Nexus - 0606 - New Times Magazine-pages

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THE TWILIGHT ZONE of private, independent associations. It mentions the "UFO Briefing Document", sent in 1995 to a thousand personalities worldwide, and the Sturrock workshop in 1997—both sponsored by Laurance Rockefeller. The "Briefing Document" has obviously been welcomed by the authors of the COMETA report. The committee also notes the public emergence of alleged insiders such as [the late] Colonel Philip Corso, and considers that his testimony may be partly significant as to the real situation in the US, in spite of many critics. The report briefly describes the situation in Great Britain, with a special mention of Nick Pope [ex-Ministry of Defence, author of two books on UFOs], and poses the question of the possible existence of secret studies pursued jointly with American ser- vices. It also mentions research in Russia and the release of some information, notably by the KGB in 1991. been applied, which might be explained by the protection at all cost of military techno- logical superiority to be acquired from the study of UFOs. Next, the report tackles the question: "What measures must we take now?" At the least, whatever the nature of UFOs, they necessitate "critical vigilance", in par- ticular regarding the risk of "destabilising manipulations". A kind of "cosmic vigi- lance" should be applied by the elites, nationally and internationally, in order to prevent any shocking surprise, erroneous interpretation and hostile manipulation. Nationally, COMETA urges the strengthening of SEPRA and recommends the creation of a cell at the highest level of government, entrusted with the develop- ment of hypotheses, strategy and prepara- tion of cooperation agreements with European and other foreign countries. A further step would be that European states and the European Union undertake diplo- matic action towards the Unites States within the framework of political and strategic alliances. A key question of the report is: "What situations must we be prepared for?" The report mentions such situations as: extraterrestrial moves for official contact; discovery of a [UFO/alien] base within the territory of Europe; invasion (deemed improbable) and localised or massive attack; and manipulation or deliberate dis- information aiming at destabilising other COMETA devotes special attention to "aeronautical implications", with detailed recommendations aimed at various person- nel, such as air staff, controllers, meteorol- ogists and engineers. It also makes recom- mendations at the scientific and technical levels, aimed at developing research with potential benefits for defence and industry. The report further explores the political and religious implications of UFOs, using as a model the perspective of our own exploration of space: how would we do it, and how would we handle contacts with less advanced civilisations? Such an approach is not new to well- informed readers of the abundant ufologi- cal literature, but it has a special value here, being treated seriously at such a level. The media/publicity implications are not forgotten, with the problems of disin- formation, fear of ridicule, and manipula- tion by certain groups. In its conclusion, COMETA claims that the physical reality of UFOs, under control of intelligent beings, is "quasi-certain". Only one hypothesis takes into account the available data: the hypothesis of extrater- restrial visitors. This hypothesis is of course unproved, but has far-reaching con- sequences. The goals of these alleged visi- tors remain unknown, but must be the sub- ject of speculations and prospective scenar- ios. In its final recommendations, the COMETA report stresses again the need tas PART Ill: UFOs and Defence The third part, "UFOs and defence" ("Les OVNT et la défense"), states that, if it is true that no hostile UFO action has been proved yet, at least some actions of "intim- idation" have been recorded in France (case of the Mirage IV, for instance). Since the extraterrestrial origin of UFOs cannot be ruled out, it is therefore neces- sary to study the consequences of that hypothesis, not only at the strategic level but also at political, religious and media/public information levels. The first chapter of Part III is devoted to prospective strategies and it begins with fundamental questions: "What if extrater- restrials [exist]? What intentions and what strategy can we deduce from their behav- iour?" Such questions open a more contro- versial part of the report. Possible motivations of extraterrestrial visitors are explored here, such as protec- tion of planet Earth against the dangers of nuclear war, suggested, for instance, by UFOs' repeated flying over nuclear missile sites. The committee then ponders the possible repercussions on the behaviour, official or not, of different nation-states, and focuses on the possibility of secret, privileged con- tacts which might be "attributed to the United States". The attitude of the US is seen as "most strange" since the 1947 wave and the Roswell event. Since that time, a policy of increasing secrecy seems to have states. to: a <=. =< | Ay) See | oe If “DSP _ —_=_= LRH "It's these damn obsidian eyes ... you got any designer contacts that'll give me a Drew Barrymore look?" NEXUS +67 OCTOBER — NOVEMBER 1999