like piezo-electricity, or static electricity, not to mention biological phenomena.In fact, the entire development <strong>of</strong> science consists in the fact that, at a given time, we realizethat we have had mistaken ideas about the reality <strong>of</strong> certain phenomena.It is difficult to add anything to this statement. It is not clear that the simple fact <strong>of</strong> keeping an openmind about UFOs will in itself make a breakthrough possible, but science should certainly welcomethe lifting <strong>of</strong> the government's attitude that has prevented it from examining the facts.The Third Coverup: The UFO Denies ItselfWe have so far discussed two forms <strong>of</strong> coverup: (1) pressure placed on witnesses to discouragethem from telling their story; and (2) fabrication <strong>of</strong> "explanations" when a witness does speak. Ibelieve that to these factors we must add a third one: the built-in silencing mechanism <strong>of</strong> thephenomenon itself.On December 3, 1967, a patrolman named Herb Schirmer, <strong>of</strong> Ashland, Nebraska, had an experiencethat deserves to be placed in the context <strong>of</strong> the stories <strong>of</strong> the abduction <strong>of</strong> Betty and Barney Hill and<strong>of</strong> the Pascagoula fishermen. At 2:30 A.M. Schirmer saw on the road an object with a row <strong>of</strong>flickening lights. Believing it to be a truck, he turned on his high beams. The object took <strong>of</strong>f. Thetwenty-two-year-old patrolman drove back to the station and wrote his entry: "Saw a flying saucerat the junction <strong>of</strong> highways 6 and 63. Believe it or not."Schirmer went home with a strong headache and a buzzing noise that prevented him from sleeping.He also had a red welt below the left ear. The case came to the attention <strong>of</strong> the Condon committee,and Schirmer was placed under hypnosis. It then became clear that there was a twenty-minuteperiod during which he remembered nothing. Later, at the suggestion <strong>of</strong> another researcher, he wasagain placed under hypnosis, revealing an extraordinary sequence <strong>of</strong> events.As he saw the object take <strong>of</strong>f, the patrolman decided to follow it and drove up a dirt road toward theintense light. He tried to call the police at Wahoo, Nebraska, but the radio was not working and thecar engine died. The object, metallic and football-shaped, was surrounded by a silvery glow. It wasmaking a "whooshing" sound, and the lights were flickering rapidly. Legs appeared under the craft,and it landed. Schirmer wanted to drive home, but he was "prevented by something in his mind."The occupants <strong>of</strong> the craft came toward the car. He was unable to draw his revolver. In the standardpattern they shot some greenish gas toward the car, pulled a small object from a holster, flashed abright light at him, and he passed out.The next thing Schirmer remembered, under hypnosis, was rolling down the car window andtalking to the occupant <strong>of</strong> the craft, who pressed something against the side <strong>of</strong> his neck and askedhim: "Are you the watchman over this place?" then pointed to the power plant and said, "Is this theonly source <strong>of</strong> power you have?"Schirmer was taken aboard the craft. He saw control panels and computer-like machines. Theoccupants were wearing coveralls with an emblem <strong>of</strong> a winged serpent. One <strong>of</strong> them pushed abutton and tapes started running. "Through my mind... somehow... he is telling me things.... Mymind hurts...."The occupants gave Schirmer a lot <strong>of</strong> interesting but clearly misleading information. They wantedhim to believe that they came from a nearby galaxy. They had bases in the United States. Their craftwas operated by reverse electromagnetism. Their ships had been knocked out <strong>of</strong> the air by radar, byionization. They drew power from large water reservoirs. Schirmer got the idea that they have nopattern for contacting people, it is by pure chance so the government cannot determine any patternsabout them and there will be a lot more contacts.To a certain extent they want to puzzle people, he reported.They know they are being seen too frequently and they are trying to confuse the public's mind.Finally the occupant told Schirmer that he was not to remember the inside <strong>of</strong> the ship. Heconcluded: "You will not speak wisely about this night. We will return to see you two more times."
And at one point, in a hauntingly beautiful moment, one <strong>of</strong> the men took Schirmer to the largewindow <strong>of</strong> the ship, pointed to the deserted landscape around them, and said gravely: "Watchman,someday you will see the Universe!" If the occupants are so advanced, and do not want Schirmer tospeak wisely <strong>of</strong> that night, why could he remember so much <strong>of</strong> it under hypnosis? Have they notanticipated this method <strong>of</strong> disclosure? Or could it be that some parts <strong>of</strong> the human mind areinaccessible to them? Could it be that their power is more limited than their actions imply? Could itbe that someone, or something, is playing a fantastic trick on us?The Phenomenon Negates ItselfPerhaps you have had the opportunity to attend a magic show performed by an excellent master <strong>of</strong>that remarkable pr<strong>of</strong>ession. He produces before you, under impossible conditions, a phenomenonthat is clearly unexplainable. But then he appears to realize how disappointed the audience is.Indeed, everyone feels almost insulted by the preposterousness <strong>of</strong> his performance. There must be asimple explanation, an obvious trick! You do not find it.... Then the magician explains everything:the table tops was hollow, the cane was made <strong>of</strong> small sliding sections that collapse into a differentshape. Now you have understood everything, you kick yourself for not immediately percieving sucha simple solution. You leave the room with a warm feeling <strong>of</strong> gratefulness and a certain amount <strong>of</strong>pride: "I am not so stupid after all. This performer hasn's had me fooled for long!"As you get home, new doubts begin to creep into your rational mind. You obtain all the objectsnecessary for accomplishing the same trick by the simple method so nicely laid bare before you justan hour earlier; and then you realize that the explanation itself is impossible, that the magiciannever told you the real technique!The UFO phenomenon enjoys the same recursive unsolvability. It leaves indices behind, but theyseem to be even more maddeningly misleading than the witnesses' accounts. The phenomenonnegates itself. It issues statements and demonstrates principles where some <strong>of</strong> the informationconveyed is true and some is false. Determining which is the true half is as an exercise left to theinvestigator.In another relevant case the main witness was fooled by sociologists; the believers were fooled byalleged spacemen calling themselves the "Guardians"; the public was fooled by the believers; andthe sociologists may have been fooled by the phenomenon itself!<strong>Contact</strong> with the group called the Guardians started when a midwesterner referred to as Mrs. Keechwoke up one winter morning with a tingling or numbness in her arm:My whole arm felt warm right up to the shoulder.... I had the feeling that someone wastrying to get my attention. Without knowing why, I picked up a pencil and a pad that werelying on the table near my bed. My hand began to write in another handwriting.Through the messages she got, this woman was gradually introduced into something she regardedas the realms <strong>of</strong> the life beyond, until one day she recieved a message <strong>of</strong> comfort from an "ElderBrother." As described in Leon Festinger's book When Prophecy Fails:I am always with you. The cares <strong>of</strong> the day cannot touch you. We will teach them that seekand are ready to follow in the light. I will take care <strong>of</strong> the details. Trust in us. Be patient andlearn, for we are there preparing the work for you as a connoiter. That is an earthly liaisonduty before I come. That will be soon.Mrs. Keech came to think <strong>of</strong> this as genuine "channeling" with higher entities and began tellingpeople that amazing new knowledge was coming through. Soon a small sect formed in themidwestern city where she lived. One <strong>of</strong> the leaders <strong>of</strong> the sect was a "Dr. Armstrong," whose realname was Laughead, a man who later became involved in the Uri Geller affair. The Guardians gave
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Foreword by Whitley StrieberThere a
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It is sad that, as the twentieth ce
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PART ONE: THE ALIEN CHRONICLESIn th
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lot about it, but nobody said 'Let'
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The resemblance of the Dogu statues
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various forms of error worship unde
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them. These apparitions are scarce,
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was again shot at. Another creature
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The story is fantastic. Yet it remi
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their virginity in the sanctuaries
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A letter from a British woman begin
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The recollections of the legionnair
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lades. In less time than it takes t
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e called Smith said: "No, we cannot
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Celtic legends, along with the docu
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probably took place in the second p
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Australian Air Force Intelligence p
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ings in the fields and prairies?One
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From behind the object, two beings
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"in smooth English." They did not s
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to four feet tall, dressed in white
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expectations as if they were mere t
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came out of it, but this person was
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6. When men did not inhabit most of
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the negative reactions of scientist
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other in appearance, dress, mode of
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saw that they had made a grin, he h
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and rode out after dark in search o
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sighting, and the Sonny Desvergers
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PART TWO: ANOTHER REALITYDuring the
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pencil in a buttonhole with a piece
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short perpendicular line on each en
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sudden displacement of warm air or
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popular today. But a second - and e
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ecorded about 1825 in the Vale of N
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The ikal of the Tzotzils flies thro
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- Page 150 and 151: About the AuthorAn astrophysicist b