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like piezo-electricity, or static electricity, not to mention biological phenomena. In fact, the entire development of science consists in the fact that, at a given time, we realize that we have had mistaken ideas about the reality of certain phenomena. It is difficult to add anything to this statement. It is not clear that the simple fact of keeping an open mind about UFOs will in itself make a breakthrough possible, but science should certainly welcome the lifting of the government's attitude that has prevented it from examining the facts. We have so far discussed two forms of coverup: (1) pressure placed on witnesses to discourage them from telling their story; and (2) fabrication of "explanations" when a witness does speak. I believe that to these factors we must add a third one: the built-in silencing mechanism of the -Tl ae a phenomenon itself. On December 3, 1967, a patrolman named Herb Schirmer, of Ashland, Nebraska, had an experience that deserves to be placed in the context of the stories of the abduction of Betty and Barney Hill and of the Pascagoula fishermen. At 2:30 A.M. Schirmer saw on the road an object with a row of flickening lights. Believing it to be a truck, he turned on his high beams. The object took off. The twenty-two-year-old patrolman drove back to the station and wrote his entry: "Saw a flying saucer at the junction of highways 6 and 63. Believe it or not." Schirmer went home with a strong headache and a buzzing noise that prevented him from sleeping. He also had a red welt below the left ear. The case came to the attention of the Condon committee, and Schirmer was placed under hypnosis. It then became clear that there was a twenty-minute period during which he remembered nothing. Later, at the suggestion of another researcher, he was again placed under hypnosis, revealing an extraordinary sequence of events. As he saw the object take off, the patrolman decided to follow it and drove up a dirt road toward the intense light. He tried to call the police at Wahoo, Nebraska, but the radio was not working and the car engine died. The object, metallic and football-shaped, was surrounded by a silvery glow. It was making a "whooshing" sound, and the lights were flickering rapidly. Legs appeared under the craft, and it landed. Schirmer wanted to drive home, but he was "prevented by something in his mind." The occupants of the craft came toward the car. He was unable to draw his revolver. In the standard pattern they shot some greenish gas toward the car, pulled a small object from a holster, flashed a bright light at him, and he passed out. The next thing Schirmer remembered, under hypnosis, was rolling down the car window and talking to the occupant of the craft, who pressed something against the side of his neck and asked him: "Are you the watchman over this place?" then pointed to the power plant and said, "Is this the i. ny oe ---- L----an only source of power you have?" Schirmer was taken aboard the craft. He saw control panels and computer-like machines. The occupants were wearing coveralls with an emblem of a winged serpent. One of them pushed a button and tapes started running. "Through my mind... somehow... he is telling me things.... My mind hurts..." The occupants gave Schirmer a lot of interesting but clearly misleading information. They wanted him to believe that they came from a nearby galaxy. They had bases in the United States. Their craft was operated by reverse electromagnetism. Their ships had been knocked out of the air by radar, by ionization. They drew power from large water reservoirs. Schirmer got the idea that they have no pattern for contacting people, it is by pure chance so the government cannot determine any patterns about them and there will be a lot more contacts. To a certain extent they want to puzzle people, he reported. They know they are being seen too frequently and they are trying to confuse the public's mind. Finally the occupant told Schirmer that he was not to remember the inside of the ship. He concluded: "You will not speak wisely about this night. We will return to see you two more times." The Third Coverup: The UFO Denies Itself