Page Content (OCR)
protect us from the deeper, underlying issues and even threats—both perceived and unconscious-inherent in the most basic acknowledgment of a shocking and unexplained physical phenomenon. Now we need to rattle that cage. In this section, we will explore these crucial political questions with the help of a former high-level FAA official, a former state governor, and, more theoretically and philosophically, two leading political scientists. Yet, the final determination about our country's potential role in the future will have to be decided by all of us. Logically, the first step in moving toward a solution is the establishment of an office or small agency within the U.S. government to handle appropriate UFO investigations, liaison with other countries, and demonstrate to the scientific community that this is indeed a subject a o.o4 aa 1 and two more worthy of study. In order to achieve these goals, we must consider where— under what branch of government—the United States should create this a er one . 4 modest "UFO office" to get the process started. Using other countries as a model, there are many options. Often it is the Air Force that handles these investigations, as we have seen in Belgium and Brazil, even though neither government had established a special department within the Air Force for this purpose. However, in both cases, the generals involved have stated that a specific unit tasked full time with UFO investigations would have greatly aided the process, and they advocate for that necessity. Perhaps America needs to open a new Air Force office, being extremely careful to avoid repeating the many mistakes of Project Blue Book. General De Brouwer of Belgium recommends that the Air Force be the location for the American agency, because it is responsible for airspace security and has the means to intervene if required. The work of the office, he adds, must be objective, open-minded, and transparent, and private civilian groups could assist in this effort. Four specific agencies described previously—the GEIPAN of France, the CEFAA of Chile, the OIFFA of Peru, and the Ministry of Defence office in the UK—were set up in four distinctly different bureaucratic in the in four distinctly bureaucratic UK—were set in the UK—were set up in four distinctly different bureaucratic departments within each of their respective countries. The French agency was founded within the equivalent of our NASA, while the Chilean authorities established theirs within the equivalent of our FAA, stressing aviation safety. The Peruvian office is an Air Force agency, and the British UFO office resided within their Ministry of Defence, like our DoD, with a mandate to protect the defense interests of the UK. This diversity of both locations and emphases has much to teach us, showing that within our own country we have a number of structural options. Many of our contributors, such as Jean-Jacques Velasco of France, Dr. Richard Haines of the United States, General Bermudez of Chile, and Brigadier General Pereira of Brazil, stress the importance of establishing some kind of centralized database—"a serious global organization that is objective, connected to agencies around the world, and committed to respond in a scientific and responsible way to the larger questions raised by