Page Content (OCR)
natural phenomena. This 5 percent seem to be "completely unknown flying machines with exceptional performances that are guided by a natural or artificial intelligence." In its startling conclusion, the authors state that "numerous manifestations observed by reliable witnesses could be the work of craft of extraterrestrial origin." In fact, they wrote, the most logical explanation for these sightings is "the extraterrestrial hypothesis." This did not mean that they accepted this conclusion as fact or had 1 a4 1 mm 1 1 any particular beliefs about it one way or the other. They made very clear that the nature and origin of the objects remain unknown. By "hypothesis," the authors simply meant an unproved theory, a possible, plausible explanation that needed to be tested before it could be decided, but 1 0o¥ remained only a thesis until that happened. However, the conviction with which they put forth this theory as the "most likely" solution to the puzzle, since others had been ruled out in so many cases, was provocative. Official data about UFOs from around the world was accessible to the members of the group, and they were determined to respond rationally, avoiding prejudice. They did so without reserve. ww 1 a rn ar a "4 Who were the people making these statements? Among them, all retired, were a four-star general, a three-star admiral, a Major General, and the former head of the French equivalent of NASA. It was their credentials that made the report worthy of serious consideration. Other military officers, engineers, scientists, a national chief of police, and the head of a government agency studying the phenomenon completed the impressive contributing group. The study was not a government-sanctioned one, but was undertaken independently, and then presented to the highest levels of The foreword states that the report "contributes toward stripping the phenomenon of UFOs of its irrational layer," and indeed, the study achieved its goal. Yet the group arrived at a determination that most government officials and scientists in the United States would still consider far-fetched. Meanwhile, everyone agrees that if these UFOs were proven to be probes or vehicles from outside Earth, that would be a monumental development in human history, a milestone i in the evolution of civilization. rou 1" 1 1” roa 1. If there was even a slight possibility of such a discovery, I thought, it seemed well worth the effort for scientists to try to find out. And here was a highly respectable group from a sophisticated European country stating that such an outcome was a plausible and even likely expectation. This explains why and how I first became interested in the issue of UFOs, the question of what we actually do and don't know about them, and how we might find out more. The COMETA Report was a catalyst. As much as I may have wanted to, it was hard for me to let it go, to simply return to my regular work and set it aside. I kept wondering, could there really be technological objects flying around that are not man-made? Couldn't these craft possibly be highly secret American constructions, or advanced military test craft from some other country? No, said the generals and the government in France.