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home on the outskirts of Paris. He and his wife were extremely gracious to filmmaker James Fox and me, who, complete with files, notepads, and a film crew to document our discussions, descended upon their well-kept, hillside duplex apartment with a stunning view of the city. Meeting him was a milestone for me personally. Dignified, gracious, and personable, General Letty was candid and relaxed with us, yet carried tremendous authority. He's still mystified about the UFO phenomenon and wants very much to see a resolution. As we sat around a table in his living room discussing French cases with the cameras running, Letty addressed the issue of government transparency on UFOs. "I don't think a powerful country like America finds it acceptable to acknowledge that something strange can fly over and the country can't clear the skies of it. Another problem can be panic, created by people imagining that their military can't protect them." I carefully noted his further comments about the U.S. government role: "We are convinced that some governments don't say all they know about the subject, and I mean, of course, the States. That's why we asked for good cooperation from all countries. We're ready to do the research, to work together."[1] The general is convinced that nothing remains hidden within the French military about UFOs, since all the files were released the previous year in order to make that very point. General Letty recently expanded his thoughts for us here. PAT eYmn ft oaanre re) en rd I first became aware [2] of UFOs in 1965 as a captain in the 3rd staff headquarters of the Tactical Air Force (FATAC) in the city of Metz, when I received all the reports submitted by the national police in the territory of the Ist Area. Some were disconcerting. Since there was no perceptible threat, we simply filed them away. At first I was only a bit taken aback, but then competent pilots I knew personally gradually admitted having been confronted by these phenomena. aad 1 1 1 . 1047 mae One was Herve Giraud, now a colonel, who in 1977 was flying a Mirage IV with his navigator at about 32,000 feet after dark. They saw an extremely bright light approaching on a collision course, heading straight for them. Giraud radioed military air traffic control, which had no radar track on his scope. He had to bank to the right to avoid the object and then tried to keep in visual contact with it. It moved away, and then either it came back or something identical arrived. Giraud felt as if he was being watched at this point, defenseless, and both men were upset, while the pilot had to maneuver into another tight bank. Still, there was nothing picked up on radar. They returned safely to the base at Luxeuil. Captain Giraud reported that he perceived that the object was solid and immense, comparing it to running into an eighteen-wheeler at night with all the lights on. It didn't emit any light beams, but glowed with a steady, brilliant white light that obscured any shape behind the illumination. Two points about this really impressed me. Nothing other than a combat aircraft could perform with the speed and maneuverability of this