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sightings and to endeavor, in a spirit of genuinely open scientific inquiry, to learn ‘more about UFOs and to make the results of such inquiries, a4 ao. 4 1 oa oa 14° In 2002, I cofounded the Coalition for Freedom of Information, [1] an independent alliance and advocacy group whose mission is to achieve scientific, congressional, and media credibility for the often misunderstood subject of UFOs. Much of our work has been built around an effort to acquire new information through the Freedom of Information Act, and it quickly won the support of John Podesta, one of our country's strongest advocates for openness in government, who contributed the foreword to this book. As President Clinton's former chief of staff, Podesta was instrumental in the declassification of 800 million pages of documents during the Clinton administration. In 2008, he headed President Obama's transition team and now directs the preeminent Center for American Progress in Washington. Our FOIA initiative resulted in the settlement of a federal lawsuit against NASA in our favor, requiring the agency to release hundreds of pages of previously withheld documents. The coalition is asking for responsible action on the part of the United States concerning UFOs. We make this request not as an accusation of wrongdoing in the past, but as an invitation to join an international, cooperative venture under way now. In petitioning for such a change, as previously described in relation to the Phoenix Lights incident, we are seeking the creation of a small government agency to investigate UFO incidents, and to act as a focal point for action at home and for research worldwide. Through its legitimization of the subject, such an agency would stimulate scientific interest and assist with the allocation of government and foundation grants for interested scientists in the academic, research, a 1 an 1 and aviation communities. As the work of the agency develops over time, positive attitudes toward the serious study of UFOs would be nurtured, leading to the liberation of additional resources. Public support—already very strong although without a focal point—would grow for a global research project that could ultimately solve the UFO mystery. The first step in approaching a member of Congress or the Obama administration to facilitate this endeavor is to make it clear, as we have continuously done in these pages, that a UFO is, by definition, simply something unidentified. The agnostic position, the scientifically sound one, acknowledges the accumulated evidence of some kind of physical, extraordinary phenomenon but recognizes that we do not yet know what it is. The proper understanding of the acronym "UFO" must lie at the heart of any approach to the American government if it is to be successful, and the necessity of that simple adjustment in understanding—ending the of that simple in the whether immediately comprehensible or not, fully public. CHAPTER 26 ENGAGING THE U.S. GOVERNMENT