t know if I’ve ever enjoyed helping to process something more than this one.”

• While Friedman was many things – an accomplished writer and lecturer – he wasn’t much of a filer. “I would say he was more of a stacker,” says Aiton-Kerr. “He would stack records up. And so when we get each cargo van coming to the archives, we have a team of archivists and we just start going through it.” The team has thousands of documents to examine and organize — from subject files with titles like “Soviet Space” to piles of publications he’s gathered over the decades. Aiton-Kerr estimates that they will “have our hands on each piece of paper five or six times before we finally have it organized in a state where we can say, ‘OK, it’s done and researchers can come in and start taking a look’.”

• Kathleen Marden, a UFO researcher who co-wrote three books with Friedman, noted that Friedman “was an outstanding researcher, highly intelligent and had a great sense of humor.” “He did his homework.

• Among the more fascinating aspects of the collection are the thousands of letters written to him from all over the world by people of all ages, many from non-believers sharing unexplained experiences. Aiton-Kerr says that Friedman “was regarded as such a warm, welcoming man” by an affectionate community. One fan sent a papier-mâché mask of an alien head that also resembled Friedman. A colleague asked him if the mask should go in the collection. “He …shrugged and said, ‘Well, I don’t wear it often, you know’.” That marvelous sense of humor coming through.

• “I believe it’s the only collection of its kind,” said Aiton-Kerr. “[C]ertainly in New Brunswick, certainly in Canada, possibly even worldwide, to have such a mass of UFO research by such a respected nuclear physicist.” She hopes to be able to share it with the world in the not-too-distant future.

 

In the months leading up to his death, nuclear physicist and ufologist Stanton Friedman started donating his vast collection of records to the Provincial Archives of New Brunswick.

And he had a lot of records.

         Joanna Aiton-Kerr

Archivist Joanna Aiton-Kerr said they’ve received about 300 boxes so far — that’s about 60 metres if you line them up single file, she said — and she expects several more cargo vans to come.

But the daunting task of archiving the records has been anything but a hardship for her team, she said. It’s a treasure trove that reflects a brilliant, curious mind, a thorough researcher and a funny, kind-hearted individual.

“This has been a real education for me, and I don’t know if I’ve ever enjoyed helping to process something more than this one,” Aiton-Kerr told Shift New Brunswick.

Friedman, the famed UFO researcher based in Fredericton, died in May at the age of 84.

A nuclear physicist by training, Friedman had devoted his life to researching and investigating UFOs since the late 1960s.

He was credited with bringing the 1947 Roswell Incident — the famous purported crash that gave rise to theories about UFOs and a U.S. military coverup — back into the mainstream conversation.

Friedman was many things, including an accomplished writer and lecturer, but what he wasn’t “was much of a filer,” he told Aiton-Kerr.

“I would say he was more of a stacker,” she said. “He would stack records up. And so when we get each cargo van coming to the archives, we have a team of archivists and we just start going through it.”

The team has thousands of documents to examine and organize — from subject files with titles like “Soviet Space” to piles of publications he’s gathered over the decades.

READ ENTIRE ARTICLE

 

FAIR USE NOTICE: This page contains copyrighted material the use of which has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. ExoNews.org distributes this material for the purpose of news reporting, educational research, comment and criticism, constituting Fair Use under 17 U.S.C § 107. Please contact the Editor at ExoNews with any copyright issue.

Organizers Reflect on UFO Festival’s Impact

by Alison Penn                July 9, 2018                 (rdrnews.com)

• The 23rd annual UFO Festival (July 6-8) in Roswell, NM was a rousing success. City Director of Public Affairs Juanita Jennings reports that the Roswell Visitors Center saw 3,341 visitors over the weekend, compared with 895 visitors that came to the center during festival in 2017. And that includes only those who signed the sign-in sheet. Jim Hill, Director of the International UFO Museum and Research Center, says this year’s museum attendance broke all records with 9,168 visitors.

• The Roswell UFO festival offered events and activities for all ages, including the ‘Down to Earth Brewfest’, the GalactiCon Sci-Fi & Film Festival and costume contest, and the Steampunk Ball. “It was our opportunity to showcase the amount of traffic our city receives due to this festival and what we do for the state of New Mexico,” Jennings said. “The feeling and energy in the downtown area was phenomenal.”

• Kathy Lay, Executive Director for MainStreet Roswell, said the rock painting at the craft station and the music and entertainment were highly praised events in the festival. Lay has received “wonderful reports” from vendors and attendees alike. Repeat attendees have said this was the best year they have attended. Lay has noticed a trend where visitors stayed in Roswell for 4 to 5 nights, instead of one to two nights as in the past.

• This year drew crowds early and people wanted to stay up until the end. 78 vendors occupied 88 spaces ranging from $50 to $250 per booth. One vendor reported quadrupling their sales this year. “So we feel like… from all of the response we’re getting, it was a big success,” said Lay. In fact, visitors have requested the festival be extended to five days for more time to experience it all.

• Guest speaker, alien abductee Travis Walton, was well-received, along with the other speakers in the many facilities around the city (including Stanton Friedman who announced his retirement at the festival. See ExoNews article here).

• Another goal of the festival was in keeping the city clean and beautiful through the work of the sanitation department. The city asked vendors to bring their own electric generators. Jennings said the city will be working to providing more power and electricity for next year’s festival.

• “I think it was just an exceedingly well-run event and I can’t imagine the city of Roswell not having benefited greatly from this festival,” Hill said.

• [Editor’s Note] All across the board, the popularity of events and conferences promoting information and disclosure of UFOs, and humanity’s ongoing relationship with extraterrestrial beings, is noticeably increasing. More and more people are waking up to the truth and thereby raising our collective consciousness on this planet.

 

As the dust settles from the 23rd annual UFO Festival, organizers and city partners are reflecting on its impact over the weekend. Now that the festival is over, organizers will be reviewing various data and surveys to determine turnout for the festival.

City Director of Public Affairs Juanita Jennings said the festival was a phenomenal and well put-together event for all ages. With activities for children, adults, sci-fi fans, adventurists and more, Jennings said she felt the festival was welcoming and inviting for visitors.

Including other events — like the first annual Down to Earth Brewfest at Third Street Station and GalactiCon Sci-Fi & Film Festival at the Roswell Mall — Jennings said, “the feeling and energy in the downtown area was phenomenal.”

Jennings said the significant digital exposure from the “selfie-stations” and other social media experiences, and the film crews, were beneficial for promoting the city.

One area for growth that she and her team touched on in their department recap meeting was they would like to see more community participation in the light parade in the future. Last year, Jennings said the parade was “amazing” and drew a huge crowd. This year some visitors said the parade was shorter than expected and Jennings said the delivery, “fell a little bit short this year compared to last year.” However, she said she thinks with more community involvement and planning it can improve next year.

Near the visitor center, the state’s tourism department had its NM True bus and Jennings said their presence extended visitors an opportunity to experience tourism around the state. Jennings added their presence was important, considering their tour from last week when Roswell received its NM True report card, in strengthening the partnership between the city and the state.

“It was our opportunity to showcase the amount of traffic our city receives due to this festival and what we do for the state of New Mexico,” Jennings said.

READ ENTIRE ARTICLE

 

FAIR USE NOTICE: This page contains copyrighted material the use of which has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. ExoNews.org distributes this material for the purpose of news reporting, educational research, comment and criticism, constituting Fair Use under 17 U.S.C § 107. Please contact the Editor at ExoNews with any copyright issue.

Stanton Friedman Explores Future of Ufology; Retirement

by Alison Penn                July 6, 2018                   (rdrnews.com)

• On July 6th, nuclear physicist and world renowned ufologist, Stanton Friedman (84), attended his retirement party with 100 well-wishers at the International UFO Museum and Research Center in Roswell, New Mexico. For over 60 years Friedman has given 700 lectures in all 50 U.S. states and in many other cities internationally on the topic of UFOs. In his retirement, Friedman plans to find out what the aliens have in mind for Earth from testimonials of communications with extraterrestrials.

• Regarding his contribution to the historical narrative, Friedman said, “Man is not alone and our kids will grow up… knowing that — and that’s good.” Friedman said that the niece of Betty and Barney Hill, Kathleen Marden, will carry on his work. He also singled out John Greenwald who runs the Black Vault because he is “a sharp young man with plenty of data.”

• The International UFO Museum and Research Center staff presented Friedman with a plaque and a watch for his dedication, time and service, loyalty, friendship and generosity. He will be remembered as “one of the greats” of the museum. Friedman said the large number of visitors to the UFO Museum shows there is a genuine interest in aliens and UFOs. He thanked the city of Roswell for sharing controversial topics in a “sensible” way instead of being “ridiculous.”

• UFO investigator Donald Schmitt said of Friedman during the retirement party. “If not for this gentleman right here, this museum would not be here. Roswell would not be here. … The (weather) balloon explanation would have remained the extent and that would be it…” “Stan Friedman led the charge… (and) got the ball rolling.”

 

A crowd of around 100 people joined Stanton Friedman, a nuclear physicist and world-renowned ufologist, for his opening talk titled “Traveling through the Stars” on Friday morning and another audience gathered for a retirement party in the afternoon to celebrate Friedman’s potentially last UFO Festival.

The International UFO Museum and Research Center was buzzing with visitors and even had a line out the door around 9:30 a.m. The smaller crowd came at 4 p.m. for his retirement party in the North Library with an impromptu question-and-answer session that covered Friedman’s lectures and personal life. Friedman will be 84 on July 29 and said he has contributed over 60 years of work using science and collecting data to his UFO crusade.

Stanton Friedman

In the morning lecture, Friedman guided the audience through the famous 1947 Roswell Incident, his career as a nuclear physicist — and then his research on ufology.

As a believer in the existence of extraterrestrial life and its visitation to earth, Friedman said, “Man is not alone and our kids will grow up, grandkids, great-grandson will grow up knowing that — and that’s good.”

In March, it was announced Friedman intends to retire from the UFO Festival circuit. He estimates that he has done 700 lectures on this subject in all 50 states and even internationally. When asked about his retirement plans, he said he plans to philosophize on the big picture more and traveling for pleasure instead of work. Agreeing that he is still curious about ufology, he added in his retirement he intends to find out what the aliens have in mind for earth from testimonials of communicating with extraterrestrials.

Stanton Friedman with Kathleen Marden

To pass on his torch of research, Friedman said Kathleen Marden, niece of the allegedly abducted Betty and Barney Hill, is another author and lecturer that will carry on his work. Friedman said his first choice would be John Greenwald, who runs the Black Vault because he is “a sharp young man with plenty of data.”

His lecture and retirement party had themes regarding what he called “the galactic community” that may be a reality one day and there are more questions to be answered. To have this community, he said earthlings need to let go of the ego of being the center of the universe and examine the proclivity to war and how humans operate on planet earth. He said he has an 11-year-old great-grandson and often thinks of what world his descendant inhabits in the future.

READ ENTIRE ARTICLE

 

FAIR USE NOTICE: This page contains copyrighted material the use of which has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. ExoNews.org distributes this material for the purpose of news reporting, educational research, comment and criticism, constituting Fair Use under 17 U.S.C § 107. Please contact the Editor at ExoNews with any copyright issue.

The MJ12 Documents: The Government’s Position

by Nick Redfern         December 9, 2017           (mysteriousuniverse.org)

• In 1980, William Moore co-authored the book,The Roswell Incident. Soon thereafter, Moore was contacted by intelligence insiders who would covertly pass along intelligence information. In 1984, Moore’s friend, tv producer Jaime Shandera received a roll of film of photos of MJ-12 documents. Moore, Shandera, and Stanton Friedman studied and attempted to authenticate the documents for 2 ½ years.

• MJ-12 or Majestic 12 is a clandestine UFO/extraterrestrial oversight group, above the President, created in 1947 in the wake of the Roswell crash. It was/is comprised by twelve elite military, scientific, and intelligence officials.

• In 1987, Timothy Good published his book, Above Top Secret, and revealed the existence of MJ-12 along with leaked copies of MJ-12 documents. With the release of Good’s book, William Moore released his information on MJ-12 as well and it all went public.

• According to Jacques Vallee, when the FBI were given these MJ-12 documents, they turned away in disgust, professing no interest in the matter. When UFO debunker Philip Klass contacted the FBI about the alleged MJ-12 documents in 1988, the FBI opened an investigation. Also in 1988, an unauthorized Air Force agent gave the Dallas FBI office a file of MJ-12 documents. The Air Force immediately told the Dallas FBI that the documents were part of a number of these fake documents circulating around the United States. They told the Dallas FBI office to close the investigation.

• In 1993, the Air Force told this article’s writer, Nick Redfern, that they never had any MJ-12 documents in their possession and that MJ-12 doesn’t exist. Furthermore, the Air Force had never discussed MJ-12 with the FBI. The Air Force could not, however, provide any documents or evidence showing that they actually investigated the matter. Today, the FBI’s investigation into MJ-12 is officially “closed”.

• In the 1990s, investigator Timothy Cooper brought to the FBI hundreds more pages of MJ-12 documents, but they never made it to the public domain.

• Redfern ponders: ‘how was the Air Force able to determine that the papers were faked if no investigation on their part was undertaken?’ Was it just an opinion based on the unlikely nature and content of the documents?

• [Editor’s Note] Amazingly, Redfern takes the side of the Air Force cover-up, agreeing that the MJ-12 documents (presumably all of them) are bogus fakes. He considers the Air Force’s arbitrary dismissal of such a clandestine deep state government UFO committee to be “both understandable and reasonable”. Redfern ends the article flippantly, saying “[it] is time, methinks, for the rotted corpse to be laid to rest, once and for all,” the rotted corpse being the very existence of an MJ-12 oversight committee. It was all just a rumor. Really Nick?

 

It has been thirty years since the original, so-called “MJ12 documents” surfaced. In 1987, Timothy Good’s bestselling book Above Top Secret was published. One of the most-talked-about aspects of Good’s book was the mention of a supposed top secret research and development group established in 1947 to deal with highly classified UFO data. Referred to as either Majestic 12 or MJ12, it was said to have been created in the wake of the notorious events at Roswell, New Mexico in July 1947. It was said to have been comprised of military personnel, scientists, and the elite of the U.S. Intelligence community. Not only that: Good published copies of what were said to be leaked MJ12 documents that told of (a) the establishment of the group; (b) the apparent crash of a UFO, complete with alien bodies, at Roswell; and (c) a briefing given in 1952 on the matter to President Dwight D. Eisenhower.

Shortly after Good’s publication of the documents, additional copies surfaced in the United States. They came from the then research team of well-known ufologist Stanton Friedman, William Moore (the co-author, with Charles Berlitz, of the 1980 book The Roswell Incident) and Jaime Shandera (a television producer). Moore had been working quietly with a number of intelligence insiders who had contacted him shortly after publication of The Roswell Incident. From time to time various official-looking papers were passed onto Moore, the implication being that someone in the U.S. Government, military or Intelligence Community wished to make available information on UFOs that would otherwise have remained forever outside of the public domain.

It was as a result of Moore’s insider dealings that a roll of film negatives displaying the MJ12 documents was delivered in the mail to the home of Shandera in December 1984. Moore, Friedman and Shandera worked carefully and quietly for two and a half years in an attempt to determine the authenticity of the documents. With Timothy Good’s release, however, it was decided that the best course of action was to follow suit. As a result, a controversy was created that still continues to this day. At least, it continues to a small degree. Most people in Ufology have moved on from the MJ12 documents. But, they still occasionally cause a brief raising of eyebrows, such as when the latest batch surfaced earlier this year. Who remembers them now? I try not to.

Jacques Vallee, UFO author, investigator, and former principal investigator on Department of Defense computer networking projects-stated in his book Revelations that the FBI turned away from the MJ12 documents in “disgust” and professed no interest in the matter. Papers and comments made to me by the FBI and the Air Force Office of Special Investigations, however, reflect a somewhat different scenario. It was in 1988 that the FBI’s investigation began – after the late UFO skeptic/debunker Philip Klass contacted the FBI and told them all about the supposedly leaked, highly-classified documents and who had put them in the public domain.

We also know – thanks to the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act – that what was possibly a separate autumn 1988 investigation was conducted by the FBI’s Foreign Counter-Intelligence division (operating out of Washington and New York). Some input into the investigation also came from the FBI office in Dallas, Texas – the involvement of the latter confirmed to me by the Dallas office in the early 1990s.

READ ENTIRE ARTICLE

 

FAIR USE NOTICE: This page contains copyrighted material the use of which has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. ExoNews.org distributes this material for the purpose of news reporting, educational research, comment and criticism, constituting Fair Use under 17 U.S.C § 107. Please contact the Editor at ExoNews with any copyright issue.

Copyright © 2019 Exopolitics Institute News Service. All Rights Reserved.