Dark Object - Don Ledger and Chris Styles-pages

Page 67 of 82

Page 67 of 82
Dark Object - Don Ledger and Chris Styles-pages

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CUFOS would meet with philanthropist Robert Bigelow to try to get funding for their projects. FUFOR sent Bob Swiatek and Richard Hall, who were going to present the Shag Harbor proposal. But something went wrong in Las Vegas that day. Shortly after the meeting began, a major disagreement surfaced between Bigelow and the other participants. Mr. Bigelow wanted veto power over the coalition's decisions in return for his continued financial support. No one was willing to agree to this arrangement, so the Bigelow Foundation withdrew its support. As a result our proposal was never put forward. The August 1995 edition of the MUFON Journal did a short write-up about the meeting, under the headline "Coalition Reorganized for ax " Second Year." We were very disappointed at this turn of events, although both Bob Swiatek and Don Berliner assured us that an alternative solution would be found. But this would take time, and winter was coming, when 1 yaad 1 te Fi aa 1 4 1 While things were grinding to a halt in Las Vegas, Hollywood seemed to be getting it together. Paramount Television's Sightings show decided to go ahead with a Shag Harbor segment for the fall season. They planned to do a two-day site shoot that would be a brief overview of this relatively unknown UFO crash. The Sightings episode was filmed in July. Producer Phil Davis called to say that they were happy with the footage they had shot and that the editing was going well. He also asked if we had received any funding yet, and learned about the disappointing developments in Las Vegas. Phil said he had some contacts in Japan who might be interested. He forwarded a very helpful contact letter with the During the first week of August, Phil called to see if we had had any success seeking funds from the Japanese. So far we had received only interest, helpful suggestions, and the names of some other possible contacts for funding. Phil said he had another idea and asked us to send him the plan for the survey and the budget. He couldn't promise anything, but thought the idea was worthy of mentioning at a pitch meeting with the executive producer. Phil wanted this on his desk the first thing the following Monday morning. The following Wednesday, Chris received a phone call from David Johnson, the executive producer. He said that the underwater survey, with divers, sonar, and video equipment, had been accepted and would be funded by Sightings. They would allot three days for the work and the filming, with an extra day reserved in case of bad weather. We knew it would be a tricky balance between our quest for data and possible artifacts and Sightings's desire for sensational footage, but we were elated. The dive was going to happen after all. The next few weeks were filled with endless logistical problems. Finding an adequate survey vessel that would fit the budget and was also available for a mid-September shooting schedule was a challenge. Chris finally found a locally owned Cape Island style boat, Murphy's Law, hoping that the vessel's name would not prove to be prophetic. It was owned and would be piloted by Shag Harbor m4 Aad such a survey would be harder, if not impossible, and certainly much more expensive. appropriate names. fisherman Bruce Addams. Canadian Seabed Research (CSR), the company chosen to handle the survey, was having trouble