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continue stonewalling. At the same time, we can't deny the fact that there is a risk in moving forward. The phenomenon itself has placed us in a precarious situation that we have not chosen, and that we can do nothing about. We must strive to learn what we can, for it's in our deepest nature and best interest to do so—to simply want to find out. Perhaps this discovery will be a turning point in our history. Perhaps not. But most likely, there's something supremely important locked up in the UFO phenomenon that could be transformative for all of us. It's time now, finally, to open our eyes and find out what that might be. NOTES 1 Now known as the COMETA Report The acronym COMETA is an abbreviation for Comite d'Etudes Approfondies (Committee for In-Depth Studies), the name of the committee that conducted the study. 2 "the most logical explanation for these sightings" The COMETA Report, "UFOs and Defense: What Should We Prepare For?" Written by the French association COMETA, 1999. "Le rapport Cometa, les Ovni et la Defense, A quoi doint-on se preparer?" G.S. Presse Communication, 1999. Editions du Rocher, 2003. Appeared in the magazine VSD in France, July 1999. 3 Among them, all retired, were a four-star general COMETA members and contributors include: General Bernard Norlain, former commander of the French Tactical Air Force; Andre Lebeau, former head of CNES; General Denis Letty of the Air Force, former auditor (FA) of IHEDN; General Bruno Lemoine of the Air Force (FA of IHEDN); Admiral Marc Merlo (FA of IHEDN); Jean-Jacques Velasco, head of SEPRA/GEPAN; Michel Algrin, doctor in political sciences, attorney at law (FA of IHEDN); General Pierre Bescond, engineer for armaments (FA of IHEDN); Denis Blancher, chief national police superintendent at the Ministry of the Interior; Christian Marchal, chief engineer of the national corps des Mines, research director at the National Office of Aeronautical Research (ONERA); General Alain Orszag, Ph.D. in physics, engineer for armaments. Other contributors include Francois Louange, president of Fleximage, specialist in photo analysis; General Joseph Domange of the Air Force. 4 UFOs became the focus Leslie Kean, "UFO Theorists Gain Support Abroad, but Repression at Home” Boston Sunday Globe, May 21, 2000. 5 Volumes of case studies have been published There are too many to mention, including many white papers, transcripts, magazine stories, journal articles, and books about a specific case or one particular aspect of UFO research. Much outstanding work is also published on a number of credible websites, and other books have been written more recently. The following works cover the UFO topic in general and were of particular importance to me personally during my first few years of study, from 1999 to 2001: Edward J. Ruppelt, The Report on Unidentified Flying Objects (Doubleday, 1956; revised edition 1959); Richard H. Hall, editor, The UFO Evidence (NICAP, 1964); Edward U. Condon, Scientific Study of Unidentified Flying Objects (Bantam Books, 1969); J. Allen Hynek, The UFO Experience: A Scientific Inquiry (Marlowe & Company, 1972); David Jacobs, The UFO Controversy in America (Indiana University As the contributors here have shown, there is too much at stake to INTRODUCTION